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New Airport Security Measures; Tensions Rise in Israel; New Details in Toddler Death

Aired July 07, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And we begin, if you like to travel, you need to know this, new rules for travelers. You have to power it up or leave it behind. The TSA is adding another step to make sure flights coming into the United States are safe. The agency says it may soon ask passengers going through security overseas to turn their electronic devices on, including cell phones, including laptops.

The TSA wants to be sure they are not explosive devices disguised as electronics. They want to watch you turn these things on and off. There is concern, again, the backstory here, that al Qaeda may be trying to develop bombs that could pass through security without detection, so devices without power, remember to juice it up, won't be allowed on planes.

CNN's justice reporter, Evan Perez, is live in Washington with more on this.

Do we know, Evan, what intelligence these specific changes are based upon?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, yes.

The group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for years has been working on new types of bombs that the government, the U.S. government believes are aimed at defeating our screening procedures. These are bombs that are not made with metal parts, plastic explosives and that kind of thing. They have seen it before. They have seen different types of devices that have been attempted before.

This is not tied to any specific plot in the United States or in Europe or anywhere else. It's just that they know these guys are working on these new types of bombs, Brooke. And so we had the homeland security secretary, Jeh Johnson on NBC's "Meet the Press" over the weekend and he addressed some of these concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We know that there remains a terrorist threat to the United States, and aviation security is a large part of that.

So this past week, I directed that we step up our aviation security at last-point, at some last-point-of-departure airports, coming into the United States. This is not something to overreact to or overspeculate about. But it's something we felt was necessary. We do this from time to time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And Brooke, one part of what TSA is doing here is working with foreign partners in some of the airports overseas and especially in Europe, in Middle Eastern Africa, to increase some of the bomb detection they have at the airports, so that they can check these devices before you get on your plane, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. And, again, this is planes from overseas coming to the U.S. These are these new TSA rules. And while I have you, I wanted to ask you in other aviation news, there are new security fees for travelers, correct?

PEREZ: Right. That's right.

This is also through the TSA. The Congress had passed this increase in the fee that you pay to offset the security costs at the airport. Now, the fee was formerly set at $2.50 per leg of a connecting flight. That's $5 was the cap before. Now it is $5.60 per one-way trip.

Now, what's interesting here, Brooke, is that the money that -- under this new law that Congress passed is not actually all going to the TSA. It's going to the Treasury to help offset the federal debt. At the same time, as part of this law, they also passed a several hundred million dollar tax rate for the airline industry.

So they're no longer paying some of these fees. So more of this money is going to come out of your pocket and out of the Treasury, frankly, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Evan Perez in Washington for us, Evan, thank you very much.

Now to this: An American teenager from Tampa, Florida, his cousin just last week was burned alive at Jerusalem, has been thrust even deeper into the trouble sweeping the Holy Land. These are photos of Tariq Khdeir before and after his brutal beating by Israeli security forces. It was videotaped as it happened last Thursday as protests erupted over Tariq's cousin's murder.

You see it here. One uniformed man appearing to be holding Tariq down as another beat him right before they dragged him away. Tariq was held by the Israelis and was released just yesterday. He is being held under house arrest for allegedly attacking Israeli troops.

At the same time, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza are said to have killed nine -- nine Palestinian militants, and small Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza have landed as far as 25 miles into Israel.

Let me bring in Gideon Lichfield, who is former bureau chief for "The Economist" of London, now global news editor of the online publication Quartz.

So, Gideon, first welcome.

GIDEON LICHFIELD, QUARTZ: Thank you, Brooke. How are you?

BALDWIN: Let me begin with just the tragic events of this timeline. You had -- a week ago today, you had these bodies of these three young Israeli teens, abducted last month in the West Bank, they were found in that open field. Fast forward to Wednesday, 16-year-old Mohammad Khdeir was kidnapped and killed in Jerusalem as possible retaliation.

My question is, is this why we're hearing such dire warnings coming out of Jerusalem, Gideon? Because right now there seems to be a situation where we have civilians killing civilians.

LICHFIELD: It's certainly a slightly unusual variant on the kind of violence that we have been seeing the last few years. But to me, overall, this is just another example and a particularly poignant example of why it's so difficult to get anywhere with the peace process, because basically, neither side has any control over the people.

