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CNN NEWSROOM

ISIS Getting Safe Haven in Yemen; Pros and Cons for Evacuating U.S. Embassy in Yemen; Legacy of Ferguson

Aired January 22, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the new front on terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the rebranding of a new militant group.

COSTELLO: An urgent disturbing development, ISIS now active and recruiting in Yemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ultimately, their aim is the United States.

COSTELLO: The U.S. embassy on alert, our warships at the ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The legacy of Ferguson will be determined by what we do next.

COSTELLO: Also ready to clear officer Darren Wilson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Justice Department has begun crafting recommendations that no charges be brought.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's out of the woods when it comes to being charged either by the Feds or by the state.

COSTELLO: How will Ferguson react this morning?

And laid off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: EBay announced 2400 job cuts, that's about 7 percent of its workforce. American Express is cutting 4,000 jobs.

COSTELLO: Major American companies cutting workers as the price of oil drops further. How long can the American worker hold on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get the sense that you were able to grip the ball better than the Colts last night?

COSTELLO: Also, Deflate-gate. Did the Patriots cheat?

BELICHICK: I really don't know what to say or know anything about what we're talking about here.

COSTELLO: Thursday morning quarterbacking, as we hear from Bill Belichick this morning. Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. We begin this hour with world leaders urgently trying to contain the spread of terrorism. Next hour in London Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss a coalition of 20 nations now united to combat ISIS. The terror group is gaining ground in Yemen as the critical U.S. ally spirals deeper into chaos. In Yemen's capital, U.S. troops are awaiting orders to evacuate the embassy if necessary, and there's growing fear that time is running out. Across the region, the rise of ISIS is creating a power struggle of sorts as al Qaeda and its loyalists control more territory and more recruits. In Yemen ISIS is challenging the dominance of the local branch of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Jim Sciutto as our national security correspondent. He joins us live now from Washington. Good morning, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. The focus of this meeting in London, Secretary Kerry arriving today, 21 countries represented. The focus there, foreign fighters returning from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to bring jihad, it is feared, to Europe. This is the first time the coalition members have met since those attacks in Paris. Operations in Belgium tracking former foreign fighters as well. It's a real problem, and now the concern growing because ISIS has one more potential safe haven in Yemen.

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SCIUTTO: The terror group ISIS, a Yemeni official tells CNN, now active and recruiting on a new front in Yemen, ISIS competing for influence in a country now dominated by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. AQAP believed to have hundreds of members in Yemen compared to dozens from ISIS.

MOHAMMED ALBASHA, YEMENI EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: They're promoting themselves as ISIS, it said, the rebranding of a new militant group. Their understanding that we have is they initially started recruiting from within AQAP ranks, but now they are expanding and trying to recruit within the travel areas.

SCIUTTO: As the ISIS threat expands, President Obama used his "State of the Union" address to call on Congress for new authority to fight the terror group.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This effort will take time. It will require focus, but we will succeed. And tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.

SCIUTTO: Still, since the start of military action against ISIS in August, the president has already authorized the deployment of some 3,000 troops to Iraq, and U.S. warplanes have conducted more than 1,900 airstrikes. The president's new call continues a delicate constitutional balancing act for the White House, simultaneously arguing the U.S. needs new authorization while continuing to expand the war under the old one dating back to the 9/11 attacks. Even Democrats in Congress are demanding quicker legislative action.

SEN .TIM KAINE (D) VIRGINIA: American servicemen have already lost their lives as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, this war against ISIL. If we're asking people to go out and risk their lives, it would seem that we could approach with seriousness and speed. So, why everybody is slow-walking this thing is a mystery.

SCIUTTO: The call for new action comes even as administration officials are making great efforts not to overplay the immediate threat from ISIS to the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no existential threat to the United States because of what's going on there, but there's a threat in the region. We are making progress.

SCIUTTO: Spoken to a U.S. Counterterrorism, rather, official who told me that in Yemen, AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula remains the dominant group, but you do have ISIS there attempting to recruit. You also have AQAP fighters who have multiple allegiances who are frankly sympathetic to ISIS' cause, and impressed by ISIS's gains in Iraq and Syria, establishing the Islamic State there. Carol, you know, this is a constant brutal deadly competition. These groups thrive on success. ISIS has had success and that - you know, that pays off for them in other countries.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Sciutto reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Despite a tentative peace deal with the government of Yemen, rebels still have not released a kidnapped aide to the president. Officials say the agreement which gives the Houthi rebels more political power is being held up by mistrust between the two sides. The deal also calls on rebels to withdraw militias from key government buildings. All of this happening after days of turmoil in the region. Right now, U.S. officials are on high alert. They are keeping a close eye on the situation. Yemen is a key ally in the fight against terror. So far two U.S. Navy warships have been moved to the Red Sea and are prepared to evacuate American embassy personnel if necessary. So let's talk more about this with CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, he's in Yemen, he's on the ground and Sana'a. We are also joined by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, he is the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and a professor at Harvard University and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. Welcome to all of you.

