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Violence Continues in Ukraine; European Leaders' Meeting with Russian President Putin Does Not Produce Ceasefire in Ukraine; ISIS Claims Jordanian Airstrike Kills American Aid Worker Hostage; UAE and Jordan Step Up Airstrikes on ISIS Targets; Two Philadelphia Police Officers are Indicted for Brutality; Brian Williams' Claims on Experiences Related to War Iraq and Hurricane Katrina Questioned; Social Media Use by Terrorist Organizations Assessed; Possible Effects of Nootropics Profiled

Aired February 07, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now in the Newsroom, new air strikes against a major ISIS stronghold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Behind me this is most important piece of territory that ISIS still controls in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. now trying to gather intel on whether American ground troops should help keep retake Iraq's largest city.

And then two police officers charged after surveillance video is uncovered allegedly showing them beating a man on a city sidewalk. But wait until you hear who tracked down the shocking evidence.

And new details about the NBC News investigation into Brian Williams' false story of about being in a helicopter that was nearly shot down in Iraq. We'll tell you how the probe is now widening.

Hello, again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

Artillery is raining down on Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The fighting between pro-Russian rebels fighting for autonomy and Ukraine's military forces has seen absolutely no break for several days now. Peace talks between Russian President Putin and his European counterparts didn't revive a cease-fire that has been in tatters since September. Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk. So how heavy this is fighting now. Earlier when we were talking, there was a lot of shelling going on.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, literally, actually since you began talking, Fredricka, I'm hearing off to my right repeated shelling. You can probably hear that blast there as well. It hasn't really let up much in the past hours or so. And it's been intermittent throughout the day. It appears to be impacting into separatist territory which would suggest it's perhaps the Ukrainian military behind it, but it's always so hard to know who's firing at who, who's to blame for so many indiscriminate civilian deaths. You can hear what sounds like multiple, repeated impacts. That's often consistent with ground rockets being fired.

WHITFIELD: Now, what about the citizens there? What are people saying, thinking, and feeling?

WALSH: Well, I'm sure you just heard that succession of rocket blasts, too. There's a lot of horror here. People are terrified. They are often unsure quite where to go. The streets below me are deserted. The occasional car races through, but they are running out of food, water. Power is intermittent. The bank system has been nonexistent for weeks. We saw ourselves how people simply queuing for food were blown away by one artillery shell last Friday, horrifying scenes there, sadly increasingly common on both sides of the frontlines. Both militaries here, armed groups armed with heavy weapons are quite capable of wrecking destruction in civilian areas here.

But I should point out this noise you're hearing behind me, this is the backdrop to supposed peace talks. The remarkable sight of Vladimir Putin greeting Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, French President Francois Hollande last night in the Kremlin. They came to see him, hoping to get a peace plan, stayed until early hours, didn't emerge with much. Angela Merkel today saying she was uncertain of success in that track. Joe Biden, the U.S. president saying Ukraine had the right to defend itself. That could be what you're hearing potentially behind me impacting into Donetsk.

And we just heard from the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, saying although he doesn't think there's a military solution to this war here, certainly the thing not to do is to not arm Ukraine, because when they're defenseless, in his words, they're open to other acts of aggression. But very loud behind me in Donetsk. I'm sure in the days ahead we'll learn more about who is trying to hurt who here and who died. But obviously this is not a suggestion at all that we're near a negotiated settlement, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much from done Donetsk.

