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U.S. Forces Pull Out of Yemen; Suspect Had Smoke Bombs, Molotov Cocktails; Race for the White House 2016. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 22, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. Security Council is meeting today regarding this chaos that's unfolding there in Yemen. In addition to the terror threat, rebel fighters this morning have also seized parts of Yemen's third largest city, we're learning.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has more on the unrest that's gripping that place -- Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, the 100 Special Forces include Navy SEALs and members of the Army's Delta Force, according to sources in the region.

The State Department says they were evacuated because of the deteriorating security situation in the country. They were the last remaining U.S. personnel in Yemen. This comes after the U.S. embassy in Sana'a was shut last month, and all personnel there evacuated.

There's been a lot of concern of the impact of a reduced or nonexistent U.S. presence in Yemen on the counterterrorism operations there. For years, the United States has been targeting the leadership of one of al Qaeda's most dangerous franchises in the world, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP. And, of course, it's not only a threat in the region. It is seen as a global terror threat.

Now, in the statement by the State Department it says, quote, "We also continue to actively monitor terrorist threats emanating from Yemen and have the capabilities postured in the area to address them," end quote.

As a result of the political unrest there, there is no real government in charge after the Houthi Shia rebels in recent months pushed the government of President Hadi out of Sana'a. And it was a key U.S. ally, its main local partner in the fight against terrorism there. Now, this all comes as a time when the concern about a terror threat in Yemen is not only limited to AQAP.

There are now serious worries that ISIS is also taking advantage of the arrests in that country and trying to gain a foothold in Yemen -- Christi.

PAUL: Jomana Karadsheh, thank you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Tunisia's president says that a third terrorist took part in Wednesday's deadly attack at the country's national museum.

PAUL: Twenty-three people, most of them foreign tourists, died when gunmen rampaged through the museum. So, Tunisia's president now says that a third attacker is on the run, but he insists he, quote, "will not get caught".

BLACKWELL: Also, we have new surveillance from inside the museum. You look here. You see two gunmen here. One man walking down the stairs almost bumps into them. They let him go. It's not clear why.

"The Wall Street Journal" reports the gunmen fended off an elite squad of antiterrorism police for nearly two hours. They were finally killed when one of their grenades failed to explode and police shot them.

We've got CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, with us.

General, what's your level of confidence considering the difficult we've seen in other countries of monitoring, surveilling these terrorists and suspects that Tunisia will be able to capture this third suspect the president has referred to?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it's a law enforcement issue, Victor, and it's a possibility. But again, the issue that they're claiming that they can monitor over 5,000 potential jihadis, that's a boast and I'm not sure they can do that.

But as they've investigated this incident, you have the arrest of over 20 people, mostly relatives by the Tunisian government and security forces, they certainly are going to get more leads where they can go after the remaining individual that was part of this attack. And I'm sure there were probably others that were part of this attack as well.

BLACKWELL: Now on to Yemen, the U.N. Security Council will be meeting to discuss what happened in Yemen. What do you expect the international community will be able to do about this chaos in Yemen?

HERTLING: Yemen, Victor, is a cauldron right now. It is going to be one of the biggest challenges we have primarily, because they don't have right now in place, an effective government. When President Hadi left, that caused a lot of spin into just an abyss.

The comments Jomana made earlier about the State Department is saying monitoring threats -- yes, they are, but it's more from a military perspective. We have gone more into the defensive mode of what might come out of AQAP towards the United States, and that's the important part. AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that's based in Yemen, has been one of the biggest threats we've seen in terms of terrorist events against the United States.

We were offensively striking targets there, preempting potential attacks and now without any intelligence in that country we've being on the defensive mode to prevent people from leaving there and entering the United States.

[08:05:00] BLACKWELL: All right. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you so much.

HERTLING: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Back here at home, it turns out that the machete wielding attacker at New Orleans international airport was armed with more than just that deadly knife.

PAUL: Investigators have discovered the suspect, Richard White, was carrying a bag full of Molotov cocktails and had smoke bombs in his car.

BLACKWELL: White died as a result of the bullet wounds he had received.

PAUL: CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes joining us for more.

Tom, I mean, thankfully they stopped the suspect obviously, before he could kill anyone or do more serious damage or harm. His family we know is cooperating, but when we're talking about somebody who has mental illness, and this man did have mental illness, what is the best way to proceed? Is there anything that you can glean before something like this happens?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Christi, the family is well aware he was having problems like this. It's reported that he was also a Jehovah's Witness and refused any medical attention or medication.

So, when you have a situation like that, there's just about nothing anybody's going to be able to do. The family can't stop him and then ends up being a law enforcement problem at some point somewhere with some individuals. Not every individual does have this kind of problems ends up becoming violent like he did, but unfortunately, the few that do, there's almost no alternative. They end up being handled by the police in the manner that we see in this case.

