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Coalition Pounds New Positions; Jordan Joins Coalition Airstrikes; Senators: Arm the Kurds Now; DHS Secretary Warns of 30,000 Furloughs; Crisis in Ukraine; No Paparazzi in Jenner Crash; The Money Behind the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Aired February 08, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you from New York. It is 6:00 Eastern.

A lot to get to this hour. The American-led coalition is pounding ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. A CNN crew watching near the Iraqi city of Mosul are reporting multiple explosions inside the city center.

Also taking a big role in this weekend's air strikes, Jordan. Jordan's air force joining back with the coalition forces bombing ISIS positions inside of Syria. Jordan promising to fly more missions against ISIS, really upping the ante after the death of a Jordanian pilot at the hands of ISIS.

Also, two U.S. senators, a Democrat and Republican, both want to send American weapons directly to the Kurdish fighters, the Peshmerga forces fighting ISIS in Iraq. Both Virginia's Tim Kaine and Ted Cruz of Texas tell CNN they do not want U.S. troops sent to fight ISIS at this point, though, calling of a Kurdish Peshmerga forces America's boots on the ground, that coming from Senator Cruz.

If ISIS was trying to frighten or intimidate the Arab world by killing that Jordanian pilot, so horribly burning him alive and doing it so publicly, that attempt seemingly has backfired.

Our Becky Anderson explains how Jordan and its neighbors went from the sidelines of this war to all in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a grisly video showing Lieutenant Colonel Muath al Kaseasbeh burned alive, gruesome even by ISIS standards. Well, now, it has galvanized the Arab world in the battle against extremism. Regional countries led by Jordan are stepping up their participation in the coalition attacking ISIS.

HUSSEIN AL-MAJALI, JORDANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER: And this is definitely not the U.S.' war. This is definitely our war. ANDERSON: The UAE has also announced it will send a squadron of F-16s

to fly side by side their Jordanian counterparts as they carry out air strikes.

Muslim cleric, too, have joined in trying to discredit the group's ideology.

SHEIKH SHAWKI IBRAHIM ABDEL-KARIM ALLAM, GRAND MUFTI OF EGYPT (through translator): We tell the youth Islam did not carry a message of sabotage and destruction. It only came to serve humanity to achieve world peace and to bring mercy to the world.

ANDERSON: Atrocities committed against Sunni Muslims by ISIS are unifying Arab leaders to find a common strategy.

But beyond the strong rhetoric, a lot of challenges need to be overcome. For once, many experts believe aerial bombardments alone won't dismantle the so-called caliphate that now stretches from Syria to Central Iraq.

But there's no indication that countries like Jordan are willing to put boots on the ground at this stage and relying on the forces already there has its own shortcomings. In Iraq, the country's weak army has relied on Shia militia back by Iran to drive out ISIS from key positions, a strategy that may further sideline the Sunni minority. In Syria, a U.S.-planned so-called moderate fighters that can take on the extremists is still weeks away.

All along, ISIS expands its tentacles of terror. In Egypt, the restive Sinai province, militants loyal to the group killed at least 30 people last week. In Libya's capital, Tripoli, gunmen linked to ISIS recently attacked a hotel frequented by foreigners. And on Saudi Arabia's border with Iraq, a raid by militants claiming to be aligned with ISIS left three guards dead.

From Abu Dhabi to Amman, Arab capitals recognize the threat posed by the militant group. What is less clear is how they can overcome domestic challenges and political considerations to effectively rid the region of the plague of extremist ideology.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right. Becky Anderson, thank you for that report.

Let's get straight to Buck Sexton, he joins me here in the NEWSROOM, a former CIA counterterrorism analyst.

Thanks for being with me. It's good to have you.

BUCK SEXTON, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Thank you.

HARLOW: So, huge step up by Jordan this week, and then, yesterday, the UAE stepping in, which is very important, after they pulled back in December in this fight. I wonder if you think there comes a point where we can hand over much

of this to our allies in the region?

SEXTON: Quite honestly, I think they're looking to us to do considerably more because there are limitations.

HARLOW: So no?

SEXTON: No. What's happened here is there's been a change. It was acceptable for a while to box is in and to contain them to the greatest degree possible and that's what the campaign has been doing while they try to galvanize allies on the ground and create the forces necessary to actually take back territory in Iraq and on top of that take back territory in Syria.

