Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

A Look at the Music Business; Could U.S. Work With Iran to Fight ISIS?

Aired November 6, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about this with Grammy-winning jazz and classical artist, Maria Schneider.

Maria, thank you for coming in.

Let's play hypothetical. Let's say I'm a platinum Spotify subscriber. I love what Spotify offers to me. Love playing your single you wrote for David Bowie over and over. Tell me why that's wrong from the perspective of an artist.

MARIA SCHNEIDER, COMPOSER: Well, Spotify is not in the business of selling music.

Music is not their product. Their product is advertising and data collection. So the way that they get more eyeballs for their advertising to raise the price of their advertising is by using music as the carrot. And how do they get more and more eyeballs? They make music practically free.

BALDWIN: And that's the problem with the artists, because in terms of dollars and cents, give me an example of how much you as an artist would lose out if you produce an album for X-amount of money.

SCHNEIDER: Oh, what -- the checks that I hear from people, I would never have my music on Spotify. The people that I know that do, they are getting pennies. It's ridiculous how little they are making.

And in my case, most artists now are paying for their own records. My records are anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 to make a record. I want to set my own price point for my own product, like any business would. Now, Spotify, they have been bragging, as we just saw, that they use 70 percent of their profit and divvy that out.

BALDWIN: That's what they're saying.

SCHNEIDER: But 70 percent of what? They are what I think is a lousy business model that is not turning a lot of money in for them. They're not doing well. Their advertising actually has been show to be very ineffective.

BALDWIN: Why are there so many musicians, megastars streaming their music on Spotify? Why not pull a Taylor Swift?

SCHNEIDER: The vast majority of musicians on Spotify have deals with three largest, and there's a fourth too, record company and publishers. And, unfortunately, these people made a deal. They made a deal and they have 6 percent equity each, I think it is, in Spotify.

So the problem is now they have this tremendous conflict of interests and they are cannibalizing the music creator. The industry is nothing without the music creator. We're the ones that...

BALDWIN: We need you.

SCHNEIDER: You need us to make music. What I don't understand is why these companies aren't thinking sustainably and saying our most important asset is the music creator. We need to make sure they're taken care of.

BALDWIN: Maybe if Taylor Swift can do it, others will or others would be afraid to. We will watch and see.

Maria Schneider, thank you so much for taking the time. I really, really appreciate it.

SCHNEIDER: Thanks. Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: Here we go, hour two.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

Want to begin with what could be a huge development, a historic move in America's relationship with Iran. "The Wall Street Journal" today is reporting that President Obama reached out to Iran's supreme leader with a secret letter about the fight against ISIS, the Islamic State.

Let me bring in global affairs correspondent Elise Labott.

First, to you -- and let's be clear -- thus far, the White House declines to comment on this yea or nay on this, but Iran and the U.S., technically -- we have talked about this -- have the same goal here. Put it into context for me.

(CROSSTALK)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke.

And to be clear, we do have one source confirming the letter saying that President Obama did send a letter to the supreme leader, saying, listen, the U.S. and Iran have a shared interest in cooperating on ISIS, but kind of hinged that potential cooperation on a nuclear -- on a deal on the nuclear program, which, as you know, that deadline is approaching on November 24.

And the U.S. has always said that they see a role for Iran to play in this, but they really want to resolve that nuclear issue first. But, to be clear, this is very consistent with what we have seen over the last couple of months. As the U.S. has geared up its campaign against ISIS, they have continued to say that they would like to not necessarily coordinate or cooperate with Iran, but that they have a shared interest and they want to -- quote -- "deconflict" the situation. Now, about a month ago, the supreme leader said, well, Secretary of

State John Kerry has been almost begging the foreign minister, Zarif, for Iranian help and they have said that they rejected those overtures. And over the years, we have seen President Obama reach out to the supreme leader, extending his hand and saying we have an interest in a stable region.

