Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Jay Carney Discusses CIA Agent Robert Levinson; Tom Fuentes Worked with Levinson at FBI; Concerns Syrian Opposition Disintegrating, al Qaeda Taking Charge; SNL under Fire for Lack of Diversity.

Aired December 13, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, now answering reporters' questions about the former FBI agent, Robert Levinson, who has now been disclosed to have been working for the CIA when he was taken captive in Iran seven years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you be specific about what efforts the administration is undertaking to have him returned to the U.S.?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As you know, Mr. Levinson disappeared from Kish Island in Iran. In 2011, we received indications that he was being held somewhere in Southwest Asia. At the time, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly asked the Iranian government to undertake humanitarian efforts to safely return and reunite Bob with his family because the Iranian government had previously offered its assistance in this matter. More recently, obviously, President Obama raised Mr. Levinson's case in his phone call with President Rouhani. In addition to the cases of detained American citizens, Saed Abadini (ph) and Ahmer Akmarti (ph).

Secretary Kerry has also raised these three cases directly with Iran's foreign minister. Today, we reiterate that same request to the government of Iran or to anyone else who might have information about Mr. Levinson's whereabouts to undertake efforts to ensure that he returns safely to his family.

And again, this is something that we will continue to raise at the highest levels and to press and -- or to make clear to the Iranians that we seek their assistance in having him returned home, and to express that anyone else who might have information about Mr. Levinson's whereabouts undertake efforts to return him back home to his family.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does the administration believe he's still alive?

CARNEY: Again, we were made aware in 2011 that he was in, at the time, Southwest Asia. But I don't have more details on -- or any more specifics about what we know about his whereabouts. Obviously, we're very concerned about him and call on anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to undertake efforts to ensure that he returns safely home. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was Rouhani aware of the case when the president raised it with him?

CARNEY: I'd be surprised if he weren't. I don't have a direct memory of that conversation, or the readout I received of it to say with assurance. But it would be surprising since this is something going back to at least 2011 when Secretary Clinton raised this issue and called on and asked for Iran's help because they had offered help in the past in finding -- in helping us locate and return him safely.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK. Separately, there was a high-profile execution in North Korea yesterday. What's your assessment of what's behind this execution? Is this Kim trying to consolidate power?

BLITZER: So we're going to continue to monitor Jay Carney's briefing at the White House. They're moving on to North Korea right now. But you just heard him make the case for the release of Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent who's been held captive, maybe in Iran, maybe some place else for the last seven years. And it's now been revealed by the Associated Press and "The Washington Post" that he was, in fact, working for the CIA in some sort of fashion when he was abducted in Iran seven years ago.

Let's bring in our CNN law enforcement analyst, the former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.

Tom, I understand you worked with Robert Levinson at the FBI. You knew him. Tell us a little bit about this man.

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR & CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, Wolf. We worked together, not directly together, because I was running the FBI's Organized Crime Program in Washington, D.C. He was an investigative agent in the Miami Division, specializing in Russian organized crime cases. So he worked pretty much those cases exclusively up until the time he retired. So at the time that we were working together, this would have been in the late 1990s time frame.

BLITZER: And then he retired. I assume he left the FBI on good circumstances, right?

FUENTES: Yes, he did.

BLITZER: All right. So then he retires and, all of a sudden, now we're just learning that over these -- after he left the FBI, he started some sort of relationship with CIA analysts and then he winds up in Iran trying to collect some information. When you heard about this, what went through your mind?

FUENTES: At the time, I was running the FBI's International Operations Program. So I became aware immediately at the time he went missing from the island of Kish, which is an Iranian island, Iranian possession. What went through my mind was that he was not there to be a spy for the CIA, that he was working as a private consultant or private contractor. And if he was doing work with analysts, he was probably acting, at the most he would have been acting at if my mind as an analyst, as someone who's, in your travels around the world, if you come up with something that might be pertinent, here's who you call. And then maybe have contacts at CIA headquarters to let them know if you've learned anything. He is an unlikely candidate to be ever used as a spy, in that sense of the word, because of his nearly 30 years in the FBI. So he's too well-known from that standpoint to be used in that kind of a capacity. But to be out there and working as a contractor in the region in Iran even and the island of Kish, which is an open island, yes, he could have been there to -- if he heard something, inform people back in Washington that he learned something but not specifically tasked as a spy.

BLITZER: Did you know he was working for the CIA and that he was actually getting paid by the CIA?

