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Robert Durst Linked to Vermont Cold Case; Will U.S. Troops Stay in Afghanistan?; Reports: Germanwings Plane Crash in France. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 24, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A four-month investigation found discrepancies in the account by a woman identified as Jackie who police say refused to cooperate. The Charlottesville police chief is not closing the investigation, however, choosing instead to suspend it, which is very unusual, does allow for new information that may come to light.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to clear up something from yesterday. We wrongly reported that a TSA officer shot and killed a machete-wielding man at the New Orleans International Airport over the weekend. In fact, it was a sheriff's deputy inside the terminal who fired the gun, not a TSA officer. TSA officers are not armed. We apologize for that error.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Quite a situation here. A Dallas police helicopter made an emergency landing after a bird shattered the windshield and injured the pilot. The co-pilot was able to bring the chopper down safely last night. They had been part of a search for a boater whose craft capsized, police say the boater was later found and is safe and well. The pilot meanwhile was treated for minor injuries from shattered glass, the bird -- well, not so much.

CUOMO: Not so much.

Here's a question -- is the accused murderer, Robert Durst, connected to a decades-old cold case in Vermont? His attorney says he's just an easy target.

CNN's Jean Casarez is live in New Orleans with the latest.

Is there any "there" there?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Well, that is something that's being investigated. We know the FBI has asked local law enforcement to look into those cases. But Robert Durst's attorney tells me that in regard to what they believe is the most serious of all, the Los Angeles charges of murder, they still don't know the probable cause that was used to issue the arrest warrant.

Now, yesterday in court, there was a one-page document that New Orleans prosecutors have been sent by Los Angeles. There were a lot of blanks, there were supposed to be attachments, they were not presented in court.

Meanwhile, Robert Durst, he's going to stay right here in Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): Shackled in court, real estate heir Robert Durst denied bail in New Orleans. A flight risk, according to the prosecution, presenting what police found in the millionaire's hotel the night he was nabbed, a loaded .38 revolver, a neck-to-head latex mask with salt and pepper hair attached. More than $40,000 in cash and a UPS tracking number with a package intercepted by the FBI containing clothing and another $117,000.

Despite all the drama and intrigue, Durst has one big defender -- his attorney, Dick DeGuerin.

DICK DEGUERIN, DURST'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I know him, I like him, that gives me an extra touch of passion about coming to his defense when all the world thinks he's a killer.

CASAREZ: The hit HBO docu-series "The Jinx" possibly provided incriminating clues in the disappearance of his wife in 1982, the murder of Susan Berman in 2000, and a neighbor in 2001.

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

CASAREZ: Most notably, captured off-camera, Durst mumbling to himself during the shocking finale.

But DeGuerin does not think it is sufficient evidence.

(on camera): When did you find out about the statement in the bathroom?

DEGUERIN: When I saw it on television like most everybody else in the country. And if that's the strength of their case, I mean, I can be ready tomorrow.

CASAREZ (voice-over): This as several more cold cases in connection with durst have been revealed. Authorities in Vermont are investigating a connection between Durst and the 1971 disappearance of Middlebury College student Lynne Schultz.

DEGUERIN: Bob is being blamed for everything right now. He's an easy target.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ: And we did reach out to Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for comment. They have not responded to our calls. And I saw that mask in court yesterday, there was a picture that was shown to the defense for identification, it was a scary mask. It was big, it was large, it was the most horrific Halloween costume you could find. But it would cause so much attention if somebody put it on.

Alisyn, it would hide your identity, but you would get more attention than ever wearing the mask that I saw in that picture in court yesterday -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh! Jean, the story gets more and more mysterious and seemingly sinister. Thanks so much for all that. We'll check back in with you.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right. Time for CNN Money now. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here. She is fact-checking Ted Cruz' views on the economy.

How are they looking?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, Ted Cruz outlined what the economy would look like if he was elected president. He said he would abolish the IRS. He imagines a simple flat tax. Everyone could do their taxes on an index card. He sees millions of new jobs, he sees up to six job offers for each college graduate. Fact check, no details yet on that tax plan. And job growth already robust. 2014 was already the best year since 1999 for job growth.

[06:35:02] Following the money in the fight against ISIS, "The Wall Street Journal" says ISIS skimming millions of dollars a month from Iraqi government salaries in those occupied areas. ISIS using Iraq's money to fund its own terror operations, this as the U.S. tries to choke off that money overall.

And where do you dream of retiring? Think about that for a minute. Bankrate says the best state to retire in is Wyoming. That's because of cheap taxes and low crime rates. Colorado is number two, because it is close to the mountains and has good health care. And Utah, rounds out the top three. Florida, all the way down I think to 28th on the list, Florida, guys.

