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Civil War Threatens to Break Out in Yemen; American Among 11 Medical Personnel Working Under ISIS in Syria; GOP 2016: How Does Cruz Stack Up? Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yemen, once a key American ally in the fight against terror, is now on the verge of civil war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.N. has warned for weeks the country is collapsing.

[08:00:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As ISIS gets a foothold in these environments you will start to see state governments fall.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Names, pictures, home address of servicemen and women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An American reported among 11 medical students believed to be is Syria working in ISIS controlled hospitals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How safe are the nation's airports?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That guy right there that walked in with a backpack, a mug, we don't know what's in his backpack.

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, and welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Monday, March 23rd, 8:00 in the east. Yemen may be the most dangerous place in the world to you, slipping closer to all out civil war. Carnage and chaos are there threatening to collapse a country that was hailed as a success story by President Obama just six short months ago. Now ISIS and Al Qaeda closing in to make it a home base.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now the United States pulling all its remaining troops out of Yemen. Iran backed-backed Shiite rebels appear to be on a rampage, setting their sights on Yemen's embattled president next. Our coverage begins with CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live for us from London. What do we know, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alison, the real concern at the moment is that ISIS and Al Qaeda will do precisely what they did in Syria and in Iraq, use the instability there to develop bases for training, to develop their bomb making, and therefore be a bigger threat to the United States and a bigger threat Europe. And all of this is happening as that becomes more and more possible as the country slips deeper towards civil war.

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ROBERTSON: Shiite Houthi rebels now in control of the international airport in the south western city of Ta'izz. The U.N. envoy warning that Yemen is at, quote, "the edge of civil war." This sectarian violence between Shiite rebels and a Sunni government spreading across the country where Houthis who control the capital of Sana'a and areas of the north are now advancing south in to Ta'izz, 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. ISIS claiming responsibility for this suicide attack on two mosques on Friday. More than 130 killed, hundreds more injured.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: As we're seeing extremists try to capitalize on the chaos and instability inside of Yemen to carry out these acts of violence.

ROBERTSON: The nation now in an especially perilous position caught between the Houthis violent rivalry with the Sunni AQAP terrorists, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. But now grave concerns. The U.S. withdrawal is a serious blow to the counterterrorism mission.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, (R) TEXAS: Without good intelligence stops plots against the homeland, without that intelligence we cannot effectively stop it.

ROBERTSON: This region home to violent Al Qaeda offshoots, the terrorist organizations responsible for plotting several attacks against Americans, including the 2000 attack on the USS Cole leaving 17 sailors dead and the underwear bomber on the U.S. airliner in 2009.

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ROBERTSON: Now, all U.S. military forces pulled out of Yemen. The last 100 special forces, Delta Force and the Navy Seals pulled out over the weekend. And we're learning here in the U.K., Sky Television in the U.K. reporting that British special forces have now also pulled out of Yemen. We're working to confirm that. But this is precisely what happened when the U.S. closed down its embassy in the capital, the British followed suit pretty quickly. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Nic, thanks so much for that update.

Just a few short months ago President Obama hailing Yemen as a success story on terrorism. Now that important ally is in chaos. So what went wrong in Yemen? Let's bring in White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Michelle, what's the White House saying? MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, right now

this situation deteriorating and violent is being treated as an emergency. The U.S. pulled out its remaining personnel, about 100 special ops force. The embassy had already been closed. And the U.N. Security Council held an urgent meeting, trying to find a way forward with a political, peaceful solution. But this is once again bringing up something the president said about six months ago. He was talking about ISIS but he referred to Yemen and Somalia as something of successes.

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BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years. We've targeted Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen and recently eliminated the top commander of its affiliate in Somalia.

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[08:05:09] KOSINSKI: Those words have come to haunt the White House many times. They are constantly asked about it and criticized about it whenever something happens. Well, what they've been saying is the president was referring to strategy, being able to work with local governments being able to work with groups on the front lines, using drone strikes to target militants. The thing is there have been many big questions lately over whether that strategy is even a success at all and whether it will even be feasible at all given the situation on the ground right now. Chris?

