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New Day
Suspect in Custody in Missing UVA Student Case; Derek Jeter Set to Play Final Game in New York; Clintons United with Obama on Airstrikes; Bob McCulloch Won't Recuse Himself; Air Strikes Aim for ISIS Wallet
Aired September 25, 2014 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He should be in court today in the Galveston area. And I think the big question is, will he fight extradition? Or will he waive it and come back to Virginia voluntarily. I think that's what the day has to hold.
Back to you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, interesting as you point out, Jean, this is the answer to only one question. Where is Jesse Matthew? The bigger question is, where is Hannah Graham? That we still need to learn.
Jean Casarez for us in Virginia, thanks so much.
Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Topic change here this morning as we get into the "Bleacher Report."
Derek Jeter set to take the field tonight at Yankee Stadium for the last time. It is such a major moment. The heavens may not allow the rain of the best shortstop on the best team ever to end.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you agree with this?
CUOMO: It doesn't matter what he thinks.
Andy Scholes has more this morning in the "Bleacher Report".
The weeping of the heavens, Andy, may come into play.
BALDWIN: Really, really?
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Everyone is sad to see Jeter go.
Chris, are you going to go to the game?
CUOMO: No, no, too big a moment. I don't want it to happen.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOLES: All right. Well, lend someone your umbrella, as you guys know, 100 percent chance of rain today in New York, and that's causing mass panic because tonight is supposed to be Derek Jeter's final farewell at Yankee Stadium.
The cheapest ticket to get into the game still going for 250 bucks, despite the weather. Now, they are more than likely will not make this game up if it's rained out because it won't affect seeding for the playoffs. Now if it were to be canceled, Jeter's last game at Yankee Stadium would have been yesterday, when he went 0 for 4 and he was left on deck when the game ended. Not very Jeter-like. So, let's all hope they do get the game in tonight.
A grand jury deciding not to indict NASCAR driver Tony Stewart in the death of fellow racer Kevin Ward Jr. The 20-year-old Ward was struck and killed by Stewart's car after he climbed out of his car to confront Stewart, during a dirt track race in Upstate New York last month. Prosecutors also revealed that Ward had marijuana in his system, enough, they say, to impair his judgment.
In a statement, Stewart says this has been the toughest and most emotional experience of my life. And it will stay with me forever. I'm very grateful for all the support I've received and continue to receive.
Guys, back to Jeter, I saw an amazing stat. Tonight's game in the Bronx will be the first Jeter has ever played there with the Yankees eliminated from postseason contention. It's amazing thing, about 20 years he's never played a home game where it didn't have some sort of bearing on where they land in the playoffs. It's incredible.
BALDWIN: Too bad it's going to be pouring down rain. Sorry.
CUOMO: Most believe that the Yankees decided not to enter the playoffs this year, because doing it out of respect for Derek Jeter. Don't want to overshadow him.
BERMAN: Which is why they didn't last year, two years in a row.
CUOMO: I don't remember that at all.
BALDWIN: He's not buying it.
SCHOLES: Jeter was injured last year.
CUOMO: That's right, he was.
That doesn't matter to a hater, though, Andy.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: He's one of the great --
CUOMO: One of the great.
BERMAN: Cal Ripken called, a little bit upset of your characterization of Derek Jeter.
CUOMO: I said the best shortstop on the best team ever is what I said, Mr. Berman. Don't let the facts get in the way of a harsh opinion.
The Clintons squarely in the president's corner when it comes to taking on ISIS in Syria. What they had to say to CNN about that and baby talk, too. Remember what's coming up. That's up next.
BALDWIN: Also, anger over the Michael Brown police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, has still not subsided. Protesters are demanding that officer be charged and that the county prosecutor resign. The prosecutor is now answering critics. He's talking to CNN exclusively. We will share that with you, coming up here on NEW DAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Do you think the risk from ISIS is as significant a threat as al Qaeda under Osama bin Laden?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: I think it's quite significant. And it certainly threatens to change the whole landscape in the Middle East. Redraw national boundaries, crash national governments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That, of course, former President Bill Clinton, speaking to CNN's Erin Burnett about the dangers of ISIS. That was at a special town hall last night. The former president says he supports the current president's decision to launch airstrikes against the terrorists inside Syria.