What's changed is here is that the Jordanians are saying, we don't want to wait around for this anymore. We don't expect that we're just going to sit here and wait for you guys in D.C. and Washington to come up with a grand strategy to deal with this.

We don't want to co-exist or be anywhere near this ISIS group. We can't find to it or just box in. We want to eliminate and destroy them and so they're more aggressive now than they have been in the past. But we have to lead them.

HARLOW: They should be more -- but the air strikes now, a campaign three-month long tough campaign and the air strike bombardment of Kobani did work and did drive ISIS out and it took an incredible amount of force from a number of party, and I want you to listen to what John Kerry, secretary of state said at this security conference in Germany about it and get your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We've disrupted their command structure and undermined its propaganda, taken out half of their senior leadership, squeezed its financing, damaged its supply networks, dispersed its personnel and forced them to think twice before they move in an open convoy. We are forcing them to change tactics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This coming in the same week that Senator John McCain said on our air, we are losing the fight against ISIS. Much more needs to be done by the U.S.

SEXTON: Secretary of State Kerry's assessment is so rosy as to be almost disingenuous. When you look at a map of ISIS-controlled territory which is the best indicator of how powerful the group is right now, how entrenched it is, it hasn't budged very much. Sure, we were able to prevent them from taking Baghdad, that would have been catastrophic. That's a very low bar for success.

They still have Mosul and a city of a million, a million-plus people. We're hoping that in a few months, there will be a real campaign on the ground to take that back. But you say that because they're no longer parading around in enormous convoys with flags saying here we are with the Islamic State, we're in charge, and now, they've shifted their tactics a little bit is not victory at all for us. This is essentially doing the minimum. And I think the administration, even if you were to tally up the air strikes of recent months, you'll see it's a much slower pace than in previous air campaigns, including Bosnia and Iraq.

HARLOW: Because you heard even, you know, Senator Ted Cruz saying, Republican, we need to arm the Peshmerga, but at this point we don't want to send ground troops in.

SEXTON: Well, arming the Peshmerga would be a good step at this point. If you actually want to take Mosul, which is a very dense city and which the Islamic State has had a long time to set up in and they know we're coming and they're very aware of that, you're probably going to need some U.S. deployed presence, you probably need U.S. special operations forces in some capacity if you want to be successful and if you want to do this in a reasonable timeframe.

We can hope that the Iraqis will get it together with the Peshmerga, but even if that's true and that's a very big if, you've only now taken back the part of Iraq that's under Islamic State control. Their main base of operation is still in Syria and the Free Syrian Army is fledgling, there's no hope of them taking over Raqqa any time soon.

So, this is a problem the administration is essentially slow rolling and I think the Jordanians have recognized that and they're now saying you need to step it up.

HARLOW: Buck Sexton, thank you. Stand by. We're going to talk to you a lot more a little later in the show. We appreciate it.

Also, our Phil Black has been meeting with Kurdish Peshmerga troops who are in this fight against ISIS on the front lines there in Iraq near where we were discussing, that ISIS stronghold of Mosul.

Let's look of Phil's report from Irbil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we've seen from the air are, in fact, what we've seen from very close to Mosul, sustained airstrikes around there. What we've seen in various front lines around this region, Kurdish forces dug in and really having already pushed ISIS back considerably, now holding defensive lines and keeping them from moving further into this territory. Once again, what they appear to have done successfully is really set up a perimeter, not just around Mosul itself, but one that protects all of this Kurdish territory.

And, in fact, the Kurdish fighters, the officials we talked to they explain this as phase one of the operation, if you like -- this containment of ISIS, this protection for Kurdish territory and cutting off Mosul. What comes next is the operation to free Mosul itself. The timeframe for that -- well, there's a lot of speculation about just when that could begin.

Some U.S. officials having suggested, as soon as April, the Kurdish fighters say they're willing to play a part, but they don't want to do the heavy lifting. They think it could take much longer because what it comes down to is rebuilding the Iraqi army, rebuilding, retraining and re-motivating this military force so it can take that Arab city. That's the same military force that initially fled and abandoned Mosul when ISIS first moved into this region. So, it is a big asking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Phil Black, thank you for that. Let's talk more about this, Buck, former CIA looking at how you strategically deal with situations like this. We haven't talked that much recently about Turkey. We've got an incredible, incredible force in Turkey.

