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CNN NEWSROOM

Rabbis Killed; Biracial Family in Ferguson; College Isn't for Everyone

Aired November 18, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me here on this Tuesday.

I want to begin with breaking news. The holy city of Jerusalem tonight is peering down the barrel of a potential eruption of killing after the gruesome terror attack on a Jewish place of worship. Even in the face of a recent spike of violence, Israelis are absolutely stunned at what happened today at this synagogue in west Jerusalem where four rabbis, three from the United States, were slain by two intruders screaming Islamic religious slogans. According to witnesses there, the assailants entered just before 7:00 in the morning bearing a gun, knives, even axes.

And it's a disturbing scene. I just want to warn you, we have some graphic video coming up so just - it's tough to look at, but this really tells the story of just how horrendous this act was. What you're looking at here is inside this ultra-orthodox synagogue after the terror attack that killed four rabbis and wounded six others.

Just a short time ago, we have heard from the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issuing this forceful response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I decided this evening to demolish the homes of the terrorists that committed this massacre and to accelerate the demolishment of the homes of previous terrorists and to enforce law to make punishment more severe and to outlaw all sorts of organizations. And I also gave the orders to increase security in Jerusalem. Yes, there are defense deeds as well, defense activities that we do. Citizens of Israel, I call upon you to please be awake, be alert, please, abide by the law. We will pay all those terrorists and those who have sent them. We have proven to be able to do so. But nobody, nobody must take the law into his or her hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Again, the prime minister speaking just a little while ago. As we mentioned, that attack happening in west Jerusalem. And the two attackers, both killed by police in a shootout, were living in east Jerusalem. Neither was known to having deep political ties and no group has credibly claimed to have sent them to that synagogue early this morning.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent who is there, Ben Wedeman, in Jerusalem.

And so we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu, you know, vowing reprisals against the group or groups who may have ordered this attack. Might this, Ben, might this be the case of where they were sent by no one, simply acted alone?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it seems to be the case, Brooke. And this is not the first. There have been a series of attacks leaving six Israelis dead that have been committed by individuals with no apparent political affiliation. Now, there was a statement put out by the Marxist Palestinian Front for the - rather, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine suggesting that these two individuals from east Jerusalem were somehow affiliated with the group. But that has not been confirmed yet.

But this is the problem is that, you know, obviously, the Israeli - Israeli intelligence has a very close eye on east Jerusalem, on the West Bank, on Gaza, looking for people with affiliations with groups like Hamas or Islamic jihad. But when these individuals are acting alone with no clear links to any groups, it's very difficult or much more difficult to trace them, to track them and possibly to prevent the kind of attack we saw this morning.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: We - Ben, we know that the two attackers were said by people who knew them to have been fearful of changes, to some of the holy cities there where you are in Jerusalem. Can you tell me more about that?

WEDEMAN: Well, this is something that's been going on for several weeks, this is the question of the status of what Jews call the Temple Mount, what Muslims call the (INAUDIBLE), or the holy sanctuary, which is where the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located. Now there have been certain members of the Israeli parliament who have been pushing to allow for more access of Jewish worshippers to that site.

But there's an old agreement going back to 1967 where there would be no worship by Jews or Christians on the Temple Mount. And there are those members, some members of the Israeli coneset (ph), who want to change that. The Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority, have been quite opposed to any changes to the so-called status quo. And we have heard the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stressing that there would be no change to that. But certainly the Palestinian media have been full of reports that somehow this would be changing and this has, of course, led to increase, intense tension within Jerusalem over the last few weeks.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Of course, it has. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much, live for us tonight in Jerusalem.

I want to stay on this because, of course, the United States is responding, calling the attack barbaric and, quote, "a new low" in the history of Mideast turmoil. President Obama specifically calling on both the Israeli and Palestinian communities to reject such violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We condemn in the strongest terms these attacks. A number of people were wounded and four people were killed, including three American citizens. So this is tragedy for both nations, Israel, as well as the United States, and our hearts go out to the families who, obviously, are undergoing enormous grief right now.

