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Unruly Passenger Subdued during United Airlines Flight; Robert Durst Arrested for Murder; President Criticizes Letter to Iran Signed by GOP Senators; Deadline Looming in Iran Nuclear Talks; Netanyahu in Tight Race for His Political Life. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 17, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Declaring an emergency due to a passenger disturbance.

<07:59:41> RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a frightening scene aboard a Denver-bound jetliner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He ran forward towards the cockpit and he is being restrained by other passengers.

MARSH: This passenger was screaming and trying to rush the cockpit, but passengers on board subdued him shortly after takeoff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move, David. You're OK. We're going to get you off this plane, buddy.

MARSH: United Airlines flight 1074 headed from the Washington, D.C., area to Denver at around 10:40 p.m. when the incident forced the pilot to turn around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cockpit is secure and we would just like to return to the airport and have the authorities meet us.

MARSH: A spokesman for the airlines saying in part, "Flight 1074 returned to the airport following takeoff on Monday evening after a passenger failed to comply with crew instructions. Local law enforcement officials met the aircraft at the gate and detained the passenger." This video taken by one of the passengers during the altercation, bruises below his right cheek and near his mouth, several others holding down his head as one person tries to calm him down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: In this day and age the passengers helped themselves and they helped the flight crew to get their flight safely to their destination largely because of what happened on September 11th, 2001.

MARSH: A spokesperson for the airport saying no passengers were injured and no weapons were found. The unruly passenger was eventually removed by law enforcement and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: Well, that unruly passenger did not reach the cockpit after September 11th. All aircraft were equipped with reinforced cockpit doors. As for the passengers who were on that flight, their flight was grounded last night because of all of this. But United says that they hope to get the passengers and they're planning to get the passengers to their destination this morning. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And a drama free flight we wish them and hopefully that other passenger can get the help he needs. All right, Rene, thank you.

Real estate heir Robert Durst now formally charged in the execution style murder of a close friend in Los Angeles some 15 years ago. He has waived extradition to California from Louisiana, but prosecutors in New Orleans may want to pursue criminal charges there first. CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us with all the latest. So many twists and turns.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are very twisty and very turny. We expect to see Mr. Durst in court again today to face charges of marijuana and gun possession in Louisiana. This as New York authorities are looking into the timeline, the timeline from the disappearance of his first wife back in 1982.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: This morning New York real estate heir Robert Durst remains behind bars in New Orleans, the millionaire picked up in the lobby of a Marriott hotel Saturday staying under a false name with a fake driver's license, in his possession, a .38 revolver, marijuana, and a substantial amount of cash. One official says it prepares Durst was preparing to flee to Cuba.

The eccentric 71-year-old now facing felony firearms and drug charges, complicating his extradition to Los Angeles where Durst will be tried for first degree murder of close friend and crime novelist Susan Berman.

DICK DEGUERIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Bob Durst didn't kill Susan Berman and he's ready to end the rumor and speculation and have a trial.

MARQUEZ: Prosecutors siting new evidence alleged the millionaire was lying in wait before shooting Berman execution style in her living room nearly 15 years ago. According to reports police were set to question her over the 1982 disappearance of Durst's first wife Kathie McCormack. That case remains unsolved.

Meanwhile, an NYPD official says state police are seeking information about the various timelines Durst provided to detectives during his wife's disappearance.

The hit HBO docu-series "The Jinx" possible providing incriminating clues to the decades old case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is.

MARQUEZ: The documentary's shocking finale Sunday reveals Durst mumbling to himself in the bathroom, seemingly admitting to murder.

ROBERT DURST: What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.

MARQUEZ: The filmmakers going to police, finding the bombshell off camera comments some two years after wrapping the final interview, Durst's lawyer called it ramblings and that the millionaire admitted nothing.

DEGUERIN: We're ready to go to California and have a trial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty.

MARQUEZ: Durst already beat murder charges in 2003 after admitting he killed and dismembered neighbor Morris Black in Texas, claiming self- defense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: CNN and HBO are owned by the same company, Time Warner. It all comes down to that admission in the bathroom. Will it be admissible as evidence? And if it is, will a jury ever hear it? Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Miguel, great questions.

