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U.S. Special Operations Forces Pull Out of Yemen; Machete- Wielding Suspect Dies; First Number One Seed Gets Knocked Out of Tournament. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 22, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely disturbing new video showing the moment a bomb goes off inside a mosque in Yemen as people worship. We will show you more of this video in a moment.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And the suspect in the machete attack at New Orleans airport dies as police reveal other deadly weapons he had in his possession.

BLACKWELL: Ted Cruz is about to make it official. Monday, he is expected to formally announce he is running for president.

PAUL: We're so glad to have you with us. Good morning. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you this morning.

PAUL: Yes, we have some new video for you from inside a Yemen mosque that shows the moment a bomb explodes while people were worshipping. Take a listen.

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BLACKWELL: The situation in Yemen is really so bad now. The U.S. is pulling its last military forces in Yemen out because of the deteriorating situation there.

Our CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is with us now. She is joining us from Baghdad. I think it's pretty obvious here that the Jihadist organizations will be able to exploit the absence of the U.S. in Yemen now.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This has been the concern, Victor. Of course, the U.S. describing the evacuation of these troops as a temporary relocation outside the country, but the situation there is looking grim right now.

The country seems to be descending into further chaos. There are concerns about possible all-out civil war in the country. This is coming after the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a was shut last month. As you recall, U.S. staff pulled out.

They are having concerns about what this means, a reduced or non- existent U.S. presence in the country mean for the counterterrorism operations there. As you know the U.S. there has been targeting the leadership of one of al Qaeda's most dangerous and most powerful franchises in the world, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP.

And of course, the U.S. there lost a local ally in the fight on terrorism in that country with the removal and the pushing out of Sana'a as the government of President Hadi was pushed out by the Houti rebels in the past few months as you recall.

Now the State Department in its statement is saying following this evacuation, quote, it says, "We also continue to actively monitor the terrorist threat emanating from Yemen and have the capabilities postured in the area to address them."

But, of course, a lot of concerns about intelligence gathering and fighting the terrorism there not just with the threat from AQAP there, but, of course, the concerns about the possible emergence of ISIS there and that group exploiting the political unrest and the security vacuum to gain a foothold in that country.

PAUL: Jomana, it's Christi here, the U.N. Security Council is meeting later today. What do you expect from that meeting, if anything, other than a piece of paper or a statement?

KARADSHEH: Well, Christi, we have heard the international community and U.S. also reiterating that there is no military solution for the situation in Yemen. They have been pushing all sides to try and come together with -- through the United Nations in a process of dialogue that has really stalled and gotten nowhere in the past few months to try and reach a power sharing deal and unity government in that country.

But it is very difficult to see that happening, talking to people there on the ground, we are hearing from people there. The situation looks very tense and lots of concerns that these talks right now are not going to do much and that the situation is headed towards a possible civil war there, lots of concerns -- Christi.

PAUL: All right, Jomana Karadsheh, so appreciate the update. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's talk about the latest now with CNN military analyst, Retired Lt. General Mark Hertling. General, good to have you. I want to start with part of that statement from the State Department spokesman saying they continue to actively monitor the terrorist threats there in Yemen and have capabilities postured in the area to address them.

[06:05:05] That sounds assuring but in reality, what does this withdrawal mean for the U.S. ability to survey and to respond to any threats coming from that area?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a significant issue, Victor, and it's a great question, because when you're talking about pulling out the special operating forces, which, by the way, this wasn't decided after the mosque bombing of a few days ago.

This was decided about a week ago. You're talking about losing all contact with the country. There are very little CIA operations there. The special operations forces are now out. The embassy is closed and all of those things contribute.

What we are seeing, as the report mentioned, this is not only the potential for a large civil war, but there is going to be intra-jihadi fighting. This mosque bombing is significant, because this is something that al Qaeda was told not to do by Zawahiri.

