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French Jihadist Believed to be Killed by Airstrikes; Safe Recovery of Kidnapping Victim in Maryland; Possible Struggle for Power in North Korea

Aired November 06, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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


POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Poppy Harlow in today for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. We begin with breaking news coming from the Pentagon. Military officials believe a U.S. airstrike has killed a French jihadist who was a key leader of the much-feared Khorasan terrorist group. Our Barbara Starr, with the news this morning to you that the Pentagon - what do we know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. The Pentagon believes that overnight strikes in Syria did kill a man named David Drugeon. He is French jihadist, the key leader in the Khorasan group, an al Qaeda offshoot that is very deadly, that has the U.S. concern from months now about their ability to make bombs and explosives that can get past U.S. airport security screening and pose a direct and imminent threat to the United States. Drugeon was a key bomb maker for the group. Also, as a French jihadist he would have had the ability to run fighters in and out of Syria and back to Europe. That's one reason why he was so important.

You know, the Pentagon hadn't talked a lot about the Khorasan group since the first round of their strikes the night of September 22nd. They didn't get the key leaders then, but they had been on the lookout for them constantly, these five airstrikes overnight, what they really tell us, because there were such a small number, so surgical, so precise, they had some pretty good intelligence, they believed, about where these guys were. Drugeon apparently hit by a U.S. aircraft, maybe a drone, maybe a fighter jet while he was traveling in a vehicle. So they were very much aware of where they believe he was. At this point they believe they got him. Is it absolutely 100 percent? No. They don't have the body. They don't have the photographic evidence. But they say they have the intelligence that leads them now to believe they did kill this key leader. Poppy?

HARLOW: Barbara Starr, thank you for the excellent reporting on this all morning. Stand by. I want to also bring in our terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. He has reported heavily about this man in particular and written extensively about him. Good morning to you, Paul.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN ANALYST: Good morning, Poppy.

HARLOW: What can you tell us about David Drugeon? Because as Bob Ber (ph) told us last hour, he is one of just about a dozen people with the capability to build bombs like this, it appears that can even get past U.S. airport security? CRUICKSHANK: Well, he's a key operative for the Khorasan group, he's a skilled bomb maker. He's pretty young, just 24 years old. He's from France. He's a convert to Islam. In 2010 when he was about 20 years old, he traveled to Pakistan, he joined al Qaeda there. He learned bomb making skills in the tribal areas of Pakistan. And then in 2013 or perhaps early 2014 he traveled to Syria and he joined the Khorasan group. And he's become a key bomb maker for them, skilled in making sophisticated devices that the group was hoping to smuggle onto U.S. airplanes, also thought to be involved with facilitating fighters back and forth from Europe. And the concern is that he could be recruiting Europeans for attacks back in the West, Poppy.

HARLOW: And Paul, Barbara Starr brought up the important point that this was part of only about five air strikes right around Idlib. And the fact that she believes that this signifies strengthened intelligence that Bob Ber (ph) agrees with that. Do you agree that this is a sign of improved U.S. intelligence in this air campaign?

CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. That there was some key intelligence here that allowed them to target Drugeon, the car that he was driving in. Either somebody inside these groups who is aware of where he was going to be, or some electronic intercepts suggesting where he was going to be. But if they got Drugeon, this is a very significant moment. He was a key and dangerous figure for the group. Poppy.

HARLOW: And as we continue to talk to you, Paul, I want to explain to our viewers what they're seeing. This is video just in to CNN of some of the airstrikes that happened last night. Right around Idlib province. Again, we do not know if this is video of that exact attack that killed this French jihadi member. But what we can tell you, is this is video of some of the air strikes from last night.

Paul, I also want your assessment on what this tells us about how effective the airstrikes are. Yes, effective in this situation it appears, but overall in the U.S. fight against terror, in Syria in particular, in Iraq against ISIS, against al Qaeda, against Khorasan group. Is it enough? Are the air strikes going to be enough? Does this win for the administration tell us that, or do you believe we're going to have to see more U.S. involvement, possibly U.S. boots on the ground?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, the airstrikes have succeeded in limiting ISIS's freedom of movement to some degree in Syria and Iraq, they've helped the Iraqis in Anbar province, preventing ISIS from getting any nearer to Bagdad, but airstrikes alone aren't going to defeat this group.