So Palestinian militants who were apparently allied to Hamas but not acting under Israeli orders allegedly killed these Israeli teens. Then Israelis acting on their own initiative killed this Palestinian teen. Each side's government is then pushed by the reaction of its people into overreacting and doesn't really have any control of the agenda.

And so when people use this terrible cliche the powder keg to describe the Middle East, that's exactly why it is. It's because one spark sets everything off.

BALDWIN: Just when you talk about this gruesome example, it's not even just civilians, it's teenagers on both sides.

LICHFIELD: Yes.

BALDWIN: And then there is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He's apparently appealing for calm on both sides. His tone -- let me play this for everyone -- his tone sounds especially grave. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We do not differentiate between the terrorists. And we will respond to all of them, wherever they come from, with a firm hand. We will not allow extremists from wherever they come to ignite the region and shed more blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, not only that, but that the Israelis say that Netanyahu called the father of the murdered Palestinian boy.

Gideon, is this typical for him to do or do you sense that he is treading in an unusually precarious situation here?

LICHFIELD: I think he's trying to de-escalate.

And I think that, to some extent, Hamas has been trying as well. It might not look like that from here. But both sides are trying to avoid this getting further out of control, because they I think understand how much sensitivities have been inflamed by these very brutal killings.

But what you're seeing now, of course, is there's this exchange of rockets from Gaza, Israel then blowing people up in Gaza in retaliation. And it's -- you know, it feels to me like it's a gamble as to whether or not they can actually restrain it or whether it turns into another conflict.

Let's remember that Israel has gone into Gaza in a big way in 2006, in 2008 and '09 and in 2012. Each time, it's had a large-scale operation and eventually withdrawn its forces and things have kind of gone back to where they were before. So that could be what happens this time.

BALDWIN: Gideon Lichfield, thank you so much, global editor of the online publication Quartz.

Appreciate it.

LICHFIELD: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, new details in the case of a father accused of intentionally leaving his toddler to die in a sweltering hot car in Georgia. Now the child's mother is under scrutiny.

And, later, 63 women and young girls escaped their Boko Haram captors in Nigeria. How did they do it? Could they help locate the other 200 schoolgirls still missing?

Also, new revelations from whistle-blower Edward Snowden on exactly what kind of information the NSA is taking from private citizens.

I'm talking about resumes, baby pictures, even selfies you take when you work out at the gym. We will tell you what else. You're watching CNN. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Now to the electronic and paper trail left behind by this Georgia father. Justin Ross Harris is accused of purposely leaving his 22- month-old son, Cooper, to die in a sweltering hot car. So the court just released this batch of new search warrants in this investigation.

And what they reveal is this, exactly how deeply police are digging into Harris' personal and financial life to find out why he may have intended to kill his 22-month-old son, Cooper.

The warrants targeted his cell phone, his computer drives, an S.D. card, a DVD, his medical records, Cooper's medical records and their condo in an Atlanta suburb. But they do not target specifically Cooper's mom, the wife here, Leanna Harris. Her behavior is noted in some of the paperwork released today.

A quote from one of the warrants reads this -- quote -- "During the interview with Leanna, she also made a similar statement this was her worst fear. Investigators questioned her further about this. Leanna stated specifically that her fear was that her child would be left in a hot vehicle, not the fear of losing a child."

So joining me now, HLN's Nancy Grace.

Nancy Grace, I mean, the details keep coming out. The conversation is not going anywhere. And I just wanted to focus with you, beginning with Leanna Harris, with these big questions. Again, she's not a suspect. But what do you think prosecutors are looking at right now when it comes to her?

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": Well, I agree with you. She has not been named a suspect or a person of interest at this juncture.

But it's not extraordinary that they are looking at her, because when a child goes missing or dies under suspicious circumstances, you start with the very tight circle, starting in the home. And you look at mommy, daddy's siblings, and then you go to school, neighborhood, extended relatives, until you find the perpetrator.

So, looking at her, it's not unusual at all. In fact, that is typical. Here's the problem. When she went to the day care to pick him up and was told he wasn't there, her first words were, Ross left him in the car. And they went, no, no, maybe they're at Chick-fil-A, maybe at the playground. No, he's in the car.