PETER BERGEN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Nick Paton Walsh, I want to go first to you, who is directly threatening U.S. embassy personnel in Yemen?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unclear. The stage and the threat has always really been there. If you're referring to the more recent threat, which seems to have those in Washington exercise, then yes, that would be related to the instability here. We don't know who is behind the shooting in the U.S. embassy. They are calling Monday night. We do know, of course, historically, that it's al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who are the more broad threat against U.S. personnel here because of the drone program that's been in place and because of how the U.S. embassy, of course, is an integral part of that, actually.

COSTELLO: Ambassador Burns, how many diplomats do you suppose are inside that embassy and what are they doing?

AMB. NICHOLAS BURNS, FMR. U.S. UNDERSECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: I don't know how many diplomats are there. But I can tell you, Carol, that we need American embassies in critical Middle East countries like Yemen. Because there are eyes and the ears, they're the direct link to the government of the country. And we have had very close relations with the current government, the embattled government of Yemen. The question about security, Carol, will come down to this. Can the local government protect our embassy? In every country in the world we depend on the local governments for the external protection of the embassy. And that's the call that the Obama administration ...

COSTELLO: But Ambassador, the local government there doesn't exist anymore.

BURNS: It exists. It's embattled. And that is the question. Will that government be able to defend the embassy? The question - the decision we made, the U.S. government made in Libya, was that because of the disintegration there, we couldn't be assured of embassy protection and, therefore, we shut down our embassy, as you know, in Tripoli some months ago. This decision is ahead of the administration. That will be the critical determinant.

COSTELLO: So, Nick, is there a local government in Sana'a. Aren't U.S. Marines doing the protecting of U.S. embassy personnel at the moment?

PATON WALSH: Well, yeah, I mean I'll have to be honest. Thinking the State Department officials aren't overly concerned about the threat to the U.S. embassy. There was an instant with the vehicle. Yes, there's always been a heightened security posture here inside - because what they are doing, and since September of last year, that have been down to basically the bare minimum staff they could do. Is there a government here? Well, on paper, there is certainly, President Hadi has not left his post. He's not left his presidence, much frankly, and it's being Houthi gunmen around it saying they are protecting him rather than keeping him in there. The key issue is who trusts who at the moment. We cut a peace deal yesterday. That lined out a key series of steps. A lot of political concessions expected from the government, giving the Houthis a key role - inside the government. And also, allowing us a substantial potential for redrafting a new Constitution for the country. That could be a massive change in the balance of power here in the favor of the Houthis, but Houthis were supposed to withdraw their guys from the presidential residence, from the presidential palace. And also release the presidential chief of staff. They've partially withdrawn their people. There are reports of potentially that checkpoints are going back where they shouldn't be around the capital. But they definitely have not at this stage released the presidential chief of staff.

So, mistrust dogging this agreement. The real question is being, if the government don't like how it's proceeding, what can they do? And that really is a hard question to answer. They are very embattled here as you said. And it's not clear really how much control they still have in the capital. And that must be, of course, be a concern for Washington to assess whether or not they do have a functional ally here or have to re-carve a relationship with the Houthis, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, Peter, there is this theory out there that ISIS is trying to recruit now because there's this power vacuum and they're competing with al Qaeda in Yemen. And there's a sense that if ISIS and al Qaeda are competing, that one of those terror groups will want to be the first to attack something like the U.S. Embassy. Is there anything to that theory?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, maybe. I mean certainly we've seen people, groups, for instance, in southern Afghanistan in Helmand, we've got a Taliban group that had claimed us part of ISIS. We have had groups in the Sinai in Egypt basically identify themselves as part of ISIS. But I want to go back to what Ambassador Burns said. You know, there are some real risks in closing an embassy. We've seen that in the past. When we closed our embassy in Afghanistan in 1989, we basically were blind there until the 9/11 attacks. We missed the rise of al Qaeda and missed the rise of the Taliban. Similarly, when we closed our embassy in Khartoum and Sudan in the early 1990s, we missed that al Qaeda was forming there. So, you know, there are some real - a very well defended embassy as Nick has pointed out. That it has been the subject of many attacks in the past, and it's pretty vital. And so I think the idea that somehow we should just close it down and get out I think is really not a very good idea at all.

