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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

British Prime Minister Explains Airstrike; Trump Slams Carson And Other Rivals; Fed Ready To Raise Rates. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 13, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:02] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This as ISIS launches a new deadly attack. We have new developments including a statement from the British prime minister.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The gloves are officially off in the race for president. Donald Trump launching stunning new insults.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It's 30 minutes past the hour right now. Breaking overnight, the United States is accelerating its battle against ISIS in an operation targeting one of its most notorious terrorists, a drone strike with this man in the crosshairs. He is known as Jihadi John, a British citizen.

His real name is Mohammed Emwazi. He appeared in a series of brutal ISIS execution videos. The Pentagon is assessing the results of the strike, but a U.S. official tells CNN that authorities are confident that the strike did kill Emwazi.

Let's turn to CNN's Nic Robertson in London. Actually, let's go to David Cameron making a statement on the drone strike.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Last night, the United States carried out an air strike in Raqqah, Syria, targeting Mohammed Emwazi, the ISIL executioner known as Jihadi John. We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful.

But let me be clear, I always said that we would do whatever was necessary, whatever it took to track down Emwazi and to stop him taking the lives of others. We have been working with the United States literally around the clock to track him down. This was a combined effort and a contribution of both our countries

was essential. Emwazi is a barbaric murderer. He was shown in the videos of the beheading of the British aid workers. He poses an ongoing and serious threat to innocent civilians not only in Syria but around the world, and in the United Kingdom too.

He was ISIL's lead executioner and let us never forget that he killed many, many Muslims too. He was intent on murdering many more people. So this was an act of self-defense. It was the right thing to do.

Today, I want to thank the United States. The United Kingdom has no better friend or ally. I want to pay tribute to all those professionals in our own security and intelligence agencies and armed forces for the extraordinary work they do on behalf of our country.

On this as so often, they have been working hand in glove with their American colleagues. We are proud of them. If the air strike is successful and we still await confirmation of that, it will be a strike at the heart of ISIL.

It will demonstrate to those who do Britain, our people and allies harm. We have a long reach and unwavering determination, and we never forget about our citizens. The threat ISIL pose continues.

Britain and our allies will not rest until we defeated this terrorist death cult and poisonous ideology on which it feeds. Today, my thoughts and thoughts of the country are with the families of those who are brutally murdered.

Japanese citizens, American journalists, Steven Sotloff and James Foley among others, and of course, our own citizens, aid workers, David Haines and Allan Hemming.

Nothing will bring back David and Allan. Their courage and selflessness stand in stark contrast to the empty callousness of their murderers. Their friends and families should be proud of them as we are. They were the best of British and they will be remembered long after the murderers of ISIL are forgotten. Thank you.

BERMAN: A remarkable statement from the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Extremely pointed right there. He called the strike against Jihadi John, Mohammed Emwazi, that executioner seen in so many ISIS videos. He called this a strike at the heart of ISIS.

He said we cannot be sure whether or not the strike did in fact kill Mohammed Emwazi, but he did say this does show the remarkable coordination in the intelligence communities between the United States and the United Kingdom.

ROMANS: He said the U.S. and the U.K. working literally around the clock with their security, military, and intelligence forces to track Jihadi John and track people like him. He called it an act of self- defense because you look at jihadi John, Mohammed Emwazi, and others like him who have killed Muslims and killed Americans and Brits, and people from many other nations. He said going after them and striking them is job one.

[05:35:13]BERMAN: He called it proof of the long arm, he said, of British resilience and American resilience against ISIS --

ROMANS: Again, he did not confirm that they had -- they target him in that strike. He's not confirmed yet that they had -- he was killed in that strike.

BERMAN: And the fact that he came out with a statement so strongly indicates that he has must some degree of confidence that the strike did kill Mohammed Emwazi, Jihadi John, the man you see in the picture.

