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New Day

U.S Launches Major Raid in Syria, Civilians Reported Killed; Today to be One of Year's Worst Days for Air Travel Due to Storm; Vindman Sues Trump's Son, Allies for Retaliation and Intimidation. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:01]

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: What it said to me, Brianna, is she's probably not alone and all the more reason for this to be a teaching moment and a teaching exercise and try and let people know. I mean, man, if this is where we are this many years on, I worry 50 years in the future how wrong some people might be about the facts.

So, let's use Whoopi's moment of embarrassment as a teachable moment but not to spank her further by saying, hey, for two weeks, you're going to have to sit down. I think that sends the wrong message. People will be afraid to even address the subject because, oh, my God, I don't want to mistakenly say something without malice in my heart because I too might get punished.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I think that is a message many people will be receiving. Michael Smerconish, always great to have you with us here in the morning.

SMERCONISH: Thanks, guys. Have a good day.

KEILAR: And you can catch Michael on Saturday morning at 9:00 A.M. You have a great day as well.

New Day continues right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, February 3rd.

And we do have breaking news from overnight. U.S. Special Forces conducted a significant counter-terror operation in Northwest Syria.

That's the first video of the operation that we have had a chance to look at, it's just into CNN. And we're also getting the first still images from the scene. This shows the aftermath of the mission. You can see the destruction of the structure of the main building there.

Now, up until this point, the Pentagon really hasn't given many details about what they were targeting, what exactly happened except to say, and this is their words, they say it was successful. KEILAR: Now, in the past, the U.S. has targeted Al Qaeda in the its affiliates in the Idlib Province, and Syrian defense officials are saying that this latest operation claimed 13 lives, including six children.

Jomana Karadsheh is tracking the very latest developments. She is live from Abu Dhabi for us. What can you tell us?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, John, as you guys just mentioned, we are getting very little information from the Pentagon except for that short statement that they released overnight saying that U.S. Special Forces conducted this successful operation, as they described it, in Northwestern Syria.

They said there were no U.S. casualties, no mention of the target of this operation, more importantly, no mention of civilian casualties. As you mentioned there, we are getting devastating reports on the ground in Idlib Province where the rescue group, the White Helmets, are report that at least 13 people were killed in this operation, including six children and four women.

And we were just going through some video that we have gotten from Northwestern Syria from this area, the aftermath of this operation. And it is extremely horrific, really disturbing images, the bodies of young children, mutilated bodies of these children, and body parts being pulled out of the rubble, being wrapped in blankets and moved out.

The White Helmets say they got reports that this operation was under way at about midnight local time. They tried to get to the scene. But there was intense fighting and shelling, they say, that was going on for about three hours. And after U.S. forces left the area, that is when the White Helmets were able to get in. they say that there was one child whose entire family was killed and that child was taken to hospital.

You know, we have to wait and see what the Pentagon has to say, not just about the details of the operation, who the target was, and why they described it as successful. They need to answer these questions about civilian casualties that we are getting from on the ground there. This is coming at a time when the U.S. military has been under a lot of criticism over the issue civilian casualties whether in Afghanistan or Syria the past few years. Brianna, John?

KEILAR: Yes, and something they're actively examining as we speak. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, developing now, a huge storm causing major problems for like 100 million Americans. Look at that map right there. The storm stretches from the south, to the Midwest, to the east, ice, rain, sleet, heavy snow, and there are major travel disruptions. We are talking huge numbers.

U.S. Airlines canceled thousands and thousands of flights. Obviously, the situation is a real issue, as I said, 100 million people in the path of this storm. let's get the latest from CNN's Pete Muntean, who can give us a sense of what things look like at Reagan International Airport. Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, thankfully, just rain here at Reagan National Airport. But the airlines really cannot catch a break with this winter weather of late. In fact, today is about to be the worst day for flight cancellations we have seen in the last year.

[07:05:01]

Look at the latest numbers from FlightAware, more than 3,800 flights canceled across the United States today alone. This is impacting dozens of airports from Texas all the way to the northeast, including some of the biggest hubs for the airlines. Dallas Love Field, that is Southwest headquarters, about 85 percent of all departures canceled there today, and Austin, about three-quarters of all departures canceled. Dallas-Ft. Worth, biggest hub for American Airlines, about half of all departures canceled and about a quarter of all departures canceled at Chicago O'Hare.

