Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

FBI Tries to Identify ISIS Fighter; Ebola Screenings in Airports; Off-Duty Police Officer Fatally Shoots Teen in St. Louis; NFL Presents Program about Domestic Violence

Aired October 09, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. Checking our top stories now, police are revealing more details about handwritten notes left by an alleged cop killer in the Pennsylvania woods. Eric Frein is accused of ambushing two state troopers last month, killing one of them. Officials say the notes are quite chilling and go into great detail about the ambush and Frein's escape, as police closed in on him.

The judge presiding over the felony child abuse trial of NFL star, Adrian Peterson, is apologizing this morning after referring to both the defense and prosecution teams as "media whores." The trial is scheduled to start December 1st if the judge is not forced to recuse himself.

Opening bell, it happened just moments ago, we are watching the markets after Wall Street had its -- had a really bad day yesterday, one of the worst of the year. On Wednesday the Dow rallied though, nearly 300 points. Alison Kosik is here with more. So what's up with this the stock market, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'll tell you what, it is crazy, after having one of its worst days of the year, a total reversal, then jumping 274 points, like roller coasters? Well, there's been one on Wall Street. We have watched the Dow swing from high highs to low lows. And you are looking at how the Dow has performed just this month. I want to show you, this is by the minute. Look at that it's like whiplash. So, what happened yesterday was everybody got the minutes from the Fed's latest meeting in September and that's what really gave investors reasons to buy in. Because what the Fed said is it's going to go slow in raising interest rates which means the Fed could look to raise interest rates next summer instead of next spring.

Now, there are a few real reasons that the Fed's going to go ahead and tiptoe into raising rates. For one, it's because of a slowdown in growth in Europe and China. Also, the stronger dollar, which could hurt U.S. exporters because it makes U.S. products less competitive. It could also weigh down inflation, which is already below where the Fed wants it. So, longer for lower, as -- lower for longer, I should say is exactly what Wall Street wants as far as interest rates are concerned, because you're seeing Wall Street addicted to cheap money, interest rates are historically low, they have been low for the past six years, making it cheaper to take out a car loan or a mortgage. So not bad for consumers either. Carol. COSTELLO: Got it. Alison Kosik, reporting life for us this morning. Thank you.

Right now, the FBI is sifting through hundreds of tips to try and identify a possible American who appears in a gruesome ISIS propaganda video called "Flames of War." The masked fighter appears to help execute Syrian soldiers and can be heard speaking in fluent English. He also has what some are calling a North American accent. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They lie, Wallahi (ph), we are the harshest towards the Kufar, and the flames of war are only beginning to intensify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Earlier this week, the FBI called on the public to try to help identify who this man is and where he might be from. It's all part of a broader effort to track down individuals who might be trying to travel overseas to fight for ISIS. So, let's talk about that with CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor, of course, Bobby Gosh. We are also joined by CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes. Welcome to both of you.

BOBBY GAUCHE: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, thanks for being here. So, Tom, I will start with you. How do you determine which tips are credible?

TOM FUENTES: Well, I think you have to just check them out really. And in some it might be obvious by the caller who calls in, but you know, even -- even tips that come in that sometimes might seem crazy turn out to be real. So, really, the FBI and the police have to check out practically every single thing -- tip that comes in.

It still seems like such a difficult task, Bobby, to try to identify this guy, who is wearing a mask, so you talked about triangulation in the break. Explain.

BOBBY GOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, as Tom well knows, it's a question of figuring out -- the FBI having seen that video will have come to some conclusions about this guy. They will have a good sense of his height, his weight, his skin tone, they will have a close look of his eyes, somebody is calling in and says, oh, that's Tom Smith and I went to high school with him and he's 6'2" and 200 pounds, and the FBI has just - has figured out that this guy is probably 5'8" that is one tip you can probably put in the - sort of low priority box.

And if the tips sort of add up to a profile that is close to what the FBI's already figured, that gives them -- that makes them a little more credible. It is a needle in the haystack, but the FBI is good at finding this kind of needle in this kind of haystack. This is what they do. They have sophisticated tools to do this and the tools now with the computers and so big -- computers that are able to crunch a lot of data, the tools are better than ever before and they have all kinds of specialists.

COSTELLO: It seems as if ISIS has its own tools, because when you listen to that man's voice, Tom, it sort of sounds tampered with, it doesn't quite sound like a real voice. What do you think?

FUENTES: Well, you know, when I've heard this many times and I don't -- I don't hear him as a Native American or Canadian speaker. He sounds to me like someone who may have been from some country in the Middle East and was taught English or came here at an early enough age, where he has a slide accent and speaks very good English. Other people have told me that the Arabic isn't that great when he switches back and forth between English and Arabic. So, you know, I'm not sure that they can say exactly he is a Native American speaker or North American speaker.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I want to show our viewers another shot from this video, because there's another man in the background and he is looking straight into the camera. Can we put that up right now? He is wearing this yellow shirt. I'm sure the FBI's also looking at that man, right, Tom?

