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Terror Group Spreads across the Region; Bitter Cold Impacting Millions; CNN Quiz Show: President's Edition to Air Tonight

Aired February 16, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also new this morning, Egypt launches a wave of air strikes into Libya. The target: the training camps and weapon stockpiles belonging to the terror group ISIS. Also, in western Iraq, one tribal leader says ISIS fighters are gaining ground in Anbar Province and Iraqi troops are in danger of collapse.

CNN's Phil Black joins us now from Irbil in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. Tell us more -- Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. The fight against ISIS in Anbar Province, the west of the country hasn't been going well for some time. The Iraqi army with the help of local Sunni tribes have both really been struggling to slow down ISIS -- they've not made much progress.

But now a Sunni tribal leader from that region has told CNN that the fight against ISIS in Anbar Province hasn't been going well for some time. Iraqi army with help of local Sunni tribes have been struggling to slow down ISIS but have not made much progress. But now a Sunni tribal leader from that region has told CNN that things are really desperate to the point where if those Sunni tribes were to withdraw their support from the Iraqi, he believes the Iraqi military would collapse very quickly.

Now, those tribes are not about to do that. They are fighting for their survival as well but it's a damning assessment. This tribal leader believes the only way to change things is greater international support from the air and on the ground with weapons and perhaps even U.S. troops.

Now, the Iraqi government doesn't want to see U.S. troops on the ground but it does want greater assistance in every sense -- airpower, weapons, intelligence, greater coordination, getting it to where it's needed faster. That's what the Iraqi prime minister says.

We've seen something of a response, I think, from the international coalition. In the last 24 hours, around half of the reported successful air strikes carried out by coalition aircraft have been in the region of Anbar -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Phil Black reporting live from Irbil this morning. Thanks so much.

Let's talk -- where are we going, producers? I'm not clear. All right. Let's bring in Bob Baer right now. He's a former CIA operative and CNN's intelligence and security analyst. Welcome, Bob. Sorry about that. I just wasn't sure where we were going.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: That's ok -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm glad you're here to provide insight. You heard what Phil Black said. What do you think?

BAER: Well, Phil's right. The tribal groups that are fighting on the side of Baghdad are more or less discredited in Anbar Province. The main tribal groups are standing this fight out -- the United States has not reaching out to them. They're not talking to them. The only people that are doing any real fighting are the Shia militias which are backed by Iran. Sunnis call them death squads.

So you're not really seeing a consensus in the Sunni areas of Iraq against ISIS. The policy is going to have to change. That's not a surprise to me that ISIS is gaining ground there.

As for Egypt, the Egyptians are really facing existential threat in Libya. They can't even fly their helicopters close to the border because ISIS has surface-to-air missiles. So this bombardment is just the beginning of something.

And you know, we in the United States have got to get serious about Libya because it is a threat to Europe. It's an easy boat ride to Italy. This is all pretty much a mess -- the whole thing. And I can't tell you where it's going right now.

COSTELLO: So these air strikes -- let's talk about the air strikes that Egypt has conducted. I think they conducted two rounds just within the last several hours. The reason they're doing this, of course, is because ISIS killed 22 Egyptian Christians in the most gruesome way as you might imagine and we're not going to show any of the video or still pictures from that video because I just don't think it's necessary.

So I guess my question is, in light of what you just said about Egypt's military hardware, do you think that these air strikes were remotely effective?

BAER: No, not at all. This is reactive. They hit around Derna -- that's an ISIS base there. These people have their forces dispersed. You can do some damage. But you know, Libya -- it's not even a failed state. It's just complete chaos there.

You know -- will Egypt invade and occupy Libya? If it becomes bad enough they will. But I think the United States has got to step up and find an armed force there to back up the Egyptians. This is no longer about democracy, rule of law, it's an out and out war there which we have to show more leadership.

