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New Day

Four Israelis Killed in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack; Obama Orders Hostage Policy Review; Another Arctic Blast Hits the U.S.; Interview with Mark Regev

Aired November 18, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, a deadly attack overnight at a synagogue in Jerusalem. Four Israelis killed, six others wounded during morning prayers, after two Palestinian men with a gun, knives and axes storm in. Israel is now vowing to respond with a heavy hand.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And President Obama ordering a full review of how the U.S. government responds when an American is taken hostage. With three American captives killed at the hands of ISIS, should ransoms be paid to get hostages back alive?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: State of emergency -- Missouri bracing for violence ahead of the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown shooting. The governor putting the National Guard at the ready as the FBI tells law enforcement across the nation to prepare for unrest.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, November 18th, 6:00 in the East, Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. We do have breaking news, a deadly attack inside a synagogue in Jerusalem. At least four Israelis killed, six wounded in an attack the Israelis and U.S. are calling an act of terror.

CAMEROTA: The two alleged attackers, identified as Palestinians, were shot dead by the police after they broke into the synagogue wielding axes and knives. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to respond with what he calls a heavy hand.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Jerusalem. What do we know, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn, this city has been tense for weeks in fact months, but what we saw this morning was for Jerusalem, the worst attack in six years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a deadly terror attack shattering the peace of early morning prayers inside a Jerusalem synagogue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They used axes and knives to attack the people.

WEDEMAN: Police say two Palestinian men armed with knives, axes and a handgun entered the building in an orthodox neighborhood in West Jerusalem.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is -- simply has no place in human behavior.

WEDEMAN: The assailants, traveling from East Jerusalem, killing four Israeli civilians and injuring six others, including two responding police officers. This video shows Israeli police trying to enter the synagogue to stop the attackers, who are then shot and killed by police.

Israeli authorities calling this one of the deadliest terror attack in the city in years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you saw today is slaughter of innocent people while they're praying in a synagogue. If the world doesn't unite against terrorism and give zero excuses for terrorism, this will haunt the world.

WEDEMAN: A spokesman for Hamas quickly praising what happened as justifiable revenge for the death of a Palestinian bus driver found hanged in his bus Sunday.

But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israel will respond with a heavy hand, his office posting on his official Twitter account.

This attack the latest and most violent amid months of soaring tensions in the holy city, with a wave of attacks and kidnappings in recent weeks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Mark Regev joins us now from Jerusalem. He is the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thank you very much, Mr. Regev, for joining us.

MARK REGEV, SPOKESMAN FOR PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you.

CUOMO: Do you see a cause for larger responsibility in these attacks, beyond just the crazed men who entered?

REGEV: Most definitely. I mean, you put your -- your finger right on the important point here. The Islamic extremists murdering with brutality across the region, whether it's ISIS cutting off heads in Iraq and Syria, whether it's happening in Libya or Yemen, that, we understand. They are the enemy of us all.

But the Palestinian Authority, the government, the official government of the Palestinians, is part of this. That they are also encouraging a culture of violence and hate, praising terror attacks on innocent civilians. They must be held accountable for that, as I heard Secretary of State Kerry say this morning when he called upon the Palestinian leadership to unequivocally condemn this sort of brutality. CUOMO: Well, there's no question that this type of attack, especially

in a place of worship, is going to be roundly condemned. But we also hear that condemnation from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Israeli prime minister did not seem to buy into that regret on the part of the Palestinian leader. Why?

REGEV: I'll tell you what the problem is. Just a few days ago we have the Palestinian president and his government calling for days of rage and violence; the Palestinians president himself writing letters to would-be killers, praising their actions. It's a problem.

And even this morning, after this -- the terrible atrocity we saw in the synagogue, the spokesman of President Abbas's political party, the Fatah movement, he justifies this attack.

If you don't mind me saying, it's like in the old westerns, the old Hollywood westerns; it's speaking with a forked -- forked tongue. We need Palestinian leadership, those who claim to be moderate, those who claim to be mainstream politicians, they have to unequivocally condemn -- with no "if's" or "but's" -- they have to condemn this sort of brutality, as people condemn this sort of Islamist extremism, whether it's done by ISIS or Hezbollah or anybody. There is no justification for this sort of violence, and that should be said so publicly. And it's a pity the Palestinian leadership won't -- up until now won't step up to the plate and offer a serious, unequivocal, no "but's" condemnation.

