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FBI Asking for Help Identifying Possible American Jihadist; U.S.: Kobani Fall to ISIS Not a Major Concern; Walmart Slashing Health Care Benefits

Aired October 08, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of news out there. Let's get you to "THE NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

I saw you moving to it a little bit, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was.

CUOMO: Looking at the limbo stick.

COSTELLO: Yes.

CUOMO: That limbo stick --

PETERSONS: There you go.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Thanks, guys. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, hunt for a cold-blooded ISIS killer. The FBI wants your help in finding him. They think the man in the black mask may be an American.

Plus rolled back, big box behemoth Wal-Mart cutting health insurance for 30,000 part-time workers, but this might actually be a good thing? We'll tell you why.

And save Excalibur. The Ebola dog that's stealing everyone's heart this morning. Spain is threatening to euthanize him but he's showing no symptoms of Ebola, nothing. Nada. See the Twitter campaign that's going viral live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The FBI makes a bold and unusual move and asks you and your neighbors, do you know this ISIS terrorist, hiding behind a mask?

In a gruesome propaganda tape released last month he appears to execute captured Syrian soldiers who are unarmed but even more chilling, it sounds like he may be American. So now the feds are asking you to listen carefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They lie. They're lying. We are the harshest towards the Kuffar. And the flames of war are only beginning to intensify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now just to be clear, this is not the same man shown in recent beheadings of prisoners including two Americans. He spoke with a British accent and the FBI believes it has identified him.

Joining me now, CNN chief -- CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown. She's in our Washington bureau with more.

Good morning, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Carol. The FBI is turning to the public for help now after weeks of trying to figure out the identity of this ISIS terrorist who we heard speaking fluent English and he also speaks Arabic in this ISIS propaganda video. And the big concern here is that this may be someone with a Western passport who slipped through the cracks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The FBI is asking for the public's help identifying this jihadi speaking in what sounds like an American accent in an ISIS propaganda video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flames of war are only beginning.

BROWN: For weeks the FBI has been using facial recognition and voice analysis trying to trace his accent and comparing what they find to other Americans the intelligence community has been watching.

FBI director James Comey told "60 Minutes" there are about a dozen Americans currently fighting in Syria but he's even more worried about the Americans not currently on his radar.

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I don't know what I don't know.

BROWN: The effort is part of a broader public appeal by the FBI to identify Americans seeking to join jihadist groups fighting overseas. It comes on the heels of a 19-year-old Chicago man arrested Saturday. CNN has learned that Mohammed Khan wasn't on the FBI's radar until very recently.

CULLY STIMSON, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Without this digital footprint, I don't think this young man would have come on our radar screen at all.

BROWN: The FBI says Khan was in contact with someone online who was allegedly trying to help him get into Syria to fight with ISIS. When police arrested Khan at Chicago O'Hare's international airport, FBI agents were simultaneously searching house but Khan's family members refused to talk to reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What should we know about your son?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, we want privacy.

BROWN: Notebooks found inside Khan's home also indicated he paid $4,000 for a round trip ticket flying from Chicago to Vienna, Austria, then into Istanbul, Turkey.

STIMSON: It tells me probably that he was trying to evade being caught by purchasing a round trip ticket versus a single one-way ticket, by spending more than the el cheapo ticket you could get and also by not going direct so that he is more likely than not, not raising a red flag for intelligence services.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And Khan is expected to appear back in court for a detention hearing in Chicago tomorrow. We have reached out to his attorney several times and have not heard back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Pamela Brown reporting live from Washington this morning.

The FBI has put together this wanted poster and they want it plastered on every TV and computer screen in America. Take a look. Can you identify that man in the mask? If you can, and that seems rather difficult to me, you can call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

So let's talk about that effort now.

Paul Cruickshank is CNN's terrorism analyst and Tom Fuentes is a CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the FBI.

Welcome to both of you.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

So, Tom, if I look at this FBI poster I can't identify this man. Can anyone?

FUENTES: Well, I think if someone's a family member or close friend or classmate, by his mannerisms, maybe not in the poster it wouldn't be that easy but if you see the video with him, and -- you know, his expressions, the way he tilts his head, the way he speaks, the way he moves, all of that together might help somebody say oh, yes, I know who that is.

COSTELLO: You know, in watching the video of this man, the mask is very tight. It sort of outlines his nose and the shape of his face. Is there computer technology that can sort of enhance that in any way, Tom?

FUENTES: No, they've tried to use various facial recognition type technology on that. It's -- it really takes a better, clearer picture, requires a clearer picture to analyze and they need to have somebody to compare it to right now so just having the face covered like that by itself, if that person is not already on record somewhere is going to be very difficult.

COSTELLO: Paul, the FBI, it's really trying to rally the public's help through these posters and this video. So why so much concern about this one man?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, there's so much concern, Carol, because he committed a war crime on tape, but also they just don't know who this guy is. The FBI director James Comey on "60 Minutes" on Sunday said they've identified all 12 Americans they believe are part of ISIS.

