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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Manhunt For Missouri Gunman; Secret Service Scrutiny; Stocks Up For The Year; Carjack Victim Testifies At Tsarnaev Trial; The Battle For Tikrit

Aired March 13, 2015 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: investigators searching for the gunman or gunmen who shot two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. We are live on the ground with the latest.

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour this Friday morning.

And tensions remain high in Ferguson, Missouri, this morning. The two police officers shot as the protest was winding down early Thursday. They have been released from the hospital. They were the first officers shot at a Ferguson protests, the only officer shot a Ferguson protest in more than seven months since the Michael Brown killing.

A manhunt is on to locate the gunman or gunmen with several people questioned and released by police. No arrests. Overnight, the streets of Ferguson were peaceful. Security now overseen by state and county police.

From Ferguson this morning, I want to bring in CNN's Ryan Young with the very latest. Good morning, Ryan. Those police officers have been sent home. One still has a bullet lodged behind his ear. Now the search is on for who did it.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Obviously a lot of people in this community feeling for those two officers, of course, they have been released. Overnight, we saw clergy calling for calm especially in the wake of the shooting.

Now, of course, they were not engaged with any protesters when the shots were fired from some 125 yards away. We do know somebody is cooperating with police. That is how they've been able to develop these two suspects. They are not sharing their names or any information about them.

But obviously last night we saw some protesters hitting the streets, a lot smaller of a group. What could play a role is the rain falling. There is a call for calm through the community for people to have some restraint after these two officers have been shot.

Now of course, the law enforcement community has been talking about this. Obviously several months of protesting without something like this happening in terms of two officers being shot. That is something they are talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JERRY LOHR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY PD: It is not every day that a fellow officer gets shot or gets hurt. This is a reality check for us. It is an ugly reminder of one of the hazards of the profession and it certainly plays into the minds and 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 is a reality, a painful reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Our cameras were rolling as S.W.A.T. teams were move throughout neighborhoods and actually detain people. Those people have been released so far. Obviously police still working to find suspects involved in the shooting.

Once again, people calling for calm. Michael Brown's family even saying they don't want law enforcement officers targeted. It's an ongoing conversation especially within this community as one woman telling us that she did not like to see this sort of violence around here -- Christine.

ROMANS: Ryan Young, thank you for that, Ryan, from Ferguson.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, President Obama weighed in on the police shootings. He was with Jimmy Kimmel on his late night 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 OF AMERICA: 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. 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)

BERMAN: Right now, the working theory from investigators in Ferguson is the shots were fired by a handgun from as far as 125 yards. That's pretty far. Impressive marksmanship if it was from a handgun. Some people have their doubts.

With more on that part of the investigation, I want to bring in Tom Forman in CNN's Virtual Studio.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's look at this crime scene from several different angles and we start with the basic map. There is the police station over there, the big wide road in front of it. That is South Florissant Road. Off to the side is Tiffin Avenue.

Tiffin Avenue in the past has been the site from where some of the more violent interlopers have emerged in previous protests. Here is the scene when the shooting took place. Police were still in front of the police station protecting it.

About 100 protesters remain. 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 we say up Tiffin Avenue, we do mean up because it is a hill. It is fully possible that shots could be fired from up that hill and 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 you look directly up Tiffin Avenue, you can 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 and they can be lethal at that range. Very hard to be controlled very well and put the shot where somebody might want to put it.

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

ROMANS: All right, Tom Foreman, thanks for that.

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, the names of those agents, a source tells CNN, one is a top supervisor in the Washington field office, George Ogilvy and 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 even learned what had happened. We get more now from White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine, we are finding out that the new director of the Secret Service, who was 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 even 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 this 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 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 were in the same government car drove under some crime scene tape that was there. They did not drive over any evidence, but drove right past it.

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.

Sources say at this checkpoint, they showed their badges for about 25 seconds and without incident were cleared through to the next checkpoint. They did not even need to roll down their window for that one. That their car was checked for explosives and they were on their way.

These sources say that this all lasted about a minute. There was no crash. No damage to the vehicle. The agents never even got out of their car. The fact is, though, there is the allegation that they were drinking and a suspicion that they might have been drunk.

Also the allegation is out there that a supervisor 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.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Michelle for that report. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Egypt ahead of the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran. He has a lot on his agenda there, Iran, ISIS, and instability in the Middle East.

