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Mom of Jihadi Militant; Shooting at Louisville High School; Ferguson to Hold Closed-Door Town Hall; Hong Kong Protests Reminiscent of Tiananmen Square; Will Netflix Premier End Movie Houses?

Aired September 30, 2014 - 14:30   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: Survival, an unlikely outcome for an ISIS captive. Each time militants removed the head of one, they threaten the life of the next. And each time they make good on their word. A devastating reality for the wife of British aid worker Alan Henning, seen alive after beheading a fellow British captive, David Haines. But speaking today, she has a message for her husband and for ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA HENNING, WIFE OF BRITISH HOSTAGE: Alan, we miss you and we're dreadfully concerned for your safety. But we are given so much hope by the outcry across the world as to your imprisonment. I ask the Islamic State, please, release him. We need him back home. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Henning's wife still holding out, obviously, hope for his return home safely. But there is another type of victim, often overlooked, the family of a jihadi fighter. CNN's Karl Penhaul sat down with a mother who lost her son to extremism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seaside Britain, home of fish and chips and ice cream cones. Brighton was supposed to be a fresh, happy start for a mother fleeing war in Africa and a broken marriage. Now Kadija Kamara (ph) sits reading condolence notes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the lovely lady (INAUDIBLE), I am so sorry for your loss.

PENHAUL: Last week, her 19-year-old son, Ibrahim (ph), was killed in the first wave of U.S. air strikes on Syria. Family and friends say he left earlier this year to join the al Qaeda-affiliated al Nusra Front.

(CRYING)

PENHAUL: Ibrahim Kamara had been studying computer science at college. His mother says he regularly helped out at a charity store, raising funds to build a school in their native Sierra Leone.

News reports of civilian suffering in Syria infuriated Kamara, and his mother had no idea he'd joined rebel ranks until he had phone in February to say he was in Syria.

Khadija said she was so mad she hung up.

KHADIJA KAMARA, MOTHER OF JIHADI MILITANT: I don't think it was just because I was angry with him. It's because I couldn't stand to make that decision. (INAUDIBLE)

PENHAUL: Kamara did not have a valid passport. His mother says he stole his 15-year-old brother, Mohammad's. She's dumbfounded how her son could ever have afforded a flight.

KAMARA: I didn't see him. At least let me get this answer. Let me know how he traveled. I want to know. How he passed that airport with 15 years old passport. I want to know how he did it. I want to know.

PENHAUL: Britain's home office, responsible for homeland security, said airlines, not border police, were in charge of checking departing passengers' identities.

Kamara traveled to Syria with two Brighton friends, they were heading to join their brother, pictured here on Brighton Beach.

(GUNFIRE)

PENHUAL: He was already fighting with al Nusra Front, his family says. He sent news of the teenager's death.

KAMARA: He said to my son, congratulations, your brother, Ibrahim, died this morning. What a nice way to break the news to the family member.

PENHAUL: Khadija's mind drifts back to her last phone call with her son four months ago.

KAMARA: When I spoke to him, I told him that I have to find it in my heart to forgive you. And that I love you.

PENHAUL: The last words of a mother to her son from Brighton Beach to the battlefield.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: That was Karl Penhaul.

And here he is now live from London.

And, Karl, he has been said to have been killed in U.S. air strikes in Syria where the strikes were targeting ISIS and al Qaeda cells. But without a body, how has the U.K. been able to confirm this?

PENHUAL: Well, really, it's been word of mouth from Kamara's friends, his own friends from Brighton, who were out in Syria fighting alongside him. They were near his unit when that unit was bombed in that first night of air strikes carried out by the United States. And they have sent word back to Kamara's mother, Khadija, and talked to one of the brothers, as well. As you'll remember, those U.S. air strikes on the first night of attacks last week targeted ISIS on the one hand and also what the U.S. has dubbed the Khorasan group that they said was this hard-core al Qaeda cell. But, in fact, Kamara's friends say that he was simply fighting for al Nusra. They say they're not even aware that Khorasan existed -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: What a perspective for the mother of this man.

Karl Penhaul, thank you for sharing that story with us. We appreciate it.

Want to take you back to the breaking story. We've been making calls on, getting more information here of this school shooting, the shooting at Fern Creek High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

I have Jody Duncan on the phone with me. She is the public information officer for Louisville Emergency Management.

Jody, can you hear me?

Let me try that again.

