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CIA Director to Hold Press Conference; Dick Cheney Protecting Controversial Interrogation Techniques; ISIS Releasing False Propaganda on Success in Syria; San Francisco Hit by Storm; Effective Policing Tips from Cincinnati Police Chief

Aired December 11, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. Just a few hours from now a rare news conference from the head of the nation's spy agency. CIA Director John Brennan is set to discuss the so-called torture report and its claims that his agency brutally interrogated 9/11 terror suspects. He will also field questions from reporters. CNN Justice Reporter Evan Perez will be on hand for that news conference. He joins me now live from Washington. Good morning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is a very rare press conference, indeed. The only thing we can think of that is similar is, about a decade ago when the CIA was having to answer questions about mistakes made in the intelligence -- on Iraq before the U.S. invaded. And so, this is a very unusual thing for John Brennan, the CIA director to do. The big question that will be facing him today is how does the CIA move forward from this? Obviously, it's a very dark period right now we're having to relive, some really ugly things that were reported in this Senate torture report. And, you know, the other question for him is what does he think of this program and what it produced for U.S. intelligence? Because, you know, Dick Cheney was on television this morning giving a full-throated defense of this program saying, not only was it - did it work. He says he'd do it again. And that is far different from what President Obama says about this program, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Evan Perez, thanks so much. And just another reminder CNN will carry that news conference live. It's scheduled for 1:30 Eastern Time.

Former Bush administration officials are not taking criticism over the terror report lightly. Everyone from former CIA chief General Michael Hayden to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have been stepping up to defend the CIA's actions. But perhaps no one has come out swinging harder than former vice president Dick Cheney. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I think it's a terrible piece of work, basically. It seems to me it's deeply flawed. They didn't bother to interview key people involved in the program. And I think that it's a sort of a classic example, which you see too often in Washington, where a group of politicians get together and sort of throw the professionals under the bus. What happened here was that we asked the agency to go take steps and put in place programs that were designed to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and to make sure it didn't happen again. And that's exactly what they did. And they deserve a lot of credit, not the kind of condemnation that they're receiving from the Senate Democrats. We have got Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 911, who has killed 3,000 Americans, taken down the World Trade Center, hit the Pentagon, would have taken out the White House or the Capitol building if, in fact, they - it hadn't been for the passengers on United 93.

He is in our possession, we know he's the architect. And what are we supposed to do? Kiss him on both cheeks and say, please, please, tell us what you know. Of course, not. We did exactly what needed to be done in order to catch those who were guilty on 9/11 and to prevent a further attack. And we were successful on both parts.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This report says it was not successful.

CHENEY: The report is full of crap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, let's talk about this. I'm joined by Mark Fallon, he is the former deputy commander and special agent in charge at the Department of Defense following the 9/11 attacks. Welcome.

MARK FALLON, DIRECTOR, CLUBFED: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. You called Dick Cheney a liar. But perhaps it's easy to forget how afraid Americans were after 9/11.

FALLON: No. I don't forget it at all. I was at the time the commander of the USS Cole taskforce, investigating the attack on the "USS Cole." And we had agents on the ground in Yemen at the time of the 9/11 attacks. So, believe me, no one knows better about the al Qaeda and the threat it poses than I do.

COSTELLO: So, why do you call Dick Cheney a liar? Surely he knows what went on during that time.

FALLON: Well, I think I cited that the report indicated that Dick Cheney was a liar. But based on the things I'm hearing out of Dick Cheney now and based on the evidence that I know occurred, and it was my job to investigate the al Qaeda terrorist network post 9/11. So, what I have to say is that really Dick Cheney may be full of crap in what he's saying now. Those who have misled, continue to mislead. And I've looked it, I've looked over the report from Senator Feinstein's Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. And frankly, it rings true to the facts as I know them that occurred.

Somebody needs to be asking what was the basis for going down a road to inflict torture, to inflict duress on our adversaries, and the thought that that would actually result in the elicitation of accurate and reliable information? I can tell you, had I interrogated Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, if kissing him on both cheeks would have saved lives, I would have kissed him on both cheeks. The goal of an interrogation is to elicit accurate and reliable information, not exact revenge against an adversary.

COSTELLO: I hear you, but Dick Cheney is not the only person saying that this kind of interrogations worked. Others CIA directors are, too.

