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ISIS Threatens to Kill Two Japanese Prisoners Unless Paid for Their Release; Congress may Move Forward with Sanctions Bill against Iran; Interview with Sen. Bob Corker; Interview with Jen Psaki

Aired January 22, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way that it isn't cheating. Can they prove that someone did it on purpose? Would you care to weigh in on this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I heard it all at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, January 22nd just after 8:00 in the east. ISIS has promised to kill two Japanese hostages in just a matter of hours unless the Japanese government pays $200 million to them. And the Japanese government says it's working hard to establish contact with ISIS, but so far nothing.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Japan's prime minister making it clear he will not bow to the terrorists. And this morning 22 foreign ministers including Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in London to try to find a plan to destroy ISIS. We've got all the angles covered for you. Let's get right to Will Ripley. He is live in Tokyo with the latest. Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, minutes ago we got off the phone with the prime minister's office and the ministry of foreign affairs, and the latest, still no information, no line of communication with ISIS, and no answers about the fate of two innocent men.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: This morning, less than 24 hours remain until ISIS' murderous deadline. Japanese officials say they have been trying to communicate with the Islamic militant group through third parties since Tuesday, turning to two governments in the region, Jordan and Turkey, for assistance. It's a race against time, as the Japanese prime minister calls it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the prime minister of Japan, although you are more than 8,500 kilometers away from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade.

RIPLEY: ISIS releasing this propaganda video Tuesday threatening to kill two Japanese citizens, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, unless they receive $200 million. And 42 Yukawa an aspiring security contractor reportedly captured in August, and this newly released video shows 47- year-old Goto just hours before his disappearance in late October. The video shows the freelance journalist along the Turkey-Syria border preparing to cover what he calls the suffering of the Syrian people.

KENJI GOTO, ISIS HOSTAGE: It is my business.

RIPLEY: The two reappearing this week kneeling side by side in orange jump suits in front of a masked ISIS executioner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You willingly have volunteered.

RIPLEY: As the deadline looms closer, no indication if Japan will pay the ransom. The prime minister calling the deadly ultimatum unacceptable, though he hasn't explicitly ruled out the payment. This latest hostage ultimatum coming after ISIS released videos showing the brutal executions of five western hostages since August.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Alisyn, there is growing fear here in Tokyo that two more names could soon be added to that awful list, and no answers for the families of the two men who are waiting and wondering if the Japanese government will be able to make communication with ISIS, and if they do, what will they offer, what will ISIS take, and what will happen? Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Such a tense situation. Will Ripley, thanks for all of that.

Now to Yemen and an attempted coup. This morning the government and a rebel group appear to be waiting for each other to blink. So who is in control of this key U.S. ally? CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live in Yemen. Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, on paper President Hadi is still the president. In reality it's obviously the Houthis who dominate the situation on the street. So we are waiting to see how the deal that emerged late last night will actually be able to make it in that. The Houthis are supposed to remove their militants from the key building here, and more importantly release the presidential chief of staff they've been detaining for days now. In exchange the government will allow changes to the new constitution, quite substantial ones potentially, and give the Houthis more saw in power.

Now, this morning the Houthis say to us and the government confirms they've only withdrawn part, a substantial part but part of their guys from the key buildings. They're keeping some there they say, quote, "as a guarantee." And the president's people say we still haven't got our chief of staff back. So tension here. The key thing being in Washington does this really change anything?

President Hadi has not left his post but he is accepting huge changes to how the country effectively would be run. The Houthis don't seem to want him gone. They just seem to want everyone to know they're calling the shots. That seems to be the new status quo. How the points of this agreement are actually implemented in reality, that may be a moot point at this stage. The concerns in Washington now, have they just lost an ally and now simply dealing with a figurehead who has no real power here in Yemen. That's the question the days ahead will decide. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, fragile situation there. Nick Paton Walsh, our thanks.

Breaking news, CNN has learned that all U.S. military bases in Europe are stepping up security in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with details. What more have we learned, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. This news just coming in, 67,000 U.S. active duty troops across Europe, their families, their civilian colleagues, tens of thousands now facing additional security measures, all bases across -- U.S. bases across the European command from the U.K. to Turkey will have additional security enhancements, random checks, more force protection measures we are told. This comes in the wake of the attacks in Paris, the arrests in Belgium, but also we are told growing intelligence about foreign fighters returning to Europe. A U.S. official with direct knowledge of that intelligence told me a short time ago, and I want to quote, quote, "There is evidence of other events in our theater that shows the severity of the terrorist threat out there." They say they are doing this out of prudent abundant caution to protect U.S. military troops, to protect their family, but clearly there is growing concern about those foreign fighters returning to Europe and posing the threat to U.S. troops. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on this situation.

