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New Day

Kimmel Hosts "Friends" Reunion; Mother Pleads with ISIS to Release Son; Young Girl Kills Shooting Instructor While Firing Uzi

Aired August 28, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, an unruly passenger forced a Paris-bound airplane to land at Boston's Logan Airport. Massachusetts State Police removed a male passenger from American Airlines Flight 62 from Miami to Paris. That passenger is charged with interfering with a flight crew after he allegedly lunged as a flight attendant. No injuries to passengers or crew thankfully aboard that flight.

All right. Fans of "Friends," brace thy selves. Jimmy Kimmel got part of the gang back together to act out a new episode that apparently he wrote. Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow reprise their famous roles, with Kimmel playing Ross and the dialogue was, well, familiar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like we always say, no one told you life was going to be this way?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you really, really --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just don't do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's like you're always stuck in second gear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it hasn't been your day, you're week, your month or even your year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll be there for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Rachel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That, of course, was the she's theme song, "I'll Be There For You". You know, obviously, Kimmel had to dig real deep for those lines.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: They still look great. The women of "Friends" have held up.

PEREIRA: I know, they didn't age.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And how about that Jimmy Kimmel? He looks great, too.

CAMEROTA: But wait a second, where are the men of "Friends," could they not find them?

PEREIRA: Very good point. They could have.

CAMEROTA: Peculiar.

All right. Let us know what you think, but let's go over to meteorologist Indra Petersons. She's keeping track of the latest forecast, and I know she's been up all night watching waves.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I cannot get enough of this. This is Southern California. You have to remember, yes, they have surf but not like this.

Look at this -- the surf was so big out towards the wedge, that's throughout Orange County. You're talking about 25-foot swells. Look at that. The surfers dive off the top of the swells.

And I have to even show more pictures, you're talking about from a category 5 storm. Look at the swells, 20 to 25 feet where even the most experienced surfers were having trouble even staying on their boards. Remember, there's the dangerous side of it.

Out towards Catalina Islands, looks like two piers were completely taken out and boats overturned and even vehicles where some of these really large waves, sleeper waves, looked like nothing at all and then, out of nowhere, a huge wave came out.

And, unfortunately, this is not the situation just on the West Coast, but even on the East Coast, as we have Hurricane Cristobal still out on the waters there, and now, even this morning, another development and tropical disturbance building around the gulf around Corpus Christi as well, even around the gulf. If you're heading out there for Labor Day weekend, strong rip currents and high surf, so high you may not be thinking.

Cristobal is way out here, but look at this, 8 to 12 feet still, even when you talk about in the Atlantic.

So, yes, strong or very heard waves as strong as rip currents, we're talking about a high risk of rip currents still in the water, so keep in mind. I know it's Labor Day weekend, and everybody wants to get in the water and it's going to be warm in many places. Please be careful, just keep in mind.

In New York City, first half of the weekend looks good, second half, where it gets a little ugly out there. Chicago seeing showers throughout the entire weekend. We're talking about West Coast, East Coast, everyone looking at this unbelievable high surf. BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) waves.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, it's great with warnings, but surfers love it.

PETERSONS: They love it, but, unfortunately, it still takes lives.

PEREIRA: See bodies flying through the air.

PETERSONS: Experienced surfers. They travel there and they are literally propelling off the top, amazing.

BERMAN: Thanks so much, Indra.

A mother's plea to terrorist to release her son. American Steven Sotloff remains held captive By ISIS. His life so much in jeopardy this morning. A former FBI kidnapping negotiator will joins us to talk about this.

CAMEROTA: Plus, a 9-year-old at a shooting range kills her instructor by accident. How many are asking why a 9-year-old is learning to fire an Uzi? We'll debate that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A frantic race under way this morning to save an American in the grasp of ISIS as his mother makes a desperate appeal for his life. American Steven Sotloff was taken hostage by the terror group ISIS, and his life is really now hanging in the balance. An ISIS fighter threatened to execute him after killing James Foley, this for what they say is the U.S. airstrikes and retaliation for air strikes in Iraq.

Sotloff's mother has made an impassioned plea directly to the leader of ISIS, begging for her son's freedom.