Secretary Kerry has spoken to Prime Minister Netanyahu. President Abbas has strongly condemned the attacks.

Tragically, this is not the first loss of life that we have seen in recent months. Too many Israelis have died and too many Palestinians have died. And at this difficult time, I think it's important for both Palestinians and Israelis to try to work together to lower tensions and to reject violence.

The murderers for today's outrageous acts represent the kind of extremism that threatens to bring all of the Middle East into the kind of spiral from which it's very difficult to emerge. And we know how this violence can get worse over time. But we have to remind ourselves that the majority of Palestinians and Israelis overwhelmingly want peace and to be able to raise their families knowing they're safe and secure. The United States wants to work with all parties involved to make that a reality and to isolate the kinds of extremists that are bringing about this terrible carnage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, Bob Baer. He is our CNN national security expert and former CIA operative.

So, Bob Baer, let me springboard off of some of the points we just heard Ben Wedeman making in Jerusalem and just you being familiar with this part of the world and clearly the conflict for a long, long time, though we don't necessarily have a group claiming responsibility for what happened in Jerusalem. When you hear details, particularly gruesome details of axes being used in a particularly intimate terrorist attack this morning there at the synagogue and also knowing that some of these individuals lived in east Jerusalem, does this have the markings of any one particular group, any one particular motivation?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: Well, east Jerusalem, Brooke, first of all, is very well watched by Israeli security authorities. It's a very small area. And they sort of know everybody who lives in that part of the city. So this was assuredly a random act in the sense that these two men got together and decided on - sort of on the spur of the moment, using household items, like a meat cleaver, to go after this.

Now, I realize there's been a secular group which claimed responsibility for this, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It doesn't make any sense. But what concerns me in all of this and I think concerns the Israelis, there will be reprisal attacks and there will be a reaction to that and we could be, you know, at the edge of a new - a third intifada.

BALDWIN: Oh.

BAER: And this is exactly what Hamas wants is for the West Bank and east Jerusalem also to rise and, you know, could the violence spiral out of control? It's certainly a possibility.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about something specific. We know that Israel has done this in the past, but just remind our viewers, we heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he was saying he ordered the demolition of the homes of the men who murdered these four worshippers from the synagogue. He ordered the demolition of their homes. And I'm just curious because it's so different from, let's say, a U.S. investigatory procedure when one would assume you would go to the homes of the suspects, go through computer files. Why destroy the homes?

BAER: Well, what they want to do, they're hoping to deter this by getting back at the families who's either large -- you know, the house is - there are probably three or four generations of people in these houses and being thrown out in the street. They count on that being the deterrent. But the problem is, these two young men knew that they'd be killed and if they don't care about their own lives, they probably don't care about their families. This is what they call a martyrdom act and, you know, it's - deterring people like this is nearly impossible. But the Israelis don't know what to do at this point except (INAUDIBLE) against the families.

BALDWIN: Bob Baer, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate that.

We're going to stay on this story. Obviously, as soon as we get any developments on that, we'll bring them to you.

But back here in the United States, the FBI now, the FBI issuing a warning about Ferguson, Missouri, as the grand jury is getting ready to review its decision.

Next, this is a fascinating story of this biracial couple, their little boy they adopted, living in Ferguson, afraid to go out in public now. They'll share their story with us through one of our writers at cnn.com.

Plus, will the U.S. ever negotiate with terrorists? The Obama administration reviewing America's policy. We'll talk to a former hostage, have his take on that.

And, Charles Manson getting ready to tie the knot in prison. What attracts women to killer inmates? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Did you know that the FBI now is issuing a warning to law enforcement across the country. Violence is possible after the grand jury indictment in Ferguson, Missouri. And, any day now, the panel will decide, that grand jury will decide, whether Officer Darren Wilson should be charged for the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

The FBI has issued this advisory to law enforcement. Let me just read part of it for you. They say, quote, "the FBI assesses those infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with bladed weapons or firearms equipped with tactical gear, gas masks or bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures." That's from the FBI.

What is more here, you have the governor of Missouri who has declared the state of emergency. He has been calling upon the National Guard to prepare for what could come. You talk to critics, they say the build- up is only adding to that fear, that anxiety level that is palpable in this community.

