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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Terror Alliance: Boko Haram Pledges Loyalty to ISIS; Walk Away from Iran?; 5 Arrests in Putin Opponent's Killing; Report: MH370 Search Beacon Battery Expired

Aired March 09, 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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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An alliance between ISIS and Boko Haram. Two of the most active terror groups in the world right now say they want to join forces. What does this mean for the United States? A live report moments away.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Deal or no deal. President Obama said he'd like a nuclear agreement with Iran, but he is willing -- he is willing to walk away if Iran won't meet certain conditions. He will tell you where he says Tehran has to back down.

BERMAN: The investigation into the shooting of the key Russian opposition leader. It takes a bizarre turn. One suspect blows himself up as five others appear in court. We're going to have the very latest developments from Moscow, ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday morning. Thirty minutes past the hour.

Nice to see you all this morning. New this morning, America's highest ranking general touching down in Iraq. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey set to hold talks with Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders. Dempsey's visit comes as the new offensive begins in the war against Islamic terror. Hundreds of troops from Chad, Niger are launching ground and air attacks against Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.

Now, the offensive begins one day after Boko Haram pledged its allegiance to ISIS in the audio message purportedly recorded by the group's leader.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir live from London.

Good morning, Nima.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Well, if this is true, what it does is it breaks ISIS out of the policy of containment that the U.S. and its coalition allies have been working hard to impose, trying to limit the group's influence, but also activity to Iraq and Syria. Boko Haram really in a lot of ways is the ISIS equivalent. It's very much ISIS's equal in terms of territorial control and terms of just brand name recognition really in Africa. So, for a group of that stature to assume itself, to pledge allegiance to ISIS is a really big propaganda win. And in terms of allegiance, it gives ISIS an arc of allegiance that stretches from one coast of Africa to the other, for groups like Boko Haram.

This raised profile really translates into practical terms is the lifeline of foreign recruitment and foreign donations. Boko Haram at the moment as you rightly said, is being squeezed by this new offensive being put into place by Niger and Chad and the new front in the multiregional fight against Boko Haram. They seem to be pushing back now and is very asymmetric way by joining hands with ISIS, and trying to get themselves further on that international platform, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nima Elbagir, thank you for that, in London, this morning -- thanks.

BERMAN: More priceless antiquities destroyed by ISIS. "The Associated Press" reports that the government of Iraq is now investigating claims that ISIS attacked the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad in northern Iraq. In just the last few weeks, ISIS smashed artifacts at the Mosul museum and raised militia old archaeological sites in Nimrud and other city as well. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called the destruction war crimes.

President Obama is promising he will walk away from the nuclear deal with Iran unless it calls for tight inspections and what he calls unprecedented transparency. With just weeks until the deadline for the outline of a deal, the president says he thinks an agreement can happen. The president says Iran would have to accept, quote, "verification and restraints". So far, at least Iran has not been willing to say yes to.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there is no deal, we walk away. If we cannot verify that they are not going to obtain a nuclear weapon, that there is a breakout period so that even if they cheated, we would be able to have enough time to take action. If we don't have that kind of deal, then we're not going to take it.

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BERMAN: The next round of talk between the U.S. and other countries and Iran begins on March 15th.

ROMANS: This morning, Iraqi and other forces are on the outskirts of Tikrit, advancing in their battle to retake that city from ISIS. Officials say their progress is being slowed by IEDs that ISIS planted on roads and bridges leading into the strategic city, among the troops joining Iraq in the battle for Tikrit, elite members of Iran's Quds force. Their presence a testament to Iran's political influence in Iraq. From Isfahan, Iran, senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has the latest.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in Iran, there's a feeling that as the Iraqi military moves forward and gets closer to the heart of Tikrit, but also makes advances in other places, that it's actually the Iranians who are the ones who are making the main differences on the ground.

Now, they have never acknowledged that they actually have combat forces in Iraq. However, they do say that they have some very high profile trainers and certainly people from the Revolutionary Guard Corps who are on the ground and who are the ones who are training the Shia militias who are also coming up with strategies, as well as tactics when you get to battlefield operations.