Earlier today Vice President Joe Biden had some strong words for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the crisis in Ukraine, at one point saying the situation was, quote, "testing Europe and America." Sunlen Serfaty is at the White House for us. So give us a sense of why, you know, Biden has taken this very strong word approach?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, very strong words from Vice President Biden today aimed specifically at Vladimir Putin. Now, he says it's time for Russia to not agree just to peace but to actually show action on that. This comes at course at a time when the White House is considering and debating whether they should send lethal aid to the Ukrainians to help in this crisis. Vice President Biden today, he didn't make a specific mention of that internal debate going on in the White House but he spoke more broadly about the need and the right for the Ukrainians to defend themselves. Here's Vice President Biden today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Given Russia's recent history, we need to judge it by its deeds, not its words. Don't tell us, show us, President Putin. Too many times President Putin has promised peace and delivered tanks, troops, and weapons. So we will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war, but to allow Ukraine to defend itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, here at the White House on Monday, there's a very important meeting going on between President Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel. That is happening Monday here at the White House. Merkel has already come out. She is opposed to sending any more additional lethal aid to Ukraine. She does not want to see any additional weapons into this conflict. The White House internally is going through a big debate whether they should do this.

Of course, key at the center of that debate is whether if they do send in more weapons, what will Putin's reaction be? Will he counter with adding more weapons of his own in Ukraine, and of course what that means for violence on the ground. Again, Fred, a very heated discussion here at the White House what the next step is.

WHITFIELD: And then, today, on the sidelines of the Munich conference, Secretary of State Kerry met with the Russian foreign minister, who expressed some optimism?

SERFATY: Yes, this was interesting. The secretary of state met with Sergey Lavrov today on the sidelines about Munich meetings. And after that conversation Lavrov came out and he expressed some optimism. He says that he's committed to peace and that he's against combat and they'd like to see a withdrawal of heavy weapons in the region. He said that the conversations taking place between France and Russia and Germany over the last few days have given him some confidence. But I have to say that's a much different read than we've gotten from other leaders coming out of those same conversations. And of course as negotiations continue without an end or a cease-fire here, the violence of course continues. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Sunlen Serfaty at the White House, thanks so much.

All right, a turning point in Jordan's fight against ISIS, that's what the kingdom's interior minister is saying about the brutal murder of the Jordanian pilot, Muath al Kaseasbeh. And he added this, quote, "The state of Jordan is entitled to retaliate against this terror organization and we will pursue it wherever it is, the beginning of an ongoing process to wipe them out completely." Jordan and coalition partners have launched dozens of news strikes on ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq, many of those strikes rain down in ISIS in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Here's Phil Black.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Behind me is the most important piece of territory that ISIS still controls in northern Iraq -- Mosul. It is Iraq's second biggest city, and you can see it here from the top of Mount Zartak. Where I'm standing it is one of the closest positions occupied by the Kurdish fighters, the Peshmerga, who have drawn a defensive line around that ISIS controlled city. And from up here, there is a commanding view into Mosul from the south and the towns and villages which surround it and which are still occupied by ISIS as well.

On this day overhead has been the constant sound of aircraft, fast- moving aircraft. We have seen what appears to be a slower-moving, larger reconnaissance aircraft of some kind. And then frequently, repeatedly, often very close to one another, the sound of large blasts in the distance. It is a hazy day, not the best day to view Mosul from this location, but you still have a very clear idea of what lies between the lines that have been established by the Kurdish fighters around the south and southwest of this city and that no man's land in between leading up to Mosul itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now from northern Iraq is Phil Black. So Phil, you've been to several locations on the front lines there. What have you been learning?

BLACK: What we've seen, Fred, is that indeed the Kurdish fighters on the ground have had significant success in pushing ISIS back out of in Kurdish territory. They're not setting up defensive lines and they're holding them with the help of air power, of course. That's how they've accomplished this and that how they're still holding those positions.

What it shows is that ISIS is simply not able to move forward and claim big tracks of land the way that it once did. The fighters on the ground believe they're winning. That does not mean victory is imminent. However, of course, there is still that big city of Mosul that needs to reclaimed. The Kurdish fighters say they are going to help do that, but that's really going to come down to the Iraq Army, the same military force that fled and let ISIS take it in the first place, once it is rebuilt, re-motivated, then it is expected a large operation, an offensive will begin to clear that city. But that still appears to be some months away yet.

WHITFIELD: Phil Black, thank you so much, from northern Iraq.

