Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

ISIS Takes Second Key City This Week; Iraq Trying to Head Off ISIS Advances; Report: Murder Suspect Identified by DNA on Pizza Crust. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 21, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But the world looking at Palmyra more because of the staggering damage, potentially, ISIS could do to those historical treasures there. They date back to the 1st Century, the town Palmyra named after the date palms that grow there. It's an oasis in the desert. The Romans saw that at the edge of their empire. There's traces of Persian society in that architecture, too. It could well be destroyed. That's what ISIS do; it fits with their general "year zero" vision. And I think many are concerned that the world could shortly be losing one of its treasures, even now as bloody scenes play out in the streets of that town.

Military significance, because it's pretty close, frankly, along the highway towards Damascus, and that's what ISIS has in their sights -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So that's one part of the story. Nick, thank you very much. We now go across the border and look at Iraq.

The big question there is whether Baghdad may actually be vulnerable, because ISIS is committing horrific acts of destruction and moving toward that goal.

Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins us with the latest from Baghdad.

Now, up until now, Arwa, that's been almost a joke to suggest that ISIS could get that far. But now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now it clearly is a very different situation, Chris. Because the Iraqi government according to the deputy provincial governor of Anbar province, is finally beginning to take this situation in Iraq's Sunni heartland seriously.

As far back as November, officials in Ramadi were calling for reinforcements, were warning that the provincial capital would fall without them. And then finally, following relentless wave after wave of suicide bombers, that city did fall.

The Iraqi forces that were trying to hold out there quite simply could not any longer. To try to keep their positions many of them say would have been suicidal.

What is happening right now is that, in an area called Habbaniyah, where there is a military base -- this is located right between Fallujah and Ramadi, both under ISIL's control, there is an attempt to build up the presence of Iraqi security forces there to try to hold onto what little ground they have in al Anbar province, while they wait for more reinforcements, while they wait for these Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary units, the popular mobilization units to appear in significant numbers.

While they also wait for the Iraqi government to start an effort to arm the Sunni tribes. Until that happens, they will not be able to even begin to push ISIS back.

And the provincial governor was also saying -- the deputy provincial governor was also saying that at this stage the government, the central government, is taking the situation there, seriously because if what little is left of Anbar falls to ISIS, the terrorist organization would be right at Baghdad's doorstep. And no one can afford to see that happen.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, Arwa. Thanks so much for all that background. We want to bring in now our CNN military analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks. He served in Iraq as the senior intelligence officer in combat for coalition land forces.

Spider, great to see you this morning. It's been a bad...

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Alisyn, good morning.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much. It's been a bad week in the fight against ISIS. First Ramadi in Iraq, now Palmyra in Syria. Does this mean that the U.S. strategy of airstrikes is not working?

MARKS: Alisyn, what it means is the United States is employing airstrike -- airstrikes as a tactic to try to hold what they have right now.

Clearly, what the United States is looking at is what I would call trading space for time. Kind of a slow burn. They are acknowledging. This administration is acknowledging that, if Baghdad can hold, things are OK. There still is an opportunity to resist the advances of ISIS.

And simultaneously, it's OK to let things like Ramadi fall, to let ISIS advance in certain areas, simply because the fact remains the ISF, the Iraqi Security Forces, are unable to resist this advance. What's going to happen is the United States probably has what I would call a trigger line. That, if additional advances occur proximate to Baghdad, the Quds Force, the Badr Corps, the MEK, all the Shia fighters who are really showing up in combat to bolster the ISF, if they can resist this, the United States is going to say that's fine.

The challenge with that, Alisyn, is that this tactical support now leads to a strategic advance, where the real -- the real relationship that exists in that part of the world is going to be Shia dominance, Tehran in terms of its very strong relationship with Baghdad, which is not what we want to have. But we have this tactical challenge with ISIS, which is real.

CAMEROTA: But, Spider, does that slow-burn strategy work? I mean, you just heard in Arwa Damon's report the scenario whereby they could be knocking on Baghdad's door.

MARKS: Yes, I know. It's very, very hard. This is -- this is the art of the application of force, as opposed to the science. It's calling trading -- it's what we call trading space for time.

