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New Day Saturday

U.S. to Send 1,500 More Troops to Iraq; Obama to Nominate Lynch as Attorney General; Mexico Gang Confesses to Killing Students; Car Attacks Trigger Clashes in Jerusalem; Breaking the Navy SEAL Code of Silence; Obama Lunches With Congressional Leaders

Aired November 08, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All righty. It's just 7:00 on the dot right now. I just want to make sure you're on time this morning, in case, you know, you got places to be, people to see, we're glad that you're spending time with us. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I want to be right here. I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell. It is as Christi says, 7:00, thing --

PAUL: So good to have you here.

SAVIDGE: Thank you very much. Nice to be with you.

PAUL: Thank you for being here, Martin.

Of course, first thing this morning, we have to talk about the American military campaign in Iraq because it is about to get an awful lot bigger.

SAVIDGE: President Obama is doubling the number of troops, as we have been saying in the ground, in Iraq. They'll train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight ISIS. The president sending more than 1,500 -- or 1,500 more, I should say, American troops to Iraq, bringing the total number there to just under 3,000.

PAUL: Yes, we know they're going to fan out to bases outside the capital Baghdad and Irbil and northern Iraq. It's expected that some will also be in Anbar province.

SAVIDGE: Yes. And that is where ISIS has seized town after town. But the Pentagon insisted they won't be involved in combat and this is not mission creep.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It's not mission creep at all. Mission creep is when the mission changes or morphs into something that it didn't start out to be. This is very much in keeping with the missions that we've been performing in Iraq since June.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: President Obama also plans to ask Congress for $5.5 billion to help fund the military campaign against ISIS.

PAUL: I want to bring in correspondent from Turkey. Arwa, good to see you this morning. What are you hearing on the ground about the decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the hope is that it is somehow going to alter the balance of power in the battlefield, despite the recent efforts by the U.S. to try to bolster the Iraqi security forces at this stage. They have not been able to make significant gains against ISIS. Yes, they have managed to recapture a handful of key locations, but they have not able to push ISIS out of key territory, which is one of the main reasons why these additional troops, doubling the number of U.S. troops in country, are going to be most likely finding themselves in more forward positions and potentially bases located in Anbar province to the west and Taji to the north of the capital Baghdad.

Anbar is very key in all of this, as is the effort to try to bring the Sunni tribes back into the fold. This is something we've heard President Obama talking about. This is something that both the United States and other coalition allies really want to see this new Shia-led government in Baghdad make an effort to do, because you have to look back at the country's history.

The Sunni tribes that back in the day allied themselves with al Qaeda did eventually turn on al Qaeda and were key in changing the tide when it came to the battle in Iraq. Those tribes, by and large, are currently helping ISIS or at the very least not fighting alongside them, not fighting against is. So bringing those Sunni leaders, those Sunni tribal leaders, especially in key locations like Anbar is going to be critical in trying to alter the tide in Iraq, especially when it comes to ultimately defeating ISIS.

And unless that effort is under way, quite frankly, it's not going to matter how many U.S. troops are on the ground.

PAUL: Well, yes, Arwa, I wanted to ask you, they're going to operate from bases outside Baghdad, and Irbil, and you mentioned Anbar, which is kind of a microcosm at this point of the fighting that's going on there it seems, because it has been very dangerous there. Do we know how secure the bases are where U.S. troops will be stationed?

DAMON: And that is going to be the key question. People keep talking about categorizing these troops as not having a combat role, but at the end of the day, they are in a war zone. And the further away they are from the main bases, in Baghdad, in Irbil, the likelier they are to find themselves in potentially dangerous situations even if they're not on the frontlines alongside Iraqi security forces.

When it comes to advising them, from a secure base, that doesn't necessarily mean they would be immune to say a car bomb, a suicide car bomber trying to penetrate that base, any sort of indirect fire. So, they may not be categorized as combat troops, but they most certainly are gong to be finding themselves in a war zone. PAUL: In a defensive position. Arwa Damon, we so appreciate the

update. Thank you so much.

I also want to bring in Christopher Harmer now. He's the senior naval analyst for the Institute for the Study of War.

SAVIDGE: The Pentagon insists that this is not mission creep. So, let's start up by asking the very question. If it's not mission creep, then what exactly is it?

