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CNN NEWSROOM

Gas Explosion at Mexico City Hospital; Deadline Passes for ISIS Hostage Swap; Brief Trial Delay as New Juror Seated in Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial; FBI Investigates Spike in Bomb Threats

Aired January 29, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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


KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Another deadline has just passed. Lives hanging in the balance. Is a prisoner swap with this brutal terror group still in the works? We have the latest developments.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Super Bowl drama, all the hype, all the excitement, all the controversy and oh, yes -- they're playing a game too. NFL great Joe Theismann joins us.

BOLDUAN: And in stark contrast to the excitement over the big game, a one-time star of the New England Patriots will be sitting in the courtroom, but there's a snag in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial already as it's just getting under way. We have details.

BERMAN: Hello everyone, I'm John Berman.

BOLDUAN: Hello, guys, I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for joining us.

We're going to begin with some breaking news out of Mexico at this very hour. At least three people are dead after a gas explosion. Just look at these images. This is important to note. This is a gas explosion. It rocked a maternity hospital south of Mexico City.

Dozens of people are injured, we're hearing, including children, and many others we're being told are still trapped inside as the building collapsed, or at least part of the building collapsed.

Officials say a truck was supplying gas to the hospital at the time when a hose burst and a leak caused the explosion.

BERMAN: You can see from these pictures, though, at a minimum, a great deal of destruction and damage to that structure. Again, people may still be trapped inside.

We're joined now by Fernando Suinaga. He's the president of the Red Cross of Mexico. He's on the phone from Mexico City. We're now hearing at least seven people -- at least seven people -- have been killed in this accident, Mr. Swenega, and that's up from just moments ago. And, again, we do fear people are trapped inside.

What are you hearing? What are you seeing?

FERNANDO SUINAGA, PRESIDENT, RED CROSS OF MEXICO (via telephone): Well, we are (inaudible). We have more than 60 volunteers of the Mexican Red Cross. We have like 23 ambulances and one (inaudible). And as you said, we have information confirmed from the official government that three people have been killed, but they've been working (inaudible) all the people that was injured and was over the destruction, they are already taken to the hospital. There were 32 injured people that were taken to another hospital, and now we are going to start removing the collapsed structure to hope that --

BOLDUAN: Mr. Suinaga, can you hear us? We may have just lost the connection. This is the president of the Red Cross in Mexico City. He's just trying to give us some of the details.

He was just saying that they might be starting the process of removing the collapsed portions of the building. That's one big question, of course, on everyone's mind. Is the scene secure at this point? Is there still a concern about gas leaking? So this could be a continued concern.

But just take a look at these pictures again. We're still trying to get more details coming out of Mexico City. The number of killed has just gone up to at least seven people killed. This is a maternity hospital just south of Mexico City.

Fifty people injured at this point, John, so you can imagine how many people were also inside the building.

BERMAN: All right, we'll check back in with this in just a little bit.

Some other news this morning, we're now about one and a half hours past the deadline set by ISIS, and no word yet on whether Jordan has gone through with the prisoner swap with ISIS.

The Jordanians are desperate to get back their army pilot Moaz al- Kasasbeh. He was captured last month after his fighter jet crashed in Syria.

The life of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto also hangs in the balance right now. His wife just revealed that since December -- since December she has been exchanging emails with the ISIS militants holding her husband.

BOLDUAN: Just amazing.

ISIS has purportedly given Jordan until sundown to take convicted terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi to the Turkish border in order to pull of this prisoner swap.

Our Jomana Karadsheh, she is in Amman. You've been following this very closely, Jomana. What's the very latest that you're hearing as the time continues to tick by?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, well, we heard from the Jordanian government a couple hours ago, from officials here. They're saying that Sajida al-Rishawi is still in Jordan and she is still in jail.

We heard the government spokesman coming out and reiterating what we have heard already from the Jordanian government, saying yes, they are ready and willing to release Sajida al-Rishawi, but they are putting their own terms, saying they want proof of life.

This is something the Jordanians say they have been asking for for a while. They have had incorrect communications through indirect channels, negotiating the release of their captured pilot. And throughout they say they've been asking for proof of life that they have not received.

Now the other term is what we heard the Jordanians offer yesterday, saying that they are willing to release this would-be suicide bomber as ISIS requested but only in exchange for the pilot, Moaz al- Kasasbeh. And of course this is not what ISIS is demanding.