Our next guest was a close friend of Robert Durst's first wife, Kathie. Ellen Strauss joins us now. Ellen, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

ELLEN STRAUSS, FRIEND OF KATHIE DURST: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: I know you watched this HBO series with rapt attention. What was it like to watch Robert Durst try to explain himself all these years later?

<08:05:07> STRAUSS: What was it like? First of all, before saying what was it like, I have to say that there's no such thing as closure and there's no such thing as justice. If I wanted justice I would have gone to divinity school. What it was like was a great deal of satisfaction knowing that this has come to an end. I feel vindicated because I've spent 33 years on it. CAMEROTA: But do you feel vindicated because he was arrested this

weekend or because you got to see the film? It's possible you could have watched this whole film and he could have walked off again into the sunset. But this time is different. He's been arrested.

STRAUSS: Right, right, absolutely. I think that Bob thought he wanted to be able to tell his side of the story and he thought he was clever enough to get away with it. Part of him, and I think there's a dichotomy here, is the fact that people like to confess. When I did criminal law I would have people say to me, well, I had a gun just like it, because they were trying to tell me as much as they could without actually admitting to me.

CAMEROTA: We should mention, of course, you are an attorney yourself.

STRAUSS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: But let's play the pivotal moment from this series, "The Jinx," the most jaw dropping among many jaw dropping moments where he still wearing his microphone, goes into the bathroom by himself after he thinks the interview is over, and he says this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DURST: What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: "Killed them all, of course." How do you explain that moment?

STRAUSS: Well, Bob likes to talk to himself. It's not the first time he has talked to a hot mic without realizing it. And for me the most jaw dropping moment were the two envelopes with the handwriting. That was -- that, to me, is, you know, real hard evidence forensically.

CAMEROTA: It sure is. Here you can see them. He misspelled -- someone misspelled Beverly Hills in exactly the same way in exactly the same writing. One of these envelopes is from the killer of Susan Berman who is telling police where to find her body, and the other is from Bob Durst himself, and they are shockingly similar.

STRAUSS: Exactly the same. He put a check in there for Susan for probably $25,000. He gave her 50 in two separate checks over the years. And when you think about the fact that this was his best friend in the world, what he did was so cold.

CAMEROTA: Shot her execution style allegedly.

STRAUSS: Yes. I knew Susan, and she was not a trusting person. I didn't know her well. I had had dinner with her and so forth. But, actually, Kathie introduced me to her.

CAMEROTA: So you were close friends with Kathie, his first wife --

STRAUSS: Yes. CAMEROTA: -- who disappeared in 1982 mysteriously. What was their

relationship like?

STRAUSS: Well, in the beginning it was prince charming and Cinderella. As time went by I would say it became more and more violent. When I was in law school and she was in medical school I had calls forwarded to my -- where I was, and she would call me late at night for hours about his violence, and not just to her. I remember one occasion where she had a friend, they had all been out partying, Bob included. She had a friend that was sitting cross legged on the floor, Peter Schwartz, a photographer. And Bob kicked him in one of his eyes and broke the occipital bone around it and ended up settling out of court, which really annoyed Kathie because she said Bob is getting away with it again.

The other dichotomy is that there were times she felt she could handle him. I used to say, leave, get out. The guy's crazy. He talks to himself. Leave. You can always get a settlement later. And then, you know, she'd stay up late and be all night at medical school or during one of her internship residency things and she would just, you know, maybe have a couple of drinks, take some drugs, and she'd be in the space. And I think that the murder, her murder was not as premeditated as the other ones after that. I think when she came back from that so-called family party, which it wasn't, she was after him and she was right in his face.

CAMEROTA: You say her murder.

STRAUSS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: But of course she's just disappeared. There is no evidence, necessarily, there was no body found, no weapon, that she was murdered. What do you think happened to Kathie?

STRAUSS: I think that she came back into the south Salem house.

CAMEROTA: That she shared with Bob.