The most prolific one, of course, is General Qassem Suleimani has sort of super star status here in Iran. And when you listen to people, when you speak to experts on this issue in Iran, they'll tell you that they believe that so far, the air strikes that have been conducted by the U.S. and its allies they believe had only made a marginal difference. They think that the Shia forces that they've been training that are the ones making the main push on the ground in Iraq.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Isfahan, Iran.

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ROMANS: Thank you for that, Fred.

Police in Russia have arrested five suspects in the killing of top opposition figure Boris Nemtsov. A sixth suspect blew himself up after a standoff with police. The suspects are starting now to appear in court. The looming question is, did they act alone or on orders from someone higher up. And there are a lot of questions around the arrest of these men in general.

For some possible answers, let's turn to senior international correspondent Matthew Chance.

Matthew, a lot of questions of the arrests of the five individuals, the apparent -- the death of the sixth. And interesting that it is basically the security services, security force in Russia, the head of that, the FSB announcing this himself.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was -- that happened on Saturday. The head of the FSB, the successor organization to the KGB is saying that they made the first arrests. That is when two people were taken into custody.

Since then, another three people have been taken into custody as well. Two of them have been charged. Four of them are protesting innocence. One of them, though, has been named Zaur Dadayev, a man from Chechnya. He confessed to the judge according to the killing. No motive has been given, except that this is an interesting twist --

the leader of the pro-Kremlin leader of Chechnya, which is this very restive province in the south of Russia, says that he knows the self confessed assassin. He says he was a brave man in his security forces and he is a Russian patriot. But he also said he was angered by the support comments that were made about the "Charlie Hebdo" cartoons and the criticism of the people that carried out the massacre in Paris sometime back earlier this year.

And so, this may be a possible motivation according for the Chechen for this attack. But many opposition figures ruling that out, saying that's not likely. More likely that Boris Nemtsov was killed, not for religious reason, but for political ones -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Still a lot of questions, no doubt questions. Is there any evidence showing these men in the vicinity of the murder of Boris Nemtsov? What is the -- what is evidence that the government says they have?

CHANCE: In terms of video evidence, it's not really conclusive. We have seen the grainy video, I think, which shows the moment of which Boris Nemtsov was gunned down, a man taken for a long distance and getting in the car and driving off. The police say that his forensic evidence, though, from the vehicle that they found, the getaway car which links these individuals to the crime. Also, telephone records say they have been looking at which they say is conclusive, and that's why they made these five arrests.

ROMANS: All right. Matthew Chance for us this morning in Moscow -- thank you, Matthew.

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, the president of South Korea paid a surprise visit to U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in the hospital. Officials say she went immediately to see the ambassador after returning from a trip in the Middle East. Lippert is recovering after his face was slashed by a man opposed to joint military drills being conducted between the United States and South Korea.

ROMANS: All right. Hillary Clinton is set to make a public appearance in New York City. It is not clear if she will address the e-mail scandal that's haunting her these days, or even if she's going to take questions. She will be at Times Square with her daughter Chelsea and Melinda Gates for a women's rights organization, as one of her biggest supporters, Senator Dianne Feinstein is urging her to break her silence and explain why she used a personal e-mail address to conduct government business at the State Department.

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SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: What I would like is for her to come forward and say just what the situation is, because she is the preeminent political figure right now. She is the leading candidate, whether Republican or Democrat, for the next -- to be the next president. I think that she needs to step up and come out and state exactly what the situation is.

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ROMANS: Senator Feinstein says if Hillary Clinton does not address the email scandal now, her silence is going to hurt her.

BERMAN: A huge turnout in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Tens of thousands of people stood as one last night to remember the violence between police and protesters that helped bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The weekend wrapped with the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Attorney General Eric Holder spoke to the crowd, saying, despite our progress, the right to vote is now under siege.

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ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Without adequate political representation and without real political power, people of color continue to be marginalized, stigmatized, brutalized, and denied their very humanity.

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BERMAN: This was a remarkable emotional weekend. On Saturday, President Obama and the first lady led across the bridge there hand- in-hand with Georgia Congressman John Lewis who, of course, was a leader in 1965 march.

