Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Paris Gunman Recorded Deadly Deli Attack; Hostages' Fate Unknown As Deadline Passes; Prosecutor: Hernandez Orchestrated Killing; Hostages' Fate Unknown as Deadline Passes; Former Hostage Talks about Ordeal; JetBlue Narrowly Avoids Midair Disaster; NFL Rebuilding its Image

Aired January 31, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Now new word that this deadly attack was recorded and worse yet may have been shared.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And from the football field to the courtroom, Aaron Hernandez now on trial for murder, his defense team tries to show the NFL star in a very different light, but the girlfriend of the man he is accused of killing, she has her own picture she's painting.

BLACKWELL: In 311 days, imagine it, in captivity and it ends with a rescue by U.S. Special Forces. We sit down with one man who knows first-hand the hell two ISIS hostages are going through right now.

PAUL: It should be a Super Bowl time for the NFL, but its reputation as you know quite tarnished this season as football gets set to crown a champion. Are better days ahead for the NFL?

It's 8:00 on the dot right now. Good morning to you. We appreciate your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you always. First thing this morning, the ISIS linked terrorist who attacked the Jewish deli in Paris earlier this month taped himself gunning down those innocent victims.

A U.S. intelligence official tells CNN, Amedi Coulibaly was wearing a GOPro camera. He recorded 7 minutes of the attack including the shootings of three of the four victims. Coulibaly died when police stormed that market, but before that he e-mailed that video to someone.

Now intelligence officials want to know who received it. CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, joins us now.

Tom, an investigator says it's likely the video was not sent to a traditional media outlet. Is it possible that video was sent to followers, to other accomplices? Are we expecting to see it on one of these propaganda websites soon?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, but I think it's probable that it was sent to some accomplice or someone who would put it out, you know, to be used for propaganda later.

I mean, we already have the video that some friend of his took and put out of him preparing for the attack, and so the actual attack itself now being recorded, that probably we're going to see that out there sooner or later.

BLACKWELL: Tom, you are a former FBI assistant director, how do intelligence officials go about figuring out where this video may have ended up?

FUENTES: Well, they will be trying to look at every method of communication he had to get information out of there. Was he recording it, you know, was the GOPro camera capable of direct video out, did he have to download it to some other machine or device or his iPhone, and send it out that way.

So they will be looking at what communications were going out of that building. They would have been trying to monitor it at the time as soon as they were able to set up on it.

And then go back through the phone companies and see which service providers, which phone providers, internet providers, would have recorded some type of signal going out there, and then where it wept to would be the other issue.

So once they know that something was transmitted out of there, who received it. So that's you know, part of the work they are doing. The authorities, of course, if they have a copy of that video are not going to release it to the public, but certainly at some point will if they have it.

BLACKWELL: How common is this recording and dissemination?

FUENTES: I think we've seen every major murder that ISIS has committed, every beheading they've recorded it and put it out. Of course, the media has not shown the final gruesome act of the beheading, but the actual video of it is out there and the people that follow ISIS or want to follow ISIS, and be radicalized certainly see these videos and have access to it.

So if this video is out there, in all of its gruesome detail of the initial murders when he took over the market, it's going to get out there and they will use it when they can.

BLACKWELL: And I'd imagine that, you know, when you talk about the beheadings, that's -- separate the two central ISIS let's say, this is maybe a lone wolf or someone who had some connection. I'd imagine there's some self-aggrandizing, final memorial to one self by recording it.

FUENTES: Well, there is, but, you know, we've had these other plots where ISIS has told followers worldwide to do gruesome acts, to do a beheading. We had that in September this past year where ISIS wanted somebody in Australia to kidnap somebody on the street right in front of that marketplace where the hostage incident later took place. And just take an innocent person from the public, behead that person, film it and you know, send it out to the world. So this would not be the first time that ISIS has said to its followers or wannabe followers do a gruesome act whatever it may be, record it and we'll use it for propaganda, for radicalizing more people.