In other words, you acknowledge that you have to give up some territory. You prefer not to, but you have to give it up. In return you achieve some time, which hopefully, the United States can build the Iraqi forces up so they can get back into the fight and get this thing going again. That's clearly the strategy right now.

[07:05:15] And I would tell you within the National Security Council the discussions are we're OK with what we see now, but here are the trigger lines vis-a-vis Baghdad, and those are not negotiable.

CAMEROTA: OK. Spider, there's just news right now crossing the Reuters wire -- CNN hasn't been able to confirm it yet -- but this comes from Syrian monitors on the ground. They now believe that ISIS controls half of Syria. Having gotten Palmyra, they believe that ISIS is in control of half of that country. How can that be possible?

MARKS: Total chaos. Well, clearly there's -- it's what we have been discussing for months and months, Alisyn, which is really the collapse of governance in that part of the world. Capitals are not doing what capitals were created to do, which is provide for their people, provide for security, establish markets, health care. Let this -- let your culture thrive. Complete chaos in Syria.

And clearly, we're seeing that in western Iraq. That's what's so incredibly troubling. So we're really on the doorsteps of the vulcanization of Iraq, and I bet you again the United States administration is probably saying, you know, that may be OK. That may be half a loaf, and we're going to have to be OK with that. We just can't afford to let Baghdad fall. That's what's most troubling. I mean, that's the thing that -- those are the real -- the real hard discussions that are being had right now.

CAMEROTA: Yes. As you know there are some U.S. leaders -- we just had one on yesterday, Governor George Pataki, former governor of New York, who's going to throw his hat in the ring, who are now calling for ground troops in Iraq. They believe that the airstrikes are not working. And they believe that there would be a way to do a sort of short, surgical strike with ground forces, to go in and fight ISIS. What do you think?

MARKS: Alisyn, that's very true. Again, if you establish the desired end state, which is to have ISIS crushed, moved back, maybe have a smaller pocket, the U.S. ground forces can make that happen. There is no doubt in my military mind or in yours that that's an achievable goal. The issue is the United States has not established that as the goal.

So we're in a situation where we're going to have this slow burn, and everybody's going to kind of watch it. It's the new normal.

Again, it may be OK, the United States may be acknowledging that it's OK to have Iraq kind of break apart; and we hold onto Baghdad, and everybody ends up with some relative pieces.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but when you...

MARKS: That's a big challenge.

CAMEROTA: But when you say that this...

MARKS: But if that's what the U.S. wants to do, that's what happens.

CAMEROTA: Sure. But when you say this is an achievable goal, what do you mean? We could stamp out ISIS with ground troops?

MARKS: Ground troops could take care of the problem, absolutely. The United States could put ground forces on the ground absolutely, and that would occur. No -- I mean, that's kind of the...

CAMEROTA: How many ground troops?

MARKS: Oh, you'd have to -- at this point because of the size and the territory, you'd have to start in kind of what we call a teardrop type of scenario where you start in one location, achieve success and build out from there. Which you go to Ramadi, you go to Mosul, you reclaim it. Very heavy, very nasty fights. But it can be done.

I mean, this is America, for God's sakes. We put people on the moon. We can do this. It's not in our national interest as defined by this administration.

CAMEROTA: Ten thousand ground troops is what Senator Lindsey Graham would call for. Does that make sense?

MARKS: You know, those numbers, you look at those numbers, and you go that's kind of sort of a division, maybe three brigades. I think for a very limited objective, you could do that absolutely. A mix of combat and support efforts. Sure, I mean, that number's as good as anybody else's number. But the issue is, is that what the United States wants to do? And those are the discussions that we're having right now.

CAMEROTA: General "Spider" Marks, it's always great to get your expertise. You help us understand it so much better. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

MARKS: Alisyn, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn. There is a major breakthrough this morning in the murder of a family in Washington, D.C. Police have now identified a suspect using DNA he allegedly left on a pizza crust that was found on the scene.