PAUL: When we talk about the fact that he had smoke bombs in his car. We know, too, that anybody in their right mind wouldn't go into an airport, they're going to use a machete and then they're going to have time to go back to that their car and do something else. So, as people talk about the motive here, at this point, is that really even important? Do you have any belief that we find out a motive? Or should the take away be how this was handled?

FUENTES: Well, the problem with the motive is that, you know, whatever was in his head we'll never know. And even if he survived, if he said what was in his head, we wouldn't know if that's a fact that triggered him to act like this.

Obviously, putting together half a dozen Molotov cocktails with gasoline and mason jars and the tax of oxygen, acetylene, and other material that he had in the car, the smoke bombs, that took planning on his part. It's not a spur of the moment he suddenly went berserk. He's been planning this event for a while.

But look at how he planned. He had all those devices, didn't use any of them. When he choose to use insect spray and a machete, that pretty much guaranteed that it was going to be ended before he had a chance to use any another advice.

PAUL: You know, you talk about there's a police officer at the end of the line who is armed, or law enforcement at some capacity at the TSA checkpoints. TSA obviously the members are not. And but is one uniformed police officer enough, do you think?

FUENTES: Well, I think, you know, in this case you'd have to say yes because nobody else gets hurt. It's a difficult situation. If that officer had been a little further away from the checkpoint or, you know, maybe not as alert as he or she should have been, it would have been worse for the TSA officer who was being chased by this guy, and who said during the press conference that he came within inches of hitting her with that machete and possibly killing her.

So, you know, but on the other hand, we have all of these checkpoints at all of these airports, it would take a lot of police and a lot of resources to put more police officers at each check point.

PAUL: All right. Tom Fuentes, appreciate your insight, sir. Thanks for being with us.

FUENTES: You're welcome, Christi.

BLACKWELL: A king from the 15th century is just now being properly buried. We're going to follow the funeral procession of England's King Richard III to find out why this is happening more than 500 years after his death.

PAUL: Plus, Senator Ted Cruz will be candidate Ted Cruz as of tomorrow. That's according to "The Houston Chronicle". Looking at his prospects for the 2016 nomination.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:12:59] BLACKWELL: This morning, there are conflicting new details in the case of the University of Virginia student's bloody arrest. The pub owner here who turned Martese Johnson away says Johnson, and these are his words, cordial and respectful at the time. He did not allow him in the bar because he said Johnson's ID was questionable.

PAUL: But shortly after Johnson left, this viral video shows Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control agents arresting him as blood is dripping from his face. Johnson, an African-American student, is claiming police brutality and racism.

BALCKWELL: Arrest papers claim he's agitated and belligerent. But the statement issued by the pub's management says that comments calling Johnson belligerent are, quote, "patently untrue". Police are investigating this incident.

PAUL: I want to give you a look at some of the other stories developing this morning.

The world of professional wrestling is in mourning after the death of a star. Now, I do want to warn you the video that you're about to see may be disturbing to some of you.

BLACKWELL: So, Pedro Aguayo, Jr. died yesterday after being kicked in the ring by former WWE star Ray Mysterio (ph). Doctors were unable to revive him. He was 35 years old.

PAUL: In Brooklyn, police had the excruciating task, police did, of telling a father, away on business, that seven of his eight children were dead. The three sisters and four brothers died in a fire that engulfed their homes early yesterday. A malfunctioning hot plate is blamed for that blaze.

BLACKWELL: First Lady Michelle Obama wrapped up a five day trip to Asia in Cambodia today. Her mission to promote an education initiative called Let Girls Learn. In a speech in the country's capital she urged students to finish school and speak up for freedom and equality.

PAUL: A ski lift malfunction in Maine injures seven, four of whom are hospitalized. It started when a chair lift started rolling backwards at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The four victims taken to the hospital have nonlife threatening injuries and no word yet on what caused that malfunction.

[08:15:02] BLACKWELL: See, that's why I don't ski?

PAUL: Oh, that's why. Yes, that's why.

BLACKWELL: That specifically is why. No, many reasons.

England's King Richard III may finally be able to rest in peace. A procession is underway to carrying his remains to Lester Cathedral for proper burial. And though he was a royal, local monks buried him in an unknown crude grave. It wasn't until 2012 that his remains were found buried under a parking lot.

PAUL: A parking lot.

Up next, Ted Cruz has only been a U.S. senator for two years.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but he's already looking at a White House bid according to "The Houston Chronicle". Does candidate Cruz have a legitimate shot at becoming President Cruz? We'll look at the prospects for the 2016 Republican nomination.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Nineteen minutes past the hour this morning.

Ready or not, the 2016 presidential race begins tomorrow -- at least formally for Senator Ted Cruz. "The Houston Chronicle" reporting the Texan will formally announce his candidacy at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He'd be the first candidate to officially enter the race for the Republican nomination.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush topped our poll for who would win a hypothetical GOP primary at this point. Cruz was way back in 8th place, 4 percent of the vote is what he garnered.