BLACKWELL: And unfortunately, if they follow that pattern we'll see that that will pop up somewhere online. Hopefully, in their hopes a recruiting tool. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much.

FUENTES: Thank you, Victor.

PAUL: Meanwhile, as we sit here together, the deadline's come and gone and no word on a fate of two hostages held by is right now. The terror group wants this female suicide bomber in exchange for the Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist.

Negotiations have been going on with the Jordanian government we know and CNN's Phil Black is live in Turkey with us right now. So Phil, you have any new news on these negotiations?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, it's coming up to 48 hours now since the passing of that ISIS declared deadline for that female suicide bomber or failed suicide bomber to be presented by the Jordanian authorities at the Turkish/Syrian border near where I'm standing in order to have that prisoner exchange take place.

And since the passing of that deadline, there have been no public developments. There has been from ISIS only ominous silence, they conducted much of their negotiation publicly through online videos. That's how they made their demands, how they made their threats against these two men, the Japanese journalist and the Jordanian Air Force pilot.

From the Jordanian side they are still saying the government there says they are working as best they can, they are not saying publicly to what degree, there are back channel negotiations taking place.

But they say ultimately they are ready and willing to make this exchange, but the key requirement for proof of life, evidence that the pilot is still alive. That hasn't been met and they say without that they simply cannot proceed.

PAUL: You know, Phil, there was one analyst who was saying no one's paid any attention to this woman that ISIS wants to have back, that even her own tribe didn't want her. Is there any indication as to why now after nine years they want Sajida al-Rashawi?

BLACK: It really is one of the key questions of the last week or so as the saga has unfolded. Why this particular woman, why now and why in such a way. What's the end game here?

And there are various theories, one suggests it's an attempt to simply put pressure on the Jordanian government, that government is under a great deal of pressure really from the public to do much more, to do everything it can to try and secure that pilot's release. It has not been able to do so, so far. But if that is the game that ISIS is playing, if that is the goal, it could quite easily backfire because the pilot's family is now warning that in the event that the pilot is killed or has been killed then the rage of all of the Jordanian people his relatives say will be turned against ISIS.

PAUL: All right, and just one more quick one. This is a woman who failed so to speak in her mission. Is there a risk in sending her back to ISIS in terms of her safety? Does she want to go back?

BLACK: Well, that's an interesting question and one we can't answer easily. She has been in Jordanian custody for some time now. She presumably was quite committed to the jihadi cause given her willingness to take part in the plot, which did succeed in killing some 60 people back in 2005.

Her suicide vest didn't detonate at the time. Another theory perhaps about why ISIS is trying to get her back is that it would be a symbolic victory for them, but also a powerful message, a propaganda message if you like to their followers that despite the nine years that have passed they haven't forgotten this woman.

At the time she was acting as part of a plot conducted by al Qaeda in Iraq, which was a precursor, earlier version of ISIS as it exists today. So, it would seem that ISIS is committed as we've been talking about to getting this woman back and doing so publicly and appears to be trying to send some sort of message in its efforts to do so.

PAUL: All right, Phil Black, really appreciate the insight. Thank you. In a few minutes I want to remind you that we're talking with a man, who knows first-hand what the hostages may be going through. Roy spent the 311 terrifying days in captivity in Iraq. He is joining us in just a few moments.

It could have been a near disaster in the air. A JetBlue flight nearly crashes into a small plane as it prepared for landing at a New York airport. We're talking with one of the passengers aboard that tense flight.

BLACKWELL: The last time the Patriots played in the Super Bowl fan favorite, Aaron Hernandez, scored the team's last touchdown. Tomorrow he'll be sitting behind bars as the Pats take on the Seahawks. Up next, we'll have the latest on the Aaron Hernandez murder trial.