Now, all of it kind of starts playing into Yemen. It is, as was said this morning, the fulcrum of the war on terror. So U.S. men and women hang in the balance of what happens there. We have Senator Bob Corker joining us, Republican from Tennessee, and notably the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thank you for joining us.

SEN. BOB CORKER, (R) TENNESSEE: Good morning, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: Let's begin with Yemen. Do you believe it is time to get the U.S. men and women out of there?

CORKER: Well, Chris, I haven't been briefed in on the intelligence side. I know as opposed to what happened in Benghazi, our military personnel are stationed and ready to evacuate. I assume through intelligence we'll decide when that needs to occur. I will say if there's any threat of something happening to them, they need to be removed. And so I assume those conversations are underway and all of us want to make sure that none of our foreign based service officers are in harm's way. So I'm going to leave it to those that understand the intelligence make that decision.

CUOMO: And the reason that it's not a no brainer is because while there probably is based on all circumstances a threat, there's a balance here also, right? They're useful on the ground? The United States wants to show support to the standing government right now to the extent that it's still standing, right?

CORKER: There's no question. I will say, though, again, after what we learned in Benghazi, I think everyone is going to err on the side of ensuring that there's no way our foreign service officers end up in harm's way. But you're right. There is a balance there.

CUOMO: All right, now, another flash point is Iran. On Wednesday you held a hearing about what's going on with the negotiations, what should be the next step in part in reaction to what the president said in the State of the Union, I would suggest, so let's listen to what he said on this issue specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The new sanctions passed by this Congress at this moment in time will all but guarantee the diplomacy fails, alienating America from its allies, making it harder to maintain sanctions, and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn't make sense. And that's why I will veto any sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And you evidently are saying, well, that makes no sense. You have legislation that would give Congress the ability to either approve or reject any nuclear agreement. Now, Article 2, Section 2 of the constitution says the president has the power to make treaties with two-thirds of the Senate confirming that treaty. His State Department right now is saying that isn't really a treaty. This is a deal. And the president has, quote, "executive prerogative" to make that deal. Do you agree with that?

CORKER: Chris, I think you're totally misunderstanding what we're attempting to do in the Foreign Relations Committee. Congress put these sanctions in place. What we're saying is because we put these sanctions in place, this is not the bill. What we're doing in the Foreign Relations Committee is not the bill he was referring to in the State of the Union. What we're saying is because we have put ourselves in this place, Congress rightfully should be able to vote on any final deal before sanctions are relieved. So that is not a threat to Article 2. This is actually keeping with Congressional mandates.

And so we believe it's the best backstop to keep this president and other key members from negotiating a bad deal. So again, that's not what he was referring to. I think this effort is gaining momentum and I think it is exactly the place where Congress should be to ensure that the president stays firm and does not negotiate a bad deal with Iran that threatens the Middle East, threatens our country, increases terrorism. And I think you're seeing momentum in that direction.

CUOMO: I know where you're coming from step for step. What I'm saying is if the president was calling it a treaty, maybe then he'd have more room to do it unilaterally. But this is not a treaty and that's why Congress, the Senate or both houses wanted to have some influence may well be a very saleable proposition as your legislation's fate will show.

CORKER: That's right. That's right.

CUOMO: I'm with you. I get it.

CORKER: I got it. I'm sorry.

CUOMO: Let me ask you, in terms of the tactics of how this is being played out, what do you think of Speaker Boehner inviting the prime minister of Israel to come and address Congress when it is very likely in addressing the House he will go against the president of the United States in terms of his policy position?

CORKER: Well, I was with Bibi or Prime Minister Netanyahu just a couple days ago in Israel. I went over there to sit down with him and also sit down with Mossad who's their intelligence agency in closely monitoring these negotiations, and my guess is by the time that he comes Congress may be in sync as to what it wants to do. So I don't know that he'll be necessarily going against the president. There's a lot that's occurring.

But I do know this, he's incredibly concerned about a bad deal with Iran, very concerned about where these negotiations are going. And, Chris, what appears to be happening is Iran has sort of been here, we started here, the P-5, and every day that goes by it seems that we move closer and closer to the Iran place. And that's why Congress, again, wants to be that firm backstop. And I think he supports this, to keep the P-5 from going to a place that's really bad for our nation.

CUOMO: Right. But while you're assume that when Bibi gets here the parties may be closer together, the president and Congress, they aren't right now, and the assumption is --

CORKER: That's right.

CUOMO: -- that this is an odd protocol to invite in a foreign leader to contradict your own.

