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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Racist Fraternity Video Fallout Grows; Obama & GOP Battle Over Iran; Taking Back Tikrit; Putin Reveals Crimea Takeover Plot
Aired March 10, 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: Sent packing. A fraternity at the University of Oklahoma booted from campus after this video shows students engaged in a racist chant. We have new developments from campus and community just moments away.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Another war of words between the president and Republicans, this time over Iran. The GOP doubling down on Tehran, warning it has final say over nuclear deal. Forceful reactions from the president and vice president, ahead.
BERMAN: The Iraqis appear on the verge of retaking Tikrit from ISIS. America's top general vows the terror group will be defeated. We have new information and a live report from Baghdad just minutes away.
Welcome back to "early start." I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, 30 minutes past the hour.
New fallout this morning from the leak of a disturbing -- a disturbing video at the University of Oklahoma. Fraternity members' racist chant had led the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon organization to close that chapter. The university evicting members from the fraternity house, the house this weekend vandalized with the message "tear it down".
OU president David Boren announced Monday he would seek the permanent expulsion of SAE members involved, especially those leading that chant.
BERMAN: And these repercussions, they could just be beginning. A top Sooner football recruit from Dallas has declared he is decommitting and will go elsewhere.
Current football player Eric Striker angrily denounced the racist video on Snapchat. He told CNN he was hurt by the damage the video that was done to the school's reputation and 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)
BERMAN: Early Monday, hundreds of students marched silently to protest the video. It wasn't just students, it's faculty members, people in the community. They were joined by the university president, president David Boren, a long time U.S. senator, by the way. He declared that real Sooners are not racists.
New demonstrations planned for the day in 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. They walked out of classes and peacefully marched to the state capital.
Let's get the latest from Madison, CNN's Ryan Young is there.
(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)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Ryan Young for that.
An embattled judge in Ferguson, Missouri, has resigned. The action comes after a scathing report accusing Ronald Brockmeyer to fund his office on the backs of poor minorities. Judge Roy Richter will now take his post. Besides hearing Ferguson's pending and future city cases, the Missouri Supreme Court is also tasking Richter with making, quote, "needed changes to help restore public trust and confidence in the Ferguson courts. Richter begins his new post starting March 16th.
ROMANS: New this morning: the White House and Republicans crossing swords after practically every Republican in the Senate signs an open letter to Iran. That letter declaring that any nuclear deal with Iran could be null and void after the president leaves office, unless Congress has its say.
Leading the charge is Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
(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)
ROMANS: The White House says frankly Republicans are meddling here. The president suggesting Senate Republicans are essentially forming an alliance with Iranian hardliners who also oppose a nuclear deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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. I think what we're going to focus on right now is actually seeing whether we can get a deal or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Vice President Joe Biden lashing out, lashing out at Senate Republicans in a statement. He says, "The letter expressly designed to undercut a sitting the president in the midst of sensitive international negotiations is beneath the dignity of the institution I revere. This letter in a 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.
Nuclear talks with Iran resumes when Secretary of State Kerry meets with his Iranian counterpart in Switzerland on March 15th.
BERMAN: New developments in the bloody struggle for the control of Tikrit. Iraqi forces along with Shiite militias, getting a lot of support from Iran, have been on the offense for a solid week, trying to liberate the birth place of Saddam Hussein from ISIS. America's top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey, he is in Baghdad vowing that ISIS will be defeated.
I want to get the latest from Baghdad, CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is there.
Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Yes, General Dempsey was here. He met with Iraqi officials, the prime minister and defense minister. And he had a clear message. He wanted to remind the Iraqis that the United States and international coalition against is are in fact in his words leading the fight and they will lead to the destruction of ISIS.
Eventually, the United States, it has been pointed out and international coalition members have launched more than 2,000 air strikes on ISIS targets in Iran and in Syria. The United States obviously very focused on an eventual offensive to drive ISIS out of Mosul, which is, of course, the second largest city in Iraq, and a place where its expected there will be a lot of resistance from ISIS when that operation eventually happens.
Now, at the moment, though, all eyes in Iraq are on the battle in Tikrit. It has been going on, as you said, for a week. What we have seen is the Iraqi army appears to be playing a supporting role for a variety of predominately Shia militias.
