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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Boston Terror Suspect Planned Beheading; ISIS Cuts Water Supply; Baltimore Seeks Federal Help with Policing; Pentagon Anthrax Scare Widens; Stanley Cup: Blackhawks Take Game 1. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 04, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: EARLY START continues right now.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight: a domestic terror plot foiled and a target revealed. The terror suspect killed in Boston. Authorities say he had plans to attack the woman behind the contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad. Pamela Geller's fiery response moments away.

BERMAN: ISIS tightening the grip on the key Iraqi city. That despite the Iraqi government's attempts to get it back. The terrorists have now seized the dam. They are cutting off the water supply. What can be done to help the people inside that country? Details ahead.

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

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, June 4th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Law enforcement this morning, sources telling CNN that the man shot by officers in Boston as he came at them with a knife, he was originally plotting to behead a controversial conservative activist. But court documents say 26-year-old Usaama Rahim changed his mind and decided to go in a jihad against police instead.

We get the latest now from Justice Department Pamela Brown in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Christine, we have learned that the terrorism suspect who was killed here in Boston on Tuesday morning, Usaama Rahim, a second suspect arrested, David Wright, and a third individual allegedly met on a beach in Rhode Island just this past Sunday to talk about their plan to go to New York and behead Pamela Geller. She is a controversial figure who organize that Prophet Muhammad cartoon drawing contest in Garland, Texas, where there was an attempted terrorist attack.

So, apparently, they wanted to go there and behead her as part of this plot. And then, allegedly, according to the authorities, Rahim changed his mind on Tuesday morning, called up his friend David Wright and said he did not want to wait to go to New York, and that he wanted to do something in Boston and kill police officers. It's unclear exactly how he planned to attack. But according to the documents, he said he wanted to target and go after the boys in blue. He said, "Yes, I'm going to be on vacation here in Massachusetts. I'm just going to go after those boys in blue", according to the court documents.

Again, he was killed after he was approached in a parking lot by police officials and he allegedly had a military-style knife on him. Officials say that he lunged at him and they opened fire.

We know the other suspect appeared in court. He is facing conspiracy charges for attempting to destroy Rahim's cell phone as part of the investigation. It is still very active. And the FBI is still looking for any other associates who may be tied to this group -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Pamela Brown in Boston, thanks so much.

So, the conservative blogger who law enforcement sources say was Usaama Rahim's original target, she is speaking out. Pamela Geller told CNN's Erin Burnett that she thinks she was targeted for, quote, "violating Sharia blasphemy laws". Speaking of jihadists generally, Geller said, "They mean to kill everyone who doesn't do their bidding."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA GELLER, TARGET OF BEHEADING PLOT (via telephone): It won't end with me, no matter what happens to me or the cops. This is just the beginning. The one thing that's being ignored that came from Garland, Texas, is that ISIS is here. Islamic terrorism is here. Now, will the media realize what's at stake and that their heads are next, or will they continue to target me because they hate my message of freedom? That's the question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Geller will be back on CNN later this morning. She's going to be on "NEW DAY" in the 8:00 hour.

New developments in the fight against ISIS in Iraq. There is significant push back after a top state department official said the U.S.-led coalition has killed more than 10,000 ISIS fighters in the last nine months. That claim came from Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken. That would be a large increase in the number of ISIS fighters killed recently.

The effects are starting to be felt in Iraq from ISIS' latest conquest. They took over Ramadi and they have shutoff a major dam there, cutting off the water supply to a big chunk of that country. That could spell humanitarian crisis for civilians there.

Let's get the latest from senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. John, according to the Iraqi officials, ISIS has closed off the dam on the Euphrates River passing through Ramadi which fell to ISIS on the 17th of May. And, of course, that means that millions of people living downstream from Ramadi are at threat of having no drinking water or water for agriculture. But that really is just one of a series of catastrophes facing Iraq.

We heard from the U.N. this morning for instance that they are appealing for $497 million to provide assistance to the more than 3 million Iraqis who have been made homeless by this war.

[05:05:02] In addition, they are supporting around 8 million people who need assistance simply to survive. And they expect that number to rise to 10 million by the end of this year.

