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Machete-Wielding Airport Attacker Dies; Obama Taking Netanyahu "At His Word"; ISIS Claims Attacks in Tunisia, Yemen; Trial of Boston Bomber Starts Monday; More Charges for Robert Durst. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 21, 2015 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:19] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Seven o'clock Eastern. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

And we begin this evening with terrifying -- a terrifying machete attack on TSA agents at the New Orleans airport. It happened late last night. And we've now learned that the 63-year-old suspect, Richard White, has died in just the past few hours. He was shot three times by police during that incident.

This all started when white allegedly was spraying bug spray and swinging a machete in the security area. Police also said he had a bag with him that contained six Molotov cocktails. They also found other dangerous explosives in his car.

We want you to listen to one TSA agent who was chased by White with the machete, was wounded in the arm as police tried to subdue him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL RICHEL, TSA AGENT: Well, what I have to say is TSA spends a lot of time having us train. And we train and train, unbeknownst to a lot of people so, we are trained to -- how to react to different situations.

When this all started happening, coming down, it was second nature. You know, we want to make sure the passengers are safe so we tell them run, run, you've got to get out of here, run. With that we know they're leaving and we're counting on the ones with the weapons to be able to protect us.

So, I have to say Officer Slyve is my hero. She saved my life. The man was within inches of whacking me within a machete and she did save my life and saved probably a lot of others, not to mention a lot of injuries.

(INAUDIBLE)

RICHEL: What I saw originally was one of the officers getting sprayed with the wasp spray. He took a bag and threw it at the guy, which slowed him down enough that when he came through and I was yelling for everybody to clear the checkpoint and then we all took off and ran towards where the LEO was, and I was calling run, run for them to get away from him. And I was calling for the LEOs so she was there and alert.

And she just -- she saved a lot of people's lives. This man was swinging very hard with that machete and if he would have made contact with anybody, it would have been terrible.

And I just feel like our job as TSA is to protect the passengers and I'm proud to say they were protected.

(INAUDIBLE)

RICHEL: I didn't hear him say anything. I looked over my shoulder once I yelled for the checkpoint to be cleared, looked over my shoulder and he was coming after me and I ran as fast as I could and thank God, you know, the officer was as close as she was because I wouldn't be here today.

(INAUDIBLE)

RICHEL: Yes. I did.

(INAUDIBLE)

RICHEL: Oh, it's fine. The bullet went through here and here and I was fortunate it just -- it went through the triceps but didn't hit any tendons. You know, didn't hit the bone. I'll be fine. I'll be fine.

(INAUDIBLE)

RICHEL: I did. I did. I thought -- originally I thought the machete hit me. I didn't realize it was a bullet. I did not realize it was a bullet until I got to the hospital because I do better not looking at an injury and so, I knew he was close.

So, I honestly thought he hit me and then she shot him. Once I got to the hospital I saw the two holes and the two holes in my shirt. So -- all's I can say is thank God she was there. Like I said, she is my hero.

And I want to say -- I also want to thank my TSA family, my screening manager was up there immediately, and when I went to the hospital, he made sure that somebody came there. One of my dear friends was there with me to get me home. Another friend who was in Arkansas got a call from somebody here and she sent her husband there to the hospital to make sure I was OK.

We've got a very tight-knit group and a great group, a lot of support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Wow. She is a hero indeed.

Now, this is not the first time that TSA agents have come under attack. Remember back in 2013, a TSA agent was shot and killed at LAX by a gunman carrying a semiautomatic rifle.

Joining me to talk about it from Telluride, Colorado, former CIA operative Bob Baer.

Bob, this brings into the light this key question -- should TSA agents be armed?

BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, at the very least they should be.

[19:05:00] You have to look at airports as a soft target for al Qaeda or the Islamic State. And if they ever decide to bring operations to this country, airports would be right at the top of the list. And they are vulnerable.

Most airports, Poppy, as you know, are protected by one deputy sheriff or one armed man, which is not enough. So, not only should they be armed or have more arms there, there should be some sort of barriers to protect airports.