While the strikes to stop ISIS continue, the family of an American hostage held by ISIS is pleading with her captors to contact them privately. The parents of 26-year-old Kayla Mueller also say they hope their daughter is still alive. ISIS is claiming that she was killed on a Jordanian air strike on an ISIS target. But the U.S. and Jordan say there is no evidence she is still dead. CNN's Kyung Lah is in Prescott, Arizona, 100 miles north of Phoenix. So Kyung, what more are you learning from that area?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that the family has tried to be secluded. They haven't spoken out in front of cameras, but they have released a statement. They want people to know something about their daughter, that she is someone who had a life of service and cared about others.

And they also sent a message directly to her captors. Here in part is what it says. It says that "To those in position of responsibility for holding Kayla, in adherence to your warnings and out of concern for Kayla's safety we have been silent until now. After going through extraordinary efforts to keep Kayla's name out of the media for so long by securing the cooperation of journalists throughout the world, her name was released. This news leaves us concerned, yet we are still hopeful that Kayla is alive. You told us you that you treated Kayla as your guest. As your guest, her safety and well-being remains your responsibility."

The family, we understand from having spoken to people who are in close contact with them, they are at their family home, they are with spiritual council as well as surrounded by friends and family. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung, Lah, thanks so much. Keep us posted.

And we'll have much more from the Newsroom after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New attack against ISIS in Iraq and Syria now. There were a total of 26 air strikes overnight according to U.S. Central Command, and now we're learning the UAE, United Arab Emirates, has ordered F- 16s into Jordan. Joining me right now by Skype, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, a former military attache. And sir, good to see you.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, (RET), FORMER U.S. MILITARY ATTACHE IN SYRIA: Good afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right, so how significant is this that the UAE now sends its F-16s to Jordan?

FRANCONA: This is a significant improvement. If you recall, after the downing of the Jordanian pilot in December, the UAE halted its operations claiming that combat search and rescue assets were not close enough to the operation in case one of their pilots goes down. Moving the aircraft to Jordan puts them in a closer position to conduct airstrikes, but at the same time the United States has moved its CSR assets into northern Iraq to be much closer to the action.

So the UAE made a comment, we responded. So I think the coalition is a little stronger right now. We have the Jordanians conducting operations over Syria and it looks like the UAE is going to come back into the fold and restart its operations. This is a welcome development.

WHITFIELD: So when the UAE said, you know what, it was going to suspend or hold off on having a lot of its fighter jets engaged because they, too, were concerned about any of their pilots going down and falling into the hands of ISIS and now I guess a reconsideration a kind of a newer pledge, a revamped pledge saying the UAE pledges unwavering and constant solidarity with Jordan. It seems that is a significant step up that the Arab community, Jordan, UAE, saying that we collectively want to dismantle, destroy ISIS. Will that inspire other Arab states to invest more in this coalition?

FRANCONA: Well, one would hope. Of course, the UAE, Jordan, all of these monarchies in the region feel threatened by ISIS because ISIS has said they are going to get rid of them. Jordan would be next on the radar. Of course then after Jordan, Saudi Arabia. And the Saudis have a potent military force, and we want to get the Saudis more engaged. The UAE brings a lot to the fight, but really the big dog on the Arabian Peninsula is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has got very capable armed forces and we would like to see them a little more committed. So if we can everybody get back to striking targets in Syria, those Arab countries, I think we will be much better off. The Iraqi portion of this with the western allies seems to be pretty much under control.

WHITFIELD: Is it your feeling ISIS may have miscalculated their response from Arab nations given, following the death of the Jordanian pilot?

FRANCONA: It is. I think they grossly underestimated the Jordanian response. There were a lot of divisions in Jordan, and I think ISIS was trying to capitalize on it by driving a wedge between those in Jordan who felt that ISIS was not a Jordanian problem. It was an Iraqi problem, Syrian problem, even an American problem, but certainly not of the Jordanians.

