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Charges Filed on Jeffrey Williams for Shooting Cops; 11 Americans with Ebola; House Inquiry on Secret Service Snafu; Some Senators Showing Signs of Backtracking After Iran Letter; McConnell: Loretta Lynch's Confirmation Hearings to be Delayed; Three Teenage Boys Incarcerated in Great Britain for Suspected Terrorism Activity; Kerry Back in Switzerland for More Talks with Iranian Officials

Aired March 15, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and thanks again for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

We're following this breaking news out of Missouri. Police have a man in custody in the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri. This is the man being held in the St. Louis County jail, 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams. Prosecuting attorney says he is being held on a $300,000 bond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MCCULLOCH, ST. LOUIS COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: We'll let you know this morning that we have filed charges just a few minutes ago against Jeffrey Williams. Jeffrey Williams is a 20-year-old man. He is now charged with two counts of assault in the first degree for the two police officers who were shot a couple days ago in Ferguson in front of the police station. Also charged with firing a weapon from a vehicle, which is a Class B felony in the state of Missouri. And charged with three counts of armed criminal action, one for each one of those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Stephanie Elam is at the St. Louis County police headquarters and CNN's law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes is joining us from our D.C. bureau.

So Stephanie, you first, you spoke with a bishop who knows Jeffrey Williams, who says he was not a regular according to the prosecuting attorney, not a regular at the many demonstrations. However, he did have a very candid conversation and studied the demeanor of this now suspect in the police shooting?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did. What he told me, he said that he knows this man not just because of who he knows out there as one of the organizers. He knows he wasn't a part of it but because he also knows this man because of the religious community. He says that he knows that he hasn't been out there protesting. He said when he met with Jeffrey Williams, he told him that he hadn't been out there protesting, but he said he also stuck to the story that we heard in that press conference, saying that he was out there targeting somebody else.

He said somebody robbed him, one of the demonstrators, the man that I talked to who is the organizer of this protests who has been out there 200-some days saying that he was targeting this person, and then accidentally hit the two police officers, is the story that he was giving. He said the same thing, but when he asked who these demonstrators were, he said he could not point them out.

So I've heard from a couple people saying that they did not believe that this man, Jeffrey Williams, was out there protesting regularly or not. One person I asked the - do you think he was targeting the police. HE said yes. When I asked the bishop who I just interviewed on the air whether or not he thought that was the person, whether he was targeting that person or the police officers, he said he didn't think that he was targeting a demonstrator.

So just giving some more context here to the idea of what may have happened. But when you take a look at how they were able to track down who this individual was and who was behind the shooting, not just based on the shell casings which then they were able to lead to a search warrant. They said were able to do that because there was so much help not just from community members, but also from protesters. Take a listen to what the prosecutor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCULLOCH: At this point, the investigation I will stress is ongoing. There's still an awful lot to be done but the charge at this point is the result of the investigation so far, information that was developed through - or the case developed through information that have provided by members of the public. Essentially what we are charged him with is firing shots.

It's possible at this point that he was firing shots at someone other than police, but struck the police officers. The charge is still assault in the first degree, Class A felonies for striking those two officers. There was a weapon recovered, which has been tied to the shell casings that were recovered there, the weapon recovered from him. He has acknowledged his participation in firing the shots, or his - that in fact he did fire the shots that struck the two officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now the investigation is ongoing, but I did ask the prosecutor whether or not they thought that there was somebody else that may have been involved. They do believe that Jeffrey Williams is the only shooter, but they're still looking into whether or not there were any accomplices for him, as they do believe he was in a vehicle driving by down the street in front of the Ferguson Police Department when the shooting occurred, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. Stephanie, hold tight. I also want to bring into the conversation Judge Glenda Hatchet with me here on the set, and we also just received a statement from the Attorney General, Eric Holder, before I get to the judge, I do want to express this statement coming from Eric Holder.

He said, "this arrest sends a clear message that acts of violence against our law enforcement personnel will never be tolerated. The swiftness of this action is a credit to the significant cooperation between federal authorities and the St. Louis County Police Department, the ATF's ballistic imaging technology that has played a significant role in the ongoing investigation. I commend both the ATF and St. Louis police for their tremendous work in identifying this suspect." That coming from the Attorney General.