HARLOW: What would -- let's say, OK, they are -- all TSA agents are going to be armed. What would that do, Bob, in terms of the certification and training that need to get? Because you've got thousands and thousands of TSA agents across the country.

BAER: Enormous amount of money. It's a precaution that's probably worth it, probably add to the air fares. But you look at high-threat countries like Israel and they protect their airports and they have stopped attacks. And it's unpleasant for Americans.

I was in Scotland when somebody tried to run a car through. I wasn't there at the time, but I came afterwards, drove it right through the window. And fortunately the bomb didn't go off. The same sort of barriers should probably be put in front of our airports.

HARLOW: So, Bob, stay with me. I want you and our viewers to see this fascinating report from our investigative team because they have uncovered shocking new information about how some airport security workers are hired and some airports do not screen their employees at all.

Here's our senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Fifty-four thousand employees at Los Angeles International Airport report to work without mandatory bag checks, no body screening, and literally hundreds of doors like this one, where right onto the tarmac. Think that's scary? Put yourself in the shoes of L.A.'s airport police chief Patrick Gannon.

(on camera): I got to ask you about the lone wolf scenario because right now what you have in place with hundreds of access doors and the screening you go through, there is really -- it doesn't appear to me -- to be protection against the lone wolf scenario.

PATRICK GANNON, L.A. AIRPORT POLICE CHIEF: When you say lone wolf, are you talking somebody -- a lone wolf that has access to, that's credentialed employee?

GRIFFIN: That guy right there that just walked in with a backpack, with a mug. We don't know what's in his backpack, we don't know what in his mug, and we don't know what's in his heart or in his head.

GANNON: That's correct.

GRIFFIN: Does that concern you?

GANNON: It concerns me all the time. With 54,000 badge employees that work at a large airport like this, there is no way that you are going to have the ability to screen every single person that comes to work in the airport.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): L.A. tries to minimize the risk by maximizing random checks like this one. Airport workers never know exactly when or where spot checks could occur. Employees also face background checks, yearly updates, and a system built around everyone watching out for anyone who might seem suspicious.

But Chief Gannon admits nothing is foolproof.

(on camera): As we've been at airports across the country, we have not seen anything like what Atlanta went through, guns being smuggle onto airplanes.

GANNON: I agree. Any airport throughout the United States and here also, there is never a 100 percent guarantee that somebody couldn't who wanted to do something illegal or wrong, couldn't make that happen.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): What happened in Atlanta is causing a reaction at airports across the country. And you can see why.

These are guns. Guns smuggled onto as many as 20 flights by one Delta Airline baggage handler. That baggage handler took the guns to work in a backpack which was never screened. Motive for the crime, pure profit, selling the guns in Northeast cities.

But Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson's general manager, Miguel Southwell, testified to a congressional committee the real danger the gun running exposed is the threat of potential terrorism.

MIGUEL SOUTHWELL, ATLANTA AIRPORT GENERAL MANAGER: In the last six months, for example, we have started to see that people have been recruited to engage in terrorist acts, people being recruited from the United States. So now we have a greater insider threat.

GRIFFIN: Atlanta is moving towards full airport employee screening, but it hasn't happened yet.

A CNN investigation found that only two major U.S. airports, Miami and Orlando, conduct full employee screening, requiring employees to pass through metal detectors just like passengers. Airports say moving toward full employee screening would simply be too costly and too time-consuming for airport workers to wait in line like you and I.

But some members of Congress just aren't buying that, demanding the department of airports say moving toward full employee screening would simply be too costly and too time consuming for airport workers to wait in line like you and I.

[19:40:04] But some members of Congress just aren't buying that, demanding the Department of Homeland Security review employee screening policies to make sure airports aren't leaving a door open to a possible disaster.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Wow, it's pretty telling. Let's talk about it. Former CIA operative Bob Baer back with me. Also, joining me here in New York, Robert McFadden, a former special agent in charge of NCIS, now with the Soufan Group.

Let me begin with you, Robert. When you look at this physically in the areas of airports, ahead of those TSA checkpoints, are those sort of ideal soft target where is you have huge lines of people waiting and waiting, and no protection?