You saw we need boots on the ground to do that, they're trying to help the Iraqis, to train them up, to launch a campaign against Mosul and other Iraqi strongholds. But in Syria, it's going to be even more difficult because they are not really many moderate rebels who are left these days. Jabhat al-Nusra just routed the moderate rebels in Idlib province, the FSA, the Free Syrian Army and other factions. It's going to be very, very difficult to defeat these people on the ground. Ultimately, you're going to need some form of boots on the ground, whether they're Iraqi or Syrian, or some other nationality. That's what it will take to defeat these groups on the ground.

HARLOW: Paul Cruickshank, thank you for the expertise this morning. We appreciate it.

And a dangerous predator now off the streets and a Philadelphia woman abducted three days ago is reunited with her family. Later today Delven Barnes will make his first court appearance just one day after being arrested and the kidnapping of Carlesha Freeland Gaither. She was released from a hospital very early this morning after a three day traumatic ordeal. She was just blocks from home when she was grabbed and forced into a car on Sunday night. The entire abduction captured on surveillance cameras. Police found her outside Baltimore, more than 100 miles from where she was kidnapped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA'S POLICE COMMISSIONER: He's a vicious predator. He's off the streets and hopefully he'll be in jail for the rest of his life. That's the only thing he deserves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our Jean Casarez has been tracking this story. She joins us now live from Columbia, Maryland, good morning, Jean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carlesha Freeland has been rescued.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Philadelphia woman kidnapped on Sunday now found alive. 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the subject exited the vehicle, he was apprehended, and that's when Ms. 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 kidnapper as 37-year-old Delven Barnes, he's currently being held on attempted capital murder charges in another case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If all of our prayers were answered, 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 experience and knowledge of him is a thing about women, females. It's just 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 kidnapper using Carlesha's ATM card at a bank in Maryland. He's also spotted inside this convenient 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.

KEISHA GAITHER, CARLESHA'S MOTHER: Thank you for being there for us. I'm taking my baby home. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow. Our thanks to Jean Casarez for that. It is an incredible story. How police found Carlesha Freeland-Gaither alive and caught her alleged kidnapper, this surveillance video offers a lot of valuable clues. You can see the young woman being dragged away by her attacker. Philadelphia's police commissioner tells CNN it wasn't all that police had to go on to find her and to bring her home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMSEY: Well, the first video was not a very good video unless you really knew the person well, you wouldn't be able to tell exactly who it was. But we were able to -- after he used the ATM card, we certainly had a photograph from that. We were able to locate some video from a convenience store. We actually found a scene where some items were discarded that belonged to her, a receipt was found there. So we were able to backtrack that. It was a grocery store in Philadelphia. We pulled video from there, very good video. We got that out. The media was a great help to us because by putting that video out, we got a phone call from a person who sold this individual a car, and from that we were able to trace the car. We were able to then contact Charles City. They had an outstanding warrant for this individual and things started really falling in place very, very quickly. And we were able to track him to Jessup, Maryland, and rescue Ms. Gaither.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining me now to talk about this, Matthew Horace, he's a former ATF agent, and he's now the senior vice president and security chief for FJC Security Services. Good morning to you. Thank you for coming in.

MATTHEW HORACE, CNN ANALYST: Good morning. Good morning HARLOW: So many things are astonishing to me here, all the pieces fell in place for the authorities to be able to rescue her just three days into her abduction. But the GPS, the fact that the car dealership when they sold him the car put GPS on the car, how big is that?

HORACE: That's a huge clue in addition to the other clues to help pull this case together from the very beginning. From the security aspect, the CCTV, the camera, the video, albeit somewhat grainy, law enforcement was able to use it and so to develop a trail. The other videos in the stores and at the gas station. The suspect using the ATM card, they created a trail, to sort of - law enforcement for themselves. Absolutely.