ROMANS: All right, dramatic developments there on the Mohammed Emwazi story. Also, more breaking news, another front on the battle against ISIS, Kurdish Peshmerga forces declaring victory in the fight to retake the Iraqi city of Sinjar from ISIS.

Kurdish leaders announcing they have defeated ISIS and on the run on the second day of the offensive. Still unknown is how many ISIS fighters are hidden in the city. How many landmines and booby traps they have left behind.

Our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, embedded with Peshmerga forces in Sinjar. Here's the latest.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, behind me in the distance, you can see the grain silo of Sinjar was formerly an ISIS headquarters and the testament of the change of hands.

It is now clearly in the hands of the Kurds. We have seen some of them on the roof a few moments ago. We have been down in the city in the past few hours. It is desolate rubble, littered with roadside bombs and booby traps.

As you pointed heavy gun fire could be heard. Earlier today, large columns of Peshmerga troops came in on foot converging on the center, clashes on the pockets of ISIS. We don't know the numbers inside the city.

There appear to be significantly less. It has combatively been quiet. For instance, what will they face with the booby traps. How much of a victory has this been? They moved in within 48 hours with Peshmerga with the assistance of the air strikes of the coalition.

Now they have control of Sinjar, a town torn from Yazidi from is last year and strategically sat on the vital highway between two major ISIS towns, Iraq and Mosul. Now Sinjar it seems to Peshmerga hands -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Nick Paton Walsh for us in the outskirts of Sinjar, remarkable reporting. This morning, United States and its coalition allies are also stepping up air strikes on oil fields controlled by ISIS in Eastern Syria.

This is according to the "New York Times," reports that the goal is to choke off the terror group's main source of revenue. There is also new information this morning about two deadly suicide bombings that killed more than 40 people and wounded 200 in Southern Beirut.

In Lebanon, ISIS is claiming responsibility for that attack. We want to go live to Beirut and bring in CNN's Clarissa Ward. What we are seeing right now is sort of a sectarian turf war -- Clarissa.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, John. We are here at the scene of the second suicide bomber blew himself up, 43 people were killed and more than 200 people were injured. This neighborhood is a largely Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood. People here are very much supportive of Hezbollah.

I don't know if you can see the yellow flag in the background behind me. Those are the flags of Hezbollah. That is the reason ISIS said it decided to strike this area. From what we know, there were two suicide bombers successfully detonated their explosive vests.

We know also there was a third suicide bomber who did not manage to detonate his vest, but also killed in the ensuing blast. Sorry, it is a chaotic scene here as you can imagine.

John, Lebanon is no stranger to violence and the sectarian spillover from Syria's civil war is a regular occurrence. This is certainly the bloodiest event we have seen in years here.

Many people very concerned with is now vowing to ratchet up attacks on Shi'ite neighborhoods like this one. One final thing I would like to add, John, the neighborhood that supports Hezbollah.

This is a civilian area and people out last night after work buying groceries for dinner. They are not political activists in the war -- John.

BERMAN: Clarissa Ward for us in Beirut, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right, it's 40 minutes past the hour, Donald Trump unleashing a rant, 95 minutes. What he had to say about his closest competitor in the race for president next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:44:15]

ROMANS: Donald Trump says the pathological temper that Ben Carson claims he had as a youth is incurable. In an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, Trump compared Carson's self-described hot temper to the incurable sickness of a child molester.

That was just one of among a few stunning statements from Trump on Thursday. We have more this morning from CNN's Athena Jones in Iowa.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. One of the first things Trump said when he took the stage in Fort Dodge was the gloves are off. That was more than true when it comes to Ben Carson. He spent several minutes hitting Ben Carson raising doubts about some of the stories. Carson has told about his violent past. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He took the knife and he went after a friend and he lunged that knife into the stomach of his friend.

[05:30:06]But lo and behold, it hit the belt. It hit the belt and the knife broke. How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Some of the toughest and animated remarks we've heard from Trump about Ben Carson, one of his top rivals. He also spent some time slamming his other rivals both within and outside of his party.