Former FBI lead international kidnapping negotiator Chris Voss joins me now to break down the statement.

And, Chris, it is such a deliberate, calculated statement right from the get-go. I want to ask you some very specific things about this starting, starting with how she addresses the leader of ISIS. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIRLEY SOTLOFF, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED U.S. JOURNALIST: I'm sending this message to you Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Qureshi, al-Husseini, the caliph of the Islamic State.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The caliph of the Islamic State.

CHRIS VOSS, FORMER FBI LEAD KIDNAPPING NEGOTIATOR: Right.

BERMAN: Of course, that's how he wants to be known. The rest of the world certainly doesn't acknowledge that. Why did she use the title? VOSS: Well, I think this is extremely appropriate. It's very

courageous of her to be this respectful of him. That's the title that he wants to be addressed by. It's simply a matter of respect on her part to do that, and I think it's a good -- very good idea for her to personalize it using his full name and his title and just being this respectful.

BERMAN: Why is it important to personalize it?

VOSS: Because then she becomes a person and the entire issue of is she an honorable person and honor in the family flows from her to her son, then that's appropriate. So, she's trying to be a very honorable person and a very respectful person.

BERMAN: One of the other things that's notable as you watch the entire statement is how much she refers to religion and how she tries I think to prove her knowledge of Islam. Listen to this part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOTLOFF: Since Stephen's capture, I've learned a lot about Islam. I've learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others.

I've always learned that you, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad who protected people of the book.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: She personalizes, as you say. She shows respect, as you say. And now, she's bringing up religion. Do this for religious reasons.

VOSS: Well, it's important that she's also trying to show that she's respecting the religion. She's not trying to pretend that she's a Muslim or that she's converted in any way. She's maintaining her status actually as a non-Muslim who is respecting the religion, and, therefore, simply, essentially asking questions about what some of the rules might be or what some of the obligations might be or even what his opportunities and options might be.

BERMAN: Even by your set of rules, each by your faith, even by your standards, she's saying, you should release him.

VOSS: She is. But she -- again, she's saying it from a very important position in that -- out of respect and she's being very courageous, and she's also not trying to pretend like she's a Muslim herself, which is very important. She can talk about the religion as long as she's not trying to pretend like she's teaching him. She's actually inquiring in some ways in a very respectful fashion.

BERMAN: All right. One other thing that she does that permeates this message here is reference to family. Listen to this part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SOTLOFF: Steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson. He is an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak. As a mother I ask for justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. I want what every mother wants, to live to see her children's children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I want what every mother wants. Now, the first time I saw this part of me thought she's trying to tug at the heart strings of a group that by all evidence appears to have no heart. I mean, they are massacring people.

VOSS: That's the way it looks on the surface. And again, she's trying to understand and honor effectively what their rules are in their culture.

In this part of the world, family is extremely important. Family is very important in many parts of the world, of course, but especially in this part of the world, and she's trying to show that she understands that and shows those values.

BERMAN: She knew what she was doing here. Do you think she did this on her own or do you think she was instructed by someone like you who is an expert on these types of things?

VOSS: From what I understand she didn't have any help with this, as far as I know. I've actually made some inquiries and I think what has happened since her son has been taken she's tried to do as much as she can to learn about this part of the world in the event that there is a time that she has the opportunity to communicate on his behalf.

BERMAN: Any risk to doing something like this, any risk that you make the situation worse?

VOSS: Now, there's really no downside to do this, and I think she could only help her family, she could only help her son by doing this. The chances, given the context of the current environment over there, the threat level is very high, and this was a completely appropriate thing to do at this time, and even though it's very long odds, if you will, it's better than no odds.

BERMAN: You've been in these negotiations before. What kind of reaction do you think is reasonable to respect -- expect? Obviously, what we all want is for him to be released, but aside from that right now, what kind of reaction do you think might come from ISIS?

VOSS: Well, the issue here from ISIS is do they think they are worthy of this level of respect. For her to go this far out and show them this much respect. If they in fact think they are worthy of it, they should respond. If they don't respond it might be an indication that they don't think they are worthy of this sort of demonstration of respect.

