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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

ISIS on a Rampage; Rand Paul Protests the Patriot Act; David Letterman's Final Late Show; Bacon Prices Falling. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 21, 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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[04:30:07] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS gaining ground in the Middle East, seizing a key ancient Syrian city. New victories casting new doubt on President Obama's plans to fight the terrorists. A team coverage of the big story this morning, ahead.

Breaking overnight: Rand Paul protests the Patriot Act. The presidential candidate speaking for nearly 11 hours on the Senate floor.

The end of an era for late night television. David Letterman signing off for the final time. His emotional farewell, ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning. John Berman has the morning off. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

Our top story this morning: ISIS on a rampage across the Middle East, seizing control of another key city, historic Palmyra in Syria. It is the second critical conquest in five days for ISIS. Over the weekend, fighters took over Ramadi in Iraq. These two stunning victories forcing the Pentagon to reassess America's Iraq strategy. The focus now: securing the province west of Baghdad.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Arwa Damon live from Baghdad. And Arwa, I mean, devastating, its conquest of Ramadi and then just five days later, this important historical, cultural city Palmyra falls, too.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really heartbreaking, Christine, on so many levels. Palmyra is absolutely spectacular. I visited it years ago as a tourist. It's a sprawling testimony to just how magnificent ancient civilization the culture is and lies on what was a historic trade route connecting the Roman Empire to Persia and India and China. Now, it is at the mercy of ISIS.

The Syrian government not fully acknowledging that, but did say over the last few days as fighting intensified, it moved statues and some artifacts out of areas where they were potentially going to be captured by ISIS. This city in and of itself is most certainly under threat. The strategic importance of Palmyra is important as well because the

capture, the potential capture of Palmyra would potentially open a new route for ISIS heading towards Homs and also heading towards the capital Damascus.

And here in Iraq, as were you saying, that significant victory as well for ISIS, the capture of Ramadi, despite the fact that it had in the past been downplayed by senior U.S. officials in terms of its significance. ISIS' capture of Ramadi has now forced the Iraqi government to scramble whatever capable fighting forces that does have within its own ranks and those are not many, to those frontlines in Anbar province, and also seeing an effort underway to try to move some of those albeit controversial but effective Shia paramilitary fighting units to al Anbar province and also prompting the government to say that it is finally going to launch a serious campaign to arm the Sunni tribes.

Of course, all of this is going to end up creating a very patchwork fighting force without cohesive military structure. But at this stage, the Iraqi government doesn't have a choice.

The U.S. is also going to have to figure out a way to reassess its own strategy here in Iraq to try to create something that is more than an outline, but something that is more concrete, that is going to allow for the Iraqi security forces to start to push ISIS back, because even though at this stage, ISIS is not making significant gains toward the capital Baghdad, it is bogging down the Iraqi fighting force along these Anbar frontlines, potentially leaving them vulnerable elsewhere, Christine.

ROMANS: And we have seen two vulnerable towns fall now in Syria and Iraq just in five days, certainly devastating and troubling developments. Thank you for that, Arwa Damon.

Public leaders lay the blame for this, for the stunning rise of ISIS at the feet of President Obama. They say his failed foreign policies making the world a more dangerous place. And they -- Republicans -- even considering a plan to return U.S. ground troops to the Iraq battlefield.

Let's get more this morning from CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, President Obama meets with the president of Tunisia later today, a key ally in the Muslim world, just as the White House is coming under fire over a strategy for defeating ISIS. The ISIS is signaling it's open to some minor changes to its ISIS plan, but that's not enough for the president's critics who insist he is losing the battle against the terror group.

Republican Senator John McCain slammed the president for allowing ISIS to seize the key Iraqi city of Ramadi and laid into White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest for asking, quote, "are we go to light our hair on fire every time there is a setback?"

Preparation with the battle against ISIS as some GOP presidential candidates floating the idea of sending troops into combat into Iraq, something the ISIS has ruled out.

[04:35:05] Potential GOP contender Jeb Bush who admittedly mishandled his own questions about his brother's record in Iraq is making the case Iraq was better off under his brother, President George W. Bush. Here's what he had to say.

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: ISIS didn't exist when my brother was president.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out when my brother was president. There were mistakes made in Iraq for sure, but the surge created a fragile, but stable Iraq that the president could have built on.

ACOSTA: In his speech on climate change to coast guard graduates yesterday, the president steered clear of the debate on strategy. Instead arguing that global warming is a national security threat, contributing to the crisis in Syria, where ISIS took root. He will have a chance to answer some of his ISIS critics later today -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Jim, thank you.

Now, the most urgent threat by ISIS now is ability to recruit followers and fighters online. That's the assessment from FBI director James Comey. And Comey says ISIS is now waking up to the idea of using sophisticated malware to attack computer systems here in the U.S.

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JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: The threat we faced has morphed. It's a chaotic spider web through social media, increasingly invisible to us because it's being -- the operational communications are happening in an encrypted channel. So, that consumes most of our days trying to -- I don't think it is an impossible task, but it is very, very hard. So, we spend a lot of time on it.

