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"Jihadi John's" Father Speaks Out; Nemtsov's Death Latest in String of Putin Critic Deaths; Senate Attempts Override of Keystone Pipeline Veto; Feds Crack Down on "Maternity Tourism"; Curt Schilling Stands Up for Daughter; Eric Holder to Talk Discrimination at Ferguson P.D.

Aired March 04, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA: The father of Mohammed Emwazi, the man identified as Jihadi John, is now speaking out in defense of his son. He told a Kuwaiti newspaper there's no proof that his son is the man seen beheading prisoners in videos released by ISIS. He even says he's hired a lawyer now to sue anyone who says this is true. The father also told "The Guardian" newspaper he rejects reports that his wife recognized Jihadi John's voice as her son's.

CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is joining me now.

Nic, what more do we know about Mohammed Emwazi's parents and his background?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jassem Emwazi says he's the father of the man identified by others as being Jihadi John. He has contacted a newspaper in Kuwait and has spoken to them on what he told that newspaper was that there was no video evidence, there was nothing that he had seen in the media that shows that his son, Mohammed Emwazi, is, in fact, Jihadi John, so he's dismissing this for lack of evidence.

The lawyer that he has hired to represent himself is saying, look, no western or local intelligence agency presumably local in this context means Kuwait, has given any information, has put anything available in the public domain that would say that Mohammed Emwazi is Jihadi John, so the father and the lawyer representing him are strenuously denying it, and also going to the point, the reason this lawyer hired as you say, they feel that the father is a victim of libel here and they say that they will pursue any media organizations that continue with that line.

CABRERA: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks for the update. We appreciate it.

Vladimir Putin's critics have a habit of turning up dead. In the latest case, the Russian president ordered three investigations into the murder last week of his long-time nemesis, Boris Nemtsov. In his first public comment today, Putin said, quote, "Russia should be made secure at last from the disgrace of the daring killing of Boris Nemtsov in the very heart of our capital city."

There's new surveillance video allegedly showing the gunman's car as it leaves the shooting scene, of course, near the Kremlin. Nemtsov's 23-year-old girlfriend is believed to be the only witness to his murder, and she is now in Ukraine after being held for questioning. She didn't even attend Nemtsov's funeral.

His mysterious killing is just the latest in the string of deaths among Putin's most vocal critics.

CNN's Lynda Kinkade explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four bullets in the back and the Russian opposition leader's voice was silenced, even as authorities promise that investigation many believed Boris Nemtsov never stood a chance.

EDWARD LUCAS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS: The opposition is delegitimized. There's no room for even constructive criticism in the Russian political system.

KINKADE: The killing has revived memories of other cases. The journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, a vocal critic of Russia's war in Chechnya, her home was a safe place until it became the scene of her murder. Shot four times in the entrance of her Moscow apartment in 2006.

And Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, died a slow death after drinking a legal dose of radioactive polonium. His tea spiked in a London hotel during a meeting with two former Russian security servicemen.

All fierce and outspoken critics of President Vladimir Putin, all killed in mysterious ways.

(on camera): We still don't know who ordered those killings and now we have this one. What do you think those deaths have in common?

ALEXANDER NEKRASSOV, FORMER KREMLIN ADVISOR: Well, I don't think they have anything in common.

KINKADE (voice-over): The Kremlin denied any involvement in the cases. A former Kremlin adviser believes president Putin is innocent.

NEKRASSOV: There's absolutely no proof of any involvement of the Russian state.

KINKADE: But those suspicious deaths are not the only ones. A 50- year-old human rights activist was dumped by the side of a road with bullet wounds to her head. A trainee journalist and human rights lawyer both shot in broad daylight meters from the Kremlin. The editor of "Forbes Russia" killed with a machine gun outside his Moscow office. And a business tycoon in self-exile was found with a noose around his neck. Was it a suicide? The coroner could not say. The Kremlin promised a thorough investigation each time. Some of those cases have led to convictions.