STRAUSS: That she shared with Bob. "The Jinx" portrays on of the person telling the story, Bobby kept calling her that night to come home. It was just the opposite. She was calling him. She was getting really annoyed. When she left there she was in a snit. And I think she went back there, started a fight which he finished.

<08:10:05> CAMEROTA: How do you think he got away with it? How do you think -- there was no evidence?

STRAUSS: Because he got rid of the body. He's not stupid. And also, here's one of the major issues. He lied and said that she got on a train and he spoke to her later in New York, which he admitted on "The Jinx" was utter nonsense. He lied to get the police off his back. However, this all happened in Westchester. He had a head start. I think you know if you watch "The Jinx" that I went through the garbage. And I found that he was throwing her things out right away, within five weeks at least of her disappearance. He knew she wasn't coming back. CAMEROTA: Let's just quickly take a look at his history because it's

interesting. In 1982 your friend Kathie McCormack disappearance in New York. In 2000 his friend Susan Berman is murdered execution style in California. In 2001 his neighbor Morris Black murdered and dismembered in Texas, which by the way, he admits to doing, Bob Durst admits to doing. In 2003 he is on trial for that, but he is acquitted of Black's murder. And then, as you know, this weekend he's arrested in New Orleans on weapons and drug charges and Los Angeles police have finally charged him with first degree murder for Susan Berman. Of course that's not related to your friend Kathie.

STRAUSS: I'll take it any way I can get it.

CAMEROTA: You'll take -- you will take this man going to trial for a different murder because on some level that is justice for you?

STRAUSS: Yes. And as I said, if I wanted justice I would have gone to divinity school. It certainly doesn't take a great deal of strength to pull a trigger. He may be frail. He may look like he's hobbling around. But he can still pull a trigger.

CAMEROTA: What has Kathie's family said about this?

STRAUSS: They feel the way I do. I was with them. We watched it together.

CAMEROTA: What was that like?

STRAUSS: You could have heard a pin drop until, you know, at the very, very end when, you know, that -- we were listening so closely. Everybody was kind of leaning forward in their chair. And then we took it in and then we -- you know, everybody clapped. I think it was -- Jim or his wife, somebody put their arms around me, or his daughter, looks exactly like Kathie. When I first met her my knees were weak because she is the spitting image. And so we just all did like a group hug.

CAMEROTA: I mean, and that moment where he appears to confess, that is a bombshell.

STRAUSS: It is a bombshell. Two bombshells in a row, and I'm going to seem -- his lawyers are great. They're smart. They're going to try to, you know, diminish this in any way they can but, remember, as an attorney, I will tell you that when he made those admissions he was not in custody. Those -- he volunteered to meet with the producers of that show on his own after he saw Ryan Gosling portray him in "All Good Things."

CAMEROTA: So his ego got the best of him and you're saying that that confession, if that's what you want to call it, is admissible in court?

STRAUSS: I would think it would be. I think they're going to make all kinds of motions, but I think eventually. Listen, greater legal minds than mine are going to be arguing this until the cows come home. We'll see. CAMEROTA: Is this the end of the road finally for Bob Durst?

STRAUSS: I hope so. No one can tell the future. No one knows what a jury will do. You saw what happened in Texas. You've seen other juries in California acquit. I hope this time they get a really smart special prosecutor because this is going to take someone who can go against Bob's legal team, and they are the best.

CAMEROTA: Ellen Strauss, it's great to get your personal perspective, and we're sorry for the loss of your friend Kathie.

STRAUSS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We hope some justice is meted out finally.

STRAUSS: I hope so, too.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for coming in.

STRAUSS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's go to John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, fascinating, Alisyn. Thanks so much.

President Obama says he is embarrassed for the Republican senators who signed that controversial warning letter to Iran. And according to a new CNN poll, a majority of Americans agree with the president and his attempts at least to negotiate with the Iranians. Our coverage begins with Senior White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. This is a big story. First of all we're seeing 68 percent of the respondents saying, yes, America should be negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. And on that thing that we call "the letter" signed by 47 Senate Republicans to Iran telling Iran that Congress will play a bigger role in the negotiations than Iran might think, more of the respondents, 49 percent, felt that it was out of line, went too far. President Obama didn't hold back much either on those who signed the letter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm embarrassed for them, you know, because it's not how America does business.