CUOMO: Is -- has Israel lost confidence in Mahmoud Abbas? And will you look to him for any future peace negotiations?

REGEV: We'll deal with the Palestinian government to try to move this process forward. The question is are they a partner? And they have to make a decision.

I mean, we look forward to working with them in peace and reconciliation. But if they are refusing to dissociate themselves with this sort of brutality. If they maintain a political partnership with Hamas, that praised this morning's attack. If their own spokesman are, unfortunately, justifying this attack -- I mean, there's a line in the sand in the Middle East.

On one side you've got ISIS, Hamas, al Qaeda, people responsible for the most brutal attacks, the most heinous atrocities against innocent civilians. On the other side you've got Israel and Egypt and Jordan and other moderate countries. President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority must decide which side of the divide he's on. Because he can't have it both ways. We want to see him as a peace partner. But we have to see him get off the fence and choose the path of peace and choose reconciliation.

CUOMO: What does "with a heavy hand" mean in terms of Israel's dealing with this situation?

REGEV: Well, obviously, to maintain peace and security in Jerusalem, we'll be beefing up the police and security presence in the capital. And make sure that there are no... CUOMO: It sounded like counterattacks, Mr. Regev, that's what it

sounded like.

REGEV: We want -- we've got to prevent copycats. You know, when you have an atrocity like this, you can unfortunately, give a motivation to other like-minded people. So we've got to make sure there are no copycat attacks.

We also, to be frank, want to make sure that there's no hothead on the Israeli side who decides he wants to take the law into his own hands and conduct a vigilante counterattack.

So the first thing is to beef up the police presence. And the other thing is to ultimately try to deal with these terrorist groups though are responsible nor sort of violence.

You know, it's not just Jerusalem that's suffering from this extremism, from this Islamic extremism. We see it across the region. It's a regional problem; there's no quick fix. But we will defeat and prevail over this sort of Islamist terrorism.

CUOMO: Will there be what has been called by Israel in the past targeted assaults and action toward the groups you think responsible?

REGEV: I am not going to talk about specific steps we will take. Other than to say we will do what needs to be done to protect our citizens. We can't allow the recurrence of this sort of atrocity against innocent civilians. And we will do what needs to be done to protect our people and to return safety and peace and quiet to Jerusalem, which all of Jerusalem's inhabitants deserve, both Israeli and Palestinian.

Ultimately, we want to see peace and quiet in this city. And we know the Islamist extremists are opposed to that: they want to see violence. And we want to see the Palestinian government, President Abbas, as a partner in trying to restore peace and live and let live.

CUOMO: The politics loom large, but obviously, thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and their families, and the injured this morning. Mr. Regev, thank you very much for joining us.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. Another story developing overnight, President Obama has ordered a top-to-bottom review of the policy regarding American hostages. Specifically, how the victims' families are kept informed and how the government can secure their releases.

This comes days after another ISIS video showing the severed head of American aid worker Peter Kassig, the third American to be killed by ISIS. At least one other American, a woman, remains in captivity.

CNN's Joe Johns is live for us at the White House. Good morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. A comprehensive review of these policies was very much required, because there have been reports of families caught in the middle between their concerns for their loved ones being held hostage in the Middle East, and the things that the government was doing. Specifically, the no ransom policy that the United States continues to push forward.

Congressman Duncan Hunter of California wrote letters to the administration to get some clarity. He's been pushing for better coordination between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Defense and other components of the government in trying to handle these hostages.

The National Security Council did finally release a statement confirming that a top-to-bottom review is now under way to look at all of these policies. But also saying the government cannot detail all the things it does to try to help get hostages released.

So no clear timetable on when the administration will be able to say if it's going to change its policies. Nonetheless, there are some families of hostages who are very concerned about how the government handles this situation -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We'll be analyzing this with our analysts coming up. Joe, thanks so much.

There's more news to talk about. Let's get over to Michaela for our headlines.

PEREIRA: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Good morning.

PEREIRA: Good morning to you at home. Here's a look at your headlines, and we begin with Missouri, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declaring a state of emergency ahead of a grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case. He's calling in the National Guard, he says, just in case violence flares once again in Ferguson. A grand jury decision could come at any time, whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown. Meanwhile, the FBI is warning state and local law enforcement across the nation to remain vigilant.