So my question to you, Judge Hatchett, does it matter whether this suspect was allegedly targeting police or whether he was allegedly targeting That statement coming from the attorney general. Judge, does it matter whether this suspect was allegedly targeting police, or whether he was allegedly targeting someone else and the police officers accidentally were shot and injured?

JUDGE GLENDA HATCHETT: It doesn't matter. This is an assault, a first-degree class a felony. He can say all day long "I didn't intend for these police officers to be shot." It doesn't matter. He shot and injured, assaulted a police officer, and under Missouri law, he can get up to life in prison for these counts.

WHITFIELD: And so, Tom Fuentes in D.C., he is a suspect, he is charged with the shooting of these officers. He hasn't had a day in court yet, but police say they were still gathering evidence. What kind of evidence do they need to better substantiate this arrest?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: In a way, Fredricka, they don't need a lot more other than trying to satisfy whether he intended to shoot those police officers or not. From a legal standpoint, I think the Prosecutor McCulloch was very cautious in what he said, because he already has enough to prosecute and put him away for life. He has the admission that he shot the gun, and the gun is responsible, the bullets came out of that gun in his hands and shot those police officers. That's really all he needs to put him away for life.

Now obviously we all want to know, and the police and prosecutor's office, want to know, did he do it on purpose? Did he go out there that night with the intent to shoot the police? Or in the spur of the moment since he was armed when he went ahead and did it? But in a way there's no need for McCulloch right now to speculate and say no, he must have intended. We don't buy the story that he was being robbed or it was an accident. There's no reason to speculate. He already has enough admissions and forensic evidence for a life sentence in this case.

HATCHETT: I think it's important he didn't fuel the fire, Fredricka. Because he said, we don't know that that was the intent -

FUENTES: Exactly.

HATCHETT: That the officers were the intended victims of this. I think that's important. Because emotions are so raw, and this is such a tragedy, any time blood spills and there's violence, it is a tragedy. So I think that he was very, very calculating in saying we don't know if they were the intended -

WHITFIELD: At first it seemed like he supported the notion that Mr. Williams was likely targeting somebody else, and may have accidentally then, and then later on he said, well, there's a possibility that he was targeting.

HATCHETT: I was thinking he was playing both sides. I think he's just trying to keep tension down in a community that's been very raw with emotions for so many months.

WHITFIELD: Stephanie, you spent a lot of time in the community of Ferguson and communities in surrounding areas to know about that tension. But an arrest like this and under the circumstances of this arrest, is there any way in telling from the people you have spoken with, whether this arrest in some ways brings some relief, or if it at all brings some appeasement to hear that police are crediting the community's participation in information leading to an arrest.

ELAM: I think there's definitely some relief, someone was caught (INAUDIBLE) behind. There's no one who I spoke who said it's a great idea to go out and shoot police officers. There's no one who was thinking that was going to help. In fact, if anything, the people out there protesting pretty much nonstop for 200-some days, are saying that this will push back the movement that they were starting to make ground on, that this is going to put a bit of fissure there.

So the idea that the community was out there and people who were protesting and people in the community were saying and giving tips about who this shooter was that led to an arrest, they're saying they couldn't have done it without them and that they need people to continue to feed that information.

One thing here, though, whether or not his story is true, about whether he is targeting a demonstrator, it does seem thin at this point, the story that he has come up with, and that they're sharing and that they're going with at this point. Whether or not he was targeting a demonstrator, or whether or not he was targeting the police officers, it's still assault, first degree, case closed on that. That will not change.

HATCHETT: Absolutely.

ELAM: It doesn't matter if it's police officers and it doesn't matter if it's just a citizen. That doesn't change and that's why I think at this point, they're continuing with this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom, you have a final thought on that?

FUENTES: Yes, just that when I was in Ferguson Friday talking to some of the witnesses that were out there, they said the police had already moved the protesters off the street into two separate parking lots. When you're standing up the hill at the point where the shots were fired and you look down, if all of the protesters were off the main street, then it was a wide-open shot and only the police officers would have been vulnerable, because there's two strip malls, a tire store and strip mall store that would have blocked the shots if somebody was shooting at the protesters.

The protesters were in parking lots to the side of the street on both sides. Really that only left the police officers down the street and across the street to be shot at.

WHITFIELD: And Judge Hatchett, a final word on this?