ROMANS: Some of the images of John Lewis being beaten at that rally is remarkable to behold. Now, a congressman to think what the last 50 years, the president's speech was really emotional. The middle part of the speech was so emotional. The kids watched it. I came back and had the kids watch it. I wanted them to sort of know how far -- you know, how things have changed.

BERMAN: That's interesting. You know, President and Mrs. Obama don't bring their kids everywhere, but brought their daughters to this. Something that's very important.

ROMANS: The president was sort of shaking hands in the crowds caught a lot of people by surprise.

BERMAN: All right. About 40 minutes after the hour.

There is growing outrage in Madison, Wisconsin, after the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager by police officer. The shooting of 19-year-old Tony Robertson sparked weekend demonstrations that were tense but peaceful. Authorities are bracing today for a possible walkout by high school students and other signs of protests. The Madison police officer involved in the shooting is identified as 45- year-old Matt Kenny. He has been placed on administrative leave.

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

That noise you heard across the country Sunday was the sigh of relief of people enjoying the break from the winter temperatures. So, is more of the same on its way? Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

Yes, it feels like spring has sprung for a lot of people, right? You take a look at the national perspective, the colors you don't like, the purples and pinks, that's all out of the country into areas really into the northeast of Canada, and notice the mild air really builds in towards the later portion of the week. So, at least for the foreseeable future, generally warmer than average temperatures for most.

We do have some snow showers and really a wintry mix north of Pittsburgh and Williamsport. This is going to be the concerned around, say, Philly this morning. You could see a few issues of flakes around maybe New York City this morning, but nothing in the way of accumulations. About 4.5 million underneath these advisories this morning for some sleek conditions in the morning rush hour.

It's going to be wet down across the south, from Houston out towards San Antonio and Corpus Christi, strong southerly flow of moisture here, looking at tremendous rainfall in the coming couple of days really around the Gulf Coast. From 2 to 4 inches, from Houston to about 2 to 4 in Jackson, Birmingham northward, four to six inches of rainfall throughout the latter portion of the week.

And notice the advancement here towards the middle of the week as well, with the moisture. But long-range outlook for the temperatures the next two weeks keeps parts of Texas below normal. Unfortunately, you guys in the northeast, parts of it below normal as well. But generally speaking, the entire country looking at above average temperatures in the coming two weeks, guys.

ROMANS: All right. We'll take it. Thanks, Pedram. That was an early look at your weather.

Here's an early look at your money. Asian and European markets lower following the U.S. market plunge on Friday. Investors worried that the solid -- that really nice jobs report will force the Fed to raise interest rates sooner. The Dow and NASDAQ and S&P all lost more than 1 percent. Right now, futures are lower.

But Wall Street does have one thing to celebrate. The bull market today turns six years old.

BERMAN: Happy birthday.

ROMANS: Happy birthday, bull market. Up 206 percent since from the horrible low, March 9th, 2009.

Your Apple Watch questions may soon be answered today. The tech company is holding an event today in Cupertino. It is expected to unveil details about the upcoming Apple watch.

Here's what we already know about Apple's first wearable device. It will be available in three models with multiple wrist bands option. It needs an iPhone to connect to the Internet. It costs at least $349. Of course, we don't have an exact price or release date yet. But we may know more after the event. That event is today, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

I tell you, when the e-mail went out saying put this on your calendar. We will have soon to unveil. The tech journalists went crazy. They're so excited about it.

BERMAN: Apple, the first question they always have to face when they unveil a new product, though, and I don't mean to be facetious here, is why -- why do you want an Apple Watch? It is unclear they answered that just yet. Now, Apple usually wins and, you know, makes us realize why we want it. It will be interesting to see how they sell it today when they unveil it.

ROMANS: It is the first new product under Tim Cook, too. I mean, he until now, he has had derivatives of, you know, Steve Jobs products. Now, this is the first new product, right? Am I right?

BERMAN: It is. But 350 bucks is expensive for a watch that will be obsolete in two years.

ROMANS: True. All right.

BERMAN: New information in the crash of MH370. Could all of the efforts been thrown off because a battery was not replaced? We have a live report, next.

