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ISIS: Second Japanese Hostage Beheaded; Japan's PM On ISIS Beheading Hostage; Japanese Officials Outraged at Goto's Beheading; ISIS Video Appears to Show Hostage Beheading; Bobbi Kristina Brown Found Unresponsive in Bathtub; U.S. Officials Call for On-the-Ground Investigation of Hostage Beheading; New Book Shows Similarity of Obama to LBJ

Aired January 31, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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


POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you live in New York.

We have breaking news this hour. A horrific development to a hostage situation overseas. The Islamic extremist group ISIS releasing a video clip within the past few hours that appears to show the beheading of a Japanese man they were holding captive. He is a 47- year-old, a father, a husband, a journalist named Kenji Goto.

He was captured by ISIS in Syria. Japanese government officials say they are outraged at what they call this ferocious act. Kenji Goto and another Japanese man were captured in Syria late last year. They were shown alive together by ISIS just a few weeks ago. ISIS demanding a $200 million ransom be paid. The other man being held hostage was Haruna Yukawa. He was beheaded last week.

But there were hopes that Kenji Goto would be spared, possibly as part of a potential deal involving a prisoner swap with Jordan. It now appears that was not the case. With me here in New York throughout the next few hours as we continue to report on this breaking news, Michael Weiss. He writes for Foreign Policy. Also he authored the book "ISIS Inside the Army of Terror."

Let's go first to Jomana Karadsheh, she joins us now in Amman, Jordan. She has been covering this throughout. It is an incredibly tragic development. And there had been hope even up until this morning that the Jordanian government may have reached a prisoner swap deal with ISIS. Do we know where things fell apart?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As of Thursday, Poppy, that's where things were not looking good for this prisoner swap to take place. We had heard earlier from the Jordanian government saying that they were willing and they were going to go ahead and release that convicted would-be female said bomber Sajida al-Rishawi that ISIS had been asking for an exchange for Kenji Goto. But the Jordanian government really put its conditions on this saying they would not do this until they got proof of life, that their own captured pilot, that pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh who was captured by ISIS back in December when his F-16 crashed in ISIS territory in Syria near their de facto capital of Iraq while he was on a mission there as part of the anti-ISIS coalition taking part in the air strikes in Syria. And the Jordanians said that for some time now, Poppy, they had been

asking for proof of life, any evidence that the pilot was alive and well. They had been engaged in indirect negotiations through indirect channels to try and secure his release. And the government said they had not received that. And that is when the Jordanian government said that deal was off the table until they got that proof of life that they've been still -- they're still waiting for.

HARLOW: So, to be clear we have no update. Because I know in the statement that was given by ISIS they blamed the Japanese government, they blamed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said a nightmare is to come for Japan, that the same sort of rhetoric that we've heard out of ISIS every time they behead one of their hostages. But they said nothing, nothing about the Jordanian pilot. Have you heard anything?

KARADSHEH: There was absolutely no mention in that short video that purported beheading video by the ISIS executioner known as Jihadi John, the man with the British accent. There was no mention of Muath al-Kasaesbeh, something that is a concern to Jordanians here. Slowly reacting to this really late at night here in Amman as the news broke of Kenji Goto's execution, what we heard was -- what we heard from the family of the Jordanian pilot, according to his uncle he says that he is sad and devastated to hear this news regardless of the nationality of a person he said he is sad to hear about a beheading of any human being. But also he says we are very worried about the well-being of the son, my brother, my nephew Muath al-Kasaesbeh.

We are yet to hear from the Jordanian government. They have been in a very tough position, Poppy, since ISIS really put Jordan in that tough position really cornering Jordan to either release that would-be female suicide bomber or they said they would kill both Kenji Goto and Muath al-Kasaesbeh and we have still not heard about the fate of that Jordanian pilot.

HARLOW: Jomana Karadsheh live for us in Amman, Jomana, thank you for that. We'll get back to you throughout the hour here on CNN. I do want to bring you sound just into us from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking publicly for the first time since this brutal, brutal beheading. Listen.

