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ISIS Fires on Air Base; FBI Opens Probe; Hernandez Trial

Aired February 13, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here we go. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for tuning in on this Friday.

We have to start with what is fast becoming this incredibly dangerous situation of some 320 American troops based in Iraq. ISIS has activated sleeper cells inside of the town if al Baghdadi, And just in the last couple of hours, this strategic move has helped them take over 90 percent of this town. Ninety percent.

Why is this so disturbing, other than that number? I want you to take a look at the map here and you can just see the sheer proximity here. This town, this is just about nine miles from this air base there on the left side of your screen. That air base is home to some 320 Americans who are there training Iraqi military pilots. And the U.S. says it has no plans to evacuate them.

This huge strategic gain as the Pentagon admits ISIS is now gaining a foothold beyond Iraq, beyond Syria. Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan now seeing a rise in ISIS militants. The reason? Deflections by the Taliban. It's a rebranding of sorts as Taliban members realize fighting under the black flag of ISIS will get them more money and more recruits.

Let's go straight to Phil Black, who's in northern Iraq for us right now.

And, Phil, when we look to the map and you can see how close al Baghdadi was to that U.S. training base, how close is ISIS to that base right now?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pretty close earlier in the day, Brooke. We understand from Iraqi officials and the U.S. military there are some eight ISIS members attacked or attempted to attack the air base. Iraqi officials say they were all suicide bombers. That they were all stopped. They were all killed. And the U.S. military makes the point that this is a sprawling base, it is a very large facility, and that U.S. military personnel that you mention, they were many -- some kilometers or miles away from the point of the attack and never at any risk.

But this attack became possible because of that progress that ISIS has made in the last 24 hours in that nearby town that you mentioned, al Baghdadi, now controlled 90 percent. It is Iraqi officials who believe they've suddenly surged in this town, suddenly making so much progress because they have activated sleeper cells, as they say. The air base nearby has consistently come under attack in the past, but now this very more - much more established ISIS presence certainly is providing a more continued, more sustained security threat, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, Phil, from the ISIS progress that you're just outlining, can you just compare that to where you are there in northern Iraq and how that situation differs from there?

BLACK: It's a tale of two regions in Iraq at the moment. Al Baghdadi and the region around that air base, Anbar province, the west of Iraq, it is an area where ISIS has continued to maintain its ability to go on the offensive, where the Iraqi army, the local city tribes that have been battling to stop them, haven't taken away that ability, haven't been able to contain them, stop that advance. Whereas here in the north of the country, the local Kurdish fighters that have been battling ISIS, have been able to stop ISIS, roll back some of their territory, a significant part of their territory really, but ISIS still contain -- controls big towns and cities here and it's still able to lash out on a daily basis.

So, still very much a threat. A slightly more contained one, but it is a situation here that is still going to continue for some time yet because dislodging ISIS from these towns and cities will not be easy. It will take time. And it's going to take really the Iraqi army to step up and do that. That's the same Iraqi army that's been trained at that air base in the west of the country and clearly is not anywhere near the point of readiness to be fit for purpose for such an offensive operation, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Talked to a U.S. Army veteran not too long ago who basically helped build that army base back in 2003 and he is stunned to see what's now happened here in 2015.

Phil Black, thank you so much. We'll share that conversation with you later in the show.

But let's stay on the ISIS threat. What is the present danger to Americans at this particular base and how might these American troops react if the militants continue to encroach upon this base.

Joining me now, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann, retired U.S. Army special forces and military advisor for the Concerned Veterans for America.

Colonel, welcome.

LT. COL. SCOTT MANN, U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES (RET.): Hey, Brooke. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Thank you for coming on.

You know we have these 320 individuals who are stationed there as quote/unquote advisers. But I just have to ask you, I mean, they would be combat-ready, correct? If ISIS were to get up to those gates and beyond, surely they would be poised to fight back.

MANN: Yes, absolutely. I mean these guys are adviser, but, you know, advising is one of the most dangerous jobs in the military because of the fact that you are up close and personal to the action, but you're having to work by, with, and through, you know, indigenous forces in some rough places.

But I think what concerns me more than anything is not that they're not ready, but it's the fact that we're just investing our efforts in the Iraqi military only and we're not engaging at a community level, and especially in a Sunni-dominated area, that's how ISIS is able to exploit things and get in close to the base. The fact that we're not engaging at a community level really isolates us.

BALDWIN: Be more specific, colonel. How do you mean? How should we be engaging community-wise?