CUOMO: So much proof, Michelle, that the threat is only growing. Now, more news on that front. An American is said to be among 11 medical students believed to be in Syria working for ISIS. An official insists that these students actually went to Syria to fight against ISIS and may have been brainwashed. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live for us in Baghdad this morning. Jomana, what do we know?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, here's what we know from a Turkish opposition member of parliament. He says a group of 11, as you mentioned, including an Americans, seven British nationals, one Canadian, and two Sudanese, he described them, saying most of them are doctors from well-off families that arrived in Turkey on the 12th of March, 10 coming in on the same flight from Sudan and another one flying in from Toronto.

Now, he says after that they crossed into Syria, into ISIS controlled territory there, and they're working in hospitals in those areas. While we cannot confirm their whereabouts at this point and we don't know what motivated them to travel to Syria, according to this member of parliament he says their families who he has been in touch with, working with, says he is convinced that their children are working for ISIS in these areas and that they have been, quote, "brainwashed" and cheated by the terror groups. He says family members, mothers and fathers, are on the Turkish side of the border. They're trying to track down their children and convince them to come home. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Jomana, thank you for allof that developing story we will follow.

For context on all of this, let's bring in CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. Good morning, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We know you've just wrapped up an interview with the president of Tunisia. What did you learn from him?

AMANPOUR: That's right. Well, you know, Tunisia of course was the big success story of the Arab spring. Obviously last week the attack on the parliament and the museum was shocking. I learned today from him that it could have been even worse. He told me and confirmed that the terrorists were wearing suicide vests and that because they were killed they weren't able to detonate those vests, which would have what he said a much bigger catastrophe.

Also there is a third suspect on the run that they're looking for, that 15 people have now been arrested. They're not willing to say these are ISIS. They say that, yes, ISIS has claimed responsibility, but they need to do more investigation to know exactly who it is. That of course is the Italian president who I spoke to last week.

CAMEROTA: You speak to so many presidents sometimes we get them confused in the control room. But we're going to get the right video.

But Christiane, let's talk about the paradox you were just mentioning about Tunisia. It has been seen as this beacon of progress and democracy in the Middle East, and yet it is the country that exports the most on foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS. What did the president tell you about how he plans to stamp that out?

AMANPOUR: I asked him that obviously because it is such a counterintuitive proposal. How is it that this is happening from Tunisia? And he basically said, well, you know, years of misplaced policies, as he said, in the lead-up from the Arab spring to his presidency. So he blames his predecessors to an extent.

But he is also saying we have to crack down hard on them. That's one level of tackling them, while the other level, he says, is to increase economic opportunities. Remember, it was Mohamed Bouazizi who back in December of 2010 set himself on fire because he was poor and he couldn't sell his fruit in the market and it was an economic cry for help. That still exists in all these Arab spring countries. But on top of that you have Libya, which has imploded next door. He says these terrorists were trained in Libya, and that is what they absolutely believe about the attackers last week, that it's a big, big problem. And we may see spillover from Yemen, if that becomes worse. And so these are very, very destabilizing factors that are happening in North Africa and of course affecting Europe as well. You know, Italians are getting flooded by boats of these poor people who are coming across. So there's a huge destabilizing effect from Libya and other failed states.

[08:10:03] CAMEROTA: Let's talk about all the breaking news out of Yemen this morning, namely that the U.S. is pulling 100 of its special troops out of Yemen because the situation has deteriorated. How dire is what's happening in Yemen today?

AMANPOUR: It's really dire mostly for two reasons, one, that the United States and others had put a lot of hope into Yemen as a success story, counterterrorism, obviously so many drones, but they also had a lot of relationships. Certainly the U.S. intelligence establishment with the authorized in Yemen and there was a period of time when it looked that was working properly. Well, it's completely imploded right now, not just the U.S. evacuated its special forces, but also Britain has done that. Before that they all evacuated their diplomatic staff, if you remember, when all this sort of blew out of control in the last several weeks.

There is also a division between the powers in the region. The Houthis are said to be Iranian backed. They deny it, the Iranians deny it. But they're Shiites. Saudi Arabia obviously had a huge interest in there because of the Sunni government and the majority Sunnis there. So this is yet another place where you have this Shiite-Sunni divide and the result is this exponentially growing terrorist threat.