ROBERT MCFADDEN, SOUFAN GROUP: Well, it does represent a soft target. And as we know in terrorism going back decades, for example, Palestinian groups in the '70s and '80s hit many airports in Europe. It's a plum target for terrorist actors and others with different motivations.

So where you have a large group of people, high density, though security in airports, though, armed securities is much more than it used to be, but still, it is somewhat of a soft target.

HARLOW: Haven't they recently begun to put security right at the first doorway in some airports? I believe it was possible in Lebanon and Beirut?

MCFADDEN: In some places, but it depends where you're talking about around the world and even in the United States and with what the security posture is.

HARLOW: Is it a good idea?

MCFADDEN: Well, in the business that's referred to random force protection measure, so changing the physical outlook in case bad actors are casing airports -- yes, it's a good idea. But in some places you see much more of a security presence like, for example, some major airports in Europe, there are armed personnel carriers.

HARLOW: Well, and to you, Bob Baer, I mean, you brought up Israel before the piece and how they've done you think a really good job of this in their airports. It's kind of surprising to me to hear them say we have 54,000 employees at LAX, we can't because of the sheer volume screen them all. I stand in line at the airport. I watch people go through, walk ahead

of the TSA line, show their badge and walk right through.

BAER: It's a mistake. And, you know, there was the famous Lockerbie bombing in 1988, which is a dispute until this day whether the bomb was put on in Malta or in London by a baggage handler. You get arguments on both sides. The FBI will deny it. People in Scotland will say it's -- you know, the police will say that's probably the way it happened.

So, protecting these airplanes and airports is crucial and you have to screen people and do background checks. It's very easy to bring an airplane down or a hijacking. Either way with terrorism increasing no doubt about it, we should do a better job at protecting these -- what are -- we both Bob and I agree are soft targets.

HARLOW: What is the most important change that could be made at American airports right now?

MCFADDEN: Well, one, coming from a little bit different perspective, keeping it in context, though. These are very, very low percentage, though they get our attention, that's the essence of terrorism, when it is terrorism. But then other cases like today, we'll never know what was in his head, though there was mental illness, according to all reports what the motivation is.

Increased security, working with the public, engagement at the community level, increased measures, a holistic approach when it comes to airport security.

HARLOW: Bob, final word. Do you think we'll see a change? Anything will happen after the TSA agent was attacked with a machete last night?

BAER: I think, we -- yes, I think things are going to change, but it won't change in a big way until there's actually an attack. And, you know, who knows if there will be or when.

HARLOW: There was, when somebody died in 2013, and this woman last night almost -- you know, within inches, she said, of being hit with that machete.

Thank you both, gentlemen. Good to have you on. Appreciate it.

President Obama sending a stern message to Israel's prime minister, his first comments after Benjamin Netanyahu's recent re-election signal more potential problems in their troubled relationship. The president's remarks next.

Also this, as Yemen spirals into chaos, U.S. special operations troops now leaving the country completely before things get worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:57] HARLOW: President Obama is not optimistic that he will soon see a Palestinian state even though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is open to the idea with heavy conditions. The president talked to "The Huffington Post" making his first public comments about Israel since Netanyahu's historic re-election this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we take him at his word when he said it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership. And so, that's why we've got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: President Obama did call Prime Minister Netanyahu this week to congratulate him on his election victory but said the U.S. and Israel, that relationship will likely be, quote, "reassessed" in light of the two leaders' deep divisions on key issues.

CNN has also just learned that the U.S. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow on Yemen. That is where about 100 special agents are now being evacuated from an air base in Yemen. Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force troops were the only U.S. forces still deployed there. They are now being removed.

Keep in mind when you talk about the context of this, Yemen is home to AQAP, or al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent days, it has become even more volatile. Two bombs exploding in two mosques killing at least 137 people, ISIS claiming responsibility. Yesterday also, hundreds of al Qaeda fighters escaping from two prisons in Yemen. The U.S. embassy closed there last month.

That is when a minority rebel group took over the capital. That group has tried at least once to kill Yemen's deposed president.

