Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dempsey: "Destroy" ISIS In Iraq, "Disrupt" In Syria; NFL Enlists Four Women To Help Make Policy; Rihanna Slams CBS For Pulling Song; Soon: Obama Outlines Ebola Plan At CDC

Aired September 16, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I've got news into us here on CNN. Tony Stewart's deadly racetrack crash case is going to a grand jury. The news coming into us from Ontario District Attorney's Office. Remember, he was involved in this deadly crash last month that killed fellow racer, Kevin Ward Jr.

Joining me with more is CNN's Jean Casarez. And before we get to the new news going to the grand jury. Remind us, August 9th, dirt car track race.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. A lot of cars were going around, and the decedent in all of this, the victim, Kevin Ward, his car was struck by this NASCAR champion's car who now this case is proceeding to the grand jury, Tony Stewart.

And so, Kevin ward gets out of his vehicle. Tony Stewart's vehicle veers toward and the vehicle strikes, allegedly, Kevin Ward and then he is taken to a hospital and is dead upon arrival. And a lot of people were surprised by this.

Because when the sheriff's department of Ontario County, New York, was investigating this, the sheriff said we don't see that any crimes have been committed. That's why people are surprised.

BALDWIN: So now what's happening?

CASAREZ: Well, amazingly enough, there is a forensic enhancement video being reported by CNN that was done by New York State Forensic Authorities, which really will show the devils in the details, right?

The car, Tony Stewart's car that veered towards car. Was it intentional? Was it reckless? And I think that video will be shown to the grand jury. And I think that's the issue here. And obviously, the prosecutor didn't have to take this to a grand jury. He is. What does that mean right there?

BALDWIN: Jean Casarez, thank you so much for the update there. We'll follow it certainly.

Coming up next, the secretary of defense gets some pretty tough questions asked of him by Congress on the United States' plan to try to battle ISIS both in Iraq and Syria. One of the main sticking points, arming Syrian rebels who are already focused on fighting the country's dictator, President Bashar Al-Assad. Can the U.S. trust them to fight both enemies? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If U.S. troops head to the frontlines to fight ISIS in Iraq, who will do the job in Syria? The subject of arming and training so- called moderate Syrian rebels is perhaps the stickiest subject of all facing the administration right now. A lot of questions out there like exactly who are these people? What, exactly, would they do with those arms? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: You don't think that the Free Syrian Army is going to fight against Bashar Al-Assad who has been decimating them? You think that these people you're training will only go back to fight against ISIL? Do you really believe that, General?

GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: What I believe, Senator, is that as we train them and develop a military chain of command link to a political structure that we can establish objectives that defer that challenge into the future. We do not have to deal with it now.

ARIZONA: That's a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept and motivation of the Free Syrian Army. It is Bashar Al-Assad that has killed many more than ISIL has.

DEMPSEY: I agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, Gideon Lichfield, global news editor with "Quartz." Gideon, great to have you here. Thank you so much. Just what do you make of Senator McCain's point there?

GIDEON LICHFIELD, GLOBAL NEWS EDITOR, "QUARTZ": I think he has a point. He's sort of saying you're really putting off the problem you're going to have to deal with down the line. These rebels have been trying to fight against the regime the whole time. You're now telling them, OK, you can't fight him anymore. You've got

to fight the other guys. And then after that, maybe we'll talk. I think that, it's tricky to see how you could not bring that into the calculation right now.

But it's also admittedly hard to see how you can factor it all in in one go. It'll be a complicated long-term strategy.

BALDWIN: What happens then, though? If that happens just to reset. Basically the U.S. has to essentially arm and train the moderate Syrian rebels who have been fighting Assad all this time. Would the U.S. be in a proxy war with Assad? Are you with me?

LICHFIELD: I think what Assad is hoping that the U.S. will solve his ISIS problem for him and help him get rid of ISIS. I think what the U.S. is hoping, is that by the time it has finished pummelling ISIS, assuming that it can, which is a whole separate question.

Assuming that it does that. It is hoping by that stage the rebels will have been sufficiently armed and reinforced that Assad. It's no longer really possible for Assad to simply steam roll them.

And that some kind of court has to rise or Assad will have lost so much credibility by then, he can be forced out and others can reach an agreement with ISIL. I think that's maybe the long-term goal.

BALDWIN: I was talking to Professor David Lest of Trinity University last hour. He's written a book on Assad, "House of Assad." He has met him multiple times. And I was saying to him, if you could crawl into his mind, what do you think he would be thinking?

And he was saying, well, maybe he'd be thinking, all along the U.S. and Syria were natural allies, that somehow we could compromise, which he said it would be ridiculous to think of that. What do you think Assad is thinking?

LICHFIELD: I think that he is, as I said, I think he's making maybe this is an opportunity for him --

BALDWIN: An opportunity.