I think this treatment of this pilot, the brutal killing of that pilot and being made public has galvanized the Jordanian public opinion in support of the king, in support of the war, and now you can see that the Jordanians are actually going after ISIS with a vengeance. And to the Jordanians credit they're doing it in the confines of the coalition. They are doing it in concert with the coalition, which is the only real effective way to do this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

FRANCONA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Al., they took an oath to serve and protect. But investigators say two police officers attacked and lied. We'll show you the key piece of evidence authorities say caught them in a cover- up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Buying a home used to mean hiring a licensed real estate agent and visiting place after place after place until you find the one you loved. Thanks to technology, buyers can now browse real estate listings whenever and wherever they want. DOTTIE HERMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DOUGLAS ELLIMAN: At least 85

percent of all consumers search, go online before they actually buy anything and well before they're ready to buy.

QUEST: Today, even with technology, red tape and paper abound. But tomorrow transformed of real estate will take it all online. That's the vision of Square Feet, an Internet based realtor.

JAMES SIMPSON, CO-FOUNDER, SQFT: We streamlined the process so you as the seller download the app. You take pictures of your home. And once you're finished, it takes five or six minutes to create a listing. It is just going to be cleaner, simpler, and faster.

QUEST: And it's cheaper, too. List your home with a traditional agent and you pay six percent commission. Do it yourself with Square Feet and pay one percent. That's a $25,000 saving on a half a million dollars home. The question for the future is whether people really will want to do it themselves.

HERMAN: I wouldn't mess around trying to take shortcuts with a big investment like real estate.

QUEST: Technology may not put the broker out of business, but it does let us decide whether or not we need one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two Philadelphia police officers have been charged with brutalizing a man and then lying to cover it up. Nick Valencia takes a look at the surveillance video that is key in this case against the police.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vindicated by video -- nearly two years after he was brutally beaten by police, 23-year-old Najee Rivera received a slice of justice. The two cops involved in his assault indicted by a grand jury and arrested this week, charged with police brutality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eye was beaten and swollen shut. There was a broken nose. There was approximately 20 staples to the top of his head, having his head split open.

VALENCIA: It was May 29th, 2013, when veteran officers Sean McKnight and Kevin Robinson said Rivera resisted arrest after they said he ran a stop sign in his scooter. In an initial police report the officers said Rivera, quote, "attempted to flee on foot after being pulled over." According to the officers Rivera then slammed an officer against a brick wall before throwing elbows at an officer during the struggle. Officer Robinson was even said to have suffered minor pain.

But after watching surveillance video from the incident, a grand jury determined the officers' story was a lie.

SETH WILLIAMS, PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The video undermined every, every aspect of the officers' account of the incident. Another officer arrived of the scene thought that Mr. Rivera had been shot because there was so much blood on the ground.

VALENCIA: It was Rivera's girlfriend who found the video, the result of knocking on local businesses where the assault happened to see if it had been caught on tape.

COMMISSIONER CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: It is painful, it is embarrassing, it does bring a lot of issues that you see across the country. We have 6,500 sworn members. These guys do not represent the majority of police officers.

VALENCIA: The district attorney has dropped all charge against Rivera. His attorney says Rivera knew this day would come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unfortunate, you know, for the police department as a whole. They're all a pretty good bunch of professionals who try to protect everybody in Philadelphia and they got a tough job to do. It's a sad thing that this particular incident occurred.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, so Nick, so given this kind of evidence, are we looking at a plea deal?

VALENCIA: We reached out to the attorneys for both officers. And they haven't gotten back to us as far as that plea deal. So we don't know if they entered that.

What we do know, though, is that guy you looked at, Najee Rivera, settled a $200,000 lawsuit with the city of Philadelphia, so he's in better spirits now according to his attorney.

Getting back to the attorneys for those police officers, though, they did send us a statement. I want to read Officer Robinson's statement first. It says "Kevin Robinson has been a well-respected and dedicated member of the Philadelphia Police Department for the past seven years. He looks forward to clearing his name and getting back to protecting and serving the citizens of Philadelphia."