Jody Duncan live on CNN, can you hear me, ma'am?

All right. Jody, one more time.

Jody Duncan, Brooke Baldwin live on CNN, trying to get information on this school shooting.

All right. We cannot make connection with her. We're going to try to grab her.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, back to our breaking news. As you're looking at pictures out of Louisville, Kentucky. School shooting here at Fern Creek High School in Louisville.

We've got Jody Duncan on the phone, Emergency Management, public information officer.

Jody, can you hear me?

JODY DUNCAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LOUISVILLE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (voice-over): Yes, I can, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Hi. Wonderful. Let's begin at the beginning, as far as the shooting is concerned at this high school. Where did it happen?

DUNCAN: Well, Brooke, about 1:15, we received information that shots were fired in the area. We did do investigation on that and found out that we did have a student that was shot. The student's been transported via EMS to the hospital and has been re-unified with their parents at this time. We have a reunification right now for the parents of the other students near the high school at Fern Creek Park and we also our Fern Creek Elementary School on lockdown at this time, as well.

We have many different agencies that have worked in conjunction to make this go as smoothly as possible, with Metro Police, EMS, the SWAT team, bomb squad. And, we've seeked assistance from American Red Cross to help us out, as well.

So we are still looking for the suspect. We have reports that it's a male about 6'5", wearing a gray hoodie, black pants with a gray stripe, and about 15, 16 years old. But we're not sure if he's a student at Fern Creek High School, but we do know he's a younger individual.

BALDWIN: 15 to 16 years old suspect. And to confirm again, Jody, this individual is still at large. Police are still looking for the gunman.

DUNCAN: That's correct, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. And just quickly, as far as the shooting, did the shooting happen on school property? Inside of a classroom? Can you release that information?

DUNCAN: Brooke, right now, I don't have that information, if it was inside the classroom.

BALDWIN: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Jody Duncan, I appreciate that. I'm going to let you get off the phone so you can continue information gathering.

And looking at pictures, like this, just sends chills up my spine.

Again, reports of school shootings, Fern Creek High School, Louisville, Kentucky. We'll stay on it.

Let's move on and talk about Ferguson, Missouri. Emotion there is still raw almost two months after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: You're going to have to back up.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Any violation will result in an arrest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Demonstrators took to the streets again last night to demand that the officer who killed Brown be charged. Despite a tense face- off with police, no arrests were made, which is a sharp departure from the night before when eight demonstrators went to jail.

Tonight, the city will hold a town hall meeting in an effort to promote dialogue and avoid more violence.

Stephanie Elam is working this for us again in Ferguson. She joins me live.

And, Stephanie, we understand the town hall will not be open, the town hall. No TV cameras there tonight. Why not?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brooke. I think there's an effort here to keep things focused on the town. And so that people can truly speak their minds and it'll be more about getting this town into a more cohesive mindset. That's part of it. We have seen people out here who are fatigued with the protesters, with the attention here on this small town. And so this may be an effort to allow those people to voice their opinions on what they need to do going forward -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK. So as we look for that, we know that the police chief apologized publicly, right, just a couple of days ago. Only seemed to inflame matters there. Does he have regrets? You talk to him.

ELAM: Well, you know, when I talked to him this morning, Police Chief Tom Jackson did say that, you know, there are some things they could do better. As far as that night, that Thursday night, that video we've all seen when he came out here and was engaged with the demonstrators who were out here, he said that, you know, this is something he does often and something he will continue to do. As far as whether or not it was a mistake, this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM JACKSON, CHIEF, FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: No, I don't think it's ever a mistake for me to try to engage people who are trying to talk to me and my police department and my city. I think it's important that we keep those lines of communications open. So if some folks wanted to turn it into a hostile situation, that's their fault, not mine. But, you know, I wish it would have turned out better than it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And I also asked him, Brooke, if he was aware of the perceived disparity here between people in the town of Ferguson, if he was aware of that before the Mike Brown shooting, and he told me that he knew it was there, but not as much as he understands it now -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Stephanie Elam, I'm glad we followed up with him. I appreciate it. From Ferguson this afternoon for us.

