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Comet Landing; Fears of Ferguson Protests; U.S.-China Deal on Environment

Aired November 12, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. I'm Brianna Keilar. Brooke Baldwin is away.

It's wondrous. You are looking at an image from 300 million miles away. And while it may be old-school black and white, well, what it proves is as futuristic as it comes. Man has landed a spacecraft on a moving comet. This picture is the first ever sent from a comet, one called 67P, not exactly a creative name, but a pretty cool thing.

And these photos was taken by Philae. That's the probe that touched down on 67P today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-JACQUES DORDAIN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY: This is a big step for human civilization. The biggest problem of success is that it looks easy. You know that this type of success is not coming from the sky. It comes from hard work and for expertise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So Philae is about the size of a stove and it was carried to the comet by the Rosetta. That's an orbiter which is about the size of an SUV, just so that you know about what we're talking about here.

They're mites, right, compared to the distance that they traveled, but it took 10 years just to reach 67P. This was a mission by the European Space Agency. And the while agency was pretty joyous that the landing happened, there has been a little bit of a glitch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHAN ULAMEC, PHILAE LANDER MANAGER: Not so good news is that the anchoring harpoon apparently did not fire, so the lander is not anchored to the surface.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, it is not anchored to the surface.

With me now to talk about this, Dave Brody, science and technology writer for Space.com.

He says it's not anchored to the surface. We have heard there's a possibility that there are redundant systems obviously and perhaps there are some screws that have helped secure this little stove-like device. Right?

DAVE BRODY, SPACE.COM: Yes.

BRODY: It could be.

The good news is we got two landings for the price of one. You have to be happy about that. The real good news is that they have power. The radio is working. They are taking data. They're doing science on this comet right now.

Yes, it's possible that the lander could move around a little bit on the surface and they will look at the data over time and decide, do they need to send a command to refire the harpoons or would that be making the situation worse?

The way you have to think about it is, yes, it's the size of a stove and it's about the same weight of a stove on Earth, but the comet's gravity is only about 1/50,000th of that gravity on Earth, so the Philae weighs to the comet about the same as this Post-It.

It definitely can be moved around by shifting surface. The comet is beginning to wake up and out gas as it feels the heat of the sun. It's going to be in for an exciting ride. My bet is that they get it all together, but we could wake up tomorrow morning and find that that's the last we heard of Philae. Science is exciting.

KEILAR: Really?

BRODY: Yes.

KEILAR: Let's hope that is not the case, OK? But let's talk about the big picture here because so much more could have gone wrong when you are talking about something this size traveling so far for so long in really the difficult elements that space provides.

BRODY: Right, and so fast. Bill Nye, the Science Guy, our friend, tweeted today that it's like catching a bullet from another bullet.

This comet is moving at 34,000 miles an hour through the sky. Rosetta had to find it, catch up with it, and then account for the fact that it's rotating. It spins once every 1.7 hours and then dispatch the little Philae lander down a corridor seven miles' long to make a pinpoint landing exactly where they wanted it in a place on the comet that's not too terribly exciting, because they wanted it to be nice and flat, kind of like the decision that Neil Armstrong made when he was landing on the moon.

I don't want to land on the boulders. I want to land in the flat space.

KEILAR: You want a good little landing zone there.

OK. So, let's talk a little bit about what's ahead here. What do we -- what's next for Philae?

BRODY: Right. So, Philae is sensing the surface. It's going to sniff the gas around

it and it will sense the magnetic field. It will thump on the comet a little bit to figure out....

KEILAR: Thump. How does it thump?

BRODY: It has got a little instrument that dispatches a little acoustic vibration, much like a seismologist or a geologist would on Earth.

KEILAR: It's got a thumper? OK.

BRODY: On Earth, we do this to probe for oil and natural resources and to see what's under the ground. Same stuff is going on, on the comet. They want to know what's inside the comet.

But importantly what they really want to do is to sample the surface, which is mostly ice, melt that ice which is mostly water and then figure out is that water the same as water on Earth? Because one theory suggests that most of the water that we have in Earth's oceans, Earth is 75 percent surfaced by -- is water -- most of that water came from comets.