PEREIRA: Well, I guess --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: I don't know. Maybe the good thing it leaves more room for me to retire in Hawaii, as I originally had planned.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Exactly, less crowds. You know I like that.

ROMANS: Save your money, Michaela. Save your money.

PEREIRA: I know. All right. Thanks so much, Christine. The new president of Afghanistan is in Washington today, meeting with

the president. And with ISIS actively recruiting in his country, he's asking the White House for help. So what does this mean for the U.S. military draw-down in Afghanistan?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:09] PEREIRA: It's good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

President Obama and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meeting today at the White House. They are expected to focus on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The current plan, as you know, is to reduce the number of U.S. troops to 5,500 by the end of this year, and then complete withdrawal by the end of 2016.

But the game has changed. ISIS now reportedly targeting the country.

Should that timeline be revised?

Let's discuss this with the men who know, David Tafuri is a former U.N. and State Department official, and a former campaign foreign policy adviser for President Obama.

Also with us this morning, General Mark Hertling, he is a CNN military analyst and the former commanding general for the U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army.

Gentlemen, this is a bit of a game-changer when you think the conversation that will be going on in the White House between the two presidents.

I'm curious, David, let's unpack it a little bit, because we know the president sort of saying ISIS is now targeting us. Maybe we need to reconsider this timeline to withdraw U.S. troops. First of all, let's look at that piece. Should the U.S. reconsider the proposal about troop withdrawal?

DAVID TAFURI, FORMER U.N. AND STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes, we should applaud the president for making this decision. The president should have a lot of flexibility in terms of how many troops he's going to keep in Afghanistan. That's very important because when you set deadlines years in advance, you don't know what the situation is going to be like on the ground.

Moreover, it's important not to telegraph to our enemies like the Taliban when we're going to leave. The Taliban has been in Afghanistan for 25 years. They're there for the long run. They will lie in wait until we leave.

The new added threat of perhaps ISIS cooperating with the Taliban makes it even more important that we're flexible in how many troops we keep in Afghanistan and if the situation warrants at the end of 2015 and then 2016, even after 2016, to keep more troops on the ground, especially for counterterrorism efforts, we should do that. PEREIRA: But the strategy of not showing your cards, I'm sure,

General, is something that speaks to you very much. But do you agree. Do you agree that it is a time to sort of pivot and reconsider?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Michael, certainly. You know, Secretary Carter, that was his first trip overseas was to Afghanistan. Chairman Dempsey, General Dempsey, has been there several times. General Campbell who is in Afghanistan has repeatedly said, I think we need more forces.

And as we enter the fighting season which occurs in the spring and summer of every year, the Taliban is beginning to feel a bit emboldened. And, of course, the ISIS threat isn't really a threat in Afghanistan. They would like to get involved there. But truthfully, they just want to get involved in any ungoverned space. That's the --

PEREIRA: Where there's chaos, they want to take advantage and thrive.

HERTLING: Exactly.

PEREIRA: But to your point about Afghanistan not really being a stronghold for them, we do know that they're actively trying to recruit members. ISIS, as our Nick Paton Walsh was reporting the other day, they've been actively recruiting within Afghanistan.

HERTLING: Well, that's part of President Ghani's suggestion, that, hey, we're not ready. We don't have the security yet. If this falls again, especially in some of the eastern provinces, he's got a lot of trouble.

So, it's a good move and he's a different kind of leader certainly than Karzai.

PEREIRA: David, are you of the same mind that ISIS is not really a threat to Afghanistan?

TAFURI: Well, I think that's right. I mean, Taliban has been in Afghanistan for so long, ISIS is a new player. Taliban have their own objectives and goals, they're not going to take direction from ISIS. However, where there's a possibility for them both to benefit from cooperation, that's certainly possible and we need to monitor that.

PEREIRA: Well, and then, there's the idea that this thriving in chaos. So let's talk about the fact that this withdrawal is happening and it goes back to your further point it needs to be reconsidered. It makes one wonder if it does not throw the entire place into chaos. If you have forces like al Qaeda, and Taliban and perhaps even ISIS sort of you know chomping at the bit to get a stronghold there, it is kind of a recipe for disaster there, no?

TAFURI: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the biggest threat to this administration, to our country now is having more failed states we see what's happened in Yemen, that's approaching a failed state. We see unfortunately what's happened in Libya.

Afghanistan has become better over the last few years and we need to keep the progress going forward. We cannot let it slip into being a failed state again.

PEREIRA: I want to pivot to Yemen a little bit, because we know that U.S. Special Forces and British special forces have been removed from the ground. That is a vacuum. That's an absence of key intel on the ground.

How concerning is that to you?