And I wonder if you think the U.S. should be calling more or if Turkey should step up more in this.

SEXTON: We certainly have been asking the Turks to do more to secure the border for the Syrian side of this equation because of all the fighters that have been flowing in and quite honestly continue to. I think even despite the efforts of the Turks which have been accelerated because we've been putting pressure on them.

But you mentioned Kobani just a few minutes ago, and this is a town of 40,000 and when you look at how long it took and the effort it took, to merely --

HARLOW: Three months of sustained air strikes.

SEXTON: That tells you about how effective these air strikes can be on their own. You have to allow Kurdish fighters to come in reinforcements. This is a town of 40,000. Look at how difficult, prolonged, protracted that fight was.

HARLOW: And Mosul, so much --

(CROSSTALK)

SEXTON: And now, you look at Mosul, over a million, they don't know and you don't know because so many have fled. But at one point, it was a city of 1.6 million in recent years, that's a city that is essential to the sort of Sunni-Arab heartland of Iraq. And so, it has a tremendous significance for the Iraqis, also have lots of significance for the Islamic State, because that was the real blitzkrieg that put everyone back on their heels.

HARLOW: They could use it in their -- Mosul -- in their propaganda campaigns, saying look how great life is under ISIS.

SEXTON: Well, this is exactly how they're trying to prove that they're a state. If they can administer a city that's that large and that important and hold it, by the way, for us to say that they're neither Islamic nor a state is certainly operating like a state in Mosul.

HARLOW: Buck Sexton, thank you. Appreciate the expertise. Thanks for joining us.

Well, coming up, we're going to talk about the issues that have become known as Lady al Qaeda. The Taliban wanted to exchange a hostage for her. So, did ISIS. And why did these terror groups put such a value on this woman? Who is she?

We're also going to talk about other women who are going overseas or attempting to join ISIS. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, ISIS wanted to swap American hostage James Foley before his death last summer to secure one woman's return. Her nickname is Lady al Qaeda. Her real name: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. She's a mother of three who lived outside of Boston for a decade.

Back in 2008, Afghan police arrested her. They found a note in her bag referring to a mass attack. She says she was framed. She's in prison now in Texas.

Why are these women so important for ISIS? She is, of course, not the only prisoner that they want swapped for hostages that they have been holding.

Joining me now to discuss, women's rights activist, Zainab Salbi, and also Muslim iReporter, Zunera Mazhar.

Thank you, guys, for being here.

Zainab, good to see you in person. We usually have you on remotely. I appreciate it.

When you -- well, tell us first about this woman and why you think -- you know, she's currently in prison in Texas -- why do you think ISIS wants her back so badly?

ZAINAB SALBI, AUTHOR, "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS": It's not only her. ISIS has shown consistently loyalty, if you may, to women prisoners such as the one in Jordan.

HARLOW: Who was just executed.

SALBI: Completely. But that woman, for example, we all have forgotten about her, in 2005, and then they go and say, we want that woman. They're showing loyalty. They're showing purpose for women.

They're telling women, you have a role in this jihad that we are fighting. You have a role in this new caliphate that we are building, and we want you to be a part of it.

And from a woman's perspective in societies that are oppressing women, and they're telling you, you cannot leave, you can't get married, you cannot have a boyfriend, you cannot do anything -- the other alternative, what ISIS is making them into heroes, basically.

BURNETT: It's very odd because this week, CNN has been reporting -- our reporters on the ground saw pamphlets that ISIS members were handing out outlining rules of how to treat women as sex slaves, saying when it is OK to enslave them, how young women it is OK to have sex with. It seems bipolar of them.

SALBI: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, I think this is like a propaganda strategy. We give you a role in all of these things so you make these women like hero, but once you're inside -- I just came from the Middle East, a woman in Mosul were reporting, for example of mass rape if they were not wearing the proper head scarf. Women under 45 cannot leave Mosul. It is only above 45 can leave Mosul because they are now above the marriage age.

They are required to have sex. This is their jihad to have sex. So, it's a very patriarchal system to this new caliphate that they're trying to build, their vision, you know? It's very patriarchal.