FUENTES: I did not know that that he ended up directly working with that. I was contacted shortly after he retired that he may begin work as an analyst, as a contractor analyst for CIA at Langley, Virginia, or wherever he was going to travel to. But again, at the most -- and I didn't know for sure that he ended up doing it -- but the discussion at the time was that he was going to be an analyst for them. He was going to just report information if it came to him.

He was operating many criminal informants with knowledge of Russian organized crime back in the '90s, and that was a very key program of the FBI's Organized Crime Program. And so you know, informants were telling about Russian crime groups operating all over the world, including throughout the Middle East, Asia, Europe, the Russian Federation and in North America. So he would have been in a position to hear things that might be of interest to the CIA but not be tasked as a spy.

BLITZER: Very quickly, I want to play what Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, just said about the A.P.'s decision to break this news that he was actually working with the CIA when he was taken in Iran. Listen to Jay Carney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARNEY: I'm not going to fact check every allegation made in the story you referenced, a story we believe it was highly irresponsible to publish and which we strongly urged the outlet not to publish out of concerns for Mr. Levinson's safety. I'm also not going to say anything that might further harm our efforts to bring Mr. Levinson home safe, which has been our goal for the six and a half years he has been missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you want to react to that, quickly?

FUENTES: I just think the whole issue of coming out with that information that's been more or less reported or alluded to over the last six and a half years that he's been missing. I think that the story can be misconstrued. An exchange of e-mail between analysts and him -- if they were operating him as a spy, you're not going to have these e-mails that can be accessible and can be made public as they have been in this case. So this again only adds to the idea in my mind that he was not working as a spy, but just maybe some analysts exchanged information with him or messages with him that, if he sees something, say something. But I just don't -- I don't know that they would be communicating in such an open manner if he was working in an undercover spy capacity to conduct espionage in Iran.

Tom Fuentes, thanks very much.

FUENTES: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead here in the NEWSROOM, the infighting among rebels in Syria clearly escalating. And the U.S. has serious concerns what that means for the country. How close is al Qaeda to taking charge of big chunks of Syria right now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There are real concerns right now that the Syrian opposition is disintegrating. Just yesterday, al Nusra, the al Qaeda-tied militant group, carried out a brutal massacre at a police station. Earlier in the week, Islamic Front fighters seized a key weapons depot protected by the Syrian Army. And General Salaam Idris (ph), the Western-backed leader of the FSA, told CNN he's working to reconcile differences among opposition groups. A U.S. official gave CNN an even more sobering assessment. At least temporarily, according to an official, there will be more turbulence within the opposition. What isn't clear yet is whether the various factions will refocus attentions on toppling the Bashar al Assad regime or will they become embroiled in their own internal fighting that would play to the regime's advantage?

Since then, the U.S. and Britain announced they are suspending what's described as non-lethal aid to all of Syria's opposition groups. They don't know where the aid could wind up. It could wind up in the hands of al Qaeda-related groups.

Fred Pleitgen recently returned from Syria, spent several weeks there, and he's now in New York.

Fred, thanks very much for helping us better appreciate what's going on.

The fear is that Bashar al Assad will stay in power but his opposition will increasingly be al Qaeda-led opposition. How concerning is that?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly is concerning and also something that you can see there on the ground as well. You know, I was in a neighborhood called Yarmouk, on the outskirts of Damascus, where you have a front line there. And we were on the front line. And when you looked over, you could see the flags of al Nusra in some of the opposition-held areas. A couple weeks ago, you had the opposition took a town caused Malula (Ph), which is an ancient Christina town, and one that means to a lot of Syrians, as well. And the ones leading the charge there were Islamist fighters. I wouldn't necessarily say that al Qaeda is the one calling the shots or al Qaeda is the one taking over everything, but certainly it is Islamist factions taking the lead. If you talk about Salaam Idris (ph), who is trying to reconcile the opposition, try to bring them back together on the battlefield, I'm not sure at this point in time that he's in a position to do that -- Wolf?

BLITZER: He's not even -- apparently, he's fled Syria and is in Turkey right now. Is that what you're hearing?

PLEITGEN: I'm hearing that he did leave Syria. He says he hasn't fled Syria. He says he was in his office on the Syrian-Turkish border. There were rumors perhaps had he fled to Qatar or something. He said that isn't true. Certainly, he is not the one calling the shots out there. He's not the one in any sort of position in power to reconcile the opposition. Right now, the really strong factions on the ground are the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the ISIS which, of course, is also al Qaeda linked. Al Nusra is very strong. Then you have a more moderate but, yet, a very Islamist faction that wants an Islamist State called the Islamic Front. Those are the real power players on the ground right now. The ones the U.S. is supporting aren't in a position of power at all at this point -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Very quickly, Fred, Bashar al Assad may have given up his chemical weapons stockpiles but he's very much still in power, right?

