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NFL Faces New Player Controversy; Scotland Votes on Independence Today; Australian Police: ISIS Supporters' Plot Foiled; France Ditches "ISIS", Uses Term Group Hates

Aired September 18, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

SGT. TRENT CRUMP, PHOENIX POLICE: He has admitted involvement in the incidents, however, has denied allegations of physical assault.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Police say during one incident he threw a shoe at the 18-month-old, then tossed the cell phone of the female victim out a window, preventing her from calling police. The Cardinals say they have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jonathan Dwyer will have the touchdown --

TURNER: Half a dozen NFL players across the country are now facing domestic violence charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no rule book for this, guys.

TURNER: Wednesday Carolina Panthers' defensive end Greg Hardy took a voluntary leave of absence after being convicted for domestic violence. In May, authorities say Hardy he choked his then- girlfriend, dragged her by her hair into a tub and threatened to kill her. The Panthers star has asked for a new trial.

ZYGI WILF, MINNISOTA VIKINGS OWNER: We made a mistake and we needed to get this right.

TURNER: The Minnesota Vikings deactivating running back Adrian Peterson facing a child abuse charge, retracting from an earlier decision to keep him in the game after sponsors voiced their outrage. Many of Peterson's teammates say he should stay on the field.

CAPTAIN MUNNERLYN, MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Growing up, that was nothing. My mom, she always whipped me up and things like that. This is not hidden in my culture, that's how I was raised. That's how my mom she raised her kids. Like I said, look at me now. I'm in the NFL.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Now, this is the argument we've continuously heard, and by many of the NFL players and also people in support of Adrian Peterson. Yesterday we heard from some of his teammates who either were hesitant to talk or they backed Adrian Peterson fully.

Carol, I talked to some former players and also current players in the NFL and I asked them why is it so hard for you to take a stand, NFL players against these type of situations? They said these are just topics they're not used to talking about. It's hard for them to talk about, and also no one wants to look like they're turning against their teammate.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right. Because they know their teammate -- I mean I can kind of understand that. They know their teammate in a certain way, nice guy, we get along, he's a great teammate, he's a great player. Now we find out these other things about him. And it's such a shock to the system that you don't quite -- my advice to them is to not talk at all.

TURNER: There you go.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Nischelle. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: An historic day in Scotland. We're just hours away from finding out if the country will vote to separate from the United Kingdom. A record number of Scots, more than four million have registered to vote in this referendum. And for the first time, voting privileges have been extended to 16 and 17-year-olds living in Scotland. That's a pretty good deal to say the least. The nearly 300-year union between Scotland and England and Wales is on the line. The polls close officially at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

A number of high profile celebrities are weighing in on today's vote. And as you might expect, their views on the potential split are just as varied as the stars themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A number of celebrities are voicing their opinions on the referendum, many seem to be against Scottish independence including rocker Mick Jagger, soccer star David Beckham, actresses Helena Bonham Carter and Dame Judy Dench and "Dr. Who" actor, David Tennant.

J.K. ROWLING, AUTHOR: Chapter one, the Dark Lord ascending.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling said on her Web site, quote, "My hesitance at embracing independence has nothing to do with a lack of belief in Scotland's remarkable people or its achievements." She goes on to say, "The simple truth is that Scotland is subject to the same 21st century pressures as the rest of the world."

But there are many other stars in favor of Scotland breaking away, including designer Vivian Westwood.

RUSSELL BRAND, ACTOR: I'm very, very lucky to be here with all these beautiful and intelligent people.

COSTELLO: And actors Russell Brand, Alan Cumming, Gerard Butler. One of the most outspoken has been actor Sean Connery.

SEAN CONNERY, ACTOR: Do you always dress this way for golf? COSTELLO: He told British magazine earlier this year, quote, "There is no more creative an act than creating a new nation. A yes vote in September will capture the attention of the world."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's head out to Scotland and bring in Nic Robertson. I see lots of people behind you, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been busy, still busy, busier than this polling station has ever been at any previous election. But it really just gives you an idea that people are totally engaged in this debate. As much as the celebrities are giving us their opinions, people there have been discussing them in the past several weeks.

You get the sense perhaps people going in here now, really ready to make that decision. Some of them made it some time ago, but ready now to sort of just get it over with, make the vote and then see which way it comes out, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. It's like split right down the middle I know. British made its case to Scotland to not do this. Did it go over with some people you think?

ROBERTSON: You know, for some people -- look at the yes campaign led by Alex Salmond, the head of the Scottish National Party. He described the reaction from the politicians in London -- David Cameron, the head of the opposition Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister as disarray. So he really tried to play on that to show that they weren't really ready to deal with this.

They came up with a plan that would give Scotland greater powers over taxation, greater powers over its economy, health service, those sorts of things if there was a no vote. That would start tomorrow they said.