They were told as an organization, do not bomb markets, do not bomb mosques and do not go after these kinds of civilian targets in Yemen. It is an indicator there is some fighting not only between the Houthis, the Shia-led revolutionaries and al Qaeda, but also now this mixture of small elements of ISIS as well into this country.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Al Qaeda was quick to release a statement saying this attack was not consistent with their guidelines to make sure that the world knew that this was not an al Qaeda attack.

Let me read another element of this State Department statement. I'm going to paraphrase here. But they say there are no military solutions to the problems in Yemen, but with no strong government to do the diplomatic work, what is the alternative, if not a military situation there?

HERTLING: Well, again, it gets back to this discussion the three of us have had recently about you can't kill your way out of this. It contributes to eliminating the evil and the bad guys. As the Houthis revolted and came into the country and the prime minister left, there is not a government solution. There is not a government.

So you really are having a failed state from a state that just a few months ago were touted, as everyone knows, as the example. When the government falls apart, chaos exists. And that is what we're fighting right now. The military solution is such that you could go in, but, again, in this kind of a situation, if forces come in, even U.N. or U.S. forces come in or some type of paramilitary organizational force, who do they fight?

I mean, it is literally, I hate to use the expression, but it's a "Star Wars" scene of bad guys. You don't know how to pickle out the bad Houtis from the ISIS fighters from the al Qaeda fighters and it's just very difficult without having some kind of intelligence source and some kind of government source to help in that regard.

BLACKWELL: Yes, multifaceted problems here politically and militarily. General Mark Hertling, thank you so much.

HERTLING: Thank you, Victor.

PAUL: Also we are going share with you this morning, chilling new video of Wednesday's deadly terror attack in Tunisia's National Museum that we are getting in. Surveillance video inside the museum, there's two gunmen there and also had hand grenades, we should point out.

Now at one point, a man walking down the stairs almost bumped into them. They let him go, for whatever reason, but they killed 23 other people and most of them foreign tourists.

"The Wall Street Journal" is reporting the gunmen fended off an elite squad of anti-terrorism police for nearly two hours. They were finally killed when one of their grenades failed to explode and the police were able to shoot them.

BLACKWELL: This morning, we've got new and pretty frightening details about Friday night's attack of the New Orleans airport including the machete-wielding suspect was also armed with smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails about a half dozen of those.

Also four cops in Florida out of the job this morning. Just ahead, what a five-month internal affairs investigation found and why the mayor says he is disgusted and shocked.

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BLACKWELL: It's 12 minutes after the hour now. It turns out the attacker at the New Orleans airport Friday night was armed with more than just a machete.

PAUL: Investigators now say the suspect was carrying a bag full of Molotov cocktails and smoke bombs that were in his car. That man died yesterday as a result of bullet wounds that he suffered in the onslaught.

CNN's Shasta Darlington has more of what we've learned about the suspect.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor, we have new details about the bizarre attacks on TSA agents at the New Orleans airport on Friday night. The machete wielding suspect identified as Richard White died on Saturday evening at 5:02 p.m. as a result of the injuries he sustained.

Now remember on Friday night, White first attacked security agents with wasp spray and then he pulled a machete from his waistband and started to chase TSA Agent Carol Richel.

The suspect was finally brought down with three shots by a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy, one of the bullets also grazed Rochelle's arm, but was not serious. At a press conference, Richel called the policewoman a hero.

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CARROLL RICHEL, TSA AGENT: I have to say Officer Sleet is my hero. The man was inches away from whacking me with a machete and she saved my life and saved probably a lot of others not to mention a lot of injuries. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINGTON: The sheriff also revealed new details.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a bag in his hand and we didn't know that at first. In fact, all of the witnesses, obviously, so being chased with wasp spray and a machete never noticed a bag.

What the bag revealed was six half pint mason jars with cloth wicks into a liquid that we now know to be gasoline, which you commonly would refer to as a Molotov cocktail. He had a barbecue lighter in the bag. He also had a letter opener plastic.