But it's a very smart one, because they are giving them a role, be it a sex fighter, if you may, you know? And they're playing on the psychology.

HARLOW: It's perverse.

SALBI: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Zunera, you have filed an iReport and been on with me before talking about being a Muslim woman and how to explain to your daughter sort of what ISIS is doing and how there's such a perversion and attempted perversion of the faith that you and so many live by.

What is your take on this?

ZUNERA MAZHAR, MUSLIM IREPORTER: Well, I completely agree with Zainab. She is absolutely right when she says this is their way of empowering women. This is their way of saying you can be a baby making or sex slave, or you can be in the front lines of, you know, making this caliphate.

You can be there and say that, look, this is what I'm doing to save the religion or this is what I'm doing to make a difference. The reason why they're highlighting these women is they're saying we're all for you. We're all about empowerment. We are supporting you. That's why we're fighting for women who are in the jail.

And when you talk about that, you know, they're bipolar -- they're very bipolar about other women, about Yazidi women. And they're saying, look, if you're a Muslim woman, we're giving you a higher status and if you're a Yazidi woman you can be used for other things.

They have really used, especially for women living in Western societies, and if you come from a conservative family, it's really a great motivating factor when you're at home and your family is telling you that your only role could be, you know, certain things that you can do and here it is through social media and through you find this higher purpose that you can do or achieve anything that you want and one of those things is paradise or even finding a martyr husband with ISIS.

HARLOW: And, Zainab, the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division talked about in an interview with CNN this week, we've seen arrests made in multiple states in this country for women that have been on their way, say, to the airport or arrested at the airport in an attempt to go join is and to be a bride of ISIS, for example. How do you think we can most effectively fight that what has clearly become successful online recruitments?

SALBI: Absolutely. The fight against ISIS, in my opinion has to enter into it, one is the military which I'm not the expert on, but one is the ideology, an ideological fight. And that one has to be done by presenting to women and men, to the youth actually in the Middle East particularly with an alternative.

HARLOW: In the teens, which is a big issue.

SALBI: Absolutely. I mean, you have -- the Middle Eastern population, 60 percent of 350 million people are under the age of 30. These are unemployed kids who are college graduates and their dreams are crushed for a variety of reasons, employment and social reasons.

So, we need to create an alternative ideology. The alternative ideology has to have a purpose for them. It has a role for them and that is not being discussed, actually. All that we're talking is how do you combat ISIS military, but we're not creating an alternative ideology.

HARLOW: Zunera, before we go -- do you agree with that that there has not been enough of a conversation on that front?

MAZHAR: Yes, absolutely. I think last time I was on, too, Poppy, I said we have to look inward and only Muslims can do that. We really have to look at the translation of the Koran. We really have to look at the role of the women and really see, are we -- are we in line with the modern times? Are women given that place that they're seeking, you know, when they're looking at this extremist agenda or extreme version of Islam? And that can only be done through dialogue, through involving women, through involving younger generations in the conversation.

HARLOW: Ladies, thank you very much for being with me. We'll keep talking about this. It's incredibly important. Good to have you both on the program.

MAZHAR: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: Coming up next, are some in Congress putting our nation's national security in jeopardy because they don't agree with the president? We're talking about how funding for the DHS is getting held up. Who is to blame, what is the solution and how great is the risk? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right. The head of the Department of Homeland Security says at least 30,000 employees could be furloughed if Congress does not approve funding for the Department by the end of this month. We're talking about a matter of weeks here that this deadline is approaching.

Right now, the money is delayed because congressional Republicans are tying the funding to a rollback of the president's executive order on immigration. And therefore, Democrats are filibustering it.

Some folks blame the Democrats. Some folks blame the Republicans.

Here's Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Let's not forget that the Department of Homeland Security interfaces with the American public more than any other department of our government, at airports, at ports. And so, to just say, well, we'll just make them come to work without pay, first of all is a real challenge for the working men and women of my department. Second, it means furloughing at least 30,000 of our department and cutting back very significantly on our operations, our operations to pursue homeland security.

So, this is not a situation to make light of. In these challenging times, we need a fully-funded Department of Homeland Security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. Buck Sexton, conservative CNN political commentator, also former CIA counterterrorism analyst, is back with me.