Now, the former president's wife, Hillary Clinton, you may have heard of her, also came out in support of the decision, telling CNN that the situation demanded this kind of robust response.
Joining us to talk about this and all things Clinton is the expert on the subject, Maggie Haberman, a senior political writer for politico.com and a CNN political analyst.
Maggie, you know, it's interesting. Over the last several days, there have been a lot of questions about how would Europe react to the air strikes in Syria, how would Russia react? How would the Arab world react? How would he Clintons react?
It's almost as if such a thing were important in and of itself. I want to play more bit of sound of the former president and former secretary of state on what they think of the latest action. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE STATE: I think the president gave a very clear explanation and robust defense of the actions he has ordered with respect to the terrorists in Iraq and Syria. The situation now is demanding a response. And we're seeing a very robust response.
BILL CLINTON: I think that this strategy that the president has adopted has a chance to succeed. I support what they're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Obviously, both Clintons have vast experience in foreign policy.
But, Maggie, I get the sense that's not why we care what their opinion is here. Explain to me why this is so important, politically.
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hillary Clinton is seen as the dominant front-runner for the Democratic nomination for 2016.
BERMAN: I hadn't heard.
HABERMAN: In case you didn't know, and I'm here to say it for the first time.
What she thinks about foreign policy is incredibly important. She also served in the administration. During her book tour, she was critical of the president on certain issues of foreign policy. She pointed out where they had disagreed, mainly on how to handle Syria early on during that civil war. So hearing her supporting what he is doing I think is very, very important.
Also, it's important because she clearly is mindful of the fact that there is one president at a time and she is not trying to set future policy.
BERMAN: Syria is the issue that she chose in her book to show where there is distance between herself and the president.
HABERMAN: Yes, and in her book, she stated it very sort of calmly, smoothly. It was a disagreement.
In an interview she did over the summer, with "The Atlantic's" Jeffrey Goldberg, she was much more pointed on this. Described the not arming Syrian rebels early on in the conflict, which she has argued at times could have helped prevent the spread of ISIS was a failure. That was a very pointed word. You didn't hear anything like that.
And in the interview with CNN she was given the opportunity to say I got it right and she declined to do that. She said we could argue this all day long, but at the end of the day, I can't know any more than you would, if it would have made a difference.
BERMAN: This goes to show she has to be careful in how she deals with the president, not just because he's running a war right now, in the Middle East, but also because of his political base. You wrote a very interesting article in "Politico" recently, with the title was essentially, "It's Complicated", the relationship between the Obama team and the Clinton team.
Explain why it is so complicated?
HABERMAN: Sure, a year ago at this time Syria has been a constant thread in this relationship frankly since she left state. A year ago, right before the Clinton Global Initiative last year, she was working the phones to senators, about a half a dozen of them, trying to sell them on a congressional authorization that the president at the time was planning to seek. He later postponed it. But she then went on to be critical this summer. She then walked that back a bit, said I didn't mean to attack him and obviously we saw the statement she gave yesterday.
She needs the president's base of support. She needs not to lose Democrats, liberals who backed Obama and Obama's some advisers anyway, see her as his biggest lifeline for protecting his legacy after he's out of office.
BERMAN: I think one of the big unknowns in presidential politics right now is if this Democratic coalition which elected the president, with overwhelming majorities both times, if it's a Democratic coalition or an Obama coalition, and if Hillary Clinton, if she is the nominee, can put it back together again?
HABERMAN: That's exactly right. Right now, we are not seeing a huge threat to Hillary Clinton and the Democratic primary, she has to suspect will face some challenge. But she's in a much stronger position than she was six years ago. However, she needs Democratic base voters to turn out in a general election if she runs and that's where you need to see the coalition hold.
BERMAN: I want to show one picture which illustrates the "It's Complicated" theme you wrote about. This was a picture taken by the official White House photographer of President Obama and former President Clinton. There are a lot of people noted here, look at the body language there.