CORKER: Well, look, I was made aware of his coming here. We always enjoy seeing the leader of Israel. There's a close relationship between our two countries.

CUOMO: You think this is the right thing to do, senator?

CORKER: Well, again, it's what is happening. Let me just say this, there is a lot of water that will go under the bridge between now and the time that he arrives, and my guess is we may be at a place where things are aligned in a very good way. That's my goal. CUOMO: Well, that would be the hope, but can you imagine -- more

extreme circumstances, yes. If you had President Bush getting ready to go to war in Iraq and you had the French president invited by the Democratic House to come in and say why that was such a bad move, how would you have felt about that?

CORKER: Well, I think -- I think what you've seen happening is the president's been irresponsible in the way that he has dealt with Congress and continued to basically act as if it's his way or the highway. I don't know if that's what's driving the leadership in this particular direction.

But, look, at the end of the day, that's not my call. My call as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is to ensure that what we do is in our national interest, it's something that is prudent, it's thoughtful, it's nuanced, it gets us to the right place. And so while he's coming in, my guess is between now and the time that he gets here there's going to be a more full alignment. We're going to know the direction that we're going, and my guess is if we can -- my thought is if we can do that, that's what's good for our nation. That's what I'm focused on. The other is something that, you know, is not within my control.

CUOMO: Well, I hope you're able to create some consensus on this, not only because Iran policy matters so much through the American men and women --

CORKER: Yes, it does.

CUOMO: -- but that is going to be an ugly situation between the dealings between the White House and Congress going forward if you don't get to that point. So Senator Corker, thank you.

CORKER: If I could say one thing, Chris.

CUOMO: Please, sir. Please, sir.

CORKER: If we make a bad deal with Iran -- you were talking about Yemen -- that means that not only will we destabilize the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and other countries themselves will be seeking nuclear arms because they're not going to stand for Iran to have that capability and them not. But what will happen is we'll release the faucet on huge amounts of sanctions. We're allowing a little bit to go in, but with a deal much more will flow. And so what you see happening in Yemen Iran is supporting.

CUOMO: Yes.

CORKER: Iran is supporting Hamas. Iran is supporting Hezbollah. They will not only have the ability to have nuclear weapons or very close to that, they're going to be able to destabilize the region even more because they're going to have much more resources at their hands. And that's why this is so important. That's why all of us are working towards a solution. Thank you for that extra time here.

CUOMO: The stakes are clear. Senator, you're welcome any time. You're the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We're happy to have you on NEW DAY to tell us what's going on. Thank you, sir.

CORKER: Thank you. Yes, sir.

CUOMO: Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, Chris.

We have an update for you on a story we've been following for CNN. The scheduled flogging of a Saudi blogger has been postponed now for the second time. Raif Badawi was scheduled for 50 lashes tomorrow. But according to Amnesty International, a medical committee assessed that Badawi was not medically fit to receive a second round of lashes.

Earlier this month the 30-year-old was given the first of 50 lashes of his sentence, a weekly flogging for five months. Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of assaulting Islam.

CAMEROTA: Deadly fighting escalating in Eastern Ukraine. In the last 24 hours, 10 civilians killed and dozens, after militants began shelling areas in Donetsk. Ukraine claims Russia has deployed 9,000 troops to fight alongside rebel forces in Ukraine. Russia denies that charge.

CUOMO: Who is the drunken fool who nailed the cheerleader in the head with a basketball?

Are you kidding me? Do you know who that is?

Will Ferrell. He's not really drunk. He's filming the scene for the movie "Daddy's Home".

I got you -- during halftime in a game in New Orleans. Ferrell's character was supposed to attempt the half court but aimed for the cheerleader instead, reportedly to wreak havoc with his ex-wife. That would probably do it. Ferrell in character was promptly dragged out of the arena by building security.

PEREIRA: Can you imagine if you were not really -- they obviously filmed that at a real game. Can you imagine if you're not paying attention? Didn't get the notice that this was a film. You might have wanted to rush the court?

CAMEROTA: Well, that was the experience that I just had since Chris did not alert us that was a kicker. Thank you, Chris.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Really?

CUOMO: That was good. I can feel the energy coming towards me that we're seeing that as a joke. I felt that. That was going to be bad.

PEREIRA: Love Will Ferrell.

CAMEROTA: First day. Wow, thank you for that, Chris.

CUOMO: That's --

CAMEROTA: Good.

Back to our top stories. There is terror and global crises. They're rearing their ugly heads around the globe. So, what can be done to slow the dangerous activity in Yemen, in Iran and elsewhere? We will get a response directly from the State Department.