I know that the president's -- the Republicans disagree very much with the president's executive order on immigration, but do you think it is the right move to tie that to funding the Department of Homeland Security?

SEXTON: It's certainly their right to do so and I think it raises an important --

HARLOW: But I said, is it the right move?

SEXTON: I think at this point, it is. I wish they'd done more before they'd passed a budget. I wish they'd taken this up then, but they didn't right after the election.

HARLOW: Right.

SEXTON: So, now, this is sort of a secondary option. I think lacking other options, this one is probably pretty decent. The fact of the matter is, they're exercising the power of the purse, what President Obama has done is beyond his power as he himself once said and they are fully funding.

The whole narrative of obstruction that we heard constantly for the last years is finally now switching over. Now, we have Democrats being -- openly obstructionists on this issue.

HARLOW: They're filibustering because they say that this should not be tied to this bill. You need to fund the department that runs FEMA, that runs the TSA, the runs ICE, immigration, border security, Secret Service -- you need to fully fund it. SEXTON: You're talking about a small furlough of an enormous

department that didn't exist 10 years ago and the notion that we can't go a couple of weeks with a slightly decreased DHS staffing.

HARLOW: How do you know it's going to be a couple of weeks?

SEXTON: Well, it probably won't happen. I'm sure somebody is going to blink here and backup, and that's a whole purpose of this -- is to force a discussion about whether President Obama's executive amnesty should go through.

The Republicans now in Congress have the right to say, we're just not going to fund this, we'll fund everything else in DHS. And it shows you how absolutely dedicated to this one idea Democrats in the Senate are that they're willing to stop the whole thing from going through. They're being obstructionist by the logic that they've presented over the last six years, there's no other way for them to present this.

HARLOW: Let me get this to you quickly, it's interesting, Senator Ted Cruz this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION", a Republican, saying, look, this strategy is not my idea. I actually don't support it. This came from the Republican leadership and he said, I think they're basically putting themselves into a box with this.

Do you agree? Is this a strategy that is going to be effective? What's the endgame?

SEXTON: I think if nothing else, it reminds the American people that president has overreached on his authority here and the Democrats are willing to -- even up to the point of defunding temporarily a small portion of DHS, because of their desire --

HARLOW: Thirty thousand employees.

SEXTON: There are hundreds of thousands of people that work for DHS.

HARLOW: Do you think it won't make a dent?

SEXTON: Absolutely huge. I think it won't make a dent because it probably won't happen, but I think in the meantime, it's important to see the Democrats don't actually want a government that functions better, don't actually want Congress to do more. They want Congress to do what they wanted to do, and now, they don't have the majority anymore, the rules have apparently changed.

But most of us who are paying attention are realizing that, no, that's not how it's supposed to work. Elections have consequences. HARLOW: We've got to go. Who's going to blink?

SEXTON: Republicans are probably going to blink. I can't believe you got me to say that.

HARLOW: Buck Sexton, thank you for joining me.

SEXTON: Thank you.

HARLOW: Always good to have you here in New York. We appreciate it.

All right. Coming up next, is it time for the United States to start spending money to send weapons to Ukraine? Senator John McCain and others say it could turn the tide helping Ukraine defeat pro-Russian rebels. Others warn it could just escalate things, and make them worse. We'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, a last-ditch effort to end Ukraine's bloody conflict may be falling apart. Just days before a critical peace summit Russia's Vladimir Putin is hinting he may not show up. He is facing pressure to withdraw pro-Russian separatists from Ukraine and to end the conflict that has claimed more than 5,000 lives.

A face-to-face negotiation is tentatively set for Wednesday to take place in Belarus, but Putin said he might not show up if key points are not settled.

Meanwhile, the president, President Obama, weighing a decision on whether or not to send arms to Ukrainian forces. Some Republican lawmakers are urging him to send arms now so are some Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country, how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening? That's why we must provide defensive arms to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: President Obama will soon have this critical meeting on Ukraine with a powerful Western leader, that is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That meeting is set for tomorrow at the White House.

Now Merkel has warned that sending arms to Ukraine even these defensive weapons may prompt even more Russian aggression. May not be the solution.

A short time ago I had a conversation about exactly this with U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, also with the spokesman for a group monitoring the fighting on the ground with Ukraine. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: But I don't think that the Russians are going to back down from this continued aggression unless the costs are increased and one way of increasing those costs is to help the Ukrainians defend themselves.