New developments today from another terror attack, this one in Tunisia. It was a shooting at the museum midweek, those two attackers seen on a surveillance camera, 23 people died in that attack. Most of them were tourists from other countries -- European, Russian, and Japanese. Both gunmen were killed.

According to a government statement, nine people have been arrested so far, four directly linked to the shooting. "Reuters" says more than 20 people have been arrested. The attack highlights Tunisia's growing problem of homegrown terrorists.

Consider this number -- by one estimate up to 3,000 Tunisians have left the country to go fight with terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

I spoke with CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank about the stunning numbers and the attacks in Yemen and Tunisia and how leaders outside the region are becoming deeply concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: ISIS in Yemen have only ever claimed responsibility for one other attack in the country and that was earlier this month. So, they're a fledgling group within Yemen. But whoever did this, this was very calculated and I think that strategy was the same with that attack on the golden mosque in Samarra, Iraq, in February 2006 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in al Qaeda in Iraq, which is to try and provoke the Shia to have a kind of overreaction, go off to the Sunnis and really drive Sunnis into the arms of al Qaeda.

HARLOW: And a dire warning from France.

[19:20:00] CRUICKSHANK: Dire warning from the French prime minister saying Europe faces an unprecedented terrorist threat, it's not a matter of if there are going to be more terrorist attacks, but when are there going to be more terrorist attacks? European officials telling me that ISIS are planning attacks in Europe right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, 12 of the victims who were killed in the museum attack this week in Tunisia were passengers on two cruise ships that had docked in the capital of Tunis.

Our Karl Penhaul talked with some of the survivors about the horrifying ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back in port, end of a dream cruise that turned into a bloody nightmare. Twelve of the passengers that set sail on the Splendida were slaughtered in Tunis. The survivors are badly shaken.

"When I speak about this I relive those moments and I can't bear it," she says. Galina Brunskaia from Bielorussia was sitting outside a tour bus with daughter Victoria when the gunman struck.

"We heard shots like explosions and we turned and saw two people shooting. I threw myself on the floor. Two people died on the steps of the bus", she says.

She believes those corpses blocked the way, preventing the killers from scrambling aboard. Next, the shooters turned their sights on other tourists, relaxing and shopping for souvenirs nearby.

"I was smoking a cigarette at the door of the museum. I saw five or six people fall to the floor and I felt the bullets coming toward me", he says.

He grabbed his wife and they bolted inside.

"I began seeing bullets spray underneath the bus. There was a terrorist on the right and another on the left. Everybody around them felt dead", she says.

Over coffee, Josep Lluis Cusido, a small town mayor in Spain, clutches the postcards he was buying on the museum steps. "We ran into the museum and I saw the terrorists run behind me. I hid behind a column and the bullets were whizzing by", he says.

"I felt panic. I thought I was dead. I thought I'm not getting out of here alive. They shot at anything that moved without pity. It was brutal."

Cusido made it up to a third floor balcony and huddled with other tourists. He said the shooting lasted for at least half an hour. "Through the crack of the door you could see people moving and bleeding and couldn't do anything. You didn't know if they were alive or dead", he says.

In the melee, Cusido was separated from his wife, not knowing if she had survived. They only reunited hours later back onboard Splendida. "I just said we're alive, we're alive."

He and other survivors now coming home to the question -- why? Why they lived while others died?

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Barcelona, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Well, Tunisia was seen as really the only success story to rise out of the Arab spring. So why are so many of its young men going to fight with ISIS? We'll discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:26:50] HARLOW: Tunisia has long been considered one of the few success stories of the Arab spring of 2011. But now, the situation in Tunisia is rapidly deteriorating. More foreign terror fighters come from there than any other country from the region. As many as 3,000 have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight with terrorists. That's according to one of the latest estimates.

Let me bring back former CIA operative Bob Baer, also with me in New York, Robert McFadden, former special agent in charge at NCIS, and senior vice president for the Soufan Group.

Bob, let me begin with you.

What happened in Tunisia? Why did the democracy built after the dictator Ben Ali was overthrown, why has it seemingly deteriorated so fast?

BAER: Well, Poppy, I think this has been going on for many years. You had a very corruption regime, Ben Ali was extremely corrupt, a lot of unemployment.

