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New Day Sunday

ISIS Frees Yazidi Captives in Iraq; Obama to Seek Tax Increases on Wealthy; Kerry to Host Coalition Meeting on ISIS; Salvaging Wreckage from AirAsia 8501

Aired January 18, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to go to CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson for more on that.

Ivan, what do you make of this latest development?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, initially a Kurdish senior official told CNN that about 250 Yazidi prisoners had been released on Saturday near the Kurdish-controlled northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. I just spoke with a Yazidi activist who's traveling in a convoy with these released prisoners from Kirkuk to the Yazidi basically religious shrine called Lalish. They're traveling by bus with a Kurdish Peshmerga guard unit.

And this activist tells me that there were, in fact, 196 of the prisoners released. All but five of them he says are basically senior citizens, elderly. And then, there were about five children with them.

He says the condition of the majority of these released prisoners is pretty frightful, that some of them are very dirty, that many of them are ill. Some of them complained about not being fed with any regularity while they were held hostage for months.

Some of them, he says, told him that they preferred not to have been released, that they would have preferred for their younger relatives who are still being held hostage by ISIS, for them to have been released in their stead, for the elderly to still be held prisoner.

So, while one might assume that this is a good day, that this is a happy day that 196 at least of these civilians who have been held hostage for months, that they are free, in fact, what I'm hearing from some of the activists is it's quite sad because they're realizing some of the terrible conditions that these hostages, that these members of a religious minority have been held in for months by ISIS militants who we believe are still holding thousands of Yazidi civilians hostage now, in some cases trying to ransom them for thousands of dollars each back to their Yazidi families, those who were not taken captive in the ISIS offensive last summer in northern Iraq -- Pamela.

BROWN: So, in the context of that, Ivan, the fact that most of those released were elderly and given the fact that ISIS is a very calculating terrorist group, hard to think they would do anything without really a purpose, or a motivation at play, what do you make of that? Do you think they released them perhaps because they realized, look, we're not going to make any money off of these people, and they're more of a burden to us, and we're going to keep the women, those that we can sell as sex slaves and others we can sell for ransom?

WATSON: A lot of this is speculation, but clearly, from the descriptions of those who were released, some of them were handicapped, not able to walk on their own two feet, and clearly not as valuable to ISIS as some of the younger people that they've taken hostage. Thousands of these people taken prisoner, and one activist estimating 6,000 Yazidis have been taken hostage since last summer are basically being bought and sold as recently as December.

ISIS was distributing leaflets at mosques in the ISIS controlled city of Mosul describing in detail a Q&A of kind of 20 bullet points, are you allowed to have sex with your slave? Are you allowed to have sex with female slaves who are before child-bearing age and then answers saying, yes, basically you are allowed to. This is the way that these people are looked at. ISIS have publicly justified their enslavement of thousands of Yazidis, on the one hand, are arguing that because they come from a religious minority, they are apostates. And on the other hand, arguing that there is some kind of religious justification for enslaving people, for buying and selling them in this 21st century and distributing them to their supporters.

Yazidi activists that I talked to are trying desperately to gather the money to try to ransom back their missing loved ones, and all of this is happening against the context of a war that is still being fought on many fronts, both in Iraq and in Syria, Pamela.

BROWN: Ivan Watson, thank you so much for your latest reporting. We appreciate it.

And turning now to other breaking developments this morning, we're learning that French authorities have released three women from custody. They were detained in the aftermath of that deadly attack on a Jewish deli right here in Paris more than a week ago. Investigators say they have no connection to the suspect, Amedy Coulibaly, who gunned down four hostages at that deli. Nine other people are still being detained for another 48 hours of questioning.

Following sweeping terror raids in Belgium where heavily armed troops are patrolling the streets there. Five people are now accused of taking part in a terrorist organization. They were detained after police raided a suspected terror cell in the Belgium city of Verviers. Two are released from custody but under strict conditions.