Is that a happy relationship?
HABERMAN: Folded arms.
BERMAN: Before we go, let's talk about the news that hasn't happened yet, but it will very soon.
HABERMAN: What are you talking about?
BERMAN: Chelsea Clinton is going to have a baby. You know that as any grandparents, protective grandparents, the Clintons are absolutely thrilled and I think they're looking forward to this a lot.
The timing, though, is interesting. I think there are a lot of Democrats around the country who want Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton on the trail for the next five weeks. You know they may be grandparents instead because that's what they want to do.
HABERMAN: Yes, I think you will see Hillary Clinton spend less time on the trail than you'll see Bill Clinton. They made it clear they're ecstatic about this pending grandchild, which I think we'll see sooner rather than later. Bill Clinton said he hope to be a grandfather by October 1st. But I think you will see Bill Clinton out there a lot.
He, among other things, can't help himself, loves being on the campaign trail and I think he really wants to help the Democrats retain the Senate.
BERMAN: Of course, I'm sure he also wants to be a grandfather, also. He'll fit that in, I'm sure.
HABERMAN: I think that's true. I think there'll be time for both.
BERMAN: All right. Maggie Haberman, great to have you here with us.
I do want to say, if you're interested in politics or the Clintons, to you all out there, you're doing an enormous disservice if you're not reading Maggie's stuff in "Politico" every day. So, thanks very much.
HABERMAN: Thanks.
BERMAN: All right. Coming up for us: Ferguson, Missouri, still simmering as the grand jury considers charges against the police officer in the Michael Brown shooting. Protesters demanding the county prosecutor step aside. He is now speaking out to CNN exclusively. We'll have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Even more outrage this morning in Ferguson, Missouri, as a grand jury is reviewing evidence in that Michael Brown shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): You have all these protesters, they're out there, they're demanding the immediate removal of the prosecuting attorney in this case. They say the case could be doomed because of the prosecutor's own personal bias. But, here's the thing. That prosecutor is speaking out, and that prosecutor is making it clear he is not going anywhere. CNN's Ana Cabrera has more.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new explosion of violence in Ferguson, Missouri.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This behavior will not be tolerated. The safety of the officers and the individuals within our community will be maintained.
CABRERA: The fresh unrest. A reminder of the tensions still simmering in this small town. Tensions that could reach a full boil depending on the actions of the St. Louis County grand jury, now more than six weeks after Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown.
CABRERA (on camera): Why did you decide to take this case to the grand jury?
BOB MCCULLOCH, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI: Well, a couple reasons. One is that forever we have taken all homicide cases to the grand jury.
CABRERA (voice-over): Prosecutor Bob McCulloch has done few interviews since his office got the case.
He remains a target of protestors who want him to step aside.
MCCULLOCH: You don't just walk away from a case because, you know, you're catching a lot of grief over it. I can be fair and I have been fair.
CABRERA (on camera): People still are angry about this and worry that there is a bias because your father was killed in the line of duty, a police officer, and was killed by an African-American person.
MCCULLOCH: Correct. All of that is correct, and all of that is irrelevant in terms of whether there's any bias or prejudice on my part. I know what it's like to lose a loved one to violence, and so I know what that feeling is. If it causes me to lean one way or the other, it causes me to lean towards victims of violence.
CABRERBALDWIN: Did you think ever about maybe making a grand gesture by stepping down from this case and letting a special prosecutor take over?
MCCULLOCH: There's a very vocal group, don't get me wrong, that thinks, you know, that I'm the devil incarnate and shouldn't be on this case. But when you look at the ones making those allegations, you know, look behind it.
CABRERA (voice-over): McCulloch insists there is no hidden agenda behind the grand jury secret proceedings. Their term just extended until January, but a decision could come sooner.
MCCULLOCH: It's taken longer than we had anticipated on each witness, and so it is likely to go until probably the end of October or into the first part of November. Maybe as far as the middle of November.
CABRERA: He says the seven men and five women selected randomly by a judge are hearing from every witness, seeing every piece of evidence. All of which, he says, will eventually be made public when a decision is made on whether to indict Officer Wilson. A community desperate for answers, these protesters say they will not rest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is here for Mike Brown. Everybody is here for justice.
