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U.S. Warships Sent to Block Iran Off Yemen; Two Arrests Made in Migrant Boat Sinking; Poll: Numbers Improve for President; Massive Recall After Listeria Outbreak; Terror Sting Nets Arrests in Minneapolis, San Diego. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 21, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.S. Navy warships in and around the coast of Yemen.

[05:59:03] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Prepared to accept any Iranian arm shipments to the Shiite rebels.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Air power alone is not the decisive factor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The men knew they were on the FBI's radar.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: You cannot afford this kind of recruitment to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst disaster involving migrants crossing from northern Africa to Europe.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: More than 1,500 people have died so far this year alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have arrested two of the 27 survivors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pulling all of its products off store shelves.

PAUL CRUZ, CEO/PRESIDENT, BLUE BELL: We are heartbroken over this situation. And apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, April 21, 6 a.m. in the East, and up first this morning, American warships, a fleet of them, are heading to the waters off Yemen. And here's why. The U.S. believes that Iran is sending arms to Houthi rebels in Yemen, using waters. So they are sending in this show of force to say, "Don't do it."

But what happens if those ships continue and defy the Americans? Is this going to be the first possibility of conflict in the situation?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CO-HOST: This comes, of course, at a sensitive time with Iran. Ongoing nuclear negotiations set to resume tomorrow. And at the same time, Iran is charging a "Washington Post" reporter with espionage, a move the U.S. strongly condemns.

We begin our team coverage with CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott in Washington.

Elise, it could not be more tense.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Alisyn. That crisis in Yemen taking a new turn this morning as U.S. warships joining other nations off the coast of Yemen in a rapidly escalating situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LABOTT (voice-over): The Obama administration deploying an aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyer in Yemeni waters to join nine other American ships in the region in a strong signal to Iran. All prepared to intercept Iranian vessels if they proceed into Yemeni waters, where countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other partner nations have a presence.

The U.S. fearing the Iranian ships may be carrying arms for Houthi rebels fighting U.S. allies in Yemen. The heightened military response comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-Iran relations, with delicate nuclear negotiations set to resume Wednesday, and as Iran's foreign minister is calling for a diplomatic solution in Yemen in a "New York Times" op-ed.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's a little ironic for the Iranian foreign minister to be calling for a diplomatic resolution to that situation while at the same time his country continues to supply arms to one party.

LABOTT: All this less than a week after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution to choke off weapon flow to Houthi fighters.

Yemen continuing to descend into chaos, the scale of destruction widening as Saudi-led airstrikes on a Houthi weapons depot tear through the country's rebel-held capital of Sanaa. The explosions that killed dozens of people and wounding nearly 300, flattening homes, gutting buildings and sending plumes of thick smoke hundreds of feet in the air.

A humanitarian crisis at the epicenter of the raging conflict. Thousands fleeing the country, as seen in this exclusive CNN video.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LABOTT: And dangerously low supplies of food, medicine and water

plague the already-impoverished country, an even more devastating situation, lacking leadership since Yemen's president fled the country seeking safety -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Such sensitive dealings there. Elise, thanks for breaking that down.

Iran not responding kindly to the U.S. display of military might. CNN's senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, is live for us in Tehran with that part of the story.

Good morning, Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

And certainly, the Iranians are saying that they have no intentions whatsoever of delivering any weapons of the -- to the Houthis. They, of course, have heavily criticized both the U.S. and the Saudi involvement in that conflict. They've called what the Saudis are doing genocide; of course, that setting off another tension between those two nations, as well.

The Iranians, for their part, are saying that the ships that they have in that area are there to fight piracy. But they also say that they're not going to take any cues or lectures, especially from the United States.

I want to read you a sound bite that we got from the head of the Iranian navy, who talked to us just a couple of days ago. And he said, "We don't let anyone give us warnings and threats, because we are working according to international law and regulations. We work for the security for our country and for other countries, as well."

So this is something that they said. Again, they say they have no intention of delivering weapons. Of course, the U.S. says something very different.

