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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Investigators Search for Missouri Police Shooter; Secret Service Scrutiny; Kerry in Egypt; Kyrie Irving Scores Career High 57 Points

Aired March 13, 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: Happening now: an intense search for the gunman who shot two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. Tensions escalating after the violence. We are live with the very latest.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. Great to see you today. It is Friday, March 13th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We are going to begin with the manhunt in Ferguson, Missouri, searching for the person or persons who shot two police officers. We are told now, there are two persons of interest that the police are looking for.

The officers were shot as the protests were winding down early Thursday morning. Those officers have been released from the hospital. One does still have a bullet lodged behind his ear. These were the first officers to be shot at a Ferguson protest in more than seven months since the Michael Brown killing. So far, several people have been questioned and released by police. There have been no arrests.

Overnight, the streets of Ferguson were relatively calm with security now overseen by county state and county police.

I want to get an update from the streets in Ferguson. Let's bring in CNN's Ryan Young who is there.

Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

A lot of people talking about the video. The scary images of obviously being able to hear those bullets whizzing by as they hit the two officers. That investigation still ongoing with the two people identified by officers who they have not told us who they are looking for, but right now, that manhunt still continues.

Now, overnight, they did have a vigil where the clergy were asking for calm. We saw that on the streets of Ferguson. A small group of protesters did arrive and did march in the streets, but nothing like the night before. Obviously, there is a lot of rain going on right now. That may have helped people stay away.

But law enforcements have been talking about the two officers being shot. Obviously, a lot of them talking about protecting the people as well as protecting the protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JERRY LOHR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY PD: It's not every day a fellow officer gets shot or gets hurt. And so, this is kind a reality check for us. It's an ugly reminder of the hazards of profession.

And it certainly plays into the minds. It certainly plays into the thought process. You know, guys coming out here tonight versus guys coming out here two weeks ago, obviously, there is a different mindset, because it's now to become a reality -- a painful reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: A reality check that officers are talking about. We have seen a lot of that on social media. We know the community is calling in and trying to talk about the muzzle flashes that were 125 yards away as the investigation continues and they continue to look for two people. We heard for calm being called even from the Michael Brown family, saying they do not want officers attacked. And this investigation continues.

BERMAN: All right. Ryan Young for us in Ferguson -- thanks so much, Ryan.

ROMANS: Overnight, President Obama spoke out about those police shootings during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show. The president offered hopes and prayers for the wounded officers and said he hopes the shootings will not overshadow the issue of racial bias in policing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What had been happening in Ferguson was oppressive and objectionable and was worthy of protest. But there was no excuse for criminal acts. And whoever fired those shots shouldn't detract from the issue. They're criminals. They need to be arrested.

And then, what we need to do is make sure that like-minded good spirited people on both sides, law enforcement who have a terrifically tough job and people who understandably don't want to be stopped and harassed just because of their race, that we're able to work together to try to come up with some good answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The working theory from investigators in Ferguson is those shots were fired by handgun from as far as 125 yards. If true, that is a remarkable feat of marksmanship, which is why some people have doubts about exactly were those gunshots came from.

With more on that part of the investigation, I want to bring in our Tom Foreman in CNN's virtual studio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's look at this crime scene from several different angles. And we start with the basic map. There's the police station over there. The big wide road in front of it, that's South Florissant road. And off to the side here, you see Tiffin Avenue.

Tiffin Avenue in the past has been the site from where some of the more violent interlopers into these protests have emerged. And there have been shots up here in previous protests.

So, here is the scene when the shooting took place. Police were still in front of the police station, protecting it. About 100 protesters remained. The group was breaking up across the street there when these shots came in from somewhere up Tiffin Avenue, according to the eyewitnesses.

Let's go down to the street level and look at this. When say up Tiffin Avenue, we do mean up, because it is a hill. So, it's fully possible that shots could be fired from that hill, they could fly in over the heads of the protesters and strike the police on the other side of the road.

But if you rotate this around and look directly up Tiffin Avenue, you could see why investigators have doubts about that, because the shots would have originated right at the limit of sight there and traveled 100 to 125 yards to get here based on these accounts. That's a really long shot for a pistol. They can be effective at that range, they can be lethal at that range, very hard, though, to be controlled very well and put the shot where somebody might want to put it.

That's much more likely to happen with even a skilled marksman at something like this range about a quarter or a less than the distance we are talking about. That doesn't mean it was fired from over here from the protesters, but it does mean that investigators have to look very seriously at that possibility.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Questions remain.

There are new details this morning about the high ranking Secret Service agents reassigned after allegedly driving under the influence through a crime scene. Among the new pieces of information are the names of those agents. A source tells CNN that one of the top supervisor in the Washington field office, George Ogilvie. The other is Mark Connolly, a high ranking member of the president's security detail. We are also learning that it was days before the head of the Secret Service learned what happened here.