You saw a lot of kids rejecting the West. When they reject the West, they default to Islam. They didn't like the tourists on their beaches scantily clad and the rest of it in the nightclubs, and they just totally rejected it. So when the wars came along in Syria, Iraq, and Libya now, the major problem, a lot of them fled, you know, the West influence, and the way they did it is they went to Islam. HARLOW: Bob brings up Libya, which is very important because of the

border and also the fact that these two gunmen in the Bardo Museum attack this week were apparently trained in Libya and came over.

MCFADDEN: That's right.

HARLOW: Is there any way to protect that border, whether it's money coming from the west, more forces to help sort of protect Tunisia from completely becoming a failed state?

MCFADDEN: With the situation, Poppy, in Libya, as well as in Algeria to the West, extraordinarily challenging for the situation when you're talking about those border areas. That brings up a good point, though, to augment the idea of 3,000 roughly, some estimates more have gone to Syria and some to Iraq. There's also I'm told hundreds and possibly thousands that have gone from Tunisia into Algeria, into Mali, into Libya and have gone back and forth across the border.

So, you have this problem. The University of Maryland, for example, is doing research on the phenomenon of the career jihadi that goes to multiple battlefronts.

HARLOW: Wow.

MCFADDEN: So, you have those toxic combination of events as well.

HARLOW: Hey, Bob, I wonder if you can weigh in on this. There's been a lot of written especially lately in the wake of this attack about the struggle to sort of balance religious freedom and security in Tunisia under this new government. If this new government really did crack down in terms of security, and some would say limited religious feeling which head to the feeling of oppression among some rising up and then going to join the jihadist movements.

Any merit to that in your opinion?

MCFADDEN: Well, Poppy, the Tunisians have done their best on this. This is not an incompetent government in any sense or neglect the problem. I mean, Bourguiba before Ben Ali was suppressing this radical Islam and he did his best to stamp it out in the mosque and everywhere else. And he failed.

It's the attraction of these conflicts in the Middle East, whether it's Libya, or Iraq, or Syria that is drawing these people. They're identifying with Islam rather than they are with the country of Tunisia, and that's the problem. When that switch goes off in your head that you have to protect Islam, you will consider anything. And I think that's what we're seeing.

HARLOW: Final word to you. I've been talking about this earlier this week. Is it worth it for the United States, other western, European nations to pour a ton of money and resources into Tunisia to try to protect it from falling?

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Yes, I'm not sure about a ton of money, but, look, when you have a situation like this, and Tunisia is not just one of the examples of the shining light for the Arab Spring, it's the only example, you have the spillover effect across the entire region of North Africa and the problems for western Europe right across the Mediterranean. So those kind of problems, although much more pronounced for European partners, also impacts us.

HARLOW: Good to see you, Robert McFadden. Bob Baer. Thank you both very much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, we're going to talk about the accused Boston marathon bomber facing possibly the death penalty but his lawyers could decide his best chance to avoid that fate is to offer no defense at all. We'll explain ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The trial of the accused Boston marathon bomber picks back up on Monday after dramatic testimony this week from police officers. Here's our Alexandra Field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What happened that night in Watertown? For the first time jurors in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial heard testimony from the officers involved in the shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers. One witness testifying that he recalls both brothers being involved, both of them hurling homemade explosives, and recalling that they have distinctly different styles of throwing those devices.

The jurors saw pictures of a pressure cooker bomb embedded in the side of someone's car in the courtroom. They were also able to inspect other homemade explosives that never detonated. Two pipe bombs and a Tupperware bomb, a container that had been filled with explosive powder and fuses.

[19:35:15] Also for the first time, the jury and the defendant left the federal courthouse in Boston, taking a field trip to examine the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding. After taking a look at that boat they also took a look at railing where he had etched a message "Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop."

David Hanniberry was called to the witness stand. He's the man who found Tsarnaev. He said that he noticed a gap in the shrink wrap that had been covering his boat. When he went outside he says he saw what he called the body and that there was a lot of blood. Along with all the physical evidence, jurors also heard about the digital investigation, the search for files on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's iPod, his cell phones, thumb drives, hard drives and his laptop.