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through a translator): A video online has appeared that seemingly has killed Mr. Kenji Goto. I feel very sorry for this matter and to the families. The government has tried its best to deal with this matter, but we are deeply saddened by this despicable and horrendous act of terrorism, and we denounce it on the strongest terms. To the terrorists, we will never never forgive them for this act.

And to the act committed, we are going to coordinate with the international society so Japan would never be defeated by terrorism. We would have the food aid and medical aid and to those humanitarian aids, we would even further our efforts to strengthen these types of aids. Moreover, in fighting this terrorism in the international society, as Japan we would be keeping to our responsibilities to deal with this act of terrorism. And to Japan, the international society has showed us solidarity, and we'd like to thank the leaders of the world for that, and to the friends of Japan. And I'd like to thank them deeply. And to King Abdullah of Jordan, I would like to thank him on behalf of the Japanese nationals for his strong support. We would continue to spend our efforts to keep the safety --

HARLOW: Into CNN just moments ago, just made in the early morning hours there in japan from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemning the brutal murder of a Japanese citizen, 47-year-old Kenji Goto.

I want to go to Nic Robertson, our CNN senior international correspondent, joins us on the line from Saudi Arabia. Nic, given this latest development it is once again ISIS carrying out their threats, their propaganda. We are not showing our viewers the video of this horrific beheading and not reading to you exactly what they said. But clearly they're placing the blame on Japan. They blamed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe directly. And they said this will be a nightmare for Japan. Nic, what is your early read on this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're continuing to threaten Japan. They're saying that they will spill more Japanese blood. It's a very clear message for the Japanese government and for the Japanese people who have obviously been transfixed by this as have so many other people. But it does seem that what ISIS is trying to do by bringing in the issue of the would- be female suicide bomber they want released is to put pressure on the Jordanian government by bringing in the issue of the potential release of the Jordanian pilot, pressure on the Jordanian government again, try to peel away the tribes who are the backbone of the military, of the air force in Jordan to try to weaken Jordan's resolve to fight against ISIS.

This seems to be the thrust of what they're doing. And their brutal murder of Kenji Goto is just a step for them, a card to play, a step in this brutal game. This is about for them about propaganda. It's about trying to win a long-term battle and undermining anyone, any regional partner for the United States and Jordan is precisely that in this fight against ISIS. To try to undermine them. This is key for ISIS right now. So we can expect them to try to continue to capitalize on the issue of the Jordanian pilot and the release of this want to-be female suicide bomber as well.

Nic Robertson joining us on the line from Saudi Arabia. Nic, thank you. Stand by. I want to get Michael Weiss' sense on this. You just heard this book "ISIS Inside the Army of Terror" listening to what Nic Robertson said, they are just using all of these hostages, one by one by one as the cards they are playing in their propaganda game.

MICHAEL WEISS, CO-AUTHOR, "ISIS INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": Right.

HARLOW: What is the end game for ISIS?

WEISS: Look, the negotiations themselves are the end game in the sense that they're not called the Islamic State for nothing. They want to be recognized. They want to be legitimated as a form of government. This is the idea behind the caliphate. Getting Jordan to agree to even talks for the prospective release of the Jordanian pilot, essentially what that does is it treats ISIS not as a terrorist organization that must be completely proscribed and only attacked, not engaged with, it relates them more like an insurgency.

HARLOW: It that a mistake, then?

WEISS: Well, according to the United States it is. Because again, you know, President Obama came out very clearly when he announced his strategy. This is not a state, this is a terror organization. The U.S. engages with groups that you might consider to be terroristic in nature such as the Taliban.

HARLOW: Sure. Releasing the five Taliban members from Gitmo for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

WEISS: But since the attacks on 9/11 in 2001 the Taliban has been classed by the State Department as an armed insurgency. So ISIS pays very keen attention to the U.S. policy debates and also the western policy debates about how to destroy ISIS. What they see is hypocrisy by the United States. You let out five Taliban members for a soldier that you're now accusing of desertion in the field.

HARLOW: The Pentagon has not come down with it yet.

