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New Day

House Approves Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels; Biden's Blunders in Iowa; Syrian Rebel Leader Speaks Out; Jonathan Dwyer Arrested for Domestic Violence; Bigger, Broader Conversation about Domestic Abuse is Necessary

Aired September 18, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at your headlines at 31 minutes past the hour.

The House approving President Obama's request to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against ISIS extremists. It passed, even though many of the president's fellow Democrats refused to back it. Some Republicans criticized the strategy for not going far enough, insisting that combat troops will be needed to defeat the terror organization. The Senate is expected to pass the measure today.

A senior Veterans Administration official admitted Wednesday that delays in health care led to deaths of patients at the V.A. medical center in Phoenix. This admission came after harsh questioning in a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee. This testimony is a reversal from an agency report released in August that said it found no link between patient deaths and delays in medical service.

CNN, of course, first reported that, dozens of veterans had died while waiting for appointments at that V.A. medical center.

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has been suspended for the first half of Saturday's game against Clemson. It comes after he was caught repeatedly shouting an obscene sexual phrase on campus this week, just the latest off-the-field trouble for the Heisman winner who is accused of sexual assault and theft in the last year. Winston has now apologized for the latest incident.

Police releasing new surveillance video that they say shows University of Virginia student Hanna Graham on the night she disappeared. I want you to take a look at this can you see her off in the distance. A man is following her in a separate video released, police say you can see the same man following her.

Graham texted a friend that she was lost after she left an off-campus party alone early Saturday morning. She has not been heard from since.

Vice President Joe Biden proving to be an equal opportunity offender in Iowa. Biden was there Wednesday presumably exploring a run for president. But during a 24-hour span, the vice president offended Jews by using the word "shylock", and his use of the word "orient" to describe Asia offended many Asian-Americans and others. The vice president also left the door open to U.S. combat troops in Iraq, a contradiction to the president's position. Oh, Joe.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: In Biden-land, we call that the trifecta.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Just to give him a benefit of the doubt. Are we sure it was a Shakespeare reference?

(CROSSTALK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In all seriousness, it was not a Shakespeare reference, but I believe the Anti-Defamation League, they did come out to say Biden is a strong supporter of the Jewish community and --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: He said he made a mistake and they're using it as a teaching moment. That's how they basically said it. So --

CUOMO: I still say his candor works for him more than against. Not that he has ugly views about Asians or Jewish, but he says how he feels, that's unusual for politicians.

PEREIRA: Very rare to see that.

BOLDUAN: A teachable moment, Chris. We all need those sometimes.

CUOMO: I have them what, about every 17 seconds?

BOLDUAN: About that, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Sixteen-point-five.

BOLDUAN: Not giving him the benefit of the doubt. Michaela, thank you very much.

There can be more flooding we're going to be looking at coming from the remnants, not just the hurricane, the remnants of what was hurricane Odile.

Meteorologist Indra Petersons is taking a look at that.

Look at that flooding.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, definitely you see that often, when you're talking about all the remnants of Odile, making its way up through Lubbock, Texas. This is the southwest, it is dry. So, only one inch of rain is all it took to see this flooding across the area. Of course, the concern is still high today. Very easy to see there's plenty more moisture still fueling the area.

We're talking about anywhere of up to five to seven inches of rain, especially out towards Houston. Looking at the flooding concern and threat pushing farther east.

If you're even further east and you're down to the Southeast, conditions are improving for you today as the stationary front made its way offshore. We may be looking at a few showers around Miami. Temperatures where they should be.

You're loving this in the Southeast, finally drying out for about a day or so.

Into the Northeast, there's a cold front as well. This one is pretty dry. When you're barely talking about a few tiny little spotty showers that are going to be out there, what you're going to notice is a little dip in the temperatures. You're actually going to see your highs, New York City going from 76 to 65, Boston down to the 50s tomorrow, and if you're really high upstate, keep in mind, we're actually talking about frost advisories by tomorrow morning.

The temperatures in the 20s, that comes -- a place called Canada. I'm going to send you back, Michaela, if that keeps happening.

PEREIRA: Did you say 20s?

PETERSONS: Upstate New York.

CUOMO: Good thing we're not going to Canada any time soon.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: The upper peninsula of Michigan is when we start looking up there. We're like, oh, we can stay up there for a while.

PEREIRA: Yes, exactly.