Now, one of the things that the Iranians have done this morning is they actually let us visit an aid center, a place where medical supplies were being loaded to go towards Yemen. What they're saying is that they don't want to do anything except supply humanitarian aid. However, they also say that they haven't been able to do that since the conflict broke out. So we'll wait and see if any of that will actually reach its destination, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Here to explain, our CNN global affairs analysts. We have Bobby Ghosh, managing editor of "Quartz," and Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, a former U.S. Delta Force commander. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

Let's get right to our headline. We've been talking about Iran and the U.S. in conflict. This will be the biggest moment of possible exchange between these two countries that we've seen so far, right, Bobby? BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, indeed. And you

have a situation where you -- there's a lot of tension, and someone's tossed a hand grenade into the situation. And with these large naval vessels, there's not -- it's not as if they can quickly turn on a dime. Things can get out of hand. Once momentum is achieved, it's very hard to stop.

[06:05:01] CUOMO: Once you're all there you're committed, Lieutenant Colonel. So as we see on the map, all right, this is just -- obviously not to scale, but you have the Iranian ships are going in there, seven to nine. They say they're operating within international law. The concern among allies for the U.S. here is that they're bringing arms to the Houthis.

Let's believe they have actionable intelligence. They did just board not too long a Panamanian ship thinking this was true. They didn't find anything there.

So now we're moving in nine. It's a big carrier group, lots of assets. But this is a big commitment. And if they come into conflict with these Iranian ships, what could happen?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Chris, there's an escalation that could happen and has to escalate in steps. The worst-case scenario -- the worst-case scenario is there is a sea-land -- there's a sea battle that happens here. But I don't see that happening.

CUOMO: Why not? If they're coming and the U.S. comes over the radio and says, "You need to stop," and they say, "They're not stopping. We're going where we're going." Now what?

REESE: Because that puts everyone literally at huge risk, if we're going to go straight into battle. Here's what really -- the worst piece looks like you happen is we literally become -- we stop those ships.

If I'm the Iranians, I'm packing those ships with humanitarian aid also. All right? Then I have to ask for permission to board, if we want to even board, which the Iranians are going to go it's not happening. You know?

So then we have to then go into this continued big propaganda, and all the aspects and the rhetoric goes back and forth. And then we have to make a decision what we're going to do next. Iranians going to sit in the water, and we're going to sit in the water off Yemen; and it becomes, you know...

CUOMO: A standoff. All right. But now you have other players also. OK. So that's what you're looking at right now. Those numbers represent the number of ships under the color of each of those flags, right? You have China. You have Iran. You have Russia. You have Saudi Arabia in there.

So Bobby, who -- who are the teams here? Who's on whose side in this? GHOSH: Well, you always have a lot of military hardware floating

on those waters. Those are among the most important sea lanes in the world, and in recent years because of increased piracy, you have quite a lot of cooperation between all those navies. Even if they seem like they're flying a very different flag: China, India...

CUOMO: They won't be cooperating in this regard.

GHOSH: No, and they'll probably stay well out of this. They will leave this particular situation to the Americans.

CUOMO: Who's "they"? You think China and India stay out of it? I mean, are you...

GHOSH: Absolutely. I can't imagine a situation where they're going to pick a side in this.

CUOMO: So they're just there but not necessarily relevant unless there's a chain of events that changes the situation.

GHOSH: Unless there's a tragedy. And at this point, it's a little early to go that far.

CUOMO: So they're there but not necessarily relevant right now. So let's got to the wider region, and let's keep this discussion going. Because tell me if I'm wrong, Colonel, but I am more worried about this in terms of the possibilities than anything that's been going on in Yemen to date.

It's horrible. It's obvious civil war. We're just not calling it that. They believe Iran is behind the Houthis. We haven't had the best work up of intelligence on that. But there hasn't been any real risk of U.S.-Iran conflict. Now this seems like the best possibility.

REESE: Right. The second or third order of effects come into piece here are huge. Now again, what you have to look at is, like Bobby said, the other -- the Saudis, my assumption is the Saudis asked us to do this. We're not doing this unilaterally. The Saudis asked us to do this.

Now the Saudis put us in a position, because we're their ally. We're going to do that, because we're their biggest ally in the region. That also puts us abreast of now Iran, who also have Russia as an ally.

CUOMO: If the Saudi ships are near the U.S. ships, then how do we know that Russia doesn't send this ship over by Iran under the same -- same thinking? Well, they're a friend of ours. We just want to make sure everything's OK just like you guys.