BERMAN: We'll see what they do. We'll certainly wish the best for this mother who clearly loves her son very, very much. Chris Voss, thanks very much.

VOSS: Thanks for having me here.

BERMAN: Next on NEW DAY, a gun instructor's final moments, he dies while teaching a 9-year-old to fire an Uzi. How young is too young to handle a gun like this? We're going to discuss the issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: A tragedy at an Arizona shooting range is reigniting the gun debate this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): You may have seen this video, captures the final moments of shooting instructor Charles Vacca's life. He was teaching a 9-year-old, a 9-year-old girl how to use an Uzi, the submarine, I keep saying submarine, submachine gun. The gun recoiled, causing her to lose control of the gun, accidentally killing Vacca in a spray of bullets. The video is sparking so many questions, especially about the age that children should be allowed to handle guns.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins join us now. Good to have you both. We just had to talk about this because it has lit up the news and social media. Ben, you have experience -- both of you have experience with guns. I want to talk about instruction, first of all. Instructor training specifically.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

PEREIRA: Look at this video and tell us what you see that is not right.

FERGUSON: A lot of things. First, if you're an instructor, you always stand behind the person.

PEREIRA: No matter their size.

FERGUSON: No matter their size because if they lose control of the gun you don't want to be beside them. I grew up, my dad was in law enforcement. He never stood beside me. It was always a simple issue of I'm behind you. My hands are able to get over that gun and the other issue, it's not as much an issue about age as it is about the person shooting the gun. I would never hand an Uzi to my mom or wife or a lot of my friends because of the nervousness of it.

You have to be proficient. This is not a toy. It's not something -- it's not a theme park, you know. This is a gun that this young girl should have never have been handed based on her ability, and they should have never loaded that magazine with an entire full clip. I mean, if you're going to shoot this, even when I shot my first one, the guy loaded in three bullets because there is going to be muzzle rise. I mean, everyone knows that. And so when you load three, its over and you only get to here. When you load the thing all the way up and you don't know what's going to happen, it's going to come up over your head, especially with a young child. It should have never happened, he should have never given that to her, and if he did he would have had his hands over it.

CAMEROTA: And also, one more thing. We understand that he also, if the media reports are accurate - -

FERGUSON: Sure.

CAMEROTA: - - switched it from - -

FERGUSON: Semi to full, yes.

CAMEROTA: - - semiautomatic to fully automatic.

FERGUSON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So, in other words, its not just pull the trigger one shot, pull the trigger one shot. It's a spray.

FERGUSON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Why?

FERGUSON: Even a lot of military, like, they have fully automatic weapons, but a lot of times they'll shoot in three-shot bursts. I mean, they do that in Iraq and Afghanistan because it is that hard to control a gun like that. I mean, and you want to be on target. You don't want to be shooting fully automatic and it coming up. You're going to shoot a couple, re aim, shoot a couple. I mean, he should have maybe given her two or three bullets at the most and he totally screwed that up.

PEREIRA: Mel, Ben doesn't think its necessarily s a question of age. I think it is. It makes me crazy to think that a 9-year-old is capable of firing 600 to 650 bullets in a minute.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is a military grade weapon developed by the Israeli Army that's meant for a soldier, not a fourth grader on vacation. And so the idea that there shouldn't be an age limit on handling a gun like this, even on private property, even at a gun range, is absolutely absurd. And to me, you know, I mean -- I'm somebody who loves to shoot a .12 gauge shotgun and shoot clay pigeons and we introduced our 9-year-old to target shooting this summer while we were on vacation, which makes the story to me even more senseless.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBBINS: What's that?

PEREIRA: We're showing the picture of your little one there at the shooting range.

ROBBINS: No, thats - - oh, yes. My father is behind him. He's shooting a .22 caliber rifle, he has

the rifle strapped down to a table, he's sitting down, and that's how you introduce it. If you're going to introduce kids to guns, you do it responsibly. Handing an Uzi to anyone under the age of 18 should be illegal because some adults think that it's okay to do it.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBBINS: (inaudible) talking about assessing the person. Forget it. They shouldn't be able to shoot it unless you've had certain types of training and unless you're a certain age.

