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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Outrage Over Racist Video; Obama & GOP Battle Over Iran; Taking Back Tikrit
Aired March 10, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Oklahoma outrage. Growing disgust over a video showing fraternity students doing a racist chant. The fraternity now closing its doors as the university mulls expulsions. We have reaction.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Senate Republicans warning Iranians that the final say in the nuclear deal rests with Congress. But this overture not sitting well with the president. We have strong reaction from the White House.
ROMANS: And ISIS on the ropes in the key Iraqi city of Tikrit. Iraqis gaining ground in an effort to retake that city. Now, America's top general is reiterating that he expects to defeat ISIS. A live report from Iraq just moments away.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman, highly caffeinated. It is Tuesday, March 10th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.
ROMANS: I'm not caffeinated enough.
BERMAN: I know. You've got to get there. You'll get there.
This morning, there is new fallout from the disturbing video at the University of Oklahoma. This racist chant from some fraternity members has led the national organization of Sigma Alpha Epsilon to close the chapter and the university to evict members from their fraternity house. Now, the house is apparently vandalized. I think that was actually Sunday, with the message "tear it down".
University president David Boren announced he would seek the permanent expulsion of SAE members involved, especially those leading the chant.
ROMANS: And the repercussions are just beginning. A top Sooner football recruit from the Dallas area declaring that he's decommitting and will go elsewhere.
Current OU football player Eric Striker went on an outrage tear on Snapchat about the racist video. After he cooled off, he told CNN he was hurt by the damage the video has done to the school's reputation and he backs the call to expel those responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC STRIKER, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA LINEBACKER: It is playing out. It is out there. I'm not saying it hasn't happened before, but this is something that really extreme, not saying that the little things before should get pushed under the rug. But we, you know, we believe that president Boren has taken the right actions and investigating and doing the right thing, you know, more than just suspensions and expelling these students -- the people who are responsible for it and people on the bus. This is how we feel, that action should take -- students should get expelled that had a lot to do with that, the ones on the bus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Early Monday, hundreds of students, hundreds, march silently to protest the video. They were joined by President Boren who declared that real Sooners are not racists.
New demonstrations planned today for Madison, Wisconsin, following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed biracial teenager. On Monday, hundreds of college and public school students protested the killing of 19-year-old Tony Robinson, walking out of classes and peacefully marching to the state capital.
From Madison, CNN's Ryan Young has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, we saw the frustrations really rolling over here in Madison, Wisconsin, as thousands of people walked to state capital to show the displeasure of the shooting death of this teen. If you look behind me, you can see the growing memorial for 19-year-old Tony Robinson.
This memorial has been growing all afternoon. In fact, they've been raising signs here so they can show their support for this young man. They tell us they plan to have more protests.
There's a lot of questions involved in this case. Originally, police were called because of a disturbance. Once police arrived, he said he heard some noise on the inside the home. Once he was inside, the struggle happened and shots were fired on the inside. The 19-year-old was pronounced dead.
Now, this community wants answers. But one thing that we have noticed, the protests here have remained peaceful. And they want to make sure people understand this is not another Ferguson. They plan to push forward and ask more questions, and get to the bottom of this -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Ryan Young for us -- thank you, Ryan.
An embattled judge in Ferguson resigns. The action comes after a scathing reports accusing Ronald Brockmeyer of using his court to fund the city on the back of poor minorities. Judge Roy L. Richter now taking his post. Besides hearing Ferguson's pending and future city cases. The Missouri Supreme Court tasking Richter with making, quote, "needed changes to help restore public trust and confidence in the Ferguson courts." Richter begins his new post March 16th.
BERMAN: New this morning: extraordinary tension between the White House and Republicans after 47 Senate Republicans signed an open letter to Iran. The letter declares that unless Congress has its say, any nuclear deal with Iran could be null and void after President Obama leaves office.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is leading this charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: I support a good deal that stops Iran from getting a nuclear weapon today, tomorrow, 10 years from now and forever. The president has already said that a deal could have as little as a 10-year sunset on it. His national security adviser has said that Iran could have uranium enrichment abilities, the critical component of developing a nuclear bomb. Whatever else the terms of the future deal might be, those terms make the deal unacceptable to the United States and to the world because they pave the way for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Let's get the latest from the White House now. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is there -- Michelle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.
