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Putin to Cooperate with U.S.-Led War Against ISIS; Shoppers Out in Droves for Black Friday Sales; Chicago Protestors Plan Black Friday March; France Honors Paris Terror Attack Victims. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vladimir Putin saying he's ready to work with the U.S. on fighting ISIS.

[05:58:21] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New details on Russia's retaliation against Turkey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These weapons could give Russia significant control of the skies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This relationship is deteriorating very rapidly. Neither side is backing down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Protesters tell us they're going to descend on the Magnificent Mile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protestors, they do plan to come up. This is Lincoln Avenue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a long, long, long battle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get the game on here in about five minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An all-out battle at stores across the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm ready. I got my fist up to somebody tries to steal something from me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And welcome to a very special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. It is Friday, my friends. November 27, 6 a.m. in the east. The one and only John Berman joins me.

Up first, a potential game changer in the war on ISIS. Vladimir Putin declaring that Russia is ready to cooperate with the United States and its partners to wipe out the terror group. But this spirit of cooperation comes with a caveat. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Putin says Turkey committed an act of

betrayal by shooting down one of Russia's warplanes, and the Russian leader assists the Syrian people must decide Assad's fate for themselves. In other words, he's not going to do anything to push him out.

All this as we learn more about the dramatic rescue of the Russian co-pilot who survived the downing of the Russian jet.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, is Russia going to join the coalition? Probably not anytime soon. Are they going to cooperate? Putin says they're ready to do that.

But U.S. officials say there are a couple of big ifs out there. And one of the biggest is that S-400 anti-air missile system that we've now seen the pictures of. Russia says it's shipping these parts into Syria. This is a massive anti-air system.

If the Russians actually turn it on, make it go operational, they will be able to control a large swath of Syrian and, indeed, Turkish air space. And for U.S. pilots, that's a big issue. They need to understand what the Russian intentions are here. They need to have some understanding that the Russians are not targeting them. They need to figure out if they need to change their operations to deal with what the Russians are doing.

So while the political talk may look pretty conciliatory, on the ground, there are a lot of military issues to iron out before anybody can really talk about real cooperation -- John.

BERMAN: Barbara, what are we learning about the co-pilot, the one that was rescued in that downed Russian jet?

STARR: That Russian copilot, he has turned up now safe. And what both Russian and Iranian media are saying is that the Iranians were behind the rescue operations to get him. That a very well-known Iranian commander, a man named General Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, was commanding the operation to get him. Other troops were on the ground, but Soleimani behind it all, behind the rescue mission.

That, again, a very significant step. It shows the Iranian influence, the Iranian ability to command-and-control operations. Something the U.S. has to consider.

They also say that now they have basically taken control of that area, that territory, where the pilot was shot down, that they have killed or dealt with all the rebel forces on the ground.

It just really underscores the complexity of what is happening there and a lot of difficulty in understanding whether or not all of these countries, all of these players really are ready to cooperate -- John.

BERMAN: A lot going on in one very small country. Barbara Starr, thanks so much -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Well, let's delve into some of that complexity. Joining us now is CNN political commentator and associate professor at City University of New York, Peter Beinart; and CNN military analyst and former joint chiefs of staff deputy director, retired Air Force colonel, Cedric Leighton.

I appreciate both of you coming despite, I'm sure, a turkey coma from yesterday, gentlemen.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Little bit.

PEREIRA: We want to sort of delve into some of these matters. And I think pressing right off the bat, I want to quick take from each of you the idea that Vladimir Putin says he's onboard to take ISIS out, to wipe them out, but with a caveat. What is your take-away from that, Peter? Do you trust that to be true? Because you know he's got a horse in this race.

BEINART: Right. Russia's No. 1 priority in Syria is maintaining Russian influence, and the person who gives them that influence is Bashar Assad, their ally. So it's not that Russia is -- doesn't have some hostility to ISIS, especially after the downing of that Russian jet.

PEREIRA: Of course.

BEINART: The problem is the -- America's agenda is to coalesce all of the rebels against -- ultimately against Assad, and that at the end of the day, is not what Russia wants.