One witness testified about combing through those files and finding copies of "Inspire." That's the recruiting magazine for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It includes an article on how to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom. When the trial resumes on Monday, jurors will hear more about that digital investigation.

In Boston, Alexandra Field, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Alex, thank you for that.

Joining me now to talk about it, criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos. Danny, look, this is the defense team that in the opening statement said our client was complicit in this. They just don't want him to get the death penalty. The most effective way for them to get that, is it to put him on the stand at some point?

CEVALLOS: It's a really difficult decision in every case. But remember in this particular case, Judge O'Toole has ruled that the defense cannot present or they're very limited in presenting evidence of the relationship with his older brother, the collusion of the extent to which Tamerlan may have substituted his will for the defendant.

So with that ruling in mind, remember, there are two phases, there's the guilt phase and the penalty phase. With that in mind, it is highly unlikely he'll testify at that second sentencing phase. And super duper unlikely he'll testify here at this trial during the guilt phase.

You start from the beginning proposition for all defense attorneys which is generally not a good idea to put your client on the stand unless you're pretty sure he's going to do OK. This is not that defendant. There's really not a lot to be gained. You have to weigh out what can we get from him testifying and what can we possibly lose.

HARLOW: But it's interesting because part of what he wrote, what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote, was that he's jealous of his brother because his brother, Tamerlan, got the reward of basically dying, you know, being a martyr for the cause, if you will, before he did.

So Paul Callan, your fellow attorney, was talking about this earlier on the program, whether he actually gets what he wants if he gets the death penalty and if therefore they should push for him to get life.

CEVALLOS: I love that. And I think we're going to see a lot of that at a penalty phase if we reach the penalty phase, which is likely. Sort of a two-pronged attack. He was under the sway of his older brother who was very, very persuasive and really sort of a tyrant and also that he's so swayed by religion that this is what he believes now. There's a caveat to that. In federal death penalty cases it's a unique thing. Ultimately the jurors have to certify that religious beliefs and things like race from have no part in their ultimate decision, which is sort of a paradox.

How do you possibly not consider that issue here when we get to the penalty phase? Remember also when we get to the penalty phase that the rules of evidence are out the window, they don't apply. For that reason we're going to see a wide range of evidence, almost anything can come in with the only limit being is the prejudicial value, does it highly outweigh or does it just outweigh the probative value?

HARLOW: Danny Cevallos, good to know. Thanks. Stay with me. Coming up, we're going to talk about the notorious case of millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst now possibly facing new charges while his lawyer insists he's being held in jail illegally.

[19:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Yet another twist in the bizarre case of millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst. He is already in custody but he could face charges in other states as well. Now his attorney tells our Jean Casarez, their client isn't well and needs medical care.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Robert Durst sits behind bars this weekend at the Hunt Correctional Facility. That's about an hour outside of New Orleans. He's in their mental facility there and his attorney Dick Deguerin tells me it is not because he's a suicide risk. He is not. He does say he has a medical condition, that he needs to be in a hospital setting, but it's because of what we heard in open court, that recently he had neurosurgery or brain surgery because of a condition called hydrocephalus.

Now, Attorney Dick Deguerin tells me that during that surgery they inserted a stent or a shunt, which is like a tube, and when necessary for fluid drainage. The attorney Dick Deguerin tells me also in recent years that his client had cancer of the esophagus and cervical surgery of his neck.

While Robert Durst stays behind bars, the FBI is asking local law enforcement to search all of their cold cases, their murder cases that are unsolved in areas frequented by or lived in by Robert Durst. They're asking them to see if there are any time periods when Durst was in town, living there or visiting, and murders that are yet unsolved.

The one that all eyes are focused on at this point is in Northern California, a young woman by the name of Karen Mitchell who went missing in 1997 when she was 16 years old. There was a sketch artist that actually did a rendering of what a witness said was the last person who was seen with her, as you can see, a striking resemblance to Robert Durst.