No one is suggesting that the Ukrainians can defeat Russia in a war and I hope it doesn't come into a full-fledged war. But they can raise the cost where they continue invasion of Ukraine sovereignty and I think regrettably that's going to be necessary. We have tried sanctions alone. We have been patient for months and months as Russia has continued to supply not only troops, but heavy equipment like tanks. At a certain point I think we need to step up to help Ukraine defend itself.

I think we should have taken the step to provide military support earlier. I really do believe there's only one thing that Putin respects and that's a strong response and strength and weakness, I think, invites further aggression and this is not only about Ukraine, although it's very important to Ukraine. This is also about Ukraine's neighbors and whether Russia will feel it has the right and it has the political ability and the military ability of invading its neighbors to so-called protect ethnic Russians.

That's a very expansive doctrine with really no limits. So I think it's vitally important that the West show resolve here and this is a way that we can do it. We tried first sanctions only, it hasn't been successful.

HARLOW: Right.

SCHIFF: And I think this is regrettably going to be necessary.

HARLOW: Well, interestingly, even when the sanctions have been up we've seen Vladimir Putin's approval rating, despite the crumbling economy just go up and up and up. It is in the 80s, 80, you know, above 80 percent now approval rating from his own people.

To you, Michael, is there talks on the ground there among Ukrainians about sanctions and whether they believe any increase in sanctions either from Europe or from the United States would work because some have suggested, you know, Europe should stop, for example, buying its crude oil and gas from Russia and that that would maybe make a further dent.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SPOKESMAN, OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION TO UKRAINE: Well, Poppy, we've been here on the ground almost a year, almost a year now. We have 400 monitors here, about two-thirds of them are in the east. But even here on Kiev, what you hear from colleagues, from friends and others is kind of prevailing sense of doom, what had happened in the past 48 hours or so, the hryvnia, the local currency has collapsed a lot.

And in a country where many people, for example, have their car loans and housing loans denominated in U.S. dollars or euros, that follow in the local currency makes things very, very difficult. You also notice a slowdown in commerce. We've reported on that.

Fewer people going out at night, so the evening news, actually all day news is full of reports from the -- from the front line.

And also don't forget, Poppy, that the so-called mobilization that the Ukrainian government announced, the second mobilization, is, you know, hitting home to a lot of families throughout Ukraine because they're having to send their sons to the front line.

HARLOW: Right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right. Also coming up next, the latest on a deadly car crash involving former Olympian and reality TV star Bruce Jenner. We're going to take you live to California next for a report on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)\

HARLOW: All right. Police now saying Bruce Jenner was not being chased by paparazzi when he was involved in a fatal car crash yesterday afternoon in Malibu. He was not injured, but a 69-year-old woman in another vehicle was killed. Five children, two adults injured and hospitalized.

Let's go straight to Stephanie Elam, she joins us now from right near the scene.

What do we know, Stephanie, at this point in time. There was a lot of confusion yesterday about what could have caused this and now there's this investigation?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. That's correct, Poppy. What we do know is that this was a four-car accident. There was an incident between one car and that white Lexus. They had an accident and from what we understand from the sheriff's department is that Bruce Jenner's SUV rear-ended that white Lexus which then sent it out into oncoming traffic and it was hit by an oncoming Hummer. The woman in that car did die. That much we do know.

Now the investigation is ongoing. There were reports out there that this is a manslaughter investigation and what the sheriff's department is saying is that at this point it is an investigation into a traffic collision where there was a fatality. It has not escalated beyond that. They're still continuing their investigation to look for any more clues if there is anymore wrongdoing but at this point that's where things stand -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And do we know if they are investigating everyone who was in the other vehicles? Because I know there were four cars involved. Obviously the attention gets paid to Bruce Jenner, he is the celebrity, but now police are saying no paparazzi.

So do we know if they're looking at multiple people or just Jenner who was driving one of them? ELAM: They're looking at everyone. From what we understand they're

looking at everyone who played a part in this accident and what would have happened.

We also understand that there was paparazzi around, but they were not chasing him. And you have to keep in mind, for someone like Bruce Jenner, someone who's on a reality show and out in the face -- public face, who was a public persona, is going to be followed, but they were not chasing him. So this is a different scenario than what we may have previously thought. But at this point they are looking to see how everyone could have played a part into this.