LICHFIELD: To find a new way to get out of this sort of stalemate that he's fought himself into. Where the U.S. is going to concentrate its air strikes has been in ISIS' hands for I think a year or more. It's -- and the air base, which was nearby which was taken over last month, what a big, big defeat for the Syrian forces.

And so it's a loss of face and power for the regime. It's an opportunity for him to do a bit of a reset and maybe find a way where he can work his way back into being, if not a friend of the U.S., then at least a tolerated international dictator.

BALDWIN: Tolerated international dictator.

LICHFIELD: Yes. And then, and reach some kind of status quo. Remember, the U.S. was, you know, under huge pressure to bomb the Syrian army when this whole conflict started.

BALDWIN: Right.

LICHFIELD: And said, no, we're not going to get involved. And maybe Assad thinks with any luck, I can go back to that status quo.

BALDWIN: Gideon Lichfield, thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it.

LICHFIELD: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Rihanna lashes out at CBS for pulling her song from the network football coverage. Now the network has responded. Rihanna may be regretting her decision. We'll explain. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The NFL is enlisting to Major League female advocates to tackle the issue of domestic violence. Here are their names. In fact, one is already a VP in the NFL. The others are leaders in the battle against sex crimes and domestic violence.

The goal is this, to develop and implement the NFL's policies, resources and outrage when it comes to domestic violence and sexual assault. So while the NFL is turning to these four women to help the league through this crisis, the fear is that they have already turned off many others. Here was ESPN's Hannah Storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH STORM, ESPN ANCHOR: Here's a question. What does all of this mean for the future? What does it mean for female fans whose dollars are so coveted by the NFL, who make up an estimated 45 percent of the NFL's fan base? Our fans and families, are we as parents, are we supposed to separate a violent game on the field from violent acts off the field? And if we do, what message does that send?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, CNN money correspondent, Cristina Alesci. And Christina, we know the league obviously dealing with all kinds of fallout from women, in particular. You know, alienating female fans at the time when the league needs them the most.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The league has been chasing this segment of the market for a number of years, taking out advertisements in women's fashion magazines. They've sponsored an entire clothing lines, even make-up lines. Just to be in front of this audience.

And now what we're seeing on social media, especially, is a huge backlash. You know, one of the most prominent examples is this cover girl ad that's been PhotoShopped to show the model with the black eye that's just been viral on social media.

And not to mention the fact that you have women's groups like ultra violet flying planes above stadiums in Cleveland and New York and Indianapolis during the games calling for Goodell's head. So clearly, this is not great for the league's image with women.

BALDWIN: But still, planes in PhotoShop is not stopping all these people tuning in watching the games. Wasn't last Thursday's one of the highest rated in the last eight years?

ALESCI: Highest rated since 2006 so it seems like fans are still watching. But what we don't know are the numbers behind those merchandise purchases. That is a significant revenue stream for the NFL.

So will women stop buying the, you know, tight-fitting jerseys that the NFL has been selling? That's a major question. And as you played, Hannah Storm mentioning 45 percent of the fan base are women. Not to mention, 33 percent of the viewing audience for the games are women.

So it's going to take a little bit of time for the numbers to actually show up for the ripple effects to show up. But there's one thing that's for sure, the league has to address this somehow. You know, this social responsibility team that they've put together. A lot of critics are saying this is just window dressing. We'll have to see.

And not to mention the fact that there's another big controversy brewing. The Buffalo Bills cheerleaders are suing the team for wage theft. We're going to have to see how the team responds. Apparently, there's already a countersuit on those women. That cannot be a good thing and the league is probably going to have to weigh in on that one.

BALDWIN: Wow. Cristina, they have their hands full it sounds like. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. And here we are, sort of staying on this with regard to football. You know, in the midst of this Ray Rice controversy.

There was another one brewing for CBS Sports. It was set to premiere its Thursday night football franchise with the special show that included this musical collaboration from Jay-Z and Rihanna.

So the network yanked that spot last week as this uproar over Ray Rice exploded. The network said, listen, it was about tone, but Rihanna didn't take too kindly to that move.

She unleashed her anger on Twitter today tweeting CBS you pulled my song last week and now you want to slide it back in this Thursday. Bleep you, you all are sad for penalizing me for this. And two more words, the audacity.

Now we are hearing from CBS and Jay-Z's label. So for that and a little bit more, let me bring in our Brian Stelter, our senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES." So, first, what is CBS saying?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, CBS put out a statement a few hours after the tweet. Once your business partner is cursing at you on Twitter, you've got to kind of cut them loose. Here's the statement, we'll be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday night football open.

They're going to bring on a different theme song instead and not have her on for the rest of the season. But Rock Nation, which actually owns the rights of the song say that they sort of caused this, they pulled the rights away.