REESE: Absolutely. And we'll know that. And the whole region, the best way to describe it, I think it's like an airport. You know, there's all these different assets that are moving. So right now, you've got the American battle group. You've got the seven to nine. It's a battle group size Iranian group coming towards them. Then you have all these other coalition ships in there that are

doing U.N. mandate. Remember, we have Fifth Fleet that's in Bahrain. All right? So that's headquartered out of Bahrain. So those ships from Iran steam past there; they're going to steam right past the fleet. So you're going to have all these conflicting aspects coming together.

CUOMO: Does the U.S. have military superiority even if it's equal number numbers?

REESE: Do we have -- yes, because what we have is the air superiority off that battle group.

CUOMO: So you're on water and in the air there.

Last question, Bobby, we're supposed to be negotiating at the table with Iran right now. Supposed to be getting back to it today. How do you do that in the midst of this?

GHOSH: Well, as if we didn't have enough tensions already over these nuclear negotiations, this is going to make things even more complicated. In the past, the negotiators seem to have been able to seal themselves off.

CUOMO: Separate what Iran is doing elsewhere in the world with nukes. But now?

GHOSH: And the Iranians in particular have wanted to seal it off. They wanted that discussion to be only about nukes and nothing else.

CUOMO: Right. But people say they're doing that as a license to create chaos elsewhere.

GHOSH: That's exactly right. Now the -- if there's anything more than ships that sail in the night, if we get into a situation where there's a standoff, it's hard to see how that does not, in some way, impact the discussions at the table.

[06:10:10] CUOMO: All right. So let's end on a sober mind here. What's the chance that something horrible happens here, as opposed to just more politics.

REESE: Very low.

CUOMO: Good.

REESE: Very low. Both sides do not want to go toe-to-toe on this. Back, you know, let me go back to this really quick.

CUOMO: Quick.

REESE: The Iranians, they're -- the negotiations with the P5+1, not Iranian and the U.S., for nukes. So there's a little bit of a -- that's where the set-off becomes, P5+1. This is U.S., Saudi, Iranian in the waters. CUOMO: All right. Gentlemen, thank you very much. We'll have

to see what happens on this -- Mick.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris. Thank you for that.

Breaking overnight, a captain and crew member arrested on suspicion of human trafficking after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sinks in the Mediterranean Sea. Hundreds are feared dead. Now, new information on what may have caused this tragedy.

I want to turn to CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, who's tracking the very latest for us live in Italy -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela. We have two different, differing versions on what may have caused this catastrophe.

On the one hand, the Italian officials are saying that they believe it was indeed when they -- Portuguese merchant vessel was coming to the rescue of this ship in distress, when many of the passengers rushed to one side of the ship and caused it to capsize.

However, there may, according to other U.N. officials and one official from the International Organization for Migration that I spoke to, he said it may have been caused by that migrant ship accidentally ramming into that Portuguese vessel.

But what we're seeing is that you just look at the numbers of people crossing every day the Mediterranean. This problem is only getting worse.

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WEDEMAN (voice-over): This morning a desperate fight for survival, playing out in international waters. Thousands of migrants fleeing homelands gripped by poverty, some escaping the brutal advance of ISIS.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more boats may be in distress in the Mediterranean. This as horrific tales begin to emerge from 25 migrants arriving at a port in Sicily Monday night, surviving what may be the worst migrant disaster at sea between Africa and Europe ever.

FRANCESCO ROCCA, PRESIDENT, ITALIAN RED CROSS: They lost a lot of friends. So they are in shock.

WEDEMAN: Survivors telling officials that human traffickers stuffed up to 850 of them from sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan and Syria in a fishing boat only 65 feet long. The bottom level, they told officials, was locked, leaving most with no way out when the boat capsized in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday.

CARLOTTA ASARRI, UNHCR SPOKESPERSON: I had the feeling that they feel like lost, you know? It's something they have been really through a huge tragedy.

WEDEMAN: Italian police arresting two of the survivors on suspicion of being part of the human traffickers cramming these migrants onboard. Since the beginning of this year, more than 35,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, the majority landing at Italy and Greece.

A staggering number that European governments worry could surpass last year's total. When approximately 219,000 refugees and migrants sailed across the Mediterranean, the U.N. refugee agency estimates nearly 3,500 of those migrants died at sea.

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WEDEMAN: And already today, the Italian coast guard is reporting that they have rescued 446 migrants off the coast of Calabria, among them 100 women and 50 children, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: The numbers are staggering, Ben. Thank you for that.