Now, unless she is clairvoyant, I have a problem with that. Maybe police have a different opinion. But I don't think she is clairvoyant. We also heard that -- from sources that she was aware that he was cheating on her, that she was aware. And we know that she knows this through text information.

That says to me she's texting back and forth to her husband. Interestingly, on that day, they go radio silent. Why? Why do they text every other day, but not this day? If that's accurate, that is probative.

BALDWIN: Wow. What about the issue with the women and the sexting? Because just talking to so many people about this case, that was a bombshell, right, that came out of the probable cause hearing last week. But some folks are saying, listen, that is not pertinent to this case. Do you agree?

GRACE: No. I do not agree. I vehemently disagree.

And this is why. His frame of mind is very, very important. Think back to Susan Smith. Why in the world would you buckle your children in the car seat and roll them into the river? She was dating a new guy who didn't want a ready-made family.

He, and I'm looking at him right there, Ross Harris, was looking up Web sites how to live a child-free life. Go to his motive, his frame of mind. What is he thinking at the time his child bakes dead in his car? He's texting other women, sexting them, sending photos, selfies of his naked private parts while the child is baking.

Now, the only question right now is, did the mother know? I can tell you this. Whether you blame the dad or not, when the mother walks into police interrogation after choosing to see her husband over her child, the first thing she says is not, what happened? Whether she is blaming him or thinking it's an accident, I would want to know, what happened?

Instead, she says, first thing, or one of the first, did you tell them too much? Did you tell the police too much?

You know what? That's bad.

BALDWIN: I agree with you. And that's why we're talking about this wife here.

Let me turn the page, because this is something not a lot of people have talked about, and this is something I have thought about, toxicology reports. Could be weeks, could be months before this comes back, specifically toxicology with this 22-month-old child, because I'm wondering, listen, if this was -- if this was not an accident, if this was a crime, premeditation could be -- if there was any trace of anything, right, showing up on this child to show perhaps that they were trying to take a -- for lack of a better word, edge off, knowing that this would be happening.

GRACE: Interesting. I have thought of that too. And, first of all, toxicology does not take that long. They will tell you it takes that long so everybody doesn't get crazy waiting for the toxicology reports.

What if we see in toxicology a heavy dose of something as simple as Benadryl to make the child sleepy? You know what? While I appreciate the possibility that he was on Benadryl at the time he baked to death, I think that the scratches on the child's face...

BALDWIN: Oh, that was the worst part for me.

GRACE: ... and where he was hitting his head, back and forth, trying to get out of the car seat, Benadryl, no Benadryl, to me, this is a death penalty case if you can see malice at all. I'm predicting an indictment in the alternative, where you have got a malice, premeditated murder, felony murder on child cruelty one, felony murder on child cruelty two, reckless homicide, voluntary manslaughter, and a plethora of charges regarding the sexting of teens.

BALDWIN: Nancy Grace, we have been on it. You're all over it.

GRACE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We will watch you tonight, HLN, 8:00 Eastern. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nancy Grace.

Coming up, 63 women and girls kidnapped by the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram, they have escaped. How did they do it? What about the more than 200 schoolgirls who are still missing? Could they help find them? That's coming up next.

And a man convicted in the brutal beating of his ex-girlfriend freed from prison early because of a typo. And now they can't find him. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You have these 63 Nigerian women and girls kidnapped last month by Boko Haram, they have escaped. Local security forces say the group returned to their village only to find it had burned. Now, these women and girls were seized from a village in northern Borno state. The Boko Haram militants killed 30 men during that attack.

CNN correspondent Nima Elbagir is watching this one for us from London.

And, Nima, beginning with just these girls and women, how did they escape in the first place?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really an extraordinary story, Brooke.

Apparently, their captors left them unattended because they were going out to deal with what they believed or what the girls were told was a Nigerian military onslaught on this position. And they warned them that if they attempted to escape, that they would be found and they would be killed.

Well, luckily for the women, they didn't heed this warning. After a few hours of being left alone, they broke down those doors and they proceeded to walk. They didn't really know which direction they should be headed in, but they managed to find their bearings and they walked for almost 24 hours before they finally came across some people who were able to take them to safety.