Now, regarding this uproar over the numbers of ISIS killed, according to Tony Blinken, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, yes, there has been a lot of pushback. Many people say that how possibly could they have this number in the first place given the lack of reliable intelligence on the ground.

Now, back in January, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq Stewart Jones said that the number of ISIS killed was about 6,000. So, the question is, how is that number jumping so high? And, of course, there are many people who have problems with what is essentially a body count, which is reminiscent of the body counts that were reported by the U.S. military in Vietnam which were used as sort of a standard for progress.

And, of course, when you look for progress in the situation in Iraq and Syria, it's a bit hard to find at the moment -- John.

BERMAN: No, that is right. Ben Wedeman, the Pentagon is get anything trouble for using that metric for generations, which is why I think there are Pentagon officials were upset that the State Department leaked it yesterday.

Ben, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. This morning, Baltimore police are looking at new safety measures for the department's fleet of prisoner transport vans. The changes come following the death of Freddie Gray, who was fatally injured in police custody. The proposed changes include installing cameras, GPS, and prisoner shoulder harnesses.

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts is also asking for more resources to combat the spike in crime. Batts is seeking help from federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents.

More on that now from national correspondent Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, this is high stakes for Baltimore's Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. He held an extraordinary press conference with the slew of law enforcement officials, most of them from the federal government, saying that this was his effort to bring the level of crime down there. Baltimore has seen extraordinarily high levels of crime, in particular, since the riots over the death of Freddie Gray. The murder rate for the year is up 40 percent, 119 murders right now. And May saw the deadliest month, 43 dead in Baltimore in May.

The police commissioner is saying that much of the violence is driven by the pharmacies, 27 pharmacies robbed among the hundreds of businesses that were looted and robbed during the riots there recently, saying that the prescription drugs from those pharmacies is helping to fuel the violence.

Here is how he puts the reason he was doing this press conference.

ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: Nothing is more important than the sanctity than human life within this city. Mere numbers miss the point. We are talking about people. These are not numbers. These are human beings who have lost their lives on the streets of Baltimore.

We are aggressive in our crime fight using all of the resources that are available to us. This is all hands on deck.

MARQUEZ: Well, despite saying it is an all hands on deck effort, noticeably missing from that conference was anybody from the Baltimore City's mayor's office and from the city's state attorney office. Maybe not so surprising on the latter point as Marilyn Mosby, the city states is going after and trying six officers over the death of Freddie Gray.

But the police commissioner very much on the offensive now, saying he is bringing in extra forces to try to bring in that crime rate in Baltimore down -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Such a challenge. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

The investigation into the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice last fall is now in the hands of prosecutors. They will let a grand jury decide whether a Cleveland police officer will be charged. Rice was playing with a pellet gun in a park near his home when Officer Timothy Loehmann fired the fatal shot just seconds after arriving on the scene. The Rice family has filed a wrongful death suit.

ROMANS: Another Cleveland police officer, Michael Brelo, will be arraigned next week following his arrest in the alleged drunken brawl with his twin brother. This happened days after Brelo was acquitted fatal shooting of a black couple in Cleveland. The 31-year-old officer and his brother are each facing assault charges. Why the two men were fighting is not known.

BERMAN: The anthrax crisis at the Pentagon is growing. Officials now say that live anthrax spores were mistakenly sent to as many as 51 labs in 17 states and Washington, D.C. and three countries. And they expect those numbers to go up as the investigation goes on.

More than 400 batches are now being tested. Four have been found to contain live anthrax. The Pentagon says there have been no reported cases of infections and insists there is no threat to public health.

ROMANS: What a mess.

BERMAN: Except for the anthrax.

ROMANS: Oh my. What a mess.

All right. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is set to toss his Stetson or his spectacles into the Republican presidential race.

[05:10:04] Perry will announce his second bid for the White House today in a speech in Addison, Texas, surrounded by veterans and the widow of American sniper Chris Kyle. The web site is already live. Perry will be the tenth candidate officially vying for the Republican nomination, in addition to -- so, ten official --

BERMAN: Right.

ROMANS: But there are a bunch of other people who refused to say they are running because of legal and fundraising reasons. But they are running.