We want to know is that true or did Earth make its own water? And if it is true, then what else came on comets? Could it have been the building block of life, amino acids, peptides? All of this we will discover over the next year or so, the expected life span of Philae and Rosetta, if it wakes up tomorrow morning or if we wake up and discover that it wants to talk to us.

KEILAR: Let's hope that it does want to talk to us when it wakes up tomorrow morning. This is amazing stuff. Dave, thanks so much for chatting with us about it.

BRODY: A pleasure, Brianna.

KEILAR: Now to a happy ending to a very dangerous situation outside of the 69th floor of New York's One World Trade Center. Two winder washers who were trapped on a scaffolding outside of the tower have been rescued after a very harrowing ordeal.

And CNN's Miguel Marquez is there and he's live for us with more.

This was unbelievable to watch, Miguel. And just it sort of made your heart stop.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievably so, to see it so high up on this building.

One of the guys was 20 years old, the other was 40 years old. They were in good shape throughout the entire thing. We're right at the base of it. Want to show you what it looks like right now. It's just that the bizarre angle at which that is hanging, you just know something is wrong. It makes your heart sink to your feet to watch that. But the guys in there, they were laughing the entire time with

paramedics. One of them when they finally cut through that glass, it took about a half-hour for them to cut through that double-pane glass -- they were up there for about 90 minutes. When he came through that glass, he said, all of this for us? Really?

Window washers, very, very tough guys. Amazing how this thing has concluded in such great fashion. The big question now is how firefighters and the building is going to get that scaffold down because it is now stuck and banging against the building. You can see it in the wind. You can also see the window now that's been cut through there.

A brand-new building. They just got in -- people just started moving into it last week. This is going to be highly studied in the days ahead -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, and especially because in a place like New York City, cleaning these windows of these skyscrapers, this is daily business for these window washers who are up there. I know that there was representatives from the scaffolding company that were on site once this happened.

They have actually had a prior incident, this scaffolding company. What can you tell us about that?

MARQUEZ: It's a company called Tractel. They do a lot of this stuff. They designed both this apparatus and one at the Hearst Tower in June 2013, a very similar incident where two individuals got stuck on a scaffold there. It started to collapse.

They were both taken off OK as well. It's not clear whether or not Tractel designed the entire system both here and at the Hearst Tower, but both of those incidents will now be studied very carefully. Yes, but the window washers, your heart has to go out to them. I have seen these guys going up into other buildings here.

I always want to go up with them of course, but it's harrowing work. They are way up there. To look up at this building and realize that they are just over halfway up of the Freedom Tower, a brand-new building, and to have that gig as well a window washer, there is probably no better gig in the world for a New York window washer than to be able to get up on a brand-new system like this and wash this.

So for this to go wrong so early in this building's life is going to be questioned heavily -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. The views are amazing and the risks should be very small, but not today. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much for us there down in Lower Manhattan.

Three young U.S. Navy sailors were attacked in Turkey. Angry men shoved bags over their heads. They pelted them with rocks and they yelled Yankee, go home. The sailors were not dressed in Navy uniforms. They were on shore leave. Check out the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You declare that you are a member of U.S. Army and now, because we define you as murderers, as killers, we want you to get out of our land.

(SHOUTING)

CROWD: Yankee, go home! Yankee, go home! Yankee, go home!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That's very scary as that ends there.

Jim Sciutto, our chief national correspondent, you saw there those Americans with bags put over their heads. What was your reaction to this?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The video is shocking and the setting is shocking as well. Remember, this is Turkey. It's a NATO ally. It's a frequent port of call for U.S. sailors, but not just sailors, for American tourists.

And to see this level of emotion and anger against the U.S. is shocking and the tactics too, putting the bags over their heads and throwing red dye on them to indicate blood. This group, it is a leftist group. It defines itself as anti-imperialist.

And they accused in their chants there, but in this whole demonstration of the U.S. being imperialist with its use of military force in the region. And keep in mind you have U.S.-led military campaign taking place just across the border from Turkey and Syria now and this is a measure of the kind of emotions that military action there can stoke and it's just -- it's shocking.

One thing the military is saying, that these guys behaved very well. They didn't fight back. They kind of kept under control. They didn't make a very bad incident even worse.

