Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Baltimore Ravens Team Knew of Rice Video; U.S. to Arm Syrian Rebels against ISIS; Kids Kicking Cancer; Analyzing ISIS Threat; Investigation of Hannah Graham's Disappearance; New Questions for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Aired September 20, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So good to have your company, everyone. Thanks for being here. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is 6:00. We're beginning with breaking news this morning.

PAUL: Yes, police in Pennsylvania now appear to be closing in on the man they suspect killed a state trooper and then wounded another a week ago in this ambush outside a state police there. But they seem to get close.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Look at this. This was the scene just a few hours ago in Barrett Township. Law enforcement surrounded a home in the Poconos where they believe 31-year-old Eric Matthew Frein is hiding. Now the house which is broken into is not far from Frein's family home. And it's about 30 miles from the site of the attack.

PAUL: Earlier police exchanged gunfire with the man they think was Frein. But you can imagine now residents in Barrett and Price Townships, they're being told stay in their homes, stay away from the windows because this standoff continues to unfold this morning.

BLACKWELL: Now Frein is on the FBI's most wanted list now with a $100,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest. Authorities say he apparently cut his hair into a Mohawk style before the shooting.

PAUL: We know state police have said Frein is a survivalist. He's known for staging military re-enactments but they say he had made statements about wanting to kill police prior to last Friday night's attack.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's go into the White House now because this is a pretty frightening incident.

A man who was unarmed jumped a fence last night and made it into the building before he was caught just inside the doors.

His mad dash across the North Lawn was captured by this cell phone video. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, go back. Everybody into the park. Right now. Into the park.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back, get back. Everybody back in the park.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now part of the White House was evacuated after this incident. The first family was not there at the time. But just four minutes earlier, four minutes, President Obama and his daughters had boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn bound for Camp David.

Authorities have identified the suspect as 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas. A man believed to be Gonzalez was loaded on to an ambulance shortly after the security breach, that's what you're seeing here.

CNN -- an official, rather, told CNN that Gonzalez had been on the Secret Service's radar, although the official would not say exactly why.

Well, now we got this bombshell in the Ray Rice domestic abuse investigation.

PAUL: Is it is ever. A source within the Ravens organization here tells CNN the team knew about the video of the star running back knocking out his then-fiancee in an elevator within hours of the incident.

Kristen Ledlow joining us with more on this developing story.

Good morning, Kristin.

KRISTEN LEDLOW, CNN SPORTS: Good morning. And you're exactly right. CNN has actually learned now that the team's head of security spoke with Atlantic City police shortly after that assault in February. In that conversation police described in detail the video recorded inside the elevator.

ESPN reports those details were shared with team executives in Baltimore. The network also claims that executives, including owner Steve Bisciotti, president Dick Cass and general manager Ozzie Newsome then began campaigns pushing for leniency for Rice on several fronts. From the judicial system in New Jersey to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Now the source inside the Ravens' organization tells CNN the first time the Ravens actually saw the video from inside the elevator was when TMZ first released the recording.

Now Goodell finally broke his silence yesterday to face the media about the rash of domestic violence issues that have rocked the sports world over the last couple of weeks. Now the commissioner says that he has no plan to resign and admits to making a mistake in his handling of the scandals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: I hold myself to the highest possible standards. So when I make a mistake or I don't get something right, it bothers me more than anybody. I think the owners have seen that in me. I think they know that we have always tried to do the right thing. Mistakes happen, and I'm sorry for that. And we're going to get this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEDLOW: Goodell announced that the NFL will overhaul its personal conduct policy because of that outcry over the league's poor handling of domestic violence incidents. He said that the league office will form a conduct committee and that he's actually willing to give up some of that judge-jury-executioner power that he's held for so long.

The executive director of the NFL Players Association DeMaurice Smith appeared on CNN's "UNGUARDED" with Rachel Nichols last night and said he welcomes the chance to get it right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS: Is the union going to have any say in how that shapes out?

DEMAURICE SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: Hearing that they intend to have a discussion about overhauling that system is something that the union will have to be a part of. And we look forward to working with them and correcting the problems or the issues that we believe have existed with that policy for some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEDLOW: The president of the National Organization for Women is calling for Goodell's resignation. In a statement, Terry O'Neil said that the commissioner did, quote. "nothing to increase confidence in his ability to lead the NFL out of its morass." Guys.