CHRISTOPHER HARMER, SR. NAVAL ANALYST, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be with you.

Yet, to the layman, this seems like mission creep. We're more than doubling the number of troops in Iraq. We're pushing them forward, closer to the fight. We're placing them at increased risk.

By any standard definition, by any layman's definition, it certainly looks like a mission creep. If you look at from a final point of view, look at it from a purely technical point of view, this technically isn't mission creep. All of it is resource creep to meet the mission that we previously established.

In June, when President Obama started talking about destroying or defeating ISIS in Iraq, I think almost every professional military analyst that I knew said overwhelmingly, what we've got there right now is not enough to do the job against ISIS. Currently, the Iraqi army certainly is not capable of doing it.

And so, if we want to defeat ISIS, we need to put more forces into the battle. There's just no way around that.

SAVIDGE: Is this an indication then that the air campaign isn't working?

HARMER: Well, the indication the air campaign wasn't working was there from day one. You can't defeat an insurgency, you can't defeat a rebel force by a using air power.

Let me give you an example of that. I remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday, but doing counter notations, that's 13 years ago. It's hard to believe.

But the reality is, we have been bombing the Taliban continuously for 13 years. They're in no way ready to give up the fight. The Taliban is still in the fight. They're still consequential. They are still able to conduct spectacular attacks both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We cannot defeat ISIS from the air. We can help defeat ISIS from the air. But in order for these air strikes to be effective, we have to have men on the ground who can call in the air strikes accurately.

The problem that we face with ISIS is, they have melded back into the population. They're intermixed with the population and as such, it's very difficult, if not impossible for a pilot flying at 30,000 feet to differentiate them from the civilian population. The only way you can accurately call in air strikes is if you have trained air controllers on the ground controlling those aircraft. Right now, we don't have that, so the air campaign has been at best irrelevant.

SAVIDGE: Why do you think now -- and I bring up timing, not so much militarily, but just after the midterm elections. Do you think that there was a relationship between the two?

HARMER: You know, I don't do political analysis. I do strategic analysis. But that's a big pretty coincidence in my opinion.

As a substantive guy, as a policy guy, as a strategic guy, all I want is the mission to succeed. I don't care who gets the blame. I don't care who gets the credit. We've got to get to the point where mission failure is no longer on the table and mission success is.

In order for this mission to succeed, we have to have the right resources in place. I think President Obama has made the right call to increase the resources available to train and assist the Iraqi security forces. And I think that there is at least a plausible outcome that they will succeed.

SAVIDGE: And, you know, they're expected to go into some of the most dangerous areas of Iraq. I would presume next spring, we're getting ready to move into Mosul. Is that the -- what's on the table?

HARMER: Well, if we're not getting ready -- if the Iraqi security forces are not getting ready to move into Mosul, there's no way to defeat ISIS. Look, we have to defeat ISIS in their home territory. We've got to defeat them in Mosul, in Syria. We've got to defeat them in Syria.

As long as we're just plinking away around the periphery, nothing consequential is going to happen. So far, U.S. air power has done a very good job in protecting the Kurdish homeland. In retaking the Mosul dam, in helping stop the ISIS advance on Baghdad and in keeping Kobani at least for the time being, free from ISIS.

Now, those are all good outcomes, but that isn't rolling ISIS back. That's merely stopping their expansion. At some point, we're going to have to roll these guys back and in order to do that, we need more U.S. advisers on the ground who can actually get the Iraqi army back up to speed.

SAVIDGE: Christopher Harmer, thank you very much for your insights this morningand for joining us.

PAUL: Thank you, sir.

HARMER: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Well, in just a few hours, President Obama said to officially announce his choice to be the next attorney general. More on the woman who's up for the job, just ahead.

PAUL: And we heard it in a tweet. The makers of the new "Star Wars" movie revealed the title. No, it's not the return of Jar Jar Binks. We'll reveal the title in a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Jump the gun.

Just a few hours from now, President Obama is expected to officially nominate Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general. CNN's Evan Perez was the first to report this news yesterday, and here's what we know about Ms. Lynch.

PAUL: Yes. She is a U.S. attorney in New York. It's a job she's held twice, in fact. If confirmed, she would be the second woman and second African-American to serve as the nation's top prosecutor.

