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Williams Again Under Scrutiny; Blizzard Watches for the Weekend; American Sniper Trial Continues Today; NYC Gearing Up for NBA All Star Weekend; ISIS on the Move

Aired February 13, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

What began as an investigation into Brian Williams' comments about a 2003 Iraq War mission has grown and now a senior NBC source telling CNN that an internal investigation is, quote, nowhere near done. While NBC is staying mum on specifics, questions have reportedly been raised about Williams' claims of being embedded with SEAL Team 6, the elite team that killed Osama bin Laden. But a special operations command source tells CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, quote, "we do not embed journalists with that unit or any other unit that conducts counterterrorism missions. Bottom line, no." CNN's John Berman has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): May 2011, an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter is engulfed in flames after Navy SEAL Team 6 successfully killed Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The special ops team set fire to the stealth aircraft after it crashed in this courtyard, an attempt to destroy the helicopter's critical technology. In an interview with David Letterman in January of 2013, Brian Williams had this to say about a piece of the burned out wreckage.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS: About six weeks after the bin Laden raid, I got a white envelope. And in it was a thank you note, unsigned, and attached to it was a piece of the fuselage. The fuselage from the blown up Blackhawk in that courtyard. And I don't know how many pieces survived, but I -

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Wow! Sent to you by one of the --

WILLIAMS: Yes, one of my friends.

BERMAN: Those friends, according to Williams, members of the highly secretive SEAL Team 6. But that relationship is being questioned by members of the special operations community and could be one of the things an internal NBC investigation is focused on. In 2011, Williams described a long relationship with SEAL Team 6 when talking about the bin Laden raid in another Letterman appearance.

WILLIAMS: We have some idea which of our special operations teams carried this out, and it happens to be a team I flew into Baghdad with on the condition that I would never speak of what I saw on the aircraft, the aircraft we were on, what they were carrying, and who they were after. But all of it was shared with me. It's common when covering a war because to reveal that would be to endanger Americans.

BERMAN: Then, in 2012, during yet another Letterman appearance that perhaps raises the most questions, Williams goes further.

WILLIAMS: I have a throat cutter on my desk at 30 Rock, which is helpful in staff meetings. It just sits there. It was sent to me by a member of SEAL team --

LETTERMAN: You say a throat cutter?

WILLIAMS: Yes. SEAL Team 6. I flew into Baghdad, invasion plus three days, on a blackout night at night with elements of SEAL Team 6. And I was told not to make any eye contact with them or initiate any conversation. It was like horses in the gate right before a mission. This guy had a wrist band with his human target that he was after when we landed. It was one of the members of the deck of cards, one of the leadership targets. They are amped. This is the best we have. And until he reached into my box of Wheat Thins, my last remaining American food, it could have been a Wheat Thin commercial because this -- this hand the size of a canned ham goes in. I lost half of my net supply of Wheat Thins. But then I chatted him up and admired a knife as part of his utility belt.

LETTERMAN: Right.

WILLIAMS: Darned it if that knife didn't show up at my office a couple of weeks later.

LETTERMAN: Oh, man.

BERMAN: Whether Brian Williams will be allowed back at that office is now being decided by NBC.

John Berman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: CNN did reach out to NBC regarding this story and a spokeswoman declined to offer us any comment at all. We'll keep you posted though.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, find your valentine and snuggle up. The coldest air of the winter is coming, and Boston may get hit again. Oh, Jennifer Gray, that's just wrong.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is just wrong, Carol. Temperatures, 5 degrees below zero in some places this morning, and it is only going to get colder. Add to that a blizzard watch in place. We'll explain all the details after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Blizzard watches are bombarding New England once again. With mailboxes already buried, one creative Bruins fan is making sure his valentines can get delivered this weekend. Pretty clever, right? Jokes aside, many really aren't feeling the love. They're just - well, they're kind of sick of it now, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't see anybody. They can't walk around. You can't drive around. I mean, somebody's got to do something about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I don't know who. Maybe God? I don't know. We'll ask.

I've got one of my producer's moms, Kathleen Prudel, on the phone. She lives in Cranston, Rhode Island. That's about 40 minutes outside of Boston.

Kathy, I'm going to talk to you in just a minute. But first I'm going to go to Jennifer Gray so that you can be well informed about what is coming your way. So, Jennifer, please inform Kathleen.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's like deja vu all over again. It is now the top snowiest February ever on record here in Boston, and we already have a blizzard watch that we do have in place. This is beginning on Saturday night through Monday it will go in effect. It's anywhere from the cape all the way up through coastal Maine. We could see gusts up to 70 miles per hour. Also gusts up to 60 miles per hour in inland locations and the gusts up to 40 across inland portions of Maine.