WEISS: Okay. But yes, that is the allegation. Again, they read the media very closely. The Jordanians, we captured one of their native sons. This is a pilot who comes in a very influential tribe. He is well respected by the Jordanian Air Force but he is well respected by the American Air Force as well. Of all the Arab countries in the coalition to defeat ISIS, Jordan and I would submit is probably the most sympathetic to the U.S. goals of a strictly counterterrorism campaign.

That said, ISIS is very cleverly trying to throw a spanner in the works or drive a wedge into that coalition. And you've seen. I mean, the protests in Imam, bring our boy home. The father of the Jordanian pilot being outspoken. Remember in Jordan it's a crime to criticize the king, the monarchy. People have risked imprisonment themselves to do just that. So ISIS I think is actually winning, whatever happens from this point forward.

HARLOW: Michael Weiss, thank you. Stand by. He'll be with me for the next three hours as we cover this breaking news here on CNN. We'll take a quick break and we'll be back with more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We continue to follow the breaking news here on CNN. The Islamic extremist group ISIS releasing a video appearing to show the beheading of a Japanese hostage. Forty seven-year-old Kenji Goto, a journalist, who has been held by ISIS in Syria since October. The U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against ISIS with their coalition allies. The administration has said, though, it will stop in terms of sending ground troops in. And they will not send in U.S. boots on the ground at this point.

The senior member of the armed -- Senate Armed Services Committee Florida Senator Bill Nelson joins us now from Orlando. Sir, thank you for coming on the program. Your reaction first this tragic news this afternoon that another ISIS hostage has been brutally murdered.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Horrible, but not unexpected.

HARLOW: When you look at the U.S. strategy right now against ISIS, do you believe it's working?

NELSON: It is in Iraq. It will be hard to work in Syria until we can get sufficient troops on the ground that can go in and root out ISIS as we pinpoint our bombing from the air. At the end of the day, that's going to involve some Americans forward air observers, special operations forces. But we're going to be very careful in doing that. In the meantime, it's a very difficult situation. Because in trying to train up the free Syrian army, just a few hundred at a time, that's not going to do much, even though we've appropriated about a half a billion dollars. But they not only have to fight against ISIS, they have to fight against Assad and his regime. So it's a very complicated situation.

HARLOW: So let me ask you this, Senator. Michael Weiss here, an expert on the region, just wrote a book about ISIS, was saying to me before the break when you look at what Jordan has done, negotiating potentially releasing a prisoner, a terrorist there from Jordan in order to get their pilot in this Japanese journalist back, in a sense, do you believe that that legitimizes ISIS at all to be the caliphate, to the state that they want to be whereas the U.S. has taken the position like the U.K. We are not negotiating with this group of terrorists?

NELSON: I disagree with Mr. Weiss. When it comes right down to Jordan, they have a lot at stake. They are right next door if all of that area of Syria falls completely to ISIS, then who's next? It's Jordan. To the south or either it's Turkey to the North. I know the king personally. This is one tough customer. And I don't think he's going to take this very easily. I think he's going to go after ISIS if they execute this Jordanian pilot.

HARLOW: Michael, do you have a response for that? And I wonder if you think the U.S. should be taking a tactic more like Jordan.

WEISS: Well, I mean, look. The Foley family wanted to negotiate with ISIS. They wanted to raise money to pay the ransom. The U.S. threatened to prosecute them if they tried to do that. And you've seen the mother of Mr. Foley on television the last few months since that gruesome beheading. The first beheading of an American hostage say that she disagrees with our government's policy. So I quite agree with the senator. I mean, Jordan is a tough customer. And they've actually threatened already to execute all their ISIS or I should say al-Qaeda in Iraq prisoners in Jordanian prisons if in fact the Jordanian pilot has been killed. That said, the fact that they're negotiating again -- look, most countries in the region in the Middle East, including Turkey, talk to terrorists all the time. This isn't anything new. But the point is the publicity that has attended this serves ISIS' propaganda. Again, they are looking for some kind of legitimacy. They don't want to just be seen as a terror organization.

HARLOW: Senator, you said the American people are tired of war and yet we have a new kind of enemy and we're going to have to take it right to them where they are. What does that mean in terms of the U.S. strategy moving forward? What would you like to see?