FALLON: Well, I can just say what I know from my experience having access to the records. So, the criminal investigation taskforce was the entity charged by President Bush to investigate anyone who is or was a member of al Qaeda terrorist network and to bring them to justice before military commissions. So, that's the - they're the individuals who now have the residue from the CIA interrogation program. So if there is evidence that they can bring forward, I certainly suggest the director of the CIA bring that evidence forward. These people are in custody now at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There is an officer of military commissions, and there is investigators who are trying to bring justice to the terrorists who attacked us. And I'm afraid that if there is evidence, they need to provide it to those people so that we can bring these people to justice.

Look at the controversy that's caused. If there's evidence, bring it to Senator Feinstein and correct the record. Call for a hearing, a public debate. Call for a private debate. Call for testimony under oath. But let's get to the bottom of this. Let's move forward and protect our nation. Torture makes us less safe, it's clear.

COSTELLO: But does the CIA director is going to hold a news conference later this afternoon. Perhaps he'll bring forth the evidence that you seek. I don't know. But it is unusual for him to step out and talk about these things.

FALLON: Yeah, yeah, I look forward to his press conference. I would like to hear what he has to say. And if there is that evidence, I'd like to know why it wasn't provided earlier.

COSTELLO: If there is no evidence, should Mr. Brennan resign?

FALLON: That's certainly not my call. I mean he works - he works for the president.

COSTELLO: Should there be some punishment knitted out for people who participated in interrogations that could be deemed torture?

FALLON: Well, I think you have to realize that there's probably 50 people within the CIA who would be someone who might be implicated in these crimes. Overall, I've worked with the CIA for years. They're a very good organization. They do things very well. Their core competence just wasn't interrogations.

Now, the challenge we're facing now is, if you look at the United Nations convention against torture, if you look at international law, if you look at the United States code, an uniform code of military justice, we violated laws. And so, some way we're going to have to reconcile what our policymakers' decisions have caused. Because it is making us less safe, it is jeopardizing our security. COSTELLO: All right. Mark Fallon, thank you for your insight. I

sure appreciate it.

FALLON: You're very welcome.

COSTELLO: This hour in Washington, the U.S.-led fight against ISIS is in the crosshairs. We're getting an update on a conflict that many Americans fear could slide into another open-end war. Right now on Capitol Hill, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is meeting. And due to vote on a measure that would declare war on ISIS. The formal declaration would place time limits on military commitment. Elsewhere in Washington, at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the man leading the fight, Retired Marine General John Allen joins the debate. It's entitled "Can we ultimately defeat ISIS?" We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime ISIS scrambles to get out its own message, it's slick and sophisticated propaganda campaign has unveiled its latest recruitment video complete with blastery images and bogus claims. CNN's Brian Todd joins us now from Washington with a closer look. Good morning.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, this new video is compelling to watch, a real action sequence of ISIS fighters running for cover, taking positions, blasting away at their enemies in the town of Kobani. This morning, it's leading to some top questions that we've posed to Pentagon officials about why ISIS hasn't been driven out of that tactically crucial city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: From a drone the camera flies right into the battle for Kobani. The fighters are heard panting, seen scrambling for a better position.

This new ISIS propaganda video shows what the terror group claims are its fighters battling for control of the Syrian border town against Kurdish forces. ISIS recently used the British hostage, John Cantlie, to make a false claim about its control of Kobani.

JOHN CANTLIE: The battle for Kobani is coming to an end. The Mujahideen are just mopping up now.

TODD: In reality, analysts say, ISIS is losing, like their controls less than 50 percent of Kobani. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh recently traveled inside Kobani and captured these scenes. But a key question, after three months of airstrikes by the U.S. and its allies, why hasn't ISIS been driven completely out of Kobani?

DOUGLAS OLLIVANT, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: The problem is the airstrikes came too late. This allowed the Islamic State to get inside the city. Once you get fighters inside a city, then it's very hard for air power to dig them out. They can hide. Even if the building doesn't provide any protection, it provides concealment.

TODD: A Pentagon official tells CNN, the air strikes have impacted the ability of ISIS to move around Kobani. The official says ISIS tanks and other vehicles can no longer roam free and warns it's too soon to judge the military strategy. ISIS's propaganda campaign isn't slowing down. In another new video, ISIS shows what it claims are Iraqi soldiers deserting their positions, running away from ISIS forces. A narrator says in English, the Iraqis are "fleeing like the cowards they are." And there are new still photos published by an ISIS Twitter account showing what it claims are ISIS militants on a rooftop in the self-proclaimed ISIS province. ISIS claims they are throwing a gay man off the rooftop, then stoning him. Analysts say these images are part of the group's battle plan.