CUOMO: You said you were going to Canada, you meant Turks and Caicos.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: Mick is from Canada, that's why it's funny. She's going to go home and see her family.

All right. The House of Representatives making news, why? They're green-lighting help for rebels battling ISIS in Syria. They're really battling the Assad regime.

And the question is -- are these rebels ready to take on anyone let alone an ISIS that seems to be growing stronger by the moment. We're going to speak with a former general from the Free Syrian Army. You decide for yourself.

BOLDUAN: Another NFL player arrested for domestic violence. How can the cycle be brought to an end? And what did he do this time? What does this mean for the league and how is the league responding? A lot of questions, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

The Obama administration insists no U.S. boots will be on the ground in the fight against is. So, who is going to fight?

Right now, the theory is, we'll get the armies of the Arab world to contend with the terrorists. Not really happening, except this one group of rebel fighters in Syria called the Free Syrian Army. They're already engaged in heavy battle against the Assad regime and frankly, it's not going that well. So, yesterday, the House voted to approve the plan, which they did, to arm and train this group. Or this group of groups, OK? So the decision is raising eyebrows because of what I just said.

So, instead of talking about them, we decided to talk to them so you can get a better understanding. We got an interview with a man named General Salim Idriss. He was voted out of the chain of command of the Free Syrian Army for suggesting working with America against ISIS, OK?

So, just use that as your starting point. Here's what he had to say about the state of the FSA and whether or not it is ready to beat back ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: As we speak, General, we're getting reports in that ISIS has taken control of over a dozen new villages in eastern Syria. Isn't this a sign that right now, ISIS is just too powerful for the FSA?

GENERAL SALIM IDRISS, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, FREE SYRIAN ARMY: It is true that ISIS is controlling now the eastern region, which is the (INAUDIBLE) a large part of the suburbs of (INAUDIBLE) and this is very dangerous. We think it is very important for us as FSA to get rid of ISIS, because they are working in cooperation with the regime.

CUOMO: Do you think if the FSA is the main army, to call it an army, going against ISIS, do you think ISIS can be beaten, if it's just the FSA that's fighting against it on the ground?

IDRISS: The FSA only, if it becomes -- the right tools and enough support, they can get rid of ISIS in Syria. I know it is very difficult, because ISIS is very well-armed and they have many, many resources, financial resources, and their weapons and they have a large number of fighters.

But our experience with is, told us that we can beat ISIS if we have sufficient military support.

CUOMO: I don't understand where your confidence comes from, that the FSA wants to take on this fight, wants to go against ISIS, when they voted you out for pushing this new mission. Right?

When you said you wanted to work with the U.S. and wanted to fight with the U.S. not just Assad, they wanted to vote you out of the chain of command. Why are you confident that the FSA will go against ISIS?

IDRISS: I can't say for Syrian revolution, it is very important and the main goal is to collapse the regime. But as we begun as Syrians to fight against the regime, we came to the conclusion that we have to fight against other extremist groups like ISIS.

And ISIS is trying to control the areas which we liberate and so, we can't continue fighting only against the regime. It is very important to fight against the regime and against ISIS. It is very dangerous and very difficult. At the same time to fight against the Syrian regime and ISIS.

But we have, we don't have other choice. We have to clean the country from ISIS. We have to keep them out, to get rid of them. And then we can continue fighting. That does not mean that we have to stop fighting against the regime now.

CUOMO: General, last question. In the United States right now, there's a great debate about whether or not U.S. fighters must be on the ground to beat ISIS. Do you believe the United States needs to have its own fighters fighting in Syria and Iraq in order to beat ISIS?

IDRISS: No, no, it is not important. We are, it is, it is very clear for us that our friends in the United States don't have to send or to send their fighters to fight on the ground. We just need the support. And if we can train them so quickly and join them to other well- trained and well-armed fighters on the ground, and if we succeed to organize all of those, to work as regular army. Because our experience in the last three years, shows that it is meaningless to continue fighting as different groups. It is very important now to work according to a central plan, under a central command. And if we don't succeed to build this army, I think we can do some good efforts, but it will be not so very useful.

CUOMO: It is safe to say that the general's confidence is high, but the competence of the FSA is low.