Blasting Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio and saying of Hillary Clinton that the only thing she has going for her is the woman card. I can tell you the audience seemed to really eat it up -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Athena, thank you for that. The Carson campaign responded and called the comments rambling. Top aide, Armstrong Williams, tells CNN, quote, "Mr. Trump has resentment when he sees Dr. Carson rise. He lashes out like he did tonight."

BERMAN: All right, I want to break down all the developments overnight. I want to bring in our CNN Politics digital reporter, Tal Kopan, live from Washington.

Tal, in addition to everything we just heard with the belt buckle demonstration, with the 95-minute rant in Iowa, Donald Trump also did an interview with Erin Burnett where he compared the pathology of Ben Carson to that of a child molester. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He said he is pathological. Somebody said he has pathological disease. Other people said he said in the book and I have not seen it and it is in the book, he has a pathological temper or temperament. That is a problem.

You don't cure that. That is like I say, they say as an example, cure a child molester. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, Tal, I guess the question is, the bar is pretty high at this point to say a statement from Donald Trump is outrageous because he's made so many statements that people think are controversial. Why this? Why now do you think?

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: It is almost like Donald Trump is getting a taste of his own medicine. It's kind of remarkable. I think for months some candidates have been thinking to themselves how could I be losing to this guy?

Now that Donald Trump is not at top of the polls. He is thinking how could I be losing to this guy or at least losing ground, and unlike all the rest of the politicians, who are so guarded, Donald Trump says whatever is on his mind.

We see that frustration bubble up. With the unguardedness of Donald Trump, we see what is going on in his head.

ROMANS: He is unscripted, 95 minutes last night. He went after Ben Carson where he really talked off the top of his head for 95 minutes. You know, this morning, we are seeing all of these reports of advances against ISIS, coalition advances against ISIS this morning. Trump has a very different take on what he would do. Listen to Trump on ISIS. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me. I would bomb the (inaudible) out of them. I would just bomb those suckers and that's right. I would blow up the pipes. I would blow up the refineries. I would blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You can see the crowd loved it when he talks like that.

KOPAN: Absolutely. It is very easy to write off Donald Trump as an entertainer. That is not the case. He has an incredible base of support in the Republican Party. You cannot deny that support has been sustained for quite some time.

Clearly he has been speaking to what people are really looking for. He is the anti-Barack Obama. President Obama is very nuance, always has been, and how he approaches the difficult questions of foreign policy.

Donald Trump is doing the exact opposite of it. He is making it very simple and clear. He said we will go after these guys. He uses colloquial language that we can all understand. There is an appetite for that within the Republican Party that people are receiving.

BERMAN: There is a "Washington Post" story out this morning that has people buzzing. It says the establishment is panicked that Trump or Carson could actually win this thing. Some say Mitt Romney has to jump back into the race. That is what you hear every two or three months. What do you make of this story?

KOPAN: This is quite interesting. Yes, a lot of people out there totally expected the trial balloon of Donald Trump and Ben Carson to burst right now. They expected people want politicians. They would try Donald Trump and Ben Carson on for size and move on. That is not happening yet.

[05:50:09]Now that is not to say it won't. One of the interesting things about the way our primary system works is even if a candidate wins Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina, you have to start to build momentum across several states.

It is not clear that necessarily these candidates still polling down 30 percent or 25 percent in the polls, that's enough to win a primary, but it's not really enough to win a full election.

As numbers start to shake out, it is not clear if the number two is going to pick up all of the support of the numbers three through eight so people feel they have another option. There is a long way to go. It is clear the Republican establishment expected a flameout that has not occurred yet.

BERMAN: Tal Kopan, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

KOPAN: Thanks so much for having me.

ROMANS: All right, 51 minutes past the hour, having a baby? Take four months off and get $1,000. The companies leading the charge for better parental leave benefits next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The pregnant wife of an Indianapolis pastor was shot and killed in a suspected home invasion. Police say 28-year-old Amanda Blackburn's body was discovered by her husband, Pastor Davey Blackburn of the Resident Church.