And at every turn, the Iranians have rebuffed those gestures. And so what happens now on this nuclear deal? I think the U.S. is trying to say, listen, we need to put this nuclear issue behind us. There's a lot of business we can do in the region. We have a shared interest in combating this group. And so let's get that nuclear issue resolved, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. As you point out now, that there is one source confirming this letter did in fact come from President Obama. Elise Labott, thank you so much from Washington, from the State Department for me.

Also, more breaking news for you here at the top of the hour on CNN. A former Navy SEAL who claims to be the man who fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden has revealed his identity to "The Washington Post." So, we're just beginning to get some information on that.

And for that, let's go to CNN's Brian Todd.

Brian, tell me what you know.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, what we can tell you is that sources in the special operations community have told our national security consultant, our national security contributor Peter Bergen that the gentleman named Robert O'Neill is claiming, claiming to have been the shooter, the man who killed Osama bin Laden, who fired the fatal shot at Osama bin Laden.

Sources in the special operations community telling our Peter Bergen that Robert O'Neill is the former SEAL who now claims to be the shorter. Robert O'Neill also is saying that to "The Washington Post" that he is the man who fired the fatal shot at Osama bin Laden. But we also have to say that sources in SEAL Team Six, which was involved in the bin Laden raid, of course, are also telling Peter Bergen that they do not believe that Robert O'Neill is correct, that he was not the person who fired the fatal shot at Osama bin Laden.

Those sources telling Peter Bergen, our national security analyst, that it was someone who they call the point man who fired a shot down the hallway when bin Laden peered his head out the door of his bedroom, that that shot was the shot that killed Osama bin Laden.

So, Robert O'Neill now, according to sources in the special operations community, is the man claiming to be the shooter, according to our Peter Bergen, but the sources in the special -- in SEAL TEAM Six -- excuse me -- are telling Peter that his account is not correct, that he was not the person who fired the fatal shot at Osama bin Laden.

We will have a lot more on this in "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 5:00. BALDWIN: We will look for more, perhaps more clarification as well.

Brian Todd, thank you so much. We will see you later this evening on CNN.

Meantime, the U.S. goes after one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world and it looks like, it looks like they got him. David Drugeon, just 24 years of age, a key bombmaker for this al Qaeda offshoot group Khorasan, he is believed to be part of that plot as we have reported on that would dip clothing in explosives so they make these bombs so that airport security just cannot detect.

The U.S. tried to take Drugeon and Khorasan leaders out a couple of weeks ago, lobbing 47 Tomahawk missiles into Syria, but they didn't hit him until last night. The U.S. zeroed in on targets near Idlib in Northwestern Syria, pounded them with airstrikes, including this one. It's believed Drugeon was killed in one of those strikes, believed.

We haven't heard the 100 percent yet.

But let me in bring in CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank to talk a little bit more about this and if this is the case and again to Barbara Starr's point, the Pentagon waiting on that 100 percent clarification, but if it is, how -- since we didn't have as much intelligence in this part of the world, how did the U.S. -- what intelligence could have led to this?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This was great intelligence.

They either had somebody inside the group, on the fringes of the group, some sort of human intelligence asset there or this was electronic eavesdropping, electronic communication, a cell phone call, which allowed them to figure out that he was going to be in this car driving in Idlib province and able to take this car out as it drove.

BALDWIN: As we talk about Drugeon, this 24-year-old, I think of the bombmaker who we talk much about out of Yemen. This is a different man. How powerful, how bright is he? What have some of his ideas been?

CRUICKSHANK: He's a very skilled bombmaker from what he understand. He's a French convert. He's just 24 years old.

He was radicalized in his teenage years and he joined al Qaeda in Pakistan when he was 20 in 2010. That's where he learned how to build bombs. About a year ago, he moved to Syria and joined this group Khorasan, and he's been developing sophisticated explosive devices which they hoped to get on board U.S. passenger jets, things like clothing bombs and things like concealing explosives in electronic devices, that kind of thing which they hope can beat airport security, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You have said though that there is a bit of a rub to this with this pinpoint -- I presume -- hit to grab this guy, that being alienating local Syrians. How do you mean?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, that's right. There were five strikes that were targeting the Khorasan group.