Well, CNN's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns walks us through this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As United States prosecutors go in the state of New York, the Harvard educated Loretta Lynch has flown under the radar.

LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. PROSECUTOR: You're regretting these mike placements right about now, aren't you?

JOHNS: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin worked with her as a junior prosecutor in Brooklyn in 1990.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: She has made her name as a work horse, not a show horse. She is someone who tried cases as a junior prosecutor, ran the Long Island office and then was promoted to be the U.S. attorney for all of the eastern district of New York. It's a job that is not terribly glamorous, especially compared to the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. But it's a job that she has done twice.

JOHNS: That's right. She's held her current job twice, first appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999.

At that time, she presided over the infamous Abner Louima case, involving a Haitian immigrant victim sexually assaulted by a New York police officer. One of her first hires in the United States attorney's office doesn't see Lynch as a prosecutor with a partisan agenda.

JULIE MYERS WOOD, CEO, GUIDEPOST SOLUTIONS: Absolutely not a partisan lawyer. I am a Republican. But she doesn't care if people are Republicans or Democrats. She cares about getting the job done.

JOHNS: Lynch also did a brief stint at the New York office of the powerhouse law firm Hogan and Hartson, the same firm Chief Justice John Roberts left when he was appointed to the Supreme Court.

And she served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank before returning to the U.S. attorney's office appointed this time by President Obama. What she's best known for recently is an investigation of Citigroup

mortgage securities, and the indictment of New York Congressman Michael Grimm.

LYNCH: Michael Grimm made the choice to go from upholding the law to breaking it. In so doing, he turned his back on every oath he had ever taken.

JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Make sure you keep it right here on CNN. We will bring you the president's announcement a little later this morning.

PAUL: As soon as it happens.

Meanwhile, busy day and we want to get you your morning read.

SAVIDGE: In weather, the story is amazing. Alaska bracing for what may be or end up being the biggest storm, I don't like to play this up, but it's supposedly the biggest storm to hit the region?

PAUL: Jennifer Gray, please walk us through this. This is a monster thing, right?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a monster thing and it looks like it's going down in the record books as the biggest storm ever. And so, of course, we're going to be updating you on that all morning. It's going to have indirect impacts on the U.S. It's going to cause a large dip in the jet stream, bring temperatures way down as we go into next week.

Highs in the 20s in Minneapolis, highs in Chicago only in the 30s. East Coast, not quite as chilly. These fronts lose a lot of their punch as they travel. So, we keep highs in the 40s. That's as low as you'll go on the East Coast.

Right now, we are starting out cool, 41 degrees in Atlanta, temperatures 42 in Chicago, 37 in Minneapolis. In fact, we do have freeze advisories for portions of the South, including Atlanta, Birmingham, even Macon. So, temperatures for the weekend, pretty comfortable, especially if you're in the South. Our northern areas are still seeing temperatures pretty chilly, but you can see, as we go through Sunday and Monday, those temperatures really start to fall in the north and then temperatures will be catching up as we go down to the south as we get into Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday time frame, guys.

PAUL: Yes, I was talking to my best friend yesterday in Ohio. She was driving and said oh, it's snowing now. It's snowing.

GRAY: It's here.

PAUL: There it is.

Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

GRAY: All right.

SAVIDGE: Other stories that we are following right now.

Another teen shot during the rampage last month in Washington state at a high school has died. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg had been hospitalized since the October 24 shooting. He was the cousin and close friend of the shooter. His death brings the total number of fatalities from that shooting to five, including the gunman. One victim survived the shooting and was released from the hospital last week.

PAUL: In sports, one of NASCAR's top drivers, Kurt Busch, is being investigated for domestic violence. This is according to police in Dover, Delaware. Now, details of the claim hadn't been released. But NASCAR races were held in Dover on September 27th and 28th.

SAVIDGE: How about this. In entertainment, you no longer have to refer to the upcoming new "Star Wars" movie as "Star Wars 7". It has now, or it has now, a title, "The Force Awakens".

PAUL: Your voice could -- you could do that. They need to hire you.

SAVIDGE: Let me try it again. "The Force Awakens".

PAUL: I love it.

SAVIDGE: In keeping with current social media standards, the new title is announced in a tweet. The film hits theaters December 2015.