Well, already, we have seen some in Congress try to bring up legislation, although unsuccessfully, to give them a vote on any nuclear deal with Iran. Well, now, 47 Republicans wrote the open letter to Iran, asserting that they have an important role in the process, acting as a sort of warning. Given the way that the deal is currently being worked on, in actuality, the president doesn't have to send it to Congress for a vote.
But here is what they write in the letter, "We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement with President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such an agreement with a stroke of a pen."
The reaction to this letter came quickly from Democrats, from the White House, calling it bizarre, a desperate ploy, juvenile, saying it weakens America's hand in the negotiations. And particularly interesting was hearing the White House say that what they're trying to amounts to back channel communications with Iranian hard liners.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hard liners in Iran. It's an unusual coalition.
KOSINSKI: Well, Congress would have a vote in the process on removing those tough sanctions from Iran or not if that is part of a deal. But the White House now says that would come years down the road from a deal, that it would take a number of years, they said, to first see if Iran was, in fact, compliant.
By the way, Iran responded to the letter calling it a propaganda ploy -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Michelle, thanks for that.
Vice President Joe Biden lashing out at the 47 Senate Republicans who sent the letter to Iran. Biden released the statement, quote, "The letter expressly designed to under cut a sitting president in the midst of sensitive international negotiations is beneath the dignity of an institution I revere. This letter in the guise of a constitutional lesson ignores two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the ability of any future American president, whether Democrat or Republican, to negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States."
Secretary of State John Kerry returns to Switzerland to resume nuclear talks with Iran's foreign minister.
BERMAN: New developments in the bloody struggle for control of Tikrit. Iraqi forces on the offensive for a solid week are trying to liberate the birthplace of Saddam Hussein from ISIS. They're getting a lot of help from Shiite militias, which, of course, are funded and directed largely by Iran.
America's top general, Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey, is in Baghdad, vowing that ISIS will be defeated.
Let's go to Baghdad and bring in CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.
Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Yes, General Dempsey was here meeting with senior Iraqi officials. He was here to stress the role the United States and international coalition play in the fight against ISIS. U.S. officials say that more than 2,000 air strikes have been launched on ISIS targets since last September. And, of course, this comes against the back drop of a clear Iranian role in supporting Iraqi militias in the fight against ISIS around Tikrit.
Yesterday, we spoke to the commander of the main Iraqi militia. And it's the militias that are really playing the leadership role in this battle around Tikrit, and he said we don't need and we won't need assistance from the coalition. He went on to thank Iran deeply in his words for the help they provided.
Another Iraqi militia commander telling me that as far as the Iranians go, they say it's better to have four Iranian advisers on the frontlines than 400 American advisers sitting in the Green Zone in Baghdad -- John.
BERMAN: All right. Ben Wedeman for us in Baghdad -- Ben, I know you've been up to those frontlines and seen that battle. We appreciate you being here for us.
ROMANS: Two French Olympic medalists among 10 people killed in an apparent midair helicopter collusion in Argentina, gold medal winning swimmer Camille Muffat and bronze medal boxer Alexis Vastine. They were participating in a survivalist reality show "Dropped" when their choppers went down. Two Argentine pilots and six other French nationals were also killed. A government spokesman says it appears those choppers collided while filming a scene for that reality show.
The U.S. ambassador to South Korea released from the hospital overnight. Mark Lippert says he's doing well, he's grateful to everyone who reached out, after he was stabbed, slashed last week before a speech. Lippert plans to return to work soon now that more than 80 stitches in his face had been removed.
Lippert's attacker, Kim Ki-jong, facing attempted murder charges. He's undergoing surgery today for a broken ankle suffered when authorities overpowered and tackled him.