PAUL: Plus, we have Secretary Of Defense Chuck Hagel's exclusive interview with Barbara Starr and CNN. He admits he felt pressure from the White House to release suspects faster from Gitmo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: From football favorite to accused killer. Jurors will return to court on Monday to hear more testimony in the murder trial of former Patriots player, Aaron Hernandez. The prosecution argues Hernandez not only orchestrated the killing of his friend, Odin Lloyd, but tried to cover it up. But the defense paints a very different picture. They say Hernandez was a loving father planning his family's future. CNN's national correspondent, Susan Candiotti has more for us this morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, Aaron Hernandez's defense team comes out swinging in opening statements this week. Asking why, why would such a promising outstanding young athlete kill his buddy, Odin Lloyd?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Why would you kill his friend? Aaron Hernandez had the world at his feet. Aaron Hernandez was planning a future. Not a murder.

CANDIOTTI: Yet, testimony from Odin Lloyd's girlfriend who is also the sister of Hernandez' fiance, appears to question how close Hernandez and Lloyd really were. Jenkins told the jury Lloyd only knew Hernandez about a year, the beginning stages of a friendship.

That they smoked marijuana together, that Lloyd sometimes made joints for the football player. As seen in this photo. CNN first showed it in its special report "Downward Spiral."

SHANEAH JENKINS, DATED ODIN LLOYD: He showed me a picture of a bunch of them rolled up and stacked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was that in relation to his death?

JENKINS: Right before sometime.

CANDIOTTI: For the second time in as many days emotion in the courtroom. Jenkins wiping away tears and Lloyd's mother leaves crying, when photos of Lloyd's body with gun shots are shown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: And on this super bowl weekend, a reprieve for the jury, the judge telling them to enjoy watching the Super Bowl, but warning them to steer clear of any possible mention of Aaron Hernandez and by the way, he won't be allowed to watch his former teammates play in the big game because the jail where he is staying bans television for high security inmates -- Christie and Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Susan Candiotti reporting for us. Susan, thanks.

PAUL: All right, let's bring in CNN commentator and legal analyst, Mel Robbins as well as legal analyst and criminal defense attorney for HLN, Joey Jackson. Good morning to you both.

I want to ask what you make of this because she just mentioned he can't watch the game, but guess who can, the jury. The judge told them they can enjoy watching the Super Bowl, but that they should be vigilant. Mel, do you think that should be allowed? MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: You know, I don't think the football game has really anything to do with this trial and I don't think it's a problem. I'm actually glad she answered the question because my husband, Christi and Joey, asked me last night if he is go be to be able to watch it. I said I'm not sure so I'm glad to hear if he is in jail on murder charges he ain't watching the Super Bowl, Christi.

PAUL: This is the thing, Joey. This is a lot of people staying a circumstantial case, with the evidence that the sneaker footprint, the traces of DNA, the surveillance video. But there is no motive that we've heard of yet. Yes?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: So you focus in on what the defense is going to focus on. Good morning, Christi. Good morning, Mel. At the end of the day, although motive doesn't have to be proven or otherwise established inquiring minds always want to know, why would he do this?

Why would Aaron Hernandez, who as you heard, Christi, the defense attorney say has the world at his feet, $40 million contract, fiance, beautiful baby and he is going to kill Odin Lloyd, his friend, really? It doesn't add up.

So when you look at that, and you look at the circumstantial nature of the prosecution's case I think that's what the defense is going to be right for attack. Although let's be clear about it, it may be circumstantial, but it is evidence and it is very compelling.

You pick someone up at 2:30 in the morning and they are dead an hour later and there are gun shots heard and you're walking around with a gun in your hand on surveillance tape at your home you know what, who else did it? That will say the prosecution.

PAUL: Mel, we saw a little bit from Lloyd's girlfriend yesterday. What about Hernandez' fiance? Are we going to hear from her?

ROBBINS: You better believe we're going to hear from her. Actually she's facing perjury charges, guys. She has been accused of lying to the grand jury in this case and also prosecutors suspect she might be the one that got rid of the gun.