He will be meeting with Palestinian leaders and Egyptian president and the leader of Jordan, King Abdullah. CNN's Ian Lee is tracking all the developments for us live from Cairo. This is really just the beginning of a crucial trip for the secretary.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, John. Secretary Kerry is meeting with Egyptian President Sissi. It's about to take place in a half hour or so. They will talk about an array of issues. Secretary Kerry is in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Charmelcik for a large economic conference.

But top on the agenda is security and improving relations. The Egyptian and U.S. relationship is solid. Things have been cool between the Egyptian president and Washington. He is going to try to improve that relationship, but also the battle against ISIS.

Egypt is facing that in the Sinai Peninsula, but talking to security officials. It is their western border with Libya that keeps them up at night. Washington and Cairo have not seen eye-to-eye in how to battle ISIS in Libya.

Egypt wants a more direct approach giving weapons to the internationally recognized government and a blockade. Washington wants a diplomatic solution getting all the factions together to form a unified front.

Egypt is also going to be talking about weaponry. Egypt gets about $1.5 billion in military aid every year. Some of those weapons have been withheld since the 2013 coup. That includes weapons systems for the F-16s, Apache helicopters and tanks, things that Egypt says they desperately need in their battle against ISIS -- John.

BERMAN: Ian Lee for us again, a bunch of important meetings for the secretary on this trip. Thanks so much, Ian.

ROMANS: All right, time for an EARLY START on your money Friday edition. Asian stocks up this morning, Japan's benchmark, look at that, surging 1.4 percent. European shares also higher so stocks futures in the U.S. here.

Yesterday, the Dow climbed 260 points, another big swing in the wild week. It included a 333-point plunge on Tuesday. So now with yesterday's gains, stocks are again higher for the year. Banks stocks led the rally after the big banks passed the Federal Reserve stress test.

But the big question still remains when will the Federal Reserve raise interest rates and how will the economy respond? The fed will raise rates. It will happen eventually.

BERMAN: Come to grips with that fact.

All right, 20 minutes until the hour right now, carjacked by the Boston marathon bombers. Dramatic video capturing the moments that one kidnapped driver managed to get away. We will talk about this next.

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ROMANS: More dramatic testimony at the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Jurors hearing from a man who was carjacked at gunpoint by the Tsarnaev brothers shortly after they allegedly killed an MIT police officer. The victim describing his harrowing ride and the terrifying decision he made to escape.

We get more from CNN's Deb Feyerick in Boston. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, the man who has carjacked by the Tsarnaev brothers took the stand and he testified about his harrowing ordeal. He talked about how Tamerlan got into the car and pointed a pistol at him and said do you know the Boston marathon explosions, I did it.

I just killed a police man in Cambridge. The brothers took their hostage to a gas station where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went inside and began buying snacks for a trip to New York, according to Meng. That is when Meng decided he is 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 frantically begging the clerk, who was confused to call 911.

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.

BERMAN: All right, thanks to Deb Feyerick for that. There was a lot of news this morning. I want to bring in Chris Cuomo, who is anchoring from Ferguson for "NEW DAY." Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": John, Christine, how are you? The obvious story is who shot those two police officers. We are looking at it from different angles. There is a lot of confusion here. You have to remember the setting. The protesters were disbursing. That is when the gunfire happened.

So you have a lot of people moving in different directions. The investigators are moving very hard. We are told that a large amount of resources are being dedicated to this.

It is fundamental not just to give justice to the officers, but the community dynamic is destabilized. The community is already on edge that is no surprise. With this, it is something that has to have resolution as quickly as possible. We will tell you where the options are and the investigation.

Alisyn and Michaela in New York are following other stories and information about the Secret Service agents who allegedly drove drunk and new details Iran nuclear talks. They will resume this weekend. How will it be in the shadow of the letter from Congress? That is what we have, John and Christine, on this Friday, the 13th.

BERMAN: All right, big show, Chris, look forward to it, thanks so much.

ROMANS: ISIS, embracing a new partnership as the terrorists fight Iraqi forces for control of a crucial city. We are live for you in Iraq right after the break.

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BERMAN: ISIS has a new ally accepting a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram, this new alliance already evident online. Boko Haram's Twitter account features a new look and more video messages seeming to use the ISIS recruiting style.

