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New Day

50 U.S. Troops Arrive in Anbar Province; Reports Cite Errors by Clinic that Treated Joan Rivers; Protests Erupt in Mexico Over Missing Students

Aired November 11, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a new threat from ISIS -- they will only become stronger. In a new video they call out both Presidents Obama and Bush.

And a new round of U.S. troops enters Iraq's Anbar Province, but only to assist Iraqi fighters. The question is what will happen that they're in the middle of a war zone.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Violent attack -- Israel promising to crack down after a string of attacks across major cities, is this the beginning of a vicious new trend?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Shocking new details, a federal investigation into Joan Rivers' death shows serious mistakes were made during the surgery that led to her death. How could a simple procedure go so terribly wrong?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, November 11th, Veterans Day, we thank all of you who served and your families, because they served as well. It's a few clicks before 6:00 in the east.

Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here and breaking news, overnight, another video released by ISIS, this one may be the worst yet. A lot of it we will not show, it's loaded with horrible images of slaughtered ISIS victims that just prove the need to stop them immediately. There's also a warning for the west.

CAMEROTA: The release of the video coincides with the arrival of 50 American soldiers in the most dangerous part of Iraq, the Anbar Province, this as Pentagon officials try to confirm whether U.S. airstrikes over the weekend hit the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi.

CUOMO: We have complete coverage on this for you. Let's begin with Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Chris. That video quite disturbing, but I think it needs to be viewed as another ISIS propaganda tool. Something they are very adept at. A compilation of videos from across the battlefield with their pretty typical messages of attacking the west. This also comes as you say, more U.S. advisers going into Anbar

Province, west of Baghdad, to try and set some things up for even more U.S. troops to go in. The move now by the U.S. is to get those troops in to work to help train the Iraqis to get them back on the offense -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Barbara, thank you very much.

There's also this dynamic that will be going on with Iran, whether Americans like it or not. So let's bring in Reza Sayah. He's in Tehran this morning.

Reza, what do we know?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to the nuclear talks with Iran, no progress at this point. These two sides have done a very effective job of keeping these talks secret. But it's clear that they want a deal done, and they're negotiating in earnest because of the long hours that they've spent in Oman yesterday and throughout these negotiations.

But the core issues, the core demands when it comes to the U.S. and Iran on these nuclear talks remain unresolved. When you look at the U.S., they're demanding Iran to dismantle much of its nuclear facility, to get rid of many of the centrifuges, to reduce some of the nuclear enrichment capacity.

Iran says, "No, we're doing all of that legally. It's our right."

And when it comes to Iran, they want the U.S. to get rid of all of these economic sanctions that have crippled the economy for so long. Like any good negotiation, like any good deal, you have to give something substantial to get something. That hasn't happened yet. Fascinating times, two weeks leading up to the November 24 deadline. That's the final day where they can reach a deal -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Now obviously those talks go hand in hand now with what's going on in the fight against ISIS, because Iran obviously has a role there to play, too. The two negotiations, Alisyn, are going to wind up being connected.

CAMEROTA: All right. Let's analyze more of this and bring in Bobby Ghosh and Peter Beinart to dissect all this a little bit more.

Bobby is a CNN global affairs analyst and the managing editor of "Quartz." And Peter is a CNN political commentator, a contributing editor at Atlantic Media and a senior columnist at "Haaretz."

Gentlemen, thanks so much. Great to see you this morning.

OK. The 1,500 more advisers that President Obama is sending to Iran, Peter, what will they really be doing?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think they're going to be training the Iraqi army in preparation for an assault on the areas of Sunni-dominated Iraq that the Iraqi army is going to try to take back this spring, ultimately leading to Mosul, the big city north of Baghdad which was taken last year.

I think the big question, is the Iraqi army, even with this preparation, even with this American help, going to be able to fight effectively. It was stripped of its best officers, who are mostly Sunnis, in the de-Ba'athification. It's been ravaged by the sectarian conflict and lack of strong national identity. So far, there's not much evidence we've seen of its ability to fight effectively.

CAMEROTA: Bobby, is there any reason for this to feel like mission creep, of more soldiers going back to Iraq now?

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the numbers keep increasing. Their role is being expanded. Now they're going out into Anbar Province to do some site reconnaissance. Yes, this does feel a lot like mission creep.

One more point to add to Peter's, is that an important role that they'll be playing is psychological. They're there to give some spine to the Iraqi military. But also to try and prevent the Iraqi politicians from interfering in the senior appointments in the military. That was a big part of the problem.

The previous government basically went in there, took out the senior officers, replaced them with people who were -- had no qualifications, beyond the fact that they were Shia. The presence of the American soldiers doesn't completely prevent that, but at least we should be paying close attention.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the Iranian nuclear deal. The talks that are underway this week. They, we are told, are not going well. Certainly, no deal has been struck. It seems as though it would be mutually beneficial for both sides to reach some sort of deal. The world doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons, and Iran wants the sanctions lifted. What's been the sticking point, Peter?

BEINART: Well, the sticking point has been partly the number of centrifuges that Iran wants to maintain. Iran wants to maintain enough centrifuges that they would be able to -- they would be able to ramp up their nuclear program quickly. And in both the United States and Iran, you have strong opposition to a deal. You have strong opposition for Iranian hard-liners and especially with the newly- elected Republican Senate, you have strong opposition in Congress to eliminating any sanctions.

And that would be what the west would have to bring to the table, would be a lifting of sanctions. So right now it looks like a heavy lift on both sides.

CAMEROTA: But they've been working on this for years, Bobby. It seems as though -- and it expires in a week.

GHOSH: Yes, 24th of November is the deadline. Deadlines can and have in the past been changed. But the political sort of thing, they're moving very fast now. The Iranians have two big things to consider: one, the price of oil keeps coming down, which weakens their bargaining position, because their economy depends so heavily upon oil.

And other thing, as Peter said, you have now -- very soon in January you'll have a Republican Congress, and the Iranians know that once that happens, that's also going to undermine the chances of a deal. So there's a lot of pressure on them to do a deal quickly.

CAMEROTA: Well, here's something that didn't help a deal. This was a tweet that was sent out by Iran's supreme leader. Let me read it to you. It says, quote, "This barbaric wolf-like and infanticidal regime of Israel, which spares no crime, has no cure but to be annihilated." Hash tag hands off al Aqsa.

So that doesn't sound, Peter, like the tone of something of someone who wants to see a deal done.

BEINART: No, you see these different elements here of the Iranian regime. On the one hand you have the foreign minister, who has been trying to project an image of greater openness to the west. And yet you also have elements in the regime led by the supreme leader who are very hostile to any rapprochement with the west and see their ability to galvanize support in the Muslim world by being the most militant anti-Israel, most militant anti-western power in the Middle East. And so the question is, can this regime in Iran, does it really want a deal? Which would lead to a different kind of a relationship with the west.

CAMEROTA: So last, Bobby, what happens if there is no deal by November 24th?

GHOSH: Well, if there is no deal and you have a Republican Congress in January, that means the wheels will begin to grind much slower. The sanctions will remain. Iran will continue to hurt and the prospects of the deal will fade the longer this goes on.

The price of oil is something you watch very closely. If it keep slipping down -- if it goes down into the low 70s, then that's a big game-changer potentially. One point worth making -- there's a lot of -- there's some expectation that a deal with Iran will open up the battlefield for cooperation between the U.S. and Iran against ISIS. I would be skeptical, very skeptical about that. Iran's objectives in Syria and Iraq, very different from ours. We may have mutual enemies, but this is one battle where your enemy's enemy is not necessarily your friend.

CAMEROTA: Bobby and Peter, thanks so much for helping us understand what's going on over there. We appreciate it.

And be sure to stay with us in our next hour, because we'll be speaking about all of this and much more with Arizona Senator John McCain.

All right. Chris.

CUOMO: A rash of stabbings has tension rising in Israel. Palestinian attackers allegedly stabbing an Israeli woman to death at a West Bank bus stop. This came just hours after an Israeli soldier was stabbed and killed in Tel Aviv.

Let's go to senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in Jerusalem with the latest. And to be clear, Nic, this is not seen as ordinary crime, right?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It isn't. There's a real concern here that this might be an escalation leading to a wider outbreak -- outspread of violence. What we're seeing today is an increasing number of troops being deployed to the West Bank that is out of concern for this type of attack. They will be monitoring bus stops and the sorts of places where we've seen these attacks taking place over the recent couple of days and weeks.

