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U.S. Troops Evacuate Yemen; Medical Students Feared To Have Joined ISIS; Interview with Congressman Steve Israel of New York. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 23, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:32] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to have you back with us this morning.

Another snowstorm for spring is on tap for folks in the Midwest today. Let's turn right to meteorologist Chad Myers with the latest forecast.

I think spring got confused. Cherry blossoms are supposed to fall, not snow.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know, Chicago is in for an ugly commute this morning. Twenty-eight degrees right now, heavy snow coming down. An inch of snow per hour, and that will certainly slow down the commute in the morning. It will be much better by the week.

But, boy, four to six inches of snow for Chicago. Cold in New York City. It feels like 15. This does not feel like spring, although Chicago snowing today. It will be 60 by Wednesday. That feels like spring, the up and down of the spring, the chance you will get some severe weather. It has been a severe free season so far.

That's the good news. I don't think that that continues for long, Chris.

You seem to be doing good in the bracket. I have news for you, though. Villanova is not going to win the national championship.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Listen, Pam, focus on what the temperature is going to be tomorrow. You struggle with that enough.

Don't be getting all up in my bracket.

MYERS: Wow.

CUOMO: I haven't even seen you on this list. Where are you exactly on the list?

MYERS: I am third. But I have Kentucky with me, second loser.

PEREIRA: Long games, long, long contest.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I'm a little bitter about it. Chad was right to pick on me about it. And no small irony, you will soon be hearing from she who is the leader who is also at this table, but do not include her in this shot yet. We'll be back to Chad in a bit.

But we do have news for you this morning. United States military has abandoned Yemen, for good reason. They are evacuating all remaining troops. This is now a key battleground in the fight for terror him not the way it used to be.

It's not against terror. It's pro-terror. You have Iranian-backed Shiite rebels overrunning the city. You have ISIS, you have al Qaeda all fighting for this. So now there is a rare emergency session in the U.N. on Sunday to address the crisis and see if there is anything that can be done.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Listen to this story, an American said to be among 11 medical students believed to be in Syria working for ISIS-controlled hospitals, a Turkish official insists that these students went to Syria to try to fight ISIS but may have been brainwashed into switching sides. This comes amid growing concerns of Westerners recruited to join ISIS.

The group of students also includes seven from Britain, a Canadian and two from Sudan.

[06:35:02] PEREIRA: Terrible sadness here at home. Thousands of mourners gathered in Brooklyn, New York, as an anguished father said good-bye to seven of his children. They were killed when an unattended hot plate malfunctioned and sparked and enormous house fire, their mother and 15-year-old sister survived by breaking through 2nd floor windows and jumping, both of them are in the hospital. The father was at a religious retreat when that fire broke out.

CUOMO: It's a turn in a Starbucks story. Baristas will no longer write the phrase "race together" on coffee cups, after the campaign to get customers talking about race was roundly criticized.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the first phase, rather, of the race together effort was always meant to end Sunday. He says criminal or no, more activities are planned in the coming months.

PEREIRA: Good intentions behind it. The conversation behind race needs to continue. Was this the best method? Some people say certainly not.

CUOMO: Why criticize it, though? Why not let anything that can help help?

PEREIRA: There are some that wonder if it could help t. The message would be misconstrued.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And there were some baristas that said, look, I'm just trying to do my job here, I don't want to ask someone what your opinion while I'm trying to do my job.

CAMEROTA: It is (INAUDIBLE).

Let's talk about money, something not ever talked --

PEREIRA: Always straight forward.

CAMEROTA: Our business correspondent Christine Romans is here now.

Hi.

ROMANS: Good morning.

You know, which investment do you think has performed best as President Obama took office six years ago? Gold? No. U.S. dollars? No.

The clear winner -- stock. Look at this, the stock market bottomed out in March 2009, and has been climbing ever since. This is the fourth longest bull run ever up 200 percent, if it keeps going another couple months, it will be the third longest ever.

Hey, parents, ever want to know what's going on inside your teen's car? General Motors will soon introduce technology to help parents keep tabs on their young drivers.

I don't know, Michaela, what you were driving. But you didn't want anybody to know what you were doing.

Parents will be able to see the speed, seatbelt use, even how loud the radio is. After the fact, you can say, hey, junior, turn it down.

PEREIRA: There are some other things that may happen in the car they might not want to --

CUOMO: I want to know.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Not if their parents are watching.

