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Ohio Man Indicted in Terror Plot; Senate Showdown Over Lynch Vote; Tulsa Officials Dispute Claim of Falsified Records; ISIS Forces Advance on Ramadi. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 17, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Another U.S. citizen charged with aiding terrorists.

[05:58:45] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 23-year-old from Columbus, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He left the United States last year to go join the al-Nusra Front in Syria.

BLITZER: Confirming Loretta Lynch as the nation's first African- American female attorney general.

JEB BUSH, FORMER GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: This should not always be partisan. Presidents have the right to pick their team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventy-three-year-old Robert Bates may not have been telling the full truth about his training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a number of records that the sheriff's office, they just simply haven't come forward with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty of murder in the first degree.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "They're wrong."

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The jury speaks out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He played a role in that murder, and that's what he was charged with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday -- we made it -- April 17, a.m. in the East. Alisyn and Mick are off. Poppy Harlow and John Berman are here with me. And we do have news.

Up first, terrorism here at home. A 23-year-old Ohio man arrested and charged after traveling to Syria to train with Islamic extremists. Authorities say Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud returned to this country on a mission to kill.

POPPY HARLOW, CO-HOST: And according to a federal indictment, Mohamud was preparing to travel to Texas to execute American soldiers. Let's get the late-breaking developments from our Atika Shubert, who's been following it -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Now, he faces, actually three different counts, but he could face up to 38 years in prison if convicted of these charges.

Take a look at what he was planning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): Back from Syria radicalized. And, according to authorities, with intent to kill. This man, a 23-year- old American, is in custody this morning. The FBI says he was hoping to do something big in the U.S.

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud left his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in April of last year, according to an indictment, on a one-way ticket to Athens, Greece. But Mohamud never boarded his connecting flight after stopping in Istanbul, Turkey. Instead, authorities say, an accomplice picked him up and drove him to Reyhanli, a border town where he crossed over into Syria.

Mohamud allegedly trained with terrorists in shooting weapons, breaking into houses, using explosives, and hand-to-hand combat. Officials did not say which group he trained with.

Two months into the military-type camp, a cleric told Mohamud to, quote, "return to the United States and carry out an act of terrorism," according to the indictment.

In June, now back at Ohio, the 23-year-old allegedly told others that he wanted to "kill American soldiers execution-style" at a military base in Texas. And his backup plan was to attack a prison, specifically wanting to target armed forces, including police officers. It's not clear just how far along any such plans were.

Mohamud expressing support for ISIS on social media a full year prior to leaving for Syria, officials say, uploading images of the terrorist group to his Facebook page.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI), HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: As long as ISIS remains, as long as they are not defeated, they're going to continue to inspire individuals like that to go join the jihad, get trained, come back and pose a threat to west and to America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, I spoke to his defense lawyer, and he says he plans to plead not guilty today at the arraignment. But this is exactly the kind of scenario that the FBI and other security officials had been warning about for some time, Chris. CUOMO: That's exactly right, Atika.

So let's discuss the impact of this situation on national security. Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, joins us. And Mr. Tom Fuentes, friend of the show, CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director. Thanks to both of you.

Juliette, is this proof of a lapse in security or of a good catch by our security?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's a combination of both but...

CUOMO: No, it must be one, Juliette. Which is it more?

KAYYEM: Well, the world is not black and white. I think it's a good catch. Here's the thing: you have so much movement of people around the world. The idea that you're going to be able to stop everyone from being -- every sociopath, every loner, every person intrigued by ISIS, from heading abroad before they get there, is sort of ridiculous.

But on the way back, in terms of their travel and their intent, the FBI's strategy now is clearly one that I call the "don't go there" strategy. In other words, even if the case is weak, even if we don't have proof that he was about to do something, they are bringing these cases. They've charged over 50 people here in the United States in the last year, because the -- the entry to ISIS is so low now that now the FBI's just simply saying, "Even if you're thinking about doing something like this, we're going to prosecute you first. We may lose the case. That's OK. But we need to make a statement outside to the rest of the world and to the other losers and loners who might head over to Syria that we're going to bring these cases early."

BLITZER: What do you mean lose the case, that's OK? What about balancing with liberty and not being xenophobic or afraid of foreigners, people who want to travel the world, and the country's becoming more diverse all the time?