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ROMANS: Comey says the FBI is sending more agents and investigators around the world to gather evidence on terrorists and build criminal cases against them.

Documents seized by Navy SEALs in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden have now been released four years after the mission. They show an al Qaeda leader with little interest in developing a caliphate like ISIS. In fact, he advised terrorists in Yemen and in Africa not to waste time on an Islamic State, but instead, he was obsessed with attacking the United States and its interests.

CNN's Tom Foreman takes a closer look.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine, this really is a remarkable collection of documents. Reading through them, you got a much more full picture of this man who's been almost mythical here as an enemy of the United States.

We do know from these documents that he actually sent people at one point to Great Britain and to Europe and to Russia to carry out attacks specifically to try to hit American targets if possible. Numerous attacks failed. They simply didn't materialize. When he responded to the letters to others, he said it was simply that it was bad luck and God wasn't on our side.

Beyond that, though, he felt a great disdain for American targets out there. Throughout his letters, he pushes people to say, look, don't attack the security forces, the police forces where you are. Attack the American targets. He wanted to stay focused in that direction.

But he had a great deal of respect for, at least fear, of American power out there. At one point, one of his documents says, "These pig- eating invaders and their loyal dogs are too scared of death to fight us face-to-face. The main reason they continue to kill us is because we don't have the knowledge and resources to counter their technology."

By that he was talking about their ability, for example, to trace email, which he's afraid could easily be traced. Their ability to use drones. He cautioned to never move unless of a cloud cover overhead because the drones will spot you. And in many ways, he dealt with day-to-day struggles to keep his forces mobilized and fighting back as all of this pressure was put on him.

And you can see that in the documents. He was under pressure. His forces were under pressure in terms of transportation, communication, getting weapons to people and carrying out actions. And no doubt, that is one of the reasons why all those years after 9/11, he was unable to replicate that kind of really big attack. It shows up in these papers -- Christine.

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ROMANS: It really does. It is fascinating reading it. It's all available in Arabic and in English translations.

Breaking overnight. Rand Paul ending a 10.5 hour filibuster on the Senate floor. Just before midnight, the Republican presidential candidate voicing fierce opposition to the Patriot Act. He wants the NSA's controversial phone surveillance operation dismantled. And he is calling for the entire agency to be overhauled.

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SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: The vast majority of the American people think we have gone too far in the bulk collection of records. An ACLU survey that we looked at a little bit earlier, between the ages of 19 and 39, over 80 percent of people in that age group think that we've gone too far and that we're not protecting privacy.

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ROMANS: Ten other senators, including seven Democrats, joined this filibuster. Insiders say any attempt by Republicans to pass a clean reauthorization of the Patriot Act will most likely fail.

All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning.

[04:40:00] U.S. stock futures are lower, but stocks are just inches from records. There was a temporary bump from the Federal Reserve yesterday, look at that. Looks like a rate hike won't come until September or even later. But it wasn't enough for another record day.

Another huge health insurance breach to tell you about. Carefirst Blue Cross Blue Shield says hackers gained information of 1.1 million of its customers. The info at risk? Names, birthdays and e-mail addresses and subscriber ID numbers. But no credit card or medical information. Plenty of speculation this morning that the Chinese government could be to blame.

Also overnight, Chinese state media responding to the arrest of six citizens in the U.S. for espionage. They called Washington paranoid about China's rise, but clearly concerns about really important intellectual property being stolen and sent back to China. So that trial will be underway soon.

After 33 years in late night, and more than 6,000 shows, David Letterman now officially retired. Letterman's swansong on CBS was an emotional farewell. His final show included career highlights and a star studded top ten list.

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DAVID LETTERMAN, TV HOST: Top ten things I always wanted to say today. Number ten, Alec Baldwin.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Of all the talk shows, your is most geographically to my home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your extensive plastic surgery was a necessity and a mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll never have the money I owe you.

LETTERMAN: Oh, no.

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ROMANS: Wow, that Jim Carrey beard. Foo Fighters, the last musical guest, "Ever Long" apparently is his favorite song. The final show ran long, but was not edited. Here you go. Good-bye, Dave.

Breaking overnight, a family murdered and mansion set on fire. Police now revealing who they think is responsible. That's next.

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[04:45:54] ROMANS: Breaking overnight: Washington, D.C. police identifying a suspect in last week's quadruple homicide and arson. Thirty-four-year-old Daron Dylon Wint is wanted in the first degree murder charges. The police believe there was one more than one assailant. The four victims: a wealthy couple, their 10-year-old son and family's housekeeper. They were found dead in that burning in that mansion.

Sources are telling CNN the victims were bound with duct tape. Investigators believe the killers were watching the family and erased security camera footage. A police source says they made off with $40,000.

Speed remains the focus of the in the deadly Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. The major question, why the throttle was pushed forward ahead of the crash that killed eight people? The NTSB also taking a closer look at the engineer's cell phone, trying to determine if he was distracted in anyway.

