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Twenty Four Violent Attacks Since 2010; Giuliani Receives Death Threats After Remarks; Republicans Wage War Over High School History Class; Three British Girls May Join ISIS In Syria; From Private School To The Killing Fields; Bill O'Reilly Fires Back At "Mother Jones" Magazine; New Questions Arise Over Woman's Death

Aired February 21, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

CLINT WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're not giving him any sort of the benefit of the doubt. Some people are mad at NASCAR.

Let's take a look. Someone left the driver a message on the window of his garage. It has Busch's number 41 but you see written there, Fredricka, Ray Rice.

Now we know he's the former Ravens running back who was suspended by the NFL after punching his then fiancee in an elevator. Now meantime, his fans are rallying to support him.

Look at Scott and Karen Kissler posted on his Busch's Facebook page, NASCAR has sadly underestimated the fans you have to support you. This will be the first 500 I have missed in 20 years, if you're not in it. NASCAR has made a bad mistake.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. All right, some very strong feelings there. We will see because this is far from over.

WIRE: Just getting started.

WHITFIELD: All right, Clint Wire, thanks so much. Good to see you. Appreciate it.

All right, so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it all starts right now.

Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, ISIS flaunting fire power in a new video.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I counted at least 35 M-16 assault rifles made in the United States.

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WHITFIELD: What we can learn from these pictures and why it gives another insight into the challenges of battling ISIS.

Plus, quote, "They were after me, and I got them," end quote. Friends tell police that's how the man accused of gunning down a Las Vegas mother and a so-called road rage incident bragged about the shooting. Plus --

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SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I think it's a mistake to question people's motives.

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WHITFIELD: Rand Paul is saying Rudy Giuliani's comments were a mistake, but Giuliani not backing down. We'll talk about the sticky mess Republicans are now in. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right, hello again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. American-made weapons appear to be falling right into the hands of ISIS fighters in Iraq.

Newly released video apparently showing militants attacking an Iraqi military post in Anbar Province, seizing dozens of weapons, M-16s and heavy machine guns.

Also new this week, the U.S. and Iraqi army are planning a big offensive to take back Iraq's second largest city from ISIS. It was just last June when Iraqi forces dropped their weapons and abandoned their post as ISIS militants landed in Mosul.

But there was a battle for a nearby strategic dam that involved dozens of airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition forces. CNN's Erin McPike is live from a very snowy White House with the very latest. So Erin, what is the Pentagon saying about this military campaign?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, overall, U.S. officials think that they are ahead of where they anticipated they would be in the larger military effort against ISIS now, specifically, with Mosul.

This target date of trying to take back Mosul starting in April or May is tentative and it is dependent largely on how prepared they think that Iraqi security forces are.

That is a critical point to make because the new defense secretary, Ash Carter, is traveling overseas this weekend. He is in Afghanistan and he largely kicked this decision to the Iraqis. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: That is one that will be Iraqi-led and the U.S. supported. And it's important that it be launched at a time when it can succeed, and so I think the important thing is that it will -- it get done when it can be done successfully. And I -- even if I knew exactly when this was going to be, I wouldn't tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Just keep in mind, Fred, that even though there is no doubt that the Iraqis are improving, there is still deep skepticism about how much they can handle, and how quickly. WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike, thank you so much from a very snowy Washington. We'll talk more about the snow, as well, that is going to be hitting a good part of the country with our Ivan Cabrera, next.

Also, a new government intelligence report warns of armed extremists in the U.S. ready to attack police and go after government buildings. But the danger has nothing to do with foreign terror groups like ISIS.

Rather, the concern is over more attacks like one at a courthouse north of Atlanta last year. Look at this map from the Department of Homeland Security. There have been at least 24 of these attacks in the U.S. since 2010.

And some federal and local law enforcement groups view the threat as equal to and in some cases greater than ISIS and al Qaeda. CNN's Nick Valencia is with us now. So you covered that shootout last year.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was there.

WHITFIELD: And when we hear the Department of Homeland Security talk about domestic terrorism growing, who are they talking about exactly?

