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Syria Defector Talks to CNN; Two Americans Held Hostage in Egypt; Louis Family Talks About Kidnapping; Paterno's Contract Unchanged; Alabama Governor Sets Record Straight; Military Activity Ramps Up in Damascus; Putting a Face to the Killings; Springsteen, McCartney Duet Cut Short; The Battle Over Dylan's Guitar; Blind Beauty Contestant Finishes in Top 5

Aired July 15, 2012 - 14:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're in the "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We start in Syria with surprising new revelations. A former top official says the country provided shelter and built safe havens for al Qaeda for years. This is the most senior Syrian diplomat to defect and publicly support the country's uprising.

Former Syrian ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Al-Fares, defected last week. He sat down with our Ivan Watson for his first television interview with the U.S. network. He says the country is, quote, "a totalitarian regime and a dictatorship. And all orders come from President Assad."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAWAF AL-FARES, FORMER SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ (through translator): In 2003, after the American invasion of Iraq and the toppling of the Iraqi regime, the Syrian regime felt threatened. So they coordinated with al-Qaeda, they had an agreement to keep the road open to Iraq.

So militants started coming from all over the world through Syria under the eyes of the Syrian secret police who are directly responsible for the killing of thousands of Iraqis, Americans and coalition forces.

Al Qaeda was an ally of Bashar Al-Assad after 2003. He trained and provided shelter and built safe havens for al Qaeda to hide in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Al-Fares is the second high-profile Sunii official to break with the regime within a week. Ivan Watson joins us now on the phone from Doha, Qatar. So Ivan, did Nawaf Al-Fares say why he defected exactly?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): He said that it was the litany -- he gave a litany of all the atrocities and massacres that have been committed and he says he had tried to convince the Syrian government to change its approach to the Syrian people and when he saw there was no hope of a softer approach, that he decided to end his relationship with the regime that he worked with, he said, for 34 years.

WHITFIELD: And what more is he saying about this connection between al Qaeda and the Assad regime?

WATSON: Well, he basically says that the Syrian regime was funnelling through Jihadi militants to Iraq during the height of the violence in Iraq during the U.S. occupation there.

Of course, the U.S. government frequently accused the Damascus regime of doing that. He specifically singled out the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

A man named Asif Shawkat. He claims that Asif Shawkat was running an al Qaeda in Iraq safe haven, safe house, on the Syrian-Iraqi border that was targeted by a U.S. cross-border military operation in October of 2008.

This defector ambassador claims he talked to Asif Shawkat who was at that camp an hour after the U.S. troops targeted it, and that Asif Shawkat was furious that it had been hit by U.S. forces.

Of course, we have not -- we cannot get comment from the Syrian government thus far about these claims, but the U.S. government was open about the fact that it targeted this camp in October of 2008, hitting what it claimed was an al Qaeda in Iraq militant.

WHITFIELD: Ivan, does this former ambassador believe that others from the regime will be defecting following his suit?

WATSON: Well, he said that there are not many ambassadors left to defect because many of them have already been expelled from European and other Arab countries, as well as the U.S.

He said that any ambassadors who are still in position are most likely a special kind. He didn't specify what kind -- that will never defect.

He did mention the general who defected just days before him, saying that the general was a friend of his, but they had no coordination between each other about their defections that happened to fall roughly on the same day. He did predict that there probably would be other defections in the future -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ivan Watson, thanks so much from Doha, Qatar. Appreciate that.

All right now, let's go to Egypt where negotiators are working furiously to win the release of two Americans kidnapped in Egypt. They are a 62-year-old pastor, Michel Louis and 39-year-old Lisa Alphonse, both tourists.

The two were traveling with a tour group through Egypt's Sinai region when members of a Bedouin tribe pulled them off the bus. Their Egyptian guide was also kidnapped.

The kidnappers are demanding authorities release a jailed relative. The kidnapped pastor is a diabetic and his family says they are concerned about that.

CNN's Randi Kaye asked the pastor's son what he knows about the ongoing negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REVEREND JEAN LOUIS, SON OF KIDNAPPED U.S. PASTOR: We know just about as much as we know in the news and in terms of they're doing a lot of negotiating. They're trying the best that they can and we're waiting.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How concerned are you about your father's health?

LOUIS: We are concerned, but we're Christians and we believe in God, we're in good faith, we're resolved in our faith, we know that God is going to see him out of this situation.

But at the same time, too, we're human and we just want to see our father get home. We want to see the sister member get home also and we also want to see the tour guide, too.

Because I'm sure a lot of people are not speaking about him, too, but we want to see everybody come home safely. He is diabetic so that's the only concern we might have.

We have not spoken to him -- I especially have not spoken to him since I dropped him off at the airport on Tuesday. So we would just like the release and hopefully he's being treated very well where he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Louis' son says his father had no idea the Sinai region posed a risk to tourists. This is the third kidnapping of American tourist this year.

All right, back here in the U.S. The family of the late Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno will still benefit from his contract.