Let's get more now from our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski -- Michelle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.

Well, we're now finding out that the new director of the Secret Service who has put in place to try to clean up the agency's problems didn't even find out about this incident until about five days after it happened. That might have been later than some staff at the White House knew about it.

So, law enforcement sources now are telling us, of course, that shouldn't have happened. He should have been notified immediately and somewhere along the line of communication, it failed.

These sources, though, are also now pushing back against the growing outrage out there over there as well as some of the reporting, that these agents allegedly slammed through a crime scene investigation. It was investigating a suspicious package, and that they ended up slamming into a White House barrier or gate.

So, they are saying it did not quite happen that way. They say apparently these agents who are in the same government car drove under some crime scene tape that was there. They didn't drive over any evidence, but drove right past it. But that they were literally going one mile an hour, according to these sources, who also say that they merely nudged one of those orange barrel type barriers out of the way a few feet with their car so they could get to the first checkpoint.

Well, sources say that at this checkpoint, they rolled their windows, showed their badges for about 25 seconds and without incident were cleared through to the next checkpoint. They didn't need to roll down their window for that one, that their car was checked for explosives, and then they were on their way.

These sources say that this all lasted about a minute. There was no crash. No damage to the vehicle. And the agents never even got out of their car.

The fact is, though, there is that allegation that they were drinking. There was a suspicion that they might have been drunk. And also, the allegation is out there that a superior let them go home even though other officers at the scene allegedly thought that they should be at least tested for alcohol if not arrested.

All of this, of course, under investigation within the Department of Homeland Security -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle, thank you for that, Michelle.

Republican lawmakers today may formally request access to Hillary Clinton's e-mails from her tenure as secretary of state. The House Oversight Committee is prepared to subpoena the messages and Mrs. Clinton if necessary, to answer questions about her use of a private e-mail account to conduct government business. Clinton says it was a matter of convenience. A State Department spokesperson says, at the time, Clinton did not have a government-issued BlackBerry.

BERMAN: California, New York and 12 other states throwing their support behind President Obama's immigration plan, which would shield millions of people living in the country illegally from being deported. Attorneys are asking an appeals court to lift the order by a Texas federal judge that froze the Obama plan or to limit its effect to the 26 states that are suing to stop the executive actions on immigration.

ROMANS: All right. About ten minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this Friday morning.

U.S. stock futures are up following yesterday's strong rally. The Dow climbed 260 points, that's 1.5 percent, led by banking stocks. Big banks passed the Federal Reserve stress test. Morgan Stanley climbed 6 percent, Citigroup rose 3 percent.

But a lot of questions -- major questions remained about the timing of an interest rate hike from the Fed, and that means we could see more swings as investors speculate on the Fed's plan. It has been a wild week, 333 point drop earlier in the week, but yesterday, stocks are now up once again for the year.

For some perspective here, stock markets are very close to the record high. The Dow about 2 percent away from the record, the S&P and NASDAQ not far behind.

All right. Dramatic new surveillance video released in the Boston marathon bombing case. A man carjacked by one of the bombers shares his terrifying story after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Dramatic testimony in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Jurors for the first time hearing from the man who was carjacked at gunpoint by the Tsarnaev brothers shortly after they allegedly killed an MIT police officer. The victim described his harrowing ride and terrifying decision to escape.

Let's get more now from CNN's Deb Feyerick in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, the man who was carjacked by the Tsarnaev brothers took the stand and testified about his harrowing ordeal. He talked about how Tamerlan got into the car, pointed a pistol at him and said, "Do you know the Boston marathon explosions? I did it. I just killed a policeman in Cambridge."

The brothers took their hostage to a gas station where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went inside and bought snacks for a trip to New York, according to Meng. And that's when Meng decided he was going to make a run for it. He quickly slipped out of the car, racing as fast as he could across the street. Surveillance video showing him entering a mini mart and begging the clerk who is very confused to call 911. Well, the clerk did call 911. Police spoke to him on the line and

realized that this was the break they had been waiting for.

The Tsarnaev brothers quickly leaving their path, their destruction about to end -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: The GPS in the car critical for authorities trying to find those two men.

All right. A gun expert being grilled by both sides of the Aaron Hernandez trial. The Glock employee identified a black object that Hernandez was holding in surveillance video. He's holding that black item in his hand just after Odin Lloyd was killed. The company employee saying it was a gun in hand, and it was a Glock gun. The actual murder weapon has not been found.

Now, the judge denied a defense request to strike his entire testimony but did instruct jurors to disregard part of it.