The latest assassination of Boris Nemtsov has sparked a flood of conspiracy theories from politicians and investigators, from claims it was extremists or perhaps people within his own party attempting to destabilize the government.

Russian President Putin has vowed to track down the killer or killers.

ANNA VEDUTA, FORMER OPPOSITION SPOKESPERSON: People like him are always under surveillance in Russia. In this sense, he had body guards but they were from Russian state agency. There was no way he wasn't under state surveillance and, moreover, the surveillance cameras are all over the place.

KINKADE: Despite a financial reward, so far, no one has come forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Lynda Kinkade joins me now from Atlanta.

So, Lynda, there's obviously a connection in terms of suspicion involving all of these murders but are there any types of connections between Nemtsov and these other cases?

KINKADE: Ana, that is the main connection. That all these people were outspoken critics of the Kremlin, yet despite strong suspicion of Russian involvement there's never been any proof even in the cases that led to convictions. No one has ever come forward and given information about who ordered them to carry out the killings.

Now in the case of Boris Nemtsov, that case is being watched very closely and we know that there are already questions about the quality of the investigation. There are photos that have emerged showing people cleaning the crime scene, actually scrubbing blood away from the pavement, where he was murdered, just hours after his death.

Now, there are some that suggest the killer or killers could have carried out this attack in a back straight valley in Moscow. Instead they chose a prominent spot right in front of the Kremlin in a well- lit and well-watched area. We know there are reports of some 18 surveillance cameras in that immediate vicinity, yet we've only seen vision from one camera, and it's very grainy vision, and at the exact moment of his murder the block of the view.

The only witness is his girlfriend. She's not given information who the killer or killers may have been. She only saw a light colored car drive away. And we know police have raided his apartment, seizing both documents and computer hard drives, and they will be looking into that, but like the cases before him, we may never know who killed him.

CABRERA: It seems strange there aren't any leads on a suspect at this point.

Lynda Kinkade, thank you for your reporting.

Up next, it's called "maternity tourism." Foreign women flocking to the United States to give birth. And now a major crackdown is under way. We'll have that story.

We're also expecting Attorney General Eric Holder to speak very soon about the Justice Department's investigation into the Ferguson Police Department. So stay with CNN for special live coverage.

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CABRERA: Just in to CNN, we have video of President Obama signing the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. You'll recall, at this time yesterday, during our show, it was the House that finally passed that clean bill, sending it to the president's desk. So that one is a done deal.

But we also have some more breaking news coming out of Capitol Hill, right now, as the Senate is voting on overriding the president's veto on the Keystone Pipeline.

I want to get out to Dana Bash for the latest on that -- Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana, that vote just ended. It fell short, as expected, five votes short of overriding the president's veto. It was 62-37.

It is notable on several counts. First and foremost, this is the first time in the Obama presidency, six-plus years, that the Senate has taken a vote to override any of any veto, mostly because it's only his third veto since he has been in office. And also notable because you mentioned that the president almost at the same time signed the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, so I think both of those kind of juxtaposed together shows the limits of the GOP majority in Congress.

CABRERA: Absolutely.

BASH: It certainly changes the dynamic, but on the one hand, you see that they tried to pass this Keystone Pipeline to go around the administration and guff Congressional approval to it. There is bipartisan support for that but not enough to override his veto and, at the same time, he just signed a bill to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security over conservative objections, because they also wanted to stop the president's immigration plan in there.

And I think it's also notable because when it comes to the override it's probably the first of several we're going to see in the near future. Kevin Liptack, on CNN.com, has a great story. So far, the White House promised to reject 15 bills that are now moving through the Republican-controlled Congress. So this is probably foreshadowing of what we'll see a lot in the future after we didn't see it for so many years during his presidency.

CABRERA: Right. Right.

Dana Bash, on Capitol Hill, thanks.

This is an eye-opening story. Wealthy pregnant women who are flocking to California's maternity hotels, and they're staying there for months so they can have a baby in the U.S. Now, the feds are saying enough is enough.