Very cold air is going to stay in place. We are going to see the snow begin during the day on Saturday. The heaviest snowfall will be late Saturday night through Sunday morning. Once that low crosses over and we are going to see it taper off by the time we get to Sunday afternoon. But the temperatures are going to stay cold and the winds are going to stay very, very strong across all of New England.

As far as snowfall totals, 10 to 12 inches around Boston. Coastal Maine could see more than a foot. And, of course, if we see another 10 to 12 inches, this could be one of the top three snowiest seasons ever in Boston.

Here are the wind gusts. Now we're looking at 60 to 70 mile per hour gusts right around the cape. Boston could see 40 to 50-mile-per-hour gusts. And then places around Connecticut and even western Mass could see gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

High temperatures in the single digits and the teens all the way through the weekend. Bangor, Maine, Boston, your high temperature will get up to 27 on Saturday. That's the warmest of the next four.

Carol. COSTELLO: OK, so, Jennifer, Kathleen's probably not liking you too

much right at the moment, but you understand that.

GRAY: Just the messenger.

COSTELLO: Just the messenger. I know.

So, Kathleen, and as I mentioned, Kathleen's daughter works on my team on CNN. She's a wonderful writer/producer, so we're very proud of your daughter, Kathy.

KATHLEEN PRUDEL, CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND RESIDENT (via telephone): Oh, thank you.

COSTELLO: She's a good -- she's a great woman.

OK, so let's talk about the mood in Rhode Island. So you're --

PRUDEL: Oh, I'll just tell you, she's the result of -- well, I met my husband during the blizzard of '78, so Bethanie (ph) came later on.

COSTELLO: So that's one good thing that can come out of the storm. But you told me earlier that this storm is much different from '78 when it comes to gauging people's moods.

PRUDEL: Yes. I think like the topic of every conversation, no matter where you go is, oh, no, more snow. I'm sick of it. And a lot of people that I come in contact with, they're just - they're very moody. And a couple of times I said, well, we have no control over the weather. I met my husband during the blizzard of '78 and I have two beautiful girls and you need to make the most of it. And one person said to me, oh, how can you even say that?

COSTELLO: So -

PRUDEL: You do. You don't have any control over the weather. I must say, you know, I can't go out and walk and do the things I normally do because it's pretty bad out there and I am getting a bit stir crazy, but what are you going to do? It's New England.

COSTELLO: I don't know. You said before people -- you said before people are pretty surly though. They -- at first they were kind of nice and helpful, but now the mood has changed.

PRUDEL: Yes. And it has. And my husband and I can't even seem to contact anybody to do shoveling or snowplowing. So he's been out there doing it himself. During the blizzard of '78, and I remember distinctly, everybody was helping everybody, going to neighbor's, you know, houses, making sure they were OK. You didn't have to try to hunt down somebody to shovel your driveway. And my husband and I, we're not spring chickens, and he's out there shoveling away.

COSTELLO: Well, at least you're keeping your spirits up and I'm sure your neighbors will appreciate it one day. Thank you so much for being with me, Kathy Prudel.

PRUDEL: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Hang in there.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Voodoo hell, the apocalypse. Those are just some of the references made by Eddie Ray Routh after he was arrested in the shooting death of '"American sniper"' Chris Kyle. This was the video shown in the courtroom yesterday. This is police chasing down Routh. He's actually in Chris Kyle's truck. You can see the police car tries to ram him from the side to stop the pickup truck, but Routh keeps on going. At times, speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. Finally, the truck simply stopped and then police spent hours trying to talk Routh out of that pickup truck. Now the way this chase ended, and you see the ending right here, is they managed to talk him out of the truck. He gets out. Lies down on the ground and says something like, you know, I took some souls and I'm going to take some more.