On the Democratic side, Lincoln Chafee is the third challenger to Hillary Clinton. The former Rhode Island and former Republican launch his presidential big Wednesday. He says his campaign will stress high ethical standards and he has a unique proposal to improve global relations, have the U.S. adopt the metric system. Did not work out well last time.

BERMAN: No, the metric system, I don't know. I don't know about that. Good luck with that, Mr. Chafee.

Republican contender Ted Cruz, he has now apologized for a joke about Vice President Joe Biden. The vice president, of course, grieving over the loss of his son Beau.

Speaking at a dinner in Michigan, Senator Cruz poked fun for his verbal gaffes. Cruz said of Biden, "You know the nice thing, you don't need a punch line." He went on to say, "Honestly, it works. The next part of your act, just walk up to someone and say, Vice President Joe Biden and just close your mouth, they will crack up laughing."

Well, on social media last night, people are not cracking up. There's a lot of outrage over the timing of these comments. Cruz did post an apology on Facebook and Twitter, saying, "It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief. And I sincerely apologize. The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic. And our prayers are very much with the vice president and his family."

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures are lower. Global bond prices are sinking. That

means yields are moving up. That is hurting the appetite for stocks around the world.

Yesterday, the Dow climbed 64. The NASDAQ closed just shy of its high set in May.

The big business story this morning, T-Mobile and Dish Network are in merger talks. That will combine the second largest satellite provider with the fourth largest wireless carrier. Dish acquired with many wireless licenses, but still does not have the cellular network to put them on. The deal could help T-Mobile boosts its network and add subscribers. No word yet on the price or structure.

But, yes, folks, if you are keeping score, a lot of consolidation in telecommunications. AT&T closing a deal for DirecTV, Charter Communications trying to merge with Time Warner Cable.

BERMAN: All right. There's a chance for severe storms, including large hail, maybe even tornadoes in the central plains. I want to go to meteorologist Ivan Cabrera with an early look at the forecast.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, another round of severe storms. And I think later this afternoon, in fact, the damaging wind potential and torrential rain and the potential for tornadoes as well. We're going to watch this very closely along this boundary here.

In fact, let's focus in on what we're thinking. The highest risk for severe weather, Omaha and Kansas City. You see the orange there, that's an enhanced area for some of the more damaging storms I think by later this afternoon.

So, let's go ahead and track this for you. Watch the clock here. By the time we get to 2:00 or 3:00, 4:00, you see the nasty storms rolling through Kansas City with the potential of very strong winds and in excess of 60 miles an hour. That can do damage. And you don't need the winds to spin to get damage here. But there is the potential for tornadoes as well. So, we'll watch that closely.

The other story we've been talking about, of course, no severe weather here, but it's the very cool temperatures that have been impacted the Northeast. As you well know, temperatures in New York finally getting above 70 degrees. By the time we get to Saturday afternoon, pushing 80 degrees. That's going to feel fantastic outside. Likewise for Boston, temperatures warming up for the weekend.

BERMAN: All right. Ivan, thanks so much.

The clock is ticking on rescuers in China. They are searching for survivors from the ship wreck on the Yangtze River. Hundreds of people remain missing this morning. CNN, we will take you to the search site. We have a live report right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:16:54] ROMANS: Right now, rescue crews are cutting holes in the overturned hull of the cruise ship that capsized on China's Yangtze River. It has been three days since the ship sank. And as the body count grows, it is now at 66. Hope that anyone can be found alive is all but gone.

CNN's David McKenzie just got an up close look at rescue efforts and joins us with more -- David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, certainly, it is search efforts that continue, but hope is fading fast. We will be able to get very close to the search efforts when we saw people on the hull, getting inside the hull, cutting into the hull to try to find anyone who might still be alive.

But there is a sense that this is moving to a different phase. That after three days, nearly, some 300 people who are still missing that the hope is fading fast for them. And that they should still start soon salvaging that ship with those enormous cranes on the scene.

It was quite extraordinary to see this effort going on and the fast flowing and murky waters of the Yangtze River -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. David McKenzie, thank you for that, David. This is sad, sad situation.

From the very beginning, it felt they were going so slowly for so long. You just saw the ship overturned and only a few survivors.

