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EARLY START

Russia Launching New Air Strikes in Syria; New Confrontations Between Protesters and Police; Putin, Hollande To Meet Today; Trump Under Fire; Pope Francis in Kenya. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 26, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:31:45] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Russian launching new airstrikes in Syria just miles from the Turkish border. New ramifications for Turkey after downing Russia's war jets, complicating the fight against ISIS this morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. New confrontations between protesters and police. Demonstrations over the police of a Chicago black teenager.

KOSIK: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. We're half past the hour.

And tensions are rising this morning in the wake of Turkey shooting down a Russian warplane that it claims flew over its territory. A defiant Russia responding with heavy bombardment against Turkish- backed rebels. Syrian opposition activists describing it as retaliatory bombing in the same area where Russia's heavy bomber went down on Tuesday.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, suggesting the downing was no accident. He called it a planned provocation. Turkey making no policy for it, backing up its claim the Russian pilots were repeatedly warned with this audio recording. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Russia is strongly denying that claim. They put forward the rescued co-pilot. He told reporters, "There were no warnings, not via the radio, not visually."

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Ian Lee in Istanbul.

Obviously, we saw that co-pilot there, but Russia's not actually responding to the recording, though. What have they said?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, where waiting for them to get their response. Turkey is saying that they broadcasted that message about 10 times over the course of five minutes. But today, were watching that situation on the ground in that region,

this northwestern part of Syria, very closely. The forces of Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has launched an offensive in that area. We're hearing there's heavy artillery and heavy mortar fire against these Turkmen rebels.

Now, this is an area that is very sensitive for Turkey. The Turkmen have a close relationship, a kinship, as it was described by the Turkish president, Erdo?an. So there is ongoing fighting there right now.

In talking to analyst, they believe this is to be expected, that Russia would go after Turkish interests inside Syria, going after rebel groups that are backed by Turkey to send the message about taking out one of their planes.

SANCHEZ: Well, Ian, we've heard reports from Turkish media that the Russians have targeted a vehicle, Turkish aid vehicles, that are in Syria. Have we been able to confirm that independently?

LEE: Well, we're hearing from one of the aid groups that said -- being to this incident. Their vehicles were not targeted. This happened just right across the boarder from Turkey inside Syria. Were told that these aid vehicles were empty at the time, or majority of them were empty.

But this is an area where aid goes to a lot of the people who desperately need it inside Syria, and we're hearing reports that at least seven people were killed in that attack.

SANCHEZ: Ian Lee, monitoring a very delicate situation on the Turkish-Syria border.

Ian, thank you.

KOSIK: And the angry words between Russia and Turkey come as Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande prepared to meet later this morning. Hollande will try to persuade Putin to go all-in on an international coalition against ISIS and to back away from support for Bashar al-Assad's regime. But the downing of the Russian jet drastically is complicating that effort.

Meantime, French lawmakers, they voted 325-0 to continue airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.

CNN's Max Foster is in Paris with the latest.

Good morning to you. So one question that comes to mind here is that this grand coalition is looking to formed, but can it really have teeth without Russia and with Assad still in power?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Hollande feels the battle against ISIS can only be won if everyone works together, so that's what he's going over to Moscow to try to bring President Putin into the international coalition. President Putin and the Russians also are keen to be involved in the coalition. The problem here actually comes from Washington and President Obama, who fundamentally disagrees with President Putin's view of President Assad and whether or not he should stay in power in Syria.

Separate to that, President Holland of France feels that maybe there can be some military coordination, at least on the ground to make things with her there. Again, another stumbling block coming from Washington, because President Obama accusing the Russians of not just targeting ISIS and Syria, but targeting other rebel groups as well. If they can only target ISIS, then perhaps there's some way of the Americans and Russians working together, but not under the current conditions.

So that's probably where President Hollande is going to try to focus his efforts asking President Putin to focus more on ISIS positions only in Syria. But because of the fact that one of its planes has been shot down, Russia now is going to be even more determined to carry out its strategy in Syria. And if that goes beyond ISIS, I don't think this is the time where Putin's ready to compromise on that.

KOSIK: OK. Max, you are aware the terror threat is still high. Can you give us the latest on the manhunt for several alleged terrorists?

FOSTER: Well, we haven't heard anything for a couple of days. The two men still in the running, so a frightening situation.