[08:20:00] Let's bring in chief political analyst Gloria Borger, who's hosting "STATE OF THE UNION" at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Gloria, good to see you.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

PAUL: "The Chronicle" says that Cruz isn't bothering to form an exploratory committee. I'm wondering, how do you think that's going to affect the candidacy?

BORGER: Well, you know, he's just sort of saying, I'm in it to win it. I'm all in exploratory committees are usually what you launch to raise money before you get into the race. I think a decision was made by the folks around Ted Cruz, that why not do it all at the same time.

You know, you've got Rand Paul, another Senate colleague of his, who's probably going to enter in early April. You've got Jeb Bush out there who hasn't officially announced. Now, I think we're going to see the dominos start to fall against each other and all sort of start getting into this race.

PAUL: OK. So how soon do you think it will be before other Republicans say, well, I can't let him stand out there all alone?

BORGER: Well, you know, it really has to do with fundraising and money. A lot of them in particular like Jeb Bush would like to say, hey, guys, this is what my PAC has in the bank, and look at all this money I'm raising, become sort of behemuth that other people need to sort of look at and be afraid of, right?

So, I think it has to do with money. I think it has to do with where their staff is. I think it has to do when they're ready to hit the trail pretty much full time and I think what Ted Cruz is saying to his Republican colleagues, OK, come in. The water's fine. I'm going to be declared and you're not so time for you to do it, too.

PAUL: All righty. Gloria Borger, looking forward to seeing you later. Thank you so much.

BORGER: Thanks.

PAUL: Sure.

And "STATE OF THE UNION" with Gloria Borger, starting at the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Thanks, Gloria.

BLACKWELL: Midnight struck for the first Cinderella team in March Madness and there were tears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON HUNTER, COACH: I love this kid, man. I love him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Who's the kid? There's a story behind this emotional press conference next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:12] PAUL: OK. I want to tell you about a story that's developing right now, about 100 U.S. troops could be the target of ISIS on American soil. A group known as the Islamic State Hacking Organization calling for beheadings and attacks here in the U.S.

BLACKWELL: They posted the purported names, pictures, home addresses, phone numbers of service men and women from all branches of the U.S. military, some of whom were publicly available. That information was.

A Department of Defense official cannot confirm the validity of the information but it's looking into the claims stressing the safety of service members is always a concern. Similar threats have been made before.

We got on the phone with Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. He's in Baghdad right now.

Colonel Reese, what's your take on this report, this information that's been posted?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, good morning, Victor. You know, it's propaganda. It's fear. And it's terrorism by ISIS.

You know, back in the fall, the Department of Defense put out a notice to all their soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marine based off some Internet chatter and social media chatter that ISIS was using about planning attacks against U.S. soldiers on U.S. soil, especially after the Canadian attacks, and all service members were given directions by the Department of Defense.

You know, after 9/11 -- post-9/11 where most military bases pre- 9/11 were open, people could drive through them, soldiers could come and go on most military bases around the U.S., post-9/11, those bases have been locked down and they are very, very difficult to get off base.

My concern would be for the ones, for the soldiers that live off bases with their families, some nut job is out there trying to track them down -- Victor.

PAUL: Colonel Reese, do you have any indication how they got these particular 100 names? I mean, do you think that they're just grabbing names that they can get ahold of? There's not a particular target in these 100?

REESE: Yes. Unfortunately, with today's social media, you know, people are out there. They're not out in social media. They make themselves present. And it's not difficult to grab a name, grab a location. On Google Earth today, I can plug someone's name in and in about 2 minutes, I can see if they own a house, their tax information. It will zoom me down and I can look at the street view. I can get rather good intelligence on people just from open source and public information.

It's a problem. It's items that people, especially soldiers, need to take a look at for their own protection of them and their families.

PAUL: How readily available. Lieutenant Colonel Reese on the phone from Baghdad. Thank you for your input. We appreciate it, Colonel.

REESE: You're welcome. Have a great day.

BLACKWELL: You, too.

PAUL: You, too.

All right. So, before we go today, we have this March Madness moment we have for you. The clock struck midnight for everyone today, but Cinderella team Georgia State.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the glass sleepers no longer fits. The Panthers became the tournament darlings after knocking off the number three seed Baylor on Thursday. Head coach Ron Hunter already a big story after tearing his Achilles tendon, celebrating a conference title.

You know, he managed to stay on the stool this time, but Georgia State did fall to Xavier 75-67. After the game he gave us another emotional moment after he talked about his son, star guard, R.J. Hunter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON HUNTER, GEORGIA STATE HEAD COACH: As a coach, best time of my life. But as a father, whew. I love this kid, man. I love him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: A lot of people loving him today, too.

Thank you so much for starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts now.