PAUL: And listen to this -- more than 40 students disappear in Mexico. Police say the mayor ordered them killed.

CNN's Rafael Romo is live in Mexico City -- Rafael.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Christi, for more than a month, the parents of the missing have been wondering about their children's whereabouts. Now, Mexican authorities know what might have happened to them. Back to you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: This story is absolutely shocking.

Families in Mexico are calling for justice after 43 college students disappeared in September. Now, the Mexican government is saying that they have all been murdered.

PAUL: And on top of that, they're saying three suspected gang members have confessed to killing them and burning their bodies. The families, though, they are not buying this story.

CNN's senior Latin American affairs editor, Rafael Romo, is live for us from Mexico City.

Rafael, what are they saying this morning?

ROMO: Christi and Marty, good morning.

The Mexican president is calling this case abominable. For more than a month, the students were missing. Now, Mexican authorities say they know what might have happened to them, and it's not the news their parents were expecting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO (voice-over): Badly burnt human remains, teeth and bone fragments, a gruesome discovery in a river located in southern Mexico.

The Mexican attorney general says authorities are dealing with a massive homicide. The victims he said could be 43 students who disappeared in late September in the city of Iguala. The students from a rural teachers college in the town of (INAUDIBLE) are in their late teens or early 20s.

Or order of the city's mayor, the top official said Friday, police abducted the students and turned them over to a gang. The gang, which allegedly has deep ties to the mayor, reportedly killed the students and burnt their bodies before throwing the remains in a river. Identifying the bodies, Murillo said, will be a huge challenge.

Murillo said the remains are so badly burnt that obtaining reliable DNA samples to identify the victims will be extremely difficult. As a result, he said, officials have not been able to determine for certain that those are the students' remains.

(on camera): The Mexican attorney general said so far 74 suspects have been arrested and police are looking for at least ten more. This investigation, he said, it's still wide open and no effort will be spared to punish those responsible.

(voice-over): Among those arrested are the Iguala mayor and his wife. Authorities suspect he ordered (INAUDIBLE) stop because they would disrupt an event led by his wife. The Mexican president promised swift justice.

ENRIQUE PENA NIETO, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The findings presented outrage and offend all of Mexican society. With firm determination, the government will continue a full accounting of the incident. The capture of those who ordered it isn't enough. We will arrest everyone who participated in these abominable crimes.

ROMO: But the parents of the missing told CNN in Espanol, they don't trust the government's investigation.

"To publish that kind of news without any scientific proof is highly irresponsible," the parents said by phone.

The Mexican government said DNA samples will be sent to a university in Austria in an effort to identify the remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMO: And there's also a forensic team from Argentina helping the Mexican experts. It's expected to take weeks, perhaps months, to identify the missing students.

Marty and Christi, back to you.

SAVIDGE: All right. Rafael, thank you very much for that report.

PAUL: Thank you.

So, of course, America voted, Republicans back in power in Congress, and a lot of people are asking, what's going to get done?

SAVIDGE: Yes, the president and congressional leaders, they took the first step yesterday by sitting down to lunch. We'll talk about what was on the menu in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. I'm so grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge, in for Victor Blackwell. Let's get started this morning.

Tensions are erupting in northern Israel after a young Palestinian man was shot dead by police. Now, we have to warn you that the video you're about to see is graphic. It may be hard to watch.

PAUL: Just want to give you a heads-up here, but here we go. Here's the video. You see the man approaching the police car. Apparently he starts to bang there on the roof. Officials say he was threatening them with a knife and that's when one officer steps out of that police car and shoots him dead. He's 22 years old and died later at that hospital.

SAVIDGE: The region has been on edge after a week of series of violent attacks. This one when a Palestinian motorist plowed his van into a group of Israeli border guards at a Jerusalem tram stop.

PAUL: I want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson who is in Jerusalem.

Nic, what's the reaction to this video?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is growing out of what appears, what we're told was a domestic dispute in a town of (INAUDIBLE) in the north of Israel. Police say they're investigating, that they have moved reinforcements into that area.