HATCHETT: Yes, and I really think that the protesters at the end of the day don't want this on their hands. They want to say, listen, this didn't come from us. We have concerns, and so the quicker they can get this resolved and the more helpful they can be with the police only helps the community. Again I applaud them for coming forward and helping the police.

WHITFIELD: All right. Judge Glenda Hatchett, Tom Fuentes, Stephanie Elam, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it. We'll talk more about this later on.

And then we're also going to talk about a health scare that continues. Eleven Americans are being brought to the U.S. after possibly being exposed to the virus in Western Africa. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New concerns today about the largest group of Americans possibly exposed to Ebola to come home. Eleven aid workers, five of the aid workers who may have been exposed to the virus in Western Africa are now back in the U.S.. They are in housing near Emory University Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for observation. They are not sick and have not been admitted to those hospitals.

The other six patients are expected to arrive in the U.S. either today or tomorrow. They will immediately be transferred to the areas of housing near Emory or the National Institutes of Health in Maryland. None of these individuals have been diagnosed as having Ebola, but health officials are concerned that they may have been exposed while in Sierra Leone, where an American health care worker did contract Ebola.

That patient is now being treated at the NIH in Maryland and is listed in serious condition. CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with me now. So all of this an abundance of caution, really, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We don't exactly know how serious these exposures were. So let me tell you what we do know. So these 11 aid workers - they are clinicians for Partners in Health which is a Boston aid organization, presumably doctors, nurses, et cetera.

One of their colleagues got sick. They came to that colleague's aid. Later it turned out that that colleague had Ebola. So the question is, when they came to that colleague's aid, how sick was that person? Were they just a little bit sick in which case they probably didn't give anyone Ebola? Or were they very sick and did the colleagues come in contact, let's say with vomit or with other bodily fluids? That would be a serious exposure.

We just don't know how serious the exposure is, but Fred, it's serious enough that they want these people out of Africa and very close to one of these specialty hospitals.

WHITFIELD: So a simple Q&A to these healthcare workers who knew all about these symptoms and signs, asking them if they came into contact would not have been sufficient enough? I guess there was still a feeling that they needed to be transferred to the U.S. and held under observation, as opposed to being under observation while they are still working in West Africa?

COHEN: Exactly. If they're on observation while in West Africa, and all of sudden one of them spikes a fever, then they're getting treated in West Africa. We know the treatment here is much more successful. When you take look at the 10 Americans who have already been treated in the United States, eight out of 10 survived and two who didn't survive got treatment very, very late in the game. We have an excellent track record in this country, in really curing people of their Ebola as long as we catch it soon enough.

WHITFIELD: And the transfer of these individuals, usually that's in large part funded by a private entity, a private enterprise, so they can get this kind of treatment in the U.S.?

COHEN: Right. Because these are aid workers who have risked their lives to go work in West Africa, and so then that organization, the way it's worked in the past, the organization pays to bring them back. It's not cheap. We're talking - they're not getting on a -

WHITFIELD: These are special flights. They're not getting on a commercial planes. They're getting on private jets that are made specially to carry people in this situation. They're going to be housed for three weeks, 11 people housed for three weeks. I mean this is not an expensive -

WHITFIELD: It's a big venture. All right. Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate it.

All right. So what exactly happened at the White House 11 days ago involving U.S. Secret Service agents? That is now the question the head of the Secret Service, Joe Clancy, is likely going to have to answer when he appears on Capitol Hill this week. There have been questions about an incident when agents allegedly crashed a car near the White House. Others sources say they just bumped a cone. Sources have told CNN that they refute the insinuation that there was drinking and driving even involved.

So with me now is Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, she's a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, and has served on the Homeland Security committee, with me now from Houston. Good to see you.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, SENIOR MEMBER, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Fredricka. Good to be with you this afternoon. WHITFIELD: So what kind of clarity are you getting about what exactly

happened? Or what might have happened?

JACKSON LEE: Fredricka, interestingly enough I was in Colombia during the incident that we all wish to forget, where Secret Service agents were engaging with prostitutes and I was in the midst of the bombarding of the media and the outrage that both Colombians and people in the United States and certainly this was a presidential mission where the president was in Colombia for, of course, diplomatic reasons. That was a very sad occasion.

