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U.S. Attempted to Rescue Kayla Mueller; Over 20,000 Foreign Fighters Join ISIS; Interview with Sen. Tim Kaine; Violence Rages Ahead of Ukraine Talks; Netanyahu Doubling Down on Speech; Brian Williams Suspended, Jon Stewart Stepping Down

Aired February 11, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. We have breaking details emerging about the desperate attempts to rescue American aid worker, Kayla Mueller, killed in ISIS captivity.

U.S. officials reportedly attempting a series of unsuccessful ploys to rescue the 25-year-old.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: There's also a lot of new information about who Kayla was and her amazing dedication to the oppressed, as well as her thoughts while in captivity.

We have Will Ripley joining us with the latest developments. There's so much that we did not know.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So much. And you can talk about, I guess what really struck me the most, even before we talk about the rescue attempts, this letter. For somebody who was sitting in a small cramped cell, scribbling on a notepad, writing a message to her family, not knowing when they would receive it, see it right there. To say things like, "Even in prison, one can be free. I'm praying for my family. My only suffering is the fact that I have caused you suffering."

Keep in mind, this is a young woman in her mid-20s writing things like this. That letter will now go all over the world, to millions of people, and those words will really resonate.

And I think that's the most important thing we need to remember about Kayla Mueller, was that she is a true example of the best of America and the best of what -- of what this country has to offer. She was in a dangerous place, trying to help people, trying to help people who were suffering, like so many other humanitarians in that part of the world. And she risked everything and she lost everything, but she also gained so much.

And she gave her family a gift by telling them things like she wasn't -- she wasn't being treated inhumanely. That she was well-fed, that she actually gained weight. You know, whether or not that was completely true or whether she was trying to paint a better picture to give her parents comfort. CUOMO: Because there's a counter narrative, that they may have

married her off to somebody and that, you know, obviously, she wound up losing her life to them; they killed her. So there's that aspect to it, as well.

But when we know about who she is, it makes the pain more real. Because it's not like -- the journalists are there. They're doing their job. She went there. This was something that she believed was her passion to do, just to help the world. And that there was more going on to help her than we knew. What do we now know about rescue?

RIPLEY: Of course, all of this kept secret because of the fact, her sensitivity. We didn't even know her name until a short time ago.

But there were a lot of attempts. President Obama talked about an attempt last summer where the U.S. government may have come between 24 and 48 hours from being able to rescue her. But they had some shoddy intelligence which, of course, as we know in that part of the world is very common.

But then "The Arizona Republic" talking to Arizona lawmakers. They detailed their efforts, including this attempt to try to make it look like Kayla was married, sending a man claiming to be her husband, saying, "I'm here to recover my wife." But of course, she had no idea what was happening. She didn't lie. She said, "I'm not married." She may have come just that close. And there were other attempts, as well.

The heartbreak for her family, the frustration of knowing all these attempts were happening. Keeping quiet. Not being able to talk about it until now. But now we're talking about her, and she is someone that is very much worth talking about.

CUOMO: Absolutely right, will. And it's important we do it the right way. We don't want to just be fixated on how she lost her life. We want to talk about the life that she lived and the legacy that she will leave, even as a 20-something. And that will make more sense when you hear later this morning from Kayla Mueller's friend and former professor. What she tells you about this young woman is going to stay with you. I promise you that. It's coming up.

CAMEROTA: OK. Another thing happening this morning, Senate -- House Committee on Homeland Security will hear that more than 20,000 people have flocked to Iraq and Syria to fight with ISIS. This is according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, who added some 3,000 of those have come from western nations, including the U.S.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House for us with more. Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn.

There seems to be this level of alarm now among U.S. counterterrorism officials over the rate at which foreign fighters continue to stream into Iraq and Syria to fight alongside ISIS and other groups. They're calling it unprecedented. And in testimony, we'll hear today before the House Homeland Security

Committee, we expect to hear numbers bigger than we've heard before. An estimated 20,000 foreign fighters from 90 countries, about 3,400 of them westerners, 150 American who have either travelled there or tried to, with about a dozen thought to still be there.

The chairman of the committee calls this the largest convergence of Islamic terrorists in world history. And foreign fighters have been a top priority for the U.S. out of fears that they, of course, would return home and launch attacks here.

