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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Egypt Strikes Hard Against ISIS; Train Derailment in West Virginia; Dangerous Winter Storm; Lance Armstrong Ordered to Pay $10 Million

Aired February 17, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Egypt stepping up its attacks against ISIS after 21 Egyptian Christians slaughtered by terrorists as U.S. officials study this gruesome video for clues that could help find the perpetrators and stop the spread of this savage group.

A fireball lights up the sky as the train derails in West Virginia. Hundreds of people evacuated after one home is destroyed and oil spills into the nearby river. What caused the train to go off the tracks?

A blast of winter slamming 60 million Americans this morning. The snow is piling on as temperatures. The winter storm creating a mess, another mess, another dangerous commute this morning.

Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning off. It is Tuesday, February 17th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Up first, Egypt stepping up involvement in the fight against ISIS. Egyptian war launching a second wave of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya. The attacks coming after the militants kidnapped and beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians there. Egypt's president has vowed revenge.

So, could this signal the start of an extended military campaign?

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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, thanks for that.

Meantime, U.S. intelligence officials poring over the latest ISIS beheading video. They're searching for clues about the attackers and any possible ISIS strategy. We get more on that angle from CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the video of the men being marched onto a beach and executed in Libya, achieving what U.S. officials say is one of ISIS' continuing goals, showing videos of unspeakable violence because they know it will get the world's attention.

This time, the video, however, a bit different perhaps -- an all-out assault on Christianity. All of the men, Egyptian Christians who had come to Libya looking for work. Now, the U.S. intelligence community looking at every frame of this video for any clues it can about the identity of the attackers. The man who speaks in the video speaks English very well, very little accent. They're going to want to know his identity.

Another thing they are looking at, once again ISIS using those orange jump suits. The kind of jump suits that detainees wore in Guantanamo Bay many years ago. This has been a typical ISIS recruiting tactic to show the aura of Guantanamo Bay, if you will.

So, right now, very little about who was behind the video, who the exact men were on the beach in Libya, but it's underscoring all of the concerns that ISIS is spreading -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you, Barbara.

The White House convening a three-day summit on countering violent extremism. And a latest CNN/ORC poll suggests President Obama losing support when it comes to how he has responded to ISIS. Fifty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the threat, 40 percent approved. At the same time, nearly eight in 10 Americans want Congress to give president authority to use military force against ISIS.

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

CNN's Nic Robertson live in Copenhagen.

And we are learning more Nic about just how recently radicalized this man was, and whether he was really inspired by ISIS. His Facebook posting would suggest he was.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. What we just heard in the last few minutes in the Danish intelligence service, the PET, they say they had no thrown believe he was on the verge of an attack.

However, what we are beginning to see and learn about Omar Abdel Hamid el Hussein is that this was a man with a violent past and criminal record. He'd only been out of jail for two weeks after a violent attack on a commuter train. And then, just hours before launching those attacks, posting on his Facebook page, the tribute to ISIS al Baghdadi. And what we have now heard as well from the Danish ambassador to the United States, he may well have become radicalized in jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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: So, obviously, what we are hearing from the Danish intelligence services now, tying up, if you will, what could be seen as a failing on their part saying, look, we are aware of him, but not believing he was about to commit an attack.

ROMANS: Nic, Danish officials are concerned about Danish-born citizens going to the battle field in Iraq and Syria and coming back. What do they do? How are they countering that threat?

ROBERTSON: Sure. The Danish have quite an open policy here. You know, in Britain, for example, they talk about taking away people's passports, nationality, withdrawing from them if they go to Iraq and Syria for ISIS.

The Danish handle it in a different way. They have a program that says look, come back. We will give you counseling and support. So, officially, 110 young men have joined ISIS and other groups in Iraq and Syria. About 70 of those have come back. Unofficially, closer to 200 have gone.

But the government has put them in programs based on trust that these people come in and they say, OK, we want to be members of society again. They are brought back into society. But, of course, now concerns do exist. Are some of them really honest and are they trying to reintegrate back into Danish society? ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson, what an interesting angle and

strategy for Danish authorities compared to other countries. Thank you so much.

Breaking this morning, a Taliban group in Pakistan claiming responsibility for the blast in Lahore that killed eight people and injured 16 others. Authorities say a suicide bomber tried to enter a police station, a spokesperson for the group telling CNN by phone similar attacks are being planned. Warning they will be executed soon.

Breaking overnight. Firefighters battling an enormous fire after a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Fayette County, filling the sky with smoke and fire, a second explosion. The biggest one yet shook the area around midnight.

The governor of West Virginia declaring a state of emergency after one home was incinerated. Nearly 30 of the trains 100 plus cars came off the tracks in the incident.

Two nearby towns have been evacuated now. Officials are concerned about oil from the train that has spilled into a local river. That river is a source of drinking water for people in two counties. It is not yet known what caused the 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.

U.S. officials expressing grave concern this morning about mounting cease-fire violations and what they say is the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine. To that end, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The three agreed to take concrete steps to assure the cease-fire is fully implemented and the withdrawal of heavy weapons begins today.

A Moscow-based software, security software maker has exposed spying operations. On the list, the NSA's inability to hide software deep in hard drives made by top manufactures. It's found in Iran, Russia and Afghanistan among others. A former NSA employee did not deny those findings.

Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this Tuesday.

Stock futures pointing lower. European markets mixed. S&P off a record high. Markets were closed Monday for Presidents Day.

But today, investor fears about Greece are back. The country could stumble out of the eurozone. Debt talks with European creditors collapsed. Greek officials rejected a proposal to extend the country's current bailout program. Protesters on both sides have been holding rallies outside the parliament in Athens.

A new Greek government is led by an anti-austerity party. Hoping to agree to a deal to keep the country in the eurozone without having to maintain austerity reforms. It calls the Euro group offer absurd.