AKI PERITZ, FORMER CIA OFFICER: If they don't turn out videos like this that have some sort of kick to them, people are going to start saying, maybe they're actually on their back heels, maybe they're not as tough as they said they were going to be.

TODD: And for ISIS and the U.S.-led allies, Kobani is at the center of it all. It has become the most important battlefield in this war, both tactically and symbolically. If the allies win there, it seems as a major setback for ISIS, a big turning point, if ISIS wins in Kobani, it shows the U.S. cannot help its allies, the coalition isn't as powerful as it seems and on the ground ISIS gains control of an entire stretch of Syria's border with Turkey. This morning, Carol, both sides are all in in the town of Kobani.

COSTELLO: All right, Brian Todd reporting live from Washington, thank you.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," torrential rain, hurricane-force wind gusts. Northern California absolutely battered. CNN's Dan Simon in San Francisco. Good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. As you can tell, it is a lovely day here in San Francisco. We'll tell you how the conditions are looking and explain why some say this could be the worst storm we've seen here in decades.

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COSTELLO: All right, I must take you back to Capitol Hill where Dana Bash has acquired an exclusive - as you know, Congress set to vote on this huge government spending bill today. We thought that the lawmakers had reached this Kumbaya moment, but no. CNN chief congressional correspondent, as I said, Dana Bash, who joins me with an exclusive interview. What have you got?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, credit where credit is due. This was our intrepid producer Paul Corson who talked to a member of the House Democratic leadership. Steve Israel coming out of a meeting of Democrats this morning. The issue is as we reported last hour with you, Carol, is in just a few hours, the House is going to vote on a massive bill, $1.1 trillion to keep the government running and to fund it for an entire year. But there is trepidation and concern on both sides of the aisle even though it's a bipartisan deal. Democrats in particular are not happy about rolling back Wall Street reforms, about allowing more billionaires and others to give to political parties when it comes to combine finance laws and other issues. So, because of that, Democrats are pulling back their support in droves really. Listen to what Steve Israel told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D) NEW YORK: I can't vote for any budget that rewards big banks and big donors. That's the one-two punch in this budget. If they will remove those provisions that reward big banks and then reward big donors to reward congressmen who reward big banks, I'm just not going to vote for it. They need to remove these positions so we can continue to try to negotiate the budget that makes sense.

PAUL CORSON, CNN PRODUCER: But it's not going to happen, Congressman, that's what we're hearing from their side. They are not going to change it.

ISRAEL: If they are -they believe they need Democratic votes, in order to pass this bill, then they can't put poison pills for Democrats in that bill. Take out the poison pills, reward the middle class, not big banks and big donors and all get more Democratic votes. But at this point, I don't see many Democratic votes at all for a bill that is so antithetical to the middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, you heard him talking about poison pills. To be clear, this was negotiated by veteran Democrats and Republicans for months and months and months. So there are a lot of things in this bill that both sides don't like. But the issue is, because of that, you're going to need bipartisan support to pass this in the House. I just talked to a Republican leadership aid in the House before coming on with you to see where things are. He said they still think on the Republican side they'll be able to pass it. But here is the big question everyone wants to know. Today is December 11, it is the day that the government runs out of money, midnight tonight. So, will the government shut down if this bill fails? Carol, the answer to that is no. And it's because House Republicans have a backup plan. If this fails, they will immediately - and even if it doesn't fail, they will immediately pass a three-month or four-month extension to keep the government running as a stopgap measure. Carol.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash, great work. Thanks so much.

BASH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the weather now, shall we? A monstrous storm pounding Northern California today with 20-foot waves lashing the coastline and a couple of feet of snow expected in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Heavy rains threatening to trigger flooding. And the lower elevation, the San Francisco Bay area is in the bull's eye. Hurricane's force gust will rock the region, a so-called river in the sky bursting its banks now. The atmospheric river is spreading its precipitation 400 miles wide. CNN's Dan Simon join us now from a very rainy San Francisco. Good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, behind me is the ferry building, it's a famous landmark in downtown San Francisco. But guess what, it's going to be pretty much empty today because most of the ferries are not running, and the same goes for the iconic cable cars here in San Francisco. They're not running today either. And you've got dozens of flights canceled out of SFO. And why? Because we're talking about a storm that could be some of the worst rain we've seen in 50 years. There could be nine inches of rain in the Bay Area. And if it's not the rain, it could be the wind. We're talking hurricane-force winds, gusts 50 to 60 miles per hour in the city, that's what we're looking at. If you go up north, it's not going to be rain. There's going to be a lot snow, two to three feet of snow perhaps in the Lake Tahoe area. But bottom line, it's going to be a very tough day here in the city. Most of the public schools have been canceled. They've been preparing for this for the last day or two, you know, chopping off tree limbs so they don't fall on power lines and clearing out storm drains so there's no flooding. At this point we're not seeing reports of major problems, but the rain just now starting to come down hard, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dan Simon reporting live from San Francisco.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," "We Can't Breathe," it's become a rallying cry across the country for protesters angry over the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Coming up next, I'll talk to the Cincinnati police chief about his city's racial tensions and why he says police agencies need to listen to what their communities are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "I never used a choke hold." That's what Officer Daniel Pantaleo told investigators about the controversial takedown of Eric Garner. Garner died in July after officers tried to arrest him for illegally selling loose cigarettes on the street. Garner's death and the decision not to indict Pantaleo have triggered nationwide anger with protests breaking out from coast to coast.