Yesterday, we were up at the front. We saw that within three days, they advanced 50 miles just to the edge of Tikrit itself. We saw rocket launchers, mortars and heavy artillery all lined up and ready to go. We watched, in fact, as they went in for a midday attack on a town just to the east of Tikrit.
But, of course, there is a sizable Iranian involvement in this operation. I spoke to three or four Iranian advisers at the frontline. They told me in broken Arabic that they were volunteers. But when we spoke to the commander of the biggest militia on the frontline, he said that as far as the international coalition goes, he says, we don't need it and we won't need it. And another commander at the front told me when it comes to the Iranian advisers, it is better to have four on the frontline than 400 American advisers sitting in the Green Zone in Baghdad.
BERMAN: Interesting to see how this complicates matters going forward. Ben Wedeman in Baghdad, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Two French Olympic medalists among ten killed in an apparent midair helicopter collusion in Argentina. Gold medal winning swimmer Camille Muffat and bronze medal boxer Alexis Vastine 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 show.
BERMAN: The U.S. ambassador to South Korea has been released from the hospital. Mark Lippert says he is doing well and he is grateful to everyone who reached out after he was stabbed last week, really slashed in the face last week before a speech. Lippert plans to return to work soon now that more than 80 stitches in his face had been removed.
The man who attacked him, Kim Ki-jong, faces attempted murder charges. He's undergoing surgery today for a broken ankle suffered when authorities tackled him.
New arrests linked to the Paris terror attack. Four people had been taken into custody with alleged ties to Amedy Coulibaly. The gunman and hostage taker, of course, at the kosher supermarket. Among those arrested: a policewoman and her boyfriend. All are charged with providing logistical support. The policewoman reportedly worked at the police intelligence center east of Paris.
ROMANS: Hillary Clinton is ready to publicly comment on the e-mail scandal that has been dogging her for weeks. A news conference or a sit down interview could come within 48 hours, according to a source. Clinton expected to say she did use a classified government e-mail system at the State Department, but could not use it with her BlackBerry because the system was too antiquated of handling new technology.
Meanwhile, the White House says the president and Mrs. Clinton did exchange e-mails during her tenure at the State Department, suggesting that the president knew she was using a private e-mail account.
Another incident involving a train and a vehicle on the tracks. This happened Monday in North Carolina. A New York-bound Amtrak train slamming into a tractor-trailer that got stuck, trying to make a difficult turn. That tractor-trailer pulling a mobile home, we're told.
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. Apparently, the arms of the crossing gate were not down when it's beginning of this incident. But they got stuck on that track and it's just harrowing there.
BERMAN: All right. Forty minutes after the hour.
It is tube top weather. The early thaw coming across the country.
Let's get the latest from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, the wet weather really going to be hampering a lot of travel across parts of the south, mainly around the Gulf Coast and eventually by the early afternoon hours, some of the wet storms will make their way towards Washington, Philly and New York, I think really after 2:00, 3:00 there into the afternoon, we'll get some about a half an inch at the moment, generally under one inch of rainfall in the forecast.
But there is the bull's-eye right there, over central and eastern Tennessee, four to six inches possible, through the remainder of this week, well, around the Carolina coast, upwards of an inch of rainfall. But, you know, a lot talk, of course, in recent months about historic snow across the country. Historic snow for a daily record came down in Italy in recent days, 101 inches came down in 18 hours across the mountains of southern Italy.
Silver Lake, Colorado, that's where the record was in place for the previous most snow in one day, 76 inches back into the 1920s. Boston, if you are curious, almost 106 inches have come down for the entire winter season. These 106 inches, by the way, would be taller than the world's tallest leading man right now, which is 8 foot 3 inches, this would be a little more than this height. Pretty impressive sight.
ROMANS: Pedram, thanks for that prospective.
Forty-two minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money.
The market, probably will open lower despite those solid gains on Monday. Markets in Europe and Asia are down. New estimates show the president's landmark health care reform will cost less than projected. The Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare will cost $506 million over the next five years. That's 29 percent lower than the initial estimate back in 2010.
Now, the reasons for the decline, moderate growth in health care spending, slower enrollment, and the Supreme Court ruling that allow states to decide whether to expand medicate. Over the next 10 years rather, 22 million Americans are expected to enroll in the exchanges, but 25 million will likely remain uninsured.
That was a big surprise.
