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Identity of ISIS Spokesman Possibly Discovered; Three Young Men Arrested in Brooklyn for Aspirations to Join ISIS; Interview with U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Interview with David Simas, Assistant to the President

Aired February 26, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, February 26th, 8:00 in the east. We want to welcome our viewers across the U.S. and around the world. The breaking news are reports that Jihadi John, the masked executioner in several of those terrible ISIS videos, has been identified.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So let's get right to CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in London for all of the breaking details. What do we know, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're being told through the Reuters News Agency, "Washington Post," and the BBC that his name is Mohammed Emwazi, that he lived in west London, that he was a student here and came from a fairly well-to-do family.

One of the people quoted in the reporting as knowing him worked for an organization called Cage. It's an activist organization in the U.K. That organization has released a press release. And in that release they say that Emwazi was on their case files as somebody that had reported to this organization, that he felt that he was being harassed by British intelligence services.

What the reporting coming through Reuters news agency quoting BBC and the "Washington Post" indicates that in 2009 Emwazi left the U.K., went to Tanzania on what was supposed to be a graduation gift trip of a safari given by his parents, was arrested, returned to the U.K. and on the way back questioned by British intelligence officials. At that time they suggested to him that they believed he was going to Somalia to join the Al Qaeda affiliate there according to the Cage organization. They went on to say that he believed he was be treated by the British the intelligence services. That's what's being reported through Reuters, BBC, and the "Washington Post."

At the moment British officials however, they say the foreign office here and the head of the metropolitan police in charge in counterterrorism here say they will not confirm if this is Jihadi John, they will not speculate, they say, because lives are at risk and operational concerns. Back to you. CUOMO: All right, Nic, well, there's plenty to figure out here.

Thank you for the reporting. Let's bring in some of our best analysts, Tom Fuentes, CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, and Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow for the Foundation of Defense of Democracies. Gentlemen, thank you. Daveed, they knew who he was, they were watching him, and yet he wound up fighting for ISIS. Is this a failure of being able to surveil and capture?

DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, SENIOR FELLOW, FOUNDATION OF DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: It's a failure, but the question is whether it's a failure where something different could have been done that would have stopped it. Peter Neumann was on your show in the last hour, and one point that he made which I think is important is to undertake 24-hour surveillance of these guys, it takes an enormous amount of resources. It takes 15 to 20 agents to do so.

CUOMO: Right. And he wasn't Jihadi John then. He was just one of many.

GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: Precisely. And so when you look at the volume of the problem, sometimes things that are failures are failures that would have been difficult to prevent given limited resources.

CUOMO: And now look, we're seeing the same thing, Tom, with these arrests in Brooklyn yesterday. They reach out to one of these guys, the FBI, your brothers and sisters, and be they say, so what's going on? Why are you talking to this Uzbek site there that's extremist? And he goes because I want to kill the president. I want to bomb Coney Island. They don't arrest them right then. What is the calculation that's being made?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: What's interesting there, Chris, is this is similar to the female in Denver that wanted to join and the FBI went to her and said, don't go. She insisted. They went to her parents, tell your daughter, don't go. She insisted, and they took her off the jet way because she was going.

Then you have a similar thing here with Juraboev, the first subject, where they see the posting on the Uzbek language ISIS site. They see the posting, and in the very first posting he mentions "I'll kill Obama if you want me to and pledge my support," and they go visit him. And he tells them, yes, that's what I'm going to do. And they go visit him a second time. And he puts it in Uzbek writing, makes a statement, yes, that's what I'm going to do.

So they initiate electronic surveillance. And also during the visit he identifies the second subject, Saidakhmetov, to the FBI agent, so now they have his name. So they have both subjects. They start the electronic surveillance. It leads to the third subject, Habibov, who had hired them to help remodel kiosks and do some work for him. So here's a guy that they can't talk him out of going to join ISIS and being a jihadist, and they can't trust him because he says if I don't go --

CUOMO: He's going to do things here. FUENTES: We'll kill people here, right.