They say that this incident happened in the early hours of the morning. What they describe as happening, the policeman gets out of the vehicle, fires a warning shot and then fires another shot into the body of this young 22-year-old man. There are four police officers seen in total on that video. They, within seconds, they put the man into their vehicle and take him to hospital. The reaction the town itself, there's already been demonstrations this

morning about 50 people gathered on the edge of the town, burned tires. Another demonstration is expected later this afternoon. Although the incident doesn't appear to have been initiated, per se, by the current tensions that had been escalating over access to Temple Mount, also known as the Noble Sanctuary, it does appear to show a heightened sense by the police that out on the streets, they could be in danger. They say that they're investigating this.

But undoubtedly at this time of heightened tensions, the fact that this incident has been caught on videotape and shows this man being shot by the police, certainly there will be an awareness that this is something that could potentially escalate. Not seeing that across Israel at the moment so far, Martin and Christi.

SAVIDGE: And, Nic, you've already alluded to it. Give us more detail. What exactly is the circumstance going on around Temple Mountain?

ROBERTSON: What we have seen over the past week or so is an escalation over an old dispute. And this is that some right wing Jews have been pushing for access to Temple Mount as you know it, the Noble Sanctuary as Muslims here know it, pushing access to go and pray there. Inside the noble sanctuary, there is the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome on the Rock. This is a place that Muslims can go and pray, that Christians and Jews and others can go and visit but cannot pray.

A rabbi is speaking out very strongly about access for prayers on the Temple Mount, Noble Sanctuary, was shot about a week and a half ago. He's beginning to recover in hospital according to his family.

But this has led to an escalation in tensions to some scenes there. It was followed immediately by a Palestinian man, a member of Hamas driving his van into Israeli border guards at a tram stop in Jerusalem.

Two people were killed in that attack. The driver himself shot and killed by police when he tried to attack them after that incident with an iron bar.

So, all of these things are feeding into it. But it is that access on the right to pray that's being pushed by right wing Jews at the moment. The government here says they're not going to change the status quo. They're not going to allow access for prayer there.

And this is something that continues at the moment to sort of lead to this heightened state of tensions, whereby, incidents seen in northern Israel can potentially escalate further.

SAVIDGE: Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that report from Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is beefing up its military campaign to degrade and destroy ISIS.

PAUL: President Obama authorizing the deployment of up to 1,500 more military personnel to Iraq. Their mission is to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces battling the militants. Now, the White House and the Pentagon insist the troops will not be involved in combat.

SAVIDGE: But it is expected that some of them are going to go into one of the most dangerous parts of Iraq right now. That is Anbar province, where ISIS has seized multiple towns.

PAUL: The White House is also asking Congress for more money for the U.S.-led war on ISIS. We're talking about $5.6 billion.

SAVIDGE: The killing of Osama bin Laden. That obviously is going to go down in the history books. But a former Navy SEAL is facing criticism for breaking the seal code of silence and publicly claiming that he killed America's most wanted terrorist.

PAUL: Thirty-eight-year-old Robert O'Neill previously revealed details of the mission to "Esquire" magazine, but never attached his name to the high profile story until speaking with freelance journalist Alex Quade, a former CNN correspondent. And CNN did obtain the audio. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT O'NEILL, FORMER NAVY SEAL: It was the whole reason we were there.

ALEX QUADE, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: You sound like a happy person from a year ago from that.

O'NEILL: I'm very happy.

QUADE: And why are you so happy?

O'NEILL: I am. I was pissed when that "Esquire" came out. I was mad as hell.

QUADE: When -- I'm sorry, when the?

O'NEILL: The "Esquire" article.

QUADE: OK. Just because that was time in your life or?

O'NEILL: I mean, little things from shooting Osama bin Laden, three weeks later, getting passed over for promotion, just getting black balled for doing something that everyone is so close to doing. And even now there are guys saying I'm (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

But, you know, you only know what you're told unless you're in the room. And unfortunately for me, there was two people in the room and one of them is dead and that is Osama bin Laden.

QUADE: Getting back to your role with helping vets and public with closure. It's a cliche term. Everyone says "closure" in the media.

O'NEILL: See, I don't think that vets needs closure. I think the people need closure. I think that people that weren't prepared to fight need closure.

And every time -- like I'll be honest too. You can quote me on this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Every time that I'm not speaking, I need to be careful how I say this, until I'm outed, when I'm out speaking, I never mention the bin Laden mission.

