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Kidnapped Woman Rescued; Can President Obama, GOP Work Together; Key Bomb Maker Believed Killed in U.S. Strike
Aired November 06, 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 this morning, a lot of things going on for you at "THE NEWSROOM," we take you there right now with Poppy Harlow in for Carol Costello.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy Harlow.
CUOMO: Hello, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys, and on the record I disagree with all of you. Nontroversy, controversy, I'm just going to agree with all of you this morning on that.
PEREIRA: You agree or not agree?
CUOMO: You disagree, you said you agree --
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: Taking a non-position. Exactly. Guys, good to see you this morning.
Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Poppy Harlow. NEWSROOM starts right now.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow in today for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.
A Philadelphia woman is home with her family this morning after police track down and arrest the man accused of kidnapping her.
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was released from the hospital early this morning after three days of an exhausting traumatic ordeal. She was just blocks from home when she was grabbed and forced into a car late Sunday night. The entire abduction captured on surveillance cameras.
Police found her outside Baltimore more than 100 miles from where she was kidnapped. The rescue fulfills a promise made by one detective to the woman's mother.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES RAMSAY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: No one else is in danger right now because we got a very dangerous predator off the streets and it was a combined effort from a lot of different people working very, very hard, and there's one detective in particular that made a promise, come on up here. And -- tell them what this is. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let her say it. Let her say it.
KEISHA GAITHER, MOTHER OF CARLESHA FREELAND-GAITHER: He sat in my kitchen in front of me and told me, I'm bringing your daughter home. I'm bringing your daughter home. I said, right? He said no, I'm bringing your daughter home, and he brought my baby home.
RAMSAY: Thank you.
GAITHER: He brought her right home.
RAMSAY: Great job.
GAITHER: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: It's wonderful to see, amazing work done in this case.
Jean Casarez joins me now live from Columbia, in Maryland.
Good morning to you, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This is the hospital right behind me that Carlesha Gaither was brought to after she was rescued yesterday. We've learned a little bit more of how this all came down. Law enforcement in Virginia tells me that they knew of this man because of some very serious charges, an outstanding warrant including attempted capital murder.
They also knew that he had gotten his car from a dealership and because of the credit risk he was, they had put a GPS monitor on him. That GPS monitor led to where they were found, they were found in the backseat together, FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshal surveiled the car, they didn't go approach it because they didn't want a hostage situation but when he walked out of the car, they apprehended him, her family says they are overjoyed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMSAY: Carlesha Freeland has been rescued.
CASAREZ (voice-over): A Philadelphia woman kidnapped on Sunday now find alive. Carlesha Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was rescued in Jessup, Maryland, Wednesday, after authorities identified the vehicle used in her abduction and tracked it down. Law enforcement spotted them inside and surrounded the car.
RAMSAY: When the subject exited the vehicle, he was apprehended and that's when Miss Freeland was recovered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once she had the time to process what had occurred you could tell she was very emotionally distraught so as a result we took her immediately to the hospital. CASAREZ: Police identifying her kidnaper at 37-year-old Devlin
Barnes. He is currently being held on attempted capital murder charges in another case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all of our prayers were answered when we were able to locate her in a safe condition and we were able to place this male under arrest.
CASAREZ: Overnight Barnes' uncle speaking out saying he is not surprised.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My expansive knowledge of him, there's a thing about women or females. This is hard for me to accept, the viciousness of it. I'm not necessarily surprised.
CASAREZ: The 22-year-old nurse was abducted Sunday night in Philadelphia, just blocks away from her home. This disturbing video captures her kidnapping from beginning to end. The suspect parks his car and waits. And approaches her, as she walks across this intersection.
She tries to walk away, when the man grabs her and aggressively drags her down the length of this block. She struggles to break free and yells for help, but he violently pushes her into his vehicle.
The next morning, surveillance video captures a man dressed much like the kidnaper using Carlesha's ATM card at a bank in Maryland. He's also spotted inside this convenience store shortly after.
Investigators do not have a motive, but say there is no indication she knew her abductor. Her mother, thanking law enforcement and the public, grateful for their part in bringing her daughter back safe.
GAITHER: Thank you for being there for us. I'm taking my baby home. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: And Devlin Barnes, he remains in custody right here in Maryland. There will be a hearing at 1:00 this afternoon on those charges out of Virginia and the fact is we understand there will be federal charges in this case involving Carlesha. They have not been filed yet but they will be extremely serious also -- Poppy.