Again, here's some of the background. Expectant moms, mostly from China, pay as much as $50,000 to ensure their babies are born on U.S. soil as U.S. citizens. These are elaborate birth tourism packages that they're buying into. Might include trips to Disneyland, shopping excursions on Rodeo Drive, even field trips to gun shooting ranges. So they're being lured here in a lot of cases.

There was a major sting overnight. Federal agents raiding more than three dozen maternity hotels just last night in southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY MASHI, NEIGHBOR: Yes, we thought it was maybe something in the water. Mostly, Asian descent, and pretty much kept to themselves.

BETH ULERY, NEIGHBOR: Big, like nine-months pregnant, which, you know, is what I noticed. And then I thought it was weird that there were so many of them.

CLAUDE ARNOLD, SPECIAL AGENT, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ENFORCEMENT: It's not illegal to have your baby born in the United States, but it's illegal to lie about your reasons for traveling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So let's bring in CNN's Paul Vercammen, joining us from Los Angeles.

Paul, I understand there are birth tourism agents coaching some of the pregnant women to try to elude authorities. Tell us more about that.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. If you read the affidavits, these suspect agents would urge the women to travel when they're not too far along. In other words, they say in the affidavit, make sure your belly is not too big and also they said wear loose clothing. And there was one exchange where a woman says, well, I have this maternity wear and some of these other baby items in my suitcase, and the agent shoots back, no, no, no, leave all that stuff in China and buy these items when you get to the United States, we don't want to you reveal what your true intentions are, which is to have a baby in the United States -- Ana?

CABRERA: None of these women were arrested so where does this case go from here?

VERCAMMEN: Well, this is interesting, because this is part of an ongoing investigation. And often it doesn't work this way with federal agents. We'll get word later there have been arrests.

As they were looking for more information, serving all of these warrants, they went ahead and will label, at some point, many of these women material witnesses. And I asked point blank, what if one of them wanted to get on a plane today and go back to China? They said they have to be, quote, "made available." And we're also going to see, I would think, down the road, the arrest

of several of these people who are accused of perpetrating the scam, which, of course, includes money laundering and so many other items as they try to conceal their true intention, which is to give birth to U.S. citizens -- Ana?

CABRERA: Paul Vercammen, in L.A., thank you.

Up next, Curt Schilling throwing a major curveball to international trolls. We'll talk one on one with the former World Series MVP about what he did to stand up for his daughter. You don't want to miss it.

Plus, moments from now, Attorney General Eric Holder expected to speak about the Justice Department's report on the Ferguson Police Department. Stay with CNN. We have special live coverage.

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CABRERA: Curt Schilling hung up his glove as the star pitcher for the Red Sox a long time ago. His primary role now being a dad and a proud won. Schilling recently tweeted this, congratulating his 18-year-old daughter, Gabby Schilling, who, like dad, she's going to pitch for her college team. Schilling is also a protective dad, and the reaction to his tweet made his blood boil. He was bombarded with vulgar tweets about his daughter. These were vile, vicious tweets that even threatened harassment, abuse, even rape. Curt Schilling fired back in an angry blog, and speaking directly to those cyber bullies, he wrote, quote, "What part of talking about a young woman, my daughter or not, makes you even consider the possibility that this is either funny or makes you tough?"

I talked with Schilling. Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Did you ever imagine your initial post expressing just how proud you are of your daughter would get such vulgar responses?

CURT SCHILLING, FORMER RED SOX PITCHER: Well, no, no. And vulgar, to me, kind of doesn't even tip the scale for what they were. I expected blowback and, you know, being as outspoken in my life as I have been, I've made enough enemies out there to expect -- I expected people to come back and say I can't wait to see your daughter at school and I'm going to take your daughter, you know, to whatever, but I didn't expect this. No one should expect this.

CABRERA: What surprised you the most?

