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Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch is Stepping Down; U.S. Teen Pleads Guilty to Terror Charges; American Killed Fighting ISIS in Syria; Pool Party Outrage. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 11, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:51] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Jason Carroll, Polo Sandoval -- thanks so much. Have to take a break. I'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. More breaking news to share with you this morning.

This just in to CNN. Rupert Murdoch, the 84-year-old head of 21st Century Fox is stepping down. CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has the news. Tell us more.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I just spoke to a source close to the Murdoch family who says this is not official yet, it's not going to be publicly announced yet but Murdoch is preparing to hand over the reins to one of his sons, James.

This has been speculated about for literally a decade, Carol. Murdoch is one of the most important, most influential media moguls in the whole world. He's also 84 years old and he has sons who have been groomed for this for a long time.

[10:34:52] So James Murdoch, one of his sons will be taking over 21st Century Fox, becoming the CEO at some point in the not too distant future. There's a board meeting next week to talk about this officially. But Murdoch will be staying as executive chairman. So essentially he will have the final word still on all matters at the company.

So even though it might seem like just a title change, it's a very important title change because it is the handing of the reins of one of the biggest media companies in the world to a new generation.

COSTELLO: Ok. So son James, I'm searching back in my memory banks, he was in some sort of hot water with the hacking scandal, as I recall.

STELTER: That's right, this was the hacking scandal in Britain where the newspaper -- one of Murdoch's newspapers there was literally hacking into the phones of celebrities, victims of crimes -- things like that. It was a terrible ethical breach over there. There was a lot of investigation in Britain and James Murdoch stepped down from a role he had there as a result. He essentially was one of the people taking responsibility.

But he has since rebounded so to speak. He became the COO of his father's company, 21st Century Fox. So he's been taking on a leadership role and now he'll be taking over the main job.

Keep in mind, 21st Century Fox owns Fox News, Fox Sports, 21st Century Fox Movies -- all the movies you see the Fox logo on. So it's a giant sprawling conglomerate. And then of course, the other company they own -- owns the "Wall Street Journal" and the "New York Post" and lots of Web sites and things like that. So we're talking about a massive company and a big shift in the media world.

COSTELLO: All right. Brian Stelter, many thanks to you.

STELTER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it.

Also just moments ago a Virginia teenager pleading guilty to terror charges. The 17-year-old is accused of helping a slightly older adult travel to Syria. That adult is believed to have joined ISIS.

Joining me now is CNN's Joe Johns. He has more details. Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right, Carol. You got it there. 17-year-old high school-aged student, northern Virginia pleading guilty as an adult today to essentially material support for ISIS, recruiting for ISIS on Twitter. Now, in late November last year, the FBI got information that this student Ali Shukri Amin was recruiting under the handle Amreekiwitness even effecting the travel of slightly older 18-year-old to Syria to work with ISIS.

Among other things, authorities say Amin was providing info on how to use bitcoin virtual currency to pay for these activities. And authorities say Amin admitted to setting up travel to Syria for that 18-year-old whose name is Reza Niknejad and they issued a warrant for Niknejad for his arrest as well.

The U.S. Attorney in northern Virginia warning today that parents need to be vigilant so their children won't get involved in this kind of activity. Authorities say Amin is cooperating in the investigation. Apparently an honor student at a high school in Manassas, Virginia now faces up to 15 years in prison for essentially giving material support to ISIS -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Joe Johns reporting live from Washington. Thanks so much. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:42:09] COSTELLO: A possible break for authorities searching for those two escaped killers. Dogs pick up a scent just three miles from the prison.

Let's head to West Plattsburgh, New York and Jason Carroll. He has more on this breaking development. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you -- Carol. We're right along Route 374 which has been partially shut down because of the search. And in fact, just before we came on camera, about a half dozen new search members just came through the area here. But as you say, this is a very significant lead in this search for both Richard Matt and David Sweat.

According to a government official and another source, dogs have keyed in on a particular site in the deep woods here in this rural area off of Route 374 where these two may have been -- where they believe these two men were. They are confident that these two men were bedding down in this particular area. They found food wrappers. They also found either a footprint or a boot in this particular spot as well. The question for investigators now is how long ago these two men may have been in that particular spot.

In the meantime, this particular section of Route 374 is shut down. It's about a seven-mile chunk of Route 374, although this particular area that the dogs keyed in on was about three miles from the prison. We are now about seven miles east of where that prison break took place. But for now Route 374 remains closed. The search for these two men still very active -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll reporting live from upstate New York. Thanks so much.

In other news this morning, an American who went to Syria to fight ISIS on his own is dead, killed on the battlefield. According to the State Department, Keith Broomfield, a native of Massachusetts, died earlier this month while fighting in Syria. A woman who says she's Broomfield's sister shared a text message on Facebook. What she says was her final message from her brother.

It reads in part, quote, "Sometimes you got to be a man whether you want to or not. I don't expect anyone to understand, but I don't need anyone to either."

With me now, Richard Jones, who fought in the same Kurdish army group as Mr. Broomfield. Welcome, sir.

RICHARD JONES, FOUGHT AGAINST ISIS WITH KURDS: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Did you know Mr. Broomfield?

JONES: No, I did not. I did not know him personally.

COSTELLO: So can you describe what his life was like in that Kurdish army while fighting alongside them just as you did?