Of course we've had a number of occasions since then. I'm always a believer in getting the facts. I'm also a believer in letting the American people know and the world know that our president, which is a chief responsibility and concern, and I'm glad to say this of Republicans and Democratic members of Congress, that the commander in chief and his family are safe.

That is what we want to know, above all else. Bad behavior, poor facts, we want to know that they are safe. That's going to be the singular question that many of us are going to be asking as we meet this week.

WHITFIELD: So it seems as though the incident 11 days ago at the White House is still very murky. It's unclear exactly what may have happened, if it was an incident. If there was anything to even speak of, because apparently at first it sounded like a big drunk and driving, crashing of barricades, and then there were some back- pedalling of maybe that didn't happen. Maybe the two agents who have been reassigned weren't drinking anyway.

So does this exemplify even without clear cut answers that there's a big problem within the U.S. Secret Service, there's an organization problem? Is it something that this new director can even eradicate or fix, having been in the job a very short amount of time now?

JACKSON LEE: Fredricka, your assessment is right. The facts are murky. When I sent out my statement last week, I said if these facts prove to be true, then these individuals, from my perspective, should be terminated, but again the facts are murky.

First it was a hitting of the barrier, then it was a rolling through. For all we know, these individuals as the facts come out may have been responding to the fact that senior agents were called to the scene or had heard that there was a scene that might have been a potentially bomb, and they might have been actually arriving there even though this had been at a retirement party, so I really want to get the facts.

But here's the real crux of the issue that I thought we had corrected and I did have a chance to speak to Director Clancy. What I know is good news is that he recognizes that there has to be changes, but the bad news is that it took four, five days for Director Clancy to get this information, as well as the White House. That is absolutely unacceptable. As members of Congress, we find that disturbing, and again it infringes upon the purity of the concept that the White House, the president, his family are always safe. That has to be fixed immediately. Why did it take so long? This is a new technological society that you can tweet the director? You can e-mail or text or gives those old-fashioned cell phone calls and get the information to him. That's something that I will looking at, as well as the issue of the bomb.

WHITFIELD: Does this underscore a concern about whether there's a culture of a kind of code of silence within the Secret Service, or perhaps even an above-the-law kind of culture? That maybe is bigger than any one director of the U.S. Secret Service?

JACKSON LEE: I guess I'm an optimist and I believe that when you put your mind to it you can fix it. In this instance, this is an (INAUDIBLE) organization - it has great history in the United States. It has a storied history of great respect, so there's a lot of talk about the good old boy system, and that there are people that live their life in the Secret Service agency, where they may not think they have to abide by the rules, but the president has confidence in Director Clancy, we have not in essence taken out confidence - or a commitment to him being able to do the job away, as members of Congress, at least most of us.

And so I am really going to point in the direction of the director to change - let's just change procedures. If there's a culture, procedures and processes and the law can overcome that. You need to set up a point point-by-point change that any incident, in fact - I have offered a suggestion to have a regular cell phone and red cell phone, and that these agents no matter where they are know that Director Clancy is there to receive the immediate information of an incident that occurs.

I know this is a big country and the president travels internationally, but there's no greater responsibility than our commander in chief and his family. I think every incident that infringes upon that safety and security should be known by the director in less than 24 hours. Certainly this incident of the bomb, Fredricka, was something to be concerned about.

The incident with the woman who threw this down turned out to be a box. The actions of the Secret Service agents, one seemed to have injured by the car, we have to say that they acted bravely, and we need to get the facts on that, why she was able to drive off. But we do know one Secret Service agent did follow her to the car, and was probably following protocol, we need to know that. Again the number one -

WHITFIELD: And you think this is being upstaged now by this so- called, this other so-called incident?

JACKSON LEE: It absolutely is, Fredricka, and I would say to the American people we owe you an explanation, and we owe the explanation that the president and his family are absolutely safe. WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to leave it right there.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, thank you so much on questions we will go to the Director, Joe Clancy later on this week. Appreciate it.

JACKSON LEE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Also still ahead, a millionaire under arrest this afternoon. Next, why police have had their eye on him for years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Real estate heir Real state heir Robert Durst is sitting in a New Orleans jail right now, weeks later after he cavalierly talked about murder cases that he has been tied to on an HBO documentary. Durst's lawyer confirms the arrest is related to a 2000 slaying of Susan Berman, a long time friend of Durst.