But anytime anyone says, you know, my brother died at Cantor Fitzgerald or my mom, what, whatever, one thing I tell them is, all right, Osama bin Laden died like a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). That's all I'm telling you.

Just so you know. He died afraid and he knew we killed him. And that's closure. Vets don't need closure. Vets need to sack up.

We will bash each other for no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) reason. Every Marine that gets up, every Ranger that gets up, every Army guy that writes a book, they're lauded as heroes. You do it as a SEAL and you're a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) villain.

QUADE: Well, you guys are --

O'NEILL: No, we're not. No one is quiet. The only funny thing about this though, and you can use this in your article is, Delta Force says, well, we don't say anything. Well, you know, why? You don't (EXPLETIVE DELETED) do anything. How about that? Sorry that we did everything.

QUADE: OK.

O'NEILL: Why do they send SEAL Team 6?

QUADE: I'm going to call that the inter-service rivalry. That's very friendly.

O'NEILL: Why do they send SEAL team 6 to get Osama bin Laden and not Delta Force?

QUADE: Mike should have been here, it would have been fun to get his input.

O'NEILL: You know the answer to that one?

QUADE: No, tell me again.

O'NEILL: Because they wanted him dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And just by the way, you can see the entire interview on CNN.com.

We're gong to get you some of the other top stories that we're following this morning. In England, British police say they have disrupted a Islamic terror plot there. According to a statement from London's Metropolitan Police, four men were arrested in and around the city on Thursday on suspicion of Islamist-related terrorism offenses. Scotland Yard confirms to CNN that the four men whoa are between 19 and 27 years old are still in custody.

SAVIDGE: In a few hours, President Obama will nominate Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general. Lynch is currently a U.S. attorney general in Brooklyn. CNN's Evan Perez was the first to report this news yesterday. If Lynch is confirmed, she will be the first African- American woman to hold the post. And would replace Attorney General Eric Holder who plans to step down.

PAUL: Another teen shot during last month's rampage in a Washington state high school has died. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg, here's his picture, he was hospitalized since the October 24th shooting. He was the cousin and close friend of the shooter. His death brings the total number of fatalities from that shooting to five, including the gunman. One victim survived the shooting and was released from the hospital just last week.

SAVIDGE: Autopsy results confirm that comedian Robin Williams died of suicide. The 63-year-old was discovered inside his home. That was back in August if you remember. Officials say that drugs were not involved. According to his widow, Williams was sober but battling depression and insanity in the early stages of Parkinson's disease at the time of his death.

PAUL: And there's a father who's being hailed a hero after he saved his daughter from an alleged kidnapping. According to police, the suspect broke into their Utah home almost abducted a 5-year-old. Now, the father thankfully caught the suspect on his front yard with the girl. The guy took off, left the girl behind and cops later arrested him a few blocks away.

SAVIDGE: America has spoken. The Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress.

PAUL: Yes, the big question, of course, now is, can they work together with the president? We're going to see what was on the plates of their first meeting. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Tuesday night, party night for Republicans at least. They celebrated their victory in Congress. But Friday meant getting down to business when President Obama invited congressional leaders to lunch.

CNN's Erin McPike is in Washington.

Erin, I guess the big question is, did they accomplish anything at that meeting?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Martin, really, this lunch was about breaking bread. Now, they did discuss immigration as an issue that, it's something that they can do something about next. But both sides still seem to have their backs up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MCPIKE (voice-over): Late Friday, the White House put out this photo of a rare private moment between the president and Mitch McConnell, the Republican who will run the Senate. It wasn't quite sharing a Kentucky bourbon, but it did show the two men were at least talking.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people just want to see work done here in Washington.

MCPIKE: And how to read the election results topped the menu for a power lunch, as Mr. Obama sat down with McConnell and other congressional leaders.

OBAMA: The one thing I've committed to both Speaker Boehner and leader McConnell is that I am not going to judge ideas based on whether they're Democratic or Republican. I'm going to be judging them based on whether or not they work. And I'm confident that they want to produce results as well on behalf of the American people.