And, of course, we will continue to follow any new developments on the terror front. Coming up in just a couple of minutes, I'm going to talk live with CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. He is hosting "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning.

And now to another developing story we want to go to in the U.S., and that's where we find Christi and Victor in Atlanta. Back to you, guys.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Pamela, so much.

Well, we're talking about President Obama because he wants to make some changes to what you pay in taxes and he's got a fight ahead of him with the Republican-controlled Congress to make it happen.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: As the president gets ready for Tuesday night's state of the union address, we've learned he wants to raise taxes on the country's top earners and offer more tax breaks to the middle class. That's something that likely won't sit well with conservatives.

Erin McPike joins us live from the White House.

What do we know more? What other details have we learned from the president's proposal?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, there are two big tax credits we're talking about that President Obama wants to offer to bolster the middle class. Those two tax credits, the first is a new tax credit for dual income families for $500 and the next is to triple the child tax credit to $3,000.

Now, the problem for Republicans here is how he wants to offset that decline in revenue. He wants to raise tax rates on capital gains and dividends from 20 percent to what it is now to 28 percent. The estimation there is that it would bring in $235 billion.

Then, the other way to get more revenue is that he wants to increase fees on big financial firms, and they think that that would bring in about $100 billion. That is the problem for Republicans. We have already heard from Brandon Buck. He is the spokesman for Paul Ryan who is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he says this is not a serious proposal.

But here's what I would point out, of course, in the State of the Union what the president is doing is laying out his agenda. This is kind of a chess match, and this is the starting point. This will make Democrats like Elizabeth Warren, very populist Democrat who is very popular in the party right now happy.

But Republicans will have to counter with something they can do. What we've been talking about in the last couple of months is that where President Obama and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell think they can get something done on the couple of months is on tax reform. This is the starting.

PAUL: Erin McPike, thanks for breaking it down for us.

BLACKWELL: All right. Three women detained in connection with the terror attacks in Paris. They're now free as France steps up security to prevent more attacks.

PAUL: And I don't know if you're aware, but there's some rough weather conditions that are continuing to hamper the recovery efforts of AirAsia flight 8501. We're talking about how this is affecting the investigation and specifically for the families, the recovery of those victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Welcome back. Our special coverage of the manhunt for terrorists across Europe continues. I'm Pamela Brown, live in Paris.

And this morning, three women detained in connection with the Paris attacks have been released and Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to co-host an emergency meeting on ISIS in London this week.

Let's bring in CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. He is also hosting "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning.

Jim, we know as we said Secretary Kerry will be hosting this meeting in London, this emergency meeting in the wake of the Paris attacks and of course this terrorist cell that was broken up in Belgium. What do we expect to come from this meeting that may help crack down on this problem of foreign fighters, of Americans and Europeans going to fight with ISIS?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they clearly have to do a better job, Pamela, because U.S. officials, European officials have been talking for months how they're stopping this flow, this revolving door really from Europe into Syria and Iraq and back into Europe. The concern being -- what do these combat trained foreign fighters do when they come home.

And we got a warning of that when we saw those Paris attacks, as well as the operations in Belgium, what the targets were planning to do.

They talked a lot about stopping that revolving door, but clearly they haven't. They need better cooperation, and that's got to be a focus of these talks coming up this week.

BROWN: Of course, information sharing key. Also, the laws on the books.

Let's talk about surveillance laws in Europe. They are different from the laws on the books in the U.S. So, if you want to talk about the difference and how they may make things harder or easier to track down such plots in Europe and the U.S.

SCIUTTO: Well, you remember the European action to the NSA surveillance, for instance, it was apoplectic. Now, Europe -- in fact, already Europe facing a threat bigger than the threat the U.S. is facing, particularly in terms of foreign fighters.

When you look at the numbers, Pam, of suspected jihadists in a country like France, 5,000, an order of magnitude bigger than what we have in the U.S. So, the sense of alarm, the need frankly greater. There may be a coming together on the minds on steps necessary to combat that, no question, going forward. But it's also a question for the U.S. what steps are the U.S.

willing to take. It's something I'm going to press the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Richard Burr. He's Republican. He's the new Senate chairman, with the Republicans now having a majority in the Senate.

