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Jordanians Vow Revenge to ISIS over Pilot's Execution; ISIS Contradicting Islamic Standards; Deadly Train Accident in New York

Aired February 04, 2015 - 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: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Jordan's king cutting his U.S. trip short returning home this morning to outrage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): I demand that the government of Jordan avenge the blood of Moaz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Thousands coming together praying for the pilot and his family demanding a stronger response than just executing two terrorists in retaliation for the vicious murder of one of Jordan's fighter pilots. Could his death be a turning point in the battle against ISIS?

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this hour with the view from Jordan's capital where outrage continues to grow. CNN's Atika Shubert live in Amman. Good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, King Abdullah has arrived now. He's visited the army barracks showing support for Jordan's military. But his next move will be to visit the family, the al-Kasasbeh family in the south of the country. The question will be whether or not he can get the support he needs to see even more strikes, greater military force against ISIS. Right now what we're seeing on the streets of Amman, is that people are spontaneously coming out giving their support to the king. Saying they want ISIS to be annihilated in revenge for this horrific murder that was put out on video by ISIS. But the king still needs to make sure he has the political support specifically from those families whose sons are out fighting with the ISIS coalition. So, this is the next step for him. And it's a key question into what happens next in the fight against ISIS.

COSTELLO: Is it possible, Atika, that Jordan will send ground troops into Syria or into Iraq to fight ISIS?

SHUBERT: It's possible, but unlikely at this point. Right now what, you know, I spoke to one man today who said, yes, we want to see the Jordanian military victorious over ISIS. But when I asked him whether or not he would support sending ground troops, he said no. He said more can be done with air strikes alone at this point. But, of course, the reality on the ground is that you can't get back territory from ISIS unless you've got boots on the ground as well. So far that push has been from Iraqi troops in Iraq. The big question, of course, is what happens to that territory in Syria? For that reason the U.S. government has talked about training Syrian rebels at training camps in countries like Jordan, but that's still a ways away now. We don't know when that next ground phase of the war on ISIS will really begin.

COSTELLO: All right. Atika Shubert reporting live from Amman, Jordan, this morning. Well - as Atika said, Jordan vows that it will not be intimidated by the brutality of ISIS. But at least one other member of the coalition is urging caution. CNN has learned that the United Arab Emirates has suspended its airstrikes. So, what does that mean? Let's find out from Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon this morning. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. By all accounts that government deciding to do this because of their concerns that if one of their pilots went down, could there be an attempt -- a timely attempt to rescue that pilot. What we're talking about is this whole issue that is emerging now. Are rescue forces close enough by to try and rescue a pilot if a pilot goes down? And look, many of these governments in the region have to be concerned with their own domestic audience. People very concerned obviously. Especially after the Jordanian situation of one of their pilots goes down, is there a reasonable chance of rescuing them. When you look at the map, what we know is that standard policy is there is a time frame. Either rescue forces are in the air patrolling overhead if there's a problem or within a certain time frame that they can get to a situation. Every government in the region understands this. But now you do see some domestic pressure building over the question of can pilots be kept safe.

And as you keep that map up, I want to go back to something Atika was talking about that's very key. Everybody talks about ground forces. Putting ground forces maybe into Syria. But from a military point of view, even for the Jordanians, just look at the map. That is a very long distance and you have to have a very long supply chain. Food, fuel, medical care, rescue forces for those ground troops if they run into trouble. So this would be a considerable enterprise. So while everybody is talking about maybe doing more, you come back to the same basic physics on the ground. Long distances, difficult supply situations and a very tough enemy. Carol?

COSTELLO: OK, so we certainly understand -- it's a great explanation, Barbara. I want to go back to the United Emirates for just a second. Because the UAE is part of this coalition that's supposedly helping the United States fight ISIS. And now that it suspended its activity, does this signal a weakening in this coalition? What does it mean?

STARR: Well, I think people are probably still assessing that. And it may mean different things here in the United States than it means in the region. If more countries were to pull out, one of the things the U.S. wants to avoid is any replay of what has been seen in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other countries at the beginning, but then countries pull out and you basically have a U.S. and American or Western force. The U.S. is trying to avoid any prospect that this is seen as a U.S. military operation. They want the local partners, the Arab nations with them. The feeling is that Arab part of the coalition is absolutely essential to presenting a united front and presenting the front that indeed it is the Arab and Islamic world that's also against ISIS. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning. Thank you.

The brutality of this latest ISIS killing is truly horrific. As I've mentioned, CNN will not show that video. Instead, we've decided to focus on the life of that heroic pilot. However, it is important to point out why this latest video is significant. The burning of a body violates the tenets of Islam. Let's talk more about that with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, he is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and the author of "A Battle for the Soul of Islam: an American Muslim Patriots to Save his Space." Thank you so much for joining us.