PEREIRA: So Cedric, if the motives for both are very different, the United States coalition and Russia, even if they are trying to ultimately get to ISIS, if they're trying to back up -- prop up Assad, and Obama and Hollande both feel that Assad has got to go, can this work?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't think so, Michaela. And you know, this -- the way that this is working is, basically, it's a piece of paper that Hollande and Putin, in essence, agreed to, but it is not reality on the ground; and it cannot work if they don't have the same goal.

Nations have interests. They don't really have friends. And when the interests don't coincide, the agreements between them just don't work.

PEREIRA: Well, and that's the thing. I mean, when you think about ISIS, how much, Peter, is the fight against ISIS in Syria inextricably linked to Assad?

BEINART: It is. I mean, the problem is a catch-22. The Russians are saying, well, the strongest military force we have on the ground against Assad, and that's true. The problem is that, politically, Assad also pushes people towards ISIS, because he alienates Sunnis. He's alienated the Sunni population so deeply that he allows ISIS to be the kind of -- the champion of the Sunni.

So you have a western strategy that is weak militarily, and you have a Russian strategy that's weak politically against ISIS. Neither really makes. A lot of sense at this point.

PEREIRA: So Cedric, speaking about trying to make sense of all this, did -- I mean, just to be frank, did Turkey mess up? Was this an overreaction that has now put them in a really dire situation?

Because the fact is, Russia also holds a lot of purse strings to Turkey. We know that they're a major supplier of natural gases. we know that they are threatening to embargo products and service to that country.

So was -- was this an error on their part?

LEIGHTON: Oh, Michaela, I think so. You know, when you look at the natural gas situation, just as an example, 60 percent of Turkey's natural gas comes from Russia.

[06:05:05] And when you look at the amount of time that the Russian aircraft, the SU-24, was in Turkish air space, it's very minimal, compared to some other types of threats that could have been out there. So Turkey overreacted. And right now, not only is Turkey possibly paying the price for this, but there's a great danger that NATO, and through NATO, the United States, could pay a huge price for this, as well.

PEREIRA: Well, French President Hollande, obviously, on a tour, trying to build a coalition, trying to bring together world powers to combat ISIS. Speaking with Russia, with the president there. But also calling for cooperation between those countries, which I can understand. He has to ask for that.

But again, as Peter -- Cedric was mentioning, on the ground, is that realistic? We know the complicated history those two nations have. Cooperation between Russia and Turkey, is that even feasible?

BEINART: Again, you have this fundamental difference, which is that the strategy to defeat ISIS from France and the United States involves getting Assad out and building up a more moderate rebel force. But the Russians don't like that strategy, because it leaves them without influence in Syria.

And Putin's entire foreign policy agenda has been the restoration of Russian influence around the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So the problem is, there are a lot of people who don't like ISIS, but there are not very many countries who have defeating ISIS as their No. 1 priority. All these countries have other agendas in Syria, which has become a kind of battlefield for a whole series of regional and imperial conflicts. PEREIRA: You have ten people in a room, and they all have

different ideas about how to do something, right? I mean, this is just a bigger sort of global view of that.

All right. To the U.K. We know Prime Minister David Cameron making a play to get support from his -- his nation to support airstrikes against ISIS. Do you think they have the political will to do that, Cedric? Final thought?

LEIGHTON: I do. I think that they do have the political will. I think things have changed from a few months ago when David Cameron actually asked for the same power to go into Syria.

Now they've got a reason, and that reason is what we see in France and the Paris -- you know, the Paris terrorist attacks. And so with that, that will open the door for possible British participation in this.

And what really has to happen, Michaela, is that everybody has to realize that ISIS is ignoring the Syrian and Iraqi borders. And we're getting into a stage where there's a new world order forming in the Middle East. And what that's going to look like is going to be a whole different thing.

PEREIRA: All right. Well, we appreciate both of you coming in today on this Friday. Peter, Cedric, always our pleasure. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news. Two suspects under arrest in Mali in connection with the attack on a luxury hotel that left 20 people dead. The men, both from Mali, were found thanks to a cell phone left at the scene of the attack. Armed men launched a deadly raid at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital. That was one week ago. Hours later, commandos stormed the hotel, killing two attackers, freeing up to 170 hostages. Three Islamic militant groups have now claimed responsibility for this attack.