MCPIKE: But the two sides stayed on a collision course over immigration reform. Boehner's office said he warned the president again not to take executive action he calls amnesty. And the White House said Obama repeated his promise to do so because Boehner's house Republicans have failed to act. Congressional leaders kept the confrontation going afterward.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MAJORITY WHIP: If more executive actions are taken, that would make it difficult for us to always work together.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: The president has the authority to act by executive order on immigration. It's in the law. But it's also in the precedence of other presidents.

MCPIKE: But maybe some hope for bipartisanship as an olive branch, the White House sent everyone home with bags of White House beer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE: And in just a few hours, President Obama will name Loretta Lynch, who is the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, as his choice to be the next attorney general. But already, we've heard from several Republican senators, including Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell, who you saw there, who said they want to wait until the next Congress convenes in January before they hold confirmation hearings and then the vote to confirm her, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Yes. Erin, real quick, that lunch, it had been set up ahead of time. Did it feel like they got something done or was it just for show?

MCPIKE: Martin, this scene, like it was for show, they do have to figure out what they can do legislatively in the next two years so Americans can feel like the government is functioning. But they still seem like they're both mad at each other.

SAVIDGE: Yes, they definitely do. All right. Erin McPike. Thank you very much. Reporting from the

White House.

PAUL: So, will running back Ray Rice be able to play another snap in the NFL this year? Well, the latest on this suspected -- suspended, I should say, star's future and his new battle. This is with the league's lawyers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY RICE, FORMER BALTIMORE RAVENS: Punishment was the punishment. And I never planned to appealing any kind of punishment. So, whether it was two games, four games, six games, eight games, I was going to own my actions and be a man about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: That was former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. He was a addressing the media after his two games suspension in July by the NFL for domestic violence.

PAUL: Yes. And, now, of course, he was waiting to learn whether he's going to be able to play again. He testified at an appeals hearing just this week after Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him indefinitely over graphic video that surfaced of Rice punching his then fiancee while they were both in an elevator. Rice says he was forthcoming to Goodell all along.

SAVIDGE: So, let's bring in our sports business analyst Rick Horrow.

And, Rick, Ray Rice was forthcoming, about hitting his fiancee. Do you think the original two-game suspension should stand?

RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: It's a lot more complicated than that. I wish I could give you a two-word answer, but we never do that. So, the bottom of all of this is that it's wrapped up in a larger process, let's remember. There was a report that Roger Goodell authorized, we're still waiting for -- by FBI -- former FBI Director Mueller who discusses when the tape came into the NFL in April, who had it, who got it, who sent it to Roger. Did he get it? Did he not get it?

And a lot of that is the linchpin of the argument that this is separate action meriting separate punishment and the lawyers are getting involved in it. I have a more global view. This is really important. Wrap this into the larger process. It needs to be consistent, transparent and proactive.

And remember, Roger Goodell's press conference, got the text right here. He said, we'll implement a new conduct policy, we say that everybody deserves a fair process, we'll have one by Super Bowl.

So, I know you asked about Ray Rice, I'm deflecting it by saying, let's see what the larger domestic abuse and on and off-field policy is, and reserve judgment on that entire issue, both factually and policy wise.

PAUL: So, you know that, you know, Goodell a lot of people saying he should be held accountable for this. This is about Goodell because he penalized him twice. You talked about making an example of the NFL's poor policy some say.

Shouldn't he have known from the video how bad the domestic violence case was, or is this a case of possibly Goodell saying I didn't see it?

HORROW: Well, it's an absolute case of him saying I didn't really see it. That's why the Mueller report is so important. But he did say in the press conference, I did wrong, the buck starts with me.

So, this is not about contrition right now. It's about what the policy is going forward.

Listen, the NFL, $8 billion a year in TV revenue, 24, the top 25 prime time shows are NFL games. Everybody's watching, 45 percent of the jersey sales are women purchase and the average NFL value is $1.4 billion per franchise up 23 percent.

My point is only this. The NFL is a juggernaut, expecting $25 billion a year in revenue in few years, got labor peace. Roger Goodell says give me time to implement this domestic abuse policy but I will have it by the Super Bowl. So this is not an issue about one player as visible as that player is.

SAVIDGE: Let me ask you this, turning to the Adrian Peterson case and his plea deal over whipping his son. The NFL reviews this. What do you think the discipline should be? I mean, should he be allowed to play the remainder of the season?