Well, they don't know who this guy is. So the fear is he could have an American passport and he could return to the United States to launch some sort of terrorist attack. What they don't know most causes concern for the FBI.

COSTELLO: And Tom, they say his accent sounds North American, whatever that is, but Americans do have -- they do sound different in different parts of the country. This guy sort of sounds Midwest to me. What does he sound like to you?

FUENTES: He doesn't sound American to me, to be honest. That's not my area of expertise, but I've listened to thousands of hours of wiretaps of people and -- you know, and have heard various accents and various languages. It sounds like someone who was taught English to me but that's me.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So, Paul, this man speaks both Arabic and English fluently, does that at all help narrow the search?

CRUICKSHANK: I think it does help narrow the search. I've been speaking to Arabic speakers on this. They say he sounds like he could be perhaps from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, perhaps even Saudi, or also perhaps even Sudan, not so much Egypt or morocco or Algeria, a place like that, when he speaks Arabic. So that does help narrow the search. Helps them try to identify perhaps who this is.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

OK, so Paul thinks he might be from Syria and he speaks English rather well, right, so maybe ISIS is pulling a fast one on America by scaring it into thinking that this guy executing innocent Syrians is American?

Tom, you want to take that one?

FUENTES: I think that's possible. But I think that Americans are going to be scared just in general if --

COSTELLO: Yes.

FUENTES: You know, if they know that we have people from the U.S. that have traveled there and that could come back and we have people here who have never been there and might be inspired to go ahead and commit a terrorist act here without even going. COSTELLO: All right. Tom Fuentes, Paul Cruickshank, thanks to both

of you for your insight as usual.

FUENTES: Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Top stories this Wednesday morning. Gay marriage bans in two more states fall, add Nevada and Idaho to the list, that makes 30 states that allow same-sex marriage.

Ferguson, Missouri, police are reportedly planning for riot if a white cop is not indicted for shooting an unarmed black teenager. Reuters is reporting police are meeting with the FBI three times a week. The grand jury is expected to make its decision next month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black people getting shot by the police --

COSTELLO: A routine traffic stop for a seatbelt violation turns violent in Indiana. Police smashing through a passenger seat window and using a stun gun on a man as a 14-year-old boy in the backseat recorded it all.

Lisa Mahone and her boyfriend Jamal Jones claiming excessive force, false arrest and battery. Officers say they fear for their own safety after seeing Jamal reaching into the backseat.

Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson in court next hour expected to plead not guilty to child abuse charges. Peterson is accused of severely whipping his 4-year-old son with a wooden switch. If he's convicted he could face up to two years behind bars.

And blood moon. If you were up around 6:30 Eastern this morning, you saw this. Big, red moon. The magic is happening because the earth is between the sun and the moon. If you missed it, no worries, you have two more chances to catch a blood moon next year.

NEWSROOM is back in a second.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The city of Kobani may well fall to ISIS and the United States is not overly concerned despite the fact the United Nations is imploring U.S. forces to save the day. Here's the thing. Kobani is in Syria. It's right on the Turkish border.

If ISIS takes the city it will control a section of land between its self-declared capital and Turkey that encompasses 62 miles.

Over the past two days the U.S.-led coalition conducted six airstrikes near Kobani destroying ISIS vehicles and artillery weapons. Still the United States says the goal is not to save cities and towns but to go after ISIS' senior leadership. Another twist in the fight against ISIS, there are actually a few

American boots on the ground, although the U.S. military did not put them there. Brian Wilson, a man from Ohio, went voluntarily to fight alongside the Kurds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN WILSON, FIGHTS ALONGSIDE THE KURDS: While most people in America are against, of course, the Islamic State, and there are a few Americans that wanted to come here and help the YPG in any way we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, Arwa Damon, who is on the Turkish-Syrian border, and Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, a global affairs analyst.

Welcome to both of you.

Colonel, I want to start with you. We know of two Americans fighting alongside the Kurds which is I guess courageous, but frankly it's kind of crazy, too. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, one, Carol, I give them credit. It takes a lot of guts to go over there and do it. I think these are people sitting around, they see a cause and they want to go with the cause, but it's difficult. They put themselves at big risk, and it's a difficult situation.

COSTELLO: Like you're putting your trust in the Kurdish military, I'm not so sure that -- I mean, I know they're good fighters and all, but I'm not sure, I would rather put my efforts into the U.S. military.

REESE: Well, you know, the Kurds are. They're good fighters, they're great people and they have a lot of pride for their land and where they are. I think that's what people, they get drawn to the Kurds because of that fact, and they just see it as a chance to help and get in there and do something.

COSTELLO: Arwa, from your perspective, do most Kurds even know that there are two Americans fighting alongside them?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a certain level of awareness, yes, those two Americans are believed to be fighting with the YPG units that are actually further to the northwest in that part of the country, not necessarily partaking in the battle for Kobani, but that's not doing much to sort of ease the anger and frustration that is the widespread sentiment amongst the Kurdish population towards the U.S.-led coalition, because even though they have benefited to a certain degree, especially from these most recent airstrikes around Kobani that one fighter told us, said -- was forcing ISIS to move forward on foot rather than use their vehicles, allowing the Kurdish fighting force, the YPG to push them back to a certain degree.