FUENTES: Yeah. They would be looking at that. And that, also in that situation, someone might recognize the shirt. Oh, yeah, that's my best friend and he always wore that shirt all the time. You know, so, but there's not much of that individual's face showing either. You can determine, as Bobby mentioned, the difference in the height between the two. It appears that the yellow shirted kid is shorter, but, again, it's really going to take somebody looking at the video, where not only you hear the voice, but you see the mannerisms, the tilt of the head, the way a person expresses himself. Oftentimes, people will recognize that even without hearing the voice, the way a person stands and holds himself as he speaks is a major clue also for a lot of people.

COSTELLO: Yeah, I was just going to bring up for Bobby to address the body language of the people standing around this guy.

GOSH: Well, they are clearly, he is clearly in charge, the guy in the yellow shirt is standing around, sometimes looking straight at the camera, but he is not in charge. The man -- he is -- he seems to be there to help, to facilitate, as part of the rest of the group, the man in the mask, in the military uniform is clearly the one in charge.

COSTELLO: That's just, um, fascinating in a gruesome kind of way, right? Bobby Gosh, Tom Fuentes, thanks so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

GOSH: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Any time.

Still ahead in the "NEWSROOM", coming to America. U.S.-bound flights not only carry newcomers, but also the potential for new cases of Ebola. CNN's Rene Marsh is at Washington's Dulles International Airport. Good morning. RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Preparations are

under way for these ramped up screening measures. Coming up, we will tell you who will be targeted and why some say the new measures give a false sense of security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: U.S. health officials are turning their attention to airports as potential entry points for the Ebola virus. Five of the nation's busiest airline hubs will implement special screening for people arriving from the nations hardest hit by Ebola. Rene Marsh is CNN's aviation and government regulation correspondent. She's at Dulles International Airport. So, Rene, the screening begins this weekend at JFK and at other airports but not until next week. Why?

MARSH: Well, Carol, that's the big question, what's with the delay? We can tell you that customs officers, they are going to be on the frontlines, asking these very detailed questions, receiving those questionnaires, also they'll have in their hands something that looks like this, a laser, non-contact thermometer, but we all know, customs officers are not doctors, so they have to get trained. Once they are trained, the new ramped up procedures will be rolled out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: In just days, ramped up screening of passengers will begin at New York's JFK airport and expanding to Atlanta, Newark, Chicago and here at Washington Dulles. The five airports receive about 95 percent of the 150 passengers arriving in the U.S. every day from Ebola hotspots, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Under the new screening measures, all passengers traveling from those countries will have their temperatures checked with a laser thermometer, no touching necessary, just held close to the forehead. A new CDC questionnaire must also be filled out upon landing.

DR. AMESH ADALJA, UPMC CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: There's a 21-day incubation period. People may not have a fever when they are passing through the airport. And invariably, when a case comes through, people are going to ask you, you know, we had this temperature screening set up. Why did this happen? And I'm telling people that it's completely predictable that it will happen, because this is not a fool-proof way to prevent Ebola from coming into the country.

MARSH: Similar screening is already in place in West Africa, but the goal of these new U.S. checks is to identify passengers airport officials missed or who developed symptoms while traveling.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: This is an additional layer of screening that can be targeted to that small population in a way that will enhance security, but also minimize disruption to the broader traveling public.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: I spoke with two infectious disease experts who both have the same opinion. They say this is not foolproof, that it is not 100 percent. If someone has a low-grade fever, they simply need to pop a Tylenol or ibuprofen to mask that fever. The point is there is no guarantee you are going to catch every single person who comes through or arrives on U.S. soil who may have early symptoms of Ebola. CDC also admitting they realize that this is not 100 percent. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right. Rene Marsh reporting live from Dulles International Airport this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM" temperatures running hot after St. Louis police kill an unarmed black teenager. Rosa Flores tells us what's ahead.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, good morning. Police saying that this teenager fired at a police officer three times and then police firing back, hear this, 17 times. How the situation escalated and why police say this teen actually kept on pulling the trigger, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Emotions are running high again today in St. Louis, following the fatal shooting overnight of an African-American teenager by a white off-duty police officer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't have no gun. He didn't have no gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is -- That's my name. And when I see - coming through this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead. You feel me?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Alright, according to police, the circumstances of this shooting are very different from the shooting death two months ago of 18-year-old Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. Rosa Flores has been following the story. She joins us with more. Good morning.

FLORES: Good morning. You know, here's what we know. Here's how police say this all went down. And they say that there was an off- duty police officer working an approved second job, and he sees three teenagers. Those three teenagers start running. A short chase ensues. There's a tussle. And then one of those teenagers starts running, circles back and fires three gunshots at police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

FLORES: Overnight, protests erupted in St. Louis. Angry residents charging at police. Kicking at police cars, shattering windows and shouting for police to leave their neighborhood.

This, after an 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by an off- duty St. Louis police officer Wednesday night. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How y'all just kill that little boy? Y'all not

finished killing people's babies?