Here is what's interesting. In the state of Massachusetts if you were in fact married during the moment when the crime was committed, you've got spousal immunity. What does that mean? That means you wouldn't have to testify against your spouse.

However, these guys were only engaged so she can be compelled to testify and I think what you're going to see is she's going to be deemed a hostile witness. She does not want to cooperate what so ever with the prosecution.

She's not going to want to give them anything and so they are going to be treating her in a manner where she's going to be hostile to the prosecution. She doesn't want to see her fiance go to jail amend just like Joey said, this is a very, very circumstantial case. Yes, four people went in and only three came out. But, they have no witness. They have no gun and no motive. Despite what Joey says, you don't need to prove it, but motive is like gravy on mashed potatoes, it holds everything together.

And if you don't have it, it makes the facts seem like they might not make a whole lot of sense -- Christi.

PAUL: Right, but one thing they do have, Joey, is that video of him holding a gun, that surveillance video. You can't take that away once you've seen it. How powerful is that going to be?

JACKSON: It's very powerful, Christi and let's keep in mind that they are pursuing a theory that being the prosecution, joint venture liability. What does that mean? It means they don't have to show the prosecution, that he pulled the trigger.

They need only the prosecution to show that he was an active participant in that murder along with Mr. Wallace and Mr. Ortiz, his other co-defendants, who will be tried separately.

So merely suggesting that you know what, he was -- the defense will say mere presence is not enough. Maybe you say he was there, the evidence shows he was there, but you can't show he was involved here.

But then you look at the photo you mentioned, Christi, the surveillance video with the gun in his hand and not only that you look at his orchestration as the prosecution will say, texting his friends hey, meet up with me.

Texting Odin Lloyd, renting that car, putting him in that car so there is a lot for the defense to contend with despite the circumstantial nature of this case.

PAUL: Very good point. Mel Robbins and Joey Jackson, so good to see both of you this morning, thank you.

JACKSON: Pleasure and a privilege, have a great day, Mel. Have a great day, Christi.

PAUL: You too.

BLACKWELL: Just days before he leaves office Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sits down with CNN for an exclusive interview. Up next, why he says he felt pressure from the White House to release Guantanamo Bay detainees faster.

Also you have to see this interview. He was held captive in Iraq for 311 terrifying days, each day he wondered if he would live to see his family again. Roy Hallen shares his experience with us ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 23 minutes past the hour right now for you. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel makes a stunning revelation to Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, admitting that he felt pressure from the White House to release terror suspects faster from Git-mo. Want to get more details on this from Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Victor, I began asking Secretary Hagel about whether it was the right thing to do to transfer five Gitmo detainees to get Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl back and then an extraordinary moment of candor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Not everyone at the White House has agreed with me.

STARR: On what part of this?

HAGEL: Probably on the pace of releases.

STARR: Because you've been cautious?

HAGEL: Because I had the responsibility and I play my own game here, and that is because by law I am the one, the one official in government charged with certification of release of detainees. I take that responsibility very seriously.

STARR: Have you had pressure?

HAGEL: We've had a lot of conversations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: What he's talking about here is pressure from the White House to release more detainees and release them faster -- Christi, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Barbara, thanks. CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, joins us now. Tom, anything about the candor or the content of Secretary Hagel's comments that surprised you?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, Victor. Actually nothing surprises me. You have now a series of secretaries of defense under President Obama basically say that they are in disagreement with what's coming out of the White House or feel the pressure or just they had enough, they either write books or do an interview in this case and say so.

And I think it's pretty clear, there is a saying in Washington, it's not where you stand on an issue it's where you sit. So if you're the president or an adviser to the president or a member of Congress, you can stand for the immediate closure of Gitmo and get everybody out of there.

And then when you are sitting in the chair of secretary of defense and you agree to let somebody out and you know or you find out later that they are back on the battlefield killing Americans, that's pretty tough to live with. It's no longer just the hypothetical. It's a real consequence of a decision.