FERGUSON: I think part of this is going under the age of the, I mean, the instructor is the person in charge. I shot an Uzi, a fully automatic weapon, before I was 18 years old. I was in a controlled environment. I was there with other people that shot this gun.

CAMEROTA: But not when you were 9?

FERGUSON: Not when I was 9, but again that goes back to the core issue --

ROBBINS: You shouldn't have been allowed to do it, Ben.

FERGUSON: But there's some adults that shouldn't be allowed - -

ROBBINS: Agreed.

FERGUSON: - -to have this gun. It's not an issue so much to me of about the age. It is the issue of if you see the person and they are nervous, they shouldn't be holding probably any gun at that moment in time. You should start them small.

BERMAN: But you yourself said she should never have had the gun, you yourself say there are other people who should never have guns, so what do you do about it? Do you need rules and regulations? Are there some that you would support- -

FERGUSON: I think, I think - -

BERMAN: - - or what if this were, you can't get on frickin' a roller coaster, you know, unless you're this tall.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: I'll put it this way. Its like, you know young kids. Would you give them an ATV? Probably not. Would you give them a little kiddie one with a governor on it? Yes. Its the same thing. There should have been a course. She should have had to take a class at this range to be able to shoot this gun.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

FERGUSON: With her family. You just don't hand a gun to anybody, a powerful gun in that matter. I shot a .22. I went to the range recently with my wife. I didn't hand her my gun because she hates it. It's too big. It doesn't feel comfortable to her, but she's a grown adult. She could handle it, but I don't want to give her something she doesn't know how to really or want to shoot. These are powerful, powerful weapons.

CAMEROTA: And, Mel, as you were saying, it's important to teach children about gun safety. They do need to know the rules and you are doing it responsibly with your son. Do you think it is commonplace for Uzis to be available at gun ranges, or was this a complete outlier in Las Vegas?

ROBBINS: I think it's actually common. I mean, people are making money doing this, and there's a fascination with firing these kinds of weapons. And, you know, the problem with what Ben was just saying, respectfully, Ben, is that yes, there should have been, but there's no laws that require gun ranges to have these types of safety measures in place. And just in Massachusetts, just four years ago, there was an 8- year-old at a gun show that fired an Uzi under the supervision of his father and it recoiled and he shot and killed himself, so this is not an outlier. This is going on in America all over the place.

FERGUSON: And I think one of the most important things about all of this is I hope people tell this little girl and all of America tells her this was not her fault.

PEREIRA: This was a terrible, terrible accident. Absolutely.

FERGUSON: This was not her fault. She should absolutely never had this in her hands, and people should let her know this, because she's going to need counseling.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

FERGUSON: And I hope she gets it, but I hope America responds and lets her know. You're not a murderer, you're not a killer.

PEREIRA: No.

FERGUSON: And she should be getting as much counseling as she needs on this because its going to stick with her for the rest of her life, and that's the tragedy of this.

PEREIRA: But to end that, and I really hope that that is the takeaway for this child because this is a 9-year-old who, feasibly, her life could be changed forever from this and we don't want that to happen. Talk about what needs to happen though, Mel, in terms of regulation because we talked about this before. When we see these things happen, is it about instructor training, is it about limitations on the gun ranges? Is it more about gun control? What is it to you?

ROBBINS: Well, to me personally, and this will never happen because of the NRA, I personally think that nobody should be allowed to fire a weapon like this until they are 18-years-old and that the gun industry, in terms of shooting ranges, should have standard regulations that they need to be following that are what Ben's talking about, somebody going up the scale of firing a .22, then firing a .20 gauge, then firing a .12 gauge and moving up the range so that you develop a comfort level in a controlled environment.

PEREIRA: And a respect, too, right?

ROBBINS: Correct, correct, and you understand how to use the selector, and you understand the stance, and you understand the muzzle rise. So that - - yes, go ahead, Ben.

FERGUSON: And you don't put 30 rounds or 20 rounds in a fully automatic weapon when you're handing it to a 9-year-old child. There should have been maybe two or three bullets at a time. They should have reloaded because that's not going to get away from you without someone being able to stop it, to put their hands over it. But this instructor should have been behind her, not beside her.