And, you know, the other thing I have to point out, too, Poppy, is that the Pacific Coast Highway where this accident took place, it is a very beautiful stretch of highway that runs along the Pacific Ocean. It has two lanes on both parts of it, on each side of the highway, but you're distracted by the ocean for a lot of people, and if you're driving and it's curvy and it's fast, things can change very quickly.

HARLOW: Right.

ELAM: So it is not some place that we've -- we don't -- we're not used to seeing accidents there.

HARLOW: Right.

ELAM: This does happen on this part of the highway.

HARLOW: Yes. Too bad and so tragic, though, with all these people in the hospital and one woman dead as a result.

Stephanie Elam, thank you. Good to see you.

Other stories in the headlines today that we are following. Brian Williams taking himself off the NBC anchor desk for at least a few days. CNN now confirming he will skip his planned appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman." That was supposed to happen later this week.

Questions about his credibility are swirling after the marquee anchorman admitted to stretching the truth about his experiences while reporting from Iraq.

Authorities in Michigan have given the all-clear at a Coast Guard station after a man drove his truck through the gates and claimed to have a bomb. The man assaulted at least one Coast Guard member before he was subdued. Officials say they have not found links, though, to terrorism and no bomb.

Legendary University of North Carolina head basketball coach Dean Smith has died. He was 83 years old. He coached the men's program there for 36 years from 1961 to 1997. Under his leadership the Tar Heels made 11 NCAA final four appearances and won two national championships.

And with the measles outbreak spreading, the anti-vaccine movement is under fire, but the people who support it do have some deep pockets. We're going to tell you -- this is a fascinating report. We're going to tell you who is bankrolling this movement. That report from Cristina Alesci ahead.

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HARLOW: Officials have confirmed the first case of measles in New Jersey this year, and the 1-year-old infant has not been vaccinated yet. Also in Chicago, the number of children who contracted the measles disease at a day care center, that number is now up to five, but these numbers have not seemed to deter those behind the anti- vaccination movement.

Joining me now is CNN Money's Cristina Alesci.

I'm so glad you're with us. You did this fascinating report on sort of the money behind. And you do wonder, not only does this movement have celebrities, but it's got a lot of money, so who's bankrolling this?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's a group of very passionate entrepreneurs and businessmen at the end of the day and what's most surprising is just how intent they are on spreading this message, right? Despite mountains of evidence that says vaccines are safe and effective.

HARLOW: Right.

ALESCI: They want this message spread on how poisonous they are and here's how they're doing it.

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ALESCI (voice-over): Have you ever thought twice about vaccinating your child? Here's the money behind the message.

Let's start with the loudest voice. The National Vaccine Information Center. They're the group that promotes the alleged risks of vaccination through flashy campaigns, billboards, a jumbotron in Times Square, even a short film airing on Delta's in-flight network.

But how does the NVIC fund these campaigns?

With the help of wealthy families, like he Dwoskins. Albert and Claire Dwoskins' foundation donated at least $260,000 to the NVIC. But that's not their only contribution. The Dwoskin Family Foundation funnels about $950,000 from 2011 to 2013 to the University of British Columbia to fund research including a study that linked aluminum in vaccines to neurological disorders.

They also helped finance a documentary, "The Greater Good," which featured one of the study's doctors. The film profiles children who developed illnesses including autism and suggest vaccines are the cause.

Another wealthy businessman, Barry Segal, also touts the ties between autism and vaccines. He founded Focus for Health, and it gave more than $170,000 to a similar advocacy group, Generation Rescue.

Former financier J.D. Hanley and his wife Lisa founded Generation Rescue in 2005, but you may know the organization better by its celebrity face. Jenny McCarthy. She has claimed vaccines caused her son's autism in various television appearances including CNN.

JENNY MCCARTHY, ACTRESS: Without a doubt in my mind I believe vaccinations triggered Evan's autism.

ALESCI: Generation Rescue used McCarthy's face to raise awareness and money and some of that money supported one of the most controversial critics of vaccines, Andrew Wakefield.