CAMEROTA: Christiane, let's talk about this other developing story that we were just reporting on, and that is 11 medical students including one American who appear to be working in concert somehow with ISIS in Syria. And there are reports that maybe they've been brainwashed. Maybe they're threatened, maybe they're intimidated. How do we explain what we're seeing there?

AMANPOUR: Well, it's hard to say threatened and intimidated when they get up and leave their countries or other countries to go there. Whether they knew what they were getting into, that's a different matter. Whether they were groomed to do it, that's a different matter. There's been a huge matter of debate here in the U.K. this weekend essentially of those some nine or more are British citizens. They went from medical school in Sudan, many of them, to Turkey allegedly, and then maybe into they've already gotten into Syria. There's a whole are they or are they not.

And then raises the question, if these people went over there for humanitarian work, in other words, not to fight, are they terrorists? What do we do with them? How do we get them back? When we do get them back, do we arrest them? What do we do? So this is now complicated, the debate, you know sort of its metastasize from those going over to fight to now those going over saying their going over for humanitarian reasons. So yet another complication. But the fact of the matter is that too many people are going over either to fight or now to do medical work apparently. And a lot of grooming is taking place online, in mosques, but most of it online. And this is the big, big fear.

CAMEROTA: So many questions. Christiane Amanpour, thanks for your insights. Nice to see you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn, let the race begin. Texas Senator Ted Cruz launching his presidential campaign overnight on Twitter, becoming the first major candidate to put his hat in the ring for 2016. Now, Cruz is going to make his formal announcement at Liberty University later this morning. That's where we find senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny live from Lynchburg, Virginia. How are you doing, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Michaela. We're doing well. Ted Cruz of course is a Republican from Texas. He's been in the U.S. Senate for only two years. Of course he's a favorite of that Tea Party movement and he's going to try and turn that into a presidential campaign. He tweeted his news as he said overnight to some 300,000 followers and he gave us a glimpse of his message in this video. Let's take a listen.

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SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: It's a time for truth, a time to rise to the challenge, just as Americans have always done. It's going to take a new generation of courageous conservatives to help make America great again. I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight.

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ZELENY: It's that new generation of conservatives that Senator Cruz is hoping to reach out to. That's why he'll be here in less than two hours at Liberty University speaking to this arena. There will be some 10,000 students here. They make up part of this young, evangelical group of Christian conservatives that Senator Cruz hopes will form the basis of his presidential campaign.

Now, we got a glimpse of him last night when he was walking through this arena sort of scoping things out for the biggest speech of his political career with his wife, Heidi, his two young daughters. Senator Cruz is the first Republican to jump into this, but certainly not going to be the last. There will be nearly at least 10, maybe 12 candidates when this is all said and done. He is trying to get a jump on this race, he knows he needs to, actually. He's competing with Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and so many others. So we'll hear from him in just two hours. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Jeff, we will cover it, of course, and we'll check back with you for that.

Right now Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is here in the U.S. of A. on his first official visit, taking part in a ceremony at the Pentagon with Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

[08:15:03] Now, tomorrow, he will sit down with President Obama and Ghani is expected to urge the president to be more flexible on troop draw-downs in Afghanistan over concerns that full withdrawal by the end of 2016 could jeopardize security there, just like what happened in Iraq.

CAMEROTA: Now to an update, "Rolling Stone" preparing to publish a review of its widely disputed article about an alleged violent sexual assault at the University of Virginia. A source tells CNN the investigation will be released in early April. It is being completed by Columbia's graduate school of journalism. Meanwhile, Charlottesville police also expected to announce results of their own investigation into that assault today.

PEREIRA: All right. Here's the question to noodle over. Did Pope Francis perform a miracle? Believers in Naples, Italy, believe so after they say Saint Gennaro's blood liquefied in his presence. The saint's blood is usually dry inside a glass vial, but they say it started to liquefy after the pope kissed the relic.

The liquefying phenomenon is not unprecedented, Alisyn. Believers say it happens three times a year if they play hard enough. Skeptics, however, Chris, blame changes in conditions, chemicals in the vial cause the blood to change when it's moved.

So, some are saying it's a half miracle. Where do you stand?