NELSON: We're going to have to give lethal assistance to the free Syrian army. At the end of the day we're going to have to do something with Assad, either go after him or work some kind of deal willing to get him out of the way so that we can really put all of our resources in to going after ISIS. They are the ones that are now really posing the serious threat to the interests of the United States.

HARLOW: Senator, thank you for joining me on the program. Michael Weiss as well, we appreciate it.

NELSON: Thank you.

HARLOW: We're going to take a quick break. More on our breaking news straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Breaking news here on CNN. The still unconfirmed beheading of a Japanese man by ISIS militants. I say unconfirmed because the U.S. government is still working to authenticate it along with the Japanese government. But there is video. There is video of this horrific, horrific beheading, brutal murder, following the ISIS pattern. And it shows Kenji Goto, a 47-year-old journalist, being killed.

Let's go straight to our Will Ripley, he is in Tokyo. Will, it is early, early Sunday morning there. Give me a sense of how people are reacting. Because I know that this is a man who holds a special place in the hearts of all the people there.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is not surprising, Poppy, but it doesn't make this any less painful or shocking. We were all shaken here when we watched the video. I would discourage anybody from watching it. I wish I hadn't seen it, frankly. And the more clips that this video gets the more attention that ISIS gets. And the only reason that we're talking about this is because we have to cover it. The only reason why we view things like this as journalists is because we have to cover it.

But it is just awful. There aren't any words to describe taking the life of a man with two young children and a wife and a mother who has pleaded directly to ISIS for her son's safe release. People in Japan had feared that this was coming, especially considering that these discussions about a prisoner swap for that terrorist in jail in Jordan, Sajida al-Rishawi had seemed to have fallen apart. ISIS was unable or unwilling to give proof of life for the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh.

And so, as the deadline passed, there was silence, there was real sense here of fear that whenever ISIS did come out with the video that the news would not be good. But there was also hope as well. I don't know if we have the sound queued up from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He spoke just a few minutes ago. He talked about the Japanese government's commitment to support the coalition against ISIS, also responded to this terrible video. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABE (through a translator): I feel very sorry for this matter and to the families. The government has tried its best to deal with this matter, but we are deeply saddened by this despicable and horrendous act of terrorism. And we denounce it on the strongest terms. To the terrorists, we will never never forgive them for this act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: You know, Poppy, Japan has just recently decided to take a stand against terrorism, publicly pledging support for the coalition against ISIS. And now on a Sunday morning here, Japan is learning the painful consequences that can come with taking a stand against a murderous group such as this.

HARLOW: And the statement coming from ISIS saying placing blame on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and saying there is a nightmare ahead for the people of Japan.

I want to bring in Michael Weiss, also Bob Baer. To you, Will Ripley, thank you. You'll stay with us throughout the evening here on this news. Bob Baer to you no mention though in ISIS' statement or in this video of the rather Jordanian pilot that they are holding, believed to be holding hostage at this point in time. Does that surprise you?

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, not really, Poppy. These people do not -- or it's not really a truly coherent group with a command and control. The hostage takers, the ones that keep the hostages are mostly Europeans. They're not exactly a rational bunch. But more than that I think we've been talking about is the importance of the tribal aspects, the Jordanian pilot. The tribes in Jordan, as I understand, are not fully behind this war. And I think the Islamic State is trying to exploit this. Because in fact, the Islamic State depends upon certain tribal elements in the Anbar Province and in Eastern Syria. So they are playing a level of politics which is not completely transparent to us. Now, I don't think they're going to get their way, but we're going to have to wait and see. I think eventually if the pilot's indeed alive they will send proof of life and will go through with the exchange. But that's just really total speculation.

HARLOW: Well, and a lot of people are asking, Michael Weiss, if they have proof of life why didn't they send it before when the Japanese government was asking for it?