KAYYEM: Well, that's -- I mean, look, you're allowed to travel the world all the time. You're allowed to do whatever you want. If you're going to get terrorism training from an organization and come back to the U.S. and express an intent to blow something up, we're sort of beyond the sort of civil liberties argument at this stage, Chris.

Let me just tell you, the -- when I say they're willing to lose the case, in a normal criminal case you probably would not have brought charges at this stage against a number of these defendants, because there wasn't immanency. Their probably wasn't any planning yet. The FBI is simply lowering when they are going to bring these indictments. And I think they're making these very public arrests for that reason: to say -- to say to everyone else, "We are going in strong and early." CUOMO: Tom Fuentes, what do you see when you look at the case

profile of this guy, about the kind of training and what he represents as a threat?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Chris, he's the main kind of threat everybody's been worried about. That it's not just somebody talking big here in the U.S., posting things on Facebook of support for ISIS or al Qaeda or one of the other groups. This is someone who went and trained, helped his brother join him in Syria and train. His brother was killed on the battlefield, and he made all the postings about his brother.

[06:05:08] So he had the training and firearms, explosives, several other things that he indicated to authorities. And came back with the intent to implement his training and use it to commit a terrorist act. So I think at this point, you know, fortunately he was stopped. But this is the type of individual that they've worried about that might slip through the cracks.

CUOMO: And do you see any trend emerging? The latest numbers that came out of government is that about 25 percent of people who are believed to have gone abroad to fight in terror activities have returned back. Are we seeing more of it? What do you think?

FUENTES: I think we are seeing more of it. We're seeing more people be recruited, because the websites that are out there to recruit them are, you know, better made, more prolific, you know, reaching more people globally including people here. And, you know, that's the problem.

He's only been a U.S. naturalized citizen for a little over a year. So that gives him an American passport to travel around the world on and including come back to the U.S.

And then after he got back and was interviewed by the FBI, he lied that he had gone to Syria, when the investigation had already determined that he had.

And then once in Syria you have a buffet of terrorist organizations to choose from: Al Qaeda, Nusra Front, Khorasan Group, which is hard-core al Qaeda, or ISIS itself. He originally expressed his support for ISIS. So that's why they're not saying positively which group he actually affiliated or trained with there, but certainly, there's more than enough groups willing to train you. And in this case the indictment is saying that he indicated a cleric in Syria said, "OK, do your duty, go back to America and attack."

CUOMO: Tom raises a good point to button this up on, Juliette. You know, we keep saying ISIS. That is the hot button now. But terrorism has many faces and names, doesn't it? And to think it's just coming from one source is naive at this point.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. The idea that there's this one group and it starts and stops here and then another group and another group, it's just not working out that way. Terrorist groups are fighting over who they can get to recruit to

their organization. And a lot of times they're sharing. It has a lot to do with access and accessibility of bringing Americans or western Europeans into their organizations.

So it's just a brand-new world and how we think about terrorist organizations from the time of 9/11 when al Qaeda was a very insular group. You know, you had to have fought in the Afghan war to be a member. Now it's just this -- it's an amorphous sort of web of violent extremism. And that makes it a challenge to determine who's going to actually get on a plane and join any number of these organizations.

CUOMO: The good news is if authorities are right, we learned about this man's intentions before he got to act on them. Tom Fuentes, Juliette Kayyem, thank you very much, as always -- Poppy.

HARLOW: A fascinating discussion. Also, this we're following very closely. Loretta Lynch's nomination as the next attorney general has been held up in the Senate since November. Now Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggests the issue holding up a vote could soon be resolved. The historic delay, it really is historic, and it has infuriated Democrats. Harry Reid says he's prepared to force a vote if it doesn't happen soon.

Our Sunlen Serfaty is joining us from the White House this morning with more. Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy.

Some on Capitol Hill are calling this purgatory for Loretta Lynch. A hundred and sixty days have gone by since she was first nominated. And as of now, senators are heading home for the weekend without any agreement on moving forward. So it will at least be delayed until next week.

This hold-up, of course, is all about it being tangled with this controversial anti-human-trafficking bill that has some controversial language on abortion that Democrats are not happy with, but there are some signs of progress. Democratic and Republican sources tell us that there have been some room for compromise. They will tweak the language on that abortion provision, potentially becoming amenable to more Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, he says that his plan is to move to get that bill out of the way, then move toward Loretta Lynch's vote. And of course, there has been outrage growing by the day over this. The White House calling it shameful, the hold-up. And even the potential 2016 Republican candidates getting into the fray.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I think presidents have the right to pick their team in general. If someone is -- someone is supportive of the president's policies, whether you agree with them or not, there should be some deference to the executive. We shouldn't -- this should not always be partisan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: By CNN's count, Loretta Lynch does have enough Republican votes to secure her confirmation once this is voted on. But John, there are a lot of ifs and maybes to make that happen next week.