CUOMO: And the officer was cleared by a grand jury and it appears Darren Wilson will be cleared by the Justice Department as well. Why couldn't the DOJ find enough to charge the cop who killed Michael Brown? We will tell you in a report from Ferguson, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The success of a tentative power-sharing agreement between the Yemeni president and the rebel group remains uncertain this morning. So, amid the chaos, is it time to evacuate Americans from that country?

Let's bring in State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki.

Jen, nice --

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. Nice to see you this morning.

The situation in Yemen is precarious as we've been reporting all morning. Do you know who is in charge in Yemen this morning?

PSAKI: President Hadi remains the legitimate leader in Yemen, Alisyn. But, you're right, and you talk about -- and you're lead in here, the fact that we are closely monitoring the situation on the ground. There's been increasing violence. There's been tension on the ground, the step about the interim agreement, political agreement is a good step, but implementation is key, and we're going to have to see what happens over the next hours and days.

CAMEROTA: We've had several guests on NEW DAY in the past 24 hours. We've had senators, we've had military experts, we've had global affairs analysts who say that a situation is so tenuous that the American lives at the embassy may be in danger.

Will you evacuate them today?

PSAKI: Well, Alisyn, we're always prepared. There have been a range of reports out there about the preparations that the United States government has taken.

However, we look at a range of factors, a range of information. There's nothing more important to us, to the secretary of state, to the president than the safety and security of our men and women serving overseas. We also need to take into account the fact that having a strong presence in Yemen, having counterterrorism operations we continue to work on, our international security interests.

Right now, we continue to monitor, we continue to discuss internally. We have not made a decision to evacuate.

CAMEROTA: Jen, here is Senator Dianne Feinstein talking about that strong presence not being worth the risk. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, when it comes to this, I really believe it's better to be safe than sorry. I really believe it's better not to risk the fact that Yemeni troops guarding the embassy default and that something bad happens to our people.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The shadow of Benghazi, I'm sure --

FEINSTEIN: It is a shadow of Benghazi, there's no question about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Jen, why would the State Department take that risk this morning?

PSAKI: Well, Alisyn, with all due respect to Senator Feinstein, we have the responsibility at the State Department to protect our men and women serving. We take that responsibility incredibly seriously, and we have taken steps around the world to evacuate embassies when need, to do ordered departures which means reducing staff which we did in Yemen back in September.

This is a situation we are watching hour by hour and talking about internally. Now, I think it's an important point to note by your viewers the Houthis, the opponents here who have been negotiating, also said they are not targeting Western targets. So, we look at a range of information and we evaluate day by day. If we need to make the decision to evacuate, we're prepared to do that and we'll certainly do that.

CAMEROTA: OK. Jen, we want to move on to something that John Boehner has done that appears to have ruffled the feathers at the White House. He has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress to discuss sanctions on Iran.

Has the State -- what does the State feel about this invitation to Netanyahu since the White House has said this breaks protocol and precedent?

PSAKI: Well, there's no question the process here was a bit bizarre and certainly unusual. The prime minister of Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu has come and spoken to a joint session many times before and will be welcome many times in the future, so we haven't had a conversation with them about everything they'll talk about from here. I'm sure we will soon. There are some disagreements on Iran. We have an agreement about the goal, which is preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. But we'll continue to certainly support their visit here whenever that's determined.

CAMEROTA: How do you express your displeasure about this to either Prime Minister Netanyahu or Speaker John Boehner?

PSAKI: Well, I think we've been expressing our displeasure pretty clearly publicly. I'm sure we'll do that privately as well, but also we have a responsibility not to get too wrapped up in protocol and to focus also on the issues at hand.

But the secretary speaks with Prime Minister Netanyahu frequently. They talk about everything from the tensions on the ground to security concerns in Israel. Those are issues we're going to continue to work closely with Israel on.

CAMEROTA: I understand not wanting to get too wrapped up in protocol, but when it involves the leaders of countries, isn't there a protocol?

PSAKI: Of course there is, and it's -- this was certainly an unusual process not following typically what was done. We've spoken with that since the news came out, Alisyn.

But, look, at this point what I think our focus is on what will the prime minister say here. Ultimately, we share a goal. We don't want to run to acquire a nuclear weapon. It's how we get there that we have some disagreements on. So, we'll continue to have that discussion and that debate with some in Congress and certainly with some in Israel as well.

CAMEROTA: Jen Psaki, we know it's busy, at the State Department, thanks so much for taking time for NEW DAY.

PSAKI: Thank you. My pleasure. Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: As you're probably figuring out, a lot of people love to hate the Patriots. But in the midst of deflate gate, let's ask: Does it really matter how much air was in the ball? We're going to find out what Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann thinks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)