As far as the protests in Hong Kong, another chaotic time in China. Taking you back to 1989, Tiananmen Square, push for democracy, one that was crushed by the government. How these demonstrations are similar and how they are not from someone who lived and worked this for days and days. A veteran CNN producer will join us live, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: They have already been gassed by police, and now, in Hong Kong, pro democracy forces are being urged to go home immediately. That's exactly what they're saying, with no repeat. Nothing so far of a heavy-handed police tactics we first saw Sunday when the protesters got a taste of tear gas. Look at the smoke. What is happening in Hong Kong is being closely watched in Beijing. I want you to remember a similar uprising there at Tiananmen Square, crushed by the Communist government in 1989. So as really the world watches Hong Kong unfold, we should all keep in mind the precedent set in Beijing.

Let's also keep in mind that tomorrow is the 66th anniversary of the founding of Communist China, and the authorities can't like this flexing of citizens muscles on an occasion such as this.

Alec Miran is with us from Washington, a long time CNN editor. We have worked together multiple times. And he was there in Beijing in 1989. He was producing our coverage when Chinese authorities yanked the plug on CNN, took us off the air because they didn't like our coverage.

Alec Miran, thank you so much for coming in.

ALEC MIRAN, CNN PRODUCER: Glad to be here, Brooke.

BALDWIN: First, Let's play this, this historic moment, CNN's Bernard Shaw, reporting from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD SHAW, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm being told government officials are coming into the CNN control room now, this man with a piece of paper in his hand. I'm certain that is not a party invitation. And let's just watch what happens.

Here Alec Miran is appealing to this official. And this official is calling his bosses at whichever office he's calling.

MIRAN: What you are telling me, what the government is telling me is that we're given permission, for a one-week lease, to bring our station in here. You're saying we're only allowed to come in to cover the Gorbachev visit? How about all the other stories we did about China that didn't concern Mr. Gorbachev? That has nothing to do with you? Then why does this have anything to do with you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. Alec Miran in 1989.

Just watching you watch that. Before we talk about these pictures out of Hong Kong, take me back to that day? Take me back to that day in Beijing and how it foreshadowed what was to come on June 4th.

MIRAN: OK. Well, we had originally gone to cover the visit of Mikhail Gorbachev to China, the first time two of the most powerful communist nations in the world had met. We had been on the air 12 hours a day for about a week and a half. And we still had another eight hours left on our satellite lease, which we never believed they would allow us to bring in our own satellite dish because it gave us more freedom than any other broadcaster had ever had. And among the major networks, only a couple of us had our own transmissions. It was a big deal.

Anyway, our lease was about to run out in eight or nine hours time. The pictures were so fabulous that I was told to try to keep us on the air for a while longer. And that's what this argument was about.

In retrospect, if they let our lease run out and not renewed it, this could've gone very quietly. But as it was, this became a moment, like you said, that foreshadowed it. If they were willing to treat the free press like this, what were they going to do to their own people? And I think this made the situation a lot -- seem a lot more serious for viewers, viewers at home and also to people in China.

As a matter of fact, I'll never forget, about 20 minutes after we were shut down, and I was in the hotel elevator and there was a hotel employee who was very young, a woman, and she said, thank you for what you did. And I said I didn't do anything, the students did it. And she said, well, they weren't going to come in while you were watching.

BALDWIN: How about that.

MIRAN: So we continued to watch but we weren't live. And, you know, I guess, in some ways, it was a foreshadowing.

BALDWIN: So you -- and I should point out, Roger Strauss, who was directing this entire show and has been for many years, he was sitting in front of you directing the show from right where you all were in China. As you look at these pictures playing -- and there's Roger. Shout out to Roger.

As you look at these similarities, these pictures coming out of Hong Kong, and even talking to Jeannie Moos earlier today, who was there, as well, she was talking about the energy among the students, what seemed to be such positivity, how do uh you compare the then to the now and what we're seeing in Hong Kong?

MIRAN: I think similarities about the protest is that, in both of them, it started with a fairly small bunch of students. In fact, the Tiananmen protests started a month and a half before that clip you showed. I was in China and our bureau chief woke me up after an 18- hour flight and said you have to come see this. There's a demonstration. I said, demonstration in China? He said, yes, there were five or six demonstrators being led by the police. And bureau chief said, well, this can't -- this can't happen. Tomorrow, they'll be gone. And they weren't gone. And it grew and it grew and it grew. And not only was it students, you would have entire hospital staffs come down to treat people who were, you know, sick, people were getting overheated. And I get the sense if that's the same sort of vibe they have here, that it was started by students. It's growing exponentially. It's grown to other parts of Hong Kong. And one of the interesting things in an indication that the Chinese

government and Hong Kong leadership don't think it's going to stop any time soon is if they cancel a huge fireworks display that would be Wednesday night, Hong Kong time, for what's National Day. It's normally one of the biggest holidays. But in 1989, Tiananmen Square, which is one of the biggest squares in the world, estimated at one point a million students there. It became almost like a city. They had mobile kitchens. They had Port-a-Johns. And I get the sense that's happening here, too. It's taking on a life of its own.