CABRERBA: It's justice they demand, no matter how long it takes.
Ana Cabrera, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: So you have the issue with the prosecutor, right? And all of those people wanting him to recuse himself. We were just sitting here talking during that piece, just remembering that the officer himself, Darren Wilson, he did opt to testify in front of the grand jury about a week ago.
A lot of people weren't quite sure if he would or he wouldn't, if it would help, hurt his case, but still no word as far as whether he's indicted. CUOMO: Highly unusual. Probably won't know for at least a couple of
months.
BALDWIN: Yes.
CUOMO: That's not unusual for a grand jury, but testifying before it as the defendant is very unusual because it is very tilted towards the prosecution. That's why everybody always comments about how easy it is to get indicted, relatively.
BALDWIN: There are no defense attorneys behind those closed doors.
CUOMO: No and that this is the prosecutor's show. He decides what evidence he wants to put. He is supposed to put evidence of both sides in but, who knows, because it's a secret proceeding. But I will tell you this, it changes the balance of what's going on in the grand jury considerably. Because usually the bar is very low, because they don't hear the defense's side.
BALDWIN: But this time they have.
CUOMO: They did, so that may complicate the situation. For the prosecutor to go to the grand jury is not surprising in this situation. Everybody says you could have just done it yourself through felony complaint. But where people are so activated, you should know the Ferguson situation, there's still a lot of unrest there. It's not covered as much, but its still going on. Not surprising, the situation.
BALDWIN: We're watching, huge interest obviously in what's happening there in Missouri.
CUOMO: And we'll stay on it, that's for sure.
We're also going to stay on the situation with President Obama, because he is set now to address the Ebola crisis this morning before the United Nations. Wasn't just there for ISIS, he also has to chair a meeting of the security council.
But the Ebola situation front and center, and comes as the World Health Organization now says that more than 2,900 people have died in West Africa from the outbreak. But one woman is actually working to fight the virus in Liberia. She has set up a makeshift hospital in her home. She single-handedly saved most of her family when they contracted the disease. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has that story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two months ago Fatu Kekula's father got Ebola.
FATU KEKULA, CARING FOR FAMILY MEMBERS WITH EBOLBALDWIN: He started to put on (ph) the symptom, the vomiting, the stooling, the fever.
COHEN: Three hospitals turned Fatu's father away. Fatu had little choice, she took her dad home to treat him herself. Within days, three more people in the house got sick. And Fatu, a 22-year-old nursing student, had to become a one-woman Ebola hospital.
KEKULBALDWIN: I was treating them all by myself. No one around. All by myself. All alone.
COHEN: Isolating her sick loved ones in separate rooms, her mother, her father, her cousin Alfred, and in there, her sister, Vivian.
COHEN (on camera): So, you were running all around the house?
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes.
COHEN: Taking care of them.
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes.
COHEN: They must have been so sick.
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes. They were very sick.
COHEN (voice-over): Incredibly, Fatu didn't get sick. How she managed that will astound you.
KEKULBALDWIN: I developed my own protective gear. I bought black plastic bag, plastic jacket, glove, rain boots, long trousers, hair cover, mask to my nose. Everything.
COHEN (on camera): So this is it, you're done?
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes.
COHEN: This is how you took care of four people with Ebola?
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes.
COHEN: This is what happens when hospitals turn people away, you became inventive.
KEKULBALDWIN: Yes.
COHEN (voice-over): Unfortunately, Fatu's cousin, Alfred, didn't pull through. But Fatu saved her father, her sister and her mother from Ebola.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very much proud of Fatu Kekula for the marvelous way that she did to the power of almighty God.
COHEN (on camera): Do you owe your life to her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than my life because I can say, even though God saved me, she saved my life also.
COHEN (voice-over): UNICEF heard about Fatu and was inspired by her. Now they're teaching her trash bag method to other people.
KEKULBALDWIN: I'm feeling proud of myself.
COHEN (on camera): You're quite a nurse.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: And you're not even officially a nurse yet.