VALENCIA: They're talking about a myriad of groups, really people that adhere to militant ideology, really hate ideology and they say the Department of Homeland Security says that there could be hundreds of thousands of sovereign citizens in the United States ready to attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): From California to Florida, all across the United States, sporadic attacks on law enforcement by sovereign citizen extremists. A new intelligence estimate circulated this month at the Department of Homeland Security puts a focus on domestic terror threats.

MICHAEL STEINBACH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI: And unfortunately, there's a number of those throughout the United States that we have to be concerned about.

VALENCIA: Deadly plots like this one last year in Coupling, Georgia, armed with several explosives, smoke grenades and plenty of ammunition. Police said Dennis Marx showed up ready to kill.

Deputies shot and killed Marx after he tried to drive his SUV into the courthouse. The assistant director tells CNN there may be thousands of others out there like Marx ready to attack.

MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: We have been talking about the international terrorism threat, but there is also domestic groups that are just concerning that we worry about here in the United States.

VALENCIA: A recent survey of state and local law enforcement officers listed sovereign citizen terrorists ahead of foreign Islamic terror groups like ISIS and domestic militia groups as the top domestic threat. Mark Potok from the Southern Poverty Law Center says by some estimates there are 300 sovereign citizens in the United States today.

POTOK: Their beliefs go back 20, 25 years, or even further, and essentially, they believe that the federal government has no jurisdiction over them.

VALENCIA: The latest DHS report counted 24 violence sovereign citizen related attacks since 2010, with law enforcement officers as the primary target.

POTOK: They have no basis in reality. They often basically are telling people they can get something for nothing. They don't have to pay their taxes. They don't have to pay their credit card debt. You know, so there is that kind of teaching going on all around the country, and that's what's really driving this movement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And it's not just violence authorities are worried about, according to Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center. It's also so-called paper terrorism, which is the process of burying court officials with nonsensical filings.

Many court officials are required, by a matter of law, to file documents and track them, even though they may have no idea exactly what they're looking at.

WHITFIELD: Just to bog things down?

VALENCIA: Yes. And in one instance, I talked to Mark Potok, he says there was a filing for a sovereign citizen that the filing was six feet high of this sort of this gibberish rambling, but because the clerks are required to process it, it's this paper terrorism of bogging down the system with this gibberish paperwork.

WHITFIELD: Wow, all right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right, an update now to a developing story we've been following this morning. Right now, a manhunt is underway in Minneapolis after a police officer was ambushed and then shot while sitting in his patrol car.

Here's what we know right now. The wounded officer was one of two who had just finished responding to a reported burglary. The incident took place around 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

The wounded officer was then taken to the hospital by his partner, and he's now believed to be in stable condition. Earlier today, the city's police chief held a press conference after visiting the officer in the hospital.

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CHIEF JANE HARTEAU, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: I just left the hospital. I was with the officer and his wife. I am pleased to report that he is currently in stable condition. I would ask the public, however, to continue to have the officer and his family in their thoughts and prayers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We'll continue to monitor this story and bring you the very latest developments as soon as we get them.

Also coming up, former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani says he and his office are receiving death threats after he said President Obama doesn't love America. And Giuliani is not backing down. CNN's Will Ripley joins us live from New York.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Fred, here, front page news. Another shocking claim from the former mayor that has a lot of people wondering when is he going to stop.

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WHITFIELD: All right, former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani is doubling down on controversial comments he made about President Barack Obama.

Earlier this week, during a private political event, Giuliani said, quote, "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America," end quote.

Giuliani says he and his office have since received death threats over those remarks. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley in New York. But at the same time, the mayor is standing by his comments, right?

RIPLEY: Fred, long-time Giuliani watchers who I'm talking to here in New York say that's not surprising. They expected the former mayor to double down, triple down, quadruple down, which is exactly what he is doing as he has been making the rounds, appearing repeatedly on Fox News, standing by his words.

In fact, adding more information to his statements that he doesn't feel that the president loves his country, talking about other presidents, like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, saying that their rhetoric was much different than President Obama's rhetoric.

And even though this firestorm continues to grow, he's getting criticism from all sides here. He is standing firm and even talking about the fact that -- as you mentioned, he is claiming he has received death threats.

I want to read a quote that he gave to CNN's Jim Acosta in a brief phone conversation. He said, quote, "My secretary has received some death threats. I don't regret making the statement. I believe it. I don't know if he loves America. I don't feel the same enthusiasm from him for America."