CUOMO: So then you get to what is the best avenue to exclusion with these guys? How do you get them? And, Daveed, we go back to Jihadi John, and you look at his past. Born in Kuwait. Family leaves for a better life in London. They get it. They're successful. He gets a great degree. He gets a graduation gift of a safari. He gets picked on by authorities, targeted, he thinks, and then starts a radicalization process that was either completely understood or not. Just kind of focus on the best chance to stop these guys seems to be the family. It doesn't seem that government or messaging or media is going to get it done.

GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: Absolutely. The family is the first thing, then community, then police/authorities. As Tom said, sometimes the FBI will pay a visit to try to deter someone. And then finally law enforcement should be the last resort in general except for the guys that are really dangerous.

One thing I do want to say, though, Chris, is that when we're looking at a radicalization pattern there's right now a narrative that he had radicalized after he was denied entry to Tanzania. I would say there was a question mark there in that the reason he was denied entry is because they thought -- the authorities there thought he might want to go to Somalia to join the extremist group al Shabaab, and hostages who have been kept by Jihadi John have said that he was obsessed with Shabaab, he was obsessed with Somalia. He would keep talking about that.

CUOMO: Maybe they knew more earlier on and it wasn't a mistake and it wasn't a grievance or a legit one that he had. He also doesn't have the kind of electric footprint that these guys in Brooklyn provided so it's harder to know. So that takes us back to that, Tom. The mother, she knew what was going on. She didn't like her boy who was only 19 years old, was around. She took his passport. She did what she could.

People say she should have gone to the authorities and told them. That's not really a practical thing for parents to do, Tom. Nobody wants to rat on their kid for authorities when you know he's going to get arrested as a potential terrorist. What do we have to figure out as a medium step, Tom?

FUENTES: Well, Chris, that's not always true. We have had cases, and if you look at the outreach program that the FBI and local law enforcement have done in the Minneapolis area with regard to the Somali kids that were being recruited, they do have the parents reporting that. We've had other cases even when I was still in the Bureau where the parents, we had a group of kids here from northern Virginia that took off and went to Pakistan. The parents turned them in. They contacted the FBI.

CUOMO: It happens. It happens. How often do you think it doesn't happen? How do we prove an unknown?

FUENTES: Also, Chris, in this case the mother tries to talk him out of it. So you do have an attempt by family intervention.

CUOMO: Yes.

FUENTES: FBI intervention, don't do it. Don't make -- don't make us arrest you, please.

CUOMO: But is there a way for families to work with authorities in a way that does not expose the kid to criminal, you know, consequences right away? Is that something that's worth thinking about?

FUENTES: Well, there wouldn't be criminal consequences unless the kid insists on going to commit crimes. And they bring this down on themselves. And all the attempts to talk them out of it by parents or community leaders or even the FBI agents themselves, if that's not successful, the FBI doesn't want to have to do these cases. And I know, you know, from experience that this is a bother some type investigation, like we're trying to investigate whether we have a major Al Qaeda or major ISIS or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula sending printer bombs or trying to take down an airplane with explosives. We want to devote our resources to the major cases --

CUOMO: Right.

FUENTES: -- not these goofy kids that pull this kind of stuff.

CUOMO: The game is changing, though, Tom.

FUENTES: We don't have a choice. They can't ignore it when the kids insist on doing it.

CUOMO: Tom Fuentes, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, thank you very much, appreciate it. Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to have more now on those home grown terrorists. One is in New York City. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley who is live from Brooklyn where three arrests have been made. Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, in this neighborhood, which is about as diverse as you can get where you can turn the corner and feel like you've stepped into another country, what we're seeing emerge here is what the feds believe may be a trend. Terror groups like ISIS, al Shabaab, and others turning to minorities in these areas, troubled youth who may not feel fully connected to American society trying to recruit them to join.

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WILLIAM BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: The initial actions were effectively to go to Syria.

RIPLEY: This morning two men intent on waging war with ISIS according to the FBI are in custody in New York. A third accomplice arrested in Florida. At least one of the alleged aspiring terrorists lived in this Brooklyn, New York, apartment complex. The building's superintendent says he didn't seem suspicious. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They no talk too much, you know. Every time

quiet.