Let's get more this morning from CNN's Rene Marsh.

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RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, from the very beginning, Philadelphia police were focused on excessive speed. Now, this source tells me they knew there were no problems with the tracks, the signals or the train. That was all based on inspection documents and maintenance checks the train and tracks had undergone before the derailment. So, in their minds, that can only mean two things: reckless behavior or intentional act. And both could justify criminal charges.

But the NTSB is the lead investigator and it is not ready to rule out other potential factors like train performance. So, they held off on the arrest.

Now, we should point out we know the NTSB has the train engineer's phone. They also have phone records. We do know that phone calls were made and text messages were sent on the day of the incident. What they have not nailed down is whether the calls and texts were sent while he was operating the train.

Now, investigators are now matching the timestamps from the engineer's cell phone records with multiple data sources like the train's recorder and outward facing video from the train, recorded radio communications, as well as surveillance video.

And lastly, we also learned Brandon Bostian was new to the New York to D.C. run. He'd only been on the route for two weeks, although he'd been running trains along the Northeast Corridor for three years, which sometimes included this stretch of track -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Rene, thank you.

Police in Waco, Texas, investigating a deadly shootout involving rival biker gangs. Police say they found more than 300 weapons at the scene, including guns, assault knifes and an AK-47. Recovering all of that evidence took a lot of leg work.

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SGT. PATRICK SWANTON, WACO POLICE DEPT.: They were hidden in the stools of the restaurant seating area. They were hidden in the kitchen. They were hidden in the bathrooms. We were -- quite honestly, we were amazed at the number of weapons we found.

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ROMANS: Nine bikers were killed in the shootout. At least 170 people arrested. Each of those arrested bikers held on $1 million bail. Authorities say processing all of the suspects is a severely straining the court system in Waco.

Huge oil spill in California. CNN crews getting an up close look at the damage, the beaches in Santa Barbara will be closed for the Memorial Day weekend. We will bring you all of that after the break.

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[04:53:08] ROMANS: Huge, a dirty ugly crude oil spill on the central California coastline, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County. Much of the oil spilled in the Pacific when a pipeline ruptured. Environmental crews working feverishly to clean it up and contain a nine-mile oil slick.

CNN's Paul Vercammen got the firsthand look at the damage.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's what the grueling work of cleaning up an oil spill looks like. You can see here, the oil and tar mixed in with the seaweed. So, they literally rake together seaweed and tar and they put it in plastic bags. What also gets put into plastic bags anything else that the oil has covered.

If you look right there, those are palm tree fronds that have fallen off the trees and into the shore, more of these fronds over here. But this isn't just limited to where we're standing right now. If we go ahead and take almost a 180, you look off into the distance, there's another cluster of workers with the rakes and the plastic bags and the rest trying to clean up this misery, this black misery on the beach.

And look at the seaweed right here. It's just all mixed in and every time even another little small wave comes in, it seems that more of the tar balls and more of the oil comes washing ashore. And so, they go ahead and they pick up another pile of seaweed interspersed with tar and put it in the plastic bag. And they're going to have to clean this beach up handful by handful.

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ROMANS: The cause of the spill is still investigated. The company that owns Plains All American Pipeline, and in fact those beaches will be closed, those beautiful beaches will be for the Memorial Day weekend.

[04:55:02] All right. Fifty-five minutes past the hour. McDonald's shareholders want stronger sales, but workers want stronger wages. The clash at company headquarters, next.

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ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.

Asian shares are mixed. China's manufacturing sector contracted this morning for the third month in a row, giving stocks a boost on hopes of more government stimulus in Asia. European stocks and U.S. stock futures are lower. It got a short lived bump from the fed. The Fed will not hike interest rates until September at the earliest, or maybe even later, but that wasn't enough for more records for the stock market.

The latest battle in the war for higher wages: 2,000 people gathered near McDonald's headquarters yesterday ahead of the annual shareholders meeting. What do they want? They want $15 an hour wages.

Beginning July 1st, McDonald's will pay at least $1 an hour more than the local minimum wage. But that applies only to workers at McDonald's owned restaurant. That's about 10 percent of locations, that's not the franchises. And besides, these protesters say this is still not enough.

This come just days after Los Angeles voted to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour starting next April. Small business owners, people who have fewer than 26 employees are going to have an extra year to adapt. It will be a big change for those small business owners.

All right. Bacon lovers, rejoice. A one-pound package of bacon is 25 percent cheaper today than a year ago. I mean, rarely get to say good news about meat prices or food prices. That means saving $1.25.

[05:00:02] And timing couldn't be better. America has experienced a bacon craze. Last year, Americans ate 1.1 billion servings of bacon at restaurants, and sales climbed 13 percent. Cheap bacon is offsetting rising beef and egg prices and the love affair with bacon, along with the love affair of organic foods and fresh foods, how do you - how do you square that? -- bacon prices are falling.

EARLY START continues right now.