PAUL: All right. Hey, Kristen Ledlow, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: All right, as Jennifer said, CNN's Rachel Nichols grilled Goodell at his press news conference yesterday.

PAUL: Yes. The host of CNN's "UNGUARDED" really came at the commissioner hard. She asked question after question about how the league handled this ongoing abuse scandal.

BLACKWELL: Check out part of the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: Commissioner, you mentioned Robert Mueller's investigation is key to solving all of these issues. I'm not going to sit here and discuss the integrity of the ex-director of the FBI. I can leave it as a given that he's a man of integrity. But the --

GOODELL: Yes.

NICHOLS: -- law firm that he works for and that will help him carry out that investigation is a law firm with extremely close ties to the NFL. You guys paid that law firm recently to help you negotiate some television deals. The president of the Ravens, who will be key in this whole investigation, worked at that law firm for more than 30 years.

Why hire someone with even the appearance of impropriety? And how do you expect this to his to affect everything?

GOODELL: Well, Rachel, I would respectfully disagree because you now are questioning the integrity of the director of the FBI. Yes, that firm has represented us in the past, but they've also been on the other side in litigation against the NFL. So -- this is a highly respected individual that served as director of the FBI, longest serving director in the history of that position. His credentials are unparalled and unquestioned.

NICHOLS: But part of the idea of this, I guess, is to restore public trust. So even if they does a flawless investigation, isn't there an element here of your leaving the door open for doubt?

GOODELL: Well, Rachel, unfortunately, we live in a world where there's a lot of litigation. There are a lot of law firms, a lot of people who have had maybe some intersection with us in the past. Robert Mueller has not. Law firms may have.

NICHOLS: Also you've mentioned on TV last week that you guys checked and tried to get the Ray Rice video and any information. The Atlantic City Prosecutor's Office in an open record check says they don't have any electronic communications from the NFL asking for those kinds of documentation or the video.

Can you give us sort of the trail of how you guys did that investigation so that people can know really what you put into it?

GOODELL: Well, certainly our security department works with law enforcement. They're fully cooperative. We gather almost entirely all of our information through law enforcement. And that's something else we're going to look at, Rachel. That's something -- is that the right process? Should all of our information be gathered simply through law enforcement?

We understand and respect what they go through and the job they have to do and there are certain restrictions that they may be under. But we asked for it on several occasions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Obviously we're going to continue that conversation throughout the morning as well. And talk to a branding expert.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's a lot --

PAUL: What does this mean for the Ravens, for the NFL? Right. BLACKWELL: A lot of questions came out of that interview.

PAUL: No doubt about it. And also more than a week now after UVA student Hannah Graham disappeared. The Charlottesville community is still trying to find her. We're going to have some new details for you, though, about this case and why police may be one step closer to finding her this morning.

BLACKWELL: Also really dramatic rescue by some folks who you see here. They helped to save the life of three teenagers. You see them under this SUV. We'll show you the amazing video.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. A lot of news to tell you about this morning. Here's your morning read.

PAUL: I can't believe this one. An unarmed man jumped the fence at the White House last night. Look at this. He made it all the way into the building before he was caught. He was just inside the doors. That business of mad dash across the North Lawn, it was captured by cell phone video. Authorities have identified the suspect, this 42- year-old Omar Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas.

BLACKWELL: One week after University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared, more than 1500 people have volunteered to help search for her. It's happening later today. Now yesterday police searched the apartment of a car -- and car, rather, of a man they believe was with Graham the night she disappeared. The individual was not arrested but police say he matches the description of a man seen inside a bar with Graham after she left dinner with friends.

PAUL: It is the biggest IPO ever to hit Wall Street and guess what? It's growing. Shares of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant generated nearly $22 billion in sales on its initial public offering. And after just one day the price is up 38 percent. The company's CEO says he wants Alibaba to be compared with American corporate icons such as Wal-Mart, Microsoft and IBM.

BLACKWELL: The embattled NFL commissioner broke his silence to tell the world that he's not going anywhere. In his first public remarks in more than a week, Roger Goodell apologized for his mishandling of the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal, but he made it clear that he's not resigning. Goodell went on to promise sweeping policy changes in the hopes of countering domestic abuse and sexual assault in the league.