And now, Fred, even people in the Republican Party, including Senator Rand Paul, who is believed to be very likely Republican contender in 2016 for the presidency, even he's now speaking out against the former mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: I think it's a mistake to question people's motives. It's one thing to disagree on policy and I think it is one reason why, like John Yarmuth and I get along.

He's the Democrat congressman from Louisville, but we have a good friendship, because I don't question his motives. We don't always agree. We agree on some things, though, and we acknowledge our agreement. But I don't question his motives and I try not to question the president's motives as being a good American or a bad American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: You know, Fred, it's remarkable to think about how far Rudy Giuliani has fallen as far as his public image goes. We remember him all right around 9/11 when he inspired the nation with his calm leadership.

People were so impressed back then and for many Americans, who maybe even didn't follow some of his rhetoric during Ferguson where he made inflammatory statements about race and law enforcement.

People are now being reintroduced to this new Rudy Guiliani, who appears to be very eager to attack the president repeatedly and say very controversial statements. It really is changing his legacy.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's also provoking a lot of questions, especially around his motivation, why and what is the point here? We're actually going to explore that in the 2:00 Eastern Hour. So hopefully folks stick around for that. Will Ripley, thank you so much from New York. Appreciate it.

Still ahead, controversy over a popular high school history course, why some say what is being taught is biased and unpatriotic.

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WHITFIELD: Oklahoma is the latest state to wage a war over a specific and very popular high school history course. Critics say the class paints a biased and unpatriotic picture of American history. Here is CNN's Sara Ganim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's history is full of battle and conflict. Now there is a war brewing over the way that U.S. history is being taught in classrooms across the country. Conservatives have taken aim at the new curriculum framework or guidelines for AP U.S. history class.

They say the guidelines are biased and unpatriotic because they don't specifically mention key parts of history. For example, in Oklahoma, Republican State Representative Dan Fisher initially wanted to do away with the entire class, but backed off after a public outcry. REPRESENTATIVE DAN FISHER (R), OKLAHOMA: There appears to be a pretty strong leaning about everything that is wrong with America. For instance, there is room to talk about the Black Panthers, but not room to talk about Martin Luther King.

GANIM: In fact, Martin Luther King is mentioned in the guidelines, as are the Black Panthers. But the woman who started this movement says it's not about specific examples, it's what she believes is a liberal theme throughout.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The new one talks about giving special emphasis to race, gender class and ethnic identities. That is sort of the leftist goal of having all of history viewed through that lens.

GANIM: Jane Robbins is with a conservative think tank and is pushing for change.

JANE ROBBINS, AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT: There was a relentless negative drumbeat about America.

GANIM: Robbins' outrage led the RNC to issue a memo, calling the guidelines, quote, "a biased and inaccurate view of many important events in history."

After the RNC got involved, the issue exploded across the country with conservatives in at least a half dozen states calling for a review of the curriculum or for ending the AP U.S. history course all together.

Nowhere has this been so disruptive as in Jefferson County, Colorado, where students held protests in defense of the course, and even walked out of class.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was insulted.

GANIM: Teachers like Stephanie Rossi say they make the ultimate decisions about what is taught, and that politicians should stay out of the classroom.

STEPHANIE ROSSI, AP U.S. HISTORY TEACHER: The thought that a board member that is supposed to represent an educational institution is assuming that history teachers in her district are going to lead kids to be un-American and unpatriotic.

GANIM: The College Board, which administers AP courses for colleges and universities, says the debate has been marred by misinformation and gave this statement to CNN.

Saying, "In the face of these attacks, AP teachers and students, our member institutions and the American people, can rest assured, the College Board will not compromise the integrity of the advanced placement program. Sara Ganim, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, how did one young man from a middle class neighborhood in Cairo, Egypt, wind up in the killing fields of Syria, fighting for ISIS? His incredible story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, British police are still searching for three teenage girls missing from London, who may be on their way to Syria, possibly to join ISIS.

