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ISIS Kills Japanese Hostage; Powerful Snowstorm Brings Ice & Strong Winds; Bobbi Kristina Lies in Medically Induced Coma; Behind the Depressing Nationwide Super Bowl Ad

Aired February 02, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

ISIS issuing a stark warning to Japan: your nightmare is just beginning. Those words spoken on an ISIS video by the man known as Jihadi John moments before journalist Kenji Goto was apparently beheaded. Goto's death coming just one week after a different video appeared to show him holding a photo of the corpse of another Japanese captive, Haruna Yukawa.

The murders of the two men causing some to wonder what, if any, action Japan might take in the future. The country's constitution has an anti-war focus which prevents the military from fighting abroad. But Japan's prime minister is vowing to make the terrorist group, in his words, "pay the price."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I feel the strongest anger against this atrocious, despicable act. I will never forgive the terrorists. Japan will expand further humanitarian support, such as food and medical support, to the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But will Japan eventually supply more than that? Let's talk about that with Philip Mudd, he's a CNN counterterrorism analyst and a former CIA counterterrorism official, Sheila Smith is a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Welcome to you both.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Thank you.

SHEILA SMITH, SR. FELLOW, JAPAN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

Sheila, I want to start with you. Is this a tipping point for Japan, do you think? SMITH: Well, I think it's an important moment to really consider what

Japan can and should be doing in the Middle East. This is not the first hostage scenario that Japan has confronted. It had another similar hostage taking event a decade ago in Iraq. It also had Japanese nationals taken hostage in Algeria in 2012. So I suspect there will be a full debate about Japan's counter-terrorism activities, but also the way in which it can enhance collaboration with the United States, with Great Britain, with Australia and other partners

COSTELLO: Still, it's almost as if ISIS is daring Japan to fight. Jihadi John, before he beheaded Mr. Goto said, let the nightmare for Japan begin. Is this a smart move? What's the meaning behind that?

MUDD: Well, I think that -- I don't think it is. I think you're seeing something really substantial over the past few days, Carol, and that is this, terror groups have a real problem evolving. Evolving from using violence to intimidate people, to governing. We've seen that rarely. We saw that with Lebanese Hezbollah and Lebanon which now -- which used to be a terror group, now governors part of Lebanon.

What we saw over the past week was what I thought initially was ISIS trying to make that transition. They went from being hostage takers to being people who were communicating about a prisoner swap with two governments, that is Japan and Jordan. And then they reversed back and beheaded somebody. So I look at this and to me it tells me that ISIS has not learned the lesson of 25 years of radical Islamic terror, that is, if you really want to grow, you've got to grow out of using violence to intimidate people, to getting on a bigger stage. I thought for a few days they were on that stage and now it doesn't look like they are.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So, Sheila, an advisor to the Japanese prime minister, Mr. Abe, told "The New York Times," quote, "it's time for Japan to stop daydreaming that its good will and noble intentions will be enough to shield it from the dangerous world out there. Americans have faced this harsh reality, the French have faced it and now we are, too." Japan does have a military. How strong is it?

SMITH: Well, in the region, Carol, it's a very strong military. It's very technologically equipped. It has very advanced weapons systems. It has 130,000 troops and a very professional army -- navy and air force. But the kind of capability that the Japanese military would need to deal with Middle East terrorism in the Middle East is yet to be developed. And I think the Japanese people remain quite cautious about allowing their government to really deploy that military overseas. They do so under the UMPKO operations, but they also do so in cooperation with other coalition governments, including the United States, but they are not necessarily well equipped to act independently.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So, Phil, I heard what you said about ISIS not learning a lesson. One of our other analysts, Bob Baer, agrees with you. And he says, because of that, by pulling Japan into this, when Japan really didn't have a dog in the fight, it's sending humanitarian aid, right -- MUDD: That's right.

COSTELLO: Bob Baer says this is a sign that ISIS will soon fall. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: I think that the Islamic State looks like that they are truly on the verge of collapse, extension. They look at the world as being entirely hostile. And the only way that they can hope to survive is to start slaughtering people, whether it's Shia or western hostages. These people are not sophisticated. They don't understand that Japan is not a player. And I don't -- you just can't count on them in any way being rational.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And, Phil, you know, ISIS is running out of foreign hostages. So will it just start slaughtering others?

MUDD: I -- well, we've seen that already in Syria and Iraq. I would disagree that ISIS is on the verge of collapse. To collapse, you've got to have somebody who -- to oppose you, who can oust you from places like Mosul, which is one of the strongholds now for ISIS. You've got to have a government in Iraq and a government in Syria that can bring enough firepower to get you out of villages you already own.