PAUL: And in Texas, searchers have found the body of a sheriff's deputy whose car was swept away by floodwaters. Jessica Hollis, you see her here, she disappeared during the storm that hit that area this week. She'd been on patrol and checking low water crossings when she radioed for help. The 35-year-old was a seven-year veteran of the sheriff's office.

BLACKWELL: Well, now it's law. President Obama has signed legislation to arm and train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS as the militants advance in Syria and Iraq. Now the president insists there will be no U.S. combat troops on the ground. House Speaker John Boehner said this week that may not be enough to defeat ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: I just think that if our goal here is to destroy ISIL, we've got to do more than train a few folks in Syria and train a few folks in Iraq and dropping bombs. I just don't know that it's enough to achieve the objective the president outlined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona in New York.

Colonel, good to have you with us this morning. Here's the question. If not now, when do you expect we'll start to see these air strikes in Syria?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, we were hoping that we'd start seeing them already because, you know, you look at the situation on the ground in Iraq and Syria, ISIS is one target set. They're operating on both sides of that border, yet we're focusing our operations right now on the Iraqi side of that border.

And what we're seeing is ISIS moving things back into Syria. They're dispersing things out of their warehouses and out of their concentrated troop areas, putting them into the cities, complicating our target efforts tremendously. So right now focused on Iraq, but we need to be hitting targets in Syria as well. Otherwise we just dilute the effort.

BLACKWELL: So here's the question. You and several other military analysts we've had on have said that you need to pair the ground operations with these air strikes. If it's going to take eight to 12 months to train these Syrian rebels, are we going to start now? And what will be the cleanup on the ground if they're not ready?

FRANCONA: Yes. The whole Syria side of this is the big problem, Victor, because there is no boots on the ground. And if we think that the Free Syrian Army is going to be those boots on the ground, I think we're really deluding ourselves because if you read what the commanders of the Free Syrian Army are saying, they said yes, we want the training, yes, we want the support, but we want to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.

We're not really interested in fighting ISIS. We only defend ourselves against ISIS. So it's going to take a shift in their focus for them to go after ISIS. And we're hoping that they're going to do that. And we're going to talk about a year down the road. So this is a big problem for us. If we're going to be conducting air strikes in Syria, there are no boots on the ground, it's going to be very, very difficult especially now that ISIS has started to disperse all their targets into civilian areas. We're going to probably incur a lot of -- cause a lot of civilian

casualties unless we can get some eyes on the ground there.

BLACKWELL: So, Senators McCain, Graham, and several others have talked about the president's repeated affirming that there will be no U.S. combat troops in this fight against ISIS. My question to you, although it is an uncomfortable one to ask, should there be?

FRANCONA: Well, it depends. If we regard this threat as a severe threat to the United States, if this is a threat to more than just American interests in the region, but if this is truly a threat to the United States, then we have to take this on as the United States, not this coalition and hoping that somebody else will do our fighting for us. As somebody said, you can't outsource your own security.

So if this is a threat, we have to address it. And unfortunately at some point, as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said, we may have to go back to the president and say, we need to put U.S. military forces on the ground somewhere, either in Iraq or Iraq and Syria to make this happen. I know it's an uncomfortable thing, politically dangerous, but we have to deal with this ourselves.

BLACKWELL: All right. Colonel Rick Francona, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

FRANCONA: Sure.

PAUL: Bystanders rescued three teens after their car crashed into the region. This is dramatic water rescue. And look at all of the people here coming to their aid. We'll tell you more about this one.

Also a British hostage appears in a chilling new ISIS video. He's not in the desert. Got (INAUDIBLE). He's at a desk. Is ISIS changing its message now? And what do we read into this?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Hey, take a moment, and we want you to look at your screen. Some people who saw a couple of teenagers in trouble, they jumped in. And it looked like a Herculean task, but they really went in and did some good work. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, get them out. Oh, my god. Go, go, come on. Get down there. Go, jump, jump. Find your shoes later. Jump, jump. Yes, yes, yes. Yes. Oh, my god, yes. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Yes, they can't get it open. Go through the window. Go through the window. Oh, my god, look at that. Look at that. Oh, my god, yes. Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: The power of people when they come together.

BLACKWELL: My God.

PAUL: Are you kidding me? Three teenage boys were trapped in that thing upside down in a river. They allegedly had been driving too fast on a bridge when it crashed. This is in the Jordan River. But the -- you saw it land upside down. Those folks jumped into the river, helped push it over. And they saved those kid. Kudos to all of those people. That is awesome.

