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New Day Saturday

Kerry In Cairo To Rally Anti-ISIS Allies; U.S. Surveillance Planes Fly Over Syria; ISIS Ranks Top 31,000; NFL Star Surrenders On Child Abuse Charge; Goodell Criticized Over Ray Rice Incident; State Trooper Killed In Pennsylvania; NFL Juggles Multiple Cases Of Domestic Violence Among Professional Athletes; Floyd Mayweather Withdrawing His Support Of Ray Rice; Interview With Floyd Mayweather On "Unguarded"; Sally Kohn's Case Against U.S. Military Campaign on ISIS; CNN Hero Arthur Bloom's Musical Center for Wounded Soldier

Aired September 13, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a big star on the football field. He turns himself into authorities after indictment on child abuse. This morning, another PR disaster for the NFL.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: The administration finally says it is at war with ISIS. The question is, who is with us? John Kerry just arrived in Cairo. He's looking for some helping hands.

BLACKWELL: And George Zimmerman, this man just won't go away. He's back in trouble after allegedly threatening to kill another person on the road. We've got the 911 call and the dash cam video.

PAUL: Your NEW DAY starts now.

Good morning, you. It's early 6:00 on the east coast. You know, I was driving into work today at 3:00, I saw people riding their bikes.

BLACKWELL: Really.

PAUL: At 3:00 a.m.

BLACKWELL: I wonder if they're headed home or headed out to start their day.

PAUL: I don't know, but they were having fun. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. This is NEW DAY SATURDAY. Secretary of State John Kerry as Christi mentioned just a moment ago is in Cairo right now. It's the latest stop on this really whirlwind swing through the Middle East.

PAUL: Yes, his mission is to build that support from leaders in the region for the U.S.-wide coalition against ISIS. While he's getting promises of support, so far there is not specific guarantees here regarding what key allies are going to do.

BLACKWELL: CNN global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott joins us now from Cairo. Elise, Secretary Kerry, as we said, is in Egypt. He is trying to get support from Cairo, and especially on the diplomatic and military front. Any indication if he's been successful thus far?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think, certainly, while the military role that Egypt would play would be unclear, but certainly on the diplomatic front, there's a lot Egypt could do. U.S. officials say they really want Egypt to take more of a role with working with the government of Iraq.

As you know, during (inaudible) Prime Minister Al-Maliki, a lot of Arab states kind of shun Iraq and so now they want to bring Iraq into the -- back into the regional community.

I mean, Egypt is really the intellectual center of the Arab world, the heart of the Arab world. So officials say in addition to stopping the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, into Syria.

That may transform through Egypt. They also want Egyptian religious leaders to start talking out, speaking out. Imams, in those Friday sermons speaking out against ISIS and that brutal ideology -- Victor.

PAUL: So we know that Kerry was in Turkey yesterday. I'm wondering what Turkey's reaction is to taking part in the military campaign?

LABOTT: Well, Christi, any role that Egypt, Turkey would play would be kind of discrete at this point, and that's because there are about 49 Turkish government officials that are being held hostage by ISIS right now.

So Turkey treading very carefully, doesn't want to do anything to provoke ISIS because you saw what happened to those two American journalists, the gruesome beheading videos. But take a listen to Secretary Kerry yesterday talking about the role that Turkey could play in the coalition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Turkey and the United States will stand together against any challenges in the region including all terrorism. Within the coalition, there are many ways that Turkey can help in this effort. And we will continue our conversations with our military and other experts spending time to define the specific role that Turkey will play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: From here, Kerry goes to Paris where he'll be meeting with a group of countries in the coalition about what roles they can play. Whether Iran will take part that, Christi and Victor, a little bit unclear.

There was some talk maybe they could take part, but Secretary Kerry says Iran is not a productive actor actually making a lot of trouble in the region. Not sure (inaudible) along there.

PAUL: All righty, Elise Labott, thank you so much for the update. We appreciate it.

We want to let you know a former top commander of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan is weighing in on President Obama's plan to take out ISIS.

BLACKWELL: Retired Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal says ISIS is a significant threat to Iraq, Syria and to the U.S. CNN's Erin Burnett asked him if the Obama administration's plan to arm Syrian rebels, to fight ISIS, is the right thing to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): I think it's a necessary move. If you don't arm the rebels then you leave them in a position between the extreme groups like ISIS and Al-Nusra, and the army of Bashar Al-Assad. And so I think you have to do that.

Now it's always hard, if you set these incredibly high standard that says they all must be college graduates, with completely vetted, you can put any number. The reality is that's not what opposition groups and guerrillas like that are typically made up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, General McChrystal also told Erin ISIS is vulnerable because now it sees territory that it has to defend, which I don't think many of us have thought about.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they have to defend what's there in Syria, but also what the Iraqi forces are trying to take back. So U.S. surveillance planes, they're now flying over the skies of Syria. We've known that for a little while now.