Here's a look at the route officials believe the girls are taking. Investigators are asking anyone for information to help. CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, has more -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The senior British diplomat tells me that the recruitment by ISIS of women and girls is quote, "A clear and disturbing trend and warns that the girls involved in this particular case are at risk of sexual and other exploitation if they make it to the war zone in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): These three young British school girls are believed to be the newest foreign recruits to ISIS, caught on surveillance cameras at London's airport with their luggage in tow, London police fear they fled Britain for Syria to join Jihad.

COMMANDER RICHARD WALTON, METROPOLITAN POLICE: We don't know how three girls have come you up with this plan or encouraged them to go back to Syria. We believe that they're heading towards Syria. We just don't know how it's happened. The parents themselves are mystified.

SCIUTTO: The Muslim girls have been missing since Tuesday when they boarded a flight headed to Istanbul, Turkey. This is the same airport that Hayat Bommediene used to enter Syria right before her husband, Amedi Coulibali carried out the deadly shooting at a Paris kosher market.

She is still wanted by French police and now believed inside Syria. Turkey has been the key transit point into Syria for recruits to ISIS and other extremist groups. Turkish and European authorities are still struggling to stem the flow.

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson told Wolf Blitzer that the U.S. is tracking these movements as best they can.

JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have systems in place to track these individuals as they come and go. It's difficult to pick up so-called broken travel.

SCIUTTO (on camera): What does that mean?

JOHNSON: Where you fly to country A and then you go to country B on the ground and we do not know that fact.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): A senior British diplomat tells CNN that women are a new and growing target for ISIS recruiters. The terrorism research group track estimates nearly one in six ISIS foreign recruits are women. That ISIS recruiting network extends all the way to the U.S. homeland.

In October three teenage girls from Colorado were intercepted at Frankfurt airport in Germany as they were making the way to Syria to join ISIS. It was their parents who tipped off the FBI.

Another American 19-year-old Shannon Maureen Conley was arrested at Denver International Airport in April last year on her way to an ISIS camp near the Turkish-Syrian border. She was sentenced to four years in prison after confessing that she wanted to become an ISIS bride.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: The three British girls are friends with another British girl, who travelled to Syria in December. In fact, police interviewed them at the time, but did not consider them to be likely ISIS recruits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Sciutto, thanks so much, reporting from Washington.

So many militants fighting with ISIS are young men, some in their teens who have been recruited from around the world. But they're not all angry or feeling disenfranchised, like they can't fit in.

"New York Times" reporter, Mona El-Naggar captures an incredible story about one young man from Egypt who was middle class, went to private school and had everything seemingly going for him. But then he gave it all up to join Jihad.

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MONA EL-NAGGAR, REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES" (voice-over): When you're browsing through the usual ISIS propaganda, RPGs, black flags, mayhem, you might also stumble on this. It is a workout video for Jihadis featuring a young man who introduces himself as Islam Yekken.

But it turns out this was not his first exercise video. Before the Jihad in Syria, there was the gym in Egypt. Back then, Islam was religious, but his interests were far from extreme.

We wanted to find out how someone could change so dramatically so we spoke to his friends in Cairo. This man talked about feeling alienated in Egypt. This man who went to school, said they struggled for balance in a society that's modern yet deeply defined by religion. All three were young, middle class, and torn, but only Islam joined ISIS.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Mona El-Naggar is joining us live now. So Mona, really powerful stuff. You know, just to see that these three young men were close friends and one was sucked into this other world. Help us better understand this kind of conflicted feelings that the two friends would talk about their devotion to the religion. But at the same time, trying to resist these temptations and somehow ISIS comes around, recruiting. How is it is that ISIS is so powerful and able to convince, say in the case of Islam, to come to the other side.

What is being promised as far as you understand to these young men as to why they would leave their homes, their lives as they know it?

EL-NAGGAR: Well, I think it's important to recognize that the ISIS recruitment or joining ISIS is not happening overnight. There are stages to the transformation. Of course, issues of identity and just -- which are prevalent among young people.

These issues do not necessarily lead directly to ISIS, but it's to shed sort of light on the sort of issues that many young men are grappling with, and that can create a sort of confusion.

And if you combine that with the sort of political and economic context, and region that's really sort of fired in conflict, I mean, you can kind of come to a situation where over time, certain young men could see an appeal in joining ISIS.

WHITFIELD: So help us better understand. What are these issues they're grappling with that you're talking about that really are the openings?