HARLOW: All right. Jean Casarez thank you for the report. Stay with us. I want to have a lengthy discussion about the legal aspects of this case. So let's bring in Paul Callan, our legal analyst, to talk about this and with Jean as well.
Jean said what's going to happen next. But when you look at why this man was out on the street, you really have to wonder, go back to 2005. He's arrested for hiding in his estranged wife's closet, allegedly attacking her, raping her, et cetera, but he wasn't charged with rape. He was charged, though, with aggravated assault, simple assault, false imprisonment, criminal trespassing then you also have him wanted for an October incident with a 16-year-old girl in Virginia for attempted murder, attempted rape, inflicting third-degree chemical burns.
How is this man still out?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they are going to be some judges who are going to have to answer that question and some prosecutors in other jurisdictions. You know, prosecutors live in fear of cases like this, where you're looking at a case locally and it looks like it's a family situation, it's not that serious, and it turns out to be someone apparently like this person, and we have to say he's still presumed innocent and he has to be tried. But the evidence with the videotape looks so strong here. How would he stay out on the street?
HARLOW: Because you say because the 2005 incident was looked at more as a domestic incident, maybe not taken seriously enough?
CALLAN: That's -- well, apparently. I mean, he's still out on the street and he's capable of engaging in this kind of conduct. I mean, you see this video, this is the sort of thing that sends a shiver down the spine of every woman who looks at it.
HARLOW: It's unreal.
CALLAN: I mean, a stranger comes up to you on the street and throws you into a car and abducts you. It's one of the most terrifying videos you can view.
HARLOW: So, Jean, I know that this is really in the early stages but I'm wondering if the defense attorneys have even been assigned or hired yet by the suspect and if so, given these surveillance images, do you have any sense of what a defense argument might be?
CASAREZ: Well, he's probably getting a lawyer right now in anticipation of this 1:00 hearing and of course in a case like this, when you have video surveillance, it -- it becomes exhibit A for prosecutors. So I think that possibly they will have to either try to negotiate something because the charges are adding up here, but I want to give you a little more information about this Virginia case, Poppy, because this is important.
When they realized that he had allegedly, until you're convicted, abducted a young girl as she was walking along the street and ultimately setting her on fire they got an arrest warrant in Virginia, they surveiled his home in October of this year in Virginia and his mother's home and another relative's home.
They believe he fled the jurisdiction October 29th or 30th. That would have been last week, and where did he go? Well, now, law enforcement says he must have gone to Philadelphia.
HARLOW: Right. And that brings up the important point, Jean, of what you mentioned, is both of these charges, both state charges and federal charges.
To you, Paul Callan. Which do they address first? Are these addressed at the same time and which comes with more severe penalties if he is indeed found guilty?
CALLAN: Well, I suspect the federal case might be the one that will take precedence because federal authorities have the machinery to investigate and put together the case.
HARLOW: Be crossing state lines here.
CALLAN: Yes, so federal law applies. You can do anywhere from 20 years to life. You could even get the death penalty in certain federal kidnapping cases and you've got the FBI putting the case together and, you know, getting back, circling back to your question, what would be the defense in this case since the evidence now looks so strong with the video. I'm looking at it saying an insanity defense is probably the only way this guy is going to go.
He probably suffers from very severe mental illness of some sort and I can't see how he's going to beat the charge otherwise given the videotape.
HARLOW: We'll see what happens, still of course waiting to find out who his defense attorney is and what they have to say.
Appreciate it, Paul Callan, Jean Casarez, great reporting out there and just what an ending to a story, thank goodness that she is home.
Still to come here in the NEWSROOM, a victory lap for Republicans, but a potential mine field for the White House.
Jim Acosta joins us from the White House live this morning.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Well, some Kentucky bourbon get the legislative juices flowing here in Washington? I'm here at the White House. I'll have a live report coming up in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Triumph that Republicans will plant their flag on Capitol Hill in January when they march into Congress with the most dominant majority in decades. But for a humbled White House the future begins tomorrow in a bipartisan meeting with top leaders on the hill.
Let's bring in Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent, who has not gotten much sleep all week.
ACOSTA: No.
HARLOW: Jim, you've been doing this around the clock. What can you tell us about this meeting?