BERMAN: Sunlen Serfaty at the White House, thanks so much.

We have stunning allegations this morning from the Tulsa county sheriff's office following a report that training records were falsified for deputy Robert Bates after he killed a man during a sting. The accusation is the records were actually falsified years before the sting.

[06:10:05] Nevertheless, the sheriff's office now say that these claims were made by a suspect, a former disgruntled employee, who's now in jail for murder. State officials are now calling for an outside probe. This thing is a mess. Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera in Tulsa with the latest.

Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, all these twists and turns are developing as a state senator here in Oklahoma is calling for an independent investigation of what's going on at the sheriff's department here in Tulsa. Other groups and agencies are saying they're monitoring the situation. And these developments saying the attorney general's office here in Oklahoma, saying they are disturbed by these reports that perhaps the training records of 73-year-old reserve deputy Robert Bates were falsified. And a lot of questions swirling around whether or not he should have been working on the streets of Tulsa.

But the sheriff's department here in Tulsa, John, going after those -- one of the possible sources for the newspaper report here in Tulsa. Listen to what a spokesperson from the sheriff's department said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR SHANNON CLARK, TULSA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: First of all, you know that that is not any type of court-generated document. That is a made-up document that was generated by somebody's computer, signed off on a notary. Notary sealed on the affidavit was done by one of the administrators at the Mesa County jail. We know that the information contained in the affidavit would be the knowledge of somebody that is currently incarcerated at the Mesa County Jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Chris, you know, what he's referring to there is these statements that were perhaps made by a former sheriff's deputy employee that, as you heard the spokesperson there say facing murder charges. And that perhaps he was one of the sources for these stories. Sheriff's department here going after the credibility of that source. So questions here swirling once again this morning, Chris.

CUOMO: Uh-oh. We'll keep going. We still don't have a definitive end, and it is a very important issue. Thank you for tracking it down, Ed. Appreciate it.

So a deputy's directing traffic in a Louisiana school zone, and he gets ambushed. Officials say Corporal Burt Hazelton was attacked in an act of apparent road rage. He was shot in his face, chest and arm after being called to a car by the apparently deranged driver.

The officer saw a gun in the car. The driver allegedly presented it to the offer but then opened fire with a different weapon. The media reporting Hazelton was able to return fire, slowed the shooter, called for backup. He's in stable condition but being monitored closely. The suspect is in custody, charges pending.

HARLOW: Turning to the Middle East now, where two critical U.S. allies are struggling to hold off rampaging extremists. ISIS forces in Iraq threatening to take over the key city of Ramadi. These are new images of families. You can see them in droves fleeing for nearby Baghdad.

And Al Qaeda has just seized control of a key airport in Yemen. The U.N. now pledging nearly $275 million to try to help as America's new defense secretary concedes, frankly, there may not be much the U.S. can do at this point there.

Let's bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. And Jim, there's been so much talk about Ramadi. It is strategically important. You had Dempsey yesterday saying it wouldn't be the end of the campaign if it falls. But you also had a U.S. official telling you they haven't seen anything to indicate that it will fall. Where do we stand?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, this was a pretty sobering, stark assessment to hear from the defense secretary, Ashton Carter, and Chairman of Joint Chiefs General Dempsey yesterday on a host of -- on Ramadi, basically granting now that the city may very well fall and making the case that it's not strategically important.

But you hear them on Russia talking about foolish and reckless encounters in the air between Russian and U.S. warplanes. And then on Yemen, a home-based AQAP, one of the most severe terror threats to the U.S. homeland with AQAP now gaining territory. They took over an airport there yesterday. And that has real implications for Americans here at home.

HARLOW: Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

In our next hour we will discuss all of this, also the impact on U.S. national security. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will be our guest coming up on the program. BERMAN: Pope Francis could be headed to Cuba later this year.

The Vatican just announced the pontiff is considering adding a stop in Cuba when he comes to the United States in September. No final decision has been made yet. Pope Francis really credited with helping the United States and Havana re-establish ties by writing the leaders of both countries and having the Vatican host their delegations for the negotiations. He was key in that process.