PEREIRA: More breaking news, ISIS now claiming responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shiite mosque in northern Bangladesh. At least one person was killed, three others injured when several gunmen opened fire. At least 20 people were in that mosque for evening prayers when the deadly incident unfolded. This is the second attack in a month on the country's small Shia population.

BERMAN: This morning, a national ceremony in France, led by President Francois Hollande, honoring the 130 people killed, the 350- plus injured in the Paris terrorist attacks two weeks ago. The French leader reiterated his vow to destroy ISIS, calling it an army of fanatics with an insane cause. It was a display of grief, unity and resolve. This is a live look now at one of the memorials. We'll have a live report from Paris in just a few minutes.

PEREIRA: Back here at home, it is Black Friday. Shoppers are poised; they've got their sneakers on. They are ready to do some retail damage on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, or will it be? Many holiday shoppers apparently are getting a head start at stores that were open on Thanksgiving. I'm trying to add an air of mystery to this.

Cristina Alesci, live at the Macy's flagship store in New York's Herald Square. Are people coming out? Is it going to be what people anticipated today?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like it is. It looks like it's actually the middle of the day. You wouldn't know it's close to 6 a.m. in the morning. Actually, there was a huge line behind me, just a few minutes ago, before H&M opened its doors, about 200 people. The first people in line here were here at 2 a.m. I could not believe that when I heard it.

But you have all of the most major retailers in the country right here in Herald Square. We're going to see a lot of activity. Police are already out. Mainly, it seems like for crowd control reasons. So lots of people coming out.

Eighty billion dollars, that's how much Americans are expected to spend over this holiday season. And obviously, Black Friday isn't just happening here; it's happening across the country. Take a look.

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[06:10:14] ALESCI (voice-over): Overnight, an all-out battle at stores across the nation. Just hours into the brutal chase for bargains.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got my fist up to somebody tries to steal something from me.

ALESCI: In Louisville, Kentucky, Black Friday madness. Two men punching and tearing at each other's T-shirt inside a major city mall.

Tempers flared at this Wal-Mart in El Paso. Holiday shoppers appeared to fight over flat-screen TVs, even taking on store security.

The yearly stampede spilling into front doors, a welcome sight for retailers hoping to cash in on the holiday frenzy. Sales expected to reach $80 billion in the U.S...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We made it!

ALESCI: ... the average American spending close to $400 throughout the holiday weekend, with some brick-and-mortar stores now handing out a select number of tickets to people in line for the hottest items.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're able to ticket numbers one through whatever we have. That way it stops a lot of the chaos from happening.

ALESCI: Some shoppers camping out for days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been here since Tuesday night at 9:30.

ALESCI: All in an effort to nab great deals, like this 50-inch flat-screen TV at Best Buy, marked down nearly 75 percent off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's exciting. If it's something that you want and it's worth it, why not go and get it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALESCI: So this is really the make-or-break time of year for retailers.

And just a dirty little secret: about 75 to 76 percent of the money spent is spent on just one percent of products. And that means that these retailers have to have the right products in their stores to make their numbers.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Cristina Alesci out there with the folks shopping, thanks so much, Cristina.

In Chicago, protesters are going to use this day to draw attention to the video just released showing a white police officer killing a 17-year-old black teenager. In a few hours, they will walk along Michigan Avenue. That's the main shopping district in Chicago.

CNN's Ryan Young live with the very latest.

Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

It will be interesting to see how the rain plays into this, because it's raining right now. I can tell you, people will be marching for Laquan McDonald.

We've been told for days this was going to happen. This is the Magnificent Mile behind me. We know Black Friday is huge here. People are telling us, they're going to march from the bridge all the way down.

Of course, a few other -- a few days ago, they actually stopped in the intersection and blocked the traffic here. They are planning to do that again, and in fact, some of the religious leaders here have been very outspoken about what they want.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And sit down in the street and block the street on Michigan Avenue with civil disobedience, peacefully, and say, "You know what? Business as usual can't go on while our children are dying!"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Now we just learned some new information, just this morning. This just into CNN. Police here in Chicago have made an arrest in Tyshawn Lee's

murder case. That is the 9-year-old who was actually lured into an alley and shot in the head. They have made an arrest, and this morning we just got this information, so we wanted to share with you this morning. Chicago police have made an arrest in the 9-year-old's shooting.