A self driving car is making the first ever coast to coast trip. The car was Delphi Technology. It can navigate, it can merge into highways, it can maneuver around bicyclists without any help. A driverless car all the way across the country, an engineer, though, will be riding shotgun just in case anything happens between California and New York.

CAMEROTA: I can't wait. I actually trust a driverless car more than someone who's texting.

ROMANS: How long with the radio?

CUOMO: Also known as the most bored man.

Christine Romans, you are in the lead in the brackets, is that true? ROMANS: I think I'm in fourth place.

CUOMO: Fourth? I thought were first.

ROMANS: I thought Christi Paul was in first place. But I'm up there at the top.

CUOMO: Oh, really. I feel much better now.

PEREIRA: Marathon, not a sprint.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: I'm only going downhill from here.

PEREIRA: All right. Still ahead in the news: the United States pulling troops out of Yemen, a key ally, now on the brink of all out chaos. Will this country evolve into one of the most dangerous places on earth?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:05] PEREIRA: Yemen wants a key American ally in the fight against terror is on the verge of civil war. The U.S. forces pulling out its remaining troops over the deteriorating security situation. The chaos could become America's worst nightmare in the fight against terror.

Let's turn to Bobby Ghosh, CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz".

Good morning to you. It's a same we have to talk about this. First thing out of our lips on a Monday, but this is a very concerning, troubling situation.

You look at Yemen. It is a key location, especially given the ongoing war on terror.

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, just look at where it is, it's on the heel of the Arabian Peninsula on the border of Saudi Arabia and it's desperately poor vast parts of the country are desert and untended. There's very little security. Where the mountain ranges and sort of east of the country, it's all basically desert and there's very, very little security.

So, there are lots of places to hide. That has been good for al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden's family originally came from Yemen. Some of his most closest confidants, some of the hardest of the hard terrorists come from Yemen. There is a long history there and that's why we need to be worrying about it.

PEREIRA: We talk about the history. Let's talk about recent events. We saw the U.S. embassy closed there. And then, not a month later, that deadly mosque killing 137 people there to worship at a mosque. On Friday, 137 Muslims killed. More could be done. Is there more that should be done? GHOSH: Well, the U.S. for several years now has been fighting very

closely alongside the Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism operations. The fact that the U.S. can no longer operate freely in Yemen is very, very bad news. It means that basically the only option to the west is to conduct a drone campaign.

PEREIRA: OK. And we know drone campaigns are continuing.

GHOSH: Always unpopular with the local people. There are lots of rooms for error. You hit the wrong target, you create more animosity. You create --

PEREIRA: Is that the only option, though?

GHOSH: Right now, with no boots on the ground, it's the only position. And you're seeing that Yemeni forces are no longer willing to take -- because they're not even sure who's in charge. There are two different governments. Yemeni forces are not interested if fighting against al Qaeda and ISIS has now turned up there. You have a Shiite militant group.

So, you have three different groups of armed and dangerous and hostile groups fighting each other.

PERIERA: It's kind of hard to pinpoint who the bad guy is, because it's not the bad guy. There are so many. And it's such a chaotic scene. It's unusual. That's the only place in the world where it is that chaotic.

GHOSH: At the moment, yes. It's ironic. You have this situation in Iraq and Syria. Syria doesn't get as much attention as it should. That's why it suddenly shows up on our radar and we are shocked. But it's been going on for a while.

PEREIRA: Some analysts are saying it could become the next Syria. Do you think the situation is similar?

[06:45:01] GHOSH: The potential is great. This used to be two countries, about less than three decades they have become one country. They've split up again.

And the fact that you have Iran supporting one group, you have al Qaeda and you have ISIS, all these three sort of fight income a vacuum means that the potential for that to become a lot worse is great. We have no eyes really on the ground and certainly no boots on the ground.

PERERIA: And no allies at all?

GHOSH: Well, our allies are currently in the retreat. The Yemeni armed forces, because of the political instability, that the elected president knew democracy. They only had a first three election a couple years ago. The president is now in hiding in southern Yemen. The army doesn't really know who is in charge here. You have different generals claiming they're in charge.

PEREIRA: Are they well equipped at least?

GHOSH: Well, we've been giving them, the U.S. has been giving them weapons and money for a very long time. They are decently equipped. They have planes, they have tanks and so on. But they don't have the motivation to fight because they don't know who's in charge.