BLACKWELL: All right, Hagel says that the Bergdahl exchange was the right decision and Bergdahl for five detainees. But we learned that one of the detainees that was released in the deal in May, may have returned to this militant activity. Is that a failure on the part of the U.S. government? Is it a failure on the part of the Qatari government?

FUENTES: If it's a failure it's on the U.S. because how can you trust other governments. We can't watch every bad guy in our own country. We certainly can't put it on Qataris to say, OK, this is your problem, now you watch them for the rest of their natural lives.

I think the agreement was to keep an eye on them for about a year before you would even let them leave that country. So, you know, there wasn't clearly a mandate to watch them forever and you just don't know.

The problem, too, is anybody that spent any length of time at Gitmo, whether they are flame throwing terrorist or weren't, after enough time there, they are certainly going to hate the U.S. more than any other place on earth.

And I think that's the problem here. You're not letting go people that are saying I served my debt to international society. I'm going to be a good boy for the rest of my life. It's not going to happen.

BLACKWELL: Further radicalized. I remember that June 1st show that Sunday morning after we learned the details, all of the military analysts that we had on the show expected that they would in some way return to the militancy and to the movement and now we're seeing that come to fruition. We'll see what happens moving forward. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much.

FUENTES: Thank you, Victor.

PAUL: Captured in Iraq and held hostage for ten terrifying months, this video was the first inkling Roy Hallin's family had he was even alive. We're talking with him next. He's going to share with us what he went through.

Also, Commissioner Roger Goodell faces the media following let's call it a tough year to say the least for the NFL. We're talking about how the league is trying to rebuild its image now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Still no word on the fate of the two hostages held by ISIS as another deadline set by the terrorist group passes. One of the hostages is a Jordanian pilot, the other a Japanese journalist.

PAUL: The terror group has been in negotiations with the Jordanian government over a possible swap, we know, but so far no agreement has been reached.

BLACKWELL: And ISIS wants the release of a female al Qaeda prisoner and has threatened to kill the hostages if their demands are not met. Now the Jordanian government says they will release her if ISIS proves the hostages are still alive. PAUL: You know, when you think about it there are few people who can

really know and understand what the ISIS hostages are going through. But Roy Hallums does.

November 1, 2004 a gunman came looking for him in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. He spent the next 311 days in captivity. Never knowing from one day to the next is he going to live, is he going to die.

Our colleague Randi Kaye spoke with him about a year after he was rescued by U.S. Delta Force soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For Roy Hallums it may remain a mystery forever. He may never learn all the secrets. Who kidnapped him? Held him for 10 months and why? This is how most of us learned about Hallum's role in the horrible story.

ROY HALLUMS, FORMER IRAQ HOSTAGE: My name is Roy Hallums. I'm an American national. Please help me in this situation.

KAYE: It was three weeks before Thanksgiving. Hallums at his computer working as a contractor in Iraq was snatched and grabbed. Four masked gunmen burst in heavily-armed. Any resistance, they said, they'd kill him.

Were you scared?

HALLUMS: Oh yes, certainly. Because I mean I had seen the videos before of other people who had been kidnapped and what had happened to them and I thought, you know, am I going to live the rest of the day? Or is this it?

KAYE: They blindfolded Hallums, drove him to a dark, filthy, underground cell. We now know it was in one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad, known as the "Triangle of Death". And for three months, it was if Roy Hallums had simply vanished. For those who love him, it was unimaginably painful. Where was he? What had happened? But there was nothing. His captors remained silent until this.

HALLUMS: I'm please asking for help because I've -- my life is in danger because it's been proved that I work for American forces.

They said that they wanted me to be emotional and look upset in the video and so they said to make me look that way and to help me, they were going to beat me before the video.

KAYE: And did they?

HALLUMS: And they did.