We've been told by protesters, not only will they be out here because of the violence from police to people in the community, but they also want to be out here for the violence that's happening in the community, as well. So again, that just in the 9-year-old -- the suspect in the 9-year-old shooting death of Tyshawn Lee, has been arrested -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: That young boy lured into an alley and killed in cold blood. A horrifying story. That is going to be progress to the family to know that somebody's under arrest. Thanks for updating us on that.

A newly-installed layer of sharp spikes didn't keep out a White House fence jumper. The Secret Service says Joseph Caputo scaled the North Lawn fence Thursday as the first family was inside celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. Witnesses apparently heard him say, quote, "All right, let's do this," before he took off. The Secret Service took him into custody seconds later. Caputo can expect some criminal charges to follow.

BERMAN: Yes. They put in all these new measures. And he got over the fence; didn't get very far.

PEREIRA: Didn't get very far. Makes you think that maybe it's got to be even higher.

BERMAN: All right. We're going to have much more on the Black Friday protest expected in Chicago this morning. What will it do to that city? How will they now be forced to deal with the problems inside that police department? We're going to break down what the protesters want, next.

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[06:18:47] BERMAN: Chicago demonstrators planning a major protest this morning over the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, a black teenager killed by a white police officer. This as leaders there push for a federal investigation into the Chicago Police Department.

Here to discuss, CNN political commentator, Marc Lamont Hill; former NYPD detective, sergeant Joseph Giacalone.

Marc, I want to start with you today. This protest planned. Today is Black Friday. Big shopping day. People are supposed to be out in huge numbers buying stuff at the stores, you know, in Chicago, Michigan Avenue, the Miracle Mile there. People are going to spend a lot of money. Why is it important to have this protest today? We just heard

from father Michael Pfleger, who said business cannot go on if people are dying.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's exactly right. Oftentimes, companies and even nation states don't have feelings. They have interests. And one of those interests is financial. And so, if you can get people where it hurts financially, you can draw attention to a problem.

All throughout American history, black people in particular, have taken economic measures in order to get America's attention. Not because they expect a moral conversion, but because they expect an interest conversion. They expect the state to respond differently.

But the key, John, I think, is not just to have a boycott today or a protest today, because what sense does that make? Tomorrow, the same stores will get the same money. They'll just become Black Saturday. It's to redistribute the pain long-term, so that people actually get the outcomes they want.

[06:20:01] BERMAN: And what is that outcome right now, in the near-term?

HILL: I think in the near-term, it's a DOJ investigation. It's a civil rights investigation. It's a structural analysis of what's going on in the departments. We want to find out what happened in this case, but we want to find out what's going on in Chicago.

And then we need concrete steps to solve this problem so that the systemic issues that are there are resolved: things like body cameras; things like citizen review boards; things like quicker penalties and more efficient penalties to officers who break the law; things like that.

BERMAN: That phrase, what is going on in Chicago, Marc, I want you to hold onto that for one second. I want to come back to that with you.

But first, Detective, I want to ask about the idea of a federal investigation right now. What would it turn up at this point? Because when this happened, when this video came out last week, the case of course, more than a year old, but when the video came out, so many people saying, this only shines a light on what we know has been going on in Chicago for some time.

SGT. JOSEPH GIACALONE, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Sure, I mean, you think about it, the feds should have been brought into this a lot sooner than they're going to be.

There's a lot of different problems in here. I mean, we've got to look at the training that they would get. I mean, this is what the feds are going to look into, how they're training with firearms, the different rules of engagement, like isolate and contain, and cover and concealment. Those are the hallmarks of any types of involvement, when the police have to use deadly physical force. BERMAN: The word "concealment" there, double entendre in this

case, because, what, it took a year here to come out with these charges, took a year to release this video. Why do you think it took so long to go public with this?

GIACALONE: Well, I mean, if you're looking at it, it looks -- it perceives as a cover-up. I mean, this thing is going on for 400 days. We -- they have the video. They have, you know, well in advance of this, they have reports that don't match up to what we see in the video. We see a payoff to the family before they even file a lawsuit. I mean, these things have to all be looked at.