Back here at home, President Obama getting a big boost in his approval rating in a new CNN/ORC poll out just this morning.

White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live to help us parse the poll reports. Very interesting findings, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They're always interesting, right, Alisyn?

Well, right now 48 percent to 47 percent Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing as president. That might not seem like a reason for him to throw a party or anything, but keep in mind this is the first time in two years that more people approve. About a year ago, that number was down around the low 40s. It's now at the same level that President Reagan was at at this point in his presidency.

To compare that, Clinton was at 60 percent, George W. Bush at 36 percent.

And more people are also feeling good about the economy. Right now 52 percent of these people polled said that they feel the economy is in a good place right now.

Well, that is the first time in Obama's entire presidency that a significant number more feel that way than feel the economy is doing poorly. More people also feel like they're doing better now than they were a year ago. And 60 percent feel like the economy will be doing better a year from now.

And because every poll kind of has that sad trombone moment, you know, the wa-wa-wa, the approval rating for Congress right now 28 percent -- Chris.

[06:15:20] CUOMO: All right, Michelle, thank you very much. We're going to look inside those breaking numbers in just a little bit with our political analysts, because there are story lines there for the upcoming election.

We do have some breaking news for you out of Egypt. Former President Mohamed Morsi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has been convicted on charges of inciting violence after protesters were killed outside the presidential palace in late 2012. Morsi, who was forced from office the following summer. Still faces trials for other crimes, along with thousands of members of the Muslim brotherhood.

PEREIRA: We've got a big recall to tell you about this morning. Blue Bell is recalling every single one of its products -- ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, everything -- because of a dangerous bacteria, listeria, was found in some of its products.

CNN's Martin Savidge is live with the very latest for us this morning. A big concern: it sold in a lot of places across the United States.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. Usually, you think of ice cream, and the only danger is packing on the pounds. But this is serious. After weeks of smaller recalls, Blue Bell has now had several positive tests for listeria in different places and different plants.

So the company is recalling its entire line of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and other frozen snacks, which are on sale, by the way, in 23 states and internationally. Blue Bell's CEO and President Paul Cruz spoke out Monday, saying that the company is taking all of its products off the market until they are confident that they are all safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: We're heartbroken over this situation. And apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers. Our entire history has been dedicated to making the very best and highest quality ice cream we possibly could. And we're committed to fixing the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE; So far Blue Bell has documented eight cases of listeria: five in Kansas, three of which were fatal. And three others in Texas. Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in people with weakened immune systems.

And here's an odd twist. Most of the people diagnosed in Kansas were served the ice cream while in the hospital being treated for unrelated illnesses -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, that is terrible. All right, Martin, thanks so much for that warning.

Well, we have some incredible video to show you of police in Texas saving a man from a car engulfed in flames. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay with us!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. This happened Sunday after the driver slammed into a road sign, his car erupting into a ball of flames. Police on the scene scrambling to pull the unconscious man from the inferno. The 25-year-old suffered burns and internal injuries but is expected to pull through.

PEREIRA: Such a terrifying scene, because you just don't know if the car's going to blow entirely. It's already on fire. You don't know how much time you have.

CAMEROTA: That's right. I mean, that's what makes it so heroic to rush in and save the person.

CUOMO: Because they're not thinking about that. They're thinking about what they need to do, and you hear one of the officers screaming at the man inside, "Stay with us, stay with us, don't lose consciousness" so he can help them, assist.

PEREIRA: Oh, my goodness. Hopefully, he doesn't have much memory of all of that.

CAMEROTA: Hopefully. All right. Meanwhile, six Somali- Americans arrested before they could join ISIS. Their capture is shedding light on the trend of peer-to-peer recruiting. What is that, and what can be done to stop it?

CUOMO: All right. We've got big political news this morning. There is wisdom and warnings in the new CNN poll numbers. Where are the hearts and minds of the voters? And what polling on the president could mean for candidate Clinton ahead.

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[06:22:15] ANDREW LUGER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL IN MINNESOTA: We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota. And this case demonstrates how difficult it is to put an end to recruiting here. The person radicalizing your son, your brother, your friend may not be a stranger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger reacting to the arrest of six American men accused of planning to link up with ISIS. We're learning new details about the suspects busted in Minnesota and San Diego. And the plot is shedding light on peer-to-peer recruiting. It's a huge problem among Somali immigrants in Minnesota. Let's bring in CNN's counterterrorism analyst and former CIA

counterterrorism official, Philip Mudd. Good morning, Phil.