A Virginia woman has been charged with lying to the feds about trying to connect a contact of hers with ISIS. Heather Kaufman caught the eye of authorities after praising the terrorists on her Facebook page. The 29-year-old was arrested when she promised to link up an undercover FBI agent with the group in Syria. Later she told officials she hadn't done so. Charges could be upgraded.

The Senate appears to be poised to approve the controversial Keystone Pipeline project today. The House approved the legislation last week. Now Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu says the bill has enough support to pass. Democrats have been pushing the bill since the election, when Landrieu landed in a runoff for her seat. President Obama, meanwhile, has expressed skepticism about the project, which still faces several legal hurdles.

Shocking testimony from convicted 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. He claims officials in Saudi Arabia plotting to kill Bill and Hillary Clinton by shooting down Air Force One and that Saudi royals personally provided him with the funding for the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. The Saudis denied those accusations. Moussaoui makes his charges in letters filed with a federal court from his prison cell in Colorado.

Those are your headlines, guys.

CUOMO: Well, it is not a question of if. It is only a question of when you will feel the cold. Make sure your homes are ready for freezing temperatures and so are you. Because they're expected in just about every state.

So let's get right to meteorologist Indra Petersons. We have cast her out into the cold in Central Park with only a sweater. And we have done this...

CAMEROTA: She has a hat.

CUOMO: ... because she said she was excited about winter, and now she will feel the pain.

CAMEROTA: She looks excited.

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is me acclimating, guys. This is acclimating. I can't go full blizzard gear this early in the season. That just cannot happen. It's not even officially winter yet.

But it kind of feels that way, right? We're talking about temperatures in the 30s right now. Wind gusts out here in just around Central Park, about 29 miles per hour. So we throw in that wind chill. Currently it's about 21 degrees, at least that's what it feels like.

But here's the thing. In the entire U.S. today, all 50 states, somewhere currently below freezing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETERSONS (voice-over): Another frigid night for millions as bitter cold arctic air grips nearly the entire country. Temperatures shattering records across the Midwest, with some parts in the single digits. In northern Texas on Monday, temps dropped to 9 degrees. That's the lowest on that date since 1959.

A nationwide deep freeze has 50 percent of the U.S. now covered with snow, crippling some parts of the Midwest.

In Cincinnati, parents and volunteers of a high-school football team were shoveling 400 tons of the white stuff off their turf.

GREG TARKERSLEY, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: It will be an ice pack. So if we don't get it off today, they're probably not going to be able to practice on the turf all week.

PETERSONS: And in Louisville, Kentucky, almost 2,000 tons of salt covered the streets after their first major snowfall dropped nearly five inches, closing area schools on Monday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My employer is -- we're on a three-hour delay.

PETERSONS: Adding to the misery? Up north, lake-effect snow is now pummeling Michigan and New York state through Thursday. Some parts will see more than two feet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PETERSONS: So many places in the northeast yesterday actually saw some record rainfall. Places like Central Park here saw about an inch and a half. That system made its way out. It's actually this cold air diving behind it that is the big story. So much so we could see about a foot of snow. That would be lake-effect snow right around the Great Lakes.

The bigger thing? This wind chill, many places in the upper Midwest are expecting to break records this morning. With record low temperatures, this cold air is expected to last. Highs today hovering around the freezing mark here in the northeast. In fact, temperatures are expected to still get cooler as we go through the day. As that cold air continues to rush on in.

So what is the big question? Is this cold air going to last? Right now we're stuck in something that looks like an omega block. It looks like that Greek letter omega. All that means to you: wave after wave of cold air is expected. Another one for the end of the week and, it looks like, possibly a frigid one for the beginning of next week. We're bracing ourselves, guys.

CAMEROTA: Make it stop!

CUOMO: Omega block?

PETERSONS: If I only had the power.

CAMEROTA: She talked about the Greek letter right there.

CUOMO: I thought those were the good fatty acids, those omegas. Now they're blocking. No good. No good.

Take your gloves off. More punishment for you.

CAMEROTA: Indra, thank you so much. We'll check back in with you.

All right. One of our top stories, three American hostages have been murdered by ISIS. At least one American is still being held, and now the president asking for a review of how hostage situations are handled. Should the U.S. do something different to save these prisoners?

