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Militants Fire on Base with U.S. Troops; FBI Starts Investigating Into North Carolina Shooting

Aired February 13, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, U.S. Marines in Iraq come under fire by ISIS militants. We're on the ground in northern Iraq.

Also, the man who allegedly killed American sniper Chris Kyle tackled on dash cam. The moment police caught Eddie Ray Routh played in a Texas courtroom. Will it sway the jury?

Plus --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Deadline for signing up -- deadline for signing up for health insurance is February -- that's not right.

COSTELLO: Selfie stick. Stuck out tongues and doodles of the first lady. Inappropriate presidential behavior in the time of global chaos?

OBAMA: Thanks, Obama.

COSTELLO: Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We begin with disturbing new developments in the war on ISIS. And hundreds of U.S. troops in the path of advancing militant fighters. Just a short time ago ISIS seized the town of al-Baghdadi in northern Iraq and then immediately unleashed mortars and rockets on al-Assad Airbase fewer than 10 miles away. More than 300 U.S. troops are there. They're training Iraqi forces. Those Iraqis have propelled waves of suicide bombers trying to breach the airbase. U.S. forces are called in for reinforcements.

CNN's Phil Black is in northern Iraq. He joins us live by phone to tell us more.

Hi, Phil. PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Hey, Carol.

The information on the ground, it's still a bit patchy. This is very much an unfolding situation. But certainly it is local security forces on the ground, Iraqi Security Forces on the ground in al- Baghdadi, that are telling us, telling CNN that, yes, much of the town, if not all of the town is now under the control of ISIS.

Now the Iraqi central government is saying that Iraqi national forces are still fighting ISIS around this town, around al-Baghdadi suggesting that some of it is still being contested, but it would certainly seem that ISIS has made dramatic progress moving into this town taking on a lot of it, and then as you say moving on to -- moving on to that nearby airbase about 10 miles away.

Al Assad Airbase. It is there that we are told suicide bombers have been trying to get to. As many as eight local security forces have told us they have stopped and killed. With one perhaps being able to blow himself up close to the main gate of this base. That's what we've been told.

And as you mentioned, modified rocket fire. This airbase has come under attack before. The U.S. military has said so that nothing significant, sort of indirect fire that hasn't been very effective. This would seem to be something else entirely.

This whole region remains perhaps the greatest concern in Iraq in dealing with ISIS and there are problems. It is a region that ISIS now controls some 17 percent of. And it leads all the way very close to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Phil, we hear that U.S. forces have called in reinforcements to protect this airbase. Can you tell us more about that?

BLACK: Not at this stage. We haven't heard to what extent that has happened, to what extent that this call has been made or to what extent it has been received, but certainly it is logical if the information that we're being told by Iraqi security officials on the ground is correct, that these ISIS fighters are now moving to within a fairly small distance from the base from al-Baghdadi and unleashing suicide bombers as well as indirect fire, that is mortars and rockets, that it is obviously a very concerning security situation. And one that no doubt those on the ground would be seeking some assistance with -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And Phil, we always hear about, well, I'll just say it, the ineptitude of Iraqi forces. Should we be worried in this case?

BLACK: In this region there is no doubt that the Iraqi forces have been struggling to contain and deal, not even contain but really stop the advance of ISIS in this region. And that is a place where it is the Iraqi forces that have really been struggling. ISIS has maintained military momentum, still on the offensive to a significant degree, and is still able to move forward and claim new territory.

So beating back Iraqi forces, also local Sunni tribesmen have been trying to stop them as well without considerable success. To the north of Iraq where I am where ISIS has been stopped and contained, even rolled back to a significant degree.

Anbar really does remain a very concerning situation in terms of the way this country is dealing with the ISIS threat -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil black reporting live from northern Iraq this morning.

The siege in northern Iraq adding new urgency to a hearing just now getting underway on Capitol Hill. The House Armed Services Committee is taking a closer look at the danger posed by Islamic extremism. And today's fighting raises new questions about the role of U.S. forces in this expanding war zone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: Every Marine, every military is trained to fight and may be called upon to do it. We hope that's not the case in this situation, but it very well may be. But I'll tell you, if there is an engagement with ISIS by our Marines, it will be very one sided in favor of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst and former intelligence officer with the U.S. Air Force. He spent a lot of time in Iraq. He joins us now.