Blast of winter slamming millions of people. Ice and snow make for dangerous road conditions this morning. What you need to know for the commute. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Much of the country in the grip of the wicked winter. An estimated 60 million Americans dealing with record low temperatures, including double digit below zero windchills. The South is expected to bear the latest of the storm, with up to 10 inches of snow expected in some areas. Snowy icy road conditions in Hampton, Virginia leading to this accident, an SUV skidding across the lanes of the main road ending in front of a local news crew. Certainly, it could have been a lot worse.

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

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

Now, let's get to CNN's Rosa Flores. She is standing outside in bitter cold New York City.

Rosa, let me see, can you feel your ears and nose, my dear?

(LAUGHTER)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is cold out here, Christine. I have a thermometer here. Take a look behind me. It's in the teens and yes, it is very, very cold this morning here in New York.

Take a look behind me. It has been snowing slightly all morning long. And you know, it is a nice light snow that is falling over Columbus Circle and also under Central Park.

But here is the deal: here in New York, we are expecting 2 to 4 inches. So, take a look, Christine. This is what folks will be doing. Not much to shovel today other than maybe with the little utensil like this.

This is what is happening here at Rime Warner Center, because we're only expecting 1 to 2 inches in the city, perhaps 2 to 4 inches in the area. It will be pretty low. I was showing you central park behind me.

Here is the deal. It hasn't been that bad for New York City this year. Let me show you here. This time last year, New York City received about 50 inches of snow. So, take a look. This is a lot of snow. This year, I'm going to wind

this down, Christine. Guess what? It has only been about 20 inches. So, we have nothing to complain about, Christine.

Again, about 1 to 2 inches in the city. Temperatures in the teens today. You just have to bundle up. Bundle up a little bit. Not too bad.

ROMANS: It is winter. You are right. It is important to point out, Rosa, that it's not as bad as last year.

Remember, last year, you had so many widespread storms all over the Northeast and the Midwest. It hurt the economy. It was like $15 billion loss to the economy. This year, while it feels miserable, it is not quite as bad as last year.

FLORES: It is really not. You think about it. While you are in it, it does feel really bad. You have to bundle up every time you go to the store. Every time you go outside, all of those layers. It is not so bad this year.

ROMANS: Be careful. Watch for the black ice. Check on your elderly neighbors. Just like every year. Rosa Flores, thank you so much for that.

Seventeen minutes past the hour.

It looks like Boston will be spared the worst of the storm. There is still the bone-chilling cold, oh, yes, and seven feet of snow to put somewhere.

CNN's Will Ripley is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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: Will Ripley in Boston for us.

OK. So, that's what happened. What happens next?

Now to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with a look at the forecast.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine.

You know, one thing to keep in mind here with all of the cold air across the country, all the wintry weather, 31. That is the magic number. We are how many days away from starting the spring season across the Northern Hemisphere.

But look at this, about 60 million people dealing with wintry weather. In fact, around Nashville, it's where we have ice storm warnings in effect through 9:00 a.m. local time. And this pattern again with significant accumulations of ice have been really disruptive. In fact, storm system parked off the southeast coastline. Snow showers already seeing four inches of it come down around portions of Washington, D.C.

It could get another couple inches before it's all done with. And then, New York and Boston could get in on a couple of inches as well. But, generally speaking, 2 to 4 inches for everyone as opposed to 12 to 26 in recent days. But there's the ice storm concern at this point from Greenville to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Raleigh.

In fact, 30 percent of all flights cancelled across the United States have occurred out of Charlotte's Douglas International Airport.

And here's what's left in the forecast, Christine, when it comes to snow showers. Notice, right on the Delmarva coastline, eight to 10 inches. But New York, and eventually Boston, two to four. That's enough to put on you on the second all time for the snowy season in recorded history.

ROMANS: All right. Pedram Javaheri, thanks for that, Pedram.

Twenty minutes past the hour.

A disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, he takes a big hit in the wallet. Andy Scholes has the details in the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Another detour for Lance Armstrong. The disgraced cyclist has been ordered to pay $10 million to a sports insurance company that paid Armstrong bonuses for winning the Tour de France.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report" -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine. Yes, arbitrators said perjury should never been profitable. That's why they ordered Lance Armstrong to pay back $10 million to the insurance company SCA Promotions.

This is believed to be the largest such sanction against an individual in American judicial history. The two arbitrators decided on the award cited an unparallel pageant of perjury and fraud and conspiracy when deciding the amount. The ruling will be handed over to a judge for fine an approval. Armstrong's legal team is disputing the ruling saying they had already reached a settlement back in 2006.

Yesterday, a judge issued a protective order requiring NASCAR driver Kurt Busch to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll. This case made national headlines when Busch claimed Driscoll was a game assassin who carried out missions throughout the world. Driscoll responded to that saying, Busch needed to seek help for alcoholism. And as a part of this new protective order, the judge is requiring Busch to be evaluated mental health issues, including anger management. Busch waiting to see if he will be charged with domestic assault in the case.

College basketball, number eighth Kansas at West Virginia. Mountaineers drives, spins with the go ahead layup with 4 seconds left. Kansas goes the length of court, and Perry Ellis for the win? But no. It goes off the back of the rim. Mountaineers pull off the stunner, beating eighth Kansas, 62-61. And, of course, the fans all rush the court.

Christine, we are a month away from March Madness. So, we're going to get a lot of these games in the very near future. I'm excited.

ROMANS: The good thing about that, we are in the depths of winter in the Northeast. The thought of March Madness and it might not be snowing makes me happy. Thanks so much.

Egypt stepping up attacks as retaliation for the brutal beheading video. Are the airstrikes just the beginning of perhaps a bigger military campaign?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)