Sean McKnight is represented by a different attorney, but his statement was more or less along the same lines, Fred. It said "Sean McKnight is a good cop who risks his life every day. When suspects flee, they create risk for themselves, for the public and for the officers who bravely pursue them. We look forward to the trial. So it seems as though these two officers are saying Najee Rivera never tried to get away. His attorney said he was scared and was why he tried to leave, that this would never have happened. So they're standing by their actions.

WHITFIELD: While, it's a phenomenal case when you have the police chief that comes out and says what he says, and it is interesting that these two officers would still stand by their statement.

VALENCIA: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, the list of confirmed cases of measles continues to grow longer. Two more states have people infected with the highly contagious virus. We have details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

NBC News says it is launching an internal investigation into the claims Brian Williams made about being in a helicopter that was shot by an RPG in Iraq back in 2003. The anchor's story first came under question when military veterans disputed the story. And in a memo to staff this week, the president of NBC, Deborah Turness, said, quote, "As you would expect we have a team dedicated to gather the facts to help us make sense of all that has transpired. We're working on what the best next steps are."

But as CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter reports, the fallout continues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Brian Williams Apology for exaggerating some of his Iraq war reporting is not silencing the story.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: I want to apologize.

STELTER: Despite a separate apology to NBC employees, the conversation is only getting louder. Ten years ago Tom Brokaw ceded the big chair at NBC Nightly News tow Brian Williams. Now Brokaw is denying reports he wants Brian out, saying in this statement "I have neither demanded nor suggested Brian be fired. His future is up to Brian and NBC News executives." Those are hardly warm and fuzzy words from his colleague.

A statement from Brokaw's one time rival, CBS's Dan Rather, is more supportive, quote, "I don't know the particulars of that day in Iraq. I do know Brian. Brian is an honest, decent man, an excellent reporter and anchor, and a brave one." Of course, Dan Rather has had his own controversies when it comes to truthful reporting.

But the discussion about Williams' future is not limited to legends of the evening news. On social the hash-tag "Brian Williams Misremembers" is exploding, placing him at various historical events. The controversy has been growing since his mea culpa on Wednesday night.

WILLIAMS: I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. STELTER: And he's not the only one having trouble with the fine

details. Rich Krell, the pilot who said he was flying Williams' helicopter in Iraq, now admits he is questioning his own memory. Yesterday he told CNN the Williams Chinook helicopter did come under small arms fire. Now he's not so sure. Several others soldiers say Krell was actually piloting a different helicopter in the area. Krell says his nightmares about the war are coming back and he just wants to forget. Perhaps the only one who can clear up this confusion is Brian Williams himself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Brian Stelter now joining us. So Brian, why this internal investigation? And in the case of Dan Rather, as you brought up in your piece, there was an external investigation. What's different here?

STELTER: That's right. In this case, NBC hasn't explained why they're deciding to go internal instead of external. But clearly this is not an independent investigation because the people carrying it out are dependent on NBC. They work for NBC.

That said, the man leading the investigation, Richard Esposito, has a great track record of investigations at ABC News, at "The New York Daily News," and now at NBC. People call him a digger. He digs and digs and digs to get at the truth. And I already talked to one soldier who was interviewed by Esposito last night, so there is definitely an active investigation going on.

And it's not just about this Iraq story anymore. It's also about Williams' accounts about hurricane Katrina. There have been several reports that have been scrutinizing what he said about the aftermath of Katrina, and so I'm told NBC will also be looking into that. They are essentially trying to fact check what their anchor has said over the years.

WHITFIELD: Well, Brian, it is still confusing as to why, if he was telling these stories, why producers that he worked with, why photographers and soundmen that he worked with, it's as simple as asking them, what do you remember? You were with him. When in Iraq, you're working with a number of people. When in Katrina, you're working with a number of people. It would seem easy for NBC leadership to be able to get to the bottom of these stories by corroborating with the people that he's working with.

STELTER: I agree with you, and I've been urging NBC to have those employees come forward, frankly, to let them speak and tell their versions of the events. There's a sense in the television news industry Williams is quite vulnerable here, that he, and, by the way, probably not the only one, that he has exaggerated these stories in the past, particularly this one about Iraq, and we have seen several other versions of the events.