Before he died, Paterno got a new deal worth $5.5 million in payouts and benefits including paying his wife $1,000 a month for the rest of her life. Paterno reportedly negotiated it while the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse investigation got under way.

Joe Paterno's likeness on a famous mural has been changed. When Paterno died in January, a halo was painted above his head. Well, it has since been removed.

The artist said he felt he had to remove the halo after Thursday's release of that internal report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh.

The report found that Paterno and other officials buried allegations of sexual abuse against long-time assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is setting the record straight at the National Governor's Convention in Virginia. The Republican made comments yesterday about Mitt Romney's financial records.

Bentley said, quote, "I think he ought to release everything. I believe in total transparency. You know, if you have things to hide, then you may be doing things wrong," end quote.

Well, now Bentley says his comments were taken out of context and in a statement published in al.com he says this, quote, "I believe in transparency and that was the basis for my answer. There was no effort to imply that Mr. Romney has anything to hide," end quote.

All right, the violence in Syria has been going on for more than 16 months now so many innocent victims. My next guest from Amnesty International gets a personal look at some of the people being tormented.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We return to our coverage of Syria. At least 46 people were killed today across the country. The opposition says military activities are ramping up in Damascus today.

Tanks are storming into neighborhoods with mixed sects and there has been heavy shelling in many areas. U.N. observers have returned to the village where over 200 people were killed last week.

They describe homes burned or destroyed and men taken from their homes. Meanwhile, Iran has offered to host talks between Syria and the opposition, but the U.S. and other nations are strongly opposed to their involvement.

My next guest has been a witness to the deadly violence that has become daily life there. Donatella Rovera works for Amnesty International. Recently, she spent weeks traveling to towns and villages in Syria took pictures of the terrible violence that she saw.

Donatella, welcome.

DONATELLA ROVERA, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So tell me us what you have seen during this journey.

ROVERA: Well, in the town of Alepo, which was really the -- one of the last places, which was not seeing any armed conflict it remains a microcosm of what Syria used to be a year ago.

I saw peaceful demonstrations and security forces and paramilitary militias firing live rounds on to demonstrations every day and killing and wounding demonstrators and passersby, alike, every single day that I was there.

On one single day on the 25th of May, they killed 10 people including two children, for example.

WHITFIELD: Could you tell from your eyewitness account and even from some of the images that you were taking who was responsible for this killing? Could you tell whether these were opposition movement people or whether these were people with the regime? Could you tell whether they were -- as the regime has said, foreigners are being blamed for some of this killing? What could you tell?

ROVERA: Well, with the exception of one town where it was security forces firing on to peaceful demonstrators, the other 22 towns and villages I visited it had been the Syrian armed forces as opposed to the security forces.

But Syrian government forces that had gone into villages with large contingents, sometimes 70, 80 tanks, had opened fire indiscriminately, had taken mostly young men, but in some cases older men and children out of their home, executed them summarily in front of their families.

On several cases set fires to the bodies, and then before leaving, set fire to homes and property in each town and villages burning tens, in some cases hundreds of homes.

So while there were also armed confrontations breaking out regularly between security forces, armed forces on the government side and armed opposition forces on the other hand.

The overwhelming majority of the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were committed in the area where I visited were committed by government forces.

WHITFIELD: We're looking at some of your still images, everything from pictures where there appear to be portraits of people that you came to know.

Some of the homes and the bullet riddled walls that we're seeing right now. And even the burned out, I guess, carcasses of some of these homes.

When you got to know some of these people as you took their pictures, in what appear to be kind of family portraits, did you know that they would end up being targeted in this violence?

ROVERA: Well, most of the photos that I took of the -- there were photos of people who had been killed and those where the photos that their families were showing me.

These were mostly young men who were taken from their home and summarily executed or people that were killed when the towns and villages they lived in were shelled indiscriminately.

The photo that you showed earlier of the bullet ridden wall, it was a home where nine people were put in that room with their hands tied behind their backs and shot in the head.

WHITFIELD: What about the risks that you were taking by taking these photographs, knowing that the regime has not welcomed journalists in large numbers there

In Syria when you're holding up a camera and taking pictures like this, it could appear as though you are not an NGO, but instead a member of the press. What kind of risk were you taking?

ROVERA: Well, I was in Syria without the authorization of the government, so I moved for several weeks I was going to different parts of the countries and the most important thing obviously was to remain before the radar screen.

Because I did not want government forces -- government authorities knowing that I was in the country. And obviously it was also important for me to be extremely careful not to put in danger the people that I was speaking to and interviewing every day. So, yes, there was that particular element.

WHITFIELD: Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International. Thanks so much for bringing these images and the stories behind these images and really opening so many people's eyes to all that's taking place from your point of view there in Syria. Thanks so much.

ROVERA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, there is a fight brewing over Bob Dylan's original electric guitar, the one that he may have used for the first time at a music festival in the 19 festival in the 1960s. Why its authenticity is a half million dollar question?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK0

WHITFIELD: It's a match made in rock 'n' roll heaven.

Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen singing "The Beatles" tune "I Saw Her Standing There." But apparently not everyone in London's Hyde Park last night was into the superstar duet.

The two were still singing when the local organizer simply cut off the power to the stage. They pulled the plug because the show ran past its allowed time.

Besides rock 'n' roll, icons Springsteen and McCartney and there's Bob Dylan in a class by himself. But right now, a fight is brewing over the iconic guitar Dylan may have used in a 1960s musical festival.

But not just any guitar, but the electric one that he may have used in a public performance for the first time. A woman came forward and says she has that very guitar from 47 years ago, but Bob Dylan's people say that he still has it.

The co-host of "History Detectives" on PBS and her show has authenticated the guitar. And I asked her why they think this is the real deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELYSE LURAY, CO-HOST, "HISTORY DETECTIVES": We believe that it is the guitar. You know, we're 99.9 percent certain, but obviously, if Bob Dylan says he has the guitar, there is some discrepancy here. But through the authentication process that we used, we believe that we actually do have his guitar. WHITFIELD: OK, now apparently, Bob Dylan's folks are saying he did have a collection. He had a few.

LURAY: Sure.

WHITFIELD: And it is possible that one may have escaped their possession. Might that be the case in this one?

LURAY: Well, it might have been the case, but when you look at the whole package, a woman named Dawn Peterson contacted us. Her father was a pilot during the time period of Bob Dylan and Peter Paul and Mary, and he flew for a lot of these different bands, including the band.

A lot of times equipment could have been left on the plane. So she contacted us and I was like, yes, right, there's no way it is the guitar because a lot of time with history detectives, family folklore doesn't really pan out.

But all the elements added up to this could be the guitar. Her father was a pilot. The guitar came in a case that said "Ashes and Sand," which was a company that Bob Dylan actually had during that time period.

It came with some lyrics, some handwritten and typed lyrics that were really kind of fragments of lyrics that we were able to authenticate that were Bob Dylan's hand.

But most importantly the guitar itself, it has never been seen. We contacted "Rolling Stone." We contacted the hall of fame. No one has ever seen the guitar from when he went electric so physically it's been missing for many, many years.

And when we actually went down and really broke down the guitar, the strings were still period to the piece, the serial number was period to when it should have been played.

But most importantly the wood grains on the guitar matched photographs of Bob Dylan on stage that night. That's kind of like the fingerprint that you would have on your thumb. It is like the guitar fingerprint. We believe that it was a perfect match.

WHITFIELD: In the statement, bob has possession of the electric guitar he played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965." This is by Orin Snyder.

Going on to say, "he did own several other Stratocaster guitars that were stolen from him around that time, as well as were some handwritten lyrics."

So in a way there is a little bit of room there that says that there is a real possibility that what you all have is indeed possible to that 1965 link.

What would it mean? What is the big picture or the symbolism behind the finding of this guitar and how do you extrapolate what it meant for Bob Dylan as a music artist for that time.

That being a very historic moment, and what does it say about these musical instruments that are as iconic as perhaps the musician themselves?

LURAY: Well, I mean in my opinion, if you look at what are the historic moments in rock 'n' roll history. You've got "The Beatles," you maybe have something with Elvis Presley, you know, Hendricks maybe at Woodstock, but really you have Bob Dylan going electric.

Every historian will tell you that. At the time period you have to remember, he was the social conscience of this movement during the time. It's 1965. There is a lot going on.

The people were using him and his music for political statements. And I think that Bob didn't want to be pigeon holed into this movement. He said I'm not going to be this because I am an artist and I want to keep evolving and I want to keep, rightly so, and thank God, because he is truly one of the most important artists we have from that time period.

But he had a profound impact on rock 'n' roll and how rock 'n' roll changed and how blues came into play in rock 'n' roll. At the same time you have the rolling stones and you have other people experimenting as well. Bob was right there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And so if the guitar is the real deal, it could be worth around a half million bucks.

All right, a legally blind woman competes for the Miss Florida USA crown and tries to make history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: No crown for the first legally blind woman to compete for Miss Florida USA, but Connor Boss finished in the top five in last night's pageant.

The 18-year-old college freshman has a genetic eye disease that makes it difficult for her to focus on objects right in front of her. She was chosen miss photogenic and she says she feels like a winner even without the overall title.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONNOR BOSS, PAGEANT CONTESTANT: I've come to learn that it is not even about winning the pageants. It's about -- I'm so glad that my story could be shared and that at least I can inspire one person and if I can inspire one person, I feel like I've won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The winner of the pageant will compete in next year's Miss USA contest. I'll be back in one hour with a story about a campaign to end adult movies being offered in hotel rooms. We'll hear from a porn star who says it is an issue of freedom of choice.

And we'll also hear from the movement that's trying to remove such choices from hotels. Stay with CNN.

"YOUR MONEY" starts right after the break.

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