There's also very interesting dash cam video that is sure to be shown in court, so let's bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's in Stephenville, Texas where the trial is taking place. He'll tell us more about that part of the chase. Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Imagine all of this is transpiring after Eddie Ray Routh had shot and killed Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield and stopped at a Taco Bell for a burrito before driving back to his home. Before that high speed chase ensued, officers spent about 30 minutes trying to talk him out of Chris Kyle's truck that he had taken from the gun range and driven to his own house. In the course of that conversation, it was a strange conversation to say the least, where as the officers are trying to get him out of the car and diffuse the situation, you hear Eddie Ray Routh say, "Satan is walking on the earth with us right now. I don't know if I'm going insane. Is it voodoo that is upon us?" And then this high speed chase ensues which lasts about ten minutes or so, at times approaching 100 miles an hour. All of this, of course, of crucial evidence because what is at play here and what is at stake here is the mental state of Eddie Ray Routh. In the state of Texas, the prosecution needs to say that Eddie Ray Routh knew right from wrong. And if the defense attorneys are pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, if they can prove and convince this jury that Eddie Ray Routh did not know what he did was wrong, then he would be found not guilty by reason of insanity. But prosecutors saying that the very fact that Eddie Ray Routh took off on this high speed chase, was trying to evade police, proves that he knew what he did was wrong. Very dramatic testimony and evidence that was presented yesterday. This is a glimpse of that day where Chris Kyle was killed that we've never seen or heard before. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right. Ed Lavandera reporting live from Texas this morning. Thank you. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: The stars are shining bright this weekend. Some of the NBA's biggest players taking over New York for All-Star Weekend. It's a battle for bragging rights between the eastern and western conferences as fan favorites take the court. The lineup for Sunday's big game includes LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and the 'Splash Brothers': Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

To talk about this and more, I'm joined by someone who knows all about the game. Former NBA player and NBA TV analyst, Rick Fox. Hi, Rick.

RICK FOX, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm glad you're here.

FOX: It's good to be here.

COSTELLO: It's nice to have you here. Before we get to the All-Stars, I just wanted to ask you about UNC coach Dean Smith, he died recently, and you played for him. What do you remember most?

FOX: I remember a friend, a mentor, a teacher, and someone that touched a lot of lives throughout the course of his. This past week, we've had an opportunity to hear some of those stories about his fight to keep justice and equality and also the game of basketball in the forefront of everyone's minds, because it's a tool for not only raising men like myself, but also just teaching life skills.

COSTELLO: Are there more like him?

FOX: I hope so. I sure do. He'll be missed. I think of Coach Krzyzewski now at Duke. He's seeming to have the same impact as he's moved on in his career successfully raising quality men that go on to do successful things in life.

COSTELLO: Let's move on to the All-Star game now. Is this a game that players enjoy or is it just a distraction for them, do you think?

FOX: I think it's a combination of both. I think the new individuals who are maybe playing for the first time can't help but be excited about the opportunity. Individuals like LeBron James that have been veterans of this game understand the off-the-court aspects, the entertainment value, the brand opportunities for them to connect to their sponsorships. I think in general, the NBA is a brand friendly league, and so therefore this is definitely a great opportunity to showcase all of our talent.

COSTELLO: Talking about brand friendly league, there's a fashion show, an NBA fashion show. It's produced by LeBron James' production company. It boasts the NBA look. What exactly is that?

FOX: Well, I think it's a personal look. It's ever-developing. We explore that on After Dark, a show we do on Tuesday night at 10:30. Kind of looks at -- highlights the city, as well as the talented people that work and live in each of these cities like New York here. LeBron has been an established individual, but I think NBA players, in general, take pride in their style. COSTELLO: (Laughing.) I'm looking at you. You look pretty stylish

yourself this morning.

FOX: I hope so. We're in New York City.

COSTELLO: Why aren't you in the fashion show?

FOX: Well, I've been busy doing my own version of a show here called After Dark.

COSTELLO: Oh, that.

FOX: So it's kind of - Yeah, that's captured all of my attention and I've been focused on that in particular. I hope the fans tune in on Tuesday night after the All-Star Weekend. We come in right after Shaq and (INAUDIBLE). You know, Shaquille O'Neal, he has his show and After Dark will showcase New York and a lot of exciting people that live and work here.

COSTELLO: Well, I can't wait. Rick Fox, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

FOX: Thank you.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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COSTELLO: ISIS on the move, taking control of a town in northern Iraq, dangerously close to Iraqi and U.S. forces. What is the plan in place to stop ISIS from advancing? Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. More than 300 U.S. troops are on the al-Asad airbase helping to train Iraqi forces. Together, they have repelled a wave of suicide bombers trying to breach the airbase. These suicide bombers; members of ISIS.

CNN's Phil Black is also in northern Iraq, not far from the fighting. He has more for you.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this location the west of Iraq, al- Baghdadi, there's been fierce fighting there over the last 24 hours. And what we're now hearing from Iraqi officials is that the entire town is now under the control of ISIS. It is yet another piece of land that they have grabbed. It would seem successfully in a region where they have maintained considerable military momentum against the Iraqi army and local Sunni tribes.

Concerning, because it is so close to the Iraqi capital, but when it comes to this particular town, it's just also ten miles from the al- Asad airbase, which is where hundreds of U.S. military personnel are involved with training the Iraqi military. The Iraqi army.