What they're trying to do here is the deep into their past and get some deep investigation work done, finding out about all of their movements in the months and years before the Paris attacks. We know that one of the drivers involved in the attacks had actually gone to Syria back in 2014, but we don't how he got back.

And this is one of the problems, Alison, which President Hollande is trying to resolve it, as well, with European counterparts, is that the countries in Europe aren't sharing enough information. So they're not managing to track these individuals, even if they come up on the radar somewhere.

So that's the domestic sort of effort that President Hollande is pushing, and he's just met the Italian prime minister, so that is the effort he was pushing their ahead of his trip to Moscow.

KOSIK: All right. Mike Foster, live from Paris. Thanks so much for the latest.

SANCHEZ: With the terror threat keeping much of the world on edge, President Obama trying to reassure travelers that the U.S. government is, in his words, "taking every possible step to keep the country safe ahead of the busy holiday weekend."

Senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, has the latest from the White House.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Boris, acknowledging that following the terrorist attacks in Paris, the President of the United States gathering together a meeting of the national security advisors, the FBI Director, the Attorney General the Secretary of Homeland Security, in a hastily arranged meeting with reporters to talk about security.

The president trying to reassure the public that in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, there is no specific and credible threat to the United States. Listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the bottom line is this. I want the American people to know entering the holidays that the combined resources of our military, our intelligence and our homeland security agencies are on the case. They're vigilant, relentless and effective.

In the event of specific credible threat, the public will be informed. We do think it's useful for people as they're going about their business to be vigilant. If you see something suspicious, say something.

JOHNS: This is the kind of message the White House has been pushing very hard recently, and while there is no evidence of a credible threat against the United States homeland, there have been several other terrorist attacks recently besides Paris, including Beirut, Egypt and even more recently, Tunisia, which shows terrorists across the globe have been very, very busy lately.

Alison and Boris?

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KOSIK: OK. Joe, thanks for that.

And the federal government warning state officials nationwide, they cannot block the resettlement of Syrian refugees, the federal Office of Refugee Settlement sending a letter to all state resettlement agencies ordering them not to deny benefits and services to refugees based on their religion or country of origin.

Now the letter warns states that do not comply could be subject to enforcement actions. Officials in Texas standing their ground, saying they do not plan to participate in the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

SANCHEZ: Now to a sobering admission from America's top commander in Afghanistan. General John Campbell confirming a U.S. airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz last month was "avoidable."

Campbell says the attack that killed 30 people, most of them patients, was a tragic mistake caused by avoidable human error. Several service members had been suspended following an internal military investigation.

KOSIK: Time for an early start on your money. U.S. markets are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday today. Happy Thanksgiving.

And looking at stocks yesterday, little changed there. Oil futures, they're volatile this morning, as geopolitical tension continue. The price for crude oil now sitting just under $43 a barrel.

Now, if you're traveling for Thanksgiving today, expect jam-packed roads and airports. You don't need me to tell you that. But you know what? It's not just for the holidays anymore. It's actually been a record year for travel in the U.S.

Miles driven have climbed 3 percent in the past year, and air travel, that's increased even more, up 5 percent, and that's thanks to the improving economy, cheaper gas prices. So if you're flying, expect longer lines because of yes, the heightened security after the Paris attacks. But that's something that's -- that I think is a good thing.

SANCHEZ: Yes, for sure. You've got to be thankful for the low gas prices, too.

KOSIK: Yes.

SANCHEZ: That's awesome.

Breaking overnight, new protests in the police killing of a Chicago teenager. The president now weighing in on the released video, next.

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KOSIK: Racial tensions remain high in Chicago with the second night of protests over the police shooting of a black teenager. President Obama now weighing in, saying in a Facebook post that he's deeply disturbed by the graphic video showing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald being gunned down a Chicago police officer.

Black community leaders are angry the video of the 2014 shooting wasn't released earlier. McDonald was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke, who now is charged with first-degree murder.

Lawyers for the officer and the victim's family are disputing the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.

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MIKE ROBBINS, ATTORNEY FOR LAQUAN MCDONALD'S FAMILY: The video clearly shows Laquan walking away, and he was not threatening anybody. And he certainly didn't lunge at the police officer. This was originally presented as an act of self defense but the officer had to shot him to save his own life, and that was a lie.