COSTELLO: So, you know, we often talk about mission creep and now you're talking about maybe the United States conducting air strikes over Libya, over Yemen, over Syria, over Iraq. When does it end? Where does it end? BAER: Well, Carol, you know, exactly. It scares me. But oddly

enough, I read local press obituaries and you're seeing a lot of Gulf Arabs are going into Iraq, they're going into Yemen to fight with Islamic state with al Qaeda. If this spreads to the Gulf, we're in trouble. And that's what we should look about is the speed of this disease and come together with a plan. Like a Manhattan plan how to stop it. I don't know myself but we've got to bring some good minds to it.

COSTELLO: All right. Bob, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the country of Denmark reeling after a homegrown terror attack and now intelligence officials are trying to determine if the shooter had any ties to the United States. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 38 minutes past the hour.

A Ukrainian official says five of his country's security forces have been killed despite a cease-fire that was signed just two days ago. An official said that more than 100 violations of the cease-fire have already taken place as pro-Russian separatists say Ukrainians are also to blame. The pact was supposed to bring ten months of fighting to an end.

The Council on American Islamic relations will urge Americans to reject Islamaphobia today at a press conference in Washington. The event comes after three Muslim students were killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Authorities have yet to announce a motive but investigators say they have not yet found any signs of a hate crime.

In a move that could impact millions of workers, the White House is expected to move ahead with the plan that will allow full-time workers who don't qualify for overtime to get it. As of now, companies can avoid paying overtime to these workers by classifying them as exempt and paying them as salaried employees instead of hourly. The labor department could change how exempt duties are classified.

The nation of Denmark was gripped by fear this weekend as an apparent copycat terrorist mimicked the attacks on the "Charlie Hebdo" offices targeting a cartoonist who depicted the prophet, Muhammad and then shooting at police. And that has led many people to wonder if the United States could be at risk too.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more for from the Pentagon. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, you know, here we are again talking about this. I have to tell you that U.S. officials so far say this may be one of those copycat, one of those so-called lone wolf attacks that we've talked about so often in the past. That's kind of a preliminary assessment from U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials who say for now they don't see any direct connection between this attack in Denmark and the U.S. They don't see any nexus. They don't even think the gunman had a record of traveling to Syria or Iraq or training with extremists. A person who was known to Denmark officials, he had troubles there with law enforcement and now he's been killed.

Two other people killed. Five police officers killed in Denmark after a series of these shootouts. Two men also arrested -- young men, for aiding the alleged gunman and they are being charged as well with murder and attempted murder. So again, another case perhaps, just perhaps at this point, that is being classified as lone wolf attack.

Certainly Danish authorities continuing to investigate and U.S. officials also offering any aid, any assistance they can to Danish authorities and looking at this situation very closely to see what they can learn and if there is indeed more to find out about what happened here and the motive of the gunman -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live from the Pentagon. Thanks so much.

This just into CNN from Libya, Egyptian state media says that country's air force has launched a second round of air strikes. The action coming after video from ISIS shows the beheadings of Egyptian Christians. It starts targeting the city of Derna, a military stronghold in eastern Libya.

Ian Lee is in Egypt this morning. He joins us live from Cairo to tell us more. Hi -- Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: good morning, Carol. What we're hearing from the Egyptian military now is they're saying they can neither confirm nor deny that they carried out these attacks in Libya, the second wave of attacks. They were very quick to announce that they attacked early this morning, that first wave of attacks. They released video showing their F-16s taking off into the night sky to attack Derna. That's one of the ISIS strongholds in Libya. They targeted training facilities and a weapons depot.

Derna is a city that is very close to Europe and very close to Egypt -- about 200 miles both ways. This is a city that is of much concern for Egypt. We know that the Egyptian foreign minister is on his way to the United States. He's going to ask the U.N. Security council to quote, "take responsibility for international security."

What the Egyptians are asking for is the same sort of international coalition that we see in Iraq and Syria also operating in Libya. Egyptian officials also were asking for political and material support from the international community. And this is a growing threat to Egypt.

ISIS in this latest video is making a statement that they are firmly established in Libya and that they are expanding their territorial gains taking advantage of that security and political vacuum that has occurred since the 2011 uprising. Egyptian officials very worried about having ISIS now on their western border as they are fighting them in Sinai right now.