WEISS: Look, it's a very bad sign. ISIS has a propaganda magazine it puts out called DABIC. And the last issue of DABIC, they conducted an interrogation with the Jordanian pilot couched as an interview and made him confess to all of his sins and, you know, sort of admit to the sort of the nature of the coalition and sort of trade secrets. The interrogation ended with them saying to him do you know what happens to you now? He said yes, I die. They probably wouldn't have done that unless they intend to kill this

man. So the fact that there's no proof of life, I take that as a very dire sign. It would be very easy for them to cart him out in a video or in a photograph with dates time stamped to show that he was still alive. Obviously we don't know the fate of this man, but I just don't have very high hopes.

HARLOW: They held British journalist John Cantlie alive and used him in these propaganda videos all over Iraq.

WEISS: Sure. I mean, western hostages I think they treat someone differently. You have to understand, ISIS the early incarnation of ISIS, what we supposed known as al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by a man called Abu al Zawhari.

HARLOW: Right.

WEISS: All right. Who was killed by U.S. forces in 2006 with the help of the Jordanian Intelligence Services. Then why is that the case? Because Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Jordanian. Some of the first jihadist that came into Iraq with him were in fact a faction of Jordanians that he had trained in a training capital al-Qaeda training capital.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Also fluent English speaker and someone who could really get the message out.

WEISS: Well, look, the Jordanian government is very good at tracking terrorists. In fact, one of the things al Qaeda was notoriously known for whenever they were presented with a Jordanian who had been released from prison, as Mr. Al Zarqawi had been in 1994 due to a general amnesty that coincided with King Abdullah's ascension to the thrown, al Qaeda used to say we don't trust you because we suspect you're being run by the JID (ph), Jordanian intelligence services. ISIS has a very particular beef with the Jordanian government. It always comes back to Jordan. They're going to treat this pilot in a manner very differently from how they might a journalist.

HARLOW: Michael Weiss, Bob Baer, thank you very much. Stay with us as we continue to cover this breaking news.

We'll take a break. We'll be back with more after that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We're also covering this breaking news on CNN is the U.S. this hour. The late superstar Whitney Houston's daughter has been found unresponsive in a bathtub full of water, a disturbing echo following her mother's tragic death nearly three years ago. We learned from police, just this in, the police there are saying that Bobbi Kristina Brown, the 21-year-old, is still alive and breathing at an area hospital. That is very good news. She was not breathing when her husband and a friend found her this morning at her home near Atlanta. Here is the latest from police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFC. LISA HOLLAND, ROSWELL POLICE DEPARTMENT: She was still alive and breathing. Investigators are on the scene at the hospital and at the house. And they are talking with friends and family that were at the house at the time to see if there was a cause, if it was other than health conditions. As a procedure, they're getting a search warrant on the house. And they will go through and just make sure everything is -- is covered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. Also very important to note, police tell CNN nothing in this initial investigation indicates that today's incident was related to drugs or alcohol, whatsoever. Police also telling us here at CNN there was a report of a fight at Brown's home on January 23rd. However, when they went there they couldn't find any evidence of any kind of altercation.

So that is very important. There's been a lot of talk or speculation about any potential involvement of drugs or alcohol here. Police saying, at this point in time, no indication of that. As you may recall, her mother, Whitney Houston, was found face down in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills Hilton back in February of 2012. So almost three years ago now she accidentally drowned in about 12 inches of water. Her death blamed, in part, on years of drug abuse. Her daughter, 21 years old, is her only child. She is in the hospital right now.

We're covering every angle of this story.

First, Nick Valencia joins us outside of the hospital where she's being treated.

Nick, what is the latest of her condition. Very good to hear from the authorities that she is indeed breathing.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke just a little while ago to Lisa Holland with the police. She told me, right now, at this hour, as you mentioned, Poppy, Bobbi Kristina Brown is alive and breathing. We don't know on her own or possibly with the health of a hospital apparatus. She was found at 10:30 this morning by her husband and a friend inside her Roswell home outside of Atlanta.

A new detail we just learned is that Brown was found face down in that bathtub. We don't know -- I did ask police if they knew how long Brown was face down in that tub or how long she had been in that tub before she was found by her friend and husband. They were unable to answer that. They did say, however, they are treating this as a medical situation. They said, in an initial sweep of that residence, there was no obvious signs of drug or alcohol abuse, but they are currently, right now, still at the scene conducting search warrants. When I asked the police why the search warrants, they said that's standard procedure anytime they enter someone's home. They also said they had been called to the home as recently as January

23rd at about 8:00 p.m. Somebody who was not either Brown or her husband called the police to report a fight at the residence. But police tell me that when they showed up at the scene, that there was no one there and that the person that made that call was also not at the residence.