CUOMO: And state of emergency declared in Ferguson. Now this is a procedure. It releases resources to help authorities prepare for the worst. But it is seen by some as a provocative act and an intention of police violence. Ferguson is divided, and we will hear from both perspectives on this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: President Obama wants a full review of how the U.S. conducts hostage negotiations, following the deaths of three Americans at the hands of ISIS. Some in the victims' families says the U.S. government actually impede their efforts to get their loved ones back home.

Let's talk more with John Avlon. He's a CNN political analyst and editor in chief of the "Daily Beast." And Margaret Hoover, a CNN political commentator and a Republican consultant. Great to see you guys this morning.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

CAMEROTA: So it's sad to hear, obviously, these parents whose children were killed by ISIS. The third one has happened yet again. And the families believe that they were trying on their own to get their children back. Who knows if it would have worked? It seems as though it wouldn't have. But the government wouldn't let them negotiate or give money. Of course, the U.S. has its reasons for not allowing that.

But here's what the first hostage who was killed by ISIS, James Foley's parents, had to say about the government's help. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE FOLEY, JAMES FOLEY'S MOTHER: I really feel that our country let Jim down. And...

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In what way?

FOLEY: Well, Anderson, I -- we met wonderful people within our government. Good people who cared, who wanted to help. But the reality of the bureaucracy and -- really was such that we were not helped. We really weren't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Margaret, is it time for a review?

HOOVER: This is tragic. As a parent, it breaks your heart. I don't know that ordering a bureaucratic review of how you negotiate with terrorists would have saved the sons of these -- these journalists.

And I also think that when you're dealing with negotiating with terrorists you're dealing with a tactic in a larger war. And I think there's a fundamental call to examine the strategy. Why is ISIS continuing to take American reporters? What is continuing to happen? And how can we end that?

I think there's a strategic review that's necessary. We need to, frankly, eliminate this enemy. But I don't know that a tactical review in that particular instance would have changed the larger, broader war.

AVLON: This is an acknowledgement by the administration that there are increased incidents of kidnapping and that there are too many problems that are alienating these families. First of all, there's interagency in-fighting. Second of all, they're frustrated understandably by, in some cases, legal threats against them if they want to go pay ransom, in the millions of dollars, which is part of ISIS's revenue strategy.

CAMEROTA: The U.S. government threatened prosecution against the families.

AVLON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We didn't know that. The families were threatened with prosecution if they tried to take matters into their own hands and pay money. You can see both sides of this.

AVLON: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: You can't have it be lucrative for ISIS to take hostages. But the families want to do whatever they can.

CUOMO: I don't think you can -- I would take the other side of that. I don't think there are two clear sides to it. I think one of them is a hyperemotional side, which you would expect from every family.

AVLON: Sure.

CUOMO: God forbid any of us were ever in that kind of situation.

However, this is an unemotional situation tactically. It just is. There's nothing you can do to negotiate with ISIS that's going to make them give people back, unless they are afraid of the consequences of taking people.

AVLON: That's absolutely true, Chris. But you know, if there's a -- if the bureaucracy is compounding the families' pain; if there's this kind of inter-agency turf battles, and it's not a coordinated response -- things can be improved so that those families don't feel like they're getting the back-end of the mission.

CUOMO: But that's not about how you deal with the hostage takers.

AVLON: No, no, no. No.

CUOMO: We saw this in North Korea, also. Kenneth Bae's family, many hostage situations that we saw down in Mexico, Sergeant Tahmooressi, where consistently, families dealing with the State Department feel as if their family members are pawns and not being treated with the respect they should. CAMEROTA: Yes. And that they're being cut out. The family members

feel like they're not getting information; they're being cut out. It's totally a powerless feeling.

AVLON: And that is something that the administration is right to reexamine. Because you can stick to a strategy or tactic of not negotiating with terrorists, but also have the families feel like the government is working with them. Whether it's Special Ops or another recourse.

HOOVER: Yes. The only way to -- but the only way to eliminate this threat is to eliminate ISIS.

AVLON: Absolutely.

HOOVER: And to -- I think there's a larger strategic review that is necessary and, frankly, a refocusing on eliminating the ultimate enemy.

CUOMO: So here's -- how about let's turn to another problem that we probably can't fix, because the state of play, which is a great story this outlet known as the "Daily Beast" broke. I don't know if you've ever heard of them, John. But the idea is this: that the Republicans were using Twitter to kind of double up on political messaging and somewhat circumvent the law, or maybe not. What do you make of this situation, John? You broke it.