Also, as early as today we could hear from the White House presenting legislative language to Congress, asking for an authorization for the use of military force, specifically tailored to ISIS. It's expected to limit the possibility of ground troops in combat, which some Republicans aren't so happy with but is not expected to limit geography. Location, where the U.S. could target ISIS -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So Michelle, we have the AUMF, the authorization plan coming at the same time that all the numbers seem to be higher than ever before of what the enemy represents. Is that a coincidence?

Let's talk more about this with Senator Tim Kaine. He's a Democrat from Virginia, the former Virginia governor, as well.

Senator, thank you for joining us. The skepticism in my tone is not an accident. These numbers, 20,000, 90 countries, all of these different things, how does the United States know? You have nobody on the ground in the places where these guys are fighting right now. That was a conscious decision. Where are these big numbers come from all of a sudden? do you trust them?

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: Well, I trust the range, Chris. I think we all have to acknowledge that when we departed from Iraq in 2011, we lost some intelligence capacity. And the situation in Syria is also very, very murky. So these are estimates.

But ISIS wouldn't be able to move and take so much territory if they didn't have significant personnel. And as I've travelled to capitals in the region, especially in North Africa and the Middle East, they've talked about this foreign fighter issue. They're seeing young people flee to go join the fight and ISIS, often crossing the Turkish border. So the numbers are significant. And that's why the U.S. needs to take action. But we've got to do it the right way. And that means a congressional debate and vote on this military mission.

CUOMO: Right, but you know, we've got to be careful. Because you have intelligence on the ground, and then you just have general intelligence about how you go about this. And you know a big reason that the American people are war-weary is because the last time you went running into a situation based on information, it wound up being bad information.

So now you have this authorization for the use of force, and you're saying there's 20,000, but there may be six. Do you think that matters? What do you think happens when the plan gets put to Congress? Do you think they'll just stamp it right away and say, "Go ahead"?

KAINE: Chris, I don't think Congress is in danger of just stamping it right away. I think what we're going to do -- I'm on the Foreign Relations Committee.

CUOMO: Sure.

KAINE: This will get referred to the Foreign Relations Committees in both houses. And we're going to have some vigorous debate about this. There are pieces of this proposed authorization that match very closely a proposal that I introduced in September. A sunset of three years to require periodic review of the success of the mission. Some limitations on, for example, a repeal of the earlier Iraq authorization from '02, which is important.

One of the things that I'm really going to dig into is the ground troop language. The president has been pretty clear that we're going to have no ground troops. That this language in the proposed authorization looks to be a little bit more open than that.

CUOMO: Tell us about that. What don't you like about it, Senator?

KAINE: Well, we don't have the final language yet. But there's a suggestion that there's sort of a vague phrase, that no combat troops for offensive -- enduring offensive ground operations. And that term is likely not defined. Clearly, we need to give that some definition and clarification, and that's what the Foreign Relations Committee process will be about.

So you'll see a debate about a lot of things. Another issue, Chris, that's going to be important is how meaningful is the coalition? Are the other nations, especially nations in the region, are they really stepping up to battle the terrorist threat that is their own threat?

CUOMO: Yes.

KAINE: Or are they relying on us to do it all? That's going to be a significant point of discussion.

CUOMO: I think that that is a huge point, because everybody who knows anything about this situation says the reason they're able to recruit is not what's happening on the battlefield or what happens about annexation of land. That doesn't seem to be a real threat at this point. It's the idea, and that idea is born in countries largely outside the United States by a region of the world that's been very slow to deal with the social and economic conditions that give birth to this.

Now what we just saw with Jordan, what about that effort, Senator, of going to that region and saying, "This is on you, ladies and gentlemen. These are your people"?

KAINE: Well, you know, Chris, I'm glad you brought up Jordan. King Abdullah was here last week and, sadly, he was here on the very day when the video came out about the burning of the Jordanian pilot. And he was very courageous. He said this. He said to American senators, this is not your fight; it's our fight. Because it's terrorism in our region, and even though these people are anti-Islam, they're claiming the mantle of our religion, and it's up to us to stand up against it. If we do, we would love your help, and we need your help.

But you can't take this fight to this terrorist ideology that was birthed in our region on your own. You have to demand of nations in the region that we carry this burden.