They did also go on to say, Poppy, that it is eerily familiar and very bizarre coincidence that Bobbi Kristina Brown was found in similar circumstances as her mother Whitney Houston, who went on to die after drowning in that bathtub -- Poppy?

HARLOW: Nick Valencia, thanks for the reporting. We appreciate it.

Now I want to bring in Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of HLN's "Dr. Drew on Call," and long time addiction specialist.

Dr. Drew, it's very important, this development, that police are saying nothing in their initial investigation indicates this was drug or alcohol-related at all. This coming on the heels of a few years of speculation that she may have had on-and-off problems with drug and alcohol abuse

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST, DR. DREW ON CALL (voice-over): Yes, there's allegations she may have been treated, may have need treatment. We don't know if those are true or not.

But I will tell you what. If somebody, a young, healthy, otherwise adult female has a sufficiently severe medical condition to drown in a bathtub face down, you better hope that it's substance related. Because there are very few medical conditions that will do that. Seizure perhaps being one of them. But then why would she have seizure? Almost nothing else will do that other than some sort of terminal condition which she does not have.

So let's not mince words here. If she had a near-drowning incident -- and by the way, we really know nothing about her condition. They tell nothing about her neurological status, whether she's breathing with a ventilator or not. They have told us absolutely nothing. I think, at this point, we know nothing. And not that we have a right to, necessarily. But let's not kid ourselves. We know absolutely nothing about what happened here. It's a bizarre incident where she ends up face down in the bathtub. But if it's not substance related, it's got to be something profound in her medical condition. We have no evidence that has been the case or a mental health incident like a suicide. But again, for a drowning related to suicide face down in a bathtub, there's got to be some substances involved. There just has to be.

HARLOW: But, Dr. Drew, does it surprise you that this initial -- this happened at 10:30 in the morning, OK? It's 5:30 in the afternoon. We're talking about a seven-hour time window of time. Not that long. And that police are already coming out and saying nothing in their initial investigation indicates drug or alcohol-related.

(CROSSTALK) PINSKY: They're telling you nothing in their investigation. That doesn't mean the physicians don't know something. That doesn't mean the -- she's entitled to privacy in her medical care. There may be very good deal of clarity in terms of in her medical records about what happened. The police don't have access to that. In their investigation, no evidence. That means nothing. We know nothing at this point, as far as I'm concerned. So we really don't know what went down here. The police don't know what went down. And they're trying to figure it out. Once they compare with what the physicians know, if they can, they'll get a clearer picture about what this was.

HARLOW: No question about that. Still so many questions and so few answers. And also when it comes to this young woman, so close to her mother, as Don Lemon was saying to us, as thick as thieves, lost her mother just about three years ago now, Whitney Houston.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, thank you. We appreciate it.

A quick break. We're back on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We're continuing to follow the breaking news this hour. ISIS releasing a video clip within the past few hours that appears to show the beheading, the brutal murder of a Japanese hostage.

Let's go straight to Erin McPike, joining us from the White House.

Erin, I know that U.S. officials are still trying to authenticate this video. Who are we hearing from in Washington? I wonder if the White House is responding at this time.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, so far we just have a statement from National Security Council spokesman, Bernadette Meehan. She says, "We have seen the video purporting to show that Japanese citizen, Kenji Goto, has been murdered by the terrorist group, ISIL. We are working to confirm its authenticity. The United States strongly condemns ISIL's actions and we call for the immediate release of all remain hostages. We stand in solidarity with our ally, Japan."

One thing I can tell you, Poppy, is that in this new video, we're seeing that it's outside in a Sunni. The last video of a murder we saw was inside. One thing we know is intelligence officials in the U.S. will be going through that video very closely to see if they can determine where the video was shot.