Welcome, sir.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning, Colonel. You wrote on your blog back in December that the battle for this U.S. airbase will be the bell weather of the future of the war in Iraq. What did you mean by that?

FRANCONA: What we're seeing is a test of the Iraqi forces now. The Iraqi forces have gone through a bit of retraining, a bit of reorganization, but I don't think they're in any way capable of defending that airbase out there. And if this airbase falls, that sends a really bad signal because you've got 400 American personnel out there.

Are we going to evacuate them? Are we going to reinforce them? If we're going to reinforce them, how are we going to do that? Are we going to fly additional troops in there? And then that expands the role of U.S. forces,

Are we going to put U.S. combat forces? Are we going to change the role of what they're doing out there? Right now they're supposed to be advising and assisting. If we put reinforcements out there, they'll be fighting. If we pull back, that sends a really bad signal because that gives ISIS yet another victory out there.

This is a huge facility. This would be a great get for ISIS. COSTELLO: It's a huge facility, but it's also heavily fortified,

right?

FRANCONA: It is, and it's -- it's a sprawling huge complex and it's isolated out there in the desert. So it would be very difficult to approach it unseen, but ISIS has done this before. And what we're seeing is the initial tactics that they always use. They're going to surround this base, then they're going to attack it with suicide bombers all the while reining down indirect fire.

And it's the indirect fire that we have to be really concerned about. Because that's very, very difficult to defend against. Now you can go after these firing units from the air, but as we've seen over the last couple of weeks, ISIS is fairly good at hiding what they're doing. So I'm a little concerned with the security of the American forces out there and what we're going to do.

We've got two very bad choices. We can reinforce it. That will be very difficult, or we can evacuate it, and that will be a disaster.

COSTELLO: Well, it certainly brings to mind this very real fear that ISIS is after an American Marine and will hold that Marine as captive and try to use those Marines as leverage.

FRANCONA: Yes. They are out there halfway between Baghdad and the Syrian border. This is a very, very remote location, and it is going to be very hard to defend that without putting in a lot more American troops. I don't think the Iraqis are up to the task just yet.

COSTELLO: So will the Marines, 300 or so Marines, that are at that U.S. airbase, is there a possibility that they will engage with ISIS fighters?

FRANCONA: Once ISIS approaches they're going to have to. And they're the best bet for defending that base. The problem is ISIS is not quite there yet. They're going to have to approach very carefully because once they put themselves out in the open, they make themselves subject to air attacks. So I think we'll see a lot more movement at night, a lot more indirect fire. But one of the things that ISIS has been doing, and they've done it everywhere else, is they send waves of suicide bombers in these armored -- they build these truck bombs and they just drive them at the gates and try and breach the facility.

We saw that up in Spiker Base in Tikrit. So this is kind of a blueprint we've seen before. And they're very effective at this.

COSTELLO: All right. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thank you for your insight. I appreciate it.

FRANCONA: Sure thing, Carol.

COSTELLO: The White House says claims that U.S. officials delayed a rescue mission to save Kayla Mueller are false. U.S. military officials carried out a daring rescue attempt last July but failed to find Mueller or any other hostages. A spokesman for the National Security Council says, quote, "U.S.

forces conducted this operation as soon as the president and his National Security team were confident the mission could be carried out."

Now among the hostages they were trying to find was American journalist James Foley. Foley, who was abducted while reporting in war torn Syria, was brutally killed by ISIS last summer. Earlier this morning his parents talked with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FOLEY, JAMES FOLEY'S FATHER: We were too quiet. We -- we followed a policy of secrecy initially at the request of the captors and our government. Eventually we heard nothing and we became frantic and went public. I think in this country the only way to change feeling activity is through public debates, votes.

DIANE FOLEY, JAMES FOLEY'S MOTHER: Had the world known that 18 journalists and aid workers were held together, I think in their most hopeful moments the captives really envisioned a coalition of governments working together and really trying to get them out. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing. There was very little collaboration. We can do better. I just know we can do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Despite the tragic end of Foley and Mueller's lives, friends and family are remembering them for their selflessness and their bravery. Both felt that helping others was their life's work.

Let's talk more about that with Amaury Cooper. He's the deputy director for Risk Management and Global Security for International Relief and Development, nonprofit humanitarian aid organization.

Welcome, sir.

AMAURY COOPER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT: Hi. Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here. There's no doubt Kayla was an amazing person as you and your workers are, but is it now too dangerous to send aid workers into certain parts of the world?