EL-NAGGAR: Well, I mean, just sort of many young men all over, it's they're young and trying to find who they want to be, what they want to do. You know, within that sort of social context. There are sort of layers to their identity. They're raised as Muslim.

They want to embrace that. At the same time, you know, they're sort of influenced by everything that's happening around them. They're young, they want to have fun. They want to enjoy their lives. They're ambitious.

They also want to feel like they have a say in how their lives turn out and this is sort of some of the issues, and to sort of find or strike a perfect balance between these different forces in their lives, that's not always easy.

WHITFIELD: And you convey in your video and even in your writing, these friends saw the transformation. People saw the transformation particularly in the young men, Islam.

Is it that no one said anything? Is it that no one could kind of penetrate, you know, getting a message to him, asking, questioning him about the transformation? How is it that he essentially escaped them?

EL-NAGGAR: Well, again, this is part of the reason. The transformation is sort of gradual and initially, he turns to religion, and this is not necessarily something that is seen as a bad thing. His friends are actually encouraged.

They sort of admire his strong will. It's a lot of people can be religious and not radical. And so in the beginning, they're not necessarily suspicious that he's actually being radicalized.

I think there is one point where they do take it to another level and not necessarily aware of the degree of his personal ideology as it evolves. And the other thing to note is that you know, again, he travels to Syria.

Once he's there for year-and-a-half, and I'm sure there's even a sort of even more extreme sort of transformation in that period, even beyond, who he was at the point when he left Egypt.

WHITFIELD: All remarkable stuff for folks to read more in the "New York Times." Mona El-Naggar, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

All right, first, it was Brian Williams. Now it's Fox News, host, Bill O'Reilly, who is under fire over accusations that he exaggerated war stories. And he is firing back.

But first, a situation that is not uncommon among military families. Two army wives finding themselves stationed in Georgia, and unable to find jobs so the women created a small business that they can take anywhere the military takes them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Lisa Bradley and this is Cruz and we are the co-founders of Arbiter. We make handbags to empower military spouses.

Every bag is made from some form of recycled military material, an old tent or duffle bag. We found ourselves where so many military spouses find themselves unable to find employment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The handbags have a lot of parts and pieces so allows military spouses to work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: every material is hand cut, hand dyed by a military spouse, and individual parts to the shop here in North Carolina where everything is assembled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Social media is a necessity especially for a business like ours where it's all about the message and our mission.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wanted to help military spouses before we even made our firsthand bag. The moment I felt like we really created something here was when one reached out and said this is the first time she has really enjoyed being a military spouse. What I wanted to do was create a consistency in a very inconsistent lifestyle and be part of something larger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Fox News, Bill O'Reilly is firing back after a report in "Mother Jones" magazine claiming that he exaggerated his reporting experience with CBS while covering the 1982 war in Argentina.

Here is what O'Reilly has said on Fox News about some of his war experience in Argentina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: I was in a situation one time in a war zone in Argentina in the Falkland's, where my photographer got run down and hit his head and was bleeding from the ear on the concrete and the army was chasing us.

I had to make a decision and I dragged him off. At the same time, I'm looking around and trying to do my job, but I figured I had to get this guy out of there because that was more important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: "Mother Jones" magazine claims O'Reilly was hundreds of miles away from the fighting and not near any combat. In an interview with Howard Kurtz, O'Reilly said this about the report's author.

Saying, quote, "David Corn, quote, "is a liar, a smear merchant, and will do anything he can to injure me and the network," everybody knows that. Everything I reported about my journalistic career is true," end quote.

All right, let's dig into this. Joining me right now is CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter. All right, so Brian, this is what Frank says now, actually said this week to our own Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK SESNO, COVERED FALKLANDS WAR: We never got anywhere near it. I covered the war from Buenos Aires. There were demonstrations, some of the disturbances that he talked about. I never saw troops open fire in a big way on crowds.

So this can be scrutinized, Don, but I just don't think that this is on a par of the -- issues, the exaggerations, and the trouble that Brian Williams is in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian, so you weigh in. Should there be any parallels made between what O'Reilly did or didn't say, and what Brian Williams has said?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly why these issues are coming up, Fred. The issues of Brian Williams, the real crisis that enveloped NBC News as a result of the exaggerations in Brian Williams' Iraq war story from 2003 created a crisis that continues at that news division.