ACOSTA: Well, Poppy, I can tell you that after this midterm mess President Obama is offering no apologies, no signs of every big shakeup of his administration. But there are plenty of indications that he will be butting heads with his new main adversary up on Capitol Hill, the incoming Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): A rejected President Obama, grimly admitting defeat to Republicans.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously Republicans had a good night.
ACOSTA: There was no glossing over the bitter reality for Democrats.
OBAMA: They want us to get the job done. As president I have a unique responsibility to try and make this town work.
ACOSTA: His party stung and in the minority the president said he's ready to compromise with Republicans on road repairs, reforming the tax code and brokering new trade deals but just as quickly he says he's still going it alone on immigration reform.
OBAMA: I am eager to see what they have to offer but what I'm not going to do is just wait. My executive actions not only do not prevent them from passing a law that supercedes those actions, but should be a spur for them to actually try to get something done.
ACOSTA: The vow to act is already pitting him against the new Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say you guys don't do what I want, I'm going to do it on my own.
ACOSTA: Aides to Mr. Obama saying the president is bullish about his final quarter on the White House. Devising new ways to go around Congress to build up his legacy. And he's not letting the countdown fox stole his agenda.
(On camera): What do you make of the notion that you're now a lame duck?
OBAMA: I'm going to squeeze every last little bit of opportunity to help make this a world a better place over these last two years.
ACOSTA (voice-over): With a Republican-controlled Congress making moves on those wishes won't be easy. Some critics say the president should get to know his rivals better over dinner or golf. With few allies left in power, he may be warming to the idea.
OBAMA: I would enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now, 16 Democratic and Republican congressional leaders will be over here at the White House tomorrow to meet with the president. They'll have a big agenda on their hands, talking about the president's call for congressional authorization for the war against ISIS, $6 billion for the battle against Ebola.
But get this, Poppy, already in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning in an op-ed, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, speaker of the house or calling for another repeal of Obamacare, something the president says he is not going to sign after tomorrow's meeting. They may need a lot of bourbon to go around that room -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Everyone's just drinking bourbon in Washington. What's going on these days?
ACOSTA: You need the hard stuff these days, Poppy.
HARLOW: Apparently, apparently. Thank you so much.
I want to bring in CNN political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast", John Avlon.
John, good morning.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Poppy.
HARLOW: Good morning.
AVLON: Good morning!
HARLOW: Good morning.
You said this morning on NEW DAY, a big bourbon summit is what's needed and also a sense of reality in terms of don't try to get a lot of big things done, and that sort of echoes what we heard from McConnell and Boehner in the op-ed this morning. Is that the most realistic approach here?
AVLON: First of all, break out the bourbon soon, because these guys all need to chill out. Raising Obamacare appeal may be to please the base but it's a fool's earned and everybody knows it.
But a lot can be done if they pick their targets carefully. You know, the most obvious areas of overlap are tax reform. Some degree of overlap, corporate tax reform, fast track trade authority, infrastructure investment, those are areas that are economic, where there could be some overlap.
Immigration a tougher road to hoe, but again, it was Lindsey Graham helped lead bipartisan passage of immigration reform in this departing Senate, so some maybe hope there.
But they're going to have to pick their targets carefully. They're going to have to actually get to know each other and find a way to work together with -- and get this deep animus that exists between them. And I think McConnell want a fresh start and Obama wants a fresh start, if they're being realistic, they understand that this election was not just a rejection of the president, it was a demand that Washington work together again.
If they keep that in mind we might get some positives. HARLOW: The president said yesterday in his speech "I hear you" to
the voters and American people. In a "the Washington Post" column, Dana Milbank wrote this. I want to read to you a quote.
It says, "President George W. Bush was rarely one to admit error. On the day after the midterm thumping, he responded dramatically. Bush announced the order of defense chief Donald Rumsfeld and set in motion a new Iraq policy. He also offered a frank acknowledgement that everything had changed. Obama was blase in comparison."
Do you think that we need to see a shakeup in the Obama administration?
AVLON: I think you'll see some inevitable shakeup, some inevitable revolution.
But, you know, historic parallels can be tricky, because -- especially if you're going to use the most recent one. Today, Jonathan Alter wrote a column pointing out that when Ronald Reagan lost eight seats in 1996, he put out a statement saying, you know, the revolution is going to continue, the Republican revolution, and we're not going to change course on domestic or foreign policy.
So, different presidents deal with thumpings in different ways. This president has been there in 2010. He studiously avoided the word "shellacking" this time but recognizes a real need to reach out personally to McConnell and Boehner in order to get anything done.