JONES: All right. Well, basically he would have traveled and gotten into Rojava which is in the northern part of Syria. It's a semi- autonomous Kurdish-controlled area held by both a Kurdish government and Kurdish military which is the YPG, the People's Protection Unit. He would have joined there. He would have been evaluated on what his training and skill set was and then been assigned to a unit, given a uniform, weapon, and be sent to a particular front to protect that area.

[10:45:04] COSTELLO: Help us understand why you and Mr. Broomfield wanted to go there to fight ISIS because it's so dangerous.

JONES: Absolutely. It is dangerous. However, I think myself, Mr. Broomfield I imagine, and many others who have gone to the Middle East, to Iraq and to Syria to help fight against ISIS see that there's a tremendous problem we're facing in the world today. And I think a lot of us are upset that there's not more decisive action being taken by particularly our government with such great resources and the ability to have decisive action that we feel that it's necessary for ourselves to stand up individually and make a statement that we're going to fight against these terrorists.

COSTELLO: Do you plan to go back and fight?

JONES: I have no plans for the immediate future to go back. However, I do think that's always a possibility.

COSTELLO: Mr. Broomfield's body we believe is still in Syria. How will his family get his body back?

JONES: The YPG, the People's Protection Unit, the military that he joined, and the PYD, their governing body, will go through great efforts to respect and preserve his body and his remains, and they will ensure that it will make it to his family. That process may take time, but I know from personal experience that any fighter who is killed whether he's Kurdish or American or any nationality, they respect that sacrifice greatly and they go through a long way to honor their service.

COSTELLO: How many Americans do you think have gone over there to fight ISIS on their own?

JONES: I couldn't put a number on it. I know originally when I first went there was very limited number of westerners that were over in the Middle East fighting on our own. However, that number has increased with time, especially due to the publicity that's seen and probably a lot of frustration that people have felt over the lack of definitive action.

COSTELLO: Richard Jones, thank you for sharing your insight. I appreciate it.

JONES: You're quite welcome -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:29] COSTELLO: The former McKinney, Texas officer at the center of a pool party controversy apologizes. Eric Casebolt's attorney says he let his emotions get the best of him at the end of a tough day at work answering two suicide calls before heading to this disturbance at the pool party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE BISHKIN, ATTORNEY FOR ERIC CASEBOLT: He never intended to mistreat anyone, but was only reacting to a situation and the challenges that it presented. He apologizes to all who were offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for the teenage girl he tackled, her attorneys are also speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's being having a hard time sleeping and a hard time eating. In my mind they went beyond inappropriate and they were clearly excessive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ryan Young is in McKinney, Texas, with more. Good morning -- Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

Of course, this has started a big debate after people watched that video. Casebolt said he couldn't be there himself to apologize because he's worried about his own safety after death threats have come in.

But his own police chief talked about the tactics he used that day and said it's not in keeping with this police department. In fact, there were 12 officers on scene. He said 11 of them did the right job and only one of them stood out.

So you can see there's an investigation that's still ongoing. Something could still happen to Casebolt. He still could be charged but his attorney talked about the reasons why he was so emotionally charged when he arrived to the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHKIN: The natures -- the nature of these two suicide calls took an emotional toll on Eric Casebolt. They serve as a reminder that while police work is often dangerous, it is fraught with emotions and family tragedy.

When the Craig Ranch neighborhood incident came over the radio, Eric Casebolt was reluctant to respond to a simple trespassing call given what he had just been through. He was content to let the other officers handle this call.

However, once the call was escalated and responded to possible violent assaults, he felt and believed it was his duty to respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Now, Officer Casebolt actually arrived to two suicide calls. One man killed himself. Another young lady he was able to talk off the roof. So he, according to the attorney, was emotionally charged when he arrived there.

It's been interesting to be here and to see how people are acting. All the officers have been very nice to us as they have been driving by. In fact, we've had conversations with the officers here. They don't seem to be angry about our coverage but there are people in the neighborhood, in the area who obviously want the spotlight on the situation to go away, but once again he apologized through his attorney yesterday, so another chapter is definitely being turned here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Young reporting live. Thanks so much. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:27] COSTELLO: All right. CNN continues to follow this breaking news out of upstate New York.

Dogs have now picked up the scent of these two prison escapees. They picked up the scent in the woods just three miles from that prison. Sources tell us investigators also found some candy wrappers, a boot footprint, and evidence that somebody had bedded down in this particular area. That's all we know about that right now.

In another bit of news in this manhunt for these two prison escapees, Joyce Mitchell, the prison worker who supposedly had some role in helping them in some way, authorities are not charging her right now. Instead, they say she is cooperating, and they'll have more information on that later. So those are the two tidbits of information CNN will continue to follow.

Some other top stories for you at 59 minutes past. Jurors in the theater shooting trial are hearing from James Holmes' former girlfriend. His ex, telling the court Wednesday how Holmes took her to a horror movie festival on their very first date. She also revealed that after their breakup Holmes told her he wanted to kill people. She's expected back on the stand today.

Possible new clues in the D.C. Mansion murder case. Unfilled search warrants revealing a bloody bat was found inside the house. It was in the same room where three of the victims were found. Police say the family along with their housekeeper were held hostage and tortured before being killed last month. They've arrested one person.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

[11:00:00] "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.