COOPER: No, I don't think so. I mean I think the realities is that aide work is a risky business and those who go into it, you know, have a calling that they feel that they must do it. The world is a place that needs help and those people are equipped -- when they are equipped are able to make a difference and that's the only way that things can change so --

COSTELLO: Syria seems to be the flashpoint here, so aid workers are still willing in droves to go into Syria to help?

COOPER: Yes, absolutely. I think they go in because they realize that the need is there. And they have to go where the need is. And increasingly, I mean, the aid work itself across the world, not just in Syria but around the world, is becoming riskier and riskier. You know, lines are blurred between post conflict and conflict zones. They face criminal dangers. Any number of dangers just, even in non- conflict zones. So I think it's important to note that as well. That's it's not just Syria but all over the world --

COSTELLO: So --

COOPER: -- there are many workers putting themselves at risk.

COSTELLO: So how do you -- how do you as an organization protect those workers?

COOPER: Well, I think the most thing is making sure that the workers themselves are informed and understand the risks that they're taking when they go into these areas, whether it's conflict or non-conflict, they're going to face risks, and then it's training, training, training and more training. And that's something which unfortunately a lot of the smaller NGOs don't have the resources and capabilities to do so.

COSTELLO: And by training, you mean how to talk to people the correct way if you are taken hostage, not to carry weapons, right?

COOPER: Well, by their very nature I don't think any aide workers should be carrying weapons ever. And I think that goes to the level to show their neutrality and that they are not part of the conflict. Training goes -- is a wide spectrum, everything from, you know, cultural sensitivity but also it can go as far as, you know, what's called heat training or hostile environment awareness training, where, you know, they can go through sessions where they go sort of go through mock kidnapping and the like so that they learn what they're going to be facing and what they can possibly face in the events of such a horrific act.

COSTELLO: Amaury Cooper, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

COOPER: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, three young Muslims now laid to rest in the North Carolina as the FBI opens up a new investigation into their deaths. But was it a hate crime? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The FBI is looking to see if federal hate laws were broken in the death of three Muslims in their apartment. The investigation comes on the same day that the three victims were laid to rest.

Now, the family of the victims wants President Obama to get involved. The shooting is resonating with people all across the country. Last night vigils took place from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., many asking the same question as the FBI -- was this a hate crime? Jason Carroll has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CAROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Chapel Hill, at the apartment complex where three Muslims were murdered Tuesday night, police going door to door as part of their investigation.

(on camera): Hi there. Can we ask you guys how the investigation is going so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just going to say we are just canvassing and that's all we're doing at the moment.

CARROLL (voice-over): Flowers in front of the apartment where the victims lived, 23-year-old Deah Barakat, his 21-year-old wife Yusor, and her 19-year-old Razan, who was visiting that day.

Their Craig Hicks now facing three counts of first degree, police say their preliminary investigation shows the deaths may have been the result of an ongoing dispute over parking. One neighbor says Hicks had a reputation of being a hothead.

SAMANTHA MANESS, HICKS' NEIGHBOR: I have seen and heard him be very unfriendly to a lot of people in this community. Equal opportunity anger.

CARROLL: Another neighbor saying parking was an issue addressed by building management.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm assuming there was parking issues so I guess the association, I guess, the condo association released this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not about parking. The whole world is looking in on social media. They know what it's about.

CARROLL: The 46-year-old had been attending Durham Technical Community College studying to be a paralegal. The school spokesman described him as an exemplary student who spent much of his time helping teachers and other students.

But Hicks's ex-wife described him in a much different way. According to "The Associated Press", the two divorced 17 years ago. His favorite movie was "Falling Down," a movie about a man who goes on a violent rampage. She said, "He thought it was hilarious. He had no compassion at all."

(on camera): Investigators have confiscated the suspect's computer which was located in his apartment. They're trying to determine if he had any anti-Muslim leanings. A law enforcement source telling CNN the suspect told police he went into a blind rage after he saw a car allegedly belonging to one of the victims parked in his spot.

(voice-over): Hicks's Facebook page did not appear to show him targeting Muslims. There were anti-religion posts. One reads, "Atheists for equality." And this quote, "People say nothing can solve the Middle East problem. Not mediation, not arms, not financial aid. I say there is something, atheism."

And on January 20th, he posted this picture with a caption, "Yes, that is 1 pound, 5.1 ounces for my loaded .38 revolver."