The eccentric 71-year-old millionaire has also been tied to other homicide investigations, including the disappearance of his wife. Last night's arrest comes just hours before the finale of that documentary titled "The Jinx, the Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" on HBO, owned by CNN's parent company, Time Warner and here is the dramatic promo that's been airing for tonight's final episode, eerily foreshadowing Durst's arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Nothing happens the way it's supposed to happen when it comes to Bobby Durst.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: He was clear enough that I might be dancing with the devil.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Our society is safer with him behind bars. If you back him in a corner, if you threaten his freedom, he'll kill you.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Something big is going to happen.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: I was shocked.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: I need to know.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: He had it coming.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: This was found inside this.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Are you kidding?

UNIDENTIFED MALE: How is this going to back out?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Shasta Darlington has been following this story. Shasta, after being accused of three murders spanning four decades, is this documentary in large part why he was arrested? SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly looks that way, Fredricka. I mean there are a couple of things going on here. According to a law enforcement source we've been told that a Robert Durst is being held for a capital murder charge. This murder was never solved, but recently an attorney general in Los Angeles reopened the case, they started the investigation, and at the same time we've had this documentary come out with lots of new details, lots of new evidence presented, not only related to the Susan Berman case, but to the others that you talked about.

But we also hear pretty extensively from Robert Durst himself, who says in this documentary, of course, he had nothing to do with the killing of his very close friend. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DURST: I feel terrible for Susan. I was astonished that they were putting all this together that I did it or I caused it to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINGTON: But on the other hand the documentary presents a lot of evidence that we haven't seen before. One of the key pieces of evidence is a letter that Robert Durst sent. What they do is they compared that to an anonymous letter presumably written by the murderer of Susan Berman, to the Beverly Hills Police warning that there's a cadaver at her home. What they do is they compared these letters and the handwriting is virtually identical, very similar if not identical, even the misspelling of the word "Beverly."

So no doubt this is something we're going to hear more about. I should also mention, Fredricka, that another tip from that law enforcement source was that part of the reason the FBI moved right now is they were concerned that Robert Durst was preparing to leave the country, so they tracked him down at this hotel where he was checked in under a false name.

WHITFIELD: All right. Shasta Darlington, fascinating case. Thanks so much.

All right. Some senator -

<16:30:01> SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPODENT: ... they were concerned that Robert Durst was preparing to leave the country, so they tracked him down at this hotel where he was checked in under a false name.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: All right. Shasta Darlington, fascinating case. Thanks so much. All right, some senators may be having a second thought about a letter

they wrote to the leaders of Iran about a nuclear deal, but not Mitch McConnell. We'll hear more from the senate majority leader next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Mitch McConnell now says Loretta Lynch confirmation hearings will be delayed because of language in sex trafficking bill that would not allow federal funds to pay for abortion. Some democrats say that wouldn't go far enough. They didn't read all the material apparently. So McConnell says until they resolve this will they move forward. An excuse or is that just how the cookie crumbles? Let's talk more about all of this. My goodness, Adam Goodman and Tharon Jackson, thank you so much. So what is this all about? Is it politics as usual, Adam?

<16:34:45> ADAM GOODMAN, GOP COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: Well, you know, I think this is a thing that annoys people. It's the game that both sides place when they want things done. This is a particular bill, it is 68 pages long, and on page 4, it had the language that's now in play. It was passed unanimously by the judiciary committee that included Senator Schumer and Feinstein, and other democrats. It's politics, but below this and underneath this is a very, very big issue. Human trafficking is a $32 billion industry that's doing terrible things.

WHITFIELD: But why should this sex trafficking bill stand in the way of confirmation hearings? I mean, his is something they have been -- don't our members of congress multitask? Isn't that the issue at hand? You're saying you can't deal with one thing until you deal with the other?

THARON JACKSON, FORMER SOUTH REGIONAL DIRECTOR, OBAMA 2012: It was very disappointing to see the majority leader this morning on State Of The Union basically presented democrats with an ultimatum. But really what the American people really were expecting from this republican leadership was leadership. There's no excuse why he cannot move the act and also stick to his word, basically giving Loretta Lynch, who is extremely qualified to be the next attorney general, a vote. And so to actually put a sort of ultimatum on this, you're not going to vote for this bill, I'm not going to let this hearing go on, I think is just irresponsible.