BLACKWELL: That is amazing.

PAUL: Well, listen, according to the American Cancer Society this year -- this is so sad -- more than 10,000 children in the U.S. are going to be diagnosed with some form of cancer.

BLACKWELL: But this week's CNN hero is giving sick kids a strong weapon to fight the pain and the fear that grips them. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI ELIMELECH GOLDBERG, CNN HERO: I really hate when it hurts. It's a really sharp pain. I get all teary. The shots really scared me a lot, and they still scare me now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When children get a diagnosis like cancer or any major disease, they lose any sense of feeling that they're controlling their lives. They're prodded and poked and touched, and they're often so afraid.

Our daughter is Sara Bassio, who was diagnosed with leukemia. She was such an incredible little soul who taught me about the power that's inside of ourselves.

Are you ready? OK. Begin.

After our daughter passed away, I started a program that provides classes to children who are sick, to teach them the martial arts, to make them feel powerful.

Every single type of martial arts uses the breath to take control.

I'm a black belt in Choi Kwang Do.

Hold it and then release.

We use the martial arts as a platform for meditation, for relaxation, to allow children to gain these tools to really face down so much of the fear, the anger that accompanies pain.

Breathe in.

And you can see that light on their face. I feel like their souls are shining.

Hey, you did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do have the power to make the pain go away. And nothing's impossible. Nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: Oh, what a gift he is, huh? If you want to learn more about that, (INAUDIBLE), just incredible work. Head over to CNNheroes.com.

BLACKWELL: Since 1999 Goldberg's nonprofit Kicking Cancer -- great name there.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Has provided free martial arts lessons as well as one-on- one support during medical procedures for more than 5,600 children and their families.

PAUL: I can barely get through that thing without tearing up.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Seeing those kids.

All right. Listen to this. Nervous moments when Russian military planes flew just a little too close to U.S. air space. What exactly were they doing?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Good morning to you. Thirty minutes past the hour right now. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Here, five things you need to know for your new day. Up first, a man made it all the way into the White House last night after jumping the fence outside the north lawn. Secret Service says 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez of Copperas Cove, Texas was not armed. A part of the White House was evacuated after the incident. The first family was not there at the time.

PAUL: Number two. Shades of the Cold War here. U.S. jets intercepted a half dozen Russian military planes flying too close to Alaskan airspace. That happened on Thursday. They didn't enter sovereign territory, but it they did come within plus 55 miles. A U.S. official tells our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr it looks as though the incident was planned to coincide with the Ukraine president's visit to the U.S. and Canada.

BLACKWELL: Number three. CNN has confirmed that within hours of the Ray Rice domestic abuse incident the Ravens organization knew of the elevator video showing their star running back knocking out his then fiancee. As according to a source within the organization, ESPN reports details were shared with the team executives including the team's president who punished for leniency - our pushed, rather, for leniency from both the judicial system in New Jersey and the NFL commissioner. For their part the Ravens dispute the ESPN report and promise to address the accusations next week.

PAUL: Number four, a man acted - or accused, rather, of deliberately starting a California wildfire is pleading not guilty this morning. Wayne Huntsman being held on $10 million bail. He's facing one felony count of arson. The king fire as it's been called has grown to over 76,000 acres and only 10 percent of it has been contained thus far.

BLACKWELL: Number five. More problems for Florida state Heisman trophy winner - winning quarterback Jameis Winston is being benched for today's game against Clemson while the university investigates an on-campus incident. FSU officials say Winston yelled something obscene in public. He was initially ordered to sit out the first half of the game, but the university bumped it up to the full game without explaining why. Winston has apologized.

PAUL: Well, listen to this. U.S. intelligence officials are combing through a chilling ISIS propaganda video that's new here.

BLACKWELL: It features explosions and bombings, the jihadist as well in perfect English, a calmly man, a man who is pretty calm there orders the mass execution of a group of men who are digging their own graves. Question, could he be an American?

PAUL: CNN's Brian Todd reports that is what the intelligence community intends to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a 55-minute film he appears only at the end, but his voice resonates all the way to Washington where a U.S. official tells CNN the intelligence community is analyzing this video trying to determine this man's origin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're here with the soldiers of Bashar. You can see them now digging their own graves in the very place where they were stationed.