HARLOW: I like the way Gloria Borger put it in her column today. She said, "They're not expecting Democrats and Republicans to suddenly write poetry together but here's one thing they do expect competency." I think that speaks for all American people. Let's see what happens.
John Avlon, thank you.
AVLON: That should be a baseline.
HARLOW: It should be a baseline. We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
HARLOW: Breaking news just in to CNN: I want to tell you about a key move, a key death in the fight against terror.
Let's go straight to Barbara Starr, who is joining us from the Pentagon.
Barbara, I understand that a key bomb maker for the Khorasan group has been killed, that is believed by U.S. Air Forces.
What can you tell us?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. U.S. official is now telling me they do believe that they successfully killed a French bomb maker in Syria last night, a man named David Drugeon. Drugeon is part of the Khorasan group. That is the al Qaeda group in Syria that the U.S. has been so concerned about. These are hard core operatives, many coming from Pakistan into Syria.
This is a group that knows how to make bombs. They can potentially get past U.S. airport screening. Potentially get past that screening. They have a huge concern for the United States for the last several months.
This is really important, because if they can put Drugeon out of business, that's a real crimp in the Khorasan group. Last night there were five air strikes in Syria, around the town of Idlib, all of them against Khorasan targets.
With such a small number of strikes they did have precise surgical intelligence about what they wanted to hit and who they thought was there. They went struck a vehicle on the road they believe contained Drugeon. So, that means they had the intelligence. They knew who was in the vehicle. Still, they are being very cautious saying they believe he is now dead.
Because you remember on September 22nd, when the strikes against Syria began, there were a number of strikes against the Khorasan group that night. They said at the time they thought they got the top leaders. But now they knew in the subsequent weeks they did not and these men were on the run.
They were looking for them and they do believe they got this very important French jihadi bombmaker last night -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Barbara Starr, stand by. Thank you for the reporting. I want to get back to you in a moment.
But also joining us on the phone is CNN national security analyst Bob Baer.
Bob, to Barbara's point, what does this tell us about the effectiveness of U.S. airstrikes, just five strikes around Idlib, and that province last night, could have been so targeted and precise that they would get such a key figure in this fight against terror?
BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (via telephone): Well, I think the intelligence is getting better for certain. This is a new battlefield for us. We had not anticipated two years ago that these terrorist groups would show up in Syria.
Another problem they've had is early on, the cell phone systems went down so it was much more difficult to target these people. They triangulate on them with various source answer getting better. Just like in Pakistan after 9/11 it took us years to catch up with terrorist groups.
HARLOW: You know, there has been this ongoing debate over whether air strikes are enough in Syria and Iraq to truly defeat ISIS, Khorasan, al Qaeda. Is this a win for the Obama administration and win for those who believe they can do this with air strikes and local forces on the ground, not with U.S. boots on the ground?
BAER: No, in is just beginning. I've been corresponding with Congress this morning and they're gearing up for a major offensive this spring, which will include American advisers, more Air Force, more equipment, new Iraqi army hopefully, we're not letting this go. After elections, there's huge impetus to get involved in Syria and Iraq, and I think that's what's going to happen.
To answer your question, though -- airstrikes are not enough.
HARLOW: Bob, can you tell us about intelligence leading up to this? Because, obviously, getting a key bomb maker, who Barbara was explaining, U.S. intelligence believes was making bombs and one would assume advising others on how to make bombs that are so sophisticated they can get past U.S. airport security, what kind of intelligence would have gone into an operation like this?
BAER: A lot of these bomb makers, for instance, left Iraq in 2003 and went to Yemen, Pakistan and they've been tracking these people for years. They use explosive (INAUDIBLE). They use electronics that can't be detected by the TSA.
So, this technology is specialized, and maybe a dozen people who can handle it. That's what concerns me, TSA cannot stop these bombs and taking out a bomb maker is crucial and why we've been going after this relatively small group simply because their capabilities. If they were to tie up with ISIS, for instance, and come after aviation in the West, I'm pretty sure a couple airplanes would go down.
HARLOW: Wow. So, you cannot overstate the importance of this. Breaking news to CNN, U.S. intelligence telling our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon they believe they have taken out a key bomb maker in the Khorasan group an affiliate in Syria of al Qaeda.
Bob Baer, thank you. Barbara Starr, thank you.
We will be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