KEILAR: No, they didn't escalate. They tried to escape. And we're seeing some of that in the video now. How did this ultimately resolve itself and how there in Turkey is the U.S. Navy I guess responding to this? There's a number of other service members, American service members who are there.

SCIUTTO: No question.

The U.S. Embassy there has posted on Twitter very strong statements against this. They also say that the Turkish authorities are cooperating with U.S. Embassy authorities there in the Navy in terms of investigating this. Remember, you have a record of it frankly posted by the group. You see faces of the men, the young men involved in carrying out this attack, so presumably they can be tracked down and dealt with.

So that will be a test. Right? How much do Turkish authorities track these guys down and punish them, assuming that they can do that? Because as you know, Brianna, and you and I have talked about this, there have been some questions so far about Turkey's status as a NATO ally, how supportive they have been of the U.S. military campaign there. There are a lot of complicated politics in Turkey. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

KEILAR: Yes, the U.S. wants more from Turkey, hasn't gotten it so far.

Jim Sciutto, thank you so much for explaining that to us.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

KEILAR: Well, you may recall the story of those three teenage girls from Denver who tried to join ISIS last month. We're learning some pretty fascinating and alarming new details about their lives on social media, including who they talked to inside of the terrorist organization as they plotted their trip to Syria. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Some pretty shocking revelations from the online social media profiles of three Denver girls stopped on their way to join ISIS.

The two sisters and their friend, ages just 15 and 17, are now back with their families in Colorado after authorities intercepted them in Germany last month. They had stolen money, skipped out on school and intended to cut all ties with their families and the West.

Ritz Katz, the director of SITE Intelligence Group, traced the social media footprints of those girls.

And, Rita, I want to talk about the fascinating things that you found. But first just tell us how you did this.

RITA KATZ, DIRECTOR, SEARCH FOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ENTITIES: A lot of work, Internet searches, trying to identify the girls, going through their accounts.

And what is very useful here is our jihadi data base of pretty Twitter accounts that existed, because in this report I actually described and analyzed the communication that they had with some ISIS recruiters to other cases of Americans that were also radicalized, showing that they were actually following the same pro-ISIS accounts or ISIS handlers.

KEILAR: OK. So you are sort of cross-referencing them with some other people who may have been recruited or are being recruited and really your report focuses specifically on one of the girls.

She went by the online handle Grape, I believe it is, and you had watched her attitudes change. You quote this exchange on the social media site Ask.fm -- I should say.

In April 2014, a user asked: "How did you turn so religious? You weren't like this before. And she answered that she just realized her purpose in life and that Islam makes things a lot easier.

What struck you about the radicalization that you saw?

KATZ: The interesting information is that you could see how the girls were transformed from a loving, caring, totally typical American teenagers to jihadists who were willing to leave everything behind, separate from their family forever to the degree that they lied and stole money.

We're talking about a girl that a year before that was asked, what is the thing that you care about most in your life? And she said my parents and my family. It's the same girl that a year later was willing to go away, marry an ISIS individual, ISIS fighter she never met before and settle in a war zone and bringing a new family to the Islamic caliphate that was announced.

We have to understand that the campaign, the recruitment campaign online is very aggressive from ISIS' side. They were able to import the war from the password-protected message boards to mainstream media, to social media, to Twitter, and basically exposing everybody in the West and all over the world to their work, to their propaganda.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: But what specific interactions did these girls or this girl have with the recruiters online?

KATZ: In the study, I describe in her specific case, Grape, for instance, her online changes through one of the Facebook, one of the social media Web sites called Ask.fm.

And through that site, you could see the transformation from being a very innocent American girl that, for instance, one of her questions was what do you want to be when you grow up? She said -- and we're talking about only a year ago. She said, I want to be in the fashion business. And suddenly asked the same question a year later, she said, all I think about is paradise, and I hope to get married soon.

And we're talking again about a 16-year-old girl. When we reviewed the social media accounts of the three girls, three of them had between 7,000 to 12,000 tweets. This is a huge number, especially for individuals that are so young. That means that they had to be online for hours.

But one of the interesting points that we were able to find is that they actually admitted online on their interviews on their questions, Grape admitted, she said, I live on social media. I'm always tweeting and I'm always on YouTube.

KEILAR: That's really -- I think that's it. Spending so much time online, you can see they just had such a great level of exposure to these recruiters and they were sort of there to have that time with them.