Jordan is doing the job, but other nations in the region, while they say they're anti-ISIL, their actions haven't really matched their words. And that's something that we need to get into.

CUOMO: And that may have to become a bigger part of the strategy, some would argue. I mean, if you just look at even these numbers, such as they are, you've got 300 million people in the U.S.. You've got 150 foreign fighters.

Jordan, well, you know, a good actor now, right now, six and a half million people, maybe 2,000 foreign fighters. This is not a United States-bred problem, that is clear.

Well, Senator Tim Kaine, we know it's early in this situation. We're going to be following the debate very carefully and we look forward to what you have to say about it going forward. Thank you, Sir.

KAINE: Thank you, Chris. You bet.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. Now to the urgent push for peace in eastern Ukraine. European leaders meeting today with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, trying to broker a ceasefire, all this while deadly violence rages.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson following those talks for us. He joins us live from Minsk. What's the latest, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have heard now from the French president that he is on his way, Francois Hollande, on his way. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on her way here, also. President Putin has said he is going to come.

We've heard, as well, from the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, who's really given the strongest indication of just how high the stakes here -- are here going to be. That is if there isn't a political deal, he says he will declare martial law across the whole of Ukraine. The implication is, therefore, that the fighting would only intensify and get stronger. Not sure if he can get the Ukrainian army's writ across the whole of the country. Certainly, the separatists gaining ground in some parts of the southeast of the country right now.

The Russians continuing to push the narrative that there is a deal that's doable. The French and the Germans sound a lot more cautious, concern about who would monitor the border between Russia and Ukraine, that area where the separatists have control. That seems to be a sticking point on the deals. And of course, how much autonomy the separatists would get in their area. So all of this still very much something that has to be hammered out. Talks slated to go very late into the night here -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Much to get to. Thanks for that update. We'll be watching with you, Nic. We appreciate it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to go ahead with a planned speech to Congress, despite criticism from the White House. Netanyahu admitting he has a profound disagreement with President Obama over efforts to resolve Iran's nuclear issue.

CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott joins us now from Jerusalem with more -- Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, you know, the prime minister has been under a lot of pressure to cancel this visit. Last night he doubled down, saying he doesn't seek a confrontation with President Obama, but believes the nuclear deal with Iran shaping up, really threatens Israel's survival. Very tough words there. And Congress, he thinks, is going to play an important role in that, and he has an obligation to protect Israel in talking to them.

He didn't -- he said this wasn't personal with a disagreement with President Obama. He appreciates what President Obama has done for Israel.

And he did leave himself some wiggle room. We do have reason to believe in the end he may not do something exactly a joint session of Congress. Maybe something short of that. A lot of creative options, I understand, are being discussed. Maybe he meets with them in closed session.

In any event, Prime Minister Netanyahu running for re-election next month and the Iran nuclear issue a very important part of his campaign. So keeping that issue front and center really helps him with his supporters -- Alisyn.

CUOMO: All right, Elisa [SIC]. I'll take it.

Yemen has fallen from the top headlines, but the situation there has only gotten worse. The proof? American, British and French embassies are now pulling their people out. This is a big deal, because remember, officials are not just warning now to take out the embassy officials. They're telling citizens to leave the nation. And they had insisted that Yemen is a key U.S. ally and needed our support on the ground.

Well, now it seems to be an imminent civil war with rebels who seized the capital. Let's change the strategy.

CAMEROTA: OK. An Ebola update. Nearly all U.S. troops dispatched to West Africa to help fight the Ebola virus are coming home. Pentagon officials say all but 100 will be back on U.S. soil by the end of April. At the height of the Ebola outbreak, 2,800 military personnel were sent to the hot zone. President Obama will meet with members of the U.S. Ebola response team at the White House today.

PEREIRA: A rookie New York City police officer has been indicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man. Officer Peter Liang faces several charges, including second-degree manslaughter. The officer was patrolling a darkened stairwell in a housing project last November when he struck and -- when he fired, rather, and struck Akai Gurley. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton called that shooting an unfortunate accident.

CAMEROTA: Interesting that he was indicted. I mean, this is one where it was an actual direct confrontation. I think he shot down a stairwell or shot down a staircase in the dark. But yet, he was indicted after so many that we've seen that weren't.

