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Suspected Terrorists Arrested in London; Authorities Asking for Help in Identifying English-Speaking ISIS Spokesman; Governments and Health Systems on High Alert

Aired October 8, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A second nurse's assistant is under observation with a fever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The enemy is Ebola. Not people, not countries, not communities, the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota alongside Chris Cuomo.

The FBI this morning is hoping the public can help them identify a masked English-speaking terrorist seen in this ISIS recruitment video. Let's all have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They lie. They lie. We are the harshest words. And the flames of war are only beginning to intensify. And we're here with the soldiers of Bashar. You can see them now digging their own graves in the very place where they were stationed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, as officials work on that in the U.K., four men are under arrest in the, suspected of plotting a terror attack. We are covering it all for you starting with CNN's Pamela Brown in our Washington bureau. Good morning.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn.

Intelligence source say it's possible the ISIS militant we heard there speaking fluent English is American. But the bottom line here is that after weeks of trying to figure it out, the FBI doesn't know for certain, that's why it's now asking for the public's help identifying this man right here. Intelligence officials have been using facial recognition and voice analysis to trace his North American accent and then comparing what they find to other Americans. The intelligence community has been watching. And officials have also been using human sources to try to figure this out.

But after scrutinizing everything, it's still unclear who he is and where he comes from. It appears he's not someone who is on the FBI's radar, and that's what is so concerning if he is an American. You know the FBI director, James Comey said his biggest fear is what he doesn't know, not knowing about Americans who are currently in Syria fighting with ISIS, those who may have fallen through the cracks.

And the hunt for this militant, by the way, is part of a broader campaign by the FBI to identify any American who may have traveled overseas to fight with terror groups or those who may want to travel. Alisyn and Chris?

CAMEROTA: All right, Pam Brown, thanks so much.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're now going to go to the U.K. because there was a possible terror plot thwarted there. Scotland Yard arresting four men. The threat so dangerous armed police rarely used in London assisted in the raid. So how imminent was the threat? Let's bring in CNN International Correspondent Nic Robertson joining us live from London with the latest. Good morning, Nic. What do we know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, what we hear from the police is these men are held on suspicion of preparing, of -- either preparing or instigating a terrorist plot. And what the police believe is that they have thwarted potentially in its early stages a plot here in Britain.

The chief of police here says this was a serious case, that this was an interventionist act that they took by going in and arresting these people. Again, they're not saying how close they believe this plot, this potential plot was, but they're also saying that the links here go back to Iraq and Syria. So although they're not saying this has direct ties to ISIS, it certainly, they're certainly giving that impression.

There are 500, at least young British men who are believed to have left this country, gone to fight in Syria with ISIS or other radical Islamist groups. And the real concern here and the fear is that some of them may have come back. And officials here have seen in recent weeks how Australian police arrested 15 men on suspicion of about -- on suspicion of potentially perpetrating acts of beheadings on the streets of Sydney. So this is the background that we're hearing here to these arrests at the moment, Chris.

CUOMO: And that gruesome beheading in the U.K. as well. They've raised their terror level to severe, so clearly they have a lot of work on their hands. Nic, we know you'll stay on it for us. We appreciate the reporting this morning. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris, so for more on this developments, let's bring in Tom Fuentes, a CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director for the FBI, and Will Geddes, a security analyst and the managing director of international corporate protection. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.

Let's talk about how the FBI is looking for the public's help in identifying this ISIS fighter. Tom, let me start with you. Let me play a little clip where you can hear this man first speaking in Arabic and then speaking in English. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here in the 17th division military base just outside the city of al Raqqah. And we're here with the soldiers of Bashar. You can see them now digging their own graves in the very place where they were stationed, the very place where they were stationed terrorizing the Muslims in Raqqah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Tom, he has them digging their own graves, it's so sickening to even watch that. What do you hear and see when you watch that clip?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning, Alisyn. To be honest, when I hear that clip, he does not sound like a native American speaker to me. He sounds like somebody who possibly has a Middle East accent and then was taught English. He speaks English fluently, there's no question. But it doesn't sound native to me, but I'm not the language expert apparently in this case.

CAMEROTA: OK, so you are sort of rejecting their notion that we've been told that he is from somewhere in North America. Will, what do you see when you see that clip?

WILL GEDDES, SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I have to concur with what Tom is saying. I think it will be too narrow a search to try to look at this as a domestic American who has goon over there. Certainly when you look at a lot of the education facilities in the Middle East, much of the local language or a lot of the teachings really come in with very much an American slant and the accents. So I think again, the search has to expand quite significantly to not just focus on the U.S.

CAMEROTA: So Tom, all we see are his eyes. Where is the FBI begin to identify somebody?