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BERMAN: The search for Malaysia Airline 370 can't go on forever. Those words from that man, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, one year after a mysterious disappearance of the passenger jet. The prime minister says search crews are 40 percent done with the 23,000 square mile search zone off the coast of Western Australia. He insists he is reasonably optimistic that the plane will be found.

We're going to check in with CNN's Anna Coren live from Kuala Lumpur where a comprehensive report on the disappearance of MH370 has now been released.

Good morning, Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, John.

Yes, that interim report has come out. And, you know, as far as the families are concerned, they believe it's meaningless because it doesn't tell them what happened to their loved ones, or where they are. They have been missing now for more than 12 months, I should say. And, really, these people are going through torture not having any answers.

One thing in this interim report that is quite alarming is that one of the flight data recorder did not have or its batteries had expired. There were batteries, however, in the cockpit flight data recorder. So that mean it was emitting a signal, but the fact the batteries had expired in one of the black boxes shows that maintenance was poor, that it was an oversight and clearly an error.

The other thing in this report, it said there was mass confusion in the initial minutes and hours of the plane disappearing. And actual fact that really hindered the search being activated, something like what should have been an hour ended up being five hours before the search and rescue operation got underway.

The other interesting nugget that came out of the report was information about the pilot and the crew. They said they were not under stress. Their behavior was nothing out of the ordinary. It really did dismiss that rogue pilot theory, the suggestion that the pilot had committed suicide, hence the disappearance of MH370.

So, obviously, John and Christine, a relief for Captain Zaharie's family.

BERMAN: One of the things that was interesting about the report was that so much was ordinary, they say, about that flight.

Anna Coren for us in Kuala Lumpur, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. This is a rescue story you have to see to believe. A baby pulled from a car upside down in the water after a crash. You won't believe how long the little girl was inside. Find out, next.

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ROMANS: A record setting attempt to fly a manned solar powered plane around the world is under way from Abu Dhabi. The Solar Impulse-2 embarking on a five-month mission that includes flight across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The plan is to hop from continent to continent, spreading the message about clean technology. Solar Impulse 2 is wider than a 747 jumbo jet, but weighs less than a large SUV and features 17,000 solar cells lining the tops of the wings.

BERMAN: In business class, do the seats fully recline? That's what I want to know.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: A stunning discovery in Utah. A baby still alive 14 hours after the crash that left the car upside down in the Spanish Forks River. Nearby fisherman spotted the vehicle. Rescuers found the 18- month-old girl still strapped in her car seat.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The witness said there was an arm that he could see inside the vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It became apparent the driver was deceased, but we also noticed there was a small baby in the backseat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grabbed the baby in my arm, raised its head up out of the water as I released the seatbelt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child was passed to me, and I just ran up to the ambulance with the child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Emotional for those rescuers. The baby is in critical condition in the Salt Lake City hospital. Her mother, driving the car, died in the crash.

ROMANS: What a sad story and what a miraculous story at the same time.

All right. Facebook under fire for an emoticon. Which one? Oh, please? And what is being done to get the social media giant to take it offline. An early start on your money is next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

Asian and Europe stocks lower. U.S. stock futures down following the U.S. market plunge on Friday. You know, most Americans welcomed the jobs report. Investors worry it means the Fed will raise interest rates sooner. The Dow tumbled 279 points. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 lost more than 1 percent. All finished the week down nearly 2 percent.

Chicken growers could pay the price for McDonald's no antibiotic policy. The fast food giant gave chicken suppliers two years to eliminate antibiotics from their production chain. That could increase its production cost by 3 percent. Experts predict McDonald's will probably push the expense back to suppliers rather than consumers.

Facebook has this emoticon: feeling fat. It's got a big thumbs down. Critics say it targets people who are overweight and have eating disorders. They launched a change.org petition claiming fat is not a feeling and that the cartoon makes fun of people who are overweight. The petition has more than 15,000 signatures so far, but Facebook has defended its emoticon and hasn't announced any plans to remove it.

BERMAN: I'm just anti-emoticon, period.

ROMANS: I'm feeling Monday.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.

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