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Florida Teen Beaten By Israeli Police; CNN Obtains Search Warrants In Hot Car Death; TSA Wants Devices Checked On U.S. Bound Flights; Donald Sterling: Move Case To Federal Court

Aired July 07, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: This American is under house arrest.

Power it up or leave it home. Terrorist concerns may now change how you get through security with your gadgets.

And holiday weekend horror as severe weather strikes the heartland and more could be on its way. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning to you. I'm Brianna Keilar in for Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. This hour, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling the murder of a Palestinian teenager abhorrent. In a phone call with the boy's father today, Netanyahu promised justice for the apparent revenge killing.

All of this as shocking new cell phone video shows the boy's cousin, a Palestinian-American teen being beaten and detained by police in a protest over the killing. The 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir was released and is now under arrest. But his family and friends are calling for the officers who allegedly beat him to be disciplined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN SHIBLY, ATTORNEY FOR KHDEIR FAMILY: I don't think there is anything at all that can justify police officers in uniform basically restraining the hands of a child and then repeatedly kicking him over six times, almost a dozen times punching him to the head, to the gut while his body is lifeless and frankly, he is unconscious.

There is nothing that can justify that terrible disgusting inhumane behavior. We need those officers brought to justice. And Israel to revise its policies to ensure that kind of behavior never happens again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Now the violence has surged after last week when three kidnapped Israeli teens were found dead in the West Bank. Diana Magnay is in Jerusalem with the latest -- Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mayor of Jerusalem right now is visiting the mourning tent where the family of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the 16-year-old who was brutally murdered last week and his body was burned alive are mourning. So the mayor of Jerusalem there right now. Tariq Abu Khdeir, his 15-year-old cousin who is a U.S. citizen has been released from police custody, badly abused and has a tail to tell. Let's just take a look at the events of the last few days from his perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGNAY (voice-over): On Sunday Israeli police brought six Jewish suspects before a judge in connection with the brutal killing of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, here in Jerusalem. This developments unfolding on the same day that Mohammed's 15-year-old cousin, Tariq Abu Khdeir was released on bail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel now that you're out?

UNIDENTIFIED TEEN: I feel way better.

MAGNAY: Tariq is an American citizen from Florida whose summer vacation turned to horror when his 16-year-old cousin, Mohammed, was abducted from his home and burned alive in the woods last Wednesday. Now out on house arrest, Tariq shows us his bruises, angry markings of the hatred in its head in East Jerusalem once again.

Last Tariq was beaten and arrested by Israeli police at a protest following his cousin's death. This cell phone video shows Israeli police striking and kicking the boy's limp body. Now under investigation, whether Tariq physically bated the officers before the beating or if their attack was unprompted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did they attack you?

TARIQ ABU KHDEIR, BEATEN BY ISRAELI POLICE: I don't know. That's why I ran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said you were throwing stones.

KHDEIR: No. I jumped the fence and I tried to run away because I saw somebody running at me. I tried to run away.

MAGNAY: Tariq's release and the arrest of six suspects in his cousin's death now just small comfort for Mohammed's grieving parents. His father says those arrests won't bring his son back. His son's murder widely believed to be a revenge attack for the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month prompting the worst clashes the city has seen in a decade. Both Palestinian and Israeli officials have condemned the killing and called for maximum restraint. The blood of the murdered teenagers could lead to the spilling of more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MAGNAY: Now Brianna, Tariq's mother has said that she wants to prosecute the Israeli police for what they did to her son. Israel says that it's launched an investigation into police activity. It is not just an internal police investigation. It is under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. Because fundamentally when a suspect has been apprehended as clearly the case with Tariq.

His hands were in handcuffs behind his back then there is no excuse for the kind of brutality that we saw in that cell phone video. And the U.S. State Department also has said that they want also a full explanation of what they called this supposed excessive or apparent excessive use of force on the part of the Israeli police -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Why is he under house arrest? Is that because they are investigating whether he did something before he was beaten?

MAGNAY: Exactly. That is because this criminal investigation is ongoing according to Israeli officials, but they haven't yet explained what charges they have got him up against. So --

KEILAR: All right, Diana Magnay, we're having some technical difficulty. Thank you so much. I want to talk now -- pardon me. Getting over a cold here. I want to go to Tel-Aviv and talk to CNN Mid-East analyst and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren.

Ambassador, I want to talk to you about this and I feel like all of this is playing out in a way that a lot of people all over the world connect to. We're talking about teenagers and we are seeing just how horrible all of this for these Israeli teens who were killed, for this Palestinian boy who was killed and for his cousin who was beaten. On that point, how committed do you think Israel is to addressing the concerns of Palestinians in the midst of all this violent score settling?

MICHAEL OREN, CNN MID-EAST ANALYST: Good to be with you. It is quite a complex and disturbing day in Israel. A day of sadness, shame and disgust, but also a day of anger and fear. Their sadness over the continued mourning for the three Israeli teenagers killed in the West Bank last month. Saying in the disgust that six have Israeli Jews have brutally murdered a Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem.