BOLDUAN: Well, it seems a little bit confusing. I mean, he says in the interview that right now they're not an army, that he was voted out because he wanted to go about this strategy of taking on ISIS. And then when you look at the uneven nature of the numbers game that they're playing, what did he say, 4,000 that they have?

CUOMO: Maybe.

BOLDUAN: Maybe. And then multiples of that that we know that ISIS has in the country. I mean, that seems completely out of whack.

CUOMO: And they're getting whooped right now - -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: - - in their fight against Assad. He also says it would take them two months to train up an extra 5,000, basically a doubling in the size of the army. What's the bottom line? Is this the best force to fight against ISIS? Clearly not. Where is this coalition? Where are the better fighters?

BOLDUAN: And what's the alternative is also the big question. As you said, they don't want any foreign fighters in there.

CUOMO: We know what the alternative is, it's going to be the U.S. and that's why there's such a debate.

BOLDUAN: Exactly right.

CUOMO: Now, you've heard it from a general, a former commander of the FSA himself, and you'll get to judge now for yourself what's going on.

We're also going to be talking more about the NFL, because there's another player in trouble with the law. With three big stars already off the field, there's now a fourth arrested on domestic violence charges. This time, though, immediate action by the league, deactivating the player by his team. The question is, can the league recover from this crisis?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us on NEW DAY. The NFL, another black eye to deal with this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer has been arrested now on domestic violence charges, he's been deactivated by his team. His alleged victim's a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old child.

Dwyer joins three other big stars who have been banned from the playing field for off-the-field violence.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): Here this morning to discuss the widening crisis in the NFL and what can be done, Keith Reed, the former senior editor for "ESPN Magazine" a sports business analyst, and George Martin, former defensive end with the New York Giants and former president of the NFL Players Association. And, you know, I love seeing you guys, but gosh you're here regularly. And, gosh, Houston, we have a problem. We have another story here, Keith, that we're dealing with. Is the NFL waking up in a panic this morning? Please tell me they are.

KEITH REED, FORMER SENIOR EDITOR "ESPN MAGAZINE": Oh, absolutely. They've been waking up in a panic for about the last week and a half now. To have these kinds of allegations come out, not only just about - - First of all, let's express concern for the child and for the woman who are alleged to have been abused in this incident.

But when you go a little bit further and you look at what happened yesterday, this just capped off a terrible day where you saw sponsors come out. We were here a couple of days ago just talking about how difficult it would be for Roger Goodell and for the NFL to come back from this if sponsors started to be vocal. That happened yesterday.

PEREIRA: They're being vocal, they're not pulling out. They're being vocal, which seems like a precursor to potentially making some decisions about their bottom line.

REED: They're sending messages to the team.

PEREIRA: They are.

REED: Anheuser-Busch, their sponsorship is worth more than a billion, with a b, dollars. That's a very difficult relationship to unravel, but when you're paying that much money, you're going to come out and you're going make it clear, we need to see some changes.

PEREIRA: And that's an overarching thing that we have to consider. We're talking about a big business here. Keep that in mind as we talk about all of this.

Here's what I want to ask you, George. Is this one of those situations of when it rains, it pours? Or is it that people are feeling more emboldened to come forward? Because we know that this case dates back a few months, the woman came forward now. Maybe emboldened because finally the NFL big wigs are taking this seriously?

GEORGE MARTIN, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I think it's more the former than the latter. I think when you look at it, this is the NFL's version of the Ebola virus. It seems to be spreading.

PEREIRA: Its an outbreak.

MARTIN: So far there's no cure in sight. And I think there's a big concern. And like you just mentioned, now that the sponsors are standing up in arms and beginning to voice their displeasure, I think that not only is Roger Goodell in a panic, I think that there are 32 owners who are sitting there on the sidelines saying what are we going to do about this?

PEREIRA: When you use that word panic, then you're making fear-based decisions. And if you look at how the handling of all of this is going, not clear-cut, not consistent. It's a really muddy response.

MARTIN: Absolutely.

REED: Well, I think first of all, I would use a little bit of different analogy than the Ebola virus. I think this is more akin to the church sexual abuse scandal that you saw some years ago, where it started out very small, you had some allegations.

PEREIRA: (inaudible) louder and louder. Yes.

REED: All of a sudden they were just everywhere and we found out how big this is. And the church, the Catholic church, did not handle it very well in the very beginning.