BALDWIN: Five strikes.

CRUICKSHANK: But these actually appear to have taken out their headquarter facilities, other facilities belonging to other jihadist groups in Syria, notably Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham.

And these are groups which have not previously made hitting the United States a priority. So the concern is that they could now do that. You sort of stirred the hornet's nest, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Coming up, we have more breaking news, more breaking news into CNN involving the kidnapping of a woman caught on tape here. We can tell you today she is safe, but now new information about another alleged kidnapping by that same suspect.

Also ahead, we are now learning how the fugitive who evaded police for weeks and weeks, some 48 days, survived in the woods. Wait until you hear what Eric Frein kept in his hideout.

And this one has everyone talking about this stunt TV. Has this gone too far? This guy straps on a suit to be eaten by an anaconda. And now critics are calling this animal cruelty. We will talk about that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's a rare crime with an even more unlikely outcome, what appears to be a stranger abduction. This woman ripped from the streets of Philadelphia on Sunday now ended three days later with the woman freed and the suspected kidnapper caught.

And as you see right here spotlighted, the woman here fighting for her life on the Philadelphia sidewalk here is now out of the hospital. But police say that Carlesha Freeland Gaither has been traumatized.

Her mother spoke out after he daughter's rescue Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEISHA GAITHER, MOTHER: She's very upset. She was crying. And she just was asking for me, tell me she loved, she missed me, come get her.

QUESTION: What did you say to

GAITHER: I'm going to get my daughter and I'm going to get my baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The man who snatched her daughter according to police just had a court hearing. He's Delvin Barnes, has no bail. And he's headed to Virginia because he's wanted for a separate kidnapping there.

It's just as disturbing, a 16-year-old girl from Virginia taken the 1st of October found naked, severely burned, but she escaped from Barnes, according to police there. As for the case in Philadelphia, police had this to say about his motives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't know, other than the fact that he's a thug and this is what he does, apparently. The people like this don't necessarily -- there's nothing that makes sense. Don't even try to find it. He's a vicious predator. He's off the streets and hopefully he will be in jail for the rest of his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go live to CNN's Alexandra Field live for me in Philadelphia.

And I know Virginia law enforcement, they just released new details about that 16-year-old who was taken. What have you since learned?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, frankly, these are hideous details. But they are investigators in Charles City, Virginia, who are telling us more about the abduction of this 16-year- old girl.

They say that she was hit on the head with a shovel, stuffed into the trunk of a car, brought home to the suspect's house, where she was allegedly sexually abused, covered in gasoline and bleach before she somehow, somehow managed to free herself. She got out. She got help.

At the end of the month, the end of October, investigators determined who they believed the suspect to be through DNA testing. They named Delvin Barnes as the suspect in that case, but they did not track him down until he allegedly abducted another woman right here in Philadelphia, Carlesha Freeland Gaither.

You have seen that surveillance video of her being snatched and dragged to the suspect's car. It was that video and other surveillance video, GPS tracking on the suspect's car that led investigators to track down Delvin Barnes, make their arrest 100 miles from here in Maryland.

And, Brooke, you won't believe what Barnes' uncle had to say when he heard of what his nephew is accused of doing. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My experience and knowledge of him is a thing about women and females. It's just hard for me to accept the viciousness of it. Not necessarily surprised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Barnes was at a hearing this morning in Maryland. He will now be extradited to Virginia to face charges related to the abduction of that 16-year-old, among those charges, attempted murder.

As for Gaither, the 22-year-old nurse from Philadelphia who went through a harrowing three days, she is back in Philadelphia now and, Brooke, we're told that she's with her family and trying to recover from this experience.

BALDWIN: Horrendous, the details of these allegations.

Alexandra Field, thank you so much in Philadelphia.

Coming up next, how did this man, fugitive Eric Frein, survive weeks and weeks in the woods evading police? Well, guess what? We now have answers after investigators reveal what it is they actually found in his hideout. We will talk to a survivalist about that.