HARLOW: And they - she was taken 100 miles from where she was abducted. What - you know, you made the point that often kidnappings don't end like this.

HORACE: This entire situation could have ended very, very, very differently. And all too often we see missing children and adults that go on missing and don't come to this conclusion.

HARLOW: Those first 24 to 48 hours are the most critical, aren't they?

HORACE: The first 24 hours are the most critical in any investigation like this. The Philadelphia police department and the FBI were able to pull leads together, intelligence, get that information out. There were amber alerts on the vehicle. There were intelligence leads that were sent out to the field. The ATF and other organizations were able to grab those leads. And ultimately it was ATF agents as I understand it, they were able to effect the arrest by identifying the vehicle which had a rear broken window and it caused them to make the arrest.

HARLOW: What's also interesting, is our Jean Casarez reported once they identified the vehicle, realized that the abductor was in the back seat with her, they did not directly approach the vehicle because they didn't want a hostage situation. That's key.

HORACE: That's very key. And obviously through the years we learn through best practices that there are ways to approach these situations. The agents called the FBI and the Philadelphia police department in Philadelphia, tell them what they had. And they were able to effect this arrest very quickly. Ms. Freeland-Gaither is a very, very, very lucky young lady today.

HARLOW: Yeah, and we are so happy for her and her mother. A traumatic experience, the justice process just beginning for her abductor. We'll follow that closely. Thank you for your expertise. For coming in this morning.

HORACE: Thank you so much.

HARLOW: Good to see you.

We'll be right back in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Recent pictures showing Kim Jong-Un walking with a cane were jarring to many. Especially since they came after he'd been out of the public eye for quite a long time. And they prompted speculation about his health and his hold on power. But new pictures of the North Korean leader are showing him without a cane and they're leading to even more speculation. Our Brian Todd joins us now. Good morning. Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. These latest pictures were getting out of North Korea show a more robust Kim Jong- Un appearing before his troops, trying to show the world he's still in control. But now there are indications that behind the propaganda Kim's hold on power could be in doubt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: He gives the full appearance of a commander-in-chief, inspecting troops walking with battalion commanders. And in new photographs released by the North Korean regime, Kim Jong-Un for the first time since his mysterious six-week disappearance is seen walking without a cane.

This comes after report Kim had surgery for tarsal tunnel syndrome. A cyst had been removed from his right ankle.

(on camera): Does it appear that he's got his full mobility back?

DR. ROBERT BUNNING, RHEUMATOLOGIST, MEDSTAR NATIONAL REHABILITATION HOSPITAL: It's hard to know he has full mobility from these pictures, these still pictures. For tarsal tunnel surgery after two or three weeks you would have an almost normal gate.

TODD: Rheumatologist Robert Bunning says tarsal tunnel syndrome is when nerves and tendons in the foot become compressed by inflammation. He say the 31-year-old leader could have gotten that from gout, arthritis, weight gain. And he says in Kim's case it could come back.

BUNNING: With five years there's significant recurrence, maybe 30, 40 percent. And if you haven't solved the underlying problem such as obesity or an inflammatory arthritis, it's even more likely to come back.

TODD: The potential stress Kim could be under certainly won't help. South Korean lawmakers briefed by intelligence officials say Kim recently ordered the executions of ten party officials by firing squad. The charges they say range from corruption to watching South Korean soap operas.

PATRICK CRONIN, CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: The soap operas may be the most salacious aspect of what is seen as a seditious act of smuggling outside information.

TODD: Analyst Patrick Cronin believes some top leaders around Kim may at the very least be doubting his ability to lead. CRONIN: He has good reason to be paranoid. He's the third

generation, he's too young to be leading. He doesn't have the experience, but he does have the ruthlessness to commit executions.