A top U.S. general is warning lawmakers that ISIS operates can now easily enter the U.S. from the Caribbean in South America, but the terror group is on the verge of a significant setback in Iraq. Nearly all of the ISIS forces have now been driven out of Tikrit.

Let's get the latest on that key battle for that key city. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live in Baghdad this morning. Jomana, what is the latest?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, 12 days after Iraqi forces, that force that is primarily made up of Iranian backed Shi'a militias, launched this offensive to recapture the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad that fell to ISIS in June of last year.

The fighters are saying they are very close. They say in a matter of a few days they will capture all of Tikrit. So far, they say they have controlled over more than 70 percent of that city.

Now what is slowing them down, they say, is that ISIS is not giving up the city easily. Along the way, they say that the roads have been planted with hundreds of improvised explosive devices and booby traps in an attempt to halt the advance and attempt to slow them down.

But it does seem it is a matter of time before these forces capture Tikrit and this is going to be considered a major victory. It's the first major city to be captured by the Iraqi forces and, of course, victory for Iran that has been playing a significant role on the battlefield supporting the Iraqi forces -- John.

BERMAN: Jomana for us keeping an eye on the situation in Iraq. Thanks so much, Jomana.

ROMANS: All right, it is a good thing you are married because engagement rings, wedding dress, party favors, it turns you can put a price on true love and it is mindblowing. That's next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Friday morning. Stocks mostly higher around the world, it looks like U.S. stock futures following that lead. Yesterday, good day for the Dow up 260 points, another big swing in a big wild week included a 330-point plunge on Tuesday. With yesterday's gains, stocks are up once again for the year.

You can now trade stocks for free. No commission. Sound unlikely, but it is possible with the app, Robinhood. There were 800,000 people on the wait list. Now the founders have decided to open it up for everyone. They said it is attracting a new kind of investor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have seen especially traction with first time investors, millennial consumers. Our average customer is 26 years old, which is a different demographic than other financial institutions have seen. It is someone starting out with a few hundred dollars in their account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The question is will the company be able to make money in the long run if you don't charge any commissions.

Tying the knot, I hope you saved money because the average wedding cost is $31,000, up 4 percent from 2013. The biggest cost, the venue averages about $14,000, the engagement ring is next about $6,000.

Couples in Manhattan have the biggest tab. They spent $76,000. That is actually down, by the way, from 2013. Utah is the cheapest at $15,000, 76, you could start a company for $76,000.

BERMAN: Elope. Don't do it. Put the money away. Get married. It's a wonderful thing, dear, but $76,000 is a lot of money. All right, just a few minutes before the hour, an intense manhunt for the people who shot two Missouri police officers. "NEW DAY" picks that up right now.

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ROMANS: A manhunt is on.

CUOMO: This is where the two officers were shot.

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The heinous and cowardly attacks.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Whoever fired those shots --

HOLDER: This was a damn punk.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: They're criminals and they need to be arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These officers had suspected alcohol on their breath.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The new director of the Secret Service didn't even find out about the incident until about five days after it happened.

ROMANS: Secretary of State John Kerry arriving in Cairo ahead of the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congress does have the ability to take away from the president the power to implement this agreement.

BERMAN: Jurors hearing for the first time from a man who was carjacked at gunpoint by the Tsarnaev brothers. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surveillance video showing him frantically begging the clerk to call 911.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, March 13th, 6:00 in the east. I'm coming to you live from Ferguson, Missouri, once again where the weather matches the mood. There's an intense manhunt underway for the suspects who ambushed two police officers. We're going to have more on that in a moment. First let's get back to Alisyn and Michaela in New York. Good morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Chris. It's great to have you on the ground reporting for us. So we'll get back to you in a second. But first, another developing story in the news, we now know the identities of the two Secret Service agents suspected of driving a government car after drinking right on to the White House property and interrupting an active investigation. Why did it reportedly take days for the head of the agency to find out?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Also, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Egypt meeting with Middle East leaders before returning to the table for talks with Iran on nuclear issues. Let's get back, though, to our top story, with Chris in Ferguson.

CUOMO: Mich, the shooting two of police officers early Thursday morning still casts an uneasy feeling in this community and on these streets. There are few protests last night and there were small groups. The vigil for the injured officers was even smaller.