Also, is it a given that Mitch McConnell becomes the Republicans' choice for Senate majority leader? Let's ask a Republican who just got elected to the U.S. Senate.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you do not need a passport to access your own Wi-Fi one day, your unsecured account could actually have a fugitive wanted for murder.

That's what a search warrant revealed about Eric Frein, who was on the run for 48 days after he allegedly shot and killed a Pennsylvania State Trooper back in September and severely injured another. The just-released warrant says this about Frein -- quote -- "He had used the laptop to access the Internet using open Wi-Fi accounts while he was evading authorities."

So, this guy, as it turned out, had Wi-Fi. The court documents also show he was not only well-informed, but he was well-equipped. He had 100-plus items found in this hangar where Frein was apparently hanging out before Pennsylvania State Police nabbed him back on October 30.

When you look at this long list here, as I have, a couple of the highlights, solar converter, New Testament songs and proverbs, cup of noodles, empty plastic water bottles, bottle of hydrogen peroxide -- just some of the items here.

Joining me now, survival information Erik Kulick.

Erik, thank you so much for coming on.

You know, you are a survival instructor, but, as it turned out, it wasn't quite the situation that so many people assumed, that he was surviving in the woods.

ERIK KULICK, SURVIVAL INSTRUCTOR: No, certainly not, Brooke. I know during the hunt and after he was arrested, he's been referred to as an expert survivalist, and, frankly, I cringed at the term. I thought it was really nonsense all along. BALDWIN: What about the fact that he had Wi-Fi? That's one way he

could have been clued in as far as where police were when they were looking for him.

KULICK: I can understand it, I guess, in his particular situation. There are seven survival priorities in any kind of wilderness setting or emergency like an urban disaster. Signal is what you would refer to that in terms of being able to reach out and make contact.

Certainly, in his case, he didn't want to make contact, but it was a way to keep tabs on the police and help his escape. So, in that sense, I can understand it.

BALDWIN: Sure. And then when you look at this list, we pointed out some of it, compass, ThinkPad, firm grip gloves, green camo mesh, tarp, et cetera. How long -- given all of this that was found with him in that hangar, how long do you think he could have lasted?

KULICK: I don't really think he could have lasted much longer. When he started this, it was summer. Quickly moved to autumn and at this point it was quickly moving into winter.

He wasn't prepared at all for spending a long time in the mountains, particularly in the winter. Even the gear he had, clothing and blankets, were really nothing he would need to put up with the cold, and that would quickly break him down, I would think.

BALDWIN: Erik, was there any one item that really struck you as, I don't know, odd?

KULICK: I thought the whole mix of items was somewhat odd.

It was sort of a poor choice. In one sense, they helped him last this long. There's no denying it. But it certainly wasn't anything along the lines of what a so-called expert survivalist would use to survive long-term in the woods. For example, water, he had water jugs, was carrying water.

Why he wouldn't have had a water pump or purification tablets, something as simple as that, somewhat surprised me.

BALDWIN: Hmm. You would know as a survive instructor.

Erik Kulick, thank you so much for the time. Appreciate you.

KULICK: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Just ahead, you heard about this new TV show promises to show this man getting devoured by a giant anaconda -- I'm telling you the truth -- and living to tell about it? Has stunt TV like this gone too far? Let's talk about that.

Plus, more on our breaking news here. A source tells CNN President Obama wrote this secret letter to Iran about the threat of ISIS. And we will speak live with one of those Republicans just elected to the U.S. Senate in today's rout and get his reaction coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He's going to poison the well.

When you play with matches, then you take the risk of burning yourself. And he's going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path. The American people made it clear on Election Day they want to get things done, and they don't want the president acting on a unilateral basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was House Speaker John Boehner just two days now after the election speaking a little while ago, accusing the president of playing with fire.

He said Barack Obama is going to get burned, his words, if he tries to go around the new solidly Republican Congress, which he's threatening to do on immigration reform.