DAN HERBERT, OFFICER VAN DYKE'S ATTORNEY: The reason my client, Jason, fired his weapon that evening back in October of 2014 is that he truly was in fear for his life as well as the lives of his fellow police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We get more now from CNN's Rosa Flores, who was out with the protesters on the streets of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, Boris, we spent hours following protesters here in Chicago. You can see that right now they are walking through the loop in downtown Chicago. Now, there's about 100 to 200 protesters here, and they say that they are not only protesting for Laquan McDonald and justice for him but also for other cases here in Chicago and around the country.

Now, if you take a look, there's a spread of people of all ages. They've come together to protest to make sure that their voice is heard. One of the things that they're hoping to do is to have an economic impact -- that the protest has an economic impact. That's why they have been going through the streets of Chicago.

Now, they plan to continue protesting, and Alison and Boris, we will, of course, continue covering that and bring you the very latest.

Boris? Alison?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK. Rosa, thanks for that.

And Black Lives Matter protests extending into New York City also overnight with police making several arrests. The protesters also reportedly shut down a Macy's department store. It comes just hours before the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

SANCHEZ: Donald Trump under fire this morning for mocking a New York Times reporter with a physical disability. It happened at a rally this week with Trump going after reporter Serge Kovaleski who suffers from a congenital condition that limits the mobility of his arms.

Trump blasted Kovaleski for hedging on a 2001 article he has written that, according to Trump, backs up his claim that U.S. Muslims celebrated after the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Written by a nice reporter. Now, the poor guy, you have to see this guy. Oh, I don't know what I said. Oh, I don't remember. He's going, like, I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said.

This is 14 years ago. He still -- they didn't do a retraction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Kovaleski worked for The Washington Post at a time. The New York Times, for its part, responding in a statement saying, "We find it outrageous that Trump would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters."

And the Donald's getting in the last word with this tweet, "The failing New York Times should be focused on good reporting and the paper's financial survival and not with constant hits on Donald Trump."

KOSIK: That's a tough one to watch. I can't believe he did that.

SANCHEZ: It is tough to watch.

KOSIK: All right. An arctic plunge, ice storms, flooding, all in the forecast for the holiday weekend. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Good morning.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Happy Thanksgiving, Alison and Boris, and to you at home.

If you're traveling by car across the plains, allow extra time to get to your destination, because we've got quite the formidable storm developing over the central interior. In fact, that shading of purple near the Texas and Oklahoma border, that is an ice storm warning valid from today through Saturday.

The shading of green is the potential for flooding for Eastern Oklahoma, portions of Arkansas and Missouri. That's where we could experience upwards of 6 inches of rainfall before the end of the holiday weekend. Again, ice forming behind this where the cold air is plunging from the north.

Here's the evolution of the storm system. I'm particularly concerned about Interstate 40 traveling east and west through Amarillo. Be careful across that region. It could get slick. In fact, we have upwards of a half to maybe, perhaps, an inch of ice throughout the area, and that chance of ice extends through Wichita as well as Omaha and Des Moines.

Look at the temperature contrast Between Denver and Oklahoma, almost 40 degrees. Along the East Coast, looking pleasant -- 60 for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Should be a nice mild fall autumn day for us in New York watching the parade.

KOSIK: Yes, nice to stand out on the side of the street and watch the -- yes, usually were freezing...

SANCHEZ: Right.

KOSIK: ...and it's actually going to be nice today.

And if you're one of the 3 million people expected to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this morning, count on a massive show of force by the NYPD.

Sharp shooters are going to be positioned on rooftops, with mobile cameras and police helicopters hovering overhead. Specially trained police dogs, they're also going to be deployed to sniff for traces of explosives. And some officers will be equipped with radiation detectors that seek out dirty bombs. And 200 members of the department's new anti-terror critical response command, they're also going to be on the streets.

All right. If you can't wait for Black Friday, some big box retailers, they're letting you start your holiday shopping today. An early start on your money next.

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SANCHEZ: Pope Francis in Kenya for the start of his historical six- day visit to Africa, his arrival underscored by the threat of terrorism. The pontiff dismissing the danger, though. He insists he's more worried about mosquitos during his visit. He's expected to focus on income inequality and religious intolerance.

Let's go live to Nairobi, and bring in CNN's Robyn Kriel.