TODD: This masked ISIS militant gloats as he presides over the executions of Syrians apparently captured from a military base near Raqqa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said that we abandoned the fronts and stopped fighting the Kufar (ph) to turn our guns towards the Muslims. They lied. They lied. We are the harshest towards the Kufar, and the flames of war are only beginning to intensify.

TODD: He speaks perfect English.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the end of every (INAUDIBLE) Kafir that we get a hold of.

TODD: He could be Arab and educated in the West, he could be American or Canadian.

FRANK CILLUFFO, HOMELAND SECURITY POLICY INSTITUTE: Clearly ISIS had a calculated step to be able to put this guy on camera. Why? Because he seems American. The message is aimed at a Western audience. And his intent is to, "a," project fear to the United States and, "b," to instill and give this sense of a projection of power.

TODD: The entire video is pure ISIS propaganda, stylishly edited battle scenes featuring the enemy's heavy armor getting blown apart, but a crucial moment comes in the film's final minutes when the masked ISIS militant and his comrades ready their guns and appear to execute the Syrians who dug their own graves.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK: If this is a North American, this is quite extraordinary, because it would be the first time that a North American ISIS fighter has committed a war crime on camera.

TODD: A U.S. official says it's too early to tell where he is dialect is from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wallahi (ph)! The fighting has just begun.

TODD: How will they find clues?

CILLUFFO: There is going to be voice analysis. They're going to be looking at any particular accents they may have. Anything that could tip off law enforcement where they can then pull the thread even further in terms of the state and local to meet with some of the communities.

TODD: Did ISIS slip up and exposed this man by having him say and do too much on camera? Analyst Frank Cilluffo says maybe not. The value for them, he says, is in propaganda and recruiting. And if this man gets captured or killed, they have plenty more Westerners in their ranks. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: We want to get more perspective on this. We'll get as he's joining now. He's the managing director for International Corporate Protection. Will, thank you so much for being here. First of all, what's your impression of this latest propaganda message?

WILL GEDDES, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: Well, again, I think as you were saying in the package, ISIS are very savvy in terms of trying to communicate their message. They're smart enough to try and put together what are seemingly quite professional videos, whether it be the execution videos, whether it be with the British journalist that was delivering almost like a video block right through to this most current video. They know that using the international media who are likely to propagate this is helping them certainly serve their purpose in both recruitment, but also establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

PAUL: So, I think who do you think the message is intended for? Is there a profile of people who gets sucked into this?

GEDDES: Well, I think there's a vanity exercise to a certain extent by them. They want to obviously show their capability and they want to show the diversity of recruits that have joined their ranks. But ultimately, this is a video to try and instill fear as terrorism does in its most basic of senses. But secondly, it's also trying to appeal potentially to sympathizers. And they know that beyond those recruits that they can gather to actually join their cause in theater, they are also looking for support internationally. And whether this be to possible and potential home grown terrorism that could be perpetrated oversea in other countries.

PAUL: Do we have any good assessment of how -- how well they have been able -- ISIS has been able to integrate themselves into other countries like the U.S., the U.K.?

GEDDES: Well, again, intelligence is quite limited at the moment. What we do know is that they have a multinational recruitment. They have individuals from all over the world who have gone down to join their cause. Now, inevitably whether they're being supported by those back home who are sending money, packages, affecting or assisting with communications or whether it be those internationals returning to their home countries later to perpetrate acts, quantifying it is very difficult. The estimates here in the United Kingdom is that it's in excess of 600, and I think that is - and that is 600 U.K. nationals that have joined their fight. Now, I think that's a quite conservative figure and I think we could be looking certainly possibly double that number.

PAUL: All right, I want to get to one other video that came out of this British journalist John Cantlie. He's seen at a desk. This is something very different than we've seen thus far, Will. It's a dark background. He's seen just sitting at a desk. He's forced to read sounds that are almost like a plea for understanding. There's no knife to his throat. What do you make of this message? It's so different from what we've seen of them in the past? Are they trying to say something differently, ISIS, in this instance?

GEDDES: Yeah, I think you're right, Christi. I think what we're seeing here, certainly with this British journalist who is presenting this kind of video blog and who is threatening that there are more programs that will be released and he'll be revealing more information about what ISIS's agenda actually is, there are certain tell tales within this video, which are quite concerning and particularly for some of the European countries that inevitably have paid ransom for some of their hostages.

