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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Copenhagen Suspect Swore Allegiance To ISIS; Ceasefire Violations In Ukraine; Stock Futures Under Pressure; Snow And Deep Freeze In New York City; "American Sniper" Murder Trial

Aired February 17, 2015 - 05:30   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: Egypt steps up the campaign against 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 derailed in West Virginia. Smoke and flames fill the sky amid fears of tainted drinking water. We have the very latest.

A winter storm piling on the misery this morning, roads expected to be covered in ice making for another dangerous commute. What you need to know ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has this Tuesday morning off. It is 30 minutes past the hour. Let's start in Egypt where the government is stepping up its involvement in the fight against ISIS.

Egyptian war planes 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 the extended military campaign? We get more this morning from CNN's Ian Lee in Cairo.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Egypt appears to be gearing up for a prolonged 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 council, an umbrella group for Islamist groups including ISIS elements 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 across the country to assist the police in securing vital facilities. All this began over the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya by ISIS.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian workers are still believed to be in the country. Cairo is drawing up an evacuation plan and urging everyone to leave. They believe Libya is no longer safe for any Egyptian -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Ian Lee for us in Cairo this morning. The White House is convening a three-day summit on countering violent extremism. This as the latest CNN/ORC poll shows President Obama is losing support when it comes to ISIS.

Fifty seven percent of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the threat. Just 40 percent approve. At the same time, nearly 8 in 10 Americans want Congress to give the 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 Monday night where the Danish prime minister called for national unity.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us this morning in Copenhagen. What are we learning new about the suspect and how he was radicalized, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the very latest we are getting from the Danish intelligence services, PET, as they are known here. This is coming in the last hour, they say, that while they were aware of this young man, the gunman, Omar Abdul Hamid Al-Hussein, they did not believe that he was about to perpetrate an attack.

That he had been in jail shortly before this attack released just two weeks before the attack then hours before making the Facebook posting and pledging his support to Al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS.

We are now learning as well from the Danish ambassador to the U.S. that he may have been radicalized while he was jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER TAKSEE-JENSEN, DANISH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: Just released a couple of weeks before the attacks this weekend from prison. It seemed that he may have been radicalized while in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So the sort of nature of this explanation that we've heard from the Danish intelligence services seems to really say that, yes, they were aware of this man, aware of his violent past, aware that he may have had a change in jail. But not aware or believing that he was an imminent threat and danger -- Christine.

ROMANS: The suspicion that he was a lone wolf although there have been other arrests in this case. Tell us about that.

ROBERTSON: Sure. Two people who are now really seen by police as being accomplices, although they were not directly involved in the attack, a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old, arrested Sunday, charged Monday with prior agreement agreeing to hide the gunman after the attack.

They hid his weapons and they are now being charge as accomplices to two counts of murder and accomplices to five counts of attempted murder so these men really in the know prior to the attack. That's what the prosecution is saying here.

And of course, the concerns are there other accomplices. That's why the security effort here is still ongoing. A security incident here just a few hours ago when a suspect package was found, a bomb disposal team called in quickly.

It was decided again relatively quickly that this was an innocuous package. It was no danger to the public, but it just indicates the level of concern here at the moment -- Christine.

ROMANS: A country on high alert, no question. Nic Robertson in Copenhagen, thank you for that, Nic.

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 the president's plan. The president's action could protect as many as 5 million people, who are in the U.S. illegally from being deported.

Breaking overnight, firefighters still battling an enormous fire after a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Fayette County, filling the sky with smoke, 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 and one person was injured. Nearly 30 of the train's 100 plus cars came off the tracks in the incident.

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

After two days, it appears the Ukraine ceasefire hanging on by a thread this morning. Despite the truce which took effect on Sunday, clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels are threatening to undo that deal.

A deal negotiated in Minsk last week by 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 details.

And Nick, you make such a good point. The diplomacy is very clear on this. They want the truce to hold, but the action on the ground is quite a different story.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, we are getting to the point now where this morning, it is the leaders of France, Russia and Germany have to say yes, of course, we still agree that OSC monitors should be allowed in to monitor the ceasefire.

That is what they agreed on the ceasefire that was supposed to come in at the end of Saturday, beginning of Sunday. So an extraordinary messy, but a diplomacy here trying to I think salvage the flawed Minsk agreement and ushered in this ceasefire.

Yes, here in Donetsk, we would normally hear artillery in the distance. We are not hearing that. We haven't since midnight, the start of Sunday. But of course, around us, there is violence is raging. We saw it ourselves. You cannot get down the road in the city past Ukrainian check points.

They don't go down much further. One soldier referred to that road as a one-way ticket to the graveyard. The separatists control a lot of it further down. We are hearing now from the separatists loyal news agency. They claim they have taken the rail agency east.

I have seen comments suggesting that they would move through with the same speed they move through another town. That was devastated. But whether you believe about the violence raging in the area, it is raging. That is not a ceasefire.

It was going to be the potential thing that derailed the cease-fire. The railway hub where there are hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainian troops still holed up. They are cleaning up an internal matter here.

But this is where it gets extraordinarily dangerous for the ceasefire, for the diplomacy. The second time round they've had a Minsk agreement to stop the violence here.

It is really falling apart very fast indeed. People are say it is a ceasefire with the exception. How many are asking is that still a ceasefire? -- Christine.

ROMANS: Indeed. All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for that this morning from Ukraine.

It's 39 minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money, stock futures pointing to losses at the open, we got worries this morning about Greece. European stock markets are mixed.

Back in the U.S., winter weather costing taxpayers billions. Not as bad as last year. New estimate puts the cost of the storms this year at $1 billion to $2 billion. Last year, the cost was $15 billion.