ZUHDI JASSER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ISLAMIC FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY: Thank you, Carol. It's good to be with you.

COSTELLO: It's good to have you here. And I would just like you to explain to our viewers why the burning of a body is offensive to all Muslims.

JASSER: Well, absolutely. I mean, these savages are trying to enrage Muslims in the West and they consider this Muslim pilot to be an apostate so they do something that will sprout as much rage as they can and they think they are god. They are acting and trying to create hell on earth in their savagery and yet we as Muslims, the burning of a body is offensive. We do not do that. And - but ultimately, this is not anything that concerns them. They are radicalized militants who are trying - you know, for them it's a win-win situation. If they enrage the Jordanians and pull them in a ground war, that will ultimately destabilize Jordan. Remember, many of the ISIS recruits come from Jordan. Or if they fracture the coalition as we see happening with the UAE, it will also empower them.

And ultimately, you know that we're fighting this jihadist enemy. There's two sides of that jihadist coin. One is the Sunni ISIS, Hamas, Taliban side the other is the Shiite, Iran, Assad side. You have to defeat both. And Muslims need to -- the silent majority of Muslims have to wake up to defeat both of these Islamic State concepts.

COSTELLO: So, we hear all the time that this brutal killing of this Jordanian pilot is the tipping point. It's the thing that might draw Sunnis and Shiites together to fight a common enemy, which would be ISIS. In your estimation, is that happening?

JASSER: I pray. I pray that it does. You know, the hashtag "I'm lost" really says it all. But, you know, we still have a whack-a-mole approach to these things, and each video you think is going to wake us up and be a tipping point, but we still only have a short-term approach to this. It hasn't been long-term. You cannot, Carol, get rid of ISIS without getting rid of Assad. While he lets ISIS thrive and it needs America to bomb ISIS, our families - my family in Damascus and Aleppo is being savaged militarily with a genocide by the Assad regime while the ISIS militants are left alone in Raqqah where this savagery happens.

So you have to defeat both and hopefully the liberals, the feminists, the moderates who are fighting both enemies of ISIS and Assad can be awakened to defeat both jihadists and this is really what I hope and what I think most Muslims I know want to see happen in this tipping point.

COSTELLO: Well, I think what's frustrating for many Americans is the United States seems to be doing all of the heavy lifting. I mean when you talk about boots on the ground, you talk about the American military going in and fighting ISIS face to face. Shouldn't it be soldiers from Arab nations doing that?

JASSER: Absolutely. But the problem, Carol, is that these Arab mafia governments while they might be our allies in the short-term, in the long-term they're Islamists who just want to be the custodians of the Islamic State. The Saudi government created these ideas, and distribute them and fuel them with petro dollars. So, the regimes there are not really that interested in a long-term solution, which would be the end of their organization of Islamic cooperation that thrives and creates these ideas that radicalize the ISIS, the Hamas, the Taliban over and over to legitimize their authoritarian rule.

The end of the long-term really solution is the Arab awakening and liberalization of that society. So, the heavy lifting from modernization has to come from Western Muslims. It's not going to come from the same old 20th century dictatorships that thrive over this yin and yang pull between military dictatorships and theocracy.

COSTELLO: All right, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, thanks to your insight. I appreciate it.

Let's head back now - You are welcome, thank you, let's head back to Capitol Hill right now. There's a confirmation hearing going on for Ashton Carter. He's the man President Obama wants to succeed Chuck Hagel as the defense secretary. Carter's known as an independent thinker, a master when it comes to budgets and weapons acquisitions, but, of course, the big question is what do lawmakers think? And what are they saying as he delivers his statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee? We'll check back after a break. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Right now rescue crews in Taiwan are still finding victims after a passenger plane crashes into a Taiwan River. The pictures are just -- it's a TransAsia Flight. 58 people onboard. It went down shortly after takeoff from Taipei. CNN affiliate TBBS got ahold of this dash cam video. I don't know if you can see it, but the plane clipped a bridge, it hit a cab and then it plunged into the river. The plane was carrying Taiwan and Chinese passengers to a Chinese island when it crashed. CNN's David McKenzie has more.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the dramatic images shocked the world as the plane literally fell out of the sky. This dash cam footage from Taiwan is as incredible as it is horrifying. The extraordinary scene from CNN affiliate TBBS shows the TransAsia ATR72 shortly after takeoff, then the unthinkable. The plane cartwheeling over an elevated highway slamming into a barrier and then crushing a passing taxi. Ditching into the Keelung River below. 58 passengers and crew were onboard the flight. Aviation authorities say that more than a dozen lost their lives. Incredibly they say, there were survivors of the crash escaping the sunken fuselage. And the dramatic rescue scenes played out on live TV with more than a hundred first responders rushing to the scene desperately searching for more survivors.

TransAsia officials say the plane was new and recently serviced. But this is the second deadly TransAsia crash in just seven months.