They actually walked through their original village that they had been taken from and they found that it had been burnt to the ground by the militants that had taken them. Some of those women didn't actually manage to make it all the way out of the bush, but luckily search parties have found the 63 women. Five of the original group that were taken are still missing, though, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So they have made it for the most part back to safety, though. And the obvious question is, because we covered -- you covered there all these missing Nigerian schoolgirls, the bring our girls back, can these women and girls help find them?

ELBAGIR: Well, the hope is that this finally shows that there is some kind of pressure being felt by Boko Haram. For them to have to go out and leave these women unattended gives some sense of optimism that this means that the campaign against them might finally be yielding some results. But, realistically, they were taken to a very different place than the

Chibok schoolgirls are being held. That is the trauma for the schoolgirls' families, is that we know where the girls are being held. They're being held in the Sambisa forest on the border with Cameroon. But the Nigerian government just doesn't have the capabilities to go in.

And we understand that Boko Haram have -- they have mined, they have land mined all around the area where the girls are being held. And the worry is that any attempt to rescue them could trigger some kind of horrifying mass killing.

But speaking to Nigerians back in the north of Nigeria, Brooke, their biggest concern is that those girls will be forgotten, is, as we come to the 83rd and 84th day since this abduction, that people are going to start to lose hope and forget them. So I think what -- just talking about this with you today, continuing to remind people that those girls are still out there and that hope shouldn't be lost, because like these girls and women that managed to escape, maybe there might be a chink of an opportunity, chink of light that these girls might be able to take.

But just remembering these girls, I think, is the most important thing we can do for them for now.

BALDWIN: Keeping up the conversation, keeping up dialogue and the awareness, we will.

Nima Elbagir, thank you so much for your reporting from London for us right now.

Coming up, a man responsible for the brutal beating of his ex- girlfriend, he has been released from prison very early, all because of a typo, clerical error. Unbelievable story. We will tell you what's happening, where he is, where they hope they can find him, coming up.

Also, stunning video of an Olympic Blade Runner here, Oscar Pistorius reenacting his final movements on the night he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Why was this video made in the first place, and how the Pistorius defense team is reacting to that, don't miss it. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Court documents show a Louisiana man is supposed to be in prison for an attack so violent, his girlfriend needed surgery. What's more, records show Isiah Spencer refused to let the victim call for help, leaving her nearly paralyzed with pain for a day.

And now this man here is out free, not because of prison overcrowding, but because of an oversight, a clerical error that involved the omission of one single digit.

Reporter Katie Moore from our New Orleans affiliate WWL has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE MOORE, WWL REPORTER (voice-over): It happens to most of us every day. We make typos on our computer keyboards. But for most of us, those typos couldn't put someone's life on the line.

MARY CLAIRE LANDRY, FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER: This would be enough to scare anybody.

MOORE: Last week, 30-year-old Isiah Spencer, pled guilty as charged to second-degree battery and false imprisonment for beating up his ex- girlfriend so badly that she had to have her spleen removed. The arrest warrant shows the victim told Spencer she didn't want to have sex with him that night, so he punched her on her left side, kicked her there, then stomped on her back.

She said she -- quote -- "became paralyzed and couldn't move and was in indescribable pain." Spencer took her phone and wouldn't let her call for help until the next morning.

Mary Claire Landry heads up the Family Justice Center and has worked with the victim in this case.

LANDRY: The majority of cases are misdemeanor cases, which means they're in a municipal court. They're not really in the criminal district court. And so this is a felony case, which means that, you know, it's a very serious situation.

MOORE (on camera): These court records show an error of one number allowed Spencer to walk out of jail just hours after the victim took the witness stand against him.

(voice-over): Spencer's plea shows he was sentenced to 33 months in jail, with credit for time served. But the sentencing sheet shows a sentence of just three months.

LANDRY: It's a horrendous error.

MOORE: Judge Arthur Hunter signed off on the sentence, as did his minute clerk, and that's how it was entered into the system. A spokesman for Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman says it was a legal release from their standpoint, because that's how it was entered into the system.

LANDRY: She thinks she is going to be safe for 33 months. She agreed to that, and, you know, she was in the court with that, and then to have that be mistaken.