COSTELLO: And ambassador, I think sometimes people have - you know, they have the wrong perception of diplomats. They actually want to stay. They're willing to take the risk, right?

BURNS: Our career diplomats are very brave. They know what they're getting into. These are people who studied the Arab world, have lived throughout the Arab world, speak Arabic. They need to be there to protect other American citizens in Yemen. They need to be there to conduct relations with the government there. And as Peter has said, they need to be there to make sure that we're doing everything we can to blunt the terrorist impact of al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula and perhaps even ISIS. So, I think the preference will be to keep our embassy there. But we are going to have to depend on a host government, we'll have to see how this latest crisis plays out. But the United States needs to have diplomats forward deployed throughout the Middle East as we have for many, many decades.

COSTELLO: All right, Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Peter Bergen, Nick Paton Walsh, thanks to all of you. I'll be right back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BELICHICK: I told you everything I know. I told you everything I know. I have nothing -- I don't have an explanation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a message to the fans who are watching all this?

BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: I've told them everything I know. There's nothing else I can answer. I don't have an explanation for what happened. I've told you all that I can tell you from my point of view, and anything coming from the investigative side, from the league, needs to be directed towards them.

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COSTELLO: A game to crown an NFL champion is turning into quite the side show as deflategate spirals out of control. The Patriots used 11 underinflated balls during the AFC-championship game. The last hour, Patriots had Coach Bill Belichick face the cameras for the first time since the scandal broke.

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BELICHICK: When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to learn of the news reports about the footballs. I had no knowledge whatsoever of this situation until Monday morning. I've learned a lot more about this process in the last three days than I knew or I talked about in the last 40 years coaching this league.

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COSTELLO: All right. CNN sports anchor Rachel Nichols joins me now live from Chicago. And Rachel, it was interesting. During that nine- minute press conference, Phil Belichick did mention Tom Brady and he only said that Tom Brady will explain how hard he likes his footballs. And I guess the reason he said that, was Tom Brady is going to hold a press conference of his own later this afternoon.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and by the way, this is coordinated. It's not as if Tom Brady and Bill Belichick haven't spoken at the past three days. So, I think he knows what Tom is going to say. But, we, of course, don't know what Tom is going to say. And by the way, Tom Brady is on record in the past a few years ago just joking around talking about footballs and inflation. And saying hey, I like a deflated football. The joke at the time was that his tied-in Rob Gronkowski spikes the ball so hard he deflates the football. And Tom jokes hey, I love that. I love to throw a deflated ball. So, that was part of the issue here is that we know he has a preference for it.

Take a listen to what Bill Belichick said talking about his quarterback in this whole situation. We might not have that sound. I don't know. But ...

COSTELLO: I'm sorry about that.

NICHOLS: He basically said -- that's OK. He basically said that Tom is going to talk later about his preferences, and being clear again that this is not something that he is aware of, he said, because he doesn't really touch the offensive ball during the game. Now, Bill Belichick is known for his micromanaging, he's known for knowing every detail of what happens in his organization down to what kind of coffee different people are drinking. But he's made it clear that not only did he not have a role in this, but he said he wasn't even aware of what is going on and has basically moved the attention to his quarterback.

We were talking earlier, Carol, about Tom Brady's attention to detail, the fact that he recently explained that he had his food and workout regimen planned out for the next three years. That is how detail- oriented he is. So, the idea that he wouldn't know that the air pressure in the football he's throwing is different than it would be on a regulation football would be hard for some people to accept. But we'll have to hear what he has to say.

COSTELLO: You know ...

NICHOLS: This is going to be an interesting case of passing the buck.

COSTELLO: That's true. So, the other interesting thing that came out of that news conference, at least that surprised me, was Bill Belichick didn't say something like, you know what, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm going to talk to all of my personnel and I'm going to figure out what happened. He just said he was cooperating with the NFL investigation.