I think -- I agree with Bob. I think ISIS is sowing the seeds of its destruction. We see this for decades among terror groups that fail to realize that if you don't recruit the local population, they eventually will turn against you. But I think if you're looking for time frames for when that might happen for ISIS, when somebody in Iraq or Syria might be able to oust them, I think you're looking in terms of maybe years. The same precedent we saw in places like Algeria and Egypt in the 1990s, it takes a long time to reverse these kinds of groups once they take over villages and embed.

COSTELLO: All right, thanks to both of you. Philip Mudd, Sheila Smith, I appreciate it.

MUDD: Thank you.

SMITH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Let's turn -- you're welcome.

Let's turn our attention now to the dangerous weather. Another massive snowstorm slamming 18 states. Officials in the Northeast are struggling to clear the piles of snow that are boxing in streets and swallowing sidewalks. This is what it looked like in Boston. That's me on top of that huge giant snow drift. I was in Boston visiting my husband, who's living there temporarily. That's right on Tremont (ph) Street. And I've got to wonder, Alexandra Field, where is Boston going to put this new snowfall? Where are they going to put it?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have so much to get up and out of here. You're hearing that sort of collective grumble this morning of here we go again because this (INAUDIBLE) this snow. And you can barely make out the skyline behind me, which is visibility with the -- the wind sort of picking up this snow and blowing it around.

And, Carol, to your point of what to do with all this snow, well, take a look at how much we're actually talking about. You've got a couple inches of this fresh snowfall, but it's piling up over these snowbanks that have been sitting here since last week. So not only do you have to get the plows out on the roads, but you've also got to get in trucks here that can scoop up this snow and haul it to these various snow farms around and outside of the city. And those are basically empty parking lots where you just dump this snow. You try and pack it down and then eventually you wait for it to melt.

So you really have to -- you have to get it off the streets because, take a look out here, you can see we're trying to -- oh, stick (ph). The pavement is below freezing right now. The snow is starting to stick. You can see some cars out here. People taking it kind of slowly. But actually, Carol, public transportation is running. They have not shut down the city this week like they had to last week when two feet of snow fell.

Last week, people had to stay home. I think today a lot of people are going to because we could see 10 to 14 inches here before this day is done. This storm warning, it stays into effect past midnight. And this morning, we understand, this is sort of the heaviest that we could see. And it will fall at a rate of one to three inches per hour this morning. That's why when you look out here, you're seeing this really poor visibility, this snow sort of picking up and blowing around. But certainly some people know they've got to be out. They are out and they are hoping for this to pass, Carol. It's been a lot here.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, stay safe and try to stay warm. Alexander Field reporting live from Boston this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, she is the only child of Whitney Houston and now Bobbi Christina Brown is in an Atlanta hospital in a medically induced coma. We'll take you to Atlanta for an update, next.

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COSTELLO: New York is bracing for ice. And, New England, another wallop of heavy snow. And in between, southern Connecticut faces a treacherous combination of the two. Let's get the view from there. CNN's Miguel Marquez is traveling the roads. He's in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is miserable out here, Carol, is the best way to put it. Check out the conditions right now. This is about as good as it gets. This is very heavy slush that we're in right now. It has been either this or very heavy snow pack throughout most of the morning. We've been on the road now for about four hours, just outside of New York, it really started to come down with freezing rain and ice. It is 25 degrees here right now. It just let up. We haven't had a lot

of rain here in the last few minutes. But for most of the morning, it's either been snowing or mostly rain and ice. And we are just in that band right along the ocean there where it remains sort of that frozen snow all morning.

Road conditions, miserable. We've seen cars spun out all the way along the route here. A lot of emergency vehicles along the way. Tons and tons of plows. Plow patrol is out. They taking up the entire road, moving down it. Pretty good if you can get behind them. But once they go off and go back for more salt, you know, you're in the woods out here. It is terrible, terrible conditions. If you can stay home, I suggest you do that.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Good advice. Miguel Marquez reporting live from Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Before break, when this Detroit news crew went searching for snow, they were not expecting to find this. A man skiing. Take a look at that. Not very smart. Cameras caught this stunt during a live interview with local Mayor James Fouts. Fouts called the man foolish, wishing police were in the area. And minutes later, Mayor Fouts got his wish. A cruiser pulled over the dangerous duo, thank goodness. We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: The family of Bobbi Kristina Brown reportedly at her side this morning. The only child of Whitney Houston lies in a medically induced coma. Brown was found unresponsive and facedown in a bathtub this weekend at her Atlanta-area home. A source telling CNN that it is now, quote, "a waiting game" in regards to her health -- her life actually.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us live now. Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We are outside that hospital where Bobbi Kristina Brown remains hospitalized in a medically induced coma here about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta in Roswell, Georgia. The hospital is being very tight-lipped, not offering any information or details about what Brown's current condition is. But we're told from media reports this morning that the family is being told to prepare for the worst.