It is a fear that has one family in Ferguson changing their ways. Cnn.com just profiled the Wheats. This is this family, this biracial couple, who has lived in the city for more than 10 years. The mother spent time with CNN's Moni Basu. And Moni joins me live from a very chilly Ferguson, Missouri.

And, Moni, I mean it's a fascinating write, so thank you for sharing their story and also that of their 10-year-old adopted son Christopher. But let me just begin with their story. So you have Stefannie and her husband Ken and they chose this adopted town of Ferguson for a very specific reason.

MONI BASU, CNN DIGITAL ENTERPRISE REPORTER: That's right, Brooke. They moved here in the late 1990s because they were a biracial couple living in south St. Louis at the time and they felt not very welcomed where they were living. And they specifically chose Ferguson to move here because they felt it was much more racially diverse and accepting and tolerant of who they were as a family.

So then given what happened late summer with the shooting death of Michael Brown, how did that specific event change everything for them?

BASU: Well, Stefannie Wheat told me that after Michael Brown's death, racial tensions obviously became very heightened in her hometown. And she's had to now take specific measures to protect her family. For the first time in their lives, she and her husband Ken have to have a discussion about whether they could be seen out in public as a biracial family. They bought a gun, like many other residents in Ferguson have done. They've never owned a gun before.

And this week, they had a new security system put into their house because they feel they have been threatened, in fact, when they've been seen out in public. They volunteer for a lot of community events around here. One is a local farmers market that takes place every Saturday. At that farmers market, they were taunted and later protesters -- she said protesters called her and her husband police plants and told them that they knew where they lived. So she felt very threatened.

BALDWIN: Let me quote part of your piece. This is -- this is quoting one of Stefannie's friends. "People aren't seeing that Ferguson isn't a poor inner city slum. It's a racially diverse community filled with families, community programs, small businesses and kinship that has been thrust into the limelight. I feel bad that your community and Michael Brown have become scapegoats and poster child for social ills and policing policies that affect so many other areas."

Moni, given the fact that there is sort of this state of, you know, fear, anxiety, tension because no one knows which way this indictment may or may not come down, does this family plan to stay in Ferguson? Will they see this thing through?

BASU: Well, right. Well, what Stefannie told me is that, I refuse to be held hostage in my hometown. She doesn't want to leave Ferguson. This is where she made her home. This is where her friends are. She's raising a 10-year-old child. A black child that she adopted from a foster home. And she feels that this community has always been very family oriented and very accepting of them and she is not going to leave. However, she told me, I asked her, well, what if things got really bad? And she says, well, we'll have to monitor the situation and see. But they just renovated their house, Brooke, and they have no intentions of leaving.

BALDWIN: Just quickly I wanted to focus and ask you about this 10- year-old Christopher. What kinds of questions is he asking? I mean sometimes I feel like the best stuff comes from kids. What is he wanting to know?

BASU: I'm sorry, say that again, I couldn't hear you.

BALDWIN: What is the 10-year-old, what kinds of questions is Christopher asking of his parents, given what's happening there?

BASU: Well, Christopher, his parents have tried very consciously to bring him up in a color blind world. Christopher has black friends and white friends and he hasn't really been very cognizant of race issues until now when he's seeing his parents being called names and obviously he's not immune to what's going on. He sees things on television and on the streets. So I think the family now is having to sit down and have very difficult conversations with their child about why there's so much anger and hatred in the world.

BALDWIN: These are the kinds of conversations that have been happening, I'm sure, across the country. Moni Basu, thank you so much for sharing the story of Stefannie and Ken and their son Christopher with us. Appreciate it very much. You can read it. just go to cnn.com.

BASU: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: You got it.

Just ahead, we'll take you back to more of our breaking news. Four rabbis murdered while praying inside of a synagogue in Jerusalem early this morning. I'll talk live with the city's mayor about this terror attack.