BERMAN: Hillary Clinton will answer questions about the e-mail scandal that has been dogging her for weeks. A news conference or a sit-down interview could come within 48 hours, that is according to her source. The former secretary of state is expected to say she did use a classified government e-mail system at the State Department, but could not use that system with her BlackBerry because the system was too antiquated. That's new information into CNN.
The White House says the president and Mrs. Clinton did exchange e- mails during her tenure at the State Department, suggesting that he knew or probably saw that she was using a private e-mail account.
ROMANS: All right. He is a likely Republican candidate for 2016, but this morning, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is feeling the wrath of the current White House resident. President Obama blasting Walker for what he calls an inexcusable decision to sign a right-to-work bill into law. In a statement, the president says it would weaken, not strengthen the workforce. He says, quote, "Even as its governor claims victory over working Americans, I encourage him to strike a role for working Americans by taking meaningful action to raise their wages and offer them the security of paid leave." Wisconsin is the 25th state to pass right-to-work laws, which prevent workers from required to join the union or pay due as a condition of employment.
BERMAN: A new incident involving a train and a vehicle on the tracks, this happened Monday in North Carolina. A New York bound Amtrak train slammed into a tractor-trailer. You can see it there. They got stuck trying to make a turn. The driver jumped out just before impact. One of the train cars derailed. The conductor and nearly 60 passengers suffered injuries, none of them thankfully life-threatening.
This is the third train crash since last month following deadly incidents in New York and California.
ROMANS: Passengers are now on the way via buses where they will be sent on to the final destination.
The early thaw is on. The big melt. Warmer temperatures spreading across the country.
Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather this morning.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, a soggy Tuesday shaping up across much of the South, from Alexandria to Jackson, eventually to Memphis, really a theme going to be a lot of wet weather and water vapor imagery here shows you a pretty impressive plume of moisture pushing in. And this will be the case over the next couple of days. And by the time we are done come Friday afternoon, two to four inches, from New Orleans to Jackson, get your way, I'll say, Birmingham north to southern and central Tennessee. Tremendous rainfall is possible, up to 6 inches, certainly flash flooding is a concern into the Ohio Valley and eventually out there toward the Northeast.
By later on this afternoon, say around 2:00, 3:00 in the afternoon, from Washington to Philly and New York, we will begin to see some rain showers, generally less than 1 inch. So, not an impressive rainmaker across portions of the Northeast, but still wet weather heading our way in the next couple of hours.
Here we go, high temps today in Atlanta, 77. It should make it up to the 80s around Charleston, even around Kansas City and Minneapolis, 61 degrees in the works. Mind you, it was minus 7 in Minneapolis last Thursday for the overnight low temperature. The 61 is the warmest temperature since before Halloween, the warmest in Kansas City since late January. Much the same for warm weather for Atlanta as well, guys.
ROMANS: Enjoy that Minneapolis.
All right. Time for an early start on money this morning.
Stock futures are lower. The market rallied Monday. Investors in a buying mood on the sixth anniversary of the bull market.
It may be the hottest wearable in tech, but you will still have to wait a few weeks. Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled key details about the Apple Watch. This was at an event in San Francisco. Pre-orders start April 10th. It will be available in stores April 28th. Three models ranging in price from $349 to $17,000. Each model comes in two sizes, the battery should last 18 hours, and you'll need to pair it with an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6.
If you want more specs, head to CNNMoney.com.
Are you in the market?
BERMAN: No, and I met -- I talked to, like I talked to a lot of people, I try to really don't. But I did meet one person who said she wanted one, but only one. I haven't met anyone else. If you want one of these iPhone watches or iWatches.
If you're going to order one, please tweet us @ChristineRomans. Let us know. I'm still confused by what the market is here.
ROMANS: You know, they are trying to create a market that I don't know we need. Apple has done this before, right? We didn't know we needed our music with us all the time on our phone. But now, we have our music with us all the time on our phone, right?