If he has done that, he's not the only one. There's a sense of myth making or brand building you sometimes see not just among journalists but among celebrities and athletes and all the rest. But journalists are in a special category, of course. We are supposed to be the ones that do stick with the truth, stick with the facts, and call people out when they stray too far and they exaggerate. That's why, of course, the serious credibility for Williams. I don't think his job is necessarily on the line.

WHITFIELD: You don't?

STELTER: Well, the fact that people are even talking about it means that maybe it is. It goes to show how much has changed in just two day, or three days since the initial story surfaced. I guess maybe the reason I say I'm not entirely sure his job is on the line, Fredricka, is because he has built up credibility over decades and he has done important and dangerous work. He was in Iraq, he was in New Orleans. It wasn't like he wasn't there. But over the years he did embellish his story.

WHITFIELD: Right. And he is very well respected. I respect him. I used to work with him at MSNBC and at NBC, and I don't want him to lose his job either. But I understand why this investigation has to happen.

STELTER: Fundamentally if the viewers don't trust him, then there's nothing left. That's the business we're in, the trust business.

WHITFIELD: That's right. And at first people were thinking it was just about this 2003 Iraq helicopter trip, but now we understand this NBC investigation might also involve some accounts he has expressed after his Katrina reporting. In fact, this is one, I guess, example of a conversation he had, not one that he reported but one in which he was asked about in this report. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: When you look out of your hotel room window in the French quarter and watch a man float by facedown, when you see bodies that you last saw in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and swore to yourself you that would never see in your country -- I beat that storm, I was there before it arrived. I rode it out with people who later died in the Superdome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So now apparently as part of this NBC investigation, the investigative editor, Esposito, would be looking into that, his Katrina reporting, and what his accounts have been, whether there's any real truth to all of it?

STELTER: Yes. This one's murkier because it's not as if he was with six other people, six other soldiers who can verify or contradict his account. But that issue of whether it was possible to have a dead body floating down the street outside his hotel is what people have honed in, reporters in New Orleans and elsewhere. He was staying at a hotel right on the edge of the French quarter, the Ritz Carlton hotel there. And the French quarter is among the highest grounds in New Orleans. And there were reports at the time that that was one of the few neighborhoods that did not flood significantly.

But we have talked to people -- I should be very clear. One of my colleagues spoke to a person who also stayed at that hotel who said there was some water outside the Ritz Carlton. It was about waist high. The idea that we're getting to this level of detail shows the scrutiny that Brian Williams is under but needs to be under at this point because if people are going to trust him and regain trust in him then they are going to have to be confident that his stories check out.

WHITFIELD: Right. And even in his defense there's a "Washington Post" article where an Associated Press photographer said that he actually saw a body not far from Canal Street, which is where that Ritz Carlton is in the French quarter when the water was high further up the street. But again, right outside the Ritz Carlton, conceivably someone else may have seen something, too.

All right, Brian Stelter, thanks so much. It is an awkward, difficult subject which to talk about involving one of our colleagues in the business. Thanks so much, Brian.

All right, imagine getting smarter just by taking a handful of pills? It's not science fiction. It's actually happening right here in the United States. But are the side effects worth the risk? We're going to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, checking our top stories now, Nevada and Delaware join a growing list of states with confirmed cases of measles. Based on CNN's account there have been at least 110 reported cases of the highly contagious virus since January 1st. Among the 16 states and Washington D.C. affected, California is the hardest hit. A majority of its cases resulted from a measles outbreak in Disneyland last December.

And U.S. authorities have arrested six people on charges of providing materials and money to terrorists in Syria and Iraq. All six defendants immigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia. Three are naturalized citizens. Officials say two suspects plan to join terrorists in battle. Five were arrested in the U.S. and one overseas.