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DARLINGTON: But police are still digging in trying to understand just what drove Richard White to go on this rampage. Back to you, Christi and Victor.

PAUL: Shasta, thank you so much. CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, is joining us now. So we wanted to bring you back, Tom, to talk about the fact that we have these new details.

[06:15:05] The smoke bombs, the Molotov cocktails, smoke bombs were in his car. What do you think is the takeaway here from the fact that, you know, he had some things on him?

Surely anybody in their right mind wouldn't think they are going to be able to go into an airport with a machete, attack, and then go back to his car and possibly get more ammunition in some way.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Christi, you just said the main phrase, anybody in their right mind. I think this is an example of someone not in his right mind. Now he is dead, there is no way to absolutely find out what he was thinking and even if he lived and said what he was thinking, you don't know if he was really thinking it at the time.

So, you know, yes, he did have this array of, I guess, weaponry, explosives, the machete itself. Thankfully, he didn't have fully automatic weapons or any other firearms that could have inflicted tremendous damage in there.

But you're right nobody in their right mind is going to expect to get past TSA with even a pocket knife, much less a machete and Molotov cocktail cocktails and all the rest of it. You can't bring liquids on there much less bottles full of gasoline with wicks sticking out of them. He had mental problems. There is no question about that at least.

PAUL: Yes, officials do say that he did suffer from some type of mental illness. His wife and children are being very cooperative, has been characterized by authorities. How much do you think they will be able to glean from this and what is the takeaway in terms of how it was handled at the airport?

FUENTES: Well, first of all, as far as the family cooperating, yes, there have been reports that he had mental problems. They knew he was mentally ill but he was a Jehovah Witness and refused any kind of treatment so they are not surprised and I think that's why they are cooperative with that.

They must have known that at some point something bad might happen, just not something this bad. As far as how it was handled at the airport, you know, TSA has determined for their tens of thousands of magnetometer operators and security forces in the airport not feasible for them to try to train all of them and arm all of them with firearms.

So, therefore, they rely on the local police department, in this case, the deputy sheriff that was on duty nearby, and she, of course, does save the day and is able to stop him, you know, by shooting him.

So I think that, you know, really what more can you do? You've got the TSA guards, they were manning the magnetometer. At some point, wherever the first checkpoint is, that is where you're going to have the problem and where they did encounter hem and they did prevent him from getting any further into the airport.

PAUL: Kudos to all of them certainly. Tom Fuentes, always good to have your perspective. Thank you, sir.

FUENTES: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: Victor.

BLACKWELL: Senator Ted Cruz tomorrow will become Candidate Ted Cruz, at least according to the "Houston Chronicle." We will look at prospects for the 2016 Republican nomination.

And also a top seed goes down in March Madness. Check out which teams are now dancing their way into the sweet 16 and where Christi and I stand in the CNN brackets right here.

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PAUL: We want to give you a look at some other stories that are developing right now. It's 21 minutes past the hour.

Four Florida police officers out of a job this morning, three were fired. Another resigned. This was in Fort Lauderdale after exchanging apparently a series of racially offensive text messages and a video portraying President Obama in a derogatory way.

BLACKWELL: So in these texts exchanges the men allegedly criticized coworkers including African-Americans making crude comments about their appearance and they worked in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. PAUL: In Brooklyn, police had the excruciating task of telling a father who was away on business that seven of his eight children are dead. Three sisters and four brothers died in a fire that engulfed their home early Saturday morning.

The children ranged in age from 5 to 16. Their mother and 14-year-old daughter survived after jumping from a window to escape the flames. They are being treated for burns and smoke inhalation now.

There was a fire detector, but it was in the basement of the home. A malfunctioning hot plate meant to keep food warm is blamed for that fire.

BLACKWELL: So listen to this plan from the president of Sierra Leone. The president wants to stop Ebola by keeping everyone inside the house. The campaign called "Zero Ebola" will make all citizens stay indoors, inside their homes March 27th through the 29th between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on three consecutive days.