RIPLEY: But federal prosecutors said 24-year-old Abdurasul Juraboev and his 19-year-old friend planned to fly from New York to Turkey and then cross into Syria and join ISIS. The teens attorney says the FBI is rushing to prosecute.

ADAM PERLMUTTER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is all information that is delivered to the FBI from a confidential informant that the government says in their own complaint they can't rely on the credibility of.

RIPLEY: The third Brooklyn man, a 30-year-old business owner from Uzbekistan, allegedly funded some of the efforts. According to the FBI the men had a chilling secondary plan if they were unable to reach Syria.

BRATTON: If they were not able to go, that they would seek to acquire weapons here, handguns, a machine gun, and seek to attack very specifically police officers.

RIPLEY: According to court documents Juraboev tried to make contact with the terror group in an online chat room last summer, saying "To shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do? That will strike fear in the hearts of infidels." That alarming posts brought FBI agents to his front door. Juraboev allegedly admitted he would harm Ppresident Barack Obama but did not have the means to do so, and said if ISIS ordered him to do, he would plant a bomb on Coney Island in New York City.

ISIS's online propaganda a growing threat to the U.S. The State Department says they're combatting around 90,000 tweets a day. This as the FBI says there are investigations into home grown violent extremists in all 50 states.

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RIPLEY: Akhror Saidakhmetov, the 19-year-old living in that apartment building right behind me, people who are waking up in this neighborhood very concerned about these young men's alleged plans to conduct acts of terror right here in Brooklyn if they weren't able to join ISIS overseas. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Yes, we can imagine the anxiety in Brooklyn this morning. Thanks so much, Will.

Here to talk about those arrests and much more is New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries who also serves on the House Judiciary Committee. Congressman, good morning.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D) NEW YORK: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, so these three suspects were arrested in Brooklyn. They planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS, at least two of them. And if that didn't work they were going to, they said, plant bombs at the popular tourist destination Coney Island which is in your district. What more do you know about this plan?

JEFFRIES: Well, this is a very disturbing development that strikes way too close to home. It makes it clear that the problem of radicalization is not just a Middle Eastern issue. It's not just a western European issue. It's an American issue. And in this particular instance it's not clear why these terror suspects were determined in the alternative to strike out at Coney Island other than the fact that it is a very popular destination for both New Yorkers and for people from all across the world. It also is a very diverse community with Christians, Jews, and Muslims, people of all different races living together. And perhaps their warped ideology led them to want to strike out at a place that would carry that type of symbolism.

CAMEROTA: Well, we get a little bit of a window into their mindset, and it is fascinating. This is part of the 25 page affidavit that the FBI -- the FBI complaint that has just been filed about these guys. Here is this 24-year-old suspect and he is communicating with someone on an ISIS propaganda website. This is from August 8th. This is the posting that alerted the FBI, I believe, to his plans. Here's what he says. "Greetings. We, too, wanted to pledge our allegiance and it commit ourselves while not present there. I am in the USA now, but we don't have any arms. Is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here? What I'm saying is to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do? That will strike fear in the hearts of infidels."

Now this does not sound like the sharpest tool in the shed. However, they don't have to be smart. They can still just, you know, wreak havoc. Are you afraid that there are others in your district who are also extremists and have plans?

JEFFRIES: Well, I think we all have to be alarmed because there's a clear and deliberate attempt by ISIS to propagate radicalization all throughout the western world, certainly in America. And it's now clear that there are people, disturbed, troubled individuals, young people in our own community susceptible to the ISIS propaganda campaign.

I'm confident that Commissioner Bratton, the New York City police department in partnership with the FBI and other entities are doing all that's necessary. But this is an example as to why we need all hands on deck, including the Department of Homeland Security, which is why it's unreasonable, reckless for House Republicans, for instance, to be placing us on the brink of shutting down the Homeland Security Department in the midst of individuals who clearly want to strike out at our homeland.