CNN's Joe Johns is live from there with the very latest for us -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The details just keep getting worse in this case in northwest Washington. And now authorities are looking for a 34-year-old man from Maryland with a long record of arrests, mostly for petty crimes. Only this time the charge is murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a bizarre twist in the brutal quadruple murder-arson mystery in an upscale D.C. neighborhood. Police identifying a suspect in the slayings of a prominent CEO, his wife, their young son and housekeeper, 34-year-old Darin Dylon Wint now wanted on first-degree murder charges while armed.

According to law enforcement officials, the break in the case coming not from the grainy surveillance video released by police days ago, but according to "The Washington Post," from DNA found on the crust of a Domino's pizza. It had been ordered to the house while the family was bound inside.

[07:10:09] Forty-six-year-old Savvas Savopoulos, a CEO of a company called American Iron Works; his 47-year-old wife, Amy, a Washington philanthropist and socialite; their 10-year-old son, Phillip; and a woman named Veralicia Figueroa, their 57-year-old housekeeper, all found dead in their mansion that was set on fire.

Their blue Porsche that went missing found ditched in a Maryland church parking lot, where it was torched.

More lurid details of their gruesome murder is now emerging. A source telling CNN the victims were bound with duct tape and held captive by the perpetrators, with signs of torture to the youngest victim.

Meanwhile, "The Washington Post" reporting that one of Savopoulos's employees came to the mansion and dropped off a package with $40,000 inside, the assailant making off with the cash.

The case riddling investigators. Hours before the Savopoulos home was torched, one of the family's other housekeepers received a bizarre text from Amy Savopoulos, reading in part, "I am making sure you do not come today."

No motive for the killings has been released, but police believe money was a prime factor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Police searched the suspect's last known address on Wednesday. They are asking for the public's help in locating him, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Joe, and we're hearing from investigators now that this starting to betray signs of planning and then panic by whoever did it. There are more clues, and we're going to track how the authorities got to where we are right now in understanding what started off as a mystery and how that will help them close this case. So stay with us for that.

We're also monitoring another situation this morning. Crews in California are working around the clock to clean up a massive oil spill along the coast of Santa Barbara. This happened after an underground pipeline burst. Officials say up to 105,000 gallons may have been released.

CAMEROTA: And new details about what happened during that deadly shootout between biker gangs in Waco, Texas. Surveillance video suggests the shooting began outside the Twin Peaks restaurant instead of inside the restroom, as police had indicated. The video not released yet to the public, but it was reviewed by the Associated Press. Investigators still do not know what issue sparked the blood bath. Nine bikers were killed.

PEREIRA: In Colombia, an 11-month-old baby is found alive in the mud more than a mile from his home after a deadly flash flood swept through his town. Seventy-eight people, including his mother and 11 family members, were killed. Rescuers found him face down in the mud, unconscious but breathing and suffering from hypothermia. Doctors believe he survived because he was asleep in his crib when it was swept away, and that that crib was padded. And likely, that's what saved him.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, and good for them realizing that he was alive when he was facedown and unconscious. Oh, my gosh, what a story.

Well, we have more on that brutal murder of the D.C. family and their housekeeper. We will talk with a former detective about this break in the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:31] CUOMO: All right. Police now have a suspect in the murder of a wealthy Washington, D.C., family and their housekeeper. Authorities reportedly used DNA left on a pizza crust to identify suspect Darin Dylon Wint. That's who they're looking for. Unfortunately, police haven't found him yet. The 34-year-old still at large.

There is his picture. If you are in the area if the face smacks familiar, this is the time to step up.

Let's bring in CNN senior law enforcement analyst and retired NYPD detective Harry Houck.

Now, the report about the pizza crust is very interesting. Who did we get that from again? Who is it, the A.P. or Reuters? Who has that? "The Washington Post" is who has that. Now, assuming it's true, that is obviously the big clue. But let's take a few steps back here. This started off as a mystery. They had no idea. How did they start to figure out what this was, Harry? HARRY HOUCK, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, basically, the

first thing you do when you go to an investigation, they probably had about 20 detectives working on this case. So they probably came up with 20 different scenarios and they went in 20 different directions; and they're looking for evidence inside this location. All right.