CAMEROTA: I like you posed it as believer versus skeptic. I like that.

PEREIRA: Just getting your attention.

CAMEROTA: I don't know. I like to see it. I don't know where I stand on this. I know the St. Gennaro festival I support. I know that much.

CUOMO: Sausages and peppers.

CAMEROTA: Yes, fantastic.

CUOMO: You did get a pizza to the pope not impressive someone got to him but this pope would want someone to come close and handed him a pizza. Don't pit me against El Papa, though, and here's why -- he did perform a miracle. He got my mother to be quiet. My mother went to Naples to meet the pope because it's my father's hometown, and she got to meet the pontiff and supposedly he was able to get her to stop talking long enough so he --

CAMEROTA: Honey, can I stop you now because there's not any miracle that will save you from the wrath --

CUOMO: People were nervous. My mom was pitching him on a mentoring program, she pushed the book at him.

PEREIRA: She's amazing.

CUOMO: She's supposed to kiss the ring and be blessed.

CAMEROTA: Not your mom.

CUOMO: That's a miracle.

PEREIRA: He's a regular person like all of us, except not. He's the pope.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, the race for the White House now has its first major player. How does Texas Senator Ted Cruz stack up against other potential Republican candidates?

CUOMO: And millionaire and accused killer Robert Durst going back to a New Orleans court over gun charges. His legal team is expected to argue he should be released. We're going to take you there and see what their argument is.

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[08:21:42] CUOMO: Big news: Republican Senator Cruz out of Texas, you know his name. Now, you know what you know? He's the first man named running for president.

Question is, how's he's going to stack up against the other potential candidates on that side? Shall we discuss?

CAMEROTA: Let's do that.

CUOMO: I want to it March Madness-style.

CAMEROTA: Let's bring in our guests. Here to help us are Republican strategist Ana Navarro, and Democratic strategist, Richard Socarides.

Great to see you both of you.

RICHARD SOCARIDES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We're excited. The race is beginning --

CAMEROTA: Yes, gentlemen, start your engine.

SOCARIDES: -- with an all excellent candidate.

All Democrats want everybody on the Republican side to be for Ted Cruz, so he gets the nomination, so Hillary can run against Ted Cruz.

CAMEROTA: I'm sensing sarcasm, Ana. How do you feel about Ted being the first one -- Ted Cruz being the first one in and the timing of this?

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think it's very smart of him. Part of it might be a little bit of trolling with Rand Paul. You know, Rand Paul, who is also expected to announce, has said he will announce April 7th and he was letting the date be out there so other people wouldn't announce on the same date.

I think Ted Cruz became the first. He's dominated the media cycle since yesterday and has us all watching and I think he's the guy that gets the engine started. And, you know, people lining up at the gate. It's a fun time for political junkies.

CUOMO: Now, that's the key, for political junkies. Sometimes people say here comes a little bit of the hype-pocracy for politics. It's too early.

And you know what they could point to, Ted Cruz is the first one in. But he is not doing well in the polls, Mr. Socarides, which is you want him to run against Hillary Clinton if she is your nominee. He's like 4 percent on most polls. He's behind Dr. Ben Carson. OK, we had him on NEW DAY. And the big two governors who may enter the race, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker out of Wisconsin.

SOCARIDES: But, you know, he's a very smart guy, Princeton University, Harvard Law School, top of his class. He-shouldn't be underestimated from the extreme right for sure. He's kind of, you know, from the obstructionist wing of the Republican Party, who says he believes that he'd rather shut down the government than compromise.

So, it's hard to believe that he will get a lot of mainstream traction, but there is a big faction within the Republican Party who he I think will appeal to.

CAMEROTA: Ana, let's look at Ted Cruz March Madness-style, OK? We're bracket crazy. We've set up a bracket.

NAVARRO: Oh, God, Alisyn, just because -- listen, just because you're number one on the bracket, don't torture me.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Exactly. I have been knocked down to number three.

OK. Let's do a head to head matchup between him and Senator Rand Paul. What are the big distinctions between these two, Ana?

CUOMO: Who wins?

NAVARRO: Libertarian versus social conservative, I give it to Rand Paul because he takes the libertarian space all by himself, whereas the social conservative space is going to have a lot of competition, Ben Carson who just mentioned, maybe Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum. There's going to be a lot of social conservative fighting for that vote.