BERMAN: An American health care worker who contracted Ebola in West Africa is being flown to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland for treatment. Officials say the person was volunteering at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone. This is the second patient to be treated at NIH. The first, Texas nurse Nina Pham, recovered and was released five months ago free of the disease.

Clowning for cancer in the Cactus League. Amazing pictures yesterday. That's Will Ferrell playing every position there is in spring training. Andy Scholes with the performance in the "Bleacher Report" next.

ROMANS: Retirement is a lot more than golf and bingo. How does sailing around the world sound to you?

CNN Money caught up with one couple who saved, planned and retired their way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX, RETIREE: To be on a sailboat and be free is something I craved all my life. You get to appreciate the rhythms of nature, you see a whale swim alongside the boat and roll and look at me and roll back down. It's just something you just never get in any other way unless you make the effort to cross an ocean.

We retired in May of 2014, and we have been living on this boat ever since. A lot of sailing when I was in my mother's womb, and they -- honestly, and they took me cruising when I was a year old or so. My dad was a great sailor. My grandfather was a great sailor. It was just in my blood.

I got back from a sailing trip in 1985 and started working for a little company at $5.50 an hour, just doing whatever needed to be done and it ended becoming CFO of that company. We were able to put in 25 percent of our income into a 401(k). And I did, I maxed it out. To me, it was a means to an end. That was able to support sailing trips.

LYNNI, RETIREE: When we were dating, he just gotten the boat. I love being on the water. We would go for weekend cruises and stuff. It's just great and it's beautiful. He's such a good sailor, I always felt safe.

MAX: My father died in 1999. That was kind of a big momentous thing in my life, and that reminded me that life is short, and that you need to go do the things you wanted to do. So, I ended up buying this boat.

We retired in May of 2014. In June, we sailed from Maine to the Azores, which took 13 days. We left there on August 5th and sailed nine days right off to England.

Our ultimate goal was to get to Norway. So, he we are. We're set up nicely so that this may we'll start working up the East Coast and sail as far north as we can, hopefully getting up to the Arctic Circle and the Lofoten Islands in Norway and work our way back.

You can never been scared because you can't be scared for 30 days nonstop. What you do is just break it down and take one wave at a time. You don't worry about tomorrow. You don't worry about yesterday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: What a performance last night. Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, he's put on the show that even had LeBron James in awe.

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

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, the crowd in San Antonio came to see LeBron James play in their home town, first, but it was LeBron's teammate who stole the show, to say he was on fire is an understatement. Kyrie scored a career high 57 points, that's the most in the league this season. But none bigger than this clutch three-pointer at the end of regulation to force the game into overtime. And then, he was just Kyrie-diculous in the extra period, leading Cleveland to a huge 128-125 win.

This next highlight is going to make you very happy this morning, Christine. Iowa State and Texas tied at closing seconds. Monte Morris at the buzzer. Cyclones come back to beat the Longhorns, 69- 67. They play OU in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. And it is almost that time. Selection Sunday now just two days away.

Fourteen years after she refused to play in the tournament again, Serena Williams has returned to Indian Wells. She will take the court today for the first time since she won in 2001 and was a target of racist abuse throughout the finals. The world number one player said it has been difficult to forget spending hours crying in the locker room after winning. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: To be honest, I was nervous. In the beginning, I was thought, what was I thinking? But I kind of had to overcome that hurdle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Williams has a first round bye. So, she will start her tournament today in the second round.

Will Ferrell did something that no major league player has ever done, playing for ten different teams in one day. Ferrell traveled by helicopter to five different stadiums in the Cactus League. He played all nine positions on the field.

The 47-year-old journeyman struck out at the plate. He was strong at the field. Ferrell's day was part of the HBO special from Funny or Die, in partnership with Major League Baseball to support the fight against cancer. Awesome stuff.

All right. The fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is less than two months away. This week, I sat down with both fighters to talk about the huge match up.

And if you didn't know, Pacquiao, he has an impressive voice. He is going to enter the ring on May 2nd to his own song. So, I asked him to give us a preview. Take a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

SCHOLES: The song is called "I will fight for the Philippines", guys. He says it really gets him in the mindset to get in the ring to start boxing.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: I had a chance to meet Manny Pacquiao. He actually does a ridiculous sort of Scottish accent.

SCHOLES: Yes, very well.

BERMAN: He recites lines from "Braveheart." It is amazing to hear him do that because it's spot on.

SCHOLES: Multitalented individual, Manny Pacquiao.

BERMAN: Indeed.

Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

Twenty-five minutes after the hour.

Happening now: police searching for the gunman or gunmen who shot two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. President Obama now weighing in. We have new developments overnight. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)