But there's a real sense here among some people that, look, if London -- if the politicians in London, David Cameron and the others, only realized in the past week or so that they had a problem in Scotland, that there might be a yes vote, that was an indication that the politicians in London were out of touch with Scotland, their finger wasn't on the pulse and that's the point that the nationalists, the independence campaigners are making here. London doesn't get Scotland; that they're better off governing themselves. That if you will is sort of the crux of the argument -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll find out what happens later today. Nic Robertson reporting live from Scotland this morning.

Still to come in the NEWROOM, it's being called one of the biggest counterterrorism operations in Australia's history. Officials shut down a possible terror attack by ISIS supporters. We'll tell you the chilling details of how they planned to behead an innocent civilian next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Australian police say they foiled a gruesome terrorist plot by ISIS supporters. According to intelligence officials, the suspects planned to target random citizen, behead them in public and then drape a black ISIS flag over their bodies. So far two people have been charged in the grisly plan, dozens of others served warrants.

CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has more for you.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pre dawn raids across Australia's largest city. Authorities are calling it the country's biggest ever anti-terror operation, armed with dozens of search warrants, Australian security forces detained at least 15 suspects.

The Australian media reporting disturbing details: the suspects allegedly planned to film the public beheading of a random individual and then drape the body in the black flag of ISIS.

ANDREW SCIPIONE, NSW POLICE COMMISSIONER: It is of serious concern that right at the heart of our communities we have people that are planning to conduct random attacks. And today we've worked together to make sure that that didn't happen. We have, in fact, disrupted that particular attack.

WATSON: Among the suspects detained, a man named Omar John Azari who appeared briefly in a Sydney court charged with a terrorism-related offense. He did not enter a plea. His neighbors shocked a suspected terrorist lived next door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought I would see anything like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's actually quite frightening. My heart is pounding.

WATSON: Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he believes at least 60 Australians are fighting alongside ISIS and other militant groups in the Middle East. He's repeatedly voiced fears these Australian jihadis could pose a threat if they ever come home. Australian intelligence revealed ISIS was urging home-grown sympathizers to carry out attacks in Australia.

TONY ABBOTT, AUSTRALIA'S PRIME MINISTER: Quite direct exultations were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country.

WATSON: Last week Australia raised its threat level to high for the first time in the country's history, warning a terrorist attack is likely.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's talk more about this with CNN terror analyst Paul Cruickshank. Welcome, Paul.

What's the method behind ISIS' madness here?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Well, they're trying to spread maximum terror here. They're trying to get their supporters in Australia in its plot to spread maximum terror, particularly gratuitous despite the details that we're hearing about. It's kind of a tit for tat.

We've heard that the Australians are deploying troops to the region, possibly to engage in a combat role against ISIS in Iraq. So ISIS is encouraging its supporters back in Australia to launch a kind of preemptive attack over there.

COSTELLO: Does ISIS in any way think that this will stop the United States and other western countries from battling it in Syria and Iraq?

CRUICKSHANK: I think it's trying to demonstrate to its supporters around the world that it's fighting back. That energizes its supporters and gets them more recruits, Carol.

COSTELLO: So the current strategy that President Obama outlined and the senate probably will vote today to arm these moderate Syrian rebels, is that the right tack?

CRUICKSHANK: It's going to be very, very difficult indeed because these moderate rebels are a very weakened force right now. They're on life support in Aleppo. They're planning to train about 5,000 of these people in Saudi Arabia but they're not going to deploy them for at least six months. They're not clear there will be much of a moderate opposition left in Syria by the time this training actually takes place, Carol.

COSTELLO: So as lawmakers say, is that better than nothing, to arm these moderate Syrian rebels?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, Clearly they've got to try something in Syria. But there are no good options there. Some of the Europeans are even calling for there to be cooperation with the Assad regime because they feel a real high threat in Europe right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Paul Cruickshank -- thanks for your insight as always. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, they're known as the Islamic State, but should they be? France says no. Actually France has come up with a new name for ISIS. We'll tell you what it is and why they refuse to say ISIS or ISIL anymore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: France is done with the label ISIS or ISIL or that group that's worse than al Qaeda. According to the "Washington Post", France is ditching the label ISIS and will now call ISIS a name the group despises. Are you ready for it? Daesh Cutthroats. The Associate Press reports ISIS so hates that label Daesh, it will cut the tongue of anyone who publicly uses the acronym. Of course, U.S. Officials label the group ISIL and they often follow ISIL with the most horrible adjectives they can come up with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: For a whole philosophy or idea or cult, whatever you want to call it that frankly comes out of the Stone Age. They're cold blooded killers, marauding across the Middle East making a mockery of a peaceful religion.

And that's precisely why we're building a coalition to try to stop them from denying the women and the girls and the people of Iraq the very future that they yearn for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: To talk more about this acronym: Ben Wedeman, CNN senior international correspondent; Crystal Wright is a blogger and editor at ConservativeBlackChick.com; and Maria Cardona is a CNN political commentator and a Democratic strategist.