In looking through property records, however, though, what I see is that although he purchased property in that area, it wasn't until two years later. The defense response to all of that is that law enforcement is just trying to pin something on their client because they just don't have a case in Los Angeles.

And that is the issue on Monday. It is a bail hearing in Louisiana for local state charge, but the big question after that hearing, will Robert Durst then be extradited here to Los Angeles to face first- degree murder charges.

Jean Casarez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: Well, this week our Anderson Cooper talked to the brother of Robert Durst's first wife and asked him about Durst's alleged confession. In the HBO documentary series "The Jinx."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Jim, is there any doubt after all these years, any doubt in your mind that your sister was murdered by Robert Durst?

JIM MCCORMACK, ROBERT DURST'S FORMER BROTHER-IN-LAW: Absolutely no doubt at all.

COOPER: I'm wondering what your reaction was when at the end of "The Jinx," you heard him say to himself, "killed them all, of course."

[19:45:06] MCCORMACK: Basically it was a confirmation of what I've believed for so many years and what other people have believed for so many years. You had that long exhale and saying to yourself, "finally, we can finally go to closure."

Kathy had, like I said, loved him at the beginning and then as his true self started to emerge, he started to become abusive on at least six levels that I can remember or have reflected upon and defined, and as that abuse escalated Kathy said "well, I'm going to move on," especially after the abortion was forced on her. She got the nursing degree, however, she fell in love with the health care industry and fed into her caregiver personality.

Next thing you know she was going to be a doctor, self-reliant, you know, finally able to take care of herself, not really in need of his economic support, and he just couldn't deal with that loss of control.

COOPER: Do you believe there's some part of him that wants to fully come clean?

MCCORMACK: I think he's been searching for his own version of closure for quite some time. What was telling to me at the early part of "The Jinx," when I used the word mommy, although he was speaking in a past- tense situation, kind of mimicking his childhood reaction to his mother being lowered into the grave, it's almost like he was really bringing it forward, "mommy, why is mommy in the box? What are they doing to mommy?" I'm listening to this and saying my goodness, "this guy's soul is bubbling up. He's showing us what he once was." And maybe now he wants to show us what he is now and on that note, I think he does, to your point, seek to release the demons and give it all up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Well, Robert Durst has fled the law before. Would any judge grant him bail knowing he's gone on the lamb in the past? We'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:00] HARLOW: Well, the latest in the case of millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst, his attorney says the arrest was illegal orchestrated to coincide with the final episode of the HBO documentary drama "The Jinx."

Back with me now, our legal analyst Danny Cevallos. Let's talk about this defense strategy. Look, the defense attorney here is saying, "the government is digging up all these old cold cases, just trying to -- in a desperate plea (INAUDIBLE) something on my client." What do you make of that?

CEVALLOS: That sounds like what defense attorneys say all of the time. I said this before. He's got a difficult - all defense attorneys in high profile cases have the problem of most of the time the bad evidence comes out first. Most of the time the prosecution has issued some kind of a statement or put out some kind of information that the defense attorney has to either combat or remain silent. So I think that's what he's doing here. His arguments, I don't think they have a high likelihood of success. But applaud the effort, no question. I mean, the argument is there isn't probable cause to support the original arrest warrant. That's probably the strongest of a number of not too strong arguments.

HARLOW: So what about this bail hearing set for Monday. The judge - you know, the question is for someone that has been on the lamb before, is there any chance that the judge will allow bail here because this is a millionaire, he can afford a very high bond? Do you think they will?

CEVALLOS: So in bail hearings, you have to consider, it is not supposed to be punishment. The reason - how you set bail is you decided what is this person's risk to the community and what is their risk of flight. And like you just said that factor is going to weigh heavily. This guy appears to be a high risk of flight.

And what is his danger to the community. Well, each side will argue about that but certainly I think you've honed in one of the big issues is going to be this guy is clearly a risk of flight, he's got a lot of money. I've seen that to be a huge negative for defendants, having a lot of money can be a real problem. Of course, on the defense side, we argue, he's got a lot of money, he's a member of the community, everybody knows who he is. He is not going to be able to get far. What I find in bail hearings is that with the same fact, the prosecution and the defense can draw totally different inferences from it.