What ISIS said is it wants the swap to be Kenji Goto for Sajida al- Rishawi. And they said they will kill the Jordanian pilot if this does not happen.

We don't know what ISIS may have asked the Jordanians behind the scenes indirectly, what demands they have to release their pilot. This is not something that has been made public.

Of course, in the last half hour, our producer is over with the family of the Jordanian pilot and they're still appealing. Despite the deadline being over, they're still calling for the release of their son, saying that please release our son, in the name of the Jordanian tribes here, we ask for the release of our son.

So no news on that yet, but really desperate pleas here from a family that has been through so much and a nation right now that is waiting for any word and still hoping that their is hope here for their captured pilot to return.

BERMAN: Jomana Karadsheh, thanks so much, for us in Amman, Jordan.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk more about this with this deadline passed and still no proof of life as Jomana laid out. Let's bring in global affairs analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel James Reese.

Colonel, thanks so much for joining us. I mean, Jomana really laid out -- she has been following this very closely, and it's been minute by minute. ISIS has made a new demand. They set a new deadline.

So this deadline has passed. They are -- they have made desperate pleas on the part of the family for the return of this fighter pilot, of course for this suicide bomber that's being held in Jordan.

What do you think at this moment is going on behind the scenes?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Kate and John, good morning.

I actually believe that the longer this plays out, it's kind of good, I'll say, for both sides. It shows me that there's negotiations still happening here, people are still talking, even if by third parties, and we're trying to do -- I'll call it the right thing on both sides, even though it's a horrible thing on both sides.

What the Jordanians are doing, though, is I think it's right, you know? They've got to get something out of this, also. They want their pilot back, and in every hostage negotiation, you've got to have proof of life before you do anything. Without it, there is no deal.

BERMAN: What do you think ISIS is playing at here? Yes, they want this female convicted terrorist back from Jordan. But what else are they after?

And is there any connection between this very public negotiation game they're playing and some military setbacks they've been suffering, all but pushed out of Kobani?

REESE: John, you know, right now, you know, they're trying to separate themselves from the Kobani aspect. They're trying to keep the propaganda, the media, all over this hostage negotiation so people will kind of forget about the Kobani.

As we've been talking for months, it's been a month-long battle up there. You know how the Kurdish Peshmerga up there in the streets, and it's a great win for the coalition and the Peshmerga. But they're just trying to keep it off the Kobani issue right now.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, on this fighter pilot and the fate of this fighter pilot as well as -- and we also need to point out this Japanese hostage as well in the mix -- do you think as more time ticks by, Colonel -- you said that it could be promising, but do you also think that some have said that they think this could be further evidence that they might not even be alive at this point.

REESE: Well, that is another course of action that ISIS cannot give proof of life. They were hoping to kind of do a, you know, get a swap here with that happening, but the Jordanians are much too savvy to let that happen. It's not going to happen.

BOLDUAN: Colonel Reese, it's always great to have your perspective. Thank you so much. I'm sure we'll be talking to you about this, unfortunately, again soon.

Coming up for us, as his former team prepares for the Super Bowl, it's quite a very opposite situation for former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez. His murder trial is getting under way right now in Massachusetts. The jury has just been seated. We're going to have the details.

BERMAN: Also a spike in threats against U.S. airlines. Just how credible are these threats, and how might they impact your travel either way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: You're looking at live pictures right now from Fall River, Massachusetts. Opening statements in the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez, they are about to get under way. Right now the judge is giving some instructions. There was a two-hour delay this morning because of an unexplained issue with one of the jurors. We're going to find out more about what happened there exactly.

Now, it is no small irony that this is all getting under way today as his former team, the New England Patriots, get ready to play in the Super Bowl. Hernandez was cut from that team immediately after his arrest back in June of 2013.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": Aaron Hernandez is held without bail, charged with first-degree murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence would suggest presence, knowledge and an intent to see this thing through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no eyewitness testimony. There were no inculpatory admissions. There has been no indication of any direct evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prosecution'll come out blazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now this is a circumstantial case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But there's a video right after this murder, showing him with a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time the New England Patriots played in the Super Bowl in 2012, Aaron Hernandez was on the field. This time he's sidelined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)