KEKULBALDWIN: No.
COHEN (voice-over): Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Kakata, Liberia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Amazing story. The need is so great. The lengths that people are going to.
BALDWIN: Trash bags.
CUOMO: Not unusual, and that's why that story has to get more attention and they need so much help.
BALDWIN: I'm glad we're there.
CUOMO: We'll stay on that. Absolutely. A lot of big news for you this morning. So let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a new round of air strikes pounding ISIS, blasting the terror group's oil refineries in Syria to cut off funding. Arab countries doing most of the work this time, dropping more bombs than the U.S.
Now, more allies joining the fight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britain will play its part.
BALDWIN (voice-over): The United Kingdom now set to vote on air strikes, as a French hostage is beheaded by an ISIS offshoot in retaliation. President Obama pressing the world to unite against the terror group.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There can be no reasoning, no negotiation with this brand of evil.
BALDWIN: The new rules he pushed through to cut ISIS off.
CUOMO: A special edition of NEW DAY continues right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO (on camera): Good morning, welcome back to NEW DAY. Breaking overnight, U.S. and Arab allies pounding more than a dozen ISIS targets in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CUOMO (voice-over): These are the latest air strikes, and they are going after the ISIS wallet. Oil facilities, partly responsible for the reported 2 million that ISIS takes in per day. 2 million per day.
Also breaking overnight, nine men suspected of terrorist activities arrested in the UK overnight.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
CUOMO (on camera): Including a prominent radical cleric who you may have seen on TV here in the U.S. We're going to go live to London for more on that in a moment.
First, let's start with CNN's Joe Johns in Washington. Good morning, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.
U.S. officials have said they try to be very careful to avoid civilian casualties in situations like this. But it's almost inevitable. The latest count after air strikes in Eastern Syria, at least 14 militants killed along with five civilians. And this offensive against ISIS is only beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): Overnight in Syria, another wave of air strikes targeting ISIS headquarters, a training camp, oil refineries and checkpoints in the Deir Ezzor province. The attacks killing at least 14 militants, but also five civilians, including women and children, according to a rights monitor group.
The U.S.-led coalition aiming to degrade the brutal militant group's source of revenue. According to U.S. officials, striking 12 oil facilities seized by ISIS in Eastern Syria Wednesday. Bringing the total number of air strikes in the region to over 30.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the beginning of a long effort. There will be more. There will be more.
JOHNS: U.S. officials estimate that ISIS makes upwards of $2 million a day by smuggling oil, refining it and producing some 500 barrels a day, then selling them on the black market. U.S. officials hope these air strikes in the remote countryside would lessen the risk of civilian casualties. A concern raised after the initial air strikes fell upon densely populated areas like Raqqa and Idlib.
An activist from Raqqa says the ISIS fighters began moving into civilian homes two weeks ago. And Wednesday's strike, the U.S. flew only about half a dozen F-15 aircraft. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates flying more. Now Belgium and the Netherlands are expressing a commitment to join the U.S. and five Arab nations in the attack against ISIS.
(END VIDEOTAPE) JOHNS (on camera): The U.S. has said it's going after the ISIS
pocketbook with these strikes, but there is some question whether the strikes against small, crude modular oil refineries actually accomplishes that because the refineries operate on such a small scale. A market analyst has told CNN the real money for ISIS comes from taking crude oil directly out of the ground, smuggling it across the border into Turkey and Iraq. The only way to stop that is to bomb the oil fields, which could put them out of commission for years or target the trucks, which means they would need good intelligence on the ground. Chris?
CUOMO: The even better intelligence would be who is buying the oil. John, this one part of the, Joe, one part of the mysteries here that we're going to have to figure out as this coalition takes shape. Thank you very much for the reporting this morning.
Brooke, over to you.
BALDWIN: Also breaking overnight, the UK stepping up its counterterrorism efforts on its home turf. Right now we know this morning nine men were arrested in this terror sweep in London. Reportedly among this group is radical preacher by the name of Anjem Choudary.
Atika Shubert is following this for us in London. Atika, good morning. Tell me about the arrests.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, and this is not a new name.