AVLON: Well, this is a great scoop by Chris Moody at CNN. The first was a "Beast" scoop. Chris Moody's story is great, and it's harrowing because it illustrates the way that there is abuse of Citizens United, that there is collusion between campaign committees and larger entities.

CUOMO: Citizens United is the Supreme Court case that ruled that you can't limit outside funds in campaigns.

AVLON: Correct. But they're supposed to remain separate. This naive idea that people will remain separate, you know, and you'll have total transparency, which hasn't happened either. This shows that there is collusion. They're trying in this case, organizations trying to use Twitter to sort of share information. It is damning. The question is will these laws be enforced actively?

HOOVER: Margaret, you're the perfect person to talk to about this, because you ran an independent expenditure committee, which somehow deals with all of this nebulous issue.

HOOVER: Yes. I ran a super PAC, and that's what American Crossroads is. American Crossroads is a super PAC. There are thousands of super PACs that play in every election, and the law is very clear. If you're working with a super PAC, you're running independent expenditure ads on behalf of candidates, you cannot coordinate with any campaign committee, whether it's a campaign committee for a party or a campaign committee for a candidate. You simply cannot talk to them. What ends up happening is, because you cannot coordinate on strategy,

you, people end up -- the Obama super PAC did this, the Mitt Romney super PAC did this -- you get information from private polling and you issue a press release. This is common practice because of new campaign finance.

CAMEROTA: What happened here which was tricky is that they were doing -- they were using subterfuge on Twitter with coded messages.

HOOVER: Which is sort of what -- that's blatantly illegal. That is -- that is coordinating in the light of day.

CUOMO: That's why what happened -- what happened when CNN's Chris Moody contacted them for comment?

HOOVER: Allegedly.

AVLON: Right. They immediately took the Twitter handles down. And that is what is so damning. The NRCC immediately -- the National Republican Congressional Committee immediately -- after Chris Moody calls, immediately those Twitter handles disappear.

CUOMO: They're all gone.

AVLON: That shows a degree of collusion. That panicked response is, in many ways, what is most damning about Chris Moody's report.

CAMEROTA: Because they were putting this internal polling up on Twitter so that the campaigns could see it without having their -- getting their hands dirty as though they were colluding.

HOOVER: That's exactly right. And normally -- I mean, normally, what happens is you issue a press release. People write stories. And then people sort of understand what the lay of the land is. But this is -- it's almost like they were whispering to each other in the light of day, hoping that no one else would notice. And they got -- they may have gotten caught. This is all alleged, but if the allegations are true, this is -- there is no question, this is blatantly illegal. You cannot coordinate.

AVLON: What's the enforcement mechanism? Because the enforcement has been lax. People are abusing this. There's a money-go-round of consultants cashing in every campaign cycle. They're abusing the letter and spirit of the law.

CUOMO: Consultants on how to best use...

AVLON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: ... what is gray in the law to your advantage in campaigns.

AVLON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: There's a whole cottage industry.

And not all people who do super PACs feel the way they you do, Hooves, where you say this is blatantly illegal. They're looking at it with what they can get away with. Not sticking to the law.

HOOVER: But the law is quite clear. I mean, the law is quite clear you can't coordinate. That would have been coordination.

CUOMO: Right. But what that means is a little tricky. Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court, often doesn't spell out regulations and rules.

HOOVER: That's right. And so this has been enforced by regulations and by regulators at the Federal Election Commission.

CUOMO: Or not, as we just saw.

AVLON: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for helping us understand it. John, Margaret, great to see you guys.

AVLON: Good morning.

CUOMO: All right. So Ferguson, right, we're all focused on it, what's going to happen. We do know this. We do know that frustration and anger is still building up there in these suburbs, not just in Ferguson, but all around St. Louis, and really, more and more we're seeing it across the country.

So most recently the governor in Missouri declared state of emergency. That releases funds for them to prepare for what's going on when the grand jury brings down its decision in the Michael Brown shooting. What will this mean to the people there? Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

CAMEROTA: And wedding bells for a notorious mass murderer. Charles Manson securing a license -- marriage license from prison to marry a 26-year-old woman. Who is she? What is she thinking? Details ahead.

CUOMO: What is she thinking?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)