ROBBINS: Of course.

FERGUSON: There's so many things here that fell through the cracks and I think that's really on the gun range.

CAMEROTA: But, when common sense does not prevail, as we saw in this case, do you agree with Mel that there could be some regulations involving age and weapons?

FERGUSON: I would be okay with some sort of guaranteed time of learning before you shoot it, but I think the big concern is if we focus so much on age, we're not focusing enough on the reality is the majority of Americans can't buy these guns. You go to a range to shoot them. I shot one before I was 18 years old. It was absolutely no problem and so it was an amazing moment with my dad. I think it was actually my birthday, if I remember correctly, and it was we're going to go shoot something that we don't own, that we can't have.

PEREIRA: There will be people who will say there's no harm in waiting until you're 18 the same way there's probably a 9-year-old that can quite handily operate his dad's tractor on the farm, but should 9- year-olds be driving tractors? Legally, no. Do you know what I mean? There's no harm in waiting.

FERGUSON: I understand that. I don't think there's a harm in waiting, but if you have the right instructor this doesn't happen. And maybe the regulation goes on the instructor. Maybe there is more responsibility with that. Maybe there's more training for them. I mean, this was a bad instructor and it cost him his life.

PEREIRA: Which is a crying shame.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: I hope -- I hope everyone watching rallies behind her because I don't want her to ever think this was her fault. This was not her fault. My heart goes out to her because I cannot imagine the guilt through her life, and I hope that people let her know so when she goes back and Googles this later in life, because you know she will - -

PEREIRA: I know. Oh, she will. FERGUSON: - - that people see that, you know, that people are like this is not your fault.

PEREIRA: Yes.

FERGUSON: This was not your fault, because I can't imagine being that young and thinking that you killed somebody.

CAMEROTA: Of course. I pray her little 9-year-old friends are just as sympathetic.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

FERGUSON: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. Mel, Ben, thank you so much. We know this is going to generate a lot of discussion. It certainly has here. Go on to Facebook, let us know what you think. Facebook.com/newday. Keep the conversation going. We'll get some opinions from you.

BERMAN: This is one thing we're following this morning, a whole lot of things going on. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The White House continues to weigh options on the ISIS threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've now done over 100 air strikes. Those air strikes have been extremely, extremely effecttive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we can't afford to do is get into a full- fledged war in Syria and Iraq. It would be a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Separatists are being backed by fighters who have crossed the border from Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're also concerned by the Russian government's unwillingness to tell the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother of 31-year-old journalist Steven Sotloff, desperately appealing directly to the ISIS leader.

SHIRLEY SOTLOFF, MOTHER OF STEVEN SOTLOFF: I ask you to please release my child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sotloff's fate depends upon what President Barack Obama does next in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota alongside John Berman. Great to be with you. Chris and Kate are off today.

We begin with the desperate race to save the life of American hostage Steven Sotloff.

(BEGIN VIDE0TAPE)

CAMEROTA (voice-over): He was last seen in the grisly ISIS video of James Foley's beheading. Sotloff's mother, Shirley, delivering a video message directly to the leader of ISIS, begging him to follow Islamic teaching and not hold her son responsible for the sins of others. This as we're now learning possibly a second American has died fighting alongside ISIS terrorists. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more.

SOTLOFF: He's an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An impassioned plea by the mother of 31-year-old journalist Steven Sotloff held captive by ISIS. Steven seen here in the same video after the sickening murder of James Foley.

SOTLOFF: My son Steven is in your hands.

MARQUEZ: Shirley Sotloff desperately appealing directly to the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, eight days after the militant group threatened to execute her son. In the nearly two-minute statement, Shirley demonstrates her knowledge of Islamic history, culture and morality.

SOTLOFF: I've learned a lot about Islam.

MARQUEZ: Trying to persuade Steven's captors to release him, appealing to the same religion ISIS says justifies its violence.

SOTLOFF: I've learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others.

MARQUEZ: She even addresses Baghdadi by his self-appointed title of Caliph, a possible strategic move playing to his stated authority you.

SOTLOFF: You, the Caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life.