But that's something that the federal government's going to have to be looking into. And I can speak for, you know, what the police are going to do in respect that this is an internal investigation that that should have been handled much differently than it was.

BERMAN: And when the feds come in, and they have a history of looking at police departments around the country, in your experience, once they do go in, once they do take a look, does that change things?

GIACALONE: Sure. All bets are off. Because once the federal -- once the FBI and the federal government comes in there and does an investigation, the Chicago Police Department actually has no authority into anything at that moment. They don't have any control over their own members. These people will be forced to talk. And trust me, they're going to talk in this.

BERMAN: All right. Marc, I want to go back to something you said before. Shine a light on what's going on in Chicago. There's a lot going on in Chicago right now. Just this morning...

HILL: Always.

BERMAN: ... we have an arrest. We have an arrest, you know, in the case linked to Tyshawn Lee. He's that 9-year-old kid who was killed in an alley. Gang violence, essentially targeted for what seems to be, allegedly, gang reasons. So there's a lot going on in Chicago. A lot of murders right now.

Does what's happening with the police, does that happen in a vacuum? Is that a separate issue than the violence on the streets or are they somehow connected?

HILL: Well, I mean, we could keep digging and digging and finding layers and layers of connection here. But what we don't want to do is distract from one issue by focusing on the other.

Oftentimes, when police misconduct happens, we then point to, quote unquote, black on black violence. It becomes a sort of red herring that lets us off the hook. It almost implies that "you all kill each other. Therefore, you shouldn't complain when we kill you."

I don't have an expectation that the Bloods and the Cripps or the G.D.'s and the Vice Lords are going to protect and serve me. I do have that expectation for law enforcement. And, of course, when gangs do kill each other, they get arrested. There's no shortage of black people going to jail for killing each other. There is a shortage of police officers who go to jail for killing black people.

So I want to address the structural problem of state violence absolutely, and I want to address issues of black-on-black violence. But I don't want to mix those two or mix those conversations up. I think we can have them both at the same time. But we shouldn't let them overlap or distract from one another.

BERMAN: Right. Except insofar, Marc, as if you -- if there's a community that doesn't trust the police to come in and help fix the problem, it only makes that problem worse.

HILL: No, absolutely. And that's why I say, if you dig deeper, you find those layers of connection, and that's an important one. Community police relations are fractured. They're fractured all over the country.

But in places a like Chicago and Ferguson and other cities like that, you see an even more profound fracture. And that's where the lack of people reporting crimes, the lack of people being engaged, even the use of excessive force, it all comes from a lack of a trusting and healthy relationship between communities and police.

And ultimately, we have to ask the question, is it possible to have a healthy relationship at this point?

BERMAN: All right, Marc Lamont Hill, Detective Joseph Giacalone, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

GIACALONE: Pleasure.

BERMAN: Michaela.

HILL: Pleasure.

PEREIRA: All right, John. The victims of the Paris terrorist attacks honored in an emotional ceremony. French flags flying, tears falling. You're looking live here at a national day of remembrance in Paris. We're going to take you there live, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:53] PEREIRA: Two weeks after the terror attacks in Paris, grief and unity. This morning, President Francois Hollande presided over a somber national ceremony near Napoleon's final resting place. French flags flying from buildings and homes all across France.

Senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann is live there in Paris, where I can imagine you can feel this moment, you can feel the passion, the resolve of the French people.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Michaela. And you may be able to see a big French flag flying in the Arc de Triomphe behind me. The fact is that the French are not exactly as patriotic as Americans are in normal times, but this is a special occasion, and President Hollande asked people to put flags out. In fact, the flag stores have been overrun with orders. Some people -- some of the stores have sold out, they've said.

A very solemn day. It began, of course, with the remembrance ceremony, where the names of the 130 people who were killed were read out. Their families were present, a number of the families were present, as well as some of the injured who survived. They were also there, present in the Invalides, where as you mentioned, Napoleon's body lays -- has been laid to rest. But previous military casualties and presidents have been laid to rest there, as well. It's really a place...