BERMAN: And those families grieving, and feeling I think that they are not being quite accommodated the way they want to be.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Better late than never for the Chicago Blackhawks. A big third period rally lifted them to an early lead in the Stanley Cup. Oh, look at that.

Andy Scholes has the details in the bleacher report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:08] BERMAN: The Stanley Cup Finals off and running or off and skating I should say. The Chicago Blackhawks striking first, taking game one against the lightning.

ROMANS: There are some sleepy kids in Chicago public schools this morning.

BERMAN: Yes, and at your home.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report.

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

You know, games one and two of the service are in Tampa Bay. And the Lightning are doing whatever it takes to make sure that they have the home ice advantage. Not only that they limit ticket sales to residents of Florida, they are not allowing Blackhawks fans to wear their colors in certain parts of the arena. Black and red flat out banned in some sections.

Now, Tampa bay got on board in the game with this fancy goal. Just amazing step work from him. And Lightning would lead the game until the third when Chicago gets two unanswered goals. Blackhawks get the win, 2-1. Game two of the series is Saturday night.

NBA finals meanwhile tip offs off tonight at 9:00 in Oakland with game one between the Cavs and the Warriors. This is the fifth straight trip to the finals for LeBron James. He's the first guy to do that since the 1960s. At this point, LeBron knows what it takes to win it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: For me, as leader of the team, you know, it is my job to lead the guys and to perform well. At the end of the day -- win, lose or draw, that is all I can ask out of myself and ask out of my guys, and we'll do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And be sure to tune in to "All Access at the NBA Finals with Rachel Nichols." She will be joined by Grant Hill and Steve Smith to break down the NBA Finals. You can see that Saturday, 2:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

Chuck Blazer, who was once on FIFA executive committee admitted he and others took bribes that rigged votes on where the 1998 and 2010 World Cups would be held. That's according to newly released federal court records. The 40-page document indicates that Blazer pleaded guilty to money laundering, fraud and tax evasion in 2013 and he played a central role in the U.S. government's case against other FIFA officials.

All right. For the first time ever, an NFL game will be broadcast exclusively on the Internet. The league announcing yesterday the game with the Bills and Jaguars in London this season will be broadcast on Yahoo! for free. The game will be televised in the Jacksonville and Buffalo markets.

Guys, when the NFL was renegotiating the Sunday ticket package, YouTube was in play. They ended up going back to DirecTV for over $1 billion a year. But, you know, the NFL is very big trend setter in these kinds of things and we might be seeing more games broadcast online.

ROMANS: I'll tell you, that Internet. I predict big things in Internet.

BERMAN: Andy, I have to get your NBA Finals prediction. What's your finals prediction, Andy?

SCHOLES: Warriors in six.

BERMAN: I would love to see it. A lot of people are now saying Cavs are going to take it, but I'm going Warriors.

ROMANS: I'm hockey all the way, Blackhawks, Blackhawks, Blackhawks.

[05:25:02] BERMAN: Thanks, Andy. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: I got to say. This is a remarkable piece of writing from Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, who has penned a letter or post of sorts after the sudden accidental death of her husband, David Goldberg, last month.

Sandberg thanked her friends and shared what she has learned in this grieving process. She says in part, "I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice. You can give in to the void, the emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even breathe. Or you can try to find meaning.

These past 30 day, I spent many of my moments lost in that void. And I know that many future moments will be consumed by the vast emptiness as well. But when I can, I want to choose life and meaning."

Her husband died after falling off a treadmill at a resort in Mexico. Everyone should read this. I think, by the way, everyone gets choked up. What got me is just her love for her husband, for her late husband. It just pours out of it.

ROMANS: And her honesty for how she feels. What I took away is how to talk to somebody who recently lost someone.

BERMAN: She wants to be asked not how are you, but how are you today?

ROMANS: Right. I think that is something I took away from that. You know, she wrote really the book on how to be a working mom and a working wife and to have, quote/unquote, "it all." Her book is called "Lean In." It is almost a manifesto for a lot of working women.

And so, what is happening to her is very public and her response has been very honest and public as well. We wish her and her kids the very best.

All right. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.

A man radicalized by ISIS planned to bring the terror group's tactics of beheadings to the U.S. before police in Boston took him down this week. Who was the target and what she is now saying? The latest in the terror fight after the break.

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