We also don't know, and a very big outstanding question, is just how long Bobbi Kristina Brown was face down in that bathtub and why. Over the weekend I spoke to Lisa Holland, who is spokesman for the Roswell Police Department. And she says on n initial sweep into that residence, that there were no obvious signs of drugs or alcohol at play. Of course, there were search warrants carried out over the weekend; we are still waiting to hear back from the records department about what those search warrants, if anything, if they discovered anything in that residence. Also new this morning, Bobby Brown, the father of Bobbi Kristina

Brown, issuing a statement through his legal counsel. And I want to go ahead and read part of that to you, Carol. It said, "The report that Bobbi Kristina Brown has been taken to the hospital in Atlanta is accurate." It goes on to say, "Privacy is requested in this matter. Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time."

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, so sad. Nick Valencia, thanks so much. I'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Super Bowl XLIX was a nailbiter right until the very end,but as always what gets most people -- well, I wouldn't say most people, but many people talking is the ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: After years of being treated like she was invisible, it occurred to Mindy she might actually be invisible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Nationwide Insurance charming some viewers with that commercial starring Mindy Kaling, but then the company took a darker turn with what's been called the Super Bowl's most depressing ad ever about an adorable little boy who dies.

So how was this ad even conceived? CNN's Richard Quest went inside Nationwide's pitch meeting.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what we're purposefully trying to do is disrupt the normal Super Bowl advertising.

RICHAD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's ten weeks until the Super Bowl and the final creative meeting for a very unusual commercial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very hard hitting message, right, and it's very serious in tone.

QUEST: It's not just serious; it's downright upsetting. The ad is designed to raise awareness that preventable accidents are the biggest killer of children in the United States.

MATT JAUCHIUS, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, NATIONWIDE INSURANCE: This spot is not intended to sell insurance; it's intended to save children's lives. And therefore the decision that we made, which was strategic, was to stage an intervention. Because you have to grab people by the scruff of the neck and say, listen, this is the No. 1 killer of children and we want to do something about it really. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's what we'll have to decide in this

session.

QUEST: Today is critical; it's the final decision on which commercial to make -- the boy who couldn't grow up, a fanciful approach with a sad ending, or learn from us, a series of harrowing real life stories also pretty grim.

JAUCHIUS: My judgment, which I think matches all of yours, is that boy balances that edge of being interventionist to get attention but it's approachable enough not to turn people off in the Super Bowl.

QUEST: He can't afford to get it wrong.

(on camera): Now, your marketing budget is what?

JAUCHIUS: We have measured media of about $350 million a year. Thatt's all in the United States.

QUEST: So you burned quite a good percentage, a couple percentage, of your media purchase in this.

JAUCHIUS: We invested a good amount of money.

QUEST (voice-over): Less than a minute of airtime requires two full days of filming on location. Every detail is closely scrutinized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There. See how you didn't do the top one. Like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he always going to be in that spot or is he ever going to be up there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's going to be standing there.

QUEST: Worthy cause or not, this, like any other Super Bowl ad, is about protecting a brand.

JAUCHIUS: We're more than a business but we are a business, and we measure all of this rigorously and we hold it up against the investment, because we have to make sure we spent the money in an effective way to get that message out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's beautiful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 60 seconds we can probably bring more awareness and attention and action around this issue than we have in 60 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's roll, please. Keep it locked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, wait. Wait!

I'll never learn to ride a bike. Or get cooties. I'll never learn to fly or travel the world with my best friend, and I won't ever get married. I couldn't grow up because I died from an accident.

QUEST (on camera): It's an eye watering amount of money.

JAUCHIUS: You reach an eye watering amount of people who are singularly engaged on your message.

NARRATOR: At Nationwide, we believe in protecting what matters most -- your kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Richard Quest reporting. Of course, we now know Nationwide's ad wasn't the hit it was hoping for. Late last night, the company did issue a statement trying to explain its intended message. The insurer said in part, quote, "The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance. While some did not care for the ad, we hope it served to begin a dialogue to make safe happen for children everywhere."

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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