PAUL: Yes, their mission is to gather intelligence, of course, that's going to help to determine if and when to launch airstrikes against ISIS targets there. Let's talk about this with CNN military analyst, Retired Lt. Colonel Rick Francona joining us from New York.

BLACKWELL: We also have Will Geddes in London. He is the managing director of International Corporate Protection, specializing in advising companies and governments on counterterrorism measures.

I want to start with you, Will. Thank you both for joining us. What information might these surveillance flights be gathering in Syria that could play a major role in the decision to launch these airstrikes?

WILL GEDDES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE PROTECTION: Well, they certainly believe that a large proportion of ISIS hierarchy and certainly their commander and control could still be operating out of Syria. Ultimately, although the insurgency in Iraq has been incredibly successful for ISIS. It's key to obviously look at the roots and try to carve out those roots.

And it's critical to try and arm the suitable rebels that are opponents to ISIS to try and curb, not only curb their activities, but ultimately also to provide that critical intelligence to where those positions and strongholds might be.

PAUL: Rick, I want to ask you, what did we learn? What did the U.S. learn specifically after training Iraqi fighters and what might have not worked there, that we might be able to employ in this instance, when we talk about arming rebels and even helping Syria?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, and it's two different worlds here. We were training the Iraqi army to stand up and go fight as a conventional force. We put the leadership in place. We put a pretty good force out there.

Unfortunately that was all taken away when we left in 2011 and Prime Minister Al-Maliki was able to pretty much gut the leadership of the Iraqi military. When we start arming the Syrian rebels, they have a structure already in place. It's a different force.

It's more of an asymmetrical warfare. They're more of a guerrilla force and arming them will be much, much different probably even more effective because they're fighting on their own turf. They know where to fight.

They know where the bad guys are. What they need from us is the money, weapons and training that will allow them to do that.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about boots on the ground. The phrase that we've heard over and over for the past couple of months, Will. General Hayden has criticized the president for saying there will be no boots on the ground.

He's not alone. Senators McCain and Graham and others have done the same thing. Do you think it's a bad idea to articulate amongst our allies and enemies that the U.S. is not going to put boots on the ground?

GEDDES: I think it's fairly dangerous to a certain extent because it's too early on in the fight to make a fairly definitive statement about they're not being boots on the round.

I mean, ultimately, there needs to be in the first instance an intelligence-led operation trying to determine obviously ISIS' positions. Secondly, it's a precise and surgicial strike by Special Forces on a multinational Special Forces task force to actually work on those positions.

Working with the rebels as well, but ultimately although the drones and reconnaissance can hit obviously to the larger open areas, if you like, where ISIS also have control is civilian-occupied towns.

Now, you can't drone strike those areas. Obviously, you have a very high civilian casualty rating. So ultimately, they will try and pin them into these urban areas if you like. But that inevitably will have to follow with some kind of boots on the ground activity. That's my speculation at this stage. PAUL: Rick, there was one counterterrorism analyst, who said ISIS is a future threat to the U.S. They're not a current threat to the U.S. They haven't launched any explicit strikes here. But I'm wondering how plausible you think it is that they can be cut off beforehand?

FRANCONA: Well, they present a danger in the cyberspace world. We've seen a lot of literature from ISIS that they want to mount some sort of viruses and cybertech things. They can do that almost immediately.

Are they a physical threat to the United States right now? It depends on who you listen to, there are many in the intelligence community that believe ISIS already has people in the United States, but those would be low-level attacks.

And Will makes a very good point. At some point, this is going to have to be addressed over there. Once we get the air campaign and the Special Forces campaign on the way, boots on the ground is probably going to be a reality. The question is, whose boots.

BLACKWELL: We're running out of time here. But you're the perfect person to ask this question because you advice governments especially. Overnight, Australia raised the country's threat level there to high.

We know that Prime Minister Cameron announced the increase of the level in the U.K. to severe. The U.S., Australia, U.K., all say that there is no specific direct threat to the respective countries.

So what's the value of increasing these threat levels considering the point of terrorism is to scare people? Is this just not giving a victory to ISIS?

GEDDES: Well, I don't think it is. Again, following from what Rick was saying a little earlier, I think the U.S. does have as realistic a threat potentially as we do in the United Kingdom and Australia as well. I wouldn't that surprise in the next months to follow.

You may see the threat level increase there as well. In terms of threats, I think there are threats. I believe there are certainly potential plots that are in the planning.

I think one has to be considered for how these threat levels need to work effectively, raising the levels of awareness by the general public, to be reporting suspicious activities because a lot of these plots are foiled by the general public.

BLACKWELL: All right, Rick Francona, Lt. Colonel, thank you so much. Will Geddes, good to have both of you this morning.