CAMEROTA: Well, exactly, Congressman. I mean, what is going on in that building behind you? What is going to happen today? We're 24 hours from the DHS funding drying up somewhat, that that government agency being partially at least shut down.

So, what's going to happen today?

JEFFRIES: Well, I've been left to make reference to that famous New York philosopher Yogi Berra, who once said, it's like deja vu all over again.

We're being taken on another reckless legislative joyride. The American people have to suffer through the uncertainty whether as to whether we're going to crash and burn our safety and security because of the need to satisfy the ideological extreme right wing by some in the Capitol.

It really is unclear. It does seem that the senators on the other side of the capitol are prepared to conduct themselves with Mitch McConnell's leadership in a more responsible fashion but I was struck, Alisyn, by the fact that yesterday, John Boehner apparently made the statement that he hadn't spoken to Mitch McConnell in several weeks.

I mean, this is not a long commute to get from one side of the Capitol to the other. And when the safety and security of the American people is at risk, Republicans should be talking to Republicans about how we can resolve the situation. That's not happening, and the continued uncertainty is particularly troubling now for the people I represent in Brooklyn, but should be troubling to everyone in America.

And I'm hopeful that the cooler heads will prevail, the adults in the room will step forward and we can get this resolved before tomorrow's midnight deadline.

CAMEROTA: So, Congressman, you're saying if the bill were to be divided, as Mitch McConnell has suggested voting for DHS funding in one bill and deciding what to do about immigration in a separate agenda, that Democrats would be on board with that plan?

JEFFRIES: I certainly would be on board based on what I've learned about the plan preliminarily. I think that it is important to separate the issue of DHS funding from the issue of President Obama's executive action on immigration, which I support. But reasonable minds can of course differ about it. I believe it was entirely constitutional and consistent with his presidential authority.

If others disagree, handle that issue legislatively or, of course, allow the court process to take its place and we'll see what ultimately judges determine. But separate out the important issue of the safety and security of the American people.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, we appreciate you coming on and we will be watching closely to see what happens in Washington, D.C. today.

JEFFRIES: Thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: ISIS hostage numbers are spiking in Syria. A human rights organization says the terror group is now holding 262 Christians hostage. Their growing fears about their faith.

All of this unfolding as clashes intensify between Kurdish forces and ISIS in one town where many of the abductions happened.

PEREIRA: Opening statements are expected to begin next week in the murder trial of Boston marathon bombing suspect. The jury pool has now been finalized but the prosecution and defense team settling on a pool of 70 perspective jurors. That will then be whittled down to 12 with six alternates. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

CAMEROTA: A winter storm working its way up the East Coast as we speak, hitting Washington, D.C., as you can probably tell there.

Look at these pictures. This is live of the White House and there's the Capitol where the snow is really coming down.

The system is battering the South overnight as well, especially North Carolina; up to a foot of snow in some areas.

Winter storm warnings are in effect in 11 states today. Schools in cities including Atlanta, Knoxville, Charlotte, they are all closed today.

CUOMO: The big news that we're following is that the ISIS executioner known as Jihadi John has now been named. This as three Brooklyn men have been arrested for plotting acts of terror abroad and at home. How will all this play into the Homeland Security debacle going on right now? We test the White House, ahead.

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CUOMO: Breaking news this morning. "Reuters" quoting the BBC and also "The Washington Post" all reporting the man known as Jihadi John has been identified. This news coming on the heels of three Brooklyn men arrested for planning terrorist plots here and abroad. Those suspects allegedly talked about committing acts of terror at Coney Island, even going after the president for assassination.

Let's talk about this with David Simas, assistant to the president and director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach.

It's a good day to have you reaching out. This big news about Jihadi John, is it news to the White House? Or like British officials, were you aware of the identity of this man and keeping it quiet for operational reasons?

DAVID SIMAS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF POLITICAL STRATEGY AND OUTREACH: Chris, I'm not going to be able to this morning here with you on NEW DAY confirm or deny this piece of information. I refer you to the British authorities for further information on that.