And this is a very different situation, but "Mother Jones" invoked that Brian Williams crisis in reporting on Bill O'Reilly the other day. And ever since then, we have seen, as you mentioned, Bill O'Reilly sharply criticizing "Mother Jones."

And really, trying to use kind of a scorched earth response to this in order to focus on the messenger rather than the message, let's talk about the message for a moment because Frank Sesno there was very clear.

Reporters could not get to the Falkland Islands in 1982. Everyone was covering from Argentina, more than 1,000 miles away. And O'Reilly has made that clear. You heard him say in the Falkland islands, in Argentina, so pairing the two as if they were the same, when, in fact, the islands were more than a thousand miles away.

There was this chaotic situation he was in. Some have called it a riot, others a protest, in that case sounds like a hairy situation for Bill O'Reilly. Was that a war zone, a combat situation? That's part of what is being debated, whether you can call a protest or riot like that a war zone experience.

The other issue, Fred, is whether people died in this riot or protest. That's what O'Reilly has claimed in the past. There have been other media outlets trying to confirm that and have been unable to. So there is a couple of different discrepancies here that O'Reilly really isn't addressing so much as he's trying to address "Mother Jones" magazine.

WHITFIELD: And so has O'Reilly said and is it -- I guess has it been verified that he has some proof behind his story that there is some real corroboration from CBS?

STELTER: We have been trying to get ahold of other people he worked with at CBS at the time. Bob Schaeffer was quoted by "Mother Jones" by saying none of us got to the Falkland Islands, all of us tried. He confirmed that with me yesterday as well.

You know, there are some details in O'Reilly's story that do need to be corroborated. For example, this idea of an injury that one of the cameramen apparently suffered. Those sorts of details need to be checked out.

WHITFIELD: That would seem to be easy.

STELTER: Sorry, what's that?

WHITFIELD: Wouldn't it seem that would be an easy one to flush out?

STELTER: I think eventually all of those will come out and O'Reilly is not going to be able -- you know, O'Reilly last night spent the first 10 minutes of his program saying the media is corrupt and the press is out to get him and he's the victim of this.

And I understand why he feels that way. He talks oftentimes about victim hood and about the president being out to get him and out to get Fox News. The reality is more complicated. This is a journalistic issue, not a political issue.

And O'Reilly, whether he wants to or not, may have to answer further questions about the message here, and not just the messenger, which happens to be "Mother Jones," which is a left-leaning magazine.

WHITFIELD: All right, we shall see, again, just the beginning of this one too.

STELTER: I think so.

WHITFIELD: Brian, appreciate it. We'll watch tomorrow morning, as well.

All right, up next, we are finding out the woman killed in that so- called road rage incident knew the young man accused of killing her. How will that impact the prosecution's case? Our legal guys will be weighing in after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The so-called Las Vegas road rage shooting that left a mother of four dead is not as simple as first reported. As new details come out, new questions are being raised about what really happened. CNN's Sara Sidner reports from Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Husband and father, Robert Meyers embraces family members near the driveway where his wife was murdered. The traveling businessman is still in shock over his wife's death, still blaming himself for being away when it all happened.

The Meyers family is also struggling with the backlash from some in the public and media who have called his son, Brandon Meyers, a vigilante, for being armed and going out with his mother to find the road rage suspects.

ROBERT MEYERS, VICTIM'S HUSBAND: Every day you guys go there, I've got people threatening to kill my son because of the things you guys have said.

SIDNER: But there are now two different versions of events emerging. The family says after the first confrontation on the road, Tammy Meyers picked up her son, who was a concealed weapons permit and routinely carries his gun with him.

They found the road rage suspect in the neighborhood, and the Meyers family tells us, one of the suspects fired at them. But a newly released police report tells a slightly different story.

One of the suspect's friends telling police it was one of the Meyers who brandished a gun first at the suspects before anyone fired. Ultimately, the police say the suspect did go to Tammy Meyers' home and killed her.

According to the police report, he fired 22 times outside the home. And in another twist, police were unaware that the family knew the suspect until the day of the arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did not know that.