PAUL: Thank you, Gentlemen.

So just days after an explosive video surfaced showing Baltimore Ravens player, Ray Rice, knocking out his then fiancee, I know you've all seen it, there's another NFL star in trouble this morning. Why Vikings running back, Adrian Peterson has been indicted by a grand jury.

BLACKWELL: Plus, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell facing pressure to resign over the Ray Rice controversy especially will he?

PAUL: You're watching NEW DAY SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. The NFL rocked again this morning by another controversy.

BLACKWELL: Yes, overnight, Minnesota Vikings star, Adrian Peterson surrendered in Texas and then posted bail on a felony charge of injury to a child.

PAUL: Peterson's lawyer said the charge stems from accusations that Peterson used a switch to spank and discipline his 4-year-old son. Photos do show the child suffered cuts and bruises.

BLACKWELL: Now if you don't know what a switch is, the reference is typically to a thin branch that's pulled from a tree. After a Texas grand jury indicted Peterson, the Vikings released a statement saying they were, quote, "In the process of gathering information regarding the legal situation."

PAUL: Petersons already been pulled from tomorrow's game we understand.

BLACKWELL: Now you know, the NFL, of course, is still dealing with the fallout over the Ray Rice elevator video.

PAUL: And pressure is mounting for Commissioner Roger Goodell to step down as so many people questioned what he knew and when he knew it about Rice knocking out his then fiancee and now wife, Janay, that happened back in February.

But CNN's Miguel Marquez has more for us. Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Christi, good morning. That process for Ray Rice's indefinite suspension is under way while this scandal morphs into a head to head contest between Ray Rice and Roger Goodell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Today, Roger Goodell on the offensive in a letter making official Ray Rice's indefinite suspension, the NFL chief lays blame at the feet of Ray Rice himself for misleading him about what happened in that Atlantic City Casino elevator in February.

In the letter to the NFL Player's Association obtained by ESPN, Goodell referencing the second video obtained by TMZ sports showing the inside of the elevator. He writes, "This video shows a starkly different sequence of events from what you and your representatives stated when we met on June 16."

The question of what Rice told Goodell during that June 16th meeting now under intense scrutiny. Four sources telling ESPN Rice honest telling Goodell he hit or punched his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer. Here's what Goodell told CBS News Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you wish you had seen this videotape before it was released by TMZ?

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

GOODELL: That's why we asked for it on several occasions. Because when we make a decision, we want to have all the information that's available. Obviously that was when we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened.

MARQUEZ: On Wednesday, Goodell continued to blame Rice for misleading him.

GOODELL: The description of what happened was not consistent with what the videotape was. You know, when you see that, that was clear.

MARQUEZ: "The Wall Street Journal" reporting just yesterday Goodell told NFL owners he was led to believe Palmer's unconsciousness was the result of her falling as both of them struck each other.

Regardless of what was said in the June 16 meeting, Commissioner Goodell, anyone only had to read the initial complaint followed the day of the incident. It was publicly available and widely reported for months and clear as day. Rice struck her with his hand rendering her unconscious.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: And with the investigation now under way by the former FBI Director Robert Mueller, it is unlikely we will hear from anything from Roger Goodell until that is concluded. But the next move in all of this, Ray Rice's. He has until Tuesday at noon to try to appeal that indefinite suspension -- Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: It's worse and worse. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much.

PAUL: All right, let's get you caught on some of the other stories that are making news this morning in the "Morning Read."

BLACKWELL: Yes, off the top, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived this morning in Cairo for more talks and at rallying regional partners for the fight against ISIS. In Turkey yesterday, Secretary Kerry said it is, quote, "not appropriate" for Iran to join talks on confronting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

PAUL: The top doctor at the clinic where Joan Rivers went into cardiac arrest last month has left the post now. A spokesperson for Yorkville Endoscopy tells CNN the doctor, Lawrence Cohen, is no longer serving as medical director or performing procedures there. Rivers died September 4th, remember. New York's Health Department is still investigating. BLACKWELL: Big business story here, eager iPhone 6 customers waiting. They found themselves hitting refresh button Friday as a record number of pre-orders crashed Apple's online store. Some people couldn't access the site at all. Others have said it has sold out. Apple has no comment.

PAUL: And in sports, the NFL Players Association has approved the league's drug policy proposal. Under the terms, players for the first time will be blood-tested for human growth hormones. Marijuana and dui rules toughening up. Both sides have to finalize that agreement yet.

BLACKWELL: All right, a lot of people waking up this morning and it will feel a little chilly. It feels like fall up north. Frost advisory, already. Frost advisories in effect.

PAUL: I'm ready for it. I don't know about you.

BLACKWELL: You had on boots on waiting for the season.

PAUL: I'm not waiting for no stinking season. I want my fall boots on.