We're going to press him on what steps will the U.S. take and also what is his view of the level of threat today. Has it changed after these attacks particularly with regards to AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, because as you know, Pam, until this point, they've been seen primarily as a threat to air travel? Do they have new ambitions? Do they have new capabilities that have to change the way U.S. responds to this threat?

BROWN: And let's talk about that in the wake of what we've seen in Paris and Belgium. Of course, there is an extra emphasis on could this happen here? We know security has been stepped up, really across the board, including in airports.

Jim, can you give us a sense of how concerned U.S. officials are about national security, about the threat level in the U.S.?

SCIUTTO: Well, they're clearly concerned. You and I speak to counter terror officials regularly.

I think to be fair -- and we should caution our viewers -- no one has drawn a direct line, a credible line between the attacks that took place in Paris, the operations in Belgium being planned there by ISIS fighters, returning ISIS fighters, and any specific threat to here in the U.S. So, that's one thing.

That said, those are demonstrations of a broader concern that U.S. counterterror officials have had because there are Americans fighting in Syria and Iraq. The numbers, a fraction of what you see in Europe. But there are Americans there and the concern is when they come home, if they're able to come home, what do they do here.

Plus, you know, the concern about lone wolf attackers because the sad fact is today, you don't have to travel to these war zones to get training, you can find all the methods you need online in magazines such as "Inspire", other Web sites. And we've seen already situations like that. The Ottawa attacker, someone who's really a lone wolf, reads it online, gets radicalized and carries out an attack.

Counterterror officials I've spoken to have said that while AQAP and the Khorasan Group are seen as the most significant threats to the U.S. homeland, that the most likely attack we would expect to see here are the lone wolf attacks. It's a great level of concern right now among U.S. officials.

BROWN: And as you know, even if someone is under 24/7 surveillance, Jim, a lone wolf could still go out and do something very small scale unsophisticated like, you know, run over someone with their car like we saw in Jerusalem, Canada, elsewhere. That's a challenge for authorities. What do you do with those unsophisticated small scale attacks? I'm sure you will press your upcoming guest Senator Burr on that.

I know that's been a focus of his. Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BROWN: And be sure to stay here for "STATE OF THE UNION". It starts at the top of the hour, 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.

Christi and Victor, back to you in Atlanta.

PAUL: All right. Thanks, Pamela.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Pamela.

Why recovery teams -- we've got this coming up -- these teams say they don't need to recover all of the parts of AirAsia Flight 8501 now. We're talking next about what that means for the bodies still buried in that wreckage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Twenty minutes after the hour now.

Rough weather is really hampering the recovery efforts of AirAsia Flight 8501. Searchers spotted what they believe is the fuselage. This seems important because it contains what's believed to be the cockpit as well and the engine, but conditions have not allowed divers to inspect the wreckage under the Java Sea or lift it to the surface.

Let's talk about this now. CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo joins me us. She's also the former inspector general of the Department of Transportation.

Mary, good morning to you.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Here's the question. We know they have the black boxes, so there will be an audible narrative of what went wrong and a technological narrative of what went wrong and, of course, you have to recover the bodies. But beyond that, how much do we expect these crews to bring to the surface and how much do we believe that they'll just leave at the bottom of the Java Sea?

SCHIAVO: Well, that's a very important question. This week, the head of the investigation agency in Indonesia said that it's not the priority now to bring up all of the pieces, it's very important to bring up the fuselage. But this week what they tried to do was divers went down and they were intending to try to retrieve bodies, put them in body bags and hoist them to the surface. That was not possible.

So, the plan now is to try to inflate with -- to put inflatables around the fuselage and bring it up for the purpose of recovering human remains.