Here is their statement, they said, "Due to the misuse and misrepresentation of Rihanna's name and participation in connection with CBS's Thursday night football, CBS was not allowed to license and utilize the song "Run This Town."

Rock Nation made the decision not to grant the song's usage. This corporate back and forth today, which is really surprising to me because I think CBS did the right thing last week.

They couldn't have broadcast that song and the whole entertaining aspect of it because they had to cover the news. They had to cover the Ray Rice. They did the right thing last week, but they were in a bind now. There was no right call today. Once she's cursing at them on Twitter, they had to move on.

BALDWIN: Do you think in the end that's going to hurt her? She's got like --

STELTER: I think it creates negative noise. I would think she would want the 20 million viewers who are going to be watching Thursday night football all season to hear her voice for these next 12 or 15 or 16 weeks. A little surprised by that.

The number one show in the United States last week was Sunday night football. Number two was Thursday night football. Number three was Monday night football. So it's a reminder about the strength of these franchises, regardless of what the news is at the moment.

BALDWIN: Mr. Stelter, thank you for perspective.

STELTER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: In moments, President Obama will be revealing exactly how the U.S. is helping to fight the spread of Ebola. This as the U.S. and the west were definitely criticized for that initial response. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Moments from now, you've seen these are live pictures here in Atlanta, President Obama will be addressing the threat from the Ebola virus. He's been under all kinds of pressure to really just do more to fight the spread.

The president speaking today in Atlanta at the Centers for Disease Control. He'll be talking about his plan to send 3,000 military personnel to West Africa to help construct treatment centers that could house up to some 1,700 Ebola patients.

President Obama also plans to ask Congress to approve an additional $88 million in support. Before leaving Washington, President Obama did meet with Dr. Kent Brantly at his office. Here's the picture from the oval office.

Remember he's one of the American aid workers who recovered from the Ebola virus after receiving that experimental serum. Meanwhile, Senator Lamar Alexander, gave a dire warning today from the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: I believe that we should treat the Ebola epidemic as seriously as we treat the danger of ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me bring in physician and journalist, Dr. Ford Vox. Dr. Vox, welcome.

DR. FORD VOX, PHYSICIAN AND JOURNALIST: Thank you.

BALDWIN: When you look at the numbers, we know that Ebola has already killed at least 2,400 people, thousands more are infected. Do you agree with the senator there? Is the spread of Ebola something the world really needs to make a top priority?

VOX: It should. Just a month ago, we were talking about numbers that were half that. About a month ago, we were talking about 1,000 people dead. 2,000 affected. The WHO, the World Health Organization, at this point is telling us that the virus is spreading exponentially.

There are a number of world threats, but I think Senator Alexander and other senators are right that it's important that we really step up the response at this point. That's what we're seeing from the White House here in a few minutes.

BALDWIN: Clearly the White House is stepping up. But who else, Doctor, other nations should step up as well?

VOX: I think that this is a global problem. The United Nations has asked for about $1 billion worth of global response from this. There is a silver ling. We actually are starting to see other nations step up. At this point, China is a global power.

They'll have about 200 experts on the ground there shortly. China's also sending out a mobile laboratory. So the United Nations is really requesting that the global nation step in and we're starting to see some of that.

BALDWIN: That's good. A piece in "The New York Times," Michael Osterholm, director of the Centers for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota says, something being talked about in private are fears that this virus could mutate, could spread through the air. How likely is that?

VOX: Dr. Osterholm's op-ed was very powerful certainly in the prescription that he laid out, which is actually very similar to what we're seeing from the White House today. That particular aspect of his op-ed talking about a potential of this virus becoming airborne, that would require quite a lot of evolution quite quickly. It is not the opinion shared by the majority of the microbiology establishments.

BALDWIN: That's important.

VOX: I think that laying out that concern is perhaps something he was helping to bolster his case that we better get on the ball. It's scary. It's theoretically possible but not the main issue.

BALDWIN: So even without a mutation, is the threat from this current strain -- how dire is that? VOX: In the fashion in which it's spreading now, centered in West Africa, we are seeing it effectively double in a month. It could double in another month. We're expecting tens of thousands of West Africans to die before this infection right starts to literally die down.

In the course of that, there are some big unknowns. This is a virus that can lay dormant in an affected person for three weeks with no symptoms. Other major international cities could be affected by this. This is why we're scanning people at airports and so on.

If it did reach a major city whether New York or Berlin or so on, it would not be like what we're seeing in West Africa. It would be perhaps a handful of people affected. But nevertheless this is a legitimate concern.

BALDWIN: Dr. Ford Vox, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it. As we mentioned, those live pictures up again, President Obama has left Washington and he is expected to speak any moment now.

This is the Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta on adding support for all of these people who are infected with this at times very deadly Ebola virus. Stay with us on CNN. You can watch us here.

I'm Brooke Baldwin live in New York. Thank you so much for being with me on Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, to Washington we go. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.