KAYE: He slept on a concrete slab, always blindfolded, and bound with this plastic hand cuff. Hallums spent much of his time laying down in the four-foot deep hole. They gave him small amounts of cheese and goat meat. Whatever hope he had came from the fact they hadn't killed him yet. HALLUMS: The first month it was the most difficult because every

thing, every movement you don't know what might happen. And you're still thinking that, well, you know they could do away with me anytime.

KAYE: He listened as his captors poured fresh concrete over his hole to seal it. Hallums thought for sure he would die here.

HALLUMS: After six months, I was starting to question, you know, how long was this going to go on. You know, are they going to keep me a year or two years? There was no way to know. I just know, ok, I've been here six months. There's no end in sight.

KAYE: Then by pure luck, coalition forces interviewing an Iraqi prisoner were told where Hallums was being held. He will never forget the pounding at the door, freedom was not far away.

HALLUMS: Because I thought, well, maybe somebody's here to rescue me, but you know, it's been 311 days. That would be too good to be true. That can't possibly be what it is. But they kept pounding on the door. Finally the door fell down and a soldier comes in, he's got his fatigues on everything and he says, "Are you Roy?" And I said, "Yes." And he said, "Come on, we're getting of here."

KAYE: Did you hug him?

HALLUMS: Yes. Definitely. Definitely.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Memphis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And Roy Hallums joins us now from Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Hallums, thank you for speaking with us.

HALLUMS: Thank you, glad to be here.

BLACKWELL: I'd like to talk with you about the hostage situation right now involving ISIS and Jordan and Japan. You know, in your case once that immediate trauma of the event of being captured subsided, you knew the U.S. government has no policy of negotiating with terrorists. Did you expect that you would be freed, that there would be any negotiation?

HALLUMS: No, I was in the military for 20 years so I knew there wouldn't be any trades or money paid for me. As a matter of fact the gang had told me they wanted $12 million for me and I told them -- and they thought they would get it from the U.S. government. I told them the U.S. government wouldn't pay. But they never believed me.

BLACKWELL: We know that Jordan is in this negotiation and Japan is hoping to profit from it by getting that journalist back. Do you think governments should negotiate with terrorists to secure hostage freedom?

HALLUMS: Well, no, I don't. Up front. But I can tell you when you're sitting there like I was it gives you a totally different perspective. I know the families want that, but I don't think you can make national policy based on one individual. And the more you deal with these gangs and the more you try to give in to them, give them money, give them other people, they are just going to ask for more and more. It's just an unending story with these people.

BLACKWELL: So let me give you a bit of a hypothetical here. We're talking this morning about the Bowe Bergdahl trade in May in which Bergdahl was traded for five Gitmo detainees. If you were held hostage and the option were to trade you for those five detainees, are you saying that you would hope that the U.S. would not make that trade?

HALLUMS: Well, what I'm saying is that on an individual basis yes, of course you would. But on the other hand on the national basis you can't. I mean it just leads to more and more. How can the U.S. say anything to the Jordanians now because we did exactly the same thing?

BLACKWELL: And you think that was the wrong call?

HALLUMS: Yes. I mean in the long term, you know, on individual basis for Sergeant Bergdahl, yes that was great. On national basis for the U.S., for years to go, we're going to be dealing with that for years because every gang is going to think if they can get a U.S. military or U.S. citizen, they will be able to trade for people in their gang that have been taken, and put in prison. And if our negotiators tell them no, we don't trade, they will say well, you did for Bowe Bergdahl.

BLACKWELL: All right. Roy Hallums, we're happy that after those 311 days that you were freed and we thank you so much for sharing your insight with us this morning.

HALLUMS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Christi.

PAUL: What a story.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: All right.

We are learning this morning about what could have been a near disaster in the air. A JetBlue flight nearly crashing into a small plane as it prepared for landing at a New York airport. We're going to play the control tower recording of those tense moments. We've just gotten it. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This could have been a major disaster. Listen to this. A JetBlue flight nearly crashed into a small plane as it prepared for landing.

PAUL: The jet was headed from Orlando to Westchester County Airport in New York we know and the FAA is investigating now.