According to CNN's Tom Fuentes, arrests like these come from just one of roughly 1,000 open terror investigations. CNN's Pamela Brown talked to the head of counterterrorism at the FBI about how difficult it can be to track down potentially dangerous terror targets, particularly because of how easy it is to recruit using social media.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, we got a rare chance to sit down and talk with the man who is leading the FBI's counterterrorism efforts, Michael Steinbach, and he shared some disturbing insight how ISIS is reaching into American homes to find their newest recruits and their next victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Of all the weapons used by terrorists, one of the most dangerous is social media.

MICHAEL STEINBACH, ASST. DIRECTOR FBI COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION: They're using it successfully to spot, assess, identify, target folks outside of warzones. They're using it in Europe and their using the United States.

BROWN: When you say target folks, how young are we talking?

STEINBACH: We've seen across the globe kids as young as 13 recruited by ISIL.

BROWN: Thirteen?

STEINBACH: Thirteen.

BROWN: Are they actually in direct in some cases with ISIS militants who are overseas in Syria that are reaching out to them directly?

STEINBACH: What we've seen is individuals in Syria reaching directly into the United States starting in public chats on different social media platforms, and then moving to private chats where they continue to recruit, inspire, and coerce individuals to either travel overseas or, even worse, to conduct an attack here in the United States.

BROWN: Michael Steinbach, the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division, says ISIS is also using Facebook and Twitter to identify potential American victims.

I'm wondering, is it an assumption, or is there actual intelligence to back it up?

STEINBACH: There is intelligence indicating that foreign terrorist organizations are using social media not only to spot and assess but to select targets, targeting the military, targeting law enforcement, targeting government officials.

BROWN: That threat led the FBI to issue a string of warnings, urging U.S. government employees to scrub their social media profiles of any information terrorists could use to find them.

Everyone is on social media these days. How do you get through the noise of someone who's just mouthing off versus someone who is a legitimate threat?

STEINBACH: That's the trick of law enforcement and that's the trick of the U.S. intelligence community, to work through that using data, using strong analytical skills. But it's a full-time job and it's a challenge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And something else that Steinbach said that really jumped out to me was that there's been this deliberate focus by ISIS leadership to use social media to recruit people with sophisticated and specific skills like engineers and accountants, people to run the business end of their caliphate. Fredricka? WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Pamela. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As the United Arab Emirates sends F-16s into Jordan now it ramps up the pressure on ISIS And begs the question, what is the end game? Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum Democracy and author of "A Battle for the Soul of Islam, an American Muslim Patriot's Fight to Save his Faith." Dr. Jasser, good to see you.

DR. ZUHDI JASSER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY: Nice to be with you, Fredricka. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: So what should the world's Muslim leaders be doing to stop ISIS from further warping Islam?

JASSER: Well, there's two things. First of all as the military target, you cannot defeat groups like ISIS ideologically. These are savages, militants who will only stop when stopped military. So we have to unite, the coalition has to strengthen. And you can't get rid of ISIS without getting rid of the Assad. They are a byproduct of the Assad genocide against the moderate Sunnis like our families in Damascus while the radicals have been left to thrive and go into Iraq.

Secondly is the ideological battle for reform. The Islamic State did not come out of thin air. It came out of the ideology being infused from Islamic theocracies like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan, Islamic republics that whip blasphemers, that kill apostates, that target women and others. This is an ideologies that we have to counter. And in the west, especially, Fredricka, Muslims are uniquely positioned in a laboratory to address these issues and to reform and separate mosque and state and counter political Islam.

WHITFIELD: When you say the coalition must strengthen, are you also saying that this fight against ISIS should mostly be an Arab nation fight, as the UAE recommits its interest in fighting, as Jordan steps up its bombardment?