TODD: The reported purging of those ten officials comes less than a year after Kim Jong-Un had his own uncle executed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And while the uncle was executed almost a year ago, this is a pattern now for Kim Jong-Un over the past year. Analyst Patrick Cronin says that the only person he really trusts right now is his sister Kim Yo-jong. Others not so much. Poppy.

HARLOW: And you know, Brian, while this is all going on, there are some disturbing new reports about North Korea's nuclear weapon advances. What can you tell us?

TODD: That's right. South Korean officials say the North has started operating a new plant to produce weapons grade uranium which means they could really now bolster their capability of producing fuel for nuclear weapons. Also a top U.S. commander in South Korea said he believes North Korea has mastered the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile. So, you got all this playing out around this intrigue about Kim Jong-Un and maybe him purging people in his inner circle. It's very disturbing to Western intelligence officials.

CC: Absolutely. And they are trying to decipher everything they can from those photographs as they come in. Brian Todd, thanks for the reporting this morning.

Still to come here in the "NEWSROOM," it could be the thing that saves your child's life in a car crash. And today a key group is releasing its new ratings on child's booster seats. Our Rene Marsh is in Washington with that. Good morning, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. If you're a parent you may have one of these in the back of your vehicle. Coming up, we'll tell you which ones one safety group says is not going to protect your child.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Cc: If you're the parent of a young child, it can be one of the most important safety decisions you will make, picking the right booster seat or car seat for your child. And the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is doing its part to try to help you make the right choice, the safest choice. Today they're unveiling new ratings for 41 different models. Our Rene Marsh joins us from Washington with details. This is critically important because some tested well and some didn't.

MARSH: Absolutely, very important. You know, the good news, though, Poppy, there are more booster seats on the market this year that perform well. The bad news, there are some on store shelves that this safety group says put your child at greater risk for injury in the event of a crash. We are talking about booster seats. This is an example of one, I do want to point out, this is not one of the seats that shows up on the lists. But this is what we're talking about. One of the seats up here. If you're a parent, you want to pay close attention here.

So, now you're looking at video of what happens when you don't have a booster seat. This video also shows you the different type of booster seats there are out there. Some are backless, some do have a back. But this video simply shows you how a booster seat is supposed to work, Poppy.

Cc: And Rene, in terms of determining this, obviously they go through some crash tests. But it's also, there's other important factors that go into them, determining which booster seats for the car are the safest, right?

MARSH: Right. Absolutely. So, the way they determined which rated well and which didn't rate very well is one simple thing. They looked at these crash tests. They took a booster seat like this one and essentially they put it through a series of crashes and they looked at the belt fit. Because we know that seatbelts are made for adults, a good child's seat would essentially ensure that the belt fits properly. If it doesn't, it may rest too much on the child's neck or it may not fit properly over the lap. And you can see from those images there what's a good fit as far as fitting over the shoulder and what is a poor fit. If it's a poor fit, the child is vulnerable in impact.

So let's get to the three child booster seats that failed the test. Because if you have this one, this safety group says you want to go out and buy a new one. So, if you have the Diono Olympia, a Highback or the Diono Pacifica high back as well as the Kids Embrace Batman backless booster seat, they say those are not good seats. They do not protect your child in the event of an impact. But if you want a complete list, we have all of that on our Website, CNN.com. If you want to see which one is rated the best and which ones you should stay away from. It's all there, Poppy.

HARLOW: Really, really, really important decision and some important ratings that just came out. Rene Marsh, thank you. Appreciate it.

Still to come here in the "NEWSROOM," a victory lap for Republicans, a minefield for the White House and, of course, a gold mine for late night comedians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big, big Republican gains, that's the story. President Obama held a news conference today to share his take on the midterm election results. Yeah, and you can tell the president wasn't taking it well. Because he addressed the White House press corps from inside a pillow fort.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on out, Mr. President. Not going to do it! (LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They also took control of the Senate after gaining another seven seats. I haven't seen the GOP get this many seats since Chris Christie made an airline reservation.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday was Election Day unless you're a Republican, in which case it was Christmas.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)