PLEITGEN: Oh, he is. He certainly is still very much in power. One of the really odd things is that this whole chemical weapons attack, which is something, as we know, that almost led the U.S. to bomb Syria, is something that, in retrospect, helped him consolidate power in many ways by the fact that he's giving it up. If the calculation of the Syrian regime was that these chemical weapons could never be used during the course of battle again anyway because they would trigger passive U.S. response, so they said these things are more of a liability than an asset to the regime so they're going to get rid of them. It's brought them some credit in the diplomatic arena but it's also something that was the first sort of diplomatic high point, if you will, in all of in that brought the U.S. and Russia together. But it also did help him consolidate power there in Syria. He still is very, very much in control.

If you look forward to the negotiations that are supposed to take place in Geneva, the government has its ducks in a row. The question is, who from the opposition is going to show up there -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Fred Pleitgen reported extensively from inside Syria.

Glad you're in New York right now, safe and sound.

Fred, thanks very much for that analysis.

More news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: For months, "Saturday Night Live" has been under fire for their lack of diversity. In November, they did this skit with Kerry Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: What a nice surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Isn't it?

WASHINGTON: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: So that Oprah can come in.

WASHINGTON: Oh, because of the whole --

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

WASHINGTON: And Keenan won't?

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Nope.

(LAUGHTER)

WASHINGTON: Well, in that case, I will leave and, in a few minutes, Oprah will be here.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Thank you, Mrs. Obama.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: I'm here!

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Very funny stuff. In the sketch, they made fun of the fact there are no African-American women in the cast, but now the famed executive producer and creator, Lorne Michaels, may be trying to change that.

Our entertainment correspondent, Nischelle Turner, is joining us.

The so-called secret auditions, what are you hearing? What are you learning?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm not sure if I would call them secret auditions. They just weren't open to the public. Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of SNL, has auditions for the show through the year with hopefuls around the country. Yes, he did tell "The New York Times" he's had several auditions over the past few weeks. The auditions we're talking about took place December 1st at the famed Groundly's Theater in Los Angeles. He says, by January, he is committed to adding the show's first black woman since Maya Rudolph left in 2007. We should point out the pressure isn't just growing on SNL externally. It is internally as well. Current cast members, Jay Ferrell and Keenan Thompson, got a lot of attention for publicly talking about the lack of color on the show. Keenan said he didn't want to dress up in drag anymore so they need to do something about it.

Apparently, there's a lot of African-American women who feel like they're ready. A host of black comedians have talked about how they went to the auditions hoping to join the cast. One of the, Samon Sheppard (ph), sent out an Instagram picture of herself and 10 other hopefuls who auditioned. According to what they said on social media, they were only notified a couple days before the auditions. There wasn't even a lot of time for those ladies to prepare.

BLITZER: Interesting stuff.

Nischelle, thanks very much.

TURNER: Sure.

BLITZER: I want you to stick around because we have a comedian and an actor coming up.

TURNER: Can't wait.

BLITZER: I think all of our viewers are going to want to meet Ron Burgundy or at least the actor who plays Ron Burgundy. I have a big interview with him later today in "The Situation Room."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: By now, you must know that Will Ferrell is returning to the big screen as Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman, 2." And I sat down with Will Ferrell. Certainly, I have done a lot of hard hitting interviews over the years. This one, not so hard hitting. Watch this little clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We did some research. Our crack unit, research unit, on you.

WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: You have a unit that smokes crack?

BLITZER: No, a crack research unit.

FERRELL: Got you.

BLITZER: Back in 1991, correct me if I'm wrong, did you try out to be an anchor at a local cable access station called "Around and About Orange County"?

FERRELL: That's correct. I was an anchor. I was also a field reporter. Local cable access show, "Around and About Orange County News." I did it for about six months.

BLITZER: How did that work out?

FERRELL: I didn't work out.

BLITZER: It was terrible?

FERRELL: I failed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Worked out pretty well for him, I should say. He's had a pretty successful career. May have failed as a local news anchor, but did very, very well elsewhere.

By the way, the interview will air later today in "The Situation Room," my interview with Will Ferrell. We also get into the Ron Burgundy thing a little bit. I think you'll enjoy, have a little fun. 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

Thank you for watching.

NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon.