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New Day

2015 NBA All-Star Weekend is Here!; Debating the Power to Fight ISIS; "American Sniper" Murder Trial; ISIS on the Move in Iraq

Aired February 13, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS on the move in Iraq. The militants taking over the town of al Baghdadi, attacking an air base with rocket fire where hundreds of U.S. marines are training Iraqi troops. This is the same base that was struck by mortar fire last year.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Information from an al Qaeda laptop has reportedly been a gold mine for U.S. intelligence. According to the "New York Times," the laptop seized last fall after a raid on an al Qaeda leader's hideout in Afghanistan contained key information about the terror group's plans in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Officials telling "The New York Times," the information has led to an increase in night raids on al Qaeda and the Taliban.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The case of three North Carolina Muslim students shot execution style is now being investigated by the FBI as a possible hate crime. The announcement of this follows an emotional prayer service at the chapel hills campus. Thousands came out to pay homage to the young victims.

We're also learning more now about the suspect, Craig Steven Hicks, about his alleged violent past. Neighbors say he always carried a gun, that he was threatening and seemingly obsessed with parking spaces.

CAMEROTA: Well, now we know why Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared to be snoozing during the state of the union address last month. Do not blame the speech. Blame the wine. Last night, at an appearance at George Washington University, Bader explained she'd had a little booze.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: The audience for the most part is awake because they are bobbing up and down all the time.

(LAUGHTER)

GINSBURG: And we sit there stone-faced sober judges. But we're not -- at least I wasn't 100 percent sober because before we went to the State of the Union --

(LAUGHTER)

GINSBURG: -- we had dinner together and Justice Kennedy brought --

ANTONIN SCALIA, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: That's the first intelligent thing you've done.

(LAUGHTER)

GINSBURG: Well, there was a time you came to those dinners, especially with a very fine California wine and Justice Kennedy brought. And I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine to accompany it.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: To pair it with a nice California wine. I appreciate that.

CAMEROTA: Who hasn't been there? OK, after a little --

PEREIRA: Love it. I love it.

CUOMO: Yes, especially at that speech. You know, it can only be so good.

CAMEROTA: That's right. Takes a lot of espresso.

PEREIRA: Somebody is going to remix with the blame with the, ah, ah, you know, the alcohol song.

CUOMO: It's always nice to see the nine humanized, as well.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it's so rare.

CUOMO: What goes on beneath the robes.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: Quite delightful.

CUOMO: All right. So the New York Knicks, they're terrible. But New York will still be the center of the basketball universe this weekend and host NBA all-star weekend. And you can't talk about all-stars without bringing in this man, Andy Scholes, with the "Bleacher Report".

This is going to be a good one for you.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, excited about this weekend. You know, Knicks fans deserve this after what they've been through the first half of this season. And also, kickoff tonight before we get started with all of the festivities.

There was one game on the schedule last night. It was a big one. LeBron and the Cavs looking for their 15th win in the last 16 games, taking on the Bulls. You know, Derrick Rose, not an all-star this year, but looked like one last night. He poured in 30 points to lead the bulls to a 113-98 win.

Now, of course, you think of the Bulls, you think of Michael Jordan. Gatorade bringing back one of the best jingles of all time.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

SCHOLES: If I could be like Mike. It's making a comeback, 23 years after the debut. It's going to air during this weekend's broadcast on TNT. This jingle was so good, they made it into a single, sold more than 100,000 copies. I was one of the people that bought one, by the way.

Guys, for the first time ever, it's going to go from the court to the cat walk. LeBron James, he's producing a fashion show tonight, eight players, they're going to be judged in three categories. The board room, they're walking the runway, night out, those are the attires that are going to be judged. TNT studio analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, they're on the judging panel. It's going to air on television tomorrow night 6:30 on TNT.

It's going to be exciting. Some of the stuff these guys wear to the games and postgame interviews, you know, they're going to bring it tonight.

CUOMO: One of the little known competitive angles that you have in the league. They are really into what they wear.

SCHOLES: Absolutely. Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, those guys, they come up with interesting outfits.

CUOMO: Wade, do they have a fashion line or something like that?

SCHOLES: He does. He has some socks.

PEREIRA: All right. You better step it up, Mr. Scholes.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

PEREIRA: Congress struggling with the president's request to authorize military force against ISIS. The proposal is drawing skepticism on both sides of the aisle. So, what are the chances it'll pass?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

U.S. and coalition forces launching new air strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq overnight.

Chris? CUOMO: This as Congress wrestles with the president's request to

authorize military force against ISIS. His proposal is reviving a debate about the scope of wartime powers that the commander-in-chief should have versus they've been giving them. It's a whole big deal.

So, let's talk about, CNN political commentator and Republican consultant Margaret Hoover. Also a host on Sirius XM Radio, can't leave that out.

CNN political analyst and editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast", Mr. John Avlon.

Can we just take one beat on this? There's no question, you haven't had to suffer this yet. This is your baptism to my problem with what's going on with the use of --

CAMEROTA: Oh, I look forward to hearing it. Go ahead.

CUOMO: The president is saying, look, it'd be nice if they'd authorize this for me, but I don't need them to. I believe that this is the latest step away from the Constitution and even the War Powers Act of 1973. Congress has been abdicating its war powers to the president successively over generations. And I think we're going to go farther than ever before with everyone agreeing, the president is right, John Avlon. He doesn't need Congress.

JOHN AVLON, DAILY BEAST: Chris Cuomo --

CUOMO: Where does that come from?

AVLON: -- a conservative argument. You and Sarah Palin and Rand Paul, all in an argument together.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's right. I think you're right.

CUOMO: Margaret Hoover says Chris Cuomo is right.

AVLON: It's getting weirder.

HOOVER: New coalitions everywhere, right? New coalitions.

AVLON: I mean, this is one of the underlying debates. The problem is the practicality, of course, as the president of the United States, you've already troops on the ground for not -- excuse me, not on the ground. You've had air strikes for six months.

And, so, blatantly six months later he's coming around to Congress and saying, look, I don't need to do this, but it's the right thing to do, but I want your authorization. But it is murky constitutional ground. You're absolutely right.

CAMEROTA: Chris goes Constitution. I'm going to go fairy tale. I believe that this is the goldilocks of war authorization. Some people think it's too hot, some think it's too cold. Some think it's too ambiguous. What's Congress going to do, Margaret?

HOOVER: Look, they're going to fight about it because nobody agrees. I mean, you have everybody from Marco Rubio and the hawks saying forget if you're going to win a war, give the president limited authority. And hopefully the president's smart enough to get it done as quickly as possible, which we all know can't happen here, because this is just, as we all know, this is a long war.

Likewise, you have libertarian, noninterventionist Republicans pairing with progressives on the left who don't think that the president should be involved and want to use their constitutional authority to prevent the president from getting involved. So you do have these new coalitions everywhere.

AVLON: Yes.

HOOVER: And I think there's going to be an open debate that's going to be really messy. Which frankly, that's what the democratic process should be.

AVLON: Yes.

HOOVER: And hopefully we can tease a strategy out of it. That's the overlying problem.

AVLON: But the reason this is kabuki is because we've already been engaged for six months. And there's certain --

CUOMO: But that's why we've been engaged for six months. The reason it never ends because nobody owns it.

AVLON: That's right. And nobody wanted to take this vote before the midterm elections. They were all politically terrified. And now, you've got some really interesting things. The backdrop to all of this is a serious hangover from the first AUMF against, you know -- in the wake of 9/11. And that, the way, and the administration wanting to keep in place, but that precedent really creating caution on a lot of members of Congress on the left and right.

CAMEROTA: So, do we need to keep our eye on the presidential contenders to see what they say about this?

HOOVER: I mean, I think most of them aren't splitting the difference. I mean, they all have been very clear about what the premise of their foreign policy is. Marco Rubio's not hiding it. We all know he's more on the hawkish side. We all know Rand Paul --

CAMEROTA: So, they support the president. They believe in voting for the president's war authorization act, as it stands?

HOOVER: No, I think everybody has their own view of it. I think everybody wants their own version of the AUMF. And so, that's what the congressional process before --

CUOMO: Because to extend your metaphor, your goldilocks metaphor, what they want is to eat the president's lunch on this and to be able to say, I would have done something different. I would have done it better. That's all they're going to say. And that's all that's needed right now.

AVLON: This is a tricky game, right. Ted Cruz will say, you know, he's not using the phrase radical Islam enough. Marco Rubio saying keep it simple, just degrade and destroy. And Rand Paul trying to move the conversation to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, remember him, didn't want anything to do with it. So, these are fascinating debates.

CAMEROTA: Margaret, John, thanks so much. Have a great weekend.

AVLON: You, too.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, there are stunning testimonies in the American sniper trial, Eddie Ray Routh led police on this high-speed chase. But it's what he said before and after that chase that had the courtroom shocked. We'll show you that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

The alleged American sniper killer had told an officer that he had taken a couple of souls. And he also said he had even more to take. All right, now that has been revealed during another day of testimony in the case where we really see the prosecution is heading now.

So let's break it down with our legal panel: Joey Jackson, legal analyst, criminal defense attorney; Paul Callan, CNN legal analyst, also senior partner Callan Legal. I like that you shortened the name, Paul.

All right. So, today, let's just go through both of you. Put your minds in the prosecution's side. Their first element, which I thought was a little interesting, the guns. The guns come up. Kyle and Littlefield, the two men who lost their lives both had safeties on their guns, they were loaded. They were in the locked holster position.

Why is that relevant, Paul Callan, for the prosecution?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's highly relevant because they're demonstrating a cold-blooded killing here. Obviously, these were trained military men who would've gone for their guns to defend themselves if they could have. Instead, they didn't even get a chance to reach for their guns. So, they're establishing that it was a cold- blooded killing.

CUOMO: All right. If I had to take the other side of it, Joey, why wouldn't the defense say, oh, it also shows they had no reason this was coming because the man was insane. So, they didn't know.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: One hundred percent, and that's the argument. In addition, understand that we're talking about a grip of psychosis. We're talking about paranoia, schizophrenia. And someone in that state of mind certainly is going to attack people because those people could attack him.

And so, I would argue that the fact that the guns wither in the locked position and they were away doesn't really go to show anything but the paranoia of the defendant.

CUOMO: What's the balance for the jury? Sick or bad? Sick or bad?

All right. So, now, Taco Bell becomes relevant not just because it's bad for your diet. It becomes relevant because he ate afterwards. Afterwards means everything to the prosecution, Paul Callan. Why is afterwards so important? And how does this figure in?

CALLAN: Well, this is why I have to disagree with my esteemed colleague here, Mr. Jackson. OK?

He says he's in the grip of a psychosis. And, remember, the psychosis is that he thought he was going to be attacked and he was defending himself.

So, what has the prosecutor put on the board? He shoots them in the back. They both have their safeties on, and then, he goes and gets a couple of burritos to eat.

Does that sound like someone who is caught in the grip of a psychosis? Or somebody who planned a cold-blooded killing and was so remorseless he went out and ate afterwards.

JACKSON: Sounds to me like someone in an extreme grip of psychosis. I don't know many people after killing someone and shooting them five, six, seven times in the back is going to go and eat burritos.

And furthermore, in handling murder cases as you've handled plenty and I have myself, people who shoot people, they get nauseous, suffer from extreme anxiety. They're doing and looking to do anything other than eat. So, the fact that he's eating shows he's not mentally right.

CUOMO: What does it mean that when one of the friends of Chad Littlefield calls his cell phone, Eddie answers the phone? Why did he take the phone? What does it mean, Paul?

CALLAN: Well, you know, I think that there's an indication they were both worried about what was going to happen, possibly. And this is coming up as an issue in the trial, what went on in that car. You're talking about the car.

CUOMO: He took his cell phone. They say when one of the friends of Littlefield called looking for him, there's rumors of the murder spread that someone answered the cell phone, but it wasn't Littlefield, it was Routh. How does that fit in with being delusional or insane or anything? Why did he take the phone?

JACKSON: Same point, Chris -- paranoia, delusion, everyone's after me. I'm taking the phone. I'm taking the pistol and I'm getting out of here. CALLAN: You know, the subtext here, though, everything cuts both ways

in this case, because to the extent, and Joey raises great points, this shows how crazy he is. It shows the jury what a danger he is. He plans, he kills, he's remorseless. Are they going to give him the benefit of an insanity defense? I don't think so on this fact pattern, but it goes both ways.

CUOMO: So, Joey says if you are insane, that's why you make the run for the border to Taco Bell. The prosecution says, no, he was making the run for the border, period. There was a high-speed chase. He wanted to get away from us. He was saying crazy things.

Now, we have to unpack that. Paul, the prosecution, they like this part. They like the dash cam video of them saying stay here and he takes off because --

CALLAN: Well, it's compelling, riveting testimony of somebody fleeing the scene of a murder. It's consciousness of guilt as lawyers call it.

CUOMO: Compunction.

CALLAN: He knew what he was doing. He knew he had done wrong. He killed human beings and was fleeing to avoid responsibility.

JACKSON: It shows paranoia, delusion.

CUOMO: Add into it, Joey -- why, because something the prosecution didn't bring up. But a big moment for the defense yesterday, they say, how about what he was saying?

JACKSON: Absolutely right.

CUOMO: Is the apocalypse coming? I feel someone's eating my soul. Out there stuff. How does that add?

JACKSON: Chris, that's the point. You not only have to look at the flight and say, oh, it's consciousness of guilt. You have to look at the behavior and what he was talking about. About the apocalypse, about how he took two souls and he has more to take, about how everyone's out to get him. How he feels insane. These are the ramblings and the musings he was engaged in at the time he left.

CALLAN: And in Texas, the apocalypse means an awareness of right and wrong. Taking a human soul means he knew he was doing wrong. And under the Texas law, if you know you're doing wrong when you do the killing, you're not insane.

JACKSON: The apocalypse means I'm not right. I don't know anyone who talks about the apocalypse on top of being apprehended and discuss to and spoken with --

CUOMO: I don't know, Paul Callan with a nice spin of recognition in Texas of biblical implications to the word apocalypse. And that is one of the reasons that the scale of justice must tip toward the prosecution today, because here's why, and it's certainly not a laughing matter because the stakes involved in the trial. They have laid out very well that this man did a lots of things that showed recognition of what happened in the car, what happened at that the shooting range and that flies against insanity.

That's why it's so hard to make an insanity defense. But we're far from over. Far from over.

Thank you very much.

CALLAN: Thank you, your honor.

CUOMO: Thank you, Joey Jackson.

I am no judge. We know that. We know that all too well now.

All right. We also know that this is just one story. There's a lot of news this morning for you. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS back on the offensive.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: If ISIS is going to be defeated, it is going to be have to be defeated by the Muslim nations in the region.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: I'm concerned they're not doing enough not only to save these hostages, but to win this war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You went to the state of the union this year and fell asleep.

GINSBURG: I was 100 percent sober because before we went to the State of the Union --

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just felt like we deserve what everybody else has.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think gay marriage is the alternation of the definition of marriage, and the United States Supreme Court does not have the authority.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely clear that the judicial power of the Supreme Court --

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY.

ISIS is attacking an air base in Iraq where hundreds of U.S. marines are training Iraqi soldiers. The terrorists taking over the entire town of al-Baghdadi.

CUOMO: This ISIS offensive causing massive security concerns because the same air base they're attacking, just under heavy fire a few months ago. So, what does this mean about the momentum in this?

Let's get right to Phil Black live on the ground for us in northern Iraq.

Phil, from the ground, what do you know?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, at this location, the west of Iraq, al-Baghdadi, there's been fierce fighting there over the last 24 hours. And what we're hearing from Iraqi officials, the entire town is now under the control of ISIS. It is yet another piece of land that they have grabbed, it would seem, successfully in a region where they have maintained considerable military momentum against the Iraqi army and local Sunni tribes, concerning because it is so close to the capital.

But when it comes to this particular town, it is also just ten miles from the al Assad air base, which is where hundreds of U.S. military personnel are involved with training the Iraqi military, the Iraqi army.

What we are now hearing is even more concerning this morning from Iraqi officials. And that is that not only have they taken the town of al Baghdadi, but they are moving to the al Assad air base. These are ISIS forces.

And Iraqi officials say ISIS has sent at least eight suicide bombers in that direction towards the air base. They say, so far, they have killed that number, eight.

It is clearly still very much a fluid situation. But one where the base is under, it would seem, some degree of threat. U.S. military has said it has often consistently come under mortar and rocket fire. Nothing serious, nothing damaging. This could be very different -- Chris, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Phil, that is a very troubling update you've described.

Tell us what's happening around on the ground where you are.

BLACK: Behind me here in northern Iraq is Mount Sinjar. It is an ISIS-controlled town. There were hundreds of thousands of people living there before is invaded. But then, most fled, witness accounts said many were executed. Many others were also abducted. It is still very much firmly under ISIS control.

Local fighters in the streets as we speak. We can hear the gunfire in the distance. We've seen at least one likely air strike today, seen two fast-moving aircraft overhead.

But as I say, the grip that ISIS has on this town is still very firm. It shows all of the progress that's been made against ISIS in this region. The Kurdish fighters from around here have really rolled back thousands, 5,000 square miles they estimate, a territory that is once held. ISIS still holds key pieces of real estate here, the town of Sinjar behind me, the town of Tal Afar, and, of course, that major city of Mosul.

Chris, back to you.

CUOMO: All right. Phil, thank you very much. Please stay safe.

So, the question being raised by this movement by ISIS is, is this a new surge? Or is it a subterfuge? Are they trying to distract the coalition forces from what they really want to keep, which is Mosul? And we'll stay on that story for you.

By the way, the same question could be said for what's happening in Congress.