CUOMO: And also the commissioner's words about it being an accident. That was early in that investigation, you know. So you have to see how that will come out and you've got to make sure that there's accountability. Have to.

CAMEROTA: Yes, certainly.

Well, NBC suspends Brian Williams without pay over his "Nightly News" scandal. Is that punishment enough? Is it too much? And if he returns, is his reputation beyond repair? We'll debate all of that.

CUOMO: And also, maybe the whole story gets trumped by this. The make-believe news world rocked by real news. Jon Stewart is saying good-bye to "The Daily Show." Yes, why now? What's next? We'll tell you.

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PEREIRA: Big developments in television overnight. In a telling decision, NBC News announcing that Brian Williams will be suspended for six months without pay. This as Jon Stewart announces that he is leaving "The Daily Show" sometime at the end of this year.

Let's bring in CNN senior media correspondent, host of RELIABLE SOURCES, Brian Stelter. We also have director of School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and former CNN Washington bureau chief, Frank Sesno. David Zurawik is with us, as well. He is the TV and media critic for the "Baltimore Sun."

Gentlemen, great to have you. And boy, this sure is in your wheelhouse.

Brian, want to start with you. We know a big meeting held at NBC yesterday. The CEO was there. And part of the conversation was had with Williams. He was said to be in good spirits. He was likely part of this conversation. Was it voluntary, the six-month suspension? What do you know?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: He was part of the conversation, but he was told, not asked about this. It's not something he was choosing to do. And "The New York Times" last night, that he was described as shattered at the end of the long day. Because he is in the middle of the media whirlwind. It's hard to imagine what it's like.

Then again, these exaggerations are serious. The scrutiny he's under is very serious.

I think by having him suspended for six months, it gives NBC some breathing room. It lets everybody step back for a bit, including Brian Williams, and allows them to figure out whether he's too damaged to return. A lot of people...

PEREIRA: Postpones (ph) it in a way, right?

STELTER: That's right. But a lot of people, even at NBC, think he won't be able to return to the chair.

PEREIRA: Frank, you say that this punishment and suspension, if you will, sends a confusing message to the American people. Why do you say that?

FRANK SESNO, DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I think it's a very confusing message. Because, you know, the way I think of it is, you know, if you're a Major League ball player and you do some egregious thing, you get thrown off the field and you get fined, and then you come back and play the game. It doesn't affect the game.

Here, what the fine is all about is about what the game is all about, which is trust and credibility and truthfulness and all of that. People I talked to at NBC, who claim to know some of the inner thinking, say there that people are lived, that this is -- the corporate parent is hanging out the news division to dry. That this six months is not so much a cooling-off period but a time when everybody is going to twist in the wind while people like us have these conversations. And one person said flatly nobody in the inner circle thinks that Brian Williams really is going to return.

PEREIRA: David -- David, I'll ask you. Because this puts us all in an interesting position. All of us here are talking about this. It's obviously a conversation in news rooms across the nation. The position of journalists having to cover a story of a journalist. It puts us in an interesting place, does it not?

DAVID ZURAWIK, MEDIA CRITIC, "BALTIMORE SUN": Well, not for a media critic, really. I mean, this is our job, and this is what -- this is what we're paid to do. So it does -- I don't feel as if I'm in an uncomfortable position writing about this.

You know, I think there is a sense of this gives NBC some time, as Brian said, and I think that was really important here.

And my take on this is it's fine if they want to bring him back as anchor, and I think it's very much up in the air whether he's going to be so damaged that they can't get back the audience they lose, or if he has credibility.

But I really am troubled by bringing him back as managing editor. He lied. He acknowledged he lied. And to let that person be the leader of your news operation of the largest actual daily news operation in television, that is really a troubling message to me. And I don't know how you restore your credibility if that's the person in charge of your news room. Even if it's only entitled.

PEREIRA: So you say getting back to basics for him would be key, without that managing editor title?

ZURAWIK: I'm fine if they want to bring him back as the guy in the suit who reads the news at night, and they think that will help them in the ratings, that's fine. Nobody wants to see a career ended that way. Don't bring him back as managing editor and then issue statements about trust and credibility to the audience.

PEREIRA: Yes.

ZURAWIK: Because there's a mixed message.

PEREIRA: There is a mixed message. And as you say, it makes it very clear.