Now, it's very good likelihood that this various European countries will be somewhere quaking in their boots right now to whether they are going to be compromised in terms of not only the moneys that have been exchanged for those hostages, but secondly, which countries specifically have conceded to these terrorists. Now, obviously the U.K. and the U.S. have stood fast and need to stand fast.

Ultimately, we all know that any nation or government that actually concedes to terrorism and particularly to kidnappers by paying ransoms, particularly in a financial sense, are opening themselves up for open season for all of their nationals in the future being kidnapped, not just by ISIS, but by other terrorist groups as well.

PAUL: Already. Will Geddes. I still appreciate you being with us today. Thank you, sir.

BLACKWELL: It's been a week since the University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared. Now there's a major break in this case. We'll tell you why police want to talk to a man they say may know what happened to her. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: 17 minutes till the top of the hour. We are going to tell you about a pretty grim discovery by Michigan police. The body of 22- year-old Theresa Dekeyser. It was found Thursday at a storage site in Plymouth Township. She'd been missing since June. Listen to this. Police say her body was stuffed inside a 55-gallon barrel sealed with cement. Dekeyser's boyfriend, seen here, is being held on unrelated drug charges and is considered a suspect in her disappearance. Because officials say the two got into a fight the night before she vanished. Now, it's still unclear how Dekeyser was killed, but police used a tattoo, her clothing and jewelry to identify her body.

PAUL: And let's talk about this major break now in the case of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. One week after the straight A student and really - as they were saying, an accomplished athlete disappeared, police say they're now zeroing in on one person in particular.

BLACKWELL: They executed two search warrants yesterday and searched the car of a man they believe was with Graham the night she disappeared.

PAUL: Graham was last seen at a downtown mall after living dinner with friends. She has not been seen or heard from since, but here's CNN Jean Casarez who has been looking into this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: And I want to make one thing absolutely clear. This press conference and every press conference hereafter is about one thing and one thing only, and that is finding Hannah.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was one week ago University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham suddenly vanished. Forensic investigators spent Friday searching an apartment complex, carrying out a number of sealed paper bags. Police also searched and seized a vehicle at that same complex.

SGT. JIM MOONEY, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: We have every reason to believe that Ms. Graham was in that vehicle.

CASAREZ: They believe the man driving was a man seen in video surveillance early last Saturday morning.

MOONEY: An additional video shows that same black male with dreadlocks with his hands around Hannah Graham's waist.

CASAREZ: Authorities say the two went into the Tempo restaurant.

MOONEY: He purchased alcohol there and we know that Hannah Graham was with him. We also know that within 15 minutes they were gone from that bar and that his car was seen leaving the area on video.

CASAREZ: Police describe the man as black, 32 years old, 6'2", 270 pounds with dreadlocks. Meanwhile, as investigators continue to pore over any leads, Hannah's friends focus on seeing her again.

LORI GALLOWAY, HANNAH GRAHAM'S FRIEND: We can't really wrap our heads around all of this because you were such a vibrant presence and full of joyous love and life. We want to bring you home.

CASAREZ: Jean Casarez, CNN, Charlottesville, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And we'll have a former FBI special agent with us later in the show to talk about some of the elements of this story and the search for Hannah.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell breaks his silence and faces the media amidst the league's domestic abuse scandal. Answers some tough questions.

PAUL: Yeah, but as a lot of people are saying were the answers enough, especially to protect the embattled league and save his own job. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The last weekend of summer. Texas and New Mexico are looking at some stormy weather.

PAUL: Yeah, I mean we're talking about some really heavy rain that's supposed to continue this week. So, we are bringing in CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray, because I'm wondering, Jen, you know, how bad is the flooding potential?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, we've already seen so much rain in central Texas and also west Texas, portions of New Mexico and Arizona. Another day of this is what we're going to see, but the good news is it should be wrapping up after today. Central Texas is going to stay pretty dry for today. The bulk of the rain will be in southern New Mexico, 2 to 4 inches - of Carlsbad, and then north of El Paso, 3 to 6 inches. So, still, more of this flooding. Because of this, we already have flood watches in effect, also flood warnings right there for Carlsbad. So be on the lookout for that. One other thing I want to mention, we do have the possibility for a couple of severe storms today including Chicago, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, not really a tornado threat here, but we are going to see the possibility of damaging winds and large hail. So that is going to be something we'll be watching for for today.