This is what it looked like last night in Berkeley, California after demonstrators stopped traffic. All of this comes on the heels of the controversial death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson. Protesters say Brown and Garner's deaths are just two examples of what's going on every day in their communities. Yesterday in Washington, a group of mothers spoke out against police brutality and shared the pain of losing a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERALYNN BLUEFORD, SON, ALAN BLUEFORD, KILLED BY POLICE: My son tripped and fell and he was yelling "I didn't do anything, I didn't do anything" and when he fell the officer stood over him and shot him in the head (ph). And his last words he said "why did you shoot me?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's talk about this. Joining me now is Cincinnati police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell. Welcome, chief.

CHIEF JEFFREY BLACKWELL, CINCINNATI, OHIO, POLICE: Thank you for having me, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. I appreciate it. Your community is no stranger to these kinds of tensions. Tell us about that.

BLACKWELL: Well, we went through some civil unrest back in the early 2000s. I was not there at the time. However, out of that came a collaborative agreement pursuant to a DOJ investigation. And we still live by that today.

COSTELLO: So how do the -- what changes were put into place and why did they make it better in Cincinnati?

BLACKWELL: Well, I think it's better in Cincinnati for a lot of reasons. First, we respect our community and we are engaged with our community in Cincinnati. We have a really high level of training for our officers. Our officers know that our agency is going to be one of truth telling and transparency. And we do evidence-based policing. You know, we've let go of some of the archaic models of policing that many other areas in our nation still do.

COSTELLO: Like what?

BLACKWELL: Well, a lot of cities still over-police minority communities, a lot of cities don't use evidence-based models to know, in fact, where, in fact, the crime is occurring. A lot of places and a lot of police chiefs still believe that the war on drugs is winnable and should be fought at the street level in urban America. I disagree with that. Cincinnati has a different model. We have evidence-based policing. We have engaged communities and we do problem-oriented policing.

And Carol, that does two things. First, we identify the problem with our residents in our city, and then we also talk with them to develop the strategic emphasis on how to address those problems.

COSTELLO: Your officers also wear body cameras. Do all of them wear body cameras? I know you did a study on how well it works. So, tell us about that?

BLACKWELL: Well, our study just was finished, and we are going to go with the body camera platform. We believe that body cameras increase transparency and, therefore, increase professionalism. But make no mistake about it, body cameras are not the panacea of policing. People are. And so, officers need to become guardians of their communities again like they once were and practice constitutional policing. That's what we do in Cincinnati and we do a good job of it.

COSTELLO: You know, many police officers across the country feel they're being vilified right now. Do you agree?

BLACKWELL: I do. I do. I think the brush is broad that is painting all of our officers, all of my comrades and all of the people that I serve with. And I can tell you that that is not the right thing to do. 99 percent of the police officers in this country are honorable and decent and care about the people they serve. We're going to have issues here and there. And we've seen that on the news lately. But by and large, the profession is doing the right things.

COSTELLO: But you can also see the community side. And is that the difference in your conversation from Cincinnati as opposed to in some other places?

BLACKWELL: Absolutely. We have got to listen to our people in our cities and be engaged with them. Listen, in most big cities throughout the nation, we've seen double digit drops in crime and yet we're seeing civil unrest in over 100 locations. So, it's more than just driving down crime that people want to see. They want fair, biased-free, constitutional policing that they can trust, and that's what we do in Cincinnati.

COSTELLO: Chief Blackwell, thanks so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," the horrifying numbers that lurk on America's college campuses. Can you believe 80 percent of all sex crimes go unreported? We'll take a closer look at a sobering report from the Justice Department next.

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