HARLOW: Right.

CEVALLOS: So they're always interesting for that reason and really unpredictable.

HARLOW: If indeed he is prosecuted and found to be guilty, he could face the death penalty, and I'm wondering what role his mental state will play in all of that, in any potential trial?

CEVALLOS: You may be seeing it at this stage, the defense attorney already laying the ground work for a mental type defense.

HARLOW: Right.

CEVALLOS: Because he's already raising that issue and as we say, sort of papering the file with allegations of mental problems. I think we know that he had some sort of surgical procedure. I don't know what that was, but something that may be argued led to some kind of mental problems. That is just one theory that they might go under, so I think what we're seeing here is them laying the groundwork, building the case early and leaving that as an option that they can use at trial that this maybe some sort of - the result of some mental disease or defect.

HARLOW: Danny Cevallos, thank you for being with me tonight, I appreciate it. Good to have you on.

Coming up at the top of the hour, a night of crime and murder mysteries on CNN. First go inside the case, a fascinating documentary on Erin Hernandez. After that a "CNN Special Report, the Atlanta Child Murders," and then later we take you to Mexico to find out what happened at Falcon Lake. That is all coming up starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here.

We're back in a moment.

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[19:55:00] HARLOW: A Syrian monitoring group says at least 13 civilians have been beheaded, shot, or crucified by ISIS in various parts of Syria over just the past two days. The group also says at least 63 Syrian troops were killed when ISIS fighters attacked their positions.

It happened in northwestern Syria in an attempt by ISIS to cut off a key road there and some ISIS fighters reportedly did die in the battle. The bloody rampage of ISIS has sent countless refugees fleeing for their lives. The U.N.'s World Food Program does its best to feed them. It is a huge challenge.

I recently sat down with the executive director of the World Food Program. A remarkable woman from Chicago who has made it her personal mission to end hunger around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERTHARIN COUSIN, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The fact that I know that I'm in a position to make a difference in the lives of so many people gets me out of bed every single morning.

HARLOW (voice-over): Ertharin Cousin is a woman in near constant motion. She sits at the helm of the United Nation's World Food Program that feeds a staggering 90 million people a year. Cousin's role often puts her at the center of crisis zones.

COUSINS: How long have you been here in the camp?

HARLOW: Like this Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. COUSIN: Too many children die from hunger. When you walk out of a super market in the UK and see what we have and then go visit a mother who is feeding her child water.

HARLOW: What is your mission?

COUSIN: The mission is to end hunger in our lifetime. People say, "Oh, Ertharin, that's so nice" but I mean it.

HARLOW: Is this your most important role to date?

COUSIN: Without a doubt. That is an easy answer.

HARLOW (voice-over): Spend time with her and you'll see that she doesn't let anything hold her back.

(on camera): When you were in law school, you were told to get a career to be successful you needed to pretend to be like a man.

COUSIN: Yes, I was. Simple as that.

HARLOW: And you rebelled.

COUSIN: I sure did.

I went in for a job interview. I wore a red coat dress because I said if they're going to hire me, they need to know from the time I sit down in the chair and walk in the door that they're hiring a woman.

Thank you.

HARLOW: A big part of WFP strategy is women. Why?

COUSIN: Because women make a difference. In all the communities that we serve, when we're realistic, even in our households, women have big voices. When it comes to what children are fed, women make the difference.

HARLOW (voice-over): Cousin is a woman of incredible influence who has built powerful relationships. Before the World Food Program, she worked in President Clinton's administration and on the Obama presidential campaign. But it was in her days in local politics, in Chicago where she learned one of her most valuable lessons.

(on camera): What is the biggest mistake that you made that you learned from professionally?

COUSIN: I ran for public office when I was (INAUDIBLE), and we lost so bad. And the lesson it taught me was don't just surround yourself with people who are like you.

HARLOW: She now leads the staff of 14,000 people and keep this top of mind. Don't solve problems in your own head. When you try to go it alone, you end up by yourself.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: Amazing work being done by her in the World Food Program. Thanks so much for being with me. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Have a great evening.