BLACKWELL: We've got CNN national reporter Nick Valencia here to explain how it happened. So how did this happen.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: Yes, this is a nightmare. We were talking about it last hour -- one of the things that you just don't want to happen when you're on a flight.

JetBlue Flight 94 on its way from Orlando to White Plains, New York on it s way descending. As it's landing, all of a sudden that collision warning system goes off in the cockpit indicating that a small plane was coming right toward it. That's when passengers on board told local media that that JetBlue flight shot straight up into the air in a defensive maneuver. They said the small plane came so close to the bottom of that commercial flight that they could hear an audible whoosh as it went underneath it.

We just got our hands on the air traffic control audio. We want you to take a listen how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 94, VFR (ph) traffic 11:00, two miles, moving north indicating 2,900 type is unknown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We're looking. 94.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 94 if you like to climb or descend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him in sight. JetBlue 94

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get the 94 maintain visual.

VALENCIA: The audible noise that we assume is the collision warning system going off. We have about another minute of tape after that. But that really is the crux of it. You could hear the pilot say we have a visual of this plane coming towards us.

Now we want to get to the FAA because they say they are investigating and they did send CNN a statement. I'll read part of that to you now. It says "The pilot of that commercial flight reported that the smaller aircraft was in sight. They received the alert and then climbed in response to the alert. The general aviation flight was operating under visual flight rules and was not required to communicate with air traffic controllers."

I followed up later with the FAA and they told me this morning that the flight is under investigation. You take that from that statement, we talked about this, it seems just on the surface technically neither pilot of either plane did anything wrong. That smaller plane operating under visual flight rules and the commercial flight we assume was staying in its lane in the air. JetBlue says they are also launching an internal investigation so they are cooperating with the FAA.

But it's terrifying. PAUL: But that's what's frightening. Everybody did the right thing

and it was still that close.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

VALENCIA: Can you imagine being on that flight, looking as the passenger outside the window and seeing a small plane coming toward you.

PAUL: Nope.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: No.

BLACKWELL: Nick Valencia -- thank you so much.

VALENCIA: Thanks guys.

BLACKWELL: So we've got just in to CNN health officials there in New York have confirmed a measles case on the Baird College Campus. We have more on that still ahead.

PAUL: NFL commissioner admitting to a little soul searching when it comes to the direction of the league. What is being done now to help rebuild an image that's tarnished from a year's worth of scandals?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Kickoff to Super Bowl XLIX is less than 36 hours away. And with millions of people tuning in all eyes are on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

CNN's Andy Scholes is in Phoenix. Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: That's right -- Victor.

Roger Goodell, he held his annual state of the league address yesterday where he would go over all the issues that the league has had to face this year and he came out in his opening statement and he admitted from the get-go, you know, it's been a very challenging year for the league.

They had a lot of issues they had to deal with. But he said they've corrected those issues. They've made progress. He's excited about the future of the NFL.

But then when the question and answer portion of the state of the league address started, Goodell had to play defense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: It has been a tough year. It's been a tough year on me personally.

SCHOLES: Saying NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's job this season has been tumultuous is an understatement. From the Ray Rice domestic abuse case to other issues, Goodell has been under fire for months, some even calling for his resignation.

The latest issue is deflate-gate which Goodell finally addressed on Friday.

GOODELL: This is my job. This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure that the rules are being followed. And if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively.

SCHOLES: All of the off the field issues this season have cast a shadow over the NFL's image and that's something Goodell plans on fixing.

GOODELL: We obviously as an organization have gone through adversity, but more importantly it's been adversity for me. And that is something where we take that seriously. It's an opportunity for us to get better. So we've all done a lot of soul searching starting with yours truly.