They were effectively making common cause with the hardliners in Iran who also don't want any kind of diplomatic resolution because they're invested in getting a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

<08:15:00> MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Now, this poll also asks the question, who do you have more confidence in for foreign policy and other big issues facing America, the president or Republicans in Congress? And more of the people, about 47 percent chose the president. We should say though that men overall chose Republicans in Congress and about one in 10 respondents decided on neither -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Very interesting.

All right. Michelle Kosinski, thank you.

Meanwhile, European negotiators say nuclear talks with Iran have reached a critical phase with broad disagreements remaining on several key issues.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is tracking all of the developments for us live from London -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Michaela.

For two hours this morning, Secretary Kerry met with his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Zarif. We are told that they made some progress on discussing some of the issues over some of the technical details of those gaps that they still have to bridge, but the State Department is saying, you know, on the one hand while that is, you know, a small step, the reality is, the bigger headline remains that there is still a lot to be done. They talked about reactors, reactor design, fissile weapons, grade material.

But they -- you know, this sort of, if you will, slight narrowing of the gaps or understanding and discussion of what some of those gaps are doesn't include the questions like sanctions. This is only on the technical issues.

So, really, it seems some small steps made on the technical issues, but it's really been more of a discussion about what those technical issues are about how they sort of fit into a -- you know, the breakout, that amount of time that Iran, if it went rogue, if you will, could build a weapon. So, these are not nailing down final solutions, they're merely talking about it in the broadest of terms, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Nic Robertson, thanks so much for that explanation.

Well, the president of Vanuatu asking for immediate help after the island nation were slammed by the massive cyclone. He said the category 5 storage destroyed nearly all infrastructure and it could take years to rebuild.

A state of emergency has been declared. Aid is slowly arriving, providing the basic needs of life for victims like clean water and food. Officials say the death toll currently stands at 11, but it is expected to rise.

BERMAN: Despite leaking classified information and lying about it to the FBI, former CIA director and retired general, David Petraeus, is still advising the White House. The Obama administration confirms that Petraeus remains a trusted adviser on the U.S. strategy against ISIS. Petraeus pleaded guilty earlier this month to sharing classified information with his mistress and biographer.

PEREIRA: Chris Borland, a star rookie for the San Francisco 49ers, announcing that he is retiring from the NFL. The 24-year-old star linebacker cites concussion safety concerns. Borland says he feels as sharp as ever.

But after having many, many discussions with his friends, his family, teammates, even doing some research with head injury specialists, he said he wanted to be proactive. He does not believe it is worth the risk to continue playing -- startling thing to think that a young man at 24 years old can --

BERMAN: Well, there are people are saying this is a watershed moment. His career was on the rides. He played just one year. He had no major injury. There was no one incident that led him to re-evaluate his entire life. And now, he's just saying, though, that none of it -- none of it is worth it.

PEREIRA: One would argue if you have an incident, it's almost much late then. You know, it's closing the barn door after the horse is out.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. But walking away does send message. I mean, this is a watershed moment.

PEREIRA: It really is.

BERMAN: Five guys other 30, sort of the prime to their career, have walked away just this off season. So, something is happening.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Well, rhetoric still flying over that letter that Republicans sent to Iran. What does the president say and could the letter really derail the talks? Our Christiane Amanpour breaks it all down, next.

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<08:22:31> PEREIRA: Millions of Israelis going to the polling stations today, voting as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fights to keep his job. And in the home stretch his re-election campaign, Netanyahu is vowing there will not be a Palestinian state as long as he is prime minister.

So, what do the results of this election mean for U.S./Israeli relations?

Let's turn to CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

What a delight to speak to you.

Really curious, Christiane, about what you think Netanyahu's strategy is here? And do you think it's going to back fire? CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well,

look, it's really hard to determine that, but certainly the fact that he told an Israeli news operation that under his prime ministership, there would be no Palestinian state essentially throws the baby out with the bath water and throws out decades of U.S./Israeli foreign policy and the whole peace process idea.