CHEN XINDE, CEO, TRANSASIA AIRWAYS: I would like to express our deep apologies to the victims and our crews. Again, we express our deep apologies.

MCKENZIE: Family members were left angry and distraught.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We had to contact the airline first. The airline didn't pay attention to us. They are busy confirming information. Their attitude is terrible.

MCKENZIE: The reasons for the crash are unclear, but the recovered flight data recorders should help investigators understand just what went so horribly wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: The search is continuing well into the night in Taipei to find any possible survivors in this crash of the TransAsia Airline. They say they will figure out what happened in the coming days potentially, but for now this dramatic crash is a mystery. Carol?

COSTELLO: David McKenzie reporting. Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," a crowded New York commuter train crashes. Passengers pulling out emergency windows, jumping out the windows to escape smoke and flames. We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: NTSB investigators are on their way right now to the scene of last night's firry rush hour train crash. A packed metro north commuter train plowed into an SUV stuck on the tracks in Valhalla. That's just north of New York City. Now, the SUV's driver was killed upon impact. The front car of the train then burst into flames. Five people were burned to death on the train. Other terrified passengers tried to escape the smoke and the fumes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARC WAITE, PASSENGER: There was a passenger that ran past me. He had blood on his face and people were pulling the windows off trying to get out through the emergency window.

DEVON CHAMPAGNE, PASSENGER: The car caught on fire, and the first car caught on fire, and the second one. But we were able to get off in time, but it was scary.

FRED BUONOCORE, PASSENGER: The train went silent. To tell you there was panic going on toward the front of the train. Like - walk back, walk back, walk back.

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COSTELLO: Investigators say they'll look at everything. Nothing is off the table. Let's bring in Deborah Feyerick, she's following leads in the investigation. Anything new?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we can tell you is the medical examiner has asked families of the victims who were in the first car to provide dental records as well as DNA hoping to identify each individual. It was that front car which took the brunt of the impact when it hit the SUV, dragging that car along the rails before exploding in a ball of fire. The third rail, the dangerous electrical third rail shot into the train car setting that on fire, that dark thick smoke that you see in some of those images. The train behind me here, that is the end of the train, we can tell you.

Now, according to a county official, an eyewitness said that traffic in these back roads was particularly heavy because it's been very, very icy over the last couple of days and there was an accident on the Djaconic (ph) State Parkway, and that forced a lot of the cars, a lot of these, you know, moms and dads and families who wanted to get home off into the back roads, and so traffic was bumper to bumper. It appears that the driver of the SUV pulled onto the track while the gate was up but then all of a sudden the gate began to close. She got out of her car, tried to lift up the gate and then tried to maneuver the vehicle but it was simply too late. She ran out of time. That's according to a county official who is quoting an eyewitness.

Now, the NTSB is on its way here. They should be here within the hour. We're told that they're going to look, for example, Carol, at the gates, at the signals, at the weather conditions and at the condition of the driver and the medical history of the driver. All of this is essentially routine as they try to piece together what happened. They'll be on the ground here in Valhalla for five to seven days and they'll take everything they've got back to Washington and go through it. It will probably be about 12 months before they issue a conclusive report, but if there is something, a safety recommendation that they can do now to try to prevent this, they will. But it does appear at least from this eyewitness and the county executive that it may simply have been tragic human error of somebody wanting to get home. Carol?

COSTELLO: I would just like to touch a little bit on the fire. Because as you know, Metro North has been under heavy criticism before about safety violations, right? So I'm just trying to understand the intensity of this fire. So the train was pushing the car down the track which created friction, right, and since that rail went through the car window, the gas from the SUV ignited the fire because of the friction and then somehow the fire spread so quickly inside that car that some passengers were unable to escape.

FEYERICK: Well, it looks, Carol, as if when the train was pushing that SUV along the rail, it caused - and then exploded - it caused that third rail to push into actually the car of the train. The cab. And that's why there was a surge of electricity, which is why the intensity of the flames inside that first train car was so hot and spread so quickly. That's why the medical examiner is asking for these dental records and for the DNA.

Again, it was just one of those things where it was only the front car it appears that was significantly impacted and everybody else began running toward the back of the train realizing that they had to get off. They opened up the doors. They were jumping into snow banks and there was -- it was people wanted to get out because they didn't know how quickly the flames would spread and how many cars ultimately it would affect. The description we're hearing now is really it was the first car that was affected as well as perhaps the second car that may also have been affected by flames.

COSTELLO: All right. Deborah Feyerick reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," ISIS released video of its brutal killing of that Jordanian fighter pilot. CNN is not showing it. We'll talk about why we made that decision next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Let's head live right now to Capitol Hill where the Senate Armed Services Committee is hearing testimony from Ashton Carter. Of course, these are the confirmation hearings. Ashton Carter wishes to become the next secretary of defense. He's Obama's pick.