MANN: Well -- well, one of the things that we've learned is that, you know, just working with the military as an adviser in a place like Iraq where you have a sincere distrust of the military by the Sunni population because it is a Shia dominated military, the fact of the matter is that ISIS exploits that trust deficit within the Sunni populations. And if we don't put our advisers out at a community level, at least working with the Sunnis and those areas as well that are trying to resist, it makes it really easy for ISIS to encircle these bases. We self-isolate when we only work with the military.

BALDWIN: You know, I was hearing though from a general, who's not coming on the show, but he was just sort of saying that the acts of ISIS really, with regard to these communities and the children and the elderly who they are killing with these suicide bombs is just cowardly. So how capable, really, are these ISIS militants here?

MANN: Well, I mean, they're very capable, but they're also - you know, they've very diabolical and there are a lot of folks at the community level who want to push back against them, who do want to resist. In fact, in a lot of these tribal areas, look, this is the place where ISIS likes to work. They like to go into damaged communities where clan and tribal honor are at play and they can kind of co-op the system. Whether that's Afghanistan, whether that's Yemen or Iraq, they like to go to the tribal areas.

But, frankly, tribes are pretty autonomous and they will push back and they will stand up, but we're going to have to work with them in those areas and that's something we're not doing right now. Even President Obama's request for authorization for force, if you look at it, it's just to work with the military. And again, there's a huge trust deficit between the Sunnis and the military. And until we close that trust deficit, we're putting our guys at risk by isolated them on these bases.

BALDWIN: Colonel Mann, let me ask you, too, about something that -- it's frightening because we're hearing about the rise of ISIS in neighboring countries, right? So now we're no longer talking about Iraq and Syria. As I mentioned before, members of the Taliban are apparently defecting and rebranding themselves and swearing allegiance to the black ISIS flag. You see the different countries on the map here where ISIS is appearing. Do you expect we will see more of this? MANN: I do. And I'll tell you why, because these guys understand the

importance of narrative and story. They understand that narrative, if properly spun, you know, that Islam is under attack by the west, for example, and that it's the duty of every Muslim to defend it, they can push that narrative all over the world and it resonates. And one of the things that we're going to have to get our head around is, we've got to decide that we're going to try to win, that we're going to try to defeat ISIS and stop just kind of dabbling in it and we're going to have to start working in the realm of narrative and story in a way --

BALDWIN: You think air strikes are dabbling? I'm just - I just have to push you a little bit on that.

MANN: I'm sorry?

BALDWIN: You think air strikes are dabbling?

MANN: Yes, I do, because I think all that air strikes really do, if that's your singular strategy in an honor based clan society, is you invoke tribal revenge back against you. You know, we're going to have to push a narrative and story out there that competes with what narrative ISIS is pushing out there, which is basically Islam is under attack. And doing air strikes in retaliation for that in the tribal society, when we have no local presence, that just plays into their narrative every single time.

BALDWIN: Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann, appreciate you. Thank you.

MANN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the Feds now looking into whether the murders of these three young Muslim students near UNC Chapel Hill were motivated by hate. You're about to hear how one of the victims felt about American in her own words.

Plus, a dramatic moment in the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez. The judge ruling today that the jury can see a video of Hernandez just after the murder of his friend. Hear what he was doing at the time.

And much more here of Brian Williams' stories, raising eyebrows from the pope to the Berlin Wall, to what he says a Navy SEAL gave him from the bin Laden raid in Pakistan. Stay here. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

First it was assisting in the investigation and now the FBI has opened its own investigation to see whether the murders of those three Muslim students in North Carolina, whether it should be labeled a hate crime. Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister Rezan, all went to undergrad at North Carolina State. And a local newspaper says 5,500 mourners packed that campus last night just to grieve, to take a moment and to grieve for these victims who were all shot in the head Tuesday. Police have not ruled out a hate crime, but they say at this point it appears the suspected shooter here, Craig Hicks, went after the students over a parking dispute.

And as so many people are questioning that motive, the certainty in all of this is just how monumental a loss this is to friends and family and this community. Last summer Yusor Abu-Salha, a newlywed, just about to start at UNC dental school, recorded a conversation on NPR's story core, and her words are patriotic yet so painful now to hear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSOR ABU-SALHA, KILLED TUESDAY, WAS RECORDED LAST SUMMER (voice over): Growing up in America has been such a blessing and, you know, although in some ways I do stand out, such as, you know, the hijab I wear on my head, the head covering. There's still so many ways that I feel so embedded in the fabric that is, you know, our culture. And that's the beautiful thing here is that it doesn't matter where you come from. There's so many different people from so many different places of different backgrounds and religions but here we're all one, one culture, and it's beautiful to see people of, you know, different areas interacting and being family and being, you know, one community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yusor, one of the victims here.