HERTLING: It's concerning and it's primarily because we don't have the intelligence targeting over there. With the fall of the Hadi government, we have our embassy moving out, Special Operations forces could be there, but they can't generate their own intelligence in many cases. So, it's better to get them out.

And now, we've gone from an offensive against al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen, which is a critically failing state, to more of a defensive posture, where we're trying to prevent people from leaving there, attacking the U.S. homeland.

PEREIRA: A defensive posture and the lack of a viable ally in the area.

[06:45:03] David, what's your biggest concern when you look at this situation that's unfolding and developing rapidly and devolving in Yemen?

TAFURI: Well, the other really concerning thing about Yemen is it's become a canvas for the sectarian battle between the Shiites and Sunnis. We have a Shiite insurgency now, that's somewhat new over the last year. They've become very powerful, taken over the capital city. We have a great deal of instability.

But it also affects the region. This is going to impact Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is very concerned about the Iran-backed Shiite insurgency and Iran is involved in Yemen. So, we have a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran that could really blow up and have further implications for the region.

PEREIRA: And further implications for the world, because we know it flies against everything that is trying to be done in terms of the war on terror globally.

HERTLING: Exactly. And one of the things that concerns me about this is the moderate Sunnis in Yemen specifically, but in the area writ large. You know, as the Houthis gain momentum and you have a choice between al Qaeda and is, if you're a moderate Sunni on the ground, you're going to fight the Houthis, that's going to draw you into one camp or another. That's going to, as David said, contribute to a civil war.

PEREIRA: So many pieces and parts to this and they're moving and changing all the time. We so appreciate, General Mark Hertling and David Tafuri, for joining us and walk us through it all. Gentlemen, thanks.

Alisyn? CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela.

A police investigation find nothing evidence to support the "Rolling Stone" article that outlined allegations of rape at a fraternity party at the University of Virginia. We'll tell you what the allegations found and what this means for the school and the fraternity and rape survivors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:31] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news to tell about right now, because there are reports of a passenger plane crashing in the French Alps. The Germanwings flight, that's the name of the airline, Germanwings, it was reportedly carrying 142 passengers. This is a low-cost airline. We understand it's based in Cologne. It is owned by Lufthansa.

According to the French and German media, the reports are that the plane was traveling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

So, let's get right to CNN's aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. She is live on the phone for us in London.

Mary, tell us what you're hearing there.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (via telephone): Well, pretty much the same thing -- 142 passengers, six crew, so a total of 148.

The weather is quite good. So, it's -- you know, often you have the weather component to the flight, to the issues, and there really isn't any information on the cause, no information on -- and you wouldn't expect that it would be survivable in the Alps. But really not much more than that.

Obviously, Lufthansa has been around for 80 years. It's a very, very old and established airline. The Wings is an offshoot to provide lower-cost travel throughout the E.U.

Obviously, it doesn't serve across the sea, they didn't come to the United States. (INAUDIBLE) component and they're confirming 142 people with six crew.

CUOMO: Mary, what we're hearing, "Reuters" is also reporting on the story right now. It was going from Barcelona right there in the tip of Spain, to Dusseldorf in Germany. We're showing you a picture now, Mary, just because you can't see it, of an A-320, and that's the type of commercial aircraft we believe we're dealing with.

So, we want to know what we can about the safety record of that type of aircraft. But also, if the reports are accurate and that the plane went down in Provence, France, that would be the midpoint between where this flight was headed, between Barcelona and Dusseldorf. Is that information relevant? SCHIAVO: Well, A-320, of course, is widely used. In fact, I flew on

over here, so a widely used plane. It's got a long track record. There's an issue concerning the crash, for example, the Rio to Paris flight a while back where they had trouble with the controllers and the training on the crew. Anyone who flies the Airbus has gotten information about that and they were supposed to receive the retraining if there was any issue there, concerning keeping up the air speed particularly in the weather.

But there's no indication that that's a problem right now. So, no, the 320 has a really long track record, widely used around the world. You know, many, many in use in the United States.

So, you know, I have to tell you ahead, it's not an issue with the aircraft, instead, it could always be an issue with maintenance, it could be an issue with cargo in the cargo hold, there's so many things that could go wrong. But mid-flight is a really rare time to have it, 95 percent of accidents happen on takeoff or landing or on approach to landing or take off climb to altitude, midflight, highly, highly unusual.

PEREIRA: So, what does that say to you, Mary? What does that say to you, then? Because we've learned so much having your expertise with us, sadly with all the stories that we've been covering at CNN. What does it say to you that midflight is where a problem occurred?