FUENTES: Well, that's tough. What they're hoping is that somebody, a friend or someone, member of the family, knows this person and maybe, you know, will identify him to the authorities. The FBI and law enforcement intelligence services throughout the world do not have every single person's voice available to compare. Contrary to what people may believe in the era of Snowden, they just don't have everybody's voice to match it to.

So it's going to take somebody that knows this person, that recognizes not just his voice but he's moving around, the physical mannerisms, the tilt of his head, the look of his eyes. You know, all of that combined, if somebody knows this person, will help them identify them and hopefully then cooperate and identify him.

CAMEROTA: Tom, you make a great point. Will, this guy has to somehow already be in the system for any sort of voice recognition or facial recognition to work.

GEDDES: Yes. I mean again, as Tom was saying, it's going to be human sourced intelligence that's going to identify this individual. The one thing we know is that many different international persons are joining the ranks of ISIS from across the world. So in terms of trying to determine exactly where they came from necessarily is going to be very hard. So it will fundamentally come down for the law enforcement agencies and the intelligence agencies to try and determine anybody who recognizes that voice.

And if you think in some respects that could be quite difficult, you also have to bear in mind that whenever you receive a phone call from a colleague or even an associate, you will quite often recognize the voice quite quickly. We have a signature to our voice. So it is -- spreading this message is wide and far as possible, to try to determine if anybody knows this voice and, like Tom was saying, physical shape, mannerisms, tilts to the head, anything else which can give us an indication beyond being able to see their eyes.

CAMEROTA: Let's -- in fact, Congressman Peter King was talking about just how challenging this is, identifying this person as well as the entire fight against is. Let's listen to what he had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: He's a murdering terrorist, and it's important if he is an American for us to find out who he is. It's not just individuals we're looking for. It's really the whole web of conspirators who have left the United States to go to Syria. And as Director Comey said the other night, what we really fear is what we don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So Tom, what we really fear is what we don't know. What does that mean?

FUENTES: It means we don't know everybody that knows this person. If he's an American or spent a great deal of time in the U.S. or Canada, who were his friends here? Is he in contact with them? Is he trying to recruit other people? So he could be part of a much larger network propaganda machine, recruiting machine. And we would want to identify all associates of his involved in trying to get people over and fight for is and then involved in these direct murders of hostages.

CAMEROTA: You know, Will, it does work. Asking the public for help, it does work. All of the manhunts, I mean, John Walsh can tell you how successful it is to have millions of eyeballs on the target. There is a chance that someone will recognize that voice and will know him. What do they do? How do you go about connecting with the authorities if you're willing to help with an international terrorist?

GEDDES: Well, you know, again, very, very good point. Just to cover your first one, general public involvement in contribution is critical, in the same ways as when we raised threat levels as we have over here in the United Kingdom in the last few weeks. This is not just to put people on alert, but it's also to put people on alert with a purpose. And that purpose is to report anything suspicious, if they see activities that they deem to be suspicious, reporting it through to the counterterrorism unit.

Now, beyond that point, it's also important to get the general public involved in trying to find the solution. We look at this incident that's occurred. Obviously that Nic was talking about a little earlier here in London with these four individuals that have been arrested. Now, the soft borders that we have through Turkey into Iraq and Syria make it incredibly easy for people to get into theater and out again. And it's suspected that certainly of the four individuals that were apprehended yesterday, one of them is believed to have returned certainly from ISIS's operations down in that region.

Will Geddes, Tom Fuentes, thanks so much for the expertise. It is important to remember this is a call to action. If you know anything, call your local FBI office. Let's go over to Michaela for more news.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here are your headlines. Thanks so much, Alisyn.

The fall of Kobani believed by many to be a key Syrian town to ISIS is now a fait accompli according to top American officials. However, they say they're not really concerned with this town. U.S. official says their goal instead is to target ISIS leadership and infrastructure in Syria, not to save cities and towns.

Stunning allegations against "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins reported by TMZ, reportedly shows the actor confessing to child molestation. That recording was apparently made during a 2012 therapy session with his estranged wife, Faye Grant. Collins cannot face charges in the one case for an alleged victim went to police because the statute of limitations in that case has expired. However, an investigation continues to see if there are more victims. Collins claims his wife peddled the tape in an effort to extort money from him.

Americans are living longer, this according to a study by the National Center for Health Statistics. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is now 78.8 on average. That's up just a bit. Researchers found increases across all demographic groups from 2011 to 2012. Figures also find that women, well, we continue to outlive men on average by 4.8 years.

I'm going to show you some shocking video out of Louisiana. A couple shot this video of a freight train crashing into a truck that was stranded on the tracks. The truck apparently was hauling a crane. Luckily the truck driver managed to escape. The train conductor, though, was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. A lot of people were commenting, why didn't you call 911, why were you so busy recording this? Apparently they were stopped right in front of a police station so they knew the police would deal with this. But that was a really frightening thing to see.