SIDNER: Robert Meyers did suspect that Eric Nausch had something to do with it, telling us his wife used to council the young man down the street where neighbors tell us drug dealers frequently go down.

SHARON PROVENZANO, NEIGHBOR: He was at the park a lot.

SIDNER: His Instagram account showing pictures of what looks like pot. To give you some idea of just how close these two family lived to one another.

(on camera): This is the Meyers home where Tammy Meyers was shot and killed and this is where the suspect lives, less than a 2-to 3-minute walk from the home. Sara Sidner, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, so now how hard will it be for prosecutors to prove their case against Eric Nausch. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland. Good to see you. And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas. Good to see you as well.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, so now that everyone is learning that Tammy Meyers' family knew the suspected killer, Avery, how much does this complicate the case, or is it the sequence of events that further complicates the case and not necessarily the relationship?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, you just nailed it. I mean, this is no more a road rage case than the man on the moon. The fact is, it's a case where these parties and for some reason, they decided we're going to have a shootout here, which is perfectly fine if you're Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral. We don't do things this way.

We have two people brandishing guns. There are counts, charges, I think, involving Brandon Meyers, as well as Eric Nausch that relate to murder and attempted murder and I think we have a long way to go to get to the truth.

WHITFIELD: Richard, this is very confusing. We're talking about, you know, Tammy Meyers and her son. She went to get her son, who has this concealed weapons permit. And now we're going to go out and look for the suspect or look for somebody who caused problems.

That puts a whole new dynamic on the case. We're not just talking about a murder investigation now. But it's almost as though now the Meyers' family will be looked into, right, as inciting potentially this end result of a murder?

HERMAN: Well, that's real interesting, Fred. I'll tell you. It's hard for a lot of people to fathom that Las Vegas is much different than cities like New York City and Atlanta and San Francisco, where it's very difficult to get a conceal/carry license. And in Las Vegas or Nevada, it's open license. You can walk around

with a handgun without a license and in order to conceal it, you have to get a license. So these people had guns, and they were legally able to carry the guns.

The issue, Fred, you just raised and Avery discussed briefly, is this. We don't know, really, who shot the first shot here. We don't know. We know -- we know a shooting took place at the house. And the poor woman was killed by a shot.

We know that the shooter from the vehicle, the man arrested, shot 22 rounds. That means that's two clips and a .9 millimeter gun about 12 rounds each so almost emptied two magazines in the shootout. We don't know, however, if her son shot first, because if he shot first, Fred, the shooting may be justifiable. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Even if it's 22 rounds?

FRIEDMAN: No way. No way. This isn't the OK Corral.

HERMAN: Don't say no way because if he got shot at, he can defend himself, force with force. You can defend yourself. It's a defense to the case. That's what I'm saying.

FRIEDMAN: I guess -- I guess it's OK, you don't have to call the consequence when cops when you face these threats. It doesn't make sense to me, Richard.

HERMAN: If you get shot at, Avery, you're not going to call the police, you're going to react. And the reaction is to pull your gun and open and return fire. That's what happened here. Why this escalated to this level, I don't know.

Why the individual found her home and opened fire on her front lawn, I don't know why everybody is pointing guns at everybody. It's not right.

WHITFIELD: Yes, lots more questions, I think, just hearing the two of you.

FRIEDMAN: A lot more.

WHITFIELD: Even more thoughts. Now we know exactly what prosecutors and, of course, you know shall the defense attorneys are up against. Avery Friedman, Richard Herman, always good to see you. Thank you for sticking around. You guys are so patient, so good, and so reliable. Every weekend, we count on you.

HERMAN: It's all for you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: You deliver -- all of the time.

FRIEDMAN: That's exactly right.

WHITFIELD: All right, appreciate it, guys. We'll be right back after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Time to roll out the red carpet. We are just one day away now from the Oscars, and this year, the competition is expected to be quite fierce. Among the movies making the most buzz, "Birdman" and "Boyhood," both considered front runners for best picture.

As for best actor, all eyes will be on Bradley Cooper for his role as Chris Kyle in "American Sniper" and Michael Keaton, nominated for "Birdman".

And be sure to watch tomorrow evening, right here, because CNN has special live red carpet coverage of the Oscars hosted by our very own Don Lemon and Michaela Pereira, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.