Robyn, we know there was some bad weather there. That didn't stop hundreds of thousands of people from going to mass. He also visited a mosque when he was there, right?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was bad weather, but in Africa, rain is considered a blessing. So it started raining as soon as Pope Francis arrived, and it just -- the sun came out a short while ago.

I'm at the University of Nairobi, where the pope addressed roughly 300,000 very excited Kenyans. He received a rousing welcome. He is considered one of the people here, because he comes from a third world background. He comes from a developing country from Argentina. His work in the barrios, the slums of Argentina.

And he's really the People's Pope. So people really feel a connection with him here. He was focusing on the youth, on unemployment, on issues -- typical issues plaguing a developing nation such as Kenya and Uganda, which will be the next stop of his tour.

As you mentioned, security issues. Indeed, Kenya and Uganda both are fighting Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabaab, and insurgent group in Somalia. And they have been attacked in the past, however, today went by relatively smoothly, other than, of course, managing a crowd of this size was incredibly difficult.

Some of the themes of his visit -- you mentioned that the Pope will be visiting a mosque in the Central African Republic. This morning he met with religious leaders to talk peace with Muslins, with Hindus and various other religions to try and promote religious cohesion and religious tolerance.

And it needs to be said that Kenya was originally not on the Pope's initial visiting list. He was not going to visit here during his trip to Africa until he saw the results of Garissa University attacks back in April. Now, that was an attack that 148 students were gunned down by Al-Qaeda linked al Shabaab group militia men, and that was the reason why he decided that he needs to visit here and he needs to focus on a religious cohesion.

SANCHEZ: Well, we certainly hope the mosquitoes didn't interfere with his trip.

Robyn, thank you.

KOSIK: Let's get an EARLY START on your money.

U. S. markets are closed for Thanksgiving, but they ended yesterday with little change. It was a quiet day of trading.

We are seeing green arrows this morning for European markets, as many investors are expecting the European Central Bank to roll out more stimulus measures soon.

Are you jumping out of your skin, can't wait to go shopping on Black Friday? Well, fear not. Several big-box retailers, yes, they're going to be open today. So if you're looking to get a jump on the holiday shopping season, take note.

Starting at 4:00 p.m., The Gap, which includes Old Navy, obviously Gap and Banana Republic is open to customers. At 5:00 p.m. -- these are Eastern times -- Best Buy welcoming shoppers. And is 6:00 tonight, Sears, Kmart, Macy's, Target, Walmart, call starting Black Friday early, so it becomes Black Thursday.

You know, there's a lot of outrage about the stores opening...

SANCHEZ: People working on Thanksgiving.

KOSIK: ...on Thanksgiving and people working but, you know, there are those people who A, like to shop and find this to be a tradition, and B, want to walk off their turkey.

SANCHEZ: I'd rather just sit at home doing the computer.

KOSIK: I'm with you.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Thanks so much for joining us.

New overnight protests in the streets of Chicago. CNN "NEWSROOM" starts now.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: A second night of unrest as hundreds of protesters return to the streets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: We saw, like, a killing and cover up, and both of those lead us to questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 3: The video clearly shows Laquan walking away, and he was not threatening anybody.

DAN HERBERT, JASON VAN DYKE'S ATTORNEY: It doesn't show quite a bit. It's a limited video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 4: This is going to be a long, long, long battle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New fallout after Turkey shoots down a Russian jet.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No one can predict what Vladimir Putin may decide to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 5: It's not in the interests of either country to see this escalate.

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: We are moving closer to a major war in the Middle East.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 6: Law enforcement on the alert across the country this holiday weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 7: You'll never have 100 percent confidence in what's going on.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special Thanksgiving day edition of CNN's Newsroom. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

It is Thursday, November 26, 6:00 in the East. And we do have some breaking news to tell you about, because breaking overnight for a second night, demonstrators taking to the streets in several cities to protest the shooting death of that black teenager in Chicago at the hands of a white police officer.

MICHAEL PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": Now four more dash cam videos have been released showing the moments that led up to that deadly confrontation. The city's police department warning its own officers of a potential ambush by gang members in retaliation for the teen's killing.

CNN's Ryan Young is live in Chicago with all the latest developments for us.

Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Look, as a slight rain falls here in Chicago this Thanksgiving day, let me tell you, protesters who are normally on the South Side moved to the North Side, came down the famous Magnificent Mile and blocked traffic for quite some time. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: A second night of unrest in two major cities, as hundreds of protesters returned to the streets.