BALDWIN: Taking over highways. A sea of people as far as the eye can see. But of course, what you saw in Tiananmen Square with the unthinkable, the martial law, the tanks, what ensued, you know, hoping nothing like that obviously happens in Hong Kong. But when you look at the pictures, there are certainly similarities.

Thank you so much for coming in today to D.C. We truly, truly appreciate you, my friend, my colleague. Appreciate it.

And, Roger Strauss, thank you, sir, as well. Appreciate it.

Just into CNN here. As we learned, the world's most secure building appears to be vulnerable, the new details about the Secret Service agent who tackled the intruder who made it through the front door -- that officer -- and all the way to the East Room, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is a deal that is thrilling some movie fans but chilling some movie houses. Netflix just inked a deal to show a film the same day it premieres in theaters, a sequel to the 2000 box office hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Not everyone's thrilled about this. Is this the beginning of the death of the box office?

Joining me now, CNN's digital correspondent, Rachel Crane, and Michael Musto, film critic and columnist with Out.com.

Welcome to both of you.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: This one gets me fired up. Basically, the deal -- and you just explain it. The deal when this movie, the sequel comes out.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: When the sequel comes out in August, it'll be across both IMAX theaters and also on Netflix. If you have a monthly subscription to Netflix, about $8 a month, you'll get the movie for free. But if you go to an IMAX, you'll have to pay, here in New York City, about $20 for an adult ticket.

BALDWIN: Let me quote -- this is the -- this is from the chief content officer at Netflix. "What I'm hoping is that it will be a proof point that the sky doesn't fall," he says. "These are two different experiences like going to a football game, i.e., IMAX, and watching a football game on TV, a la Netflix." Michael?

MICHAEL MUSTO, COLUMNIST, OUT.COM: Exactly. The world's not going to end.

BALDWIN: It's not ending?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: People are going to see movies.

MUSTO: Do you remember when TV-- well, you probably don't remember.

(LAUGHTER)

Well, when I was around, TV was supposed to kill movies, and it didn't. It provided a different venue. This culture is all about choices. It's all about pampering the consumer. I went to a chicken finger restaurant yesterday. There were 30 different sauces.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: OK, everyone is a gossip columnist. Everyone has a cell phone so everyone is a photographer. Everyone has a Facebook page. And now you have a different medium to see your movie. You don't have to wait until it streams. It's already open on opening day in your own home. And I think it's OK. If the theater chains are forced to lower their prices, which are inflated, that's OK with me.

BALDWIN: There is a huge change, though. I found myself having two conversations at dinner parties, et cetera, over the last couple of days that I feel like fewer people -- and maybe this is just my circles. Fewer of us are going to the movies, but we love sitting like, you know, with our phones and our laptops and sitting at home and binge watching the heck out of TV shows. Why is that happening?

CRANE: Part of the digital first strategy that is reaching across industries. I mean, we saw Beyonce this year release her --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: ITunes.

CRANE: Yeah, before she released the physical C.D. So consumers want what they want when they want it and want it immediately. And the internet and the digital platform is a much better way to consume content that way.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: I personally prefer the big screen. And, in fact, I go to screenings. I've seen "Gone Girl." I'm going to the New York Film Festival. Everything's great.

(LAUGHTER)

But if you watch something at home, it's comfortable. If someone's texting in your partner, do you know who they are? You could yell at a stranger. You could yell at your husband.

But you know what? If you watch something at home, it's comfortable.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MUSTO: If someone's texting in your apartment, you know who they are.

BALDWIN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: You don't have to yell at some stranger. You could yell at your husband.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: ... every so often. No, and don't get me wrong. I absolutely love going to the movies and the popcorn, the whole experience, just not all the time.

CRANE: And it's pricey.

BALDWIN: Yes, totally. Rachel and Michael, thank you both very much.

CRANE: Thank you for having us.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I really appreciate it.

And we continue on. Roll it.