BERMAN: And it is, and for whatever reasons, if that cost curve bends down, that's good for the economy. So, let's hope.
Forty-three minutes after the hour.
So, what came first? The plan to annex Crimea or the vote to make it happen? For the first time, Vladimir Putin with words to suggest some curious things here. We'll have a live report right after the break.
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BERMAN: The crisis in Ukraine will be the subject of a Senate hearing today, looking at ways to counter Russian aggression. Vladimir Putin is revealing for the first time that the plan to annex Crimea was in the works before the referendum in Crimea for self-determination.
Let's go to CNN's Phil Black to get the latest on this.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Well, we had only a tease, really, of Putin's latest comments on this. They come in a video clip promotion for a documentary that is set to air on Russian television imminently. But in this clip, President Putin describes a top level Russian government meeting that took place on February 22nd last year to discuss the unfolding events in Ukraine, just after the central government fell there.
And in it, he said to his colleagues who are assembled, that "we are forced to begin the work to bring Crimea back into Russia."
Now, previously, President Putin had said that he only made the decision to annex that previously Ukrainian territory after a referendum was held there, showing overwhelming support for such a move. That referendum took place several weeks after the meeting in which President Putin now says he first gave the order.
It is not the first time that the Russian president changed his version of events as they unfolded in Crimea, particularly, you remember those little green men, those heavily soldiers in unarmed uniforms, but President Putin insisted were not Russian soldiers, he said they were local militia, but conceded later on that, yes, the Russian military was involved in that initial military occupation of that Ukraine peninsula. Now, these remarks, this documentary, it is clearly set to mark the upcoming first anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. It is perhaps not a complete surprise that President Putin is so brazen in discussing the decision making process, despite the fact it has triggered widespread criticism, economic sanctions, because, of course, all of this has made him popular back home, among his Russian audience, John.
BERMAN: Deny, deny, deny. Well, OK, I did it.
Phil Black for us covering this, thanks so much, Phil.
ROMANS: All right. They have been buried for thousands of years. Some new coins and jewelry have been uncovered by explorers. The exciting find, we'll tell you where and how it might have gotten there.
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ROMANS: Testimony will resume later this morning in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. On Monday, jurors heard more just emotional, gut-wrenching testimony from the victims. They also saw compilation of images from surveillance video showing these two brothers, the Tsarnaev brothers before and after the bombs went off. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged in that attack that left three people dead and 264 injured. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
BERMAN: A group of Israeli cave explorers stumbled an ancient treasure, silver coins and jewelry that archaeologists estimate are more than 2,000 years old. They say the two silver coins minted under the reign of Alexander the Great. That's a long time ago. His image is on one side. An image of Zeus is on the other. Experts believe the valuables were hidden in a cave by local residents who fled during a period of unrest.
ROMANS: All right. You may not know the name Sam Simon, but he was a Hollywood heavyweight in his own right. Simon was co- creator of "The Simpsons" and a legendary philanthropist. He gave millions to charitable causes, most notably the Rescue Animals and Feed the Hungry. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2013, he pledged to donate all of his fortune to charity. Sam Simon, he died Monday. He was 59 years old.
BERMAN: HBO's new screening service coming to a screen near you. But which screen and how much? We have an early start on your money, next.
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ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
U.S. futures down slightly, stocks in Europe and Asia are lower. But the market had a nice rally yesterday. Investors in a buying mood on the sixth anniversary of the bull market. That helped the Dow and S&P 500 turned positive for 2015. The NASDAQ is the big winner so far this year. Look at that, it's up about 4 percent.
HBO is coming to Apple for $14.99 a month. Apple customers will be watch on Apple TVs, iPhones, and iPads, without a cable subscription. It is called HBO Now. It is the first for the company, which is owned by the Time Warner, parent of CNN. It will be available in April exclusively to Apple customers, but will likely expand to distributors after three months.
An Ivy League education going digital. Yale will begin offering a master of medical science degree for students who want to become physician assistants. That's according to "The Wall Street Journal".
The program begins next year. The same emission standards will apply to both the campus and online program. More than 1,000 people apply for about 40 spots on campus each year -- just 40 spots, 1,000 applicants. Yale tells "The Journal' it could enroll hundreds more with the online program.
BERMAN: Interesting to see that.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.
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