The cockpit is about a quarter of a mile away. I think it's 1,600 feet and one of the engines. They have said they will try to get the pilot and co-pilot out of the cockpit but not necessarily bring it up.

So, at this point they're going to try to get the fuselage up for the purpose of the remains, but the investigation team has said after hearing the cockpit voice recorder and downloading the information, that they do have an idea of what happened. They gave us a clue. They said that weather is not the only reason -- one can read between the lines and suspect they might be criticizing piloting skills.

BLACKWELL: So, beyond the former inspector general, you are an aviation attorney. I want you to put that hat on now. If there are families who do not believe or want more than supplied by the black boxes, how much trouble could this airline or their insurance company be in if more evidence is needed that they left at the bottom of the Java Sea?

SCHIAVO: That's been an issue in many crashes in the past. In some cases it is the airline that's paid for bringing up additional wreckage to the surface. This is an Airbus. It's very similar to the previous crash, at least I think on the flight from Brazil to Paris, Air France 447.

And in many cases, the governments have sought to have the airline itself or their insurers in this case most likely pay, but there's -- it's difficult with that issue because there isn't really any international law, and many companies have no laws at all that require that.

So, if the airlines or Airbus, the manufacturer, or possibly the engines, two manufacturers that made the engines, they can seek to bring them up and they can have a private recovery effort. But right now, it's clear the Indonesians plan to bring up, or try to bring up the fuselage to recover the remains and probably not much more, because some of the search vessels have left. The United States vessels and a Korean vessel has left, including the one that found the fuselage.

BLACKWELL: Yes, those black boxes, data being analyzed. So, pretty soon we should get an answer to what caused this plane to go down.

Mary Schiavo, thank you so much for your insight and expertise.

Christi?

PAUL: Well, two fugitive teens who have left police on a multi- state man hunt have been caught. Just ahead, how police busted them and what happened during their arrest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Here's a look at other top stories developing now.

President Obama wants to make major changes to what some people will pay in taxes. At Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, the president is expected to lay out a plan that will raise taxes on top earners and close loopholes on inherited money. Now, that money will then go to fund tax credits for middle class families and reform the education tax system.

About 6 million people turned out in Manila this morning to help Pope Francis celebrate mass. Look at this. The pontiff urging the faithful to take care of one another and help promote world peace. Today is his final full day in the Philippines, concluding his 6-day tour of Asia.

And two Kentucky teens that were the subject of a massive man hunt across several southern states have been caught this morning, 18- year-old Dalton Hayes and his 13-year-old girlfriend Cheyenne Phillips were found sleeping in a stolen pickup in Panama City Beach, Florida. Police say the two were arrested without incident. The teens were wanted on felony -- several felony charges, including stealing at least three cars, two which had guns inside.

BLACKWELL: Now, we've got to show you this before we go. It's amazing -- an amazing photo. It shows a man pinned between two semis. Can you see him here? This is one, this is another. There was a 70 car pileup in Oregon and you see the guy's head here. He's in what's left of his pickup truck.

It's amazing this guy survived, and we're told that he escaped with just a few scratches. You see one next to his eye here, just a few scratches on his head, but sandwiched between these two trucks this man is alive today. It's amazing.

PAUL: OK. So, two things I look at and I think, one, I can't believe that was a pickup truck at some point.

BLACKWELL: At some point, yes.

PAUL: Yes.

And, two, if you are claustrophobic, how long did he have to stay in that thing before they got to him?

BLACKWELL: But even if he's claustrophobic, I feel like he is just happy to be alive.

PAUL: Well, sure.

BLACKWELL: Because you're sand wished between these two trucks. There were 70 other cars involved. He made it.

PAUL: He didn't know about the 70 other. He didn't care.

BLACKWELL: Yes, probably doesn't.

PAUL: Just dealing with that right there. We are so happy that he is OK.

BLACKWELL: Hopefully, we'll get to hear his story pretty soon. PAUL: Be careful on the roads out there, folks. Thank you so

much for starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLTICS" with John King starts right now.