[05:55:12]She died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Her 1- year-old son was left unharmed in his crib. Hours earlier, a neighbor's home was burglarized. Authorities are not saying whether the two incidents are connected. They have no suspects right now and no solid leads.

ROMANS: Prosecutors want former Subway pitchman, Jared Foggle to spend 12-1/2 years behind bars followed by a lifetime of supervised probation. That is the maximum punishment he faces when he is sentenced next week. He has already agreed to plead guilty to possession of child pornography and traveling across state lines to engage in sex with a minor.

BERMAN: A new police expert, this is number three, defending the shooting by a Cleveland police officer of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. In a new report, an expert on police use of force says Officer Timothy Lohman had no choice, but to shoot the boy who was carrying a pellet gun that looked to the responding officers like it was real.

The report calls the shooting clearly objectively reasonable. It was released by prosecutors Thursday while the grand jury is currently deciding whether criminal charges should be filed against the officer.

ROMANS: All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money, Friday edition. In the past week, the foundation for investors has changed. The single most important factor in stocks is not if the fed will raise rates this year, but how much and how quickly then after that.

That realization slammed the Dow down more than 250 points yesterday. It turned the S&P 500 negative for the year. A renewed slump in oil prices adding to the gloom. New York Fed President William Dudley says we are ready for a rate hike.

Walmart workers fasting for higher wages, about 100 current employees plan to fast in the 15 days leading up to Black Friday. The significance they say, Walmart wages are too low to feed themselves and families.

Earlier this year, Walmart raised its minimum wage to $9 an hour. It will raise it again to $10 an hour next year. Walmart says those wage increases will hurt its profit. The stock is down 34 percent for the year.

If you work at Zillow, being a new parent just got a little easier. Starting next year, new moms will get 16 weeks of paid leave and $1,000 Amazon gift card. New dads get eight weeks of paid leave.

BERMAN: No Amazon gift card?

ROMANS: They used to get none. This is part of the growing trend in talent wars in tech. Amazon and Netflix and Microsoft have increased parental leave benefits in the past year. You see it because the unemployment rate is 5 percent and falling. CEOs have to keep their best people and their best people need things like better parental leave.

BERMAN: It is interesting. It's interesting which industries you see it happening and you see it in tech. Not some other places.

ISIS executioner, Jihadi John, targeted in a new U.S. air strike. "NEW DAY" picks that up right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: U.S. drone strikes targeting Jihadi John. Authorities are confident the strike killed Emwazi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. message to ISIS is you can run, you can't hide. We will get you.

ROMANS: Kurdish Peshmerga forces fight to retake the Iraqi city of Sinjar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a specific effort to target the critical supply line between Raqqah and Mosul.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump unleashing his most aggressive attacks yet.

TRUMP: I would bomb the (inaudible) out of them. She is playing the woman card up. That's all she has. Somebody (inaudible) because the belt moves this way, it moves this way. It moves that way.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I have no idea where Mr. Trump thinks the money's going to come from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They say $600 billion. Bigger than the Department of Defense budget.

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The question is whether you can round up and deport 11 million people. I don't think that's a realistic response.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, November 13th, 6:00 in the east.

Breaking news, Jihadi John, that masked ISIS murderer with the British accent targeted in a U.S. air strike. We are waiting for confirmation whether the man was actually killed. One U.S. official tells CNN they are confident they got their man. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, the U.S. stepping up its war on ISIS providing air cover to Kurdish forces, trying to liberate the Iraqi town of Sinjar. The terrorist is not backing down. They're issuing new threats against Russia and claiming responsibility for two deadly suicide bombings in Beirut.

CNN is covering all these developments for you starting with senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen in London. What do we know at this hour, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Just a couple of minutes ago, the British Prime Minister David Cameron went in front of cameras here in London and once again confirmed the air strike had taken place. It wasn't clear at this point whether or not the air strike was a success.