And then the other half of the story, which we haven't mentioned here is what's going on with the southern half of Israel, which has been the target of 300 rocket attacks from Hamas, fighting in the south is really aircraft, carrying out attacks and a growing buildup of Israeli forces along the border. Fear of a much larger engagement between Israel and Gaza. All is going on at the same time in the state of Israel in one day.

KEILAR: I have a question for because a lot of this has do with tempers being so incited by these emotional deaths and this beating. If you see this boy, Tariq is under house arrest. Do you think that's really the way to handle this to try to calm these I guess really inflamed emotions at this point or does that just add to how upset many Palestinians are?

OREN: You saw the pictures. I saw the pictures. Police brutality apparently. It's going to be investigated by the Israeli police, but they are saying this young man attacked a policeman. So Israel is a state of law and they are going to follow those laws within the full extent all the while trying to keep the lid on this situation. And the situation is a highly combustible. The situation actually called down in Jerusalem over the night.

But in the south the Israel cabinet is meeting with emergency session right now to determine whether to expand military operations against Hamas to stop the rocket firing. So there is a lot of lids to be kept down here, Brianna. Not an easy situation.

KEILAR: How much bigger do you worry this is going to get? Between what we're seeing playing out and -- I guess the headline grabbing part is obviously the killings of these teens. You mention the rocket attacks. Israel defense forces reacting as well. How big is this going to get do you fear?

OREN: Well, I think that the government in Israel and civil society is working to try to calm the emotions in Jerusalem. Members of the family of one of the murdered Israeli teens have called the father of the murdered Palestinian teen to assure him of his deepest condolences. That Israel doesn't distinguish between the murders of a Jewish child or a Palestinian child.

The prime minister, Netanyahu, has called the father of the murdered Palestinian child. Other ministers have gone to visit the family. So in the Jerusalem there is a tremendous effort to calm it down. The mayor again is visiting the mourning tent.

In the south we have a different dynamic. The Israeli government over the past couple of days has said it does not want to escalate. But we're in the Middle East and it's about power and honor and shame. So if the Israeli government says it doesn't want to escalate, it creates a situation where Hamas has no excuse not to escalate. So in response to Israel's broadcasting its reluctance to go to war, Hamas has increased rocket fire on Southern Israel.

KEILAR: I hear, Michael, you are talking about what's happening with the rockets and what's happening in the south. But don't you think from the perspective the international community the focus becomes really on these kids and really on the face of a boy who's been badly beaten. And he also happening to be American. Don't you think this is now where international focus is because it's just something that -- the pictures are horrible and what is happening to these families are horrible and this is where the attention goes?

OREN: Unquestionably. You are absolutely right. Both of us are involved in the media and you know that a -- the face of a 15-year-old boy who's been beaten up leaves a much deeper impression than an abstract photograph of the 1.5 million Israelis now sitting in bomb shelters and they have fear on their faces but you don't see them. That can't counter that one profound and deeply disturbing image of a 15-year-old boy who's been beaten up. And that becomes a public diplomacy challenge for the state of Israel as it tries to defend itself against Hamas rockets.

KEILAR: All right, former ambassador, Michael Oren, really appreciate your time.

And still to come, new rules from the TSA for electronic devices on U.S. bound flights. If they don't power up, they won't be allowed on the plane. Christine Romans is live in New York with this story -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, 'm going tell you why the change, what you need to do when you go to an airport on route to the United States, and what happens next with airport security. That's right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to the Georgia father accused of leaving his son to die in a hot car. CNN has just obtained a copy of previously unseen search warrants in the death of 22-month-old Cooper Harris. This morning, the toddler's father, Justin Ross Harris, is behind bars and charged with murder. Meanwhile the boy's mother may be forced to answer tough questions as investigators try to figure whether she played a part in her son's death.

CNN's Nick Valencia is joining us now with the latest on the investigation. What are we learning here Nick from the search warrants?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna. We got our hands on these new search warrants early this morning and they don't say much. They do include the search and seizure for a number of items including the medical records of 22-month-old Cooper Harris, as well as the medical records of his father, Justin Ross Harris.

We also see the search warrants for an SD card belonging to the father as well as an external hard drive. Now if you remember, Justin Ross Harris, failed to tell investigators that he went back to his car at lunchtime. He was placing some light bulbs he purchased during lunch there in the car including in the warrant is a warrant to justify that.

Earlier today I called the Cobb County Jail where Justin Ross Harris is being held on a murder charge and I asked them the conditions that he's being held in, but they told me it is their policy not to comment on those conditions -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And one of the interesting things -- and I don't want to say interesting. It's very morbid. But one of the outstanding questions is the mother. We learned last week that she I believe also searched information on the internet for hot car deaths. Correct me if I'm wrong I'm on that.

VALENCIA: That's right.

KEILAR: And also when she got to the day care and Cooper wasn't there she kind of jumped to the conclusion that that baby must have been left in the car without actually finding that out from her husband. Are police looking at her here?

VALENCIA: She is part of this investigation. But not under investigation. And that was a clarification given us a couple days ago. She has been questioned and police have highlighted some of her odd statements. But the facts she's not been charged and not being officially considered a suspect. We called the county magistrate to ask if there were any search warrants related to her and they said they could not discuss that. Interestingly enough I asked the same question over the weekend to the Cobb County magistrate. And they simply told me no. Now today they are saying they simple can't discuss it.