WHITFIELD: Isn't strange though because we're talking about some members of congress who couldn't wait to get rid of Eric Holder, and this is the answer to that potentially, and now it means Eric Holder has to keep his job a little bit longer. And so I guess it's a little bit confusing, who is happy, who is unhappy here?

GOODMAN: I think everyone is unhappy right now.

JACKSON: Right.

GOODMAN: I think they need to move up, let's put the bottom-line. They need both of these things to move. Human trafficking affects -- 80 percent of the human trafficking victims are women and children, a lot of them 12, 13 years old, it's a horrible tragedy. We have to do something about it. At the same token, we need an attorney general in play as well. This congress needs to get together and get things done.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: The two things seem like they're in concert. You want a top law enforcement dog in place, and you also want to do something about -- nobody is going to advocate sex trafficking in this nation.

JACKSON: At a time when republicans are consistently trying to undermine a president's leadership to be a world leader, to make sure that our world affairs are in place, we need an attorney general who can fight crises like ISIS and other things that are going on, even here in our homeland in Ferguson. And so I think you have to expect for the republicans to really look at what Senator McConnell said today, and I think you're going to see some push back from them also, but another thing I think that is very important about this human trafficking bill is it's OK to be for human trafficking, but do not penalize low-income women and women of color who needs these services with abortion.

WHITFIELD: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

GOODMAN: I think we should act as Americans, not partisans.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's talk about Iran. There would be more fallout because of that letter that many republicans signed. And now so many of the 47 republicans expressing doubt, even regret about having signed that letter that went to Iranian leaders, among them Senator John McCain who saying I regret now having sent that. And so Tom Cotton was on Face The Nation today. He said he doesn't believe he undermined the White House. Secretary Kerry says that he won't apologize to Iran because of this letter. In fact he said I'm quoting him now when he was on Face The Nation, not on your life. I'm not going to apologize for the unconstitutional, unthoughtful action by somebody who has been in the United States Senate for 60-some days. That's just inappropriate.

JACKSON: Here's a clear example. The republicans were the party of no for so long, and this is the second attempt to undermine the president's sole authority to be the person who communicates to our world allies and world affairs. It is not left up to the congress to negotiate this deal with Iran. It's the president's responsibility. And they should let the president to continue to negotiate.

GOODMAN: Short memories, democrats have very short memories. Kerry himself in Nicaragua, Former Speaker Jim Wright, Pelosi in Syria, but the bottom-line is this important thing is, are we going to worry about the etiquette of a letter or whether a nuclear bomb could be aimed at our most true and tried ally, the state of Israel? It's one thing for us to talk about it and we are 6,000 miles away.

JACKSON: Correct. GOODMAN: It's another thing when you're Israel and right on the doorstep of danger. I think when Netanyahu came over here, he actually gave a classroom lessons to Americans about the stakes. Whether you agree with him or not, this is like life and death. I think the letter -- the whole fuss about the letter again is about politics, not about what we need to do, which is secure ourselves.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Pretty unheard of, isn't it?

JACKSON: Yeah, it's not just about the letter. It is about protocol and quite frankly, respect for this administration. I don't think that anyone can really argue the president's record on foreign affairs and making sure we continue to fight terrorism, but when you have 47 senators who now have come out and say they did not sign...

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Some of them, not at of them.

<16:38:45> GOODMAN: That's just a lack of leadership and lack of respect.

WHITFIELD: I guess we'll find out in two days, as it pertains to Israel, whether all of this, whether it's Netanyahu's speech or other things, will mean that he loses job as prime minister, or whether he gets to keep his job. We'll see. Adam Goodman, Tharon Jackson, thank you both. Good to see you both.

GOODMAN: Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. And we will be right back after this.