And as you remember, last year, there were months and months of negotiations which eventually came to nothing. But the whole idea has been a two-state solution. Otherwise, what, a one-state solution with full rights for the Palestinians who will make up the majority or, as some said, an apartheid one-state solution with no rights for the Palestinians. So, that's on that side.

But most of all, Israelis have wanted to focus on housing, on the economy, on things like that. And the truth of the matter is, according to all the experts, whoever wins, unless they win an overwhelming 61 seats, will inevitably have to form a coalition.

So, the question is, who will be best positioned to form a coalition?

PEREIRA: A "New York Times" article suggested this election has really become a referendum on Netanyahu's time as prime minister. A political blogger in that article goes on to make the suggestion that in Israel, there's Bibi fatigue.

Do you sense that's true?

AMANPOUR: You know, probably from a lot of people, but that is based on polls that were obvious up to about five days before today. So, a lot of the uncertainty comes from there are no public polls since Friday. That's according to the election law there.

So, for sure, Bibi was ahead. Bibi called the election. He didn't have to have an election. He still had time to go under his prime ministership, but he thought that he would be able to win easily and he called an early election.

Now, he was roaring ahead, then he was sort of neck in neck and then in the last couple of weeks, the Zionist Union, left of center party with Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni as the leaders, went ahead to be set to win a handful of seats than Netanyahu's Likud Party or the coalition.

<08:25:12> So, that's where people are right now. Certainly in certain quarters of Israel, after nine years of prime ministership, there are many people who are tired of his leadership, tired of no peace with the Palestinians, tired of what they consider, you know, unnecessary friction with their biggest ally, the United States.

But Israelis is also an increasingly right of center country. So, that is where people believe that he may sweep up votes.

PEREIRA: I want to pivot now to Iran if you'll indulge me. We know that at the start of this month, you sat down with the Iranian foreign minister talking about the ongoing negotiations with Iran, nuclear negotiations.

I'm curious if you can give us some context. Given that conversation, what he thought the likelihood of reaching a deal would be and what he thought some of the sticking points might be and what you might sense he might feel about where negotiations stand now?

AMANPOUR: Well, here's the thing -- both sides are always careful to say, a deal is possible but, you know, nothing is signed until it's all signed and that everybody has to make tough choices and that, you know, it's going to require a lot of compromise.

The truth is, it is going to require a lot of compromise on both sides. And it's not clear at all whether a deal will be signed.

President Obama has made this sort of the hallmark, the center piece of his administration's diplomacy, and there's no doubt that many experts believe that such a deal would go a long way to more stability in that region.

But, for instance, prime minister Netanyahu as you know, because he came to the United States and made a big deal about it, doesn't believe that there should be a deal and a lot of people in the region, a lot of Arab states feel the same way, that they don't believe there should be a deal because they're worried about Iran's intentions.

So, what seems to be holding up the situation right now is a lot of issues around, for instance, Iran is very concerned and this is what the Foreign Minister Zarif has also said to Iranian television lately, they're worried about the speed of lifting sanctions, for instance, U.S. sanctions and U.N. sanctions. They're worried, some say, about the extent of intrusive inspections Iran would have to agree to under such an agreement.

The United States obviously wants that as part of any agreement. So, these are issues that are still out there to be negotiated. They're there.

Secretary Kerry, Foreign Minister Zarif will stay another day today to continue negotiating head to head. Apparently, this round wraps up on Friday. The Iranians go back to Iran for their New Year's holiday. And then, you've got have a March 31 deadline looming.

PEREIRA: Yes, and it does loom indeed. Christiane Amanpour, always great to have you. We appreciate your expertise as always. Thank you so much.

John?

AMANPOUR: Thank you, Michaela.

BERMAN: Thanks, Michaela.

So, his guilt is not in question but the punishment is. Will Dzhokhar Tsarnaev take the stand in his own defense in hopes of avoiding execution?

08:28: 11

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