The list goes on. This is impacting Ohio, Cincinnati, Columbus, also St. Louis, where Southwest suspended its operations just yesterday.

A bit of good news here for passengers, airlines are trying to cancel these flights preemptively before passengers show up at the terminal creating a of frustration, and they have imposed travel waivers, meaning you can book your flight free of charge even if you think you are going to be impacted by this.

But, John, we have not seen cancelation numbers since the big ice storm that hit Texas this time last year.

BERMAN: Look, what you're telling me is the worst travel day, the highest number cancellations this year, we had so many over the last month. The idea that this is the worst, Pete, I got to say, people need to brace themselves for the next 24, 48 hours might look like. Keep us appreciated. I really appreciate it.

This morning, the FBI is investigating this wave of bomb threats at historically black colleges and universities, investigating them as hate crimes. Officials say the bureau has identified a number of possible suspects.

CNN's Joe Johns has been covering this from the beginning and joins us live this morning. Joe, what are the latest developments?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we have learned a few things from the investigators. They have identified some people suspected of making the bomb threats to all the HBCUs. So, that's the number one thing, important because of the enormous disruption these threats were causing to colleges and universities up and down the Eastern United States, lockdown, shelter in place orders not conducive to higher learning.

And we also note from the reporting of my colleague, Evan Perez, here at CNN, that the FBI is treating them as racially motivated, in other words, as hate crimes. The FBI has been reaching out to all the stakeholders and briefing, and not just the schools but also the state and local law enforcement that had been chasing threats down in real- time, doing the work to clear the scenes so the schools can resume operations.

The bureau says they have made these cases a top priority. They have got about 20 field offices around the country involved in this investigation. No word yet on arrests, no explosives found. John?

BERMAN: All right. Joe, thanks for being on this for us. Keep us posted.

KEILAR: Alexander Vindman says his career and personal life were forever turned upside-down after he served as a star witness in former President Trump's first impeachment trial, which he was subpoenaed to do. Now, he is suing Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and others, alleging that they conspired against him because he was willing to tell the truth about Trump.

Vindman, in a new lawsuit, alleges the campaign against him, quote, was designed to inflict maximum damage by creating and spreading disinformation that they knew would be picked up and amplified by anchors at Fox News.

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is with us now this morning to discuss this lawsuit. Sir, thank you for being with us.

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (RET.), FORMER EUROPEAN AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Thank you for having me again, Brianna.

KEILAR: So, can you just tell us, Colonel, why you are filing this?

VINDMAN: Sure. I think this is a critically important effort to hold accountable corrupt officials, close relatives and inner circle for Donald Trump in their effort to stifle the duties of an official in the U.S. government. This had an enormous chilling effect on both the folks that would come forward to report wrongdoing in that administration but it's also intended to suppress officials in their conduct of their duties. To this day, we see folks being too scared to come forward, too scared to come out and speak up against the corruption that they're witnessing. And I think that was the whole effort.

It undermines democracy, it undermines good order and governance and I think it is absolutely important for me, the victim in this case, to attempt to hold these folks accountable. We have a very strong case. There is a great deal to believe that Donald Trump and his inner circle, including Don Jr., Dan Scavino, Julia Hahn and Rudy Giuliani, all conspired to retaliate against me, to attempt to silence me, and punish me for reporting wrongdoing.

KEILAR: Okay. Let's talk specifically here. So, Donald Trump Jr., for example, what specifically did he do that crossed the line, that was in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, as your lawsuit alleges?

[07:10:04]

VINDMAN: Right. So, there's wide reporting about Donald Trump Jr. being a surrogate for his father. When his father couldn't speak out publicly, and his father did often speak out publicly, Donald Trump Jr. would speak out and attack witnesses, attempt to impugn folks' character, and really just drive up the level of hate and rhetoric around officials that went against the -- proceeded to go against Donald Trump, even though Donald Trump was the one that was the corrupt actor.

So there's enormous amount -- I think, frankly, I think one of your contributors could really comment on this in detail and speak in great detail to the level of coordination, the unprecedented level of coordination between the White House that used Fox News and right-wing media as an extension of government. These amounted to basically state media during the Trump administration and there was an enormous amount of coordination between them.