The former doctor from Britain whose 1998 study linking vaccines to autism sparked the current anti-vaccination movement. In 2010 the study was discredited and retracted by the journal that originally published it. England stripped him of his medical license. Soon after he received $100,000 check to continue his research at his company, Strategic Autism Initiative.

Who signed that check? Generation Rescue.

Two of the organization's CNN contacted insisted they were not anti- vaccine, but rather advocates for safe vaccines and the right to choose. The third did not respond to request for comment. However, most of their research finds fault with vaccines.

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ALESCI: Now most of the doctors that we spoke to said these vaccine skeptics fall in three main groups. They are the anti-government types, the types that don't want the government telling them what to do. There are also people who think that vaccines run counter to the natural lifestyle that they're trying to live, and the third group is the group that I like to call the conspiracy theorists. They actually believe that doctors make money administering vaccines.

By the way, a 2009 study showed a third of doctors actually don't make money. They lose money by administering vaccines, and let me tell you --

HARLOW: Less people to treat.

ALESCI: Exactly. And all of these arguments fall apart when you put other people at risk for disease and possibly death, unfortunately.

HARLOW: Yes. It's incredible something that everyone in this country has access to, many of them -- some of them announcing they won't take them and then many in the third world have no access to it, and they would just give anything to have that.

ALESCI: Yes.

HARLOW: Cristina Alesci, fascinating report. Thank you for that. We appreciate it. Also big names speaking out in support of children getting vaccinated

including actress Amanda Peet. I spoke with her about her biggest motivation. It is her three children and her newborn son.

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AMANDA PEET, SPOKESWOMAN, "EVERY CHILD BY TWO": Part of the reason I'm here is because my son is only nine weeks old so he can't have the MMR vaccine until he's 12 months old. So he's one of the vulnerable infants, and if he contracted measles somehow, somewhere, I think most people know now that there is a 90 percent chance that the disease will be transmitted. It's one of the most contagious microbes out there.

If my son were to get it he would be really -- he'd be in trouble and so it's important to remember it's not just about your child or your school-age child. It's about -- it's about transmission and the rate of transmission and how these things could catch like wildfire and create a real outbreak.

HARLOW: Have you been acting differently now with your son in terms of where you will take him in public -- he's only nine weeks old -- because of this outbreak?

PEET: You know, I have to say it has crossed my mind when I think about taking him on the school run or not taking him on the school run, it crosses my mind how many people in my school aren't vaccinated, how many people at this birthday party aren't vaccinated? How do I know whether he's safe?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Our thanks to Amanda Peet for that.

Coming up next, Boston, you're about to get buried. Another snow storm bearing down on the city. How bad is it going to get? A live report coming up.

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HARLOW: All right. All the public schools closed in Boston tomorrow and Tuesday. The mayor making that call a short time ago. Tom Sater watching this storm for us in the severe weather center. Boston just cannot get a break.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: : No. No, in fact, this is the third Sunday in a row, Poppy, that we've been discussing the snow. This is not a nor'easter. There's not going to be any blizzard conditions, although winds are going to get strong. This is like a clipper that typically dropped three to six inch but this one's different.

We've got a frontal system south of Boston. It's 17 degrees in Boston, 20 miles away at 36. So it's feeding moisture into this. This is a prolonged event.

Now as the cold air drops southward I think New York City tomorrow morning it's going to be mainly freezing rain. Let's hope it's light, let's hope it's intermittent, which it should be. If you have any snow in New York it will be on Tuesday morning and maybe just a dusting, but unfortunately from Boston westward again, we're looking at the possibility of one to two feet. Boston mainly around 15-plus, but the system moves out Tuesday morning.

But again we're looking at areas that have already picked up well more than they should, 58 inches as to this day in Boston. That's more than twice what they should have at this time of the year, Wooster, 78, you've never had that much.

Here are the warnings from Boston, not including Buffalo, but you could see where the snow is and we're going to see here's the totals, here we go again for the third week in a row. The radars are showing that snow slowly building back in.

And real quick, Poppy, we're looking at another chance of accumulating snow late Thursday into Friday.

HARLOW: All right. Tom Sater, thank you. Have a great week.

And thank you all for joining me. We have a great lineup for you tonight on CNN.

"CNN SPOTLIGHT, WHITNEY HOUSTON" is next. Thanks so much for joining me. Have a great week.