But I think in a more broad way, what both that case and what we saw yesterday in Brooklyn points to is the necessity to build on the work that we started last week with a countering violent extremism conference in Washington. This is something that's going to require all hands on deck, not only in the United States but across the world, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So we look at the arrests in Brooklyn. One of the guys found in Florida. He seems to be somewhat of a new animal that we'll term a "terror investor", that he was basically just providing the money for these guys to go do terrible things. What do you do about that threat?

SIMAS: So, Chris, this is a multi-faceted problem that requires a multi-faceted approach. Let me break it down.

At the countering violent extremism conference last week, there were 70 nations that identified the four stages of the development of the extremist life cycle. There is the initial recruitment and radicalization, then there's the mobilization, then there's the travel to and from, and then the return back to the country.

It's important that we have people engaged at every step of that process, from radicalization recruitment with information sharing between the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, intelligence agencies, to the travel to and fro that involves our border and aviation security, to ultimately the return back.

And so, again, this is a multi-faceted approach that's going to require all hands on deck, including importantly with the back drop of what's happening on Capitol Hill today the Department of Homeland Security is essential to just about every piece of that process, Chris.

CUOMO: Well, I'm going to get to you on that in just a second. You have the FBI director saying he's got cases of people here trying to get radicalized in all 50 states to join ISIS, all 50 states the FBI directed.

How did we mistake, and by we -- I mean you -- mistake ISIS as a jayvee team when they now have all 50 states with radicalization threats?

SIMAS: So, Chris, I think what we need to do is focus on the present, which is the present threat.

CUOMO: But the present is informed by the decisions of the past, Mr. Simas, and that's why I ask. It may state that you guys didn't know what you were dealing with here. Hopefully you do know now but did you then?

SIMAS: Mr. Cuomo, what you're addressing right now is the present recruitment and radicalization that's occurring right now. That requires the steps that we identified last week at the countering violent extremism conference, not only the United States but across the world, and that's why there were 70 nations involved right now who see that this is an evolving multi-faceted threat that we're addressing.

And, again, Chris, it requires not only the Department of Homeland Security, it involves local law enforcement, it involves intelligence, it involves the sharing of information. As we deal with this new, evolving threat that ISIS poses. This is about where we go from here and build on the work that's already been done. CUOMO: Absolutely. But obviously, you want to own what got you to

this point because it gives confidence in what you say about where you're going to go that takes us to the DHS battle.

The criticism is you put the immigration bill into the DHS funding mechanism. You created this standoff. Why doesn't the president just back off? You have a court -- you have a court process to deal with now anyway. Back off on that. Remove it as an issue and let's keep DHS safe?

SIMAS: Well, Chris, that -- that just is a profound misunderstanding of what happened here. The president, because Congress for more than a year failed to act on comprehensive immigration reform, took executive action within his authority.

That did two very important things. The first thing was to focus on felons and not breaking up families in terms of prosecutorial discretion. The second thing was to say, look, if we've got people in this country who have been living in the shadows, we need to bring them out, have them undergo criminal background checks and pay taxes so that they can become part of the community. That's the immigration piece.

What House and Senate leaders decided to do on their own is to take a very clean DHS funding bill and insert language that would strip the president of his authority -- by the way, authority that's been exercised by every president since Dwight Eisenhower.

So, our position has been very, very clear on this. You want to debate immigration, let's have an immigration debate. But at its core, Congress, do your job, fund DHS, and what's been happening over the past couple of weeks should be -- should raise a sense of urgency as to why they need to separate these and deal with it cleanly.

CUOMO: Hopefully, the president can rally his side of the aisle to do what needs to be done in the Senate and the House to get the DHS funded before the deadline because we see the threat is all too clear and all too present.

Mr. Simas, thank you, as always, for being on NEW DAY.

SIMAS: Chris, thank you.

CUOMO: All right. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right. Chris, we're following breaking news that reveals Jihadi John's reported identity. Who is he and what does it tell us about ISIS's long-term strategy?

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