CAMEROTA: Thank goodness he got out. Thanks, Michaela.

CUOMO: And every time you see that, it is an instinct where you say, why didn't the train stop? There's zero chance.

CAMEROTA: It eventually will stop.

CUOMO: Something that long and heavy being able to stop in time. And that's why we do so much to try to keep people away from the crossings. Boy, oh boy.

All right, we do have breaking news for you this morning. The cameraman infected with Ebola has received -- reportedly received the blood of another American survivor. This has happened before. You'll remember this one of the first doctors we heard about. The question is, will this save him?

This as a nurse's assistant infected in Spain is fighting to save her dog. Authorities believe the dog may be able to spread Ebola and they want to put it down. What's going to happen? Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We have breaking developments in the fight against Ebola. An NBC cameraman who contracted the virus working in Africa, reportedly, is getting a blood transfusion from Dr. Kent Brantley. Now, you'll remember him. He's an American missionary who was diagnosed with Ebola then brought back to the U.S. and cured.

Also overnight , a nurse in Spain who contracted Ebola, says she followed all protocols before she got sick. Her dog will also have to be put down, say authorities, because of concerns that it may have gotten the virus. All of this raising serious concerns about whether proper precautions were taken to prevent and contain the virus. Let's bring in Christiane Amanpour, she's CNN Chief International Correspondent, of course. Christiane, it's good to have you. Do we believe the risk is greater in Europe? We're hearing that there's more cause for concern. Is that true? And why?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well clearly, governments and health systems are on high alert. The British government is holding, right now, Prime Minister Cameron, a plan, but nonetheless timely, Cobra meeting on this disease. That's the security meeting that he chairs. In Spain, the Prime Minister today has urged calm around the country., because of this issue with the Spanish nurse, and some of those doctors and nurses and medical workers at the hospital are protesting about this and saying that our health is not secure. But of course, obviously in the West, it's much, much easier to deal with this because there are specialized units all over and very developed health systems to be able to deal with it.

But, it's a question of knowing how and when and when these people come. Now the United Nations has announced, just in the last minute or so, that one of its medical workers in Liberia, which is the worst West African-hit nation, has contracted Ebola and is being treated on the ground there. I spoke to the Liberian Minister, Ambassador, here in England yesterday as they wait for the U.S. military help to really get up and work in there in Liberia. He, in our conversation, showed the total dysfunction of Liberia's health system. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: You only had 200 doctors for four million people. How can you even begin to get a grip on this?

RUDOLF VON BALLMOOS, LIBERIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.K.: We have no choice. That's even better than what we met in when President Sirleaf got in. When President Sirleaf got in, we had seven doctors. Practicing Liberian doctors.

AMANPOUR: Seven?

VON BALLMOOS: Seven practicing Liberian doctors. By the time the Ebola situation caught on, we were about almost 200 doctors. So we were climbing slowly, but surely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So you can see, Chris, from that, how incredibly fragile these systems are trying to deal with this epidemic in West Africa. On the other hand, go to Nigeria, where they have dealt with their epidemic. The finance minister there, Nigeria, you know, the most populous country in Africa, the biggest, and most rich country in Africa, they've dealt with it. But still in Nigeria, they're saying that not just people are dying, but, I mean in other parts of Africa, but there's a contagion of fear, a psychological impact also across Africa that is harming economies and could hit economies there to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

CUOMO: Well the fear is spreading as a contagion much faster than the actual virus, in the U.K. As you know, there are significant flight restrictions from major carriers to and from Liberia. How is that being received? Is that being seen as prudence? Or is it being seen as panic?

AMANPOUR: Not panic. It's being seen as prudence, it's British Airways, which is the national carrier, which has decided to do that. Not just to Liberia, but also to Sierra Leone. Now, some will say that's excessive. Others will say, well hang on, some of these cases are contracted precisely through passenger travel. So as you know, the U.S. is screening, and increasing screening around airports, there is no ban on U.S. flights, as far as I know at the moment.

CUOMO: Not yet.

AMANPOUR: So this is an issue. Now later today, I'm going to be talking to the general in charge of the U.S. military effort in Liberia where 3,000 personnel have been sent to build a temporary big medical facility. Plus, take some pop-up facilities around the nation. Plus, try to train and equip Liberians to deal with this epidemic. Because Liberia is the worst hit. More than 2,000 have been killed by Ebola in Liberia since it first erupted.

CUOMO: You know, there's a new level of concern. Because of what we learn with the auxiliary nurse in Spain, and I say auxiliary nurse on purpose. It is our understanding that she wasn't a first-line responder or treater of victims. And therefore, she may not have been given the same safety equipment that a first-line person was. That's the same thing you hear about the U.S. troops, Cristiane, hey, they're not going to be directly dealing with anybody who's infected with Ebola, so we'll be able to be okay with them. Maybe this is teaching us that the realm of who's safe in working around Ebola patients is a little bit more suspicious than we first thought.