HORROW: Well, as you know, guys, that is an incredibly complex issue for a number of reasons. It involves discipline of children, it's a cross cultural issue, the plea deal changed the dynamic because he originally said I'm going to challenge all of this even if it takes the entire season and sit out.

He's been the face after very popular franchise, it is extremely divisive in Minneapolis, the Wells are great owners. Super Bowl's coming in Minnesota in two years and they are negotiating naming rights for a new stadium, which means all of the sponsors are on watch on this. So, I'm not answering that only because it's incredibly complex, and it needs again to be wrapped into this more comprehensive off-field policy.

This is not about punching your wife or not or fiancee in the elevator. This is about how you raise children and it is, again, extremely divisive but it is in this overall umbrella of off-field behavior.

SAVIDGE: All right. Thank you very much, Rick. We appreciate it as always.

PAUL: Thank you for being here, Rick. SAVIDGE: Thank you.

HORROW: See you soon.

PAUL: So, first glance, this, take a look, just looks like an old photo, right? If you look closely, though, you're going to see something that at the time had never been captured before. We'll tell you what it is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning to you New York City. Look at that sunrise. A gorgeous start to the day.

Temperatures in the upper 30s right now. You'll make it up to the upper 40s, so crisp and cool for your Saturday. Much of the country will experience cool temperatures for today.

But this is nothing compared to what you will all experience as we go forward into next week. It's all because or partly because of the storm out here. This was super typhoon Nuri. And now, part of the remnants entering into the Bering Sea of Alaska. This has gone down in the record books as the strongest storm ever in the Bering Sea, and it could become the strongest non-tropical storm ever.

So, we're going to watch this. We do have very powerful winds out there in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. Of course, the storm will continue to push to the east, it's going to eventually cause a strong kink in that jet stream, a very strong cold front is going to come through with very, very cold air behind it.

Those temperatures are going to be in the teens and 20s, we're talking about with high temperatures in the teens and 20s across the Upper Plains, the Midwest, we're going to see temperatures only 28 degrees. Your high temperature on Thursday, 27 on Wednesday. Minneapolis, Chicago, barely hitting freezing by the time we get to Wednesday, of course, as we know with these fronts they do lose a lot of punch as they travel to the south.

We're not going to see quite the very, very cold temperatures as far south as Atlanta. But look at Louisville, only making it to 38 degrees by the end of the week. You're going to look at the temperatures in the Northeast as we go through next week as well. Not so bad in the northeast, temperatures will be in the 40s, your high temperatures by the time we get to Thursday enjoying temperatures in the 60s, though, Tuesday and Wednesday.

So, that's coming next week. Let's talk about this weekend. We're starting without temperatures pretty chilly across much of the country -- 34 in Minneapolis, 34 in Marquette, 43 in Chicago this morning. We're -- we do have freeze advisories in place. Birmingham, Atlanta, Macon, some of our southern states, Alabama and Georgia, very chilly for you.

We're running about with 10 to 15 degrees below normal this morning. But we'll warm up nicely, though, temperatures in the mid-60s this afternoon in Atlanta with lots of sunshine. D.C. will be up to 53 today, 62 by Monday. And then look at these areas to the north, 40 today, 39 on Sunday, 30 on Monday in Minneapolis. We're going to have very chilly football games this weekend.

PAUL: Good point. So, enjoy the 40s while you have them.

GRAY: Yes. It's only going down from there.

PAUL: That doesn't sound promising. Thank you, Jennifer.

SAVIDGE: A lesson of life.

PAUL: I guess so. Yes.

Hey, I don't know, have you seen this? I mean, obviously, we take pictures all the time. On our phones, Think of them back in the 1800s been photography was in the early stages.

SAVIDGE: Look closely at this photo you're about to see. What do you see? Well, this is believed the first known photograph featuring a person. The person is on the bottom left. It appears it's a man getting his boots cleaned. Taken back in 1838 in the city of Paris.

PAUL: Yes, apparently, what's interesting here is that the man even if he appears to be alone, that's not the case. There were other people and horse-drawn carriages but they were moving too fast for the camera to register. How about that? That's how we've come.

SAVIDGE: Wow. Wait for my first selfie.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Thank you. Lots more news to tell you about this morning.

SAVIDGE: Next hour of NEW DAY is going to start right now.

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