Also, we're hearing from a number of officials there's beginning to be a call for more American officials to go to Iraq and Syria to gather intelligence on the ground. We heard that from John McCain, Diane Feinstein last weekend, and also from outgoing-Secretary Chuck Hagel in an interview this past week with Barbara Starr. I can imagine we're going to be hearing increasing calls for some of this and a big debate going on here in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks.

HARLOW: It's a great point.

Erin, thank you for that.

Let's talk about that with two of our experts. Chris Voss, former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, joins us; also former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, is with us as well.

Chris, to you first.

Erin's point, they are hearing from Secretary of State John Kerry and others, along with Chuck Hagel, calling for more intelligence on the ground there, because what can happen, even if you're not going to negotiate with terrorists is rescue attempts. And we've seen that on behalf of some of the U.S. hostages who have been held. Do you think we need to see that element of this stepped up?

CHRIS VOSS, FORMER FBI LEAD INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING NEGOTIATOR: Well, I think that we do. And I'd make a critical distinction between negotiation and capitulation. You look at negotiation as communication and an intelligence gathering operation. We need to gather intelligence every way we possibly can in order to more refine the military strikes or the military actions that we make.

Hostage negotiators, domestically, are there to support SWAT teams. International kidnapping negotiators are there to support military action when they can so there can be rescues.

HARLOW: So then who do you think would be most effective, Chris, on the ground there?

VOSS: I think it's going to be a combination of all of the agency's assets who work very well together. It will be Defense Department personnel, for Special Forces, I think our intelligence gathering apparatus, and I think the FBI actually has a role to play here in coordinating good, solid intelligence here to defeat this enemy.

HARLOW: So to Tom Fuentes, former FBI, your take on this call that seems to be growing for more intelligence gathering operations on the ground there.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Chris is exactly right, Poppy. The intelligence gathering has to be from communication with these guys as much as we may hate to do it or disagree with them as being psychotic killers. But on the other hand, the more we can get them to talk, the more we can get a better understanding where they might be and what their vulnerabilities might be, what buttons we might be able to push. It's a very important element of that. When you said getting people on the ground there to gather intelligence, that's even important, where is there? And we need to learn that. That's very difficult to answer those questions. They need to be answered before you can even entertain the possibility of a rescue attempt.

HARLOW: Are you concerned at all, Tom, that Jordan, entering into these negotiations, which everyone was hoping would be successful for the release of the Japanese citizen and the Jordanian pilot being held, are you concerned at all that that legitimizes ISIS as exactly what it wants to be seen as, and that is a state, a caliphate, an Islamic massive territory?

FUENTES: I don't think it over-legitimizes them. I think people felt that it was a necessary step and are not being critical of Jordan. And Jordan did hold the line. They didn't just parade that woman out there and say, here she is, give us our pilot.

HARLOW: Right.

FUENTES: They held to their guidelines that, you prove he's alive and you prove that you're going to actually comply in good faith with whatever agreement we arrive at, and then we'll do the same, but not until then. I think Jordan did the right thing so far in how they've been handling this.

HARLOW: To you, Chris, this woman we can pull up the picture of her being held in Jordan, convicted terrorist, Sajida al-Rishawi, she has been on death row. Her execution, if you will, for the conviction in that series of bombings in the Jordanian hotels has been delayed. What card should Jordan play now? Should they execute her? Should they keep her alive in the hopes that they will get a prisoner exchange for their pilot?

VOSS: I think Jordan's best move at this point is to be as deliberate as they have been and to wait to see what the next move is. They can calculate their response much more. They've got a variety of options on the table here now that ISIS has taken this sort of child-like response to stamp their feet and be angry with violence. But it's very child like the way they're responding. I think Jordan is being very deliberate. I think they'll be patient. I think they should wait to see what the next move is going to be. There's sometimes an effective pause, if you will, is the best negotiation response. And I think that can be a very powerful thing.

HARLOW: Tom, quickly. do you agree?

FUENTES: Yeah, I agree completely. They're not going to move too quickly on this until they know more facts. Right now, they don't even know their pilot's alive yet.

HARLOW: Tom Fuentes, Chris Voss, thank you both.