I'm aware of -- folks have told me Donald Trump would pick up the phone and either talk to anchors directly or task his underlings to then go out and report specific attack lines, proceed on specific instructions from Donald Trump.

That is deeply disturbing in a democracy, that a president could go ahead and interfere with the good order and conduct of his government, interfere with the rule of law, interfere with whistleblowers coming forward. That is why I'm bringing the suit. There must be accountability against these actors. And Donald Trump couldn't do this without the support of his subordinates and underlings.

KEILAR: You aren't -- Alex, you are not suing Trump himself. Why not?

VINDMAN: There are enormous hurdles, and I think that, you know, we see this play out with regards to the Department of Justice, with regards to trying to pursue litigation against the chief executive. Frankly, I'm not an attorney, and I can't get into all the facets there, but that would be a distraction.

What I want to do is I want to make sure that this is a successful lawsuit. I think we will meet the standard here and we'll be able to understand exactly what Donald Trump did with his inner circle, with his closest advisers, with his closest senior staff to attack me and, frankly, harm not just my career, threaten my family, and really harass my family. And even my twin brother, to this day, he is still in uniform, but he's been suffering the consequences also. He's been kind of isolated and his horizons have been limited also.

So, this is a really, you know, deeply disturbing, nefarious plot to attack me but also to attack good governance, and I'm going to follow this through.

KEILAR: How much are you suing for?

VINDMAN: This is -- frankly, there is no monetary value on this. I think the courts will decide. This isn't about money for me. I guess if anybody knows me, that is definitely not at the forefront of my mind. Compensation is not at the forefront of my mind. I think the courts will figure that one out. For me, it's about uncovering the wrongdoing. It's about holding these folks accountable.

Right now, they could act with impunity. Right now they could attack --

KEILAR: I do want to ask you about that just because I have a limited amount of time here, and I think this is just really important, because you're talking about coordination. I think we all know that there was -- there's kind of a call and answer that would happen between Trump and between Fox. What you are saying is that the White House that what they were saying -- these Trump allies knew that what they were saying would be picked up by Fox.

In this lawsuit, this lawsuit talks about a close relationship between Trump and Laura Ingraham, for example. That's not enough perhaps to show coordination, but what are you trying to obtain here in the way of records and what do you expect to obtain that you think will show coordination?

VINDMAN: There's a lot known and there's a lot more to be discovered. In fact, we do know quite a bit. We know that the White House, Julia Hahn, in particular, sent out talking points to the media. Now, her intent was to send it out to right-wing media, trusted agents. But she -- it spilled over to other media sources. And The Daily Beast reported on this, in fact, in detail that they received talking points against me.

The level of coordination is not normal. It's not unprecedented.

[07:15:00]

This is not an administration talking to media outlets and coordinating messaging. This is intended to retaliate and punish an official for fulfilling my duties, for any official fulfilling their duties. And this is intended to have a chilling effect on whistleblowers, on good governance and people reporting corruption. There's nothing normal about this.

KEILAR: It isn't normal for sure. We're going to follow your lawsuit and see the result of it. Colonel, thank you so much for being on, Lieutenant Colonel, retired, Alexander Vindman, and also the author of the book, Here Right Matters.

VINDMAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, The New York Times got hold of two memos that outline a fake pro-Trump elector scheme in an effort to overturn the election.

Also, President Biden will meet with New York City's Mayor Eric Adams today amid a surge in violent crime. What does the mayor want from this? We're going to ask him ahead.

BERMAN: And new fallout from the groundbreaking lawsuit by Brian Flores against the NFL, questions about possible reaction and statements from the stars of the Super Bowl halftime show.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. With less than two weeks until the Super Bowl, this bombshell lawsuit from fired NFL Coach Brian Flores is causing major reverberations. Some people are now looking to five of the biggest musical artists who are set to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Should they take some kind of stand before, during the show itself?

Joining us now, Cultural Commentator C.J. Farley, the author of the new book, Zero O'Clock, and Mara Schiavocampo, Host of the Run Tell This podcast, which is outstanding, and just had a recent episode on racism in the NFL.

C.J., you have covered musicians, and have for a long, long time here. What do you think is on them to do here?

CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: Well, here's the thing. I have covered musicians for a long time, and I have interviewed a lot of people who are going to be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. And it's not about the musicians. It really is about the NFL. I mean, there are 27 teams right now in the NFL that have locked in their Q.B. position and only one of them have locked in their head coaching position, and only one of those head coaches is black, Mike Tomlin. That's what we need to focus in on.