AMANPOUR: Well clearly, I'll put that question to the general in charge, and also I'll be speaking to the U.S. Ambassador in Monrovia, Liberia at the same time. We're obviously going to ask those questions. You know, the Pentagon has said that U.S. troops will not come directly in contact. And I'll ask exactly how then they plan to do the train, equip, and helping and who will be the medical personnel on the interface between those who got the disease and those who are trying to save lives.

CUOMO: And it's important as we try to reinforce the urgency of the situation, it's no irony that the United States, a dog, Excalibur his name is, we know his name, which lets you know how much Americans care about pets in general, the Spanish nurse's dog, now, may be put down because dogs may be able to communicate the virus and that has everybody in a whole new sense of urgency here in the United States. Whatever it is, that takes them to get tuned in, I guess, is fine. But that's something we'll be following, as well. Christiane Amanpour, thank you for the perspective. We look forward to the interviews you have as we try to get better understating of what's happening in Africa, the U.K. and here in the U.S. Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: And how do you track what Christiane is doing? Well that part is easy, you watch "AMANPOUR" on CNN International at 2 and 5 P.M. Eastern. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Alright Chris, so how effective is enhanced screening against Ebola? We will put one new tool to the test in our studio. We'll show you how thermal imaging works when Michaela tries it.

And President Obama has been largely on the sidelines this election season. But the first lady is out tearing up the campaign trail. We'll have more "INSIDE POLITICS."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: 26 minutes past the hour. Here are your headlines here on NEW DAY. The FBI is turning to you, the public, for your help in identifying an English-speaking extremist who is seen orchestrating the execution of prisoners in another chilling ISIS recruitment video. Officials are hoping that someone will recognize this man through his voice and through his appearance.

Overseas, four men have been arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack in London. This threat considered serious enough that armed police assisted in the raid. Now we don't know specifics of what the men were allegedly planning, but we will continue to follow the story for you.

Look at these pictures. A lunar eclipse in the skies over the United States. It just ended. The window closed to see it around 7:24. It's called a blood moon. You could see it for about an hour. It's called a blood moon because it turns a burnt reddish-orange. This is a second in a series of four blood moons, the next ones are in April and September of next year. So mark your calendar, especially if you missed this one.

Remember those Rock the Vote ads? They're back, right in time for mid- term elections. Oh hey, what's up, Lil Jon? Lena Dunham, showing off some of her dance moves, and other celebrities making cameos, like Natasha Lyonne from Orange Is the New Black. That's Whoopi. Other people telling us why they are voting. Organizers are hoping the ad's going to reach a younger generation. And they'll dance their way to the polls, mid-term election time.

CUOMO: The need is great.

PEREIRA: It is great.

CUOMO: Younger voters outvote older voters in presidential elections, at least in the cycle most recently measured from 1992 or so. But in mid-terms --

PEREIRA: Yeah, other way around.

CAMEROTA: And they think that young people are not enthusiastic this time around, that there's a low level of enthusiasm, as oppose to, say 2008, so they're trying to gin them up with dance moves.

CUOMO: Right.

CAMEROTA: We shall see if that works.

CUOMO: Which always works.

PEREIRA: I feel like more needs to be done.

CUOMO: And I know who can do it, my friends.

CAMEROTA: Who's that?

CUOMO: His name is John King, or at least that's what he says his name is. "INSIDE POLITICS" on NEW DAY. There's the man himself. Always enthusiastic about the mid-terms. Good morning.

JOHN KING, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": I'm enthusiastic, but John King and dancing do not belong in the same sentence.

CUOMO: I've seen you dance, you move like a sultry sirocco.

KING: Yeah, okay, alrighty. I've got nothing for you on that, so you guys standby, I'm going to take this one away. We'll be back to you in a few minutes. Let's go "INSIDE POLITICS" this morning, 27 days away from those mid-term elections. With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Nia-Malika Henderson of "the Washington Post," Tamara Keith of NPR. Let's starts with the debates. In a number of the big Senate races we

had debates yesterday across the country. Let's focus this morning on North Carolina. Kay Hagan, a Democratic incumbent, six months ago everybody thought she was toast, that that would be one of the races that would be lost, but, as we head into the final stretch, she has a narrow lead. You see the Democratic incumbent on the left. Thom Tillis is the Republican, he's the state House Speaker, he's the Republican candidate. This one is close. Listen to the debate, because you could take this theme and take it across the country. The Democrat says the Republicans are cold, they don't like the little guy. The Republican says, you're too close to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAY HAGAN (D), NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: Speaker Tillis, it is not how you grow up. It is how you treat people as a grown-up.