We'll take a quick break here. On the other side, we're going to talk more about this unconfirmed but it is believed to be legitimate video of a beheading of ISIS hostage, Japanese citizen, Kenji Goto.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. We are following breaking news this hour. ISIS releasing a video within the past few hours. It appears to show the corpse of a Japanese hostage, Kenji Goto, a 47-year-old journalist. It is another challenge for President Obama and the entire coalition as they fight ISIS, while the president also tries to focus on his domestic agenda here at home in his final two years. He cannot afford to take his eye off the chaos in the Middle East.

Let's talk about all of this with Princeton University historian, Julian Zelizer.

Thank you for being here.

JULIANNE ZELIZER, HISTORIAN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY & AUTHOR: Thank you.

HARLOW: He has the new book out, "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society."

Congratulations on the book. It's been widely reviewed.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

HARLOW: And you talk about this myth that Lyndon Johnson really wasn't this power house who could get everything done that he wanted and twist the arm of Congress, and in that sense, it's more similar to President Obama than many might think.

ZELIZER: Yeah, we have this image he twisted the arms, he gave out enough pork and he could get Congress to do anything he wanted, but really what he had for a while were huge liberal Democratic majorities which were willing and eager to pass the legislation he wanted.

HARLOW: Right after the '64 election, when he had sort of this landslide of support in Congress, that was a nice two years, and then '66, big pullback.

ZELIZER: The midterms come, conservatives regain control. Lyndon Johnson, who is a very good politician, isn't able to get a lot through Congress and he is dealing more with Vietnam and budget cuts.

HARLOW: You also write, "The myth of LBJ overemphasized the capacity of great men to effect legislation by force of personality and undervalues the centrality of the political system in which a president must operate."

So it seems a whole lot like this situation in which President Obama's operating in now. Are there lessons in all the research you did on Lyndon Johnson that you think can be learned, that the president can learn and glean as he tries to fight ISIS and get through some of the things he wants to do in the final two years here in the U.S. that he outlined in his State of the Union?

ZELIZER: There's not much he can do about Congress. He faces a tough Congress, and that's not going to change anymore. Look, Lyndon Johnson depended on the grassroots, too. He depended on the civil rights movement to push ideas like civil rights, and I think Obama has to connect with grassroots activists who have been calling for him to work with them rather to separate himself.

HARLOW: Looking at the history of presidents and, look, Vietnam is a very different war than the war that is being fought against ISIS, but looking at the history of presidential historian, a history of presidents, do you think the president is taking the correct stance right now? ZELIZER: I don't think this is Vietnam for him. I think in general

he tried to be restrained, including with ISIS. And his strategy is not to let each event dictate what he does militarily. In that way, he's living with the memory of Vietnam and trying to avoid that kind of confrontation.

HARLOW: When you went into writing this book, you said you went into it with the sort of conventional wisdom about LBJ and that your mind was really changed. As did you your research, what was it that changed your perception of this president, and why do you think that he's so widely understood the other way?

ZELIZER: I listened to many tapes of him. What I learned was he understood better than anyone that his power was limited. And he always used to say, the only power I have is nuclear, and I can't even use that. And in some ways Lyndon Johnson taught me that the power of the presidency depends on a Congress that will work with them.

HARLOW: You say in the piece you wrote for "The Washington Post," according to him, Lyndon Johnson, saying, "I'm not a master of a damned thing. We can't make this Congress do a damned thing that I know of."

ZELIZER: He would always tell his advisors that. He was always looking at the clock. He said he used to say, Congress gets the best of every president and eventually it would did get the best of him.

HARLOW: It is early on to talk about a legacy for President Obama. In terms of this fight against ISIS, thus far, how do you think the president will be remembered?

ZELIZER: I don't think this will be a defining part of his legacy. I really think it will be the domestic issues that define him. There will be controversy over foreign policy but he hasn't had a Vietnam, and I don't think this is yet that kind of issue.

HARLOW: Julian Zelizer, congratulations on the book.

ZELIZER: Thank you. Thanks so much.

HARLOW: Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

We're back in just one moment with more on the news that ISIS has apparently beheaded another hostage.

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HARLOW: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you from New York.