I think that the NFL needs to make some changes. We shouldn't focus so much on the performers on the halftime show, what they need to do and focus more in on what the NFL needs to do to change things. Having one black head coach in the NFL, that's not enough in a league where 70 percent of the players are black. There's something wrong with those numbers. That needs to change. The focus needs to be on the NFL's hiring practices.

KEILAR: Mara, what do you think? Is there is a responsibility on the part of these performers.

MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, HOST, RUN TELL THIS PODCAST: Yes. We're not just talking about any group of performers here. We're not talking about Maroon 5 or Jennifer Lopez. We are talking about some of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time. You have Dr. Dre, one of the founding members of NWA, who created an entire genre of music, gangster rap, and their debut album at the police, with an entire social justice commentary about police brutality, which, by the way, is one of the issues that Colin Kaepernick took a knee for.

You have Kendrick Lamar, who is one of the most socially conscious hip-hop artists of all time. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his album. He's the only hip-hop artist to win a Pulitzer Prize. So, he is very much the voice in the streets.

So, you have this group who is known for being outspoken about these issues, and the question is what do they do now just days after the league has been compared to a plantation. Do they just get up there and do a little song and dance like nothing happened and collect a check? Did somebody say something about this ahead of time? Did somebody drop out of the performances ahead of time? If they were true to their roots, with the exception of Mary J. Blige, if they were true to their roots and to the streets, this entire performance, the entire halftime performance would be protesting racism in the NFL.

I think it is entirely unlikely that that's going to happen. We may hear a word or two about Kaepernick, maybe in support of Kaepernick, maybe in support of some of these social justice issues. But, really, I mean, Dr. Dre is Mr. NWA. They set this country on fire with F the Police. If he's just going to get up there and pretend none of this happening, it will be really interesting to see how this plays out.

BERMAN: C.J.?

FARLEY: Yes. You know, Dr. Dre is not Dr. King. Something needs to change. And I think instead of focusing on the performers, we really need to focus on what the NFL is doing.

First of all, I don't really watch the NFL much anymore ever since they decided not to give Colin Kaepernick a job, and he deserves a job. And also the Bills are no longer in the postseason, so why even watch? The real problem is, again, the NFL's hiring. They don't have enough black offensive coordinators, they don't have enough black defensive coordinators. That's where they tend to hire head coaches from.

They need to improve the pipeline. They need to change their hiring practices. And they need to give people like Colin Kaepernick their jobs back. They can't have people who stand up in protest or kneel in protest and not give them their jobs back and then go out and have this big, fun halftime party.

[07:25:03]

It's hard to watch when that is going on in the NFL. Colin Kaepernick needs to get his job back. Then we can talk about other changes that need to be made in the NFL. But it shouldn't be about the performers. It really needs to be about what the NFL has been doing in terms of head coaching, in terms of Q.B.s, in terms of the way they treat their players.

BERMAN: Mara, quick last word.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes. I don't disagree with any of that at all. The onus absolutely is on the league to make these changes. And these are one of many allegations of racism that they have faced over the year, these latest allegations in the lawsuit. But we cannot forget hip-hop roots. Hip-hop roots are about social justice. There were a lot of questions when Jay-Z became involved, came inside about what impact he was going to have. And maybe he was right when he said he wanted to change things from the inside. If he is responsible for this lineup and they make any kind of commentary on what's happening, then that could be useful, because you're speaking directly to the audience that you want to speak to, which is football fans.

It would be incredibly disappointing if this group of hip-hop artists did not reference it at all, if they just pretended it was not happening. So, I'm going to be paying close attention if they stay true to the street. That's where they come from. That's what they're rapping. Are they going to stay true to that?

FARLEY: I totally agree with that. People need to speak out. But we've got to keep focusing on the NFL. They need to make changes in their hiring practices. It's absolutely ridiculous.

BERMAN: C.J., Mara, thank you very much.

KEILAR: Police departments across the country sounding the alarm, saying that recruiting and retaining officers is posing a major challenge. So, what can be done here?

BERMAN: And President Biden coming to New York City today to discuss his plan to fight gun violence. Mayor Eric Adams joins us next.

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[07:30:00]