But people feel as if the U.S. and this coalition should have done these days ago, if not weeks ago, when the ISIS fighters first went through this part of the country. Sure, the strikes are helping right now, but they feel the international community has no burden of responsibility to do even more at this stage, and they also do lay a certain level of blame upon the U.S. and its allies for not taking action against ISIS sooner before they reached the outskirts of Kobani itself.

COSTELLO: So, here's the thing, though, and I'm going to address this to Colonel Reese.

So, it's right along Turkey's border, Kobani. Turkey is saying, hey, America, help us, got to put boots on the ground. Why doesn't Turkey step up and do something? It's on its border.

REESE: Carol, that's a great question. I mean, it's right there. The Turkish soldiers literally can see what is going on the border. But this is where politics and diplomacy and all these elements of national powers, whether it's the Turks, the U.S., the Saudis, these four elements of national power come into bear and it's a difficult task at hand.

COSTELLO: So, why Turkey's reluctance, Arwa?

DAMON: Can I address this?

COSTELLO: Sure. Go ahead, Arwa.

DAMON: Well, it's some sort of a number of -- it's some sort of a number of issues at this stage, Carol. You have the underlying dynamics, the distrust, the tensions between the Kurds and the Turks. These are historic and longstanding.

Turkey, also, like the U.S. at this point, is saying look, our end game is not about saving Kobani. Turkey wants to see a bigger, broader policy. They say that they are not necessarily stating that they won't go in militarily at all. However, before they put boots on the ground they want to see a plan out there that doesn't just deal with ISIS but bringing down the regime of Bashar al Assad. They also want to see a no fly zone, a buffer zone, a safety zone so the refugees that have floated in here have some space they can potentially go back to, 1.6 million of them, have some space that they can potentially go back to.

And, of course, added to all of this, too, going back to the tensions that exist the Kurds are saying we don't necessarily want Turkish boots on the ground inside Kobani. We want a corridor that allows weapons to come across to us. The Turks say we're not going to give you the weapons unless you join the Free Syrian Army.

Of course, all of this might result in broader military operation that includes Turkish boots on the ground. But at this stage, people do feel as if both Turkey and the U.S.-led coalition are failing when it comes to trying to save and protect Kobani, all of them saying that is not their priority, but of course you can imagine how that rhetoric impacts people here.

COSTELLO: Arwa Damon, Lieutenant Colonel Reese, thanks to both of you, I appreciate it.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM, Walmart slashes health care coverage to tens of thousands of workers but some are saying it's actually a good thing. CNN's Christine Romans is following this for us.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it's all about part-time workers at Walmart and how they get their health coverage. I'll tell you what -- who will be paying higher bills and who could be getting lower bills, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Here's a headline that caught our attention this morning: Walmart is slashing health care benefits for 30,000 part-time workers. The biggest retailer in the country says more employees than expected signed up for health care coverage this year. So instead of giving them insurance, they took it away.

CNN chief business correspondent and "CNN MONEY" host Christine Romans joins me to convince us that this actually could be positive.

ROMANS: You could see this coming a mile away and here's why. A lot of other retailers have already given part-time workers, we talk about part time workers who have a pretty plan there through Walmart.

You know, Walmart employees can get first as low as $18 a paycheck can get some coverage. A lot of part-time workers now because they have to be insured under Obamacare, under the law, they signed up and Walmart underestimated how much those costs would be. Half a billion dollars this year in health care they're going to spend. So, they're moving those people, eliminating part-time people, moving them over the Obamacare exchanges like most the retailers --

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let me get this straight, Walmart says, wow, we're going to do something really nice for our part-time workers and we're going to offer them insurance. And when their workers took them up on it, they said, oh my gosh, it's costing us too much.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: For a long time -- for a long time, some of those workers didn't want insurance, they wanted the $18 in their pocket every pay period. Now that under law, they have to be insured you can see why people would be looking on the exchanges, looking at Walmart trying to figure out what is the best insurance.

Now, for people who do get health care at Walmart, premiums are going to rise, too, because health care costs are rising, Walmart says. So, this is what it looks like typically. This is one of the most popular plans, Carol, their premium is going to rise from $3.50 to $21.90 a pay period, still more generous than a lot of other retailers.

Some people are trying to find the good in this, some of the low wage retailers -- retail workers may get subsidies on the Obamacare exchange that will lower costs further. These retailers have already been moving their part-time workers over to the Obama care exchanges and Walmart says it's not going to cut hours for people. There is some concern among some retailers cutting pack on people's hours but they're not going to do that.

COSTELLO: Well, that's good.

ROMANS: This is what -- look, I'm telling you we are remaking how we get health insurance in this country and it's going to be a multiyear process. I mean, you're going to see lots of big changes from companies as they figure out what their responsibility is going to be to you and I and to workers for health coverage.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks as usual.

I'm back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Happening now in THE NEWSROOM:

Who is this man? A cold-blooded ISIS killer with an American accent? The FBI wants your help to find him.