CUOMO: Don't jump on Ana's bracket. I'll give you your own.

SOCARIDES: OK.

CUOMO: Marco Rubio down in Florida.

(CROSSTALK)

SOCARIDES: She loves Marco.

CUOMO: Marco Rubio, what did you say, Ana?

NAVARRO: I said, for me, bracketing is a verb.

[08:25:00] It's what you do in politics, bracket and announce on one side or the other.

CUOMO: All right. I like that. That's a fair point.

So, what do you think, Socarides? You got Senator Ted Cruz against Marco Rubio, both young guns, both have been pushing abstinence of this current administration. What do you think? Who wins this matchup?

SOCARIDES: Well, Marco Rubio is a very attracted candidate for the Republicans. I think he would get a lot more attention if Jeb Bush were not in the race. I mean, he is -- I would think he will say I am a conservative but I'm not an obstructionist, like Ted Cruz, I can work with other people.

Marco Rubio is very much in Jeb Bush's kind of style of politics. It's hard to imagine there's both of them in this race. So, the big challenge for Rubio is going to be Jeb Bush, not Cruz.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's look at our --

CUOMO: Have to grab him by the nose.

CAMEROTA: Oh, by the nose --

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: I like that.

OK. Ana, let's talk about Senator Cruz versus Governor Scott Walker. What do you think?

NAVARRO: Well, I think you've got a first term rookie senator. That's going to be a challenge for Rand Paul, for Marco Rubio and for Ted Cruz because they're going to be fighting the shadow of President Obama who came into power from that, from being a first term rookie.

For Senator Cruz it's easier, because he's got no skin in the game, in the sense that both Senator Paul and senator Rubio are up for election in 2016. Senator Cruz is not.

I'm beginning to think Mitch McConnell is going to have to show up in Iowa or New Hampshire to get a quorum in the Senate.

So, you know, Scott Walker is a governor with executive experience but little foreign policy know how, it seems. Ted Cruz has been in the Senate. He has been exposed to foreign policy. He doesn't have the executive experience.

CAMEROTA: OK.

NAVARRO: I will say this -- Ted Cruz, with whom I don't really agree on a lot of things, has stayed consistent on his positions. Scott Walker is facing questions about whether he's changing positions now that he's running for president.

CUOMO: All right. Now, it's big one and we're going to have you both of you weigh on this one, because, Ana, obviously knows Jeb Bush very well. So, here it is, Senator Ted Cruz against former government Jeb Bush.

Now, Socarides, one of the interesting things about this coming into it, is that Ted Cruz would say Jeb Bush is everything that's wrong with the Republican Party. This is probably the most polar opposite situation. What are the merits?

SOCARIDES: Well, I think on the merits, Jeb Bush has experience as an executive in a state. I'm not making a case for him. I think he would say, I am very conservative like Ted Cruz but I'm not an obstructionist and can work with others. That will be his appeal. He will appeal to the more center-right Republicans.

Obviously, he's got a big financial advantage, he has the name. This will be a very interesting race. I mean, you see here taking shape the battle for the future of the Republican Party.

CAMEROTA: Ana, your thoughts?

NAVARRO: Well, for starters, Jeb Bush speaks Spanish, Ted Cruz doesn't.

CUOMO: Oh, that's a low blow, Ana. That's a low blow.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: By the way, his name is a Rafael Cruz, which he is going to be the first Cuban-American to ever announce for president. He is of Cuban descent. His father was a Cuban who exiled from Cuba before Fidel Castro came out.

Look, Jeb Bush probably has more appeal. You could probably argue Jeb Bush is more electable in a general election. Ted Cruz has a lot of appeal with the Republican base, which is one of the things a problem for Jeb Bush.

So, they appeal to dramatically different audiences.

CAMEROTA: Got it. All right. Ana, Richard, thank you.

SOCARIDES: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Fun to do the brackets with you.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: I like the way you did that.

All right. Up ahead here: Robert Durst is due in a Louisiana courtroom in just a few hours time. We're going to take a look why Durst's lawyer says his arrest for murder and gun charges aren't legal.

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