BLACKWELL: A tropical system that just crossed Florida and could bring heavy rain to Texas by early next week. So we'll watch out for that.

PAUL: You know there are people with me who want to get into their fall wardrobes.

BLACKWELL: We've got breaking news. A serious story this morning. A shooting at a state police barracks in Pennsylvania. Now, there are three states involved in the search for the shooter. Stay with us. We've got more on this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, breaking news this morning. Police from three states are now involved in a massive search in North Eastern Pennsylvania.

PAUL: Why? Well, this follows a shooting in a state police barracks in rural Blooming Groove Township that left one state patrol officer dead. We know a second officer was shot and is being treated right now.

BLACKWELL: Amanda Kelly from CNN affiliate WNEP joins us on the phone now. Amanda, what do you about this? What have you learned?

AMANDA KELLY, WNEP REPORTER (via telephone): Well, Victor and Christi, we've been here throughout the night, state police have confirmed there was a shooting at the Blooming Grove state police barracks. Like you said one trooper is dead, another has been shot.

As of right now, state police have not named any suspects. They're still actively looking for a shooter, Route 202 just off Interstate 84 in the Poconos is shut down at this time.

Throughout the evening, our crews watched as hundreds of state police vehicles and S.W.A.T. team cars were seen rushing towards the barracks. At this time, we don't have any information about who might be responsible or any possible motive behind the deadly shooting. But what we do know, the scene is very much active and the investigation is ongoing.

PAUL: Do you know, Amanda, if they're looking for more than one person? Do they believe there's more than one person involved in this?

KELLY: Unfortunately, right now, we haven't been given any indication as to whether it was one or more than one individual involved in this deadly shooting. But we do know that one trooper is dead and that another has been shot.

BLACKWELL: What do we know about the accessibility of this area? I mean, this is a place that it could make a herculean effort to get access to the troopers or is this something that you just have to get through a door or two, I mean, this happened in the parking lot? How accessible is this barracks?

KELLY: We haven't been given an indication if this happened in the parking lot area or inside the barracks. But Christi and Victor, this is a barracks our news teams visit very frequently for news stories. It's just like many state police barracks.

You walk in the front door, there's a desk that's behind bulletproof glass and a secured door before you can get into any of the offices or rooms within the rest of the barracks. So, right now, you know, we are asking many questions how could somebody get into a state police barracks and do such a thing.

PAUL: Any indication as to the condition of that second officer who was shot, Amanda?

KELLY: At this time, we haven't been given any condition reports for the injured officer -- injured trooper. But we did see several medical helicopters in the area, in the early morning hours as of right now, we do not know what area hospitals they may have been flown to. And if indeed it was the trooper inside the medical helicopters.

We're still waiting. It's been a very busy night for investigators. And we are still waiting with information from state police on just where exactly this investigation is going.

PAUL: All righty, well, Amanda Kelley from CNN affiliate, WNEP. We appreciate the update. Thank you.

KELLY: Thank you.

PAUL: We'll keep you posted on that obviously as we get more information and that search for that shooter continues.

Listen, we want to talk about a Florida driver who is accusing George Zimmerman of threatening him during a fit of road rage, allegedly. This is the latest incident since Zimmerman was acquitted of the shooting death of unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin, of course.

BLACKWELL: According to police on Tuesday, a caller to 911 said that Zimmerman pulled up to the side of him in a traffic light and threatened to kill him and asked him this question, do you know who I am?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I was in my car, rapping to myself with my windows up and I looked over and it's George Zimmerman was the driver and they were threatening to kick my (inaudible) and to shoot me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, the dashcam video was two days later Zimmerman here is in this gray t-shirt. Police then received a phone call from the same caller to 911. The man you just heard, he said he saw Zimmerman lurking by his workplace, lurking by his job. Police did not arrest Zimmerman because the caller did not press charges.

This morning, another NFL player is facing some legal trouble. A child abuse investigation leads to a felony charge for this man, Vikings star, Adrian Peterson.

PAUL: Plus, boxing star Floyd Mayweather is apologizing for his comments regarding the Ray Rice case. We'll tell you what he said.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So glad to have you with us. 32 minutes past the hour now, and as the NFL deals with the fallout from the Ray Rice controversy, another star player is in some trouble this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, this time, it's Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson. He's posted a $50,000 bond after turning himself in to authorities on a felony charged of injury to a child.

PAUL: Now, according to Peterson's lawyer, this charge stems from motivation that Peterson used a tree branch as a switch to spank and discipline his four year old son. Photos do show the child suffered cuts and bruises from that incident.

BLACKWELL: Well, after news that the indictment by a Texas grand jury, the Vikings have released the statement. And here it is "They're in the process of gathering information regarding this legal situation.

PAUL: Peterson has already been pulled from tomorrow's game, we understand.