CUOMO: That will be a big deal, him going down to Cuba. Be a big deal when he comes here to the U.S., as well.

HARLOW: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. So a big story that we're following up on today. New developments the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department, as you saw. They say training records of Reserve Deputy Bates, the man who killed another by mistake, the records are not fake, and they can prove it. So what do the reporters who broke the story have to say about that? They're here to respond.

[06:15:02] HARLOW: Also, as we told you Loretta Lynch has been waiting now 160 days for a vote on her nomination as attorney general. The Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, says he's going to try to force a vote. Can he really do that? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may be semantics. The sheriff said they're lost. We have not located it. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are never going to be found again. It means that we are trying to figure out where all those training records are. You have to remember, this goes back a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This story is certainly still developing. Criticism from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office after a report from the "Tulsa World" newspaper suggests that training records were falsified for their reserve deputy, a man who shot and killed another man, Eric Harris, during a sting on April 2.

The sheriff's office, along with Bates' attorney, are slamming the article, accusing the reporters, my next guests, of using an accused murderer with a grudge who is currently in jail as their source.

Here to back up those claims, talk about their reporting, with us this morning again, Dylan Goforth and Ziva Branstetter of "Tulsa World." You initially broke this story. Thank you for being with us here again on NEW DAY.

[06:20:02] You have some new information this morning. I understand some sort of press conference was held last night with the sheriff's office. What can you report to us this morning? DYLAN GOFORTH, REPORTER, "TULSA WORLD": Well, I met with him

last night for about two hours. The question, you know, was brought up to them, how they would respond to the allegations of those training records were falsified, because on Wednesday when we were writing that they didn't respond to our phone calls.

And they just said that they were still looking for the records. They don't know if they exist or not, that the records of his training sometimes are only given to the trainee and the trainer. And it might be up to them to have them. They don't know who trained him, and he possibly might not have been trained at all, because the sheriff could have waived those training hours.

HARLOW: Now, Ziva, it's important to point out this was a sting operation. This was set up to -- they knew that this guy was trying to sell a gun, that he was a felon. And they set this up in a particular location. That has new significance.

ZIVA BRANSTETTER, REPORTER, "TULSA WORLD": Correct, Poppy. So our reporting, we're going to have a story on this this weekend showed that the sting operation was conducted 700 feet from a school. The front door of the school faced the area where the sting operation was going on, a dangerous felon with a gun. Apparently, the suspect suggested to the undercover officers meet in his apartment, and for the officer's safety, that was rejected.

So then they chose this area in front of the school to conduct the -- to conduct the operation. The superintendent of the school system said that they were not notified. Typically, Tulsa police do notify the schools in the area if something like that occurs so they can lockdown if there's someone with a gun. So it just raised a lot of questions. There was a shopping -- you know, a Dollar General store right there. So there's a lot of questions.

HARLOW: So this raises bigger questions about the planning of the police department as a whole, where they're going to bring a reserve deputy.

But when we get back to the core of your reporting on this, it is the fact you allege that these records, according to your source, who you trust, these were falsified, that he did not have nearly the 480 hours of training. That this is not a man, a 73-year-old man, who should be on the streets with a gun enforcing the law, ultimately taking someone's life.

I want you to listen to Bob Bates, the attorney -- Bob Bates' attorney, rather, last night on "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT." He's what he said about your reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, you know that that is not any type of court-generated document. That is a made-up document.

CLARK BREWSTER, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BATES: I've seen the affidavit that was submitted. It's a redacted, blacked-out affidavit signed by a guy charged with first-degree murder in an adjoining county, who hasn't worked at the sheriff's office in five years. I don't put a lot of stock in that report or the credibility of who would further that report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Now, journalist to journalist, I would never ask you to reveal your source. That said, I am going to ask you if you're comfortable answering whether or not you have more than one source on this and if you do stand behind your source?

BRANSTETTER: We very firmly stand behind our sources. There were actually five that we relied upon for this article, as well as multiple documents, including the affidavit. Which by the way does name the two supervisors who say they were pressured to sign off on this training and then transferred after they refused. The sheriff's office could merely ask their own supervisors, who they know whether this occurred, maybe make them available for an interview. They haven't done that.

HARLOW: Have you tried to contact these two supervisors, since you have their names?