SCHOLES: The way Goodell and the league office have handled investigations and issues like domestic violence cases and deflate- gate have drawn criticism from many and CNN's Rachel Nichols asked the commissioner if there was a better way to conduct these investigations.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: A lot of the issues have in common is a conflict of interest. When you do something like hire an outside investigator like Ted Wells into the Patriots investigation, you're still paying him and Robert Kraft who runs the Patriots is still paying you. What steps can you guys take in the future to mitigate some of those conflict of interest issues?

GOODELL: Well, Rachel, I don't agree with you on a lot of the assumptions you make in your question. I think we have had people that have uncompromising integrity. I think we have done an excellent job of bringing outside consultants in. Somebody has to pay them, Rachel, so unless you are volunteering, which I don't think you are, we will do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: So Rachel asked that question guys because, you know, the NFL brought in Robert Mueller to see how they handled the Ray Rice investigation. And Mueller and his law firm, he had worked for the NFL before helping them negotiate TV deals and then Ted Wells, who's investigating deflate-gate right now, he previously investigated the Dolphins, the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal so that's why some people are saying there is a conflict of interest. The NFL keeps using the same people and that's why Roger Goodell wasn't very happy with Rachel's question.

BLACKWELL: All right. Andy Scholes in Phoenix for us. Thank you -- Christie. PAUL: All right. So let's bring in Jamie Turner who's the founder of

60-Second Marketer as we discuss what the NFL has to do to kind of reposition itself here. And females are a huge chunk of their audience now with the domestic violence issue that they've been kind of dealing with this year.

We want to show an ad that's going to be running tomorrow. We've seen this a couple times already. But it's one of those ads that you stop and you cannot help but watch. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911 Operator, 911. Where's the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 127 Bremmer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. What's going on there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to order a pizza for delivery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you'v reached 911. This is an emergency line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Large with half pepperoni, half mushroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know you called 911. This is an emergency line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know how long it will be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, is everything ok over there? Do you have an emergency or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're unable to talk because --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there someone in the room with you? Just say yes or no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. It looks like I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you stay on the phone with me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. See you soon, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That is chilling. It's powerful isn't it? JAMIE TURNER, 60-SECOND MARKETER: Powerful. I mean that's just

powerful. How can you not watch that and just have all of the emotions go on that go through your mind and reel you in on that? And it really does a fabulous job of really making the point that this is a real issue, here's a real situation. Let's look at that and hopefully find a way to have the NFL navigate their way through this.

Yes, in short the NFL does have an image problem. 55 percent of their audience is female, and so they really need to start addressing this and that may be one of the things that they can do to start saying this is an issue we've got to take.

PAUL: I think people want to know when there is a conflict that if they had been heard. Are these ads -- because this is one of a series of ads that they have been doing -- is that -- do you think that that's enough? For them to tell the people we hear you?

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: It has to be real and it has to be genuine. And when you're the NFL and frankly I go to -- I've got three daughters, we go to football games. There's cheerleaders on the sidelines. And great that they want to have an athletic thing and do all that. But as a parent I'm trying to say hey, we're objectifying women here in a certain way and there may be some people who disagree with me on that.

But as a parent I'm going this is not necessarily the way I want you girls to grow up. I'm not coming down on anybody who does dancing as a profession.

PAUL: Sure. What about to Rachel's point --

TURNER: Yes.

PAUL: -- when she was talking to the commissioner and she was talking about a conflict of interest. I mean how do they navigate those waters? Is it smart for them to hire outside people to come in and fix things? Or does it make it look as though they don't have what it takes to fix it themselves?

TURNER: They do have to hire outside people to come in and fix things. They have to be genuine about it. It can't be something superficial. So this needs to be a program, not just a commercial. In other words it's got to be an entire situation that they go in and say we understand there's a problem, we understand there is an issue, let's fix it and let's do more than just run commercials, which is a powerful commercial but that's the top, that's the tip of the iceberg. From there they got to go deeper.

PAUL: All right. Jamie, so good to have your perspective --

TURNER: Thanks.

PAUL: -- thank you so much. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you -- Christi. We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern.

"SMERCONISH" starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)