Last year, the storms hit more northeast cities and much of the Midwest. The government even blamed that weather for a partial drop in economic growth in the first quarter last year. And a lot of big companies blamed it for poor sales. Boston is getting the worst of this year's storms, concentrated the Boston. The mayor there said the city has already spent $36 million on snow removal. That's twice its annual budget for cleanup.

Those cities about to feel more pain this winter, millions of people getting slammed by ice and snow again. What it means for your commute next.

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ROMANS: Much of the country is in the grip of this wicked winter. The south expected to bear the brunt of the latest storm. Snow and freezing cold made driving treacherous and led to this accident in Hampton, Virginia, this SUV skidding across lanes of a main road and ending up just in front of a local news crew. It could have been much worse.

The nation's capital is bracing for a major storm this morning. Federal offices will be closed today. Amtrak's north east corridor will operate on a modified schedule today and more than a thousand flights already canceled.

Now let's get to CNN's Rosa Flores who is standing outside in the bitter cold here in New York City. What is it like out there, Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Christine, as I stand out here, it is cold. It's in the teens, but then I think, you know, we still have a month until spring. It will be a while. Those jackets, you have to keep them out. Don't take them anywhere. You are going to need them.

Here in New York, you can see a light fluffy snow. Right now, take a look at what's going on. Here is what folks are doing in this particular area. They are just salting a lot of these sidewalks because you can see there is not very much accumulation here in this particular area.

The city is expecting 1 inch to 2 inches of snow, the area about 2 inches to 4 inches of snow. When we talk about temperatures, I'm a carrying a handy gadget. It's about 15 degrees right now. But Christine, think about this, on Sunday, there were record lows. Temperatures are going to rise this weekend just a tad.

Then for the next two weeks, the temperature is going to dip again. So it's going to be a long haul. It will be cold for a while. We still have a month, Christine, until the spring. A month, imagine that.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes was just talking about March Madness is a month away. I'm not that big of a sports fan. I was thinking we are closer to spring. If we can just make it to March Madness all will be well. Rosa, thank you so much. Stay warm out there.

Six CNN anchors, speaking of John Berman, show off their presidential smarts in CNN's Quiz Show. What did Berman say that had Anderson Cooper up in arms? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Testimony resumes in a just few hours at the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, the accused killer of real life "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and Chris' friend, Chad Littlefield.

In court Monday, Jurors heard a videotape confession by the former Marine. Routh confessed to the killing, but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. CNN's Ed Lavandera is following the trial for us in Texas this morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the star witness on the fourth day of testimony in the American sniper trial was Eddie Ray Routh himself. He did not appear in person to speak before the jury. He appeared in the form of a two-year-old video confession that was recorded just hours after Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were killed in February of 2013.

He was interviewed by a Texas Ranger detective in the town of Lancaster after he had led police on a high-speed chase and was taken into custody. This is significant because it is the first time that this jury has been able to see and hear Eddie Ray Routh in the moments as at least as close as possible and see his demeanor and state of mind in the hours after Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle were murdered.

On the tape, oftentimes, he comes off rambling and speaking incoherently about his soul and this sort of thing so really a lot of issues there that kind of point to someone who is very disturbed.

In fact, the detective described him as someone who wasn't normal, but repeatedly he is asked over and over on this confession tape if he knew what he did was wrong.

After initially saying that he could not tell what he had done was right or wrong, he later answered those questions from detectives say that he knew that what he had done was wrong and if he could be given the chance to speak to the victims' families, he would apologize and say he was sorry -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Ed Lavandera in that very sad story, sad trial all the way around. 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 said they have not uncovered evidence Craig Hicks acted out of religious or ethnic hatred. The FBI is still investigating that angle. They an ongoing dispute over parking may have set off the fatal shootings.

All right, last night, CNN aired its presidential trivia quiz show. My co-anchor, John Berman, one of the smart six contestants, well, he dominated the night and caused controversy with this answer.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": Which performer did not sing at a swearing in ceremony at a presidential inauguration, A. Kelly Clarkson, B. Beyonce? John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Beyonce.

COOPER: That is incorrect.

BERMAN: It is correct. She lip synced.

COOPER: That is a low blow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: The correct answer was Barbra Streisand. John and his teammate, Erin Burnett, was strong contenders all night. They came in second behind Jake Tapper and Alisyn Camerota. But I do guarantee you, if you are playing trivia pursuit, you want John Berman on your team not on the opponent's team.

New details this morning about the $1 billion cyber heist. How are hackers able to break into the banks' systems? We'll get an EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money this Tuesday morning. Stocks futures are down right now. Investors turning their focus to Greece. Debt talks in Greece collapsed Monday. Greece could be forced out of the Eurozone if it doesn't reach an agreement with its creditors.

European markets right now, stock markets mixed. The U.S. stock market was closed Monday for Presidents' Day, but the Dow and the S&P 500 come into the session at the highest levels of the year.

New details this morning in that $1 billion cyber heist. Kaspersky Labs tells say most of the banks targeted were in Russia. Hackers stole from institutions in U.S., Germany, China, and Ukraine.

Thieves took customer e-mail data from several Russian banks. Kaspersky says banks learned from internal e-mails and limited threats to $10 million from any bank to avoid a full-blown security analysis.

Gas prices have bottomed out for now. The national average for gallon of regular is up 7 cents in the past week. Drivers are saving hundreds of dollars compared to this time last year when prices were well above $3 a gallon. Gas Buddy says the trend is here to stay. The jump is due to higher crude oil prices and seasonal maintenance at refineries.

A lot the news to get to including Egypt's increased attacks on ISIS, a second wave of bomb raids against ISIS as leaders gather in Washington to coordinate the fight against terror. "NEW DAY" has that and a lot more starting right now.