COSTELLO: All right. Ian Lee, reporting live from Cairo this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: massive snow, massive snow removal costs -- the startling price tag next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just checking out the temperature here in New York City. It's nine degrees -- we've made it up to nine degrees and it says it's sunny, Derek Van Dam, which I'm sure is making a huge difference out there.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll take it -- whatever I can. The sun is my only saving grace right now.

Carol -- you have got to see this. We've got Mother Nature actually providing just a spectacular display today. This is an iconic fountain in Bryant Park, Manhattan and this fountain is frozen in time at the moment. Unfortunately all this beauty is providing a lot of pain for this granite structure because every little water drop that comes out of this is freezing and it's adding weight, pound upon pound and it's actually compromising the structural ability of this fountain.

So they're going to actually start chipping away at it. And this fountain usually freezes once or twice during the winter. It's just that the temperatures usually fluctuate allowing for those icicles to eventually melt on their own. It's just that this cold snap that we've had has been so prolonged that it hasn't had an opportunity to melt.

So we see this spectacular display behind us. And this has to be one of the most awesome live shots I've gotten to do because of the sight behind me. And I hope our viewers are enjoying it as much as I am because this thing is actually going to be chipped away very soon here. And it's going to look different in about 24 hours because another two to four inches of snow is headed our way in the Big Apple and Boston.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Oh my gosh, poor Boston.

VAN DAM: I know -- right. Mother Nature just reminding us -- reminding us who is in charge, I guess -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's right -- and she definitely is. Derek Van Dam -- thanks so much.

The bill to remove snow is piling up faster than these record breaking flakes. Snow farms like this one in Boston are maxed out along with government budgets. Millions of dollars down the drain as city after city were forced to shutdown transportation for days.

Let's talk about what this storm is costing city and state governments across the land. Christine Romans is here. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Boston mayor just said in his press conference this morning that they have already blown through their budget and then some -- $35 million to $36 million they've paid in snow removal. They budgeted $18 million. You can see that they'll be running a deficit on that.

And in New York City, where Derek Van Dam just was, the price there is about $1.8 million for every inch of snow. If you're going to have another couple of inches of snow, that's going to be more millions for city coffers and the taxpayers. Now, the cost overall -- this is an estimate for this year -- maybe 1 to $2 billion. That's so far. That's from the firm Planalytics.

But look at last year with $15 billion. This year the storms are really concentrated in New England, in Boston in particular. Last year, remember, they were spread out all over the Midwest, all over the place so the economic impact is a lot bigger last year. This year less impact and more concentrated in Boston.

If you are a tree trimmer, you are probably getting a lot of business. If you're a snowplow driver, you are doing some overtime.

COSTELLO: I know guy who owns a snowplowing company, he made $400,000 in one month.

ROMANS: Good for him. Good for him. But somebody had to pay that. It must be the taxpayers of the city who have to pay for it. So that's how that works.

You know, you look at lost revenue for some people and some companies, also lost wages for some workers especially in Boston who may not have protections -- they don't get paid days off so those are people who really lose.

COSTELLO: All right. Christine Romans, thank you. I appreciate it.

Still to come -- oh, actually, let's check some top stories at 50 minutes past the hour.

A Madison, Alabama police officer charged with assault for this takedown that was caught on police dash cam. It left a 57-year-old grandfather from partially paralyzed. Investigators say police responded after reports of a suspicious person in a north Alabama neighborhood. The man who speaks little English just recently arrived in the United States to visit his family. Now they're suing.

The FAA has taken a big step forward in helping to clear the way for thousands of businesses to operate drones. Under new proposed rules, it will be easier for those who pass a proficiency test and about $200 in fees to get a license. But Amazon says the new proposal basically shoots down its plans. That's because operators would have to keep all drones within eyesight.

This is the Cindy Crawford we're used to seeing -- a flawless supermodel sashaying across the runway. Actually I think she looks just as beautiful here. This is an unretouched image. It's apparently from a photo shoot in 2013 but it caused this big raging debate over what real women look like.