PEREIRA: Final thought. Is it fair to say, this is quickly becoming the most dangerous place in the world?

GHOSH: In so many different dangerous places, this has the potential to become the most dangerous of all.

PEREIRA: Frightening, we will keep our eyes on this for sure. Bobby Ghosh, we appreciate it.

GHOSH: Anytime.

PEREIRA: Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Mick.

The war of words between Israel and President Obama is getting nasty, boy. Now, you have Steve Israel on one side of the screen, and Steve King, that's getting pretty nasty, too. There are tweets and arguments to be made. And we have Congressman Steve Israel up here for you to judge, right after the break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:50:37] SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The president should get over it, get over your temper tantrum, Mr. President. The president has his priorities so screwed up that it's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, coming from Senator John McCain, he could be anything.

But here's the back story: President Obama blasts Netanyahu's comments that he wouldn't support the creation of a Palestinian state. That led senator McCain to demand the president get over his issues with the prime minister of Israeli.

So, then, back at home, it comes into a new, sharp, kind of odd focus between conservative bulldog Steve King, questioning Democratic Jews to the Israeli cause. One of the persons he winds up targeting is Democratic representative from New York, Steve Israel.

Sometimes you can't make it up. I have to ask you the hard question, Congressman, are you not Jewish enough? Must you now change your name because as a Democrat, you can't be Jewish and a Democrat because you'd have to be a Republican because the Democrats don't support Israel.

Is that true, sir? REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D), NEW YORK: Well, sir, you know, I know Steve

King, I didn't know he was a Talmudic scholar, able to define what is Jew, what is a good Jew.

Look, I don't advise Steve King on issues that he's close to, and I certainly don't expect Steve King to advise me on what makes a good Jew.

CUOMO: Insulting?

ISRAEL: Insulting and dangerous.

Dangerous because the relationship between the United States and Israel should not be used as a partisan football, and when you get this invective that begins to creep on dual loyalties, and when somebody like Steve King begins to pass judgment on what's a good Jew and what's not a good Jew, that becomes very dangerous territory. And he needs to just back down.

CUOMO: So, the audience is hearing this discussion. They are saying, how bad could it be? Nobody's going to be attacking Jews for not supporting Israel.

Here's what Congressman Steve King said on a Boston radio show.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Here's what I don't understand. I don't understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israeli along the line of just following their president.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CUOMO: So, the simple salvo is what? That if you like what the Democrats are doing with Israel, then that's OK. But if you are Jewish, you can't like it. So, you should be Republican.

What does that mean to you in terms of the politics of the situation?

ISRAEL: Well, first of all, it means Steve King is mashugana, is what I call it.

CUOMO: Crazy?

ISRAEL: Which is a little crazy. He would have to look that up. This great Jewish scholar would have to look it up.

Secondly, and dangerously, this does a disservice to the relationship between the United States and Israel. Look, there are Jews who support Israel. There are some Jews who are critical of Israel. That's the beauty of our democracy. We are no better, no worse than other people.

The bottom line here, Chris, is what is happening with Israel right now is like most marriages, sometimes you fight, sometimes you yell, sometimes you don't talk. But the fundamentals are sound. That's what we need to be focusing on, the fundamentals.

CUOMO: Now, you can make the argument that the support of Israel by the U.S. is completely secular, because it's about security, isn't it?

ISRAEL: That's right.

CUOMO: And there's -- I don't think anybody really disputes here in U.S. or certainly in Congress there is a unique existential threat to Israel. The question becomes, is what is going on between Netanyahu and President Obama dangerous to that relationship?

ISRAEL: The optics, this obsession with who called here with the public disagreement, the staff that they're having, it's not good, there's no question about it. And everybody needs to take a timeout, a deep breath.

But here's what counts. I was in Israel literally within weeks after the missiles flew from Gaza to Israel, when Hamas waged war in Israel. By the way, I didn't see Steve King there. I went.

And when Israel needed help from the United States in the form of $225 million for it Iron Dome program to save live, it was President Obama who put in the request for funding. It was the United States Congress that passed that bill. Eight people voted against it. Four Republicans, four Democrats.

So, the fundamentals -- bipartisan support for Israel. There is sound, they're sound, they're strong. It should be not because I'm Jewish and I'm not because this is a Jewish issue, because this is an American issue. A strong Israel is more secure in America, and we need to be focusing on that.