JASSER: Well, I mean, the bizarre thing is that you have these Arab countries that are now moving in because they've been sucked in by ISIS' propaganda into a country where Assad is basically dominating. We have no intelligence. We don't know what's happening on the ground because Assad, his military is preventing that from happening. So, yes, in some ways the Arab countries have to lead this. But in others they're going to be the last ones to do the ultimate fix, because ultimately not only getting rid of ISIS but regime change with Assad has to happen. And you have so many obstacles to that, including Hezbollah, Iran. And Jordan has two enemies, not only ISIS buy Assad. So some of them are underequipped to deal with the reality of what's happening on the ground in Syria.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like leaders in Islamic states have felt kind of conflicted about whether ISIS is more the enemy or if Assad is more the enemy? Is there a real distinction? JASSER: This is the reason why the west has that third path of

liberty as the solution. Sure the Arab countries are going to be conflicted. Saudi Arabia, which had 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 was our ally, but yet they created these monsters. So yes they're conflicted because these Islamists that they create through their petrodollars are on the one hand populist movement like the Brotherhood and other that are going to try to displace these monarchies and autocracies. On the other hand the autocrats are going to want to control them and it's sort of a yin and yang back and forth on two sides of the jihadi coin.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, thank you so much for your time, appreciate it.

JASSER: Any time. Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Most people dream about being starter, but is it that simple? Here's CNN Money's Laurie Segall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Harder, better, faster, stronger, it's not just a Kanye West song. It's also an ethos in the tech world.

DAVE ASPREY, CEO BULLETPROOF: I warn you, it doesn't taste great, but it's worth it.

SEGALL: You take all of these and put them in your hand and take them. Is that safe to do?

ASPREY: It's totally safe to do that. I look back to my college days we had beer bombs, it's exactly the same type of thing. I have some of the most expensive pee on the planet.

SEGALL: I know what you're thinking, this dude seems crazy. Honestly, I thought so too. His name is Dave Asbury. He's the CEO of Bulletproof. He's an entrepreneur, and he's also known for experimenting with drugs, the smart ones.

ASPREY: What I'm trying to do is age less quickly, but most importantly I'm working on having the most energy and having a brain that works really, really well, because when I weighed 300 pounds I was having really bad problems with brain fog. As an entrepreneur that's a problem.

SEGALL: That combo he's downing, that's what's referred to as a stack, a collection of smart drugs also called nootropics. They are aimed at enhancing your brain. They can be anything from a stimulant like coffee to a prescription drug. Nootropics, smart drugs, whatever you choose to call them, users say they enhance your brain and subsequently your body's performance. They have become a thing in the tech world in part because of the high level of competition and in part because of the long hours. But it all boils down to this way of life called bio-hacking, this idea that we can control our own biology and we can program it to maximize results.

But it's hard to know how safe they are. People using these enhancers can suffer from side effects -- headache, insomnia, nausea. And many haven't been studied.

TIM FERRISS, ENTREPRENEUR: I've used every class of drug you can emergency. I've used medathanols of the world, the racetams, hydergine. The list goes on and on.

SEGALL: Tim's body is essentially a living lab. He also practices bio-hacking, anything that can control or improve any part of his body he'll try. There are no limits.

Here in Silicon Valley you are your own athlete. You're only as good as your mind. Smart drugs are way that entrepreneurs are helping to achieve that marathon.

FERRISS: Just like an Olympic athlete who is willing to do almost anything, even if it shortens their life by five years to get a gold medal, you're going to think about what pills and potients you can take because the difference between making $1 million and make $1 billion is right here.

SEGALL: Let's look at in 10, 15 years, if you do have some horrific side effects, will it have been worth it?

ASPREY: I've had side effects. When I was developing the diet I tried and extreme form of ketosis, and it gave me some food allergies I didn't have before. I'm still working to reverse those. So things happen. But I had food allergies before that, just to different foods. So it was a relatively small risk.

If I do find out down the road there are side effects, will it have been worth it? Yes, it will have been worth it. The quality of my life every day is so much higher now than 10 years ago that it's priceless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pretty intriguing. See more about sex, drugs, and Silicon Valley in Laurie Segall's special tonight at 7:30 p.m. eastern time.

All right, so much more straight ahead in the Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and it all starts right now with Poppy Harlow in New York.