KEILAR: Makes you wonder. Nick, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You bet.

KEILAR: This was a very scary sight. Over a runway in Barcelona, Spain this weekend. Not what you want to see. Two huge planes coming dangerously close. One taxiing and there was a Russian 747 planning to land. The pilot pulled up. Flew around and it's unclear how this mix up happened. But airport officials told there was never any danger of collision. Of course, the video draws another conclusion.

TSA and the airport in London may soon ask travelers to turn on their electronic devices so prove they work as intended and they are not explosives. If the devices do not power up, they will not be allowed on the plane. Christine Romans is live in New York.

ROMANS: Yes. Don't pack your charger away when you are getting to board a long haul flight. TSA, Department of Homeland Security not specifying exactly what they are going to do. Obviously that defeats the purpose of the extra screening. But what could happen here is you could be asked to turn on your phone, show them it is a working device. Open up your laptop. Power it up. Other electronics as well.

Even after you go through screening, you could be asked as you are boarding to step aside and show the devices again. So you should be prepared for that. Also we're told potentially more screening when you get to the gate on shoes. This is all stepped up as there are new concerns, growing concerns -- nothing specific -- but that bomb makers have very determined to get new technologies out there on to airplanes. So this is American officials at TSA trying to make sure they are stepping up U.S.-bound non-stop flights from Europe and Middle East to the United States.

KEILAR: And that makes sense and also stepping up TSA fees.

ROMANS: This is a budget strike that's now filled into your plane ticket. Right now a direct flight round trip with no stops you would have a $5 extra fee. Starting July 21st it could be $11.21. And if you have long layovers or a lot of stops it could be higher than that. No words from the airlines if they are going to eat that fee or if they pass it on. But you can expect these higher fees and in my experience I can say those fees tend to get passed to us.

KEILAR: I'll say like a $5 hike though is nothing compared to the seat fees.

ROMANS: Well, they don't charge for the air you breathe just yet.

KEILAR: We'll wait on that. All right, Christine Romans, thank you. Still to come, Donald and Shelly Sterling battle it out in court today for ownership rights to the Clippers. We've got a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The battle for control of the LA Clippers plays out in a courtroom today. At issue, does Shelly Sterling have the right to sell the team? She has a $2 billion deal in the works, but Donald Sterling wants to take the deal off the table and move the case to another court. CNN's Sara Sidner is in Los Angeles. There is a lot going on with the case today -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it seems like every time you turn around, there is a new development. Basically what's happening is everyone is waiting to see whether the judge decides. After there was an emergency filing first by Donald Sterling's attorney saying that this should be move moved to federal court over privacy laws because his medical information was given out to the public.

But there is also a motion by Shelly Sterling's attorneys saying no, no. This should not be right here in probate court. And if you want to see how we got here? We're going to show you just now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): Donald and Shelly Sterling are going one-on-one. The fight is over whether she has the sole legal right to sell the Clippers. According to court documents filed by Shelly's attorneys Donald lashes out against the doctors over voice mail.

DONALD STERLING: I'm not incompetent you're --

SIDNER: Crucial to the case, this letter from Donald Sterling dated May 22nd, his wife, Shelly claims it gives her the power to sell the team.

BOBBY SAMINI, DONALD STERLING'S LAWYER: In the May 22nd letter, all it indicates is that Shelly has the right to discuss aspects of the sale with the NBA. It never references a third party buyer.

SIDNER: Three weeks later on June 9th, Sterling changed his mind. That same day Shelly and former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, signed a binding multibillion contract selling the L.A. Clippers.

(on camera): Shelly claims she had every right to. Her attorneys entered this evidence into court. She says it shows Donald could no longer control the trust. Now two board certified doctors examined him. And both said he had the early signs of Alzheimer's. That is enough to remove him as a trustee.

(voice-over): Donald's attorney says he was tricked.

SAMINI: We are going to argue their examinations were not complete, that there was fraud.

PIERCE O'DONNELL, SHELLY STERLING'S LAWYER: He issued public statements saying way to go Shelly, great deal and then he changes his mind.

SIDNER: For months, the case has played out of the court of public opinion, but the ultimate decision will be made by a judge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And it's actually going to be made by two judges because the federal judge has to look at this case. He can decide whether the trial gets delayed. He can also decide to make a very speedy decision and that it ends up going on right near probate court. We're going to hear habit this morning. We'll in the court to see what the federal judge determined and if the case goes forward.

The lot of people nervous. The person who wants to buy the team, the Clippers, is waiting to hear if his $2 billion will get the deal done, and this will be over in a couple days. And there is a deadline of July 15th Mr. Ballmer has put on the deal. If things don't go forward that will be it for him.

KEILAR: And certainly the NBA is ready to put this behind the league. Sara Sidner, thank you so much.

Still to come, is President Obama a step behind on the immigration crisis at the nation's southern border? One lawmaker, a Democrat says he is. Will that spur the White House to take quicker action? We have that discussion next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)