The attack yesterday that killed a 24-year-old Israeli woman, she was knocked down by a van driver who then gets out of the vehicle and comes back and stabs her at the side of the road. So this increased security presence is designed to head off that sort of attack.

But tensions are high across all communities here. The police report that in an Arab village just south of Jerusalem, five cars in that Arab village, they had their tires punctured and Hebrew graffiti sprayed on them. So we're, there is a real concern among tit-for-tat type violence in some areas at the moment.

So there is a real concern among people on the streets here that where they stand at a bus stop or wait for a train, there's a potential for this sort of knife attack or drive-by type of attack, Chris.

CUOMO: And that's going to create anxiety enough, let alone the fears of escalation. Nic Robertson, thank you very much -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Well, the New York City clinic where Joan Rivers had what was supposed to be a routine throat procedure made, quote, "serious mistakes" which contributed to her death. This is according to an extensive report by a federal agency. Rivers died in September, you'll remember, a week after going into cardiac arrest at the Yorkville Endoscopic Clinic. So what exactly were those errors at the clinic? CNN's Jean Casarez has all of the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) : A probe into the Manhattan clinic where famed comedienne, Joan Rivers, was treated before her death reveals that they made mistakes.

A 22-page report issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found a list of disturbing issues during Rivers' procedure, including a staff member snapping a photo of Rivers while she was sedated, violating the faculty's policy on use of personal cell phones in any patient area.

The CMS report quotes that staff member saying, "Maybe patient No. 1 would like to see this in the recovery area." Rivers' name is not mentioned in the CMS report, and CMS would not confirm the person referred to only as patient No. 1. is Rivers. However, the report matches the date, circumstances and age of the late comedienne. Other disturbing details outlined by CMS found the clinic failed to

identify Rivers' deteriorating vital signs. And failed to consistently document the dose of the sedative Propofol; failed to get Rivers' informed consent for each procedure performed; and failed to insure that she was cared for by only authorized physicians.

Yorkville Endoscopy addressed the report in a statement that says in part, "In response to the statement of deficiencies, Yorkville immediately submitted and implemented a plan of correction that addressed all issues raised."

Melissa Rivers' lawyers addressed the findings, saying, "Ms. Rivers is outraged by the misconduct and mismanagement now shown to have occurred before, during and after the procedure." Now her lawyers say Melissa is working toward insuring that what happened to her mother doesn't occur with any other patient.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: And Jean Casarez is with us now for more follow-up on all this. It seems that these are egregious mistakes that they made.

CASAREZ: You know, this is shocking as you read it. And of course, Yorkville Endoscopy said that they immediately took action to change things, and there's so much here. But let's look at the facts.

She went in for a procedure where you put a camera down the throat to look at the area between the throat and the upper intestine. And that was performed by a doctor that is staff there. Her own ENT doctor was there, who according to this report said, after she was sedated, you know, "Let me start with another procedure." So she started with a nasolaryngoscopy, which examines tissues in the nasal passages down to the stomach. She started doing that. According to the report, she couldn't see well, so she stopped. And then the staff doctor began with a scope to do that procedure.

When it was finished, then her own ENT again started that additional procedure. Now here's the thing -- it shows, it cites her vital signs. Her blood pressure was very normal before she was sedated. And after she was sedated, it shows downward spiral. That had to be on a machine.

CAMEROTA: So they just weren't monitoring the downward spiral, it sounds like.

CASAREZ: It will be up to experts to determine the conclusions, but it appears from this report as the vitals kept spiraling downward, no one looked at the machine. Because her ENT doctor, according to this report, started that procedure again, a second time, when her vitals were critically low.

CUOMO: The big concern with the lawsuit is, obviously, Melissa Rivers and the family bringing the suit, is that the body was cremated and is gone. So there is not going to be an investigation into what really happened here. It's just impossible.

CAMEROTA: Didn't they already do an autopsy?

CUOMO: It's impossible. My understanding is that they don't have what they need in cases like this ordinarily. And the message of don't have this happen, Jean, people don't know how many clinics like this are popping up now. It's the new wave of healthcare, specialty clinics, and oversight is a little fuzzy.

CASAREZ: It's so scary, and it's so alarming. Because this was a mother; this was a human being. We all have mothers; this could happen plausibly to anybody. And according to this report, she didn't have to die.