Plus, CNN's newest film raises serious questions about the skyrocketing cost of college. And my next guest says he gives students $100,000 to put college off, come up with something else instead. We'll tell you why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's a big part of the American dream. I mean don't you remember rushing out to your mailbox to get that hopefully college acceptance letter? You get into a good school, you land a good job and you're set, right? Maybe. With the rising cost of higher education and the lackluster job market, people are starting to ask, is college worth it? Let me talk about this new CNN film. It's called "Ivory Tower." It asks that very question. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to reflect on what it is you're buying. And what it is your parents are buying. The idea that you're going to go to keg parties for four years sounds cool, but when you think about what parents pay for, really what they're paying for is for you to not be left behind in the information economy, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People say to me all the time, well, Dale (ph), aren't you ruining people's lives by encouraging them to take a risk and not go to college? I think it's much riskier to go to college and take on $20,000 of debt per year and then have miserable job prospects when you get out and have to start repaying that debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: See, he was a Thiel fellow (ph). Let's bring in Mr. Thiel himself, from San Francisco, Peter Thiel. He is PayPal co-founder and creator of the Thiel Fellowship. It's a grant that offers $100,000 to young people to put college on hold and explore their own research and entrepreneurial ideas.

So, Peter, nice to have you on. Welcome.

PETER THIEL, INVESTOR AND ENTREPRENEUR: Brooke, thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: So you - let's also, as we're putting the book up on the screen, you are also an author. You wrote this new book called "Zero to One."

So just given what I know about you, let me throw this at you. Is there any kind of education, four-year degree, Peter, that you would actually support, you know, paying all that money for and not skipping?

THIEL: Well, I -- my claim is never that nobody should go to college. But I think - I think we have to move beyond this one-size-fits-all world where you go to Yale or you go to jail, where everyone from K-12 gets narrowly tracked into the same small, short list of elite colleges and from there into the same narrow list of jobs. It worked very well for the baby boomers. It's working much less well for the millennials today where they're amassing huge amounts of student debt and there - you know, some cases it's worth it. In many cases, it's not. I think there certainly are engineering degrees. There are degrees that - where it does lead to sort of a very precise trade-off. If you get into one of the top business schools, that's probably still worth it economically. But there are many other places where, you know, it's a much more questionable proposition.

BALDWIN: You know, I hear you on the one-size-fits-all bit, but, you know, when you read about your critics, they say that your - you know, your ideas about higher education only work for those select few, the prodigies at the tip top and that could actually never be a reality for your average student. I mean what about the majority of college students in America? How do they then cope with the costs, the debt for years and years?

THIEL: Well, I don't have a - you know, I don't claim that my program is an all-comprehensive solution. And I think the future will not be a one-size-fits-all. So it will not be that everyone should go to college. It will not be that everyone should become an entrepreneur. I think there will be many different kinds of things. But one of the things that's critical for the second and third tier college educations is for us to figure out ways for the costs to come way down. They've gone up 400 percent after inflation since 1980. You now have over $1 trillion in student debt. And there simply are not enough well-paying jobs in this country to pay for this enormous amount of debt that's being amassed.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about your success stories. You know, those young innovators who, you know, take you up on your offer for the $100,000. I mean, I'm curious, what kind of projects, Peter, have been most successful? Can you give me some specifics?

THIEL: Well, it's been a range of different things. One of the -- one of the - one of the people in the first class started a solar panel company that got a lot of traction. They're now starting -- there's one where we've started a housing project where you figure out ways to subdivide houses into dorm-like living accommodations and sort of use computer technology to automate that process. There have been things, you know, most of it is in computer science, I.T., but we've also done things in a range of other fields. I think CS is still an area where it's easy for people to get traction on very small budgets and start new businesses. Other areas of technology are often a little bit trickier.

BALDWIN: I know you play a big role in "Ivory Tower." We'll be looking for you.

Again, Peter Thiel, the author of "Zero to One." And make sure you watch the CNN film special "Ivory Tower" Thursday night, 9:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.

Peter Thiel, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

Coming up, a peaceful house of worship turned into a deadly, gruesome scene this morning. Four people were killed by men wielding axes and knives at a synagogue in Jerusalem. The mayor of Jerusalem will join me live, next.

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