Another chilly morning across the northeast. 59 in New York. We're seeing temperatures at 54 in Albany and temperatures in the 30s as you get in the portions of Vermont and New Hampshire. Of course, we did have frost advisories in effect. Those have since gone away. Warmer air though, guys, will be pushing into the northeast over the next couple of days.

BLACKWELL: All right, nice mix, Jennifer Gray. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Well, this NFL story just seems to keep swirling and swirling, doesn't it? Embattled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He's promising, to, quote, "get it right" in how the league's handling these domestic abuse cases.

BLACKWELL: He says he isn't going to resign, but I wonder if the pressure is just going to be too much. We'll put that question to a branding expert next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: OK, so we've now heard from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. It's been more than a week. And he said two things -- the most important, that he's not resigning, and that he got it wrong. He admitted the mishandling of the league's domestic abuse incidents and now a scandal. Goodell faced reporters in New York yesterday. He apologized for dropping the ball. He's now promising to usher in sweeping changes to counter domestic abuse in the NFL. We've got Joey Reiman in with us to talk about this. He is a branding executive and the author of "The Story of Purpose," a book that is on my book shelf. Joy, thanks for coming back.

JOEY REIMAN, BRANDING EXECUTIVE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Most agree that the NFL has fumbled, you know, the handling of this scandal. Is this good enough or is this at least a good start for Goodell?

REIMAN: It's a good start, but it's still - he's still on the defensive and this game is not a game of defense. It's a game of offense. We've got to tackle a number of issues. We've got to tackle the brand, the culture in football itself.

BLACKWELL: So, all right, let's talk about this.

REIMAN: Yeah.

BLACKWELL: And is it possible that there is one element that if it's discovered, could be the end for Goodell? Let's say he saw the recording inside the elevator. Is that the end for him or can he survive that even?

REIMAN: You know, this is not an endgame for Goodell. This is really an opening of the most important issue that we're facing. This is a tragedy that this is going on, but it brings up this motion of abuse. And, you know, frankly, I mean a woman is abused every 15 seconds in this country. So that's on the field now. And that's the issue. It's not Goodell. I mean, I don't know what's going to happen to him. But what's going to happen to the game is significant. Again, the brand needs to take a stand against nonviolence. The culture needs to be tackled and we need to start rewarding these players not for hedonism, but heroism and really for safety and for team and for partnerships. And finally the most important part of this -- and it's bigger than Goodell -- is the game itself. What's the purpose of football? The purpose of football originally was to exceed one's limits, not beat the other guy and take that lesson home.

BLACKWELL: Well, it seems that that is what many people are tuning in for now. And the ratings are soaring. Let me ask you about the endorsers, some of the corporate sponsors. We've heard from Anheuser- Busch, we've heard from Procter & Gamble. But they're not exactly stepping away. Do you thing they will step away?

REIMAN: No. This is the best news for marketers. And congratulations to Procter & Gamble and Anheuser-Busch. You know, companies are the new quarterbacks. And they're saying you're going to play by a whole new set of rules, there are a much, much higher standard. So, I'm thrilled that companies are getting involved now saying you know what? You better step up or we're stepping out.

BLACKWELL: All right, Joey Reiman, branding expert. And thank you so much for joining us this morning.

REIMAN: Thank you, Victor.

PAUL: Joey, so good to have you here. Thank you. And there is so much more news to tell you about this morning.

BLACKWELL: Next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts right now.

PAUL: And good morning to you. Fifty-nine minutes past the hour. I hope Saturday's been good to you so far.

BLACKWELL: Yes, good start. I'm Victor Blackwell. It's now 7:00 on the East Coast. We are starting with breaking news this morning. Police in Pennsylvania appear to be closing in on the man they believe killed one state trooper and wounded another in an ambush a week ago outside a state police barracks.

PAUL: What you're looking at here is the scene just a few hours ago. It was in Barrett Township here as law enforcement swarmed that rural area there. It's in the Poconos as they hunt for 31-year-old Eric Matthew Frein.

BLACKWELL: National correspondent Jason Carroll is in Monroe County. Jason, what's the latest this morning?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, another tense moment in time here for the people here in Monroe County.