Militarily, in terms of intel, the relationship has never been better. Not in my quote. Bibi Netanyahu's quote.

CUOMO: So, when the prime minister came here, you were with him. You say you walked him in, you walked him out.

[06:55:01] ISRAEL: Yes, sir.

CUOMO: Let me ask you something, if President Obama went to Israel and addressed the Knesset and said, I have to tell you this two-state situation, these settlements, they're a problem. What the prime minister wants to do, it's not going to go well here and gave that speech -- what do you think the reaction would be?

ISRAEL: Steve King would probably introduce articles of impeachment immediately. There would be a shoe-in cry. And that's why this invective of using Israel as a political football to be spiked in the end zone is so dangerous.

We need to get away -- look, it's one speech, one prime minister, one Congress with historically low public approval rate is not what's important. What's important are the fundamentals, and we need to focus on those fundamentals. CUOMO: Now, look, I'll give you -- that as a Democrat, being named

Steve Israel, are you somewhat the ace in the hole right now. This name has never worked for you more than it has right now.

However, is it fair criticism of your party that the Republicans have kind of taken Israel as an issue from you? Some say it's just about security. Some say it's about the Christianization of the Republican Party, that it's a religious fight. They want to own it.

But does it seem that the Republicans own Israel as a supportive issue more than the Democrats?

ISRAEL: Israel is not an issue to be taken from one party by another party. Bibi Netanyahu said, the most strategic asset Israel has is bipartisanship in the United States Congress.

CUOMO: True.

ISRAEL: And people who care about Israel and the United States are to be focused on building that bipartisan relationship, not tearing it apart.

CUOMO: It does seem, though, that when you get GOP, let's say, presidential contenders or possibles, they talk about this all the time, Israel -- how strong it is, what it means, what the president has done is wrong.

Do you believe that this is going to wind up swaying advantage even if you get another 50 guys named Israel in the Democratic Party?

ISRAEL: Look, I don't believe Israel should be used as an electoral tool. I don't believe it should be used for partisan gain by either party.

We support Israel because it is fundamentally important to the United States. I don't care whether you are a Republican or a Democrat. You need to galvanize around that issue.

We could have differences of opinion on various issues, just as we did when Ronald Reagan sold $8.5 billion in AWACS equipment to the Saudis. I mean, show me a president since Harry Truman, I'll show some tensions in U.S.-Israel. What counts is the fundamentals. And we need to be focusing on those fundamentals.

CUOMO: Good allies can be also good critics at times. And you have to deal with both.

Congressman Israel, thank you for being here.

ISRAEL: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

CUOMO: Thank you for the explanation of mashugana. Steve King used that on the show once.

This is one big story for you this morning. But there is a lot of news. So let's get to it. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: A new major threat to U.S. security, Yemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As ISIS gets a foot hold in these environments, you will see state governments fall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All that has taken place with the back of this country teetering on the edge of civil war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The purported ISIS hit list of U.S. troops posted online.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Names, pictures, home addresses of service men and women from all branches of the military.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Americans reportedly among 11 medical students believed to be in Syria, working in ISIS-controlled hospitals.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By announcing first, Ted Cruz is making a ploy, quote, "for media attention and for campaign donations."

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

Up first, Yemen on the brink. The key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism slipping dangerously close to civil war. Iran-backed Shiite rebels on a bloody rampage through a crucial city and heading south where they could be planning to target Yemen's embattled president.

CUOMO: All U.S. troops who were on the ground are now out. The absence creates an enormous vacuum and there are a lot of terrorists looking to fill it.

We have complete coverage starting with senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in London.

Nic, what's the latest?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, good morning.

The real concern here is as the situation in Yemen deteriorates, that ISIS and al Qaeda will take advantage just in the same way that they did in Syria, which is use the civil war to gain strength, to build training camps and to plan attacks against the West.

All of this is happening as Yemen edges towards civil war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Shiite Houthi rebels now in control of the international airport in the southwestern city of Taiz. The U.N. envoy warning that Yemen is at, quote, "the edge of civil war".

This sectarian violence between Shiite rebels and Sunni majority government spreading across the country, where Houthis who control the capital of Sana'a and areas of the north are advancing south into Taiz, the country's third largest city. The mounting unrest pushing the U.S. military to pull out over the weekend, following the U.S. embassy evacuation last month.