Ben I want to start with you because I know you speak Arabic. What does Daesh mean?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daesh comes from the Arabic "Dawla Al-Islamiya Fi Iraq wa Ash-Sham" or the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria. But the -- of course, ISIS has changed its name simply to the Islamic State, and certainly we do know they don't like to be called Daesh. It doesn't really mean anything in Arabic, although it is close to the Arabic word "das" which means to basically stomp upon or trample.

It's a very sort of colloquial word that rolls off the tongue easily and certainly lots of jokes have been made among Arabs who are not supporters or in any way admirers of Daesh or ISIS. And therefore, they want to be sort of addressed in a respectful manner. But certainly among many Arabs, they just don't have respect for them and, therefore, when they do hear that word Daesh, they become upset and they tend to punish all those who use the term -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. And just to clarify, France has given an interesting reason for abandoning the term ISIS, they say ISIS blurs the line between Islam, Muslims and Islamists and they say Daesh is a better word because ISIS has nothing to do with any of those things that I just mentioned. So are there similar calls to call ISIS something different in other countries, Ben?

WEDEMAN: Well, there's been talk of calling it the Islamic State Group, simply to reduce it to something less than the level of a state because many critics say it is neither Islamic, certainly true, and it really doesn't constitute a state because nobody recognizes it even though they have been successful to a certain extent setting up an administration in the areas that it rules. But certainly to call it the Islamic State does sort of fly in the face of reality. COSTELLO: Crystal, I must say, and I'm surprised I'm saying it, I

like the way the French think on this one. What do you say?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: You know, I give the French an A ++ on this. As Ben pointed out, the fact that we can offend this group of terrorists and cold blooded killers is a good thing. I think the last time I counted we've had three or four iterations for a group that is in no way representative of Muslims and Islamists all over the world. So I think that we should follow the French lead. I can't believe I'm saying this, Carol. I wouldn't always say this. We should follow the French lead and we need to stop giving them legitimacy. They're not a state. As the French foreign minister said, they are a terrorist group. Even, you know, the Prime Minister -- British Prime Minister David Cameron said the same thing. Let's stop calling them a state. Let's stop giving them legitimacy. Let's call them the ruthless killers that they are.

COSTELLO: Maria, your thoughts?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I couldn't agree more actually. Hooray for the French on this one. I think we should follow their lead. Look, public image is huge for a group like these terrorists. So something like this I think clearly is going to hurt their public image, and we should be calling them by what they are.

And, in fact, you know, at the very beginning when everyone was calling them ISIS, I had a problem with that because it defamed one of the most awesome Egyptian goddesses. But we should look at what the reality is, and the reality is they are neither Islamic and they're not a state. So let's think about something like Kafir which means ungodly in Arabic and it could be an acronym for Caliphate Army of Fools, Idiots and Rats; or simply Chum which is cowardly, ungodly murderers.

COSTELLO: Got it.

CARDONA: And let's call them by what they are, not what they aspire to but will never be, Carol.

COSTELLO: I got to leave it there. Thanks to all of you -- Ben Wedeman, Crystal Wright, Maria Cardona.

It is one of the hazards of flying -- a fellow passenger who does not respect your space or bears way too much. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Passengers, prepare for shaming especially if you're not in the upright position and your feet are on your tray table.

(on camera): Yikes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so yikes. It's so beyond yikes.

MOOS (voice-over): Former flight attendant Shawn Katlin (ph) created a Facebook page "Passenger Shaming", showcasing photos of passengers behaving badly, leaving dirty diapers in seat pockets and going shirtless. How far we've flown from the elegant old days --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The travail has been taken out of travel.

MOOS: Instead of pearls, check out the altitude of these shorts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting worse by the minute.

MOOS: Her personal pet peeve?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Socks stay on.

MOOS: Except they don't. Sure it's funny when John Candy does it in the movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my dogs are barking today. That feels better.

MOOS: But who wants to let barking dogs lie when they intrude from another row?

(on camera): We recommend keeping your feet covered and your hands exposed.

(voice-over): How gross is it to see a guy sleeping with his hands shoved down his -- avert your eyes.

But Shawn Katlin (ph) has seen passenger do worse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He caught his hair on fire in the lavatory while he was smoking crack.

MOOS: Sort of makes chewed gum less than a safety card seem quaint.

(on camera): And whatever you do, do not get nailed using clippers.

(voice-over): Why don't you just skip the in-flight manicure? No one wants to see you caring for your feet at 30,000 feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was this gentleman treating his warts with Compound W. Yes, that happened.

MOOS: Shawn Katlin quit her flight attendant job a year ago to become a nurse practitioner. She'll see plenty of naked men in nursing. But somehow looking at this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't.

MOOS: Seems worse, a passenger using a pillow case to cover his eyes while uncovering the rest.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Sure, let's fly, but don't leave behind your boxers, your dentures, your toenails or your wig.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I think I'll skip brunch.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" starts now.