PEREIRA: Its a very interesting comparison. REED: It took a long time. And when you see scandals like these in large, entrenched organizations that are very powerful, often it's the hubris that makes it hard for them to deal with the scandal.

PEREIRA: What an interesting point. Its so interesting. We saw yesterday the Vikings owner, one of the owners, Zygi Wilf, spoke out and said look, we made a mistake by reinstating Peterson. A lot of people uncomfortable with that word, mistake because it's being thrown around a lot. The fact is there's a lot of mistakes that are happening here.

MARTIN: Its a reoccurring issue. You heard Roger Goodell come out initially and say the same thing, I made a mistake. The theme word now is now we've got it right. So, it seems as if they're going to have a misstep initially and then they go back and backtrack and try to correct that the wrongs that they made.

PEREIRA: But here's the question. So you're dealing with the symptoms, but you're not dealing with the illness as a whole, if we're going to go back to the Ebola comparison. We're putting some band-aids on some situations, and you saw very pointedly that sheriff went in and took him off the practice squad yesterday. We're talking about Dwyer. Very public you know, thing happening. But there's a greater issue about that we're looking at here.

REED: You're right, and what I worry about with this is is this. The NFL has now become a proxy for abuse, child abuse, for domestic violence this is a societal problem. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be dealt with in the NFL. It absolutely should be dealt within the NFL.

PEREIRA: Going to have to.

REED: But we have to have a bigger, broader, more honest conversation about domestic violence, and where it happens, and its not just in the NFL teams. Its not just in professional sports, its everywhere.

PEREIRA: Will we, or will this just go away as headlines have a tendency to do?

MARTIN: I don't think this will dissipate. This has to be addressed.

The larger issue here is what are we going to do on a proactive basis, an opposed to a reactive basis? Because reactive, so far, is not getting it done. Its not addressing it.

PEREIRA: I love seeing you guys, I really like having you here, but every time you're here we're talking about this and we're talking about another case. Keith, George, thank you. Pleasure to have you.

MARTIN: Thank you. Our pleasure.

PEREIRA: And also, we should mention that next hour we're going to speak exclusively with Adrian Peterson's close friend, former coach. Want to know what he knows of this young man that's in the midst of this scandal that's brewing right now. We are certainly following a whole lot of news this morning. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The amendment is adopted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president urging the Senate to follow the House's lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking. Do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This doesn't even seem serious.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will not commit you to fighting another ground war in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest anti-terror raid ever in Australian history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those that think they may be operating in dark corners, we will hunt you down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: NYPD stepped up security Wednesday on mass transit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS will prioritize launching attacks against the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The potential for them to try to come back and commit terrorist acts here are very real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scotland voting on independence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There shall be a team Scotland to take this nation forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning, welcome to NEW DAY.

We begin with breaking news, a shocking terror plot in Australia stopped just in the nick of time. The question, is something similar in the works here in the U.S.? Here's the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): ISIS sympathizers in Australia are accused of planning what they call a demonstration killing. That's sicko terminology for finding a random person in public and beheading them.

This comes as President Obama is trying to convince Congress his plan to take on ISIS is the right way to go.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): The president's plan to arm and train rebels in Syria got a green light from the House of Representatives yesterday. But, take a look at this. 71 Democrats from his own party turning against him. Refusing to back the measure. Some saying they don't trust the rebels and don't think the plan will work.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): We're following the terror threat and the terror fight around the world. We're going to begin with senior international correspondent Ivan Watson. He has the latest on this terror raid in Australia. Ivan, what do we know?

IVAN WATSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. That's right. The Australians calling this the biggest counterterror operation of their country's history. Predawn raids, dozens of arrest warrants, more than 800 police officers. And going after what they describe as a homegrown terrorist plot to carry out what the prime minister described as demonstration killings.

Now, the Australian media has filled in some of the disturbing details of this alleged plot, saying that there were plans to actually capture some innocent civilian and behead that person on camera, in public, and then drape the corpse, the body, with the black flag of the ISIS militant group.

Now, the Australian police say they foiled this plot, that they detained at least 15 people. One man has been formally charged with a terrorist-related offense. No plea given by that suspect at this point. But basically, this is coming at a time where Australia has been very quick to join President Obama's international coalition to combat the ISIS militant group.

Australia has sent war planes, combat support planes, even advisers, military advisers to Iraq to assist in this operation in Iraq.