In a statement, the president said this will provide an opportunity to reflect and to pray for the eradication of the disease. Now similar campaigns in the past have been tried, but those resulted in riots. So we will see how it goes in Sierra Leone.

Turning to March Madness now, where a mighty number one seed has gone down! Brackets! Shock! Hearts broken! Wolf pack stunned the NCAA tournament plus plenty more last-minute drama from NCAA games.

PAUL: Only CNN's Coy Wire could walk us through this so well.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, guys. Yes, 30 years after winning a national championship, March Madness turns into sadness for Villanova, the number one ranked seed, and sadness for all of us, we had them advancing to the final four.

North Carolina State, Wolf Pack was crossing out Nova all night and now we are crossing the Cats off our brackets. It was a shocking 71- 68 upset. Even President Obama had Villanova in his national championship game. NC State's last win against a number one seed was in a game in 1983 game.

They'll move on to Syracuse, New York to play winner of today's Louisville and Northern Iowa game. On the last game of the day, yesterday, Notre Dame and Butler, two schools separated by just 136 miles delivered a thrill.

Fighting Irish fought past the Bulldogs in overtime 67-64 and advancing to the sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. It's a bit of a bitter sweet 16, though, for Head Coach Mike Gray.

He revealed to his team after the game that his 84-year-old mother Betty Bray who was a swimmer in the 1956 Olympics had passed away earlier that morning of a heart attack. The Irish, they are going to be watching the Kansas-Wichita State game later today to see who they'll face Thursday in the sweet 16. [06:20:11] Now the clock struck midnight for everyone's favorite Cinderella team, Georgia State. Panthers became the tournament darlings after knocking off number three seed, Baylor on Thursday. Head Coach Ron Hunter is already a big story after tearing that Achilles tendon when he was celebrating in the conference title.

Hunter, remember we saw him yesterday fall off that stool, well, this time his team feel to Xavier, 75-67. After the game, he gave us another great emotional moment and great sound bite when he talked about his son, star guard, R.J. Hunter.

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

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WIRE: Awesome moment, that coach is something special.

Speaking of awesome moments, Kentucky is the first team in college basketball history to reach a perfect 36-0. The Wildcats shellacked Cincinnati to advance to the sweet 16. Kentucky only needs four more wins to complete that perfect season and win the national championship.

The next challenge will be on Thursday against the winner of West Virginia and Maryland. Belly up to a bar or whatever you're going to do, there is eight games in action on tap this afternoon! Action starts off at 12:10 Eastern on CBS. You can watch all of the games on our Turner Sports sister stations, TBS and TNT.

PAUL: So we have bracket conversations! Would you like to read it?

BLACKWELL: Did someone call me? Is the phone ringing or something? No?

PAUL: Now, listen. I want to show you the leaderboard. Who is the number one?

BLACKWELL: We got to do this now?

PAUL: You know why we have to do this? I readily admit, I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea and it is a fluke and I don't know where I'll be by tomorrow. Let me have the moment!

Chad Myers and Bill Weir tied in seventh and Wolf Blitzer and Carol Costello in ninth. There is Victor at number 11! Yesterday, you had all of this talk about, "I'm ahead of you."

BLACKWELL: Great rollout, everybody. Where is Victor? OK, so Coy, where are you?

WIRE: You know, I'm lost --

BLACKWELL: Right! That is where he is! We all had time. There is time to climb again.

PAUL: There is always time. There is always time. Coy, thank you so much for being here. We always appreciate it.

Listen, we need to get serious here because this is a tough story. University of Virginia in the news for all of the wrong reasons, new information about both the bloody off-campus arrest there last week, and a criminal investigation into alleged sexual assault.

BLACKWELL: Also we are hearing the first public comments from President Obama since the Israeli elections on Tuesday showing skepticism about the Israeli prime minister. We will show you some of that. Stay with us.

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