SCHIAVO: Well, you know, ordinarily, you would say it just doesn't happen at that point. But in the last year, we have seen it happen in the midflight point for two -- and if you count the last couple of years, we had the Malaysia 370, where and mid-flight and at altitude, at 30,000-plus feet. Something happened and we had the Russian shoot- down of MH-17 at altitude.

So, it's highly, you know, it's a very odd and an unusual thing to have a flight that they were over very mountainous terrain, you can get (INAUDIBLE) at that point, which are like horizontal tornadoes coming off the mountains. I'm looking at the map now you were referencing. So it certainly is a mountainous region, but it's not the highest peak.

So, it's a very odd time to have a crash. You could always have issues with icing.

[06:55:04] You could have problems concerning that. But --

CUOMO: Mary --

SCHIAVO: It's an odd time.

CUOMO: So, we get that.

Let's reset the information that we know right now in case you're just joining us. We do have reports from French and German and British and "Reuters" media outlets all reporting the same thing, that it appears a commercial aircraft has gone down, it is an A-320 aircraft. It was being flown by Germanwings, which is an economy airline owned by Lufthansa. The flight was heading from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. So, that's from Spain into Germany.

The reports are that it, this aircraft crashed in Provence, France, which would be the midpoint, and we're just hearing from Mary Schiavo that it's very rare for an airplane to go down mid-flight. Ninety- five percent of all crashes happen on takeoff or landing.

Let's bring in David Soucie, right.

If we're hearing this -- OK, 95 percent of these aircraft when there's crashes go off either on takeoff or on landing. And then we learn about Germanwings, David Soucie. Have you heard, 2008 and 2010, there were reports of flights of Germanwings flight that had toxic gases go into the cockpit, in 2010, the gases incapacitated pilots. They almost had a crash there.

Have you ever heard this information? Is it relevant?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST (via telephone): It isn't at that point. But the Airbus 320 as Mary was saying, is so rare that something would happen midflight like this. It's -- the Airbus 320 is one of the most reliable aircraft. It's been around for so many years with a very good track record.

So, it's -- this is going to be something that's just totally anomalous right now. We're just going to have to find out what happened as it goes forward.

CAMEROTA: David, a couple more details about Germanwings. We understand that they've been embroiled in a longstanding dispute with their pilots union about some sort of retirement plans, and that Lufthansa, which owns this airline, had announced plans to rebrand this as Eurowings and they were going to do away with the Germanwings brand and name by this coming fall.

Go ahead.

SOUCIE: I was going to say, you know, if you remember back with United Airlines, when United Airlines was going through very similar thing and they started Ted, which is discount airline and it was driven a lot by the fact that they were financially in trouble. So the finances have a lot to do with this as well. When unions start to say that we need to get more money, that's can often cause an airline to go under because they can't afford to pay what the unions are asking for. So, it's a very similar situation.

CAMEROTA: But when an airline -- David, sorry to interrupt -- when an airline is in financial trouble, does it have any effect on its safety?

SOUCIE: It certainly can. I know when I was with the FAA for about 17 years, one of the main things we did as far as surveillance on airlines was look at the finances to see if they are in financial distress, because financial distress of course can have a dramatic effect and also in the culture, you know you work very hard to have a safety culture in an airline. And when that safety culture is disrupted by the fact that there's any kind of disruption with the labor, and how people are working, that has a lot to do with safety. So it's very concerning sometimes.

CAMEROTA: David, thank you for that.

If you're just joining us, we want to tell you there's been an airplane crash, breaking news for you. We'll tell you the details in one moment.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: All right. We're getting reports that now the prime minister of France has confirmed the information we're hearing, which is a Germanwings Airliner has gone down in France. It was headed from Spain, Barcelona, to Dusseldorf in Germany. It's an A-320 like the one you're seeing on your screen there. That's the projected path of this flight. That's where it was supposed to go.

But again, reports are that it went down, as many as 142 passengers on board. The point of intrigue right now in understanding this situation is that we are told by experts, Mary Schiavo, and David Soucie, both of whom are on the phone that 95 percent of crashes happen on takeoff or landing. If this plane went down where it is reported it did in France, it would be basically in the midpoint of its flight.

We have Fred Pleitgen. He's joining us from London right now.

Fred, what are you hearing there?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The French prime minister confirming there's been a crash. Also, there was some reporting from "Reuters" saying they were up to 142 passengers on this plane, two pilots and four cabin crew. And that apparently the plane went down near Marseille, in the south of France.

And it's interesting, as you said, that they apparently -- this was in the apparently in the middle of their flight path. They were going from Dusseldorf to Barcelona, which is still quite a ways away. And the big question there, of course, is whether or not they might have had some sort of in-flight incident that might have caused them to maybe -- to decrease altitude.

But I want to talk about this airline itself.