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<16:45:05> WHITFIELD: Three teenage boys who may have been trying to join ISIS are instead in custody in a police station in Great Britain. London police say they were stopped by Turkish authorities as they attempted to travel to Syria. At least two of them are said to be British. Words of their arrest come as new details surface on the investigation of three British girls who are believed to have already traveled to Syria to join ISIS. CNN Atika Shubert joins us now live from London. So Atika, first, let's talk about the three boys, what are officials saying about how they were apprehended and what are the circumstances?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like better communication between British and Turkish officials, basically counter-terror police here received word that two 17-year olds teenage were traveling from North West London, where they live, to Turkey with the intention of crossing over into Syria. So they notified the Turkish officials, they arrested them there, and then found a 19-year-old also accompanying them. Now, all three have been deported back to the UK. They are currently at a Central London police station and under arrest on suspicion of terror offenses. Now, all of that seems to have worked very well. That's a stark contrast to the three teenage schoolgirls that you might remember a few weeks ago crossed over without any problems from Turkey to Syria, and are now believed to be in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. So things seem to have improved since then, but still many questions how and why those girls were able to cross so easily.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. OK. And then, what about community assistance or surveillance? I mean, how is that perhaps helping to apprehend these young people before they actually get themselves into trouble?

SHUBERT: Well, the key here that many police say is getting to the families first, making the families aware. They need to know what their teenagers are doing online. And then, if they get any suspicion that they might be planning to leave, to try and contact authorities to prevent them from doing so. So in the cases of many these teenagers are going, it's actually the families that call in the police saying hey, listen, my teenager has been gone for a day, I don't know where he is at, I think he might have traveled, and that's usually when they can stop them before they cross over into Syria.

<16:47:10> WHITFIELD: Gosh. Worrisome stuff. All right. Atika Shubert, thanks so much, in London.

Nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. are about to begin. And time is running out to reach a deal. The challenges and the possibilities for success straight ahead.

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<16:53:00> WHITFIELD: And U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry back in Switzerland for more talks with his Iranian counterparts. Talks were set for tonight, but we've been told they will now be delayed until the morning. Kerry said earlier that despite a letter to Iran signed by several republican senators, he would seek to assure Iran, but certainly won't apologize for the letter sent, and U.S. allies will continue to be in talks that congress does not have the authority to change any deal, his message that he's bringing. Joining us right now from the White House with more on this, CNN's Erin McPike. So Erin, some republicans are now saying they regret taking part in that letter to Iran.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, that's right, but the big fight here in Washington is the degree to which congress should be involved, and to that end, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on State Of The Union this morning and he's really pressing the case that they should be. Now also, Secretary of State John Kerry was on CBS' Face The Nation, and he was laying out his side. Listen here to those two comments.

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SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL, MAJORITY LEADER: The main point I think everything needs to understand is the president is about to make what we think is a clearly bad deal. He clearly doesn't want congress involved in it at all, and we're worried about it. And we don't they he all to make a bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not going to apologize for an unconstitutional, unthought out action by somebody who has been in the United States Senate for 60-some days, that's just inappropriate.

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MCPIKE: So there, you hear Secretary Kerry essentially disowning Tom Cotton and the republicans in the senate who sent that letter. The buzz from the Iranian leaders now is that Americans are untrustworthy in large part because of that letter. But by and large, what we've been seeing all weekend from the White House and the state department is they're sending the message for republicans in congress to cool it until the end of March when they reach this deadline to try to get some sort of framework on a deal and then they say congress should weigh in. Fred.

<16:55:10> WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike, thanks so much from the White House. We appreciate it. We'll have much mmore from Newsroom after this.

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<16:58:55> WHITFIELD: All right. Pope Francis making a surprising statement that he may think that his tenure won't last his lifetime as expected.

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POPE FRANCIS (TRANSLATOR): I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief, four, five years, even two or three. Two have already passed. It's a somewhat strange sensation. I have a feeling that the Lord has placed me for a short time, but it's just a feeling, and so I have the possibility open.

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WHITFIELD: So earlier, I spoke with CNN Religion Commentator Father Edward Beck to help us understand why the Pope would say that.

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FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: This is a 78-year-old man. Remember when he was 21, he had a piece of his lung removed. He has not always been in the best health, so he realizes his time is necessarily limited by his age, first of all. Remember that Pope Benedict retired when he was 86, because he felt he really wasn't up to the job anymore, so that's a precedent that has been set. Pope Francis has said of Benedict's retirement, he's opened an institutional door, which means, you know what? Maybe I'll retire, too.

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WHITFIELD: You can watch an all-new episode of CNN's Finding Jesus. That's tonight at 9 PM Eastern. We have so much more straight ahead.