And in another post, he defends Muslims and criticizes Christians who were opposed to a planned mosque near Ground Zero writing, quote, "seems an overwhelming majority of Christians in this country feel that the Muslims are using the Ground Zero mosque plans to mark their conquest, bunch of hypocrites."

Jason Carroll, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The victim's father is not the only one calling on President Obama over this case. At an event in Mexico on Thursday, the president of Turkey criticized President Obama and his administration saying, quote, "If you stay silent when faced with an incident like this and don't make a statement, the world will stay silent toward you."

So does the Turkish president have a point? Is this a hate crime?

Brian Levin is a civil rights attorney and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.

Good morning.

BRIAN LEVIN, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: Thank you for having me, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say, actually. In your estimation, is it too soon for anyone to call this a hate crime?

LEVIN: Yes, but that doesn't mean that it's not a possible hate crime. The NYPD, for instance, where I served has a process where they label these kinds of events suspected hate crime and about 10 percent get reclassified.

We don't know yet. The FBI has a 14-point checklist, some which directly go to statements made by an offender or things they might have in social media but there are others that are more indirect. Right now, the evidence is more indirect.

We may have hunches, we may have feelings, but at this point, the investigation is going just as it should. There's canvassing of the area. There's a review of his computer files. I looked at his Facebook files, for instance, that were available publicly and in addition, the history between the victims and the offender.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about his Facebook page because Hicks' Facebook page did not appear to show him targeting Muslims; however, there were anti-religion posts promoting atheism. Can atheism form the basis of a hate crime if Hicks equally denounced all religion? LEVIN: After looking at many posts on his web page, I would say, no.

The Supreme Court has held that abstract ideas that are not directly connected to a crime cannot be used as a basis for punishment. There's free speech. I am very worried also not only about marginalizing the Muslim American community who we've been very supportive of for many years with regard to anti-Muslim prejudice, but also the atheist community, most of which are completely peaceful.

COSTELLO: OK. So, no, I agree with you there. I'm going to bring up another post though since we're talking specifically Facebook at this point. In one point on his Facebook page he defends Muslims, right? He criticizes --

LEVIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: -- Christians. Is that enough to conclude the murders were not motivated by a hate for Muslims?

LEVIN: I think what we have to look at is were there comments or was there a pattern of bias harassment contemporaneous or historically connected to these particular individuals? He is not a member of a hate group. The web page -- I'm sorry, the Facebook page that he has is much more amorphous and has a variety of things and in context I do not think rise to the level of pointing to a hate crime just from that alone.

That is why there's a thorough investigation going on now from the Chapel Hill police department and soon federal authorities who are going to be intervening.

COSTELLO: As you know, there's an enormous amount of outside pressure on authorities to view this as a hate crime. Will that enter into the picture? I know it shouldn't but will it?

LEVIN: Actually, in the FBI guidelines, one of the things that is an indirect indicator, it's not dispositive, is how does the community feel? The issue is according to the FBI guidelines, was a particular criminal incident motivated in whole or in part? So, it doesn't have to be a sole motivation where a reasonable person could conclude that the evidence points to a hate crime.

But, you know, in any of that, what I think we should concentrate on is the horrible anti-Muslim sentiment that is taking place in the United States irrespective of the motive in this particular crime, which when you look at the statements made by the victims, such as Ms. Mohamed who talked about what a blessing this was to grow up in the United States because of the difference of religions and cultures, it brings to me this quote that Hamlet said, when sorrow comes, it comes not as single spies but in battalions.

I think that's what this is. We have a moment where irrespective of motive -- this may have been a troubled individual who is not primarily acting out of hatred. We don't know. But it's a moment where we can step back and say, what kind of country do we want? Can we please stop the mainstreaming of Islamophobic hatred? That is a separate issue and I think that affects the community, because this crime comes at the time of this intense anti-Muslim prejudice which has been mainstream in the cultural and political atmosphere.

When I appeared on Bill Maher and I debated him on Islamophobia, I got more hate mail than I ever got in my 20-year career of tracking hate crime and extremism.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you for appearing with me. I certainly appreciate it. Brian Levin, thank you very much.

LEVIN: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome. Still to come into the NEWSROOM: NBC's investigation into Brian Williams is showing no signs of stopping any time soon. We'll tell you the latest controversy for the former NBC anchor, or I should say, suspended.

I'll be right back.

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