My next guest knew Yusor well. Walid Nazari was her husband's best friend. Deah Barakat was her husband. He was in his second year of UNC dental school.

Walid, thank you so much for joining me and I am so sorry.

WALID NAZARI, BEST FRIEND OF MUSLIM STUDENT KILLED: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: Let me just talk about what happened last night. I know the funeral was yesterday and I understand you and a group of friends hung out, you were telling stories about Deah. Can you just take me inside that room?

NAZARI: Yes. So basically we all got together at one of our friend's houses, and rather than mourn the loss of Deah, we wanted to cherish his life and the good times that we had with him. So we all sat in a circle around the room and just shared different stories that we had about Deah and the fun times that we had. It even brings a smile to my face now thinking about the things that were said and we tried to remember those good times rather than what had happened a couple of days ago.

BALDWIN: Well, this next story I heard from you definitely made me smile because I understand you two were inseparable in college. It was basketball that bonded you. And you have a story about a pair of pretty fancy basketball shoes that Deah had and he wanted your signature?

NAZARI: Yes. So it - it was kind of early in playing kind of like tournament basketball type things and he walked into - he walked into the library and he had these new pair of shoes -- brand-new pair, probably $150 shoes that he had and he said, do you like them? And I was like, yes, they look really nice. And he said, can you sign them for me? And my first reaction was no, not to sign them because I didn't want to mess up the shoe. You know, it was very nice shoes. And I was like, you'd probably want your favorite basketball player or, you know, a local celebrity to sign these shoes, you know, that way you'll have them forever. And he said, well, you're my favorite basketball player and then you're my local celebrity. And at that time, you know, it was -- it was definitely something that I didn't expect him to say. And that was kind of early into our friendship, like when we got -- became really, really good friends. And it was - it was something amazing that I'll never forget.

BALDWIN: I love that story. I love that story and I also love - I talked to a number of family members and friends who keep talking about the love that he had for his wife. And you were there being his dear friend. You were there from the get-go, right? I mean you watched this relationship blossom. And he told you at first that he was - he was talking to a girl, right?

NAZARI: Yes. He - so - I mean anyone that knows Deah knows that he would never talk to girls on any type of level other than maybe a hi or a bye there just because that's the kind of guy he was. He wasn't super outgoing when it came to thinks like that. But -- so he told me in the car after lunch one day and he had mentioned that, he said, hey, I'm talking to a girl. And I was in - I didn't believe it when he first said it. I was like, you, talking to a girl? But he said, well, I really didn't talk to a girl. He said I talked to the father of a girl. And I was like, OK, that sounds more like Deah. And he was just - he was giddy and he just kept stuttering and telling me all the things about Yusor. And I was like, you don't even know the girl that well. He was like just by -- just by seeing her smile and everything that she's done, you know, he felt very happy with her.

BALDWIN: And so, what? Weeks later -- they dated. The big wedding full of love and laughter, I understand that was in December. So it was pretty quick.

NAZARI: Yes. What was that, sorry?

BALDWIN: It was pretty quick, this courtship.

NAZARI: Yes. It was - yes. Yes, I mean, with our -- the way our religion is, it's how it works usually. Dating isn't really something that happens with us because usually we go directly to the father and from there things move on.

BALDWIN: Let me just pivot, Walid, to really the big question I know that even is asking is the why. Why did this happen, these three senseless murders? I know one of Deah's neighbors spoke and said that this suspect had a lot of encounters with a number of different people at this apartment complex. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMANTHA MANESS, NEIGHBOR OF SUSPECT AND STUDENTS KILLED: I have seen and heard him be very unfriendly to a lot of people in this community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, I mean, he yelled at everybody, regardless of race or religion, yes, yes.

MANESS: He did. Yes. Equal opportunity anger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Equal opportunity anger is what she said. So did Deah ever mention this guy, Craig Hicks, to you? You knew there was some kind of issue over parking.

NAZARI: Yes. There was - there was an issue with the parking, mainly because usually when - and, I mean, we didn't know what extent it was when we came over. All Deah would say to us normally was, you know, just make sure you don't take these spaces. This is where we can park. And we never had an issue with it. We never had any problem with, you know, wherever we had to park. Even if we had to move the car we had - any time we had to move it, we'd go ahead and move it. It wasn't a problem to us.

BALDWIN: Walid, this is your best friend. What does justice look like for you?