BRANSTETTER: I have, as well. Yes. We just feel like more information will be forthcoming. In Deputy Bates' statement he claimed to have training through the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. That training was not given. The sheriff's office said they had no record of it. So there were two false statements, as far as we can tell, in his own affidavit, which they allowed him to wait four days before he made his statement to investigators.

HARLOW: Did -- were you able to talk to those supervisors who claim that they falsified the records? Or they wouldn't and therefore they were transferred. Did they respond to you guys?

GOFORTH: No, not yet. They still -- they still work for the sheriff's office.

HARLOW: So let me ask you this, Dylan, in terms of the confusion over where this Reserve Deputy Bates was trained, he had said that he trained with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department in Arizona, his lawyer clarifying that last night on "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT," saying that he actually attended a lecture held by the sheriff of Maricopa County, Sheriff Arpaio, in D.C., and that's what he was talking about.

I do want to play you this sound, coming from one of the officials at the -- Major Talin (ph) Clark at the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sheriff's Department, where he talks about the document that he says, frankly, is fake and made up that is part of all of these allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, you know that that is not any type of court-generated document. That is a made-up document that was generated by somebody's computer, signed off on a notary. You're telling us you did something, why can't you tell us who is the person on the affidavit so we can go back to try to confirm that information?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Does he have a point?

[06:25:03] BRANSTETTER: I don't believe he does. What they're talking about is an affidavit that is notarized. All documents come from a computer, of course. It is an affidavit that is notarized. We understand that it is being reviewed by federal law enforcement. They know who the deputies are that are identified in the affidavit. They work for them. It seems like they could just ask them.

It's our understanding that this former employee of theirs, who is -- has been jailed on murder charges, that before he was dismissed from the sheriff's office, that he may have been the one to sign off on the training when the other supervisors refused. So I think the sheriff's office, instead of criticizing our reporting, might want to look at the actual allegations that underlie it.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this.

BRANSTETTER: Can't really knock it down.

HARLOW: Ziva, yesterday -- and Dylan feel free to jump in here -- yesterday you told Chris Cuomo, who was interviewing you, that there are some records you can't discuss. Is there anything more you can tell us about those records, how critical they are to this investigation? And if not, why that is that there are records out there that you've seen that you can't discuss?

BRANSTETTER: Well, we were actually asked not to discuss the affidavit itself in our story that was published yesterday. And now that, you know, it's sort of been publicly discussed by the sheriff's office, it's -- it is out there. So I feel safe in, you know, discussing the affidavit. But the affidavit itself is what I was referring to.

HARLOW: OK. OK. Good to know.

Dylan, let me ask you this. The Oklahoma division of the NAACP has come out with a statement this morning, saying that they are -- they are upset that the other officers involved in this incident have not been charged at all. You know, we saw one sort of kneeling on the head of Eric Harris, and they say that is a violation of his rights. Do you know from your reporting if they are looking at bringing any other charges in this?

GOFORTH: They said that they're internally reviewing that now to see if there will be any internal discipline. The district attorney's office, I don't think they're looking at charges on any of the other two officers that were seen in that video. But the sheriff's office said that there may be some internal but that it will take a while to decide.

HARLOW: Do you have questions, being so close to this story? Do you have questions about how other officers, not just the Reserve Officer Bates, acted in this situation?

GOFORTH: Well, I think everyone did when that -- when we saw that video. I mean, it just -- just part of that early process of seeing that and being so caught off-guard by -- by how Eric was treated after he was shot. I mean, it caught everyone off-guard. And I think there are questions over if the way he was treated was appropriate.

The sheriff's office response was that they didn't know, you know, that he'd been shot. They were referring to other things. I don't know if those questions will ever be answered.

BRANSTETTER: Another question is what happened to the video after it cuts off? They say the battery died at that precise moment. This was an operation that happened early in the morning. Did they not have the battery charged? Why. There's apparently another video, perhaps, the parking lot video from the security camera that has not been released. We're still trying to figure that out.

GOFORTH: The sheriff's office addressed that last night, said it was a grainy video from across the street, I think.

HARLOW: What we do know is that the two of you will stay on this story for us and join us with your developments. Thank you so much, Dylan Goforth and Ziva Branstetter. We appreciate it this morning -- John.

BERMAN: Thanks, Poppy.

Imagine being trapped in the cargo hold of a passenger jet that is about to take off. This happened to an Alaska Airlines worker. And now we have the extraordinary 911 call that he made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm inside a plane, Alaska Airlines plane Flight 448.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you by yourself or are you with somebody?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By myself, please.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)