Also, you know, the idea that some of these are like a Rolex of watches. Think about it, $17,000.
BERMAN: The Rolex lasts forever. This is going to last until your next contract. I don't -- I don't know. Tweet @ChristineRomans. Let us know if you're going to order one, because I am interested.
About a quarter past the hour right now, new arrests in the connection with the January terror attacks of a kosher market in Paris. One of them really surprising. Could a police officer had been associated with Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman in that attack? We have a live report from Paris, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: New arrests linked to the Paris terror attack. Four people taken into custody with alleged ties to Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman and hostage taker at the kosher supermarket. Among the arrests, a police woman and her boyfriend.
Jim Bittermann live for the latest with us from Paris this morning.
Jim, bring us up to speed.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Even more surprising, Christine, the policewoman worked at the intelligence agency for the French police, Gendarme, out in the eastern suburbs of Paris. The fact is that apparently, according to artificial sources and we don't have any of this officially yet and won't have until the prosecutor gets done with the questioning.
But in any case, unofficially, she was the girlfriend of one of those others who were brought in for questioning. He was an acquaintance according to the unofficial source. The acquaintance of Amedy Coulibaly and close to the kosher supermarket when made a cell phone call back in January to Coulibaly.
So, they are investigating the links between these two and all four and especially the policewoman, which raised a lot of eyebrows here. Exactly, what did she know? She, in fact, had told her superiors that she knew Coulibaly, and she has been suspended for the last three or four weeks from her job at the intelligence center -- Christine. ROMANS: So interesting. All right. As those investigations continue
after the Paris terror attack.
Thank you so much, Jim Bittermann in Paris.
BERMAN: Twenty minutes after the hour right now.
Vladimir Putin has long claimed the annexation of Crimea was the will of the people. Well, maybe, but people includes Vladimir Putin. We have new information about what he might have said a lot sooner than many people thought. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Testimony will resume later this morning in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. On Monday, jurors heard more gut-wrenching testimony from the victims. They also saw compilation of images from new surveillance video showing the Tsarnaev brothers before and after the bombs went off. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged in the attack that left three people dead and 264 injured. Prosecutors there are seeking the death penalty.
ROMANS: The crisis in Ukraine will be the subject of a Senate hearing today, looking at ways to counter Russian aggression. Meantime, Vladimir Putin is revealing for the first time that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the Crimean referendum on self- determination. Putin has previously said the referendum was the main reason for Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
BERMAN: Relations between the United States and Venezuela are going from bad to worse. President Obama has issued an executive order that declares Venezuela a threat to national security. Seven Venezuelan government officials were also sanctioned for human rights violations. The Venezuelan president responding to the measures is responding to the measures and accusing the U.S. of trying to topple his government.
ROMANS: A group of Israeli cave explorers stumbled across an ancient treasure. Silver coins and jewelry that archeologist estimated are more than 2,000 years old. They say two silver coins were minted during the reign of Alexander the Great, with his image on one side, and a message of Zeus on the other. Experts believe the valuables may have been hidden by local residents who fled there during a period of unrest.
BERMAN: It's just plain cool.
ROMANS: It is.
BERMAN: All right. A comic genius has died. Sam Simon, co- creator of "The Simpsons" and a legendary philanthropist as well. He gave millions of dollars to charitable causes, most notably to rescue animals and feed the hungry after diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2013. He pledged to donate all of his fortune to charity.
Sam Simon died on Monday. He was 59. He was associated with "The Simpsons" for four years. He actually had a little bit of an unamicable parting with Matt Groening, but he made a lot of money off "The Simpsons". He was a key part of sort of formulating what has become over all these decades.
ROMANS: Clearly, very talented man.
BERMAN: Very talented. He wrote, I guess, "Taxi", and "Cheers" also.
ROMANS: All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
Zero tolerance, that's the commitment from Oklahoma University's president after a video showed a racist chant from members of a fraternity. We'll tell you what's being done to ensure bigotry on campus will not stand.
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