Rita, amazing report. Thank you so much. Rita Katz joining us, appreciate it.

KATZ: My pleasure. Thank you. KEILAR: A decision from the grand jury in the Michael Brown shooting

could be imminent and that has many people in Ferguson, Missouri, on edge. Now fears of violent protests have the governor taking action. Plus the key expert who will testify tomorrow, could he sway the grand jury?

You know that Spotify spat involving Taylor Swift? Well, it's not going away. What the streaming company is saying to the pop star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just moments ago, a Saint Louis official addressed rumors about violence breaking out in nearby Ferguson should officer Darren Wilson not be indicted in Michael Brown's death.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE DOOLEY, SAINT LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, EXECUTIVE:Take a deep breath. Stand back. And calm down. The images and the reports that our region is preparing for war are unfortunate. What you don't see are the many images of people from all walks of life working together to ensure peaceful protests and work on long-term solutions. Those make up the majority of the people in the Saint Louis region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: As the town waits, a lawyer for Michael Brown's family says the pathologist hired by the family will testify before the grand jury tomorrow.

Our Sara Sidner is in Ferguson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With word from Anthony Gray, one of the Brown family attorneys, that the pathologist, Dr. Baden, is going to be testifying in front of the grand jury, it just gives people the indication that the grand jury is still listening to testimony and so we're not going to have a decision as soon as people keep thinking we will.

The rumors have been rampant here about when that grand jury decision is going to come down and it certainly ratcheted up tensions. That may be why we heard from Governor Jay Nixon about the plan that's being put in place by police.

(voice-over): As the grand jury announcement on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson grows ever nearer, the Missouri governor sent a message out to everyone -- law enforcement is ready.

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: Anybody that comes here needs to know they're going to be safe, while at the same time exercising those rights of speech. If folks cross that safety line on property or on person, we will use a full power of the law to keep peace. SIDNER: The governor says he will send in the National Guard if

required.

NIXON: When we make the determination that the National Guard is necessary to provide support, you know, I'm purported - preferred to issue that order.

SIDNER (on camera): We've talked to dozens of people from pastors to residents to protesters to police and they all say the city is on pins and needles waiting for the grand jury's decision and everyone is planning, not just here in Ferguson, but in the entire St. Louis metropolitan area.

(voice-over): The Saint Louis County police department is already gearing up, purchasing more than $100,000 in riot gear. Some protesters blame police for escalating tensions after the killing of Michael Brown and they, too, are planning their reaction.

DEBRA KENNEDY, RESIDENT: It's probably going to be a little anger, a little tension. There are going to be a few bad apples that do some looting, but my position is you can always replace a window, you can replace things, but you can't replace human lives. So as long as no lives get lost and if any lives are lost, it's probably going to be at the hands of the police officers and then that would just cause more problems.

SIDNER: But police said they have been diligent over the past 90 days, meeting with the community to make safety for all a priority.

JON BELMAR, SAINT LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, POLICE CHIEF: We have had instances where officers have been injured. We have had instances where they've been hit with rocks in the face and different things like that. So we're going to do what we can to protect them. But at the same time we try to always portray a posture of appropriateness to the situation that we're faced with.

SIDNER: While the community plans, Michael Brown's family was in Geneva speaking to the U.N. on police brutality. They've been calling for a peaceful reaction to any decision, but if there is no indictment, they told CNN they will join protesters in the streets once again.

(on camera): And just to give you some idea of what this town is like right now, most of the town looks like it always does. It's a pretty quiet place.

But there are a couple streets where you can see a stark difference, on West Florissant, where the unrest happened early in August, nearly every single building has been completely boarded up, with the exception of just one or two businesses.

And here near the police department, a few of the buildings boarded up with the businesses worried that unrest is going to come crashing through their business.

Protesters have been saying they have been peaceful for the past 90 days and they plan on trying to keep it that way.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Thanks, Sara.

Well, it's being called a game-changer, the U.S. and China agreeing to a major deal on greenhouse gas emissions. But how realistic is President Obama's end of the bargain and will we have to go alone without Republicans?

And former Mayor Michael Bloomberg has advice for some kids. Skip college and become a plumber. Hear why coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)