Brian, so in the meantime, we have Lester Holt who will be filling in in the position for the six months. Obviously, they're going to be watching very carefully to see how Lester Holt does. He's been with the network for a long time. He's trusted. He is steady. He's respected.

STELTER: Yes. He's in some ways the obvious replacement. He's been on the bench for a long time. He's been Brian Williams' fill-in for a long time.

But other names are being bandied out about, as well. Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie of "The Today Show," maybe Josh Elliott, who just came over from ABC. NBC does have a lot of options, but none of them are very easy options. All of them are complicated. But this whole situation is complicated. Nobody at NBC was planning a succession for Brian Williams. They renewed his contract two months ago.

PEREIRA: Real quick, out of sight, out of mind. Hard time for an anchor to be out of this public spotlight, off the air for six months.

STELTER: Hard to restore your credibility when you're not on air.

PEREIRA: Yes, absolutely. Let's pin it now, shall we, to other news that came out. Frank, this news came out...

STELTER: Slightly happier, funnier news.

PEREIRA: Slightly happier, funny, but if are you a "Daily Show" fanatic, this rocked your world yesterday, learning, Frank, of the fact that Jon Stewart is going to be leaving "The Daily Show" sometime this year. He hasn't put an exact date on that. Obviously, this show has been culturally significant. It's been part of our discourse here and among every other network, I think. It will be felt for some time, his leaving.

SESNO: I think so. I mean, Jon Stewart redefined the way we look at news. I mean, Jon Stewart managed to make, you know, political scandal and war and all these other things, oddly funny.

And in doing so, he drew in a new audience, and actually it was an audience that Brian Williams wanted, because he showed up on The Daily Show along with the president of the United States. This is a demographic everybody wanted.

Jon Stewart is brilliant. His writers are brilliant. They have put a new footstep -- footprint both on television news, I think, and in television. In fact, it was just a few years ago that Jon Stewart surpassed the traditional newspaper among young people...

PEREIRA: Yes.

SESNO: ... for where they reportedly got their political news.

PEREIRA: Sure. And David, it's interesting to see, too, as we talk about Williams first in a very, very low point, arguably of his career, probably the lowest in his career. And yet we see Stewart going out at the height of his career, going out on top.

ZURAWIK: Yes. And that's refreshing in this business, to see someone of that stature go out on top. I couldn't agree more.

You know, I went to bed last night thinking is he as important as Johnny Carson? And I woke up thinking he's more important than Johnny Carson.

PEREIRA: Wow.

ZURAWIK: For some of the reasons that Frank listed. I really think he is.

And -- but I'll tell you one thing about him. We tend to do this. We tend to almost make it into a eulogy and say he was a perfect guy. He was wonderful. He is wonderful. He's brilliant. But Jon Stewart played favorites.

And I remember with Anthony Wiener in 2011, who was a friend of his, when Jon Stewart attacked CNN's excellent reporting at the time on the sexting scandal. He didn't attack his friend. He attacked CNN. He was dead wrong. I remember going after him. So let's remember some of that, too.

But he changed the culture. He absolutely did. He taught us to think about politics in a different way. He made it part of primetime entertainment. I don't know if that's good or bad. Some might say it's part of entertaining ourselves to death and it dumbs us down. I don't think anybody thinks anything Jon Stewart did dumbs us down, though.

PEREIRA: Quick as a button on this, Brian.

STELTER: There's a whole class of people following in his footsteps, John Oliver and so many others.

PEREIRA: Launched several careers. STELTER: What Jon Stewart started, so many others will continue.

PEREIRA: And everybody is wondering, who will be next?

Hey, I know you've got an opinion. Who is going to replace Jon Stewart? Can anybody replace him? Give us your names, give us your thoughts, tweet us, @NEW DAY. Go to Facebook. Add your comments there. We'd love to hear from you.

David, Brian, Frank, great conversation here, gentlemen. Thank you -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick. So we're hearing from counterterrorism experts that tens of thousands of people have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. How many from here? How many are coming back to their countries? Those are the questions.

CAMEROTA: And someone who went overseas for a very different reasons and lost her life. We learn more about Kayla Mueller. She was more than just an ISIS hostage. Her friend and her professor tells us all about her, ahead.

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