FLORES: According to the St. Louis Police Department, the 32-year-old officer, a white male, and a six-year veteran of the fore, was off- duty in uniform working for a security agency on neighborhood patrol, when he came across three black men who started running from the officer's vehicle. Police say, eventually, one of them fired shots at the officer.

CHIEF SAM DOTSON, ST. LOUIS POLICE: A police officer tonight chased an individual who was armed with a gun. The individual shot at the officer at least three times and the officer returned fire.

FLORES: Authorities confirm, the officer shot at the suspect 17 times. The officer was not hurt. And police say a .9 millimeter gun was recovered from the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do not live here. You've got to go. Go! Go!

FLORES: This shorting happening just miles away from where Michael Brown, who was unarmed, was shot two months ago, and just ahead of a weekend of resistance in St. Louis, where activists will push for a movement in the investigation into that case. All this, as demonstrators continue in a community already reeling and seeking answers to another young man's death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think about your own child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now as you just saw, those protests, very intense, very face- to-face with those police officers. They do say that no looting has happened. Now, about that gun, Carol, what I was saying about how police believe that that teen kept on pulling the trigger. The reason why they say they know that is because they recovered the weapon. And according to police, that weapon was jammed. And so, of course, they're looking at that now.

COSTELLO: Okay, so there are going to be protests over the Michael Brown shooting this weekend. So how does this shooting impact those protests?

FLORES: You know how social media works. Immediately, tweets started being exchanged, people going back and forth, some of the protesters saying that they should combine some of these protests. But I think what doesn't change about the protest is the message. They want an end to racial profiling and an end to police violence. So that shouldn't change.

COSTELLO: Alright, Rosa Flores, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, required viewing for all NFL teams. The league puts out a video on domestic violence. And it's pretty darn powerful. Wait until you hear my interview with Ehrmann, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Commissioner Roger Goodell sat down with NFL owners for their fall meeting. Not so unusual. But this time around, there was little about this meeting that was normal. No talk about rules on the field. But rules off the field. Social responsibility is how the commissioner put it. And in the wake of Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Dwyer, all those scandals. There's a lot to be accountable for. The league presented a 40 minute program to the owner about domestic violence. It included a video by former NFL player Joe Ehrmann, which will be shown to every team. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE EHRMANN, FORMER NFL PLAYER AND COACH: Think about the women in your life. The women that you love and care for. The women that have nurtured you. Our mothers, our grandmothers, our wives, our daughters, our nieces. Take a moment and just think about them. Think about the love, the care that you have for them, and them for you. And now just imagine that they're at a party and there's some man in there that starts to assault them, whether that is physically, sexually, or verbally, they start to assault a woman that you love. Think how that makes you feel. Think about your feelings toward that perpetrator of that violence. And not only that, as you think about that, think about the role that you have to raise up a generation of men that are going to have the clarity or have the moral courage to call out other men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joe Ehrmann is the author of "InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives, " and he joins me now. Thanks for being her, Joe.

EHRMANN: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: So how was the video received by the owners?

EHRMANN: I think it was extremely well received. I would say the league and the owners have made a real commitment to really address this issue, and they've been handed the mantle of leadership. And I'm excited about what's going to go forward.

COSTELLO: There are some who believe that they don't really quite get it yet. Do they really get it?

EHRMANN: Well, I was in the meetings when, after the initial two-game suspension for Ray Rice, Roger brought in some of the leading domestic violence people in this country. There was an authenticity and integrity. And Roger came in with his heart on his sleeve. Very powerful. I don't think anybody in this country exactly knows. Not like Roger can call military generals or presidents of universities and colleges. Where as a country, we're so miseducated and uniformed on this, that somebody's got to get it.

COSTELLO: And he has to be aware that a lot of people are watching him right now and will hold him accountable, which I think is a great thing. Let's talk about the video, because I found it interesting that you didn't address the perpetrators of domestic violence, but you addressed men and you brought up their masculinity and their protective nature. Why did you go that route?

EHRMANN: Well, when you talk about male violence toward women, that is a male crime of power and control. Women can't end it. All women can do is reduce the risk. It's not going to end until we raise up a generation of men that have the moral clarity and the moral courage to call out other men.

COSTELLO: When your video is shown to the players, and it will be show to every team, right? How do you think it will be received?

EHRMANN: Well, I'm around the NFL all the time. I do workshops. I've already done the Ravens and the Saints, and the -- I can't even think of the other team now. It's extremely well received. The problem is, I've never left an NFL locker room where I haven't been filled with hope. The vast majority of them are young men trying to do the right thing, utilize that platform, but they all get tainted by the actions of three or four players on a team. So I think there's a great misconception about who is in those locker rooms and who's on those fields. And I think the media really highlights on all the negative, and never really promotes the positive thing that so many men are doing in the NFL.

COSTELLO: Well I love your message. I think it's a great message. And thank you so much for sharing it. Thank you, Joe.

EHRMANN: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Nice to meet you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, America's busiest airports cracking down to keep Ebola out as a Dallas deputy who helped enforce a quarantine starts showing symptoms of the disease.

Plus, a California Congressman claims ISIS fighters are trying to cross into the United States from Mexico.