NICHOLS: Yeah, and clearly Bill Belichick came out with a plan today and we were talking earlier, that's the most we've heard him string together, you know, as many sentences in a row as he did in that press conference. And you have to think that that might have been a directive from above, the idea that Robert Kraft, the owner, wanted him to address this situation head-on. Of course, we'll never know the inner workings of the Patriots organization. But this was unusual for Bill Belichik. I think that sounds - we can here now.

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BELICHICK: My personal coaching philosophy and my mentality has always been to make things as difficult as possible for players in practice. And so, with regard to footballs, I'm sure that any current or past player of mine will tell you that the balls we practice with are as bad as they can be. Wet, sticky, cold, slippery, however bad we can make them. Tom's personal preferences on his footballs are something he can talk about in much better detail and information that I could possibly, possibly provide.

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NICHOLS: It's important to remember that when the Patriots went through Spygate, when they were illegally taping the signals of the opposing team in 2007, we similarly heard from Bill Belichick, although in much more clipped sentences at the time, that he didn't really know the procedures for videotaping, that he wasn't involved with the videotape department. And the only person who got fired from the Patriots in that entire affair was the actual kid running the video camera. Of course, Bill Belichick, firstly, and the organization was heavily fined by the NFL. But it will be interesting to see if in this situation the only person who sort of is held responsible is the kid who manages the balls or whether, even that's found to be the case at all. At this moment the NFL has not released any kind of statement saying that the Patriots were at fault here. So, we can't assume that. That just sort of seems to be the direction that things are going since we know that the balls were regulation before the game and then they went into the Patriots' care and then at half-time they were not regulation. So, we're all waiting for the NFL to draw that conclusion.

COSTELLO: OK, I have to leave it there. Rachel Nichols, many thanks, I appreciate it.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," the Ferguson cop involved in that deadly shooting of an unarmed teenager will likely not face federal charges. We'll tell you why.

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COSTELLO: Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will likely not face federal charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown. The final decision will be officially announced by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder likely sometime this spring, sources do tell CNN that insufficient evidence is the primary reason. CNN's Sara Sidner is in Ferguson.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, both a U.S. official and law enforcement officials have told us that the federal investigation into the civil rights violations case that they were looking at bringing against former officer Darren Wilson in the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown has been concluded and handed over to the Department of Justice. And what we're hearing from our sources is that basically there is not sufficient evidence to charge Officer Darren Wilson with civil rights violations in this particular case. They have been looking at many things including 200 interviews they did alongside local officials and all of that information that the grand jury saw as well - as well as some interviews on their own.

The FBI concluding that there isn't enough evidence and has passed that on to the DOJ. But ultimately, the person who makes the ultimate decision obviously would be the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. We are expecting to hear something from him for sure before he leaves office, which we're expecting that to be in spring. But there is also another case that is still lingering out there, another case being looked at by federal officials as to the practices of the Ferguson police department itself and whether or not the department itself violated civil rights in any way. So that is still on going and we still have not heard whether or not and how close they are to completing that investigation. But again, expecting to hear something before Mr. Holder leaves office.

And then at the same time we were getting this information, there was some video released by St. Louis County Police who have been looking into what happened on November 24th when there was extreme reaction from the fact that a grand jury did not indict then Officer Wilson, with people going, looting, burning some of the buildings, and so they released this video showing what is 180 people, according to police, going in and out of one particular business after they kicked in the window, broken through and started taking things out. And, you know, those who have nothing to do with one another. The police have been saying, look, we've been putting these videos out every couple of weeks. And we're doing it this way in part because we want to give the public a chance to look at each and every picture and each and every face to try and help identify those who were involved in the looting and burning of the businesses here in Ferguson.

But certainly this town is still dealing with the repercussions of what has happened. And there is still a movement out there trying to make change in this community and around the country. Carol?

COSTELLO: Sara Sidner reporting.

In a speech to lawmakers, the Missouri Governor Jay Nixon spoke not only about Ferguson's past, but how the incident could shape the future.

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GOV. JAY NIXON, (D) MISSOURI: Last fall I created the Ferguson commission which continues its vital work of listening, learning and evaluating solutions. I look forward to receiving its final report this September. But make no mistake, the legacy of Ferguson will be determined by what we do next to foster healing and hope and the changes we make to strengthen all of our communities.

(APPLAUSE)

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COSTELLO: Governor Nixon also vowed to recruit more diverse officers so that police forces better reflect the communities they serve.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", An anti Islam protest leader is stepping down from his post after posting this Hitler selfie. We'll talk about that next.

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