MUDD: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Peer-to-peer recruiting, what does that look like? Does that online or in person?

MUDD: I would say both. You mentioned this is a problem in the Somali community. I would say this is a problem across the board in the world of counterterrorism. The reason is pretty simple. We talked about why people are influenced in the past by ISIS ideology. We don't talk enough, not about the Internet but about human interaction. That is a big brother, a respected member of the community, a friend from school.

And most of the situations I saw, when a youth was recruited, there's an intermediary, somebody that youth respects who brings them in. And in this case you saw one of their friends out in Syria saying, "Hey, things are OK out here. Come out here and travel."

One more thing, you'll remember just in the past week or so we saw a defense in the Boston bombing case where the younger brother, who lost his older brother in that bombing, said, "Hey, I was brought in by my brother." That's another version of peer-to-peer.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting, Phil. Because we tend to think of it as there has to be this charismatic imam somewhere. But of course, with teenagers and young 20-somethings, peer pressure is always the -- you know, fear that parents have of them -- of leading them to risky behavior. It just stands to reason that it would work here, as well.

MUDD: I think that's right. You know, when you look at the influence of ISIS ideology among youth, jihad has become sort of cool. I've referred to this in the past as "Pepsi jihad." In other words kids saying this is really an attractive ideology, and they're brought in not by an Internet image but by somebody who says to them, "Yes, you're right."

This is, by the way, one of the most important impacts of the Internet. That is 15, 20 years ago, if you thought this ideology was interesting, you couldn't get face-to-face with somebody who had the same beliefs as you did. Today, you can just get on the Internet if you're 15, 16, 20 years old and find somebody who validates what you think. The power of the Internet is getting somebody who might have been isolated a couple of decades ago to believe that the idea that ISIS is OK is actually a valid belief.

CAMEROTA: These six suspects were all 19, 20, 21 years old. Do we know what their plans were? How close they were to actually joining ISIS?

[06:25:05] MUDD: Well, as we know, one of them made it out there. I think the FBI's been on these guys for some time. Interesting: the reason you see that happen, the reason you see the FBI sit on a case for so long is partly because obviously the FBI wants enough information to go in front of a judge and jury and say, "Look, these guys weren't just thinking about this. They're actually going to move."

There's a second intelligence reason, something I followed for years at the bureau when I was there on loan from the CIA, and that is before you take a network like this down, you want to ensure that you don't just take down the core of the network. You want to take down the entire spider web. So you want to look at the case for a while to see, for example, is there a radicalizer who you want to take down? Is there somebody providing money or tickets? So even beyond when you can make a case in a federal court, you want to watch the guys operate to see if there's other players you might have missed earlier on.

CAMEROTA: You know, I guess the good news about teenagers being impressionable and unpredictable is that sometimes it works in favor of the investigators. Listen to what the U.S. attorney had to say about one of the teenagers starting to cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUGER: One friend in this group decided to leave and to cooperate with the FBI. That cooperating witness agreed to record meetings of the co-conspirators, and some of the information gathered through these conversations is set forth in the complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So he became an informant. How rare is that, Phil?

MUDD: That's not rare. The best informants are people who get disaffected with the organization.

You're talking about somebody in Minneapolis. We also saw this when I was at the CIA within the al Qaeda circles. People who thought initially that al Qaeda had a message of standing up to the United States, of offering a better solution for the Middle East, saw violence against Muslims. They saw car bombings, suicide bombings. And they would step back and say, "The organization I thought I was joining does not offer the future I thought it offered." Come into to us as the CIA, that's the best source you can get, somebody who's a made man already.

That's the same thing you see in this case. A cooperating witness, that is somebody in this circle who initially said, "Hey, maybe there's a better way of life, a purer way of life out in Syria." He saw reality on the inside, and he flips. That's a terrific source, the best you can get.

CAMEROTA: And that, of course, is what you always hope for...

MUDD: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... that they will have an awakening when they see what it's really all about. Philip Mudd, thanks so much. Always great to get your expertise.

MUDD: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn.

President Obama showing some second-term strength in the latest CNN/ORC poll. What could it mean for a Democrat in waiting in 2016? We're going to break down the numbers next.

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