CAMEROTA: That is so tragic. And I mean, to your point, yes, we're concerned about finding out what happened to Joan Rivers, but we're also concerned about going in for our own procedures and making sure that we're safe.

CASAREZ: And let us not forget the photograph. It talks about the staff doctor, the doctor with the scope took a picture of Joan Rivers' ENT doctor and Joan Rivers sedated. That doctor saying, "Joan may like to see this after the procedure."

CAMEROTA: So many things went wrong. Thanks, Jean, for explaining to us.

Let's go over to Michaela. There's more news to talk about.

PEREIRA: Something went right here. We start this morning with an update for you. The United States is Ebola-free, now that New York City doctor Craig Spencer is set to be released from Bellevue Hospital today. Health officials say he is free of the disease and no longer a threat to the public. That means there are no known cases of Ebola in America right now.

President Obama is meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping CAMEROTA: one-on-one this morning in Beijing. On Monday, the two nations reached a deal to extend the time visas would be valid for visitors from a year to a decade.

The president also spent time with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pair crossed paths several times at the APEC summit, discussing Iran, Syria and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

The captain of that South Korean ferry that capsized, killing more than 300 this year, he's dodged the death penalty. Lee Joon-seok was sentenced to 36 years in prison. He came under fire for leaping to safety while hundreds of passengers were stuck on that sinking boat. Hundreds of those victims were high-school students on their way to a class field trip. The verdict was met with -- by outrage by the families of the victims. Prosecutors already are saying that they are going to appeal.

Well, today is Veterans Day, giving us all a chance to honor those who served our country. Vice President Biden will stand in for the president, who as I mentioned is overseas. Joe Biden will lay a wreath, our vice president will lay a wreath during the annual Veterans Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery. There are also ceremonies being held today for the World War II and Vietnam memorials in Washington. Also, a free star-studded Concert for Valor tonight at the National Mall. So all sorts of activities. You know that CNN will cover those ones as we watch the Tomb of the Unknowns today.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. We'll be remembering everyone who served and celebrating them, as well.

An arctic blast, Chris, is battering the Midwest. I'm sure you can already feel it. Let's go over to Indra Petersons, who's going to tell us more about it.

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I mean, you may have seen the video, right? You're talking about over a foot of snow in places like Minnesota, even out towards Wisconsin. Look at all this. So early in the season. Many places seeing the amount of snowfall they typically see for the entire month of November in just one storm.

So yes, snow is still out there. But not going to be the story today, as the low is exiting out of the upper Midwest. Just keep in mind, if you're in the east side, right here on the map, this is where you want to be. You're behind the warm front. Temperatures are actually still warming for you today.

Good news if you're heading out to the malls in D.C. today for the veterans concert. temperatures near 70 there for your high.

Now behind it, that's where that cold air is going to be dropping in and quickly. Just look at the spread across the country. Talking about 81 degrees out towards Florida. And single digits, once you take a look out towards Montana. Look at the drop alone: almost 40 degrees. Even in places like Oklahoma City, so far down to the south we're talking about these big drops. That was yesterday, and the fun, oh, yes, it continues today. Denver, about 12 degrees. Yesterday in the morning it was a good 62 degrees. Down to right now about 12 degrees yesterday in the morning. It was a good 62 degrees. So that's a little bit of a bite, that they're maybe not expecting.

But that cold air spreads farther to the east. For places like New York City, going from the 60s down to the 40s. Not until about the second half of the week to keep in mind. Bearer of bad news. I'm just going to keep that sting going. This is round one. Round two of cold air is coming in right behind it. So when you think it's cold, how long is it going to last? For a while, how about that?

CAMEROTA: Thanks for nothing.

PETERSONS: You're welcome.

CUOMO: Distraction. You're married to a veteran. Thanks to you and thanks to him.

PETERSONS: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: More to him. CUOMO: More to him. Well, the families count.

CAMEROTA: Thanks. Thanks, Indra.

Protests are erupting in Mexico, outrage over the disappearance and possible murder of dozens of students. Things are getting so out of hand that the airport in Acapulco had to be shut down. Is the Mexican government doing enough to get people answers?

CUOMO: Plus, we're going to take you inside what the grand jurors may be considering in the Ferguson situation. What are they going to look at? What does it mean to them? What are the key moments in their analysis. And just what does a grand jury have to decide for there to be an indictment? A lot of people are confused about this. We're going to give you an expert's take on it. Coming up, stay with us.

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CUOMO: The Mexican resort city of Acapulco erupting in violence Monday. Protesters enraged by the kidnapping and possible massacre of 43 college kids. They just took over the airport there and shut it down for three hours. We're learning at the same time about why those students were abducted and who may be behind it.

Let's bring in Ana Maria Salazar. She's editor in chief of MexicoDailyReview.com and a former Pentagon and White House official. Thank you very much for being with us this morning.

Which way do you see this situation going right now in terms of public outrage? What could be next?

ANA MARIA SALAZAR, EDITOR IN CHIEF, MEXICODAILYREVIEW.COM: There's going to continue to be more protests. The families are clearly not satisfied with the investigation, as you know. The bodies were burned. There's really not very much left. The Mexican government stated yesterday that they have two pieces of bones that were sent to Austria to see if they can identify DNA of some of the 43 students that have disappeared.

But the likelihood of protesters continuing not only in Guerrero where this took place, that's the state of Guerrero. But also in Mexico City and other parts of the country.

CUOMO: Well, it seems to be warranted. Just in terms of how much has been put out there in terms of information and action in this regard. Ana, tell us why these kids were taken in the first place. What do we know?

SALAZAR: Well, what we know is that there was a very, very corrupt mayor and his wife who pretty much ran part of an organization called Guerrero Sunillos (ph), a criminal -- it's a drug-trafficking organization. And the wife was about to have an event where she was going to announce that she was seeking to be elected as mayor. She wanted to replace her husband.

A group of students from a nearby student college decided to protest -- and there's some questions as to why they did this. But they were going to go. They stole some buses, went over to this area called Iguala, the city of Iguala. And when the mayor found out, he ordered his police chief, go get those kids.

The question is, did he mean go get them and kill them, or go get them and give them to the criminal organization that I'm running. But they did that. The police turned over these 43 students, at least that's what the evidence shows, to this criminal organization. They were taken to a garbage dump. Some of them died on the way. They killed the other -- those who were not killed at that point, dumped their bodies into this garbage dump, burned them for more than -- I don't know -- ten hours, 12 hours. And there's really not very much left of these -- of the bodies.

Now, the other horrific part of all of this, Chris, is as they were searching for where these kids may be, they found other mass graves. They found 38 other bodies. That at least four of them have been identified. So this is just a horror story.

And I think the outrage and the protests that we're seeing is somewhat also linked to not only the disappearance and the likelihood that these kids have been murdered. But also, you know, violence in Mexico in general. There's this perception that it's out of hand.

CUOMO: Well, look, there's no question that life has become way too cheap in the drug wars in Mexico. That won't be news.

However, these were college kids protesting, and so many of them to be caught up in this. And for it to just be kind of, you know, just -- kind of ignored on the federal level of government there, how do you explain it?

SALAZAR: Well, I don't think they're ignoring it. The problem is, when you have such outrage, you really have to let people protest. And I think that's what's going on right now.

If you watch how the government is handling -- both at local level and at federal level, I mean, you really can't send in the police; and you can't send in the soldiers, because the possibility of people getting killed just in the protest is very high.

So I think what's going to be interesting is to how to figure out how there's going to be a closure to not only the fact that these kids have probably been murdered; at least that's what the evidence shows. But in general this outrage of, you know, why is there so much violence? And it's linked to political corruption. The fact that nobody is prosecuted. The fact that nobody pays the price of being so -- you know, belonging to these criminal organizations. So it's going to be a huge, huge challenge for President Enrique Pena Nieto.

CUOMO: Right. Who's in China right now, obviously. That's a big APEC conference going on there. But a little surprising we'd leave the country at this time. Seventy-four people arrested. The question is what is the administration of justice? Who actually goes to jail? What actually happens? We will stay on this, Ana Maria Salazar, with your help. Thank you

for helping us do the reporting. We look forward to following up on this story for the families and for justice.

SALAZAR: Yes. Thank you so much, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. There's stunning new claims involving the death of Joan Rivers. Deadly mistakes were allegedly made by a Manhattan clinic. So we will show you what's in that new report.

And imagine leaving your home to go to work, only to find your car and driveway gone when you come home. Swallowed up by an enormous sinkhole. This is happening right now in a Florida neighborhood. And we have got the incredible footage ahead.

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