SCHILLING: I think that the most surprising thing was when I initially let most of them know that I knew who they were, they continued and some got worse. You know, the hubris -- I really honestly believe every one of them thought, even after I was calling them out who they were, where they went to school, that nothing would ever happen. And so you know, one of the things that I saw somebody said, Curt Schilling responds to the Twitters, the guys that tweeted to him and in real life they pay. And I'm trying to tell people Twitter is now real life.

CABRERA: It is.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: And it does affect people in a real way.

SCHILLING: Absolutely.

CABRERA: You mentioned the consequences of actions that people put out there online. And yet, it doesn't necessarily deter people from saying -- I don't even know if it's what's on their mind or what is going to get attention -- but what do you think it says about our culture and the use of social media?

SCHILLING: Well, people tried to tell me that this is the world we live in. It's not the world I live in. I didn't grow up in that world. But more importantly, they're trying to say, hey, they're doing this to get a laugh, they're doing this for X, Y and Z. And my comeback is, people are doing it because there have been neglective consequences to it.

CABRERA: Now we know one of those --

(CROSSTALK)

SCHILLING: Yes.

CABRERA: Yes, we're both going the same direction. We know one of the people who commented in such a horrific way ended up getting fired from his job, who was working with the Yankees.

SCHILLING: Yes.

CABRERA: At one point in the blog, you write, "Is this even remotely OK in any world at any time? Worse yet, no less than seven of these clowns who sent vile or worse tweets are athletes playing college sports." Why did you think it was important to point that out?

SCHILLING: Well, because I know, as an athlete myself, I grew up, I know what my parents sacrificed for me. Hockey players, soccer players, playing at an elite level, so I know how much time and money these parents have put into their kids. And somebody said it best, why let 140 characters ruin $140,000 education, which is what some of them have done. And again, as a parent, I don't even know how to respond to the thought that my kid might say something or think something like this. But my kids have always been taught about accountability, and there seems to be, at this point, an extreme lack of it, especially on the Internet.

CABRERA: Well, perhaps by pointing out what you have done and what these people have said will make people think twice at the very least before they go and post something such as those horrible, horrible thoughts.

Curt Schilling, thank you so much for joining me, and congratulations to your daughter, Gabby.

SCHILLING: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Former prosecutor, Wendy Murphy, joins me from Boston.

Wendy, I want to talk about the legal side of this. Are Schilling victims, victims of crime?

WENDY MURPHY, ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, yes, I think so. There are really three categories of potential legal consequences here. One is certainly the criminal charge of criminal harassment, criminal threats, but there are separate consequences for anyone who is a student, whether it's high school or college who makes these kinds of remarks and threats. They can be suspended or expelled, they can lose privileges. They can be kicked off of sports teams, and then there's always the possibility of a civil lawsuit which frankly I'd like to see happen here, because this does cause a tremendous amount of emotional distress and these guys could be sued for infliction of emotional distress and be forced to pay an awful lot of money for the harm they caused not only to Gabby but to her entire family.

CABRERA: So you talk about civil liability, but what about the criminal liability? Are there legal limits about things you can say in a tweet or in other platforms online?

MURPHY: A lot of folks think, and they're wrong about this, that if you say it in cyberspace you can't really get in trouble because it's only words and it's not really happening in the real world, and that's exactly wrong. If you make a threat in cyberspace, and it fits the definition of criminal threat, you can go to jail. And the most important question is, did you intend to make a threat, and would a reasonable person in Gabby Schilling's position fear that that threat might welcome true. It doesn't have to be tomorrow or even next month. It could be off in the far distant future. Is it a reasonable fear she might be sexually assaulted with a baseball bat? If you look at some studies, one in four women will be sexually assaulted in college even without a threat. I'd say her fear is reasonable, which makes the possibility of a criminal charge very real.

CABRERA: Wendy Murphy, thank you so much for joining us and throwing all that information out there.

MURPHY: You bet.

CABRERA: Now people can't claim ignorance.

Thanks again.