The American version of "Marie Claire" says the photo was leaked after Crawford appeared on the cover of "Marie Clair" -- Mexico in Latin America. The magazine came out and said -- the photo looks -- she looks absolutely beautiful and flawless in the photo although it was never published inside Marie "Claire" at the time. We'll talk more about this later on, on CNN.

Still to come, who will reign supreme in the battle of CNN anchors? A preview of our quiz show just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Six CNN anchors testing their knowledge about our 44 presidents. Here's a behind the scenes look at the CNN "QUIZ SHOW: PRESIDENTS EDITION".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: It's rare that we're all together in one place so it's an interesting dynamic.

Jake Tapper takes this game very seriously.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Martin van Buren.

COOPER: That is correct.

TAPPER: Erin Burnett, John Quincy Berman -- you guys are going down, like the dude President Andrew Jackson shot in that door.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Dead weight is how I would describe it. Dead weight Jake.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Dead weigh Jake.

BERMAN: Anything can happen.

BURNETT: And there's Don and Cuomo -- so there's the testosterone overload.

TAPPER: Look out for Cuomo -- that fancy boy from the governor's mansion.

COOPER: Just nice to see these anchors sweat.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: What competition? I mean the premise of the question is -- there is no competition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I know Anderson is right. It's weird to see all of those anchors in one place -- so much ego in one room. How did the room not explode?

ALYSIN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Not only ego, Type A competitors. I mean it got serious in there.

COSTELLO: Alysin Camerota -- you were teamed up with Jake Tapper.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I was teamed up with Jake Tapper who is a task master, by the way. I kept saying, Jake, its going to be funny. We'll just have quips and I'm sure we'll be humiliated. He said you are studying, are you not, Alysin? He would send me e-mails like "Which president had the most children".

Like quizzing me beforehand like a pop quiz because he would say I hope you're reading books. You are going to take this seriously. Ok. I'll read a book on it.

COSTELLO: Are you still talking to him?

CAMEROTA: I am because I actually I thanked him. I would have been even more humiliated had he not forced me to study a little bit.

COSTELLO: Ok. So this sounds like a kooky idea for CNN, a quiz show. So let's back up and tell us more about the show itself.

CAMEROTA: Ok. It's going to be high stakes competition. That's what you're going to see tonight.

COSTELLO: So what do you win?

CAMEROTA: You win money for your favorite charities.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's great.

CAMEROTA: So Jake and I are playing for Homes for our Troops. They make specially designed homes for severely injured vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. And so these are high stakes. There is a lot of money on line here and, of course, bragging rights, you know, against the other anchors.

COSTELLO: Ok. So I'm going to test your knowledge because you said you were studying.

CAMEROTA: Oh no. Oh, great. I've expunged it all from my brain. Go ahead

COSTELLO: No, you have not. Ok, here it goes.

COSTELLO: During the Civil War Lincoln personally introduced the use of what: A, tank; B, metal helmets; C, machine guns; D, tracer bullets?

CAMEROTA: Machine guns.

COSTELLO: See, I know you studied. They had Gatlin Guns at the time -- right. So it wasn't technically -- but you're right. Ding, ding, ding.

CAMEROTA: They used that question. I would never have known it otherwise. All right. Do you want me to test you?

COSTELLO: Not really but you can.

CAMEROTA: In 1993, which poem did Dr. Maya Angelou at President Clinton's inauguration? On the pulse of morning; on the eve of night; a rock, a river, a tree; the bruising darkness.

You can say a, b, c, or d? That's a lot --

COSTELLO: A rock, a river, a tree.

CAMEROTA: No, on the pulse of the morning.

COSTELLO: I always lose the Jeopardy competition with my husband, too. Now that you've shamed me Alysin.

CAMEROTA: This is how the whole show is tonight. So you're going to have to tune in because you can -- the answers, I mean the questions are so tough it's impossible to know the answers I thought.

COSTELLO: I can't wait to watch it because it looked like you guys had so much fun. And people will learn something because I love presidential trivia. And I say that because you're here.

Alysin Camerota.

CAMEROTA: I think you'll like it.

COSTELLO: I think I will too.

You can watch CNN's QUIZ SHOW it tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. Another hour of NEWSROOM straight ahead.