NAZARI: On that, I just have to - I have to let the FBI and the judicial system do what they need to do. But I just think personally, this is just my view of it, that to take three lives away over parking disputes is rather heinous, and I don't agree with that. And I don't - I don't understand the thought process that he had, nor will I ever. So, again, just want to leave it at that.

BALDWIN: Walid Nazari, again, our condolences to you, the friends, the community, the family. Thank you so much.

NAZARI: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: Let's move on to President Obama. Live pictures here. Silicon Valley. Palo Alto. We're watching and waiting for the president. He's going to be speaking at this -- you see the sign, seminar (ph) on cyber security and consumer protection. But here's the thick. Not just who's going, who's not going to be there. Three of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, turned down the president's invitation. We'll tell you why. We'll bring that to you.

Plus, was this the murder weapon or related to the case at all? New developments today in the murder trial of former Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to get to this key ruling today in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, the former New England Patriot player. The judge sided with prosecutors saying the prosecution absolutely can show this video of the former NFL star dismantling - he was taking apart his cell phone in this police parking lot the day after Odin Lloyd was killed. Here's part of what the prosecutor told the judge. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM MCCAULEY, ASSISTANT DICTRICT ATTORNEY: The door, the driver's door is open. He then sits down. He dismantles the phone. He breaks it down into three pieces, the phone, the battery, and the cover taken apart. He then, being a lawyer, goes to the trunk, the trunk's open, and then the back seat's open as well. He's recovering something, but ultimately you see him hand a different phone to Mr. Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez then takes that phone and begins to operate it, you know, texting, dialing, putting it up to his ear. His now has his phone broken down. At some point --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's clear that it's a different phone that he's operating?

MCCAULEY: Absolutely, your honor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Want to talk about this with my legal panel, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson and Esther Panitch.

Joey, I see you, so let me just begin with you.

When we talk about how this is a win for the prosecution showing this video of this dismantling of this phone, why is that key?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It is huge. It's beyond key because, think about this, and I think the judge got it right on the legal issue because it comes down to expectation of privacy. You're out in a public area. They didn't go inside his home and take any photos or surveillance. He's right out there in public. So I think the legal issue, she got it right.

Now, what's the effect of that? I'm Aaron Hernandez. I did nothing wrong. I was merely present, right? Because, remember, under this joint venture theory the prosecution doesn't have to show, Brooke, that he pulled the trigger, you know, that he actually did the crime but that he actively participated. So his whole argument is, look, I'm merely present, merely present. You're saying I'm there? That's not enough legally. But if I was only there and had nothing else to do, what am I calling my co-defendant for and what am I not only calling him for, but why am I destroying the phone? At the end of the day, you have injuries that have common sense. And it may be circumstantial, but, boy, oh, boy, Brooke, as you sit there and listen to this, and Esther I see you there too, the reality is, you know what, what else are you going to think, that he's guilty.

BALDWIN: She's nodding. She's nodding. It is -- it is huge. But what about, Esther, what about the Hernandez attorney also unsuccessful in arguing that he had this right to expect privacy. You know, that he was with his attorney, in his attorney's car. The judge says, not privilege. Why not?

ESTHER PANITCH, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's a Hail Mary what he was trying to do is. He had no other argument. He needed to make some argument to preserve the issue for appeal in the event that Aaron Hernandez is convicted.

He had no expectation of privacy. You're in a police department parking lot. And if you think your -- you know, where else would you be surveilled but for a police parking lot. So, you know, he had to make the argument, but it's not an effective argument at all. And again, to Joey's point, the prosecution will harp on this as consciousness of guilt. If you have someone who runs away after a crime, even if they were only merely present, it shows consciousness of guilt. Calling your co-defendants, all the things Joey described, fit right into that prosecution theory. Why else would you do it, if not that you were guilty of the crimes for which you are charged.

BALDWIN: Yes, and I think to Joey's point, it's just worth reminding everyone, in the state of Massachusetts, right, you don't have to have pulled the trigger but as long as you were taking part, that then would qualify.

What about, Joey, in testimony today, the whole thing has been there is no murder weapon, right? So the state trooper identified that there was a small handgun that was found in this wooded area near that industrial park, near that murder scene. Prosecutors are not saying it is the gun, just that it looks like the gun they cannot find. If it's not the weapon, why was it brought up at all?

JACKSON: Listen, first of all, I'm less concerned about that if I'm on the defense team because you're in a secluded area in an industrial park. There are lots of guns presumably that could be there. There are lots of tire tracks that could be there, Brooke.