How they probably got to the pizza boy is when they went in to do the crime scene, they saw the pizza there. Now, you know the perpetrators are there for 12 hours. Now, they're there that long, all right, they screw up. They start leaving more and more evidence there, because they're there for a long time. They go to the bathroom. They eat; they drink. All right. These guys ordered a Domino's pizza. So as soon as police saw the pizza there, that I think the hairs on the back of their head are going up.

CUOMO: now you say these guys, it's an important point. They believe it's not just the one suspect. They believe that there's a second.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: And they say it's a combination of planning and panic. They erased some of the home video camera.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: They seemed to know how to get in there. And they seemed how to know how to keep these people quiet.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: But then they panicked, and that's where we start to see all the ugly realities of it playing out. To both of us, it really reminded us in the worst way of what happened...

HOUCK: In Connecticut.

CUOMO: ... in Connecticut with the Petit family. What are the important similarities and distinctions?

HOUCK: Well, I mean, the Petit case, the law enforcement really screwed up in that case, because they actually had a hostage.

CUOMO: They were there in the moment while it was going on.

HOUCK: They had the home surrounded while it was going on. So actually, while the police were outside, people were being killed inside the house. All right. This is a lot different, because when police finally arrived there, it was over.

CUOMO: It was all over. And now you say this is a cautionary tale also because these happens. Rich people home invasions by someone, but they're just making 40 grand on it. It's not like they had big designs of taking everything out of their accounts.

But what they want, the bad guys, is for you to do nothing. Do everything you can to defeat that, like what? HOUCK: We have two instances where the police could have been called

and the family might have been alive today. The first one was the housekeeper's husband coming to the house, knocking on the door, couldn't get in the house, and then gets a phone call from inside the house and he doesn't think something's up here? OK? Doesn't hear anything from his wife? All right.

And then the man who dropped the $40,000 off. He had to know something was going on there. So they had two chances to be able to save this family.

But probably, you know, the husband just probably, you know, listened to the story and thought, you know, I guess it was OK. Even though when they interview him, he said he thought something was wrong. So what I tell people, if they're ever in any kind of an incident like this, call the police always.

CUOMO: Don't trust the people who are telling you not to?

HOUCK: Right. Don't trust the people telling you not to, because you don't know if they're going to get killed or not. And here when this incident happened, all right, if one of those two would have called the police, this family might be alive today.

CUOMO: Now, one of the other similarities is just the barbarity, the ultimate violence, indifference to human life shown here. One of the developments, morbid but important, the child involved, it seemed that he was stabbed before he was set on fire. What does that mean?

[07:20:06] HOUCK: Well, probably they were trying to torture the kid to try and get the father to give the money up. I mean, this shows you how this wasn't as well-planned as they thought they had done it, you know. Because they didn't know how they were going to get the money. They were just going to get in the house. Or they thought maybe there was a large amount of money in the house, and there wasn't.

Now they had to try and convince the father to somehow get money to them. All right? And that's when they tortured the child. I mean, these people were sociopathic animals. All right. And we've got to give a pat on the back to Washington, D.C., Police Department, because they did an excellent job in this in being able to come up with a suspect this fast in this case.

CUOMO: Maybe two suspects.

HOUCK: Maybe two suspects. We don't know.

CUOMO: Now, this part is the easy part or the hard part for them in terms of finding this guy?

HOUCK: Well, the hard part's done. We've got one guy identified. Once you identify one guy, if there are others involved in it, we're going to find them. All right. It's most likely some associates of his, maybe people he's been arrested before, friends, we're going to go interview everybody. We're going to find this guy. Guys like this have really nowhere to go. You know, we might find him

in a motel somewhere laying at a friend's house or something like that. But this guy isn't going to go far. And if he's watching this, he's getting caught.

CUOMO: Do you think there could be more reach in this situation? The ability to get the 40 grand that quickly and bring it there if the timing holds up the way it is. I mean, is there more to this? Or do you think it looks like what we see it as now?

HOUCK: I don't know. You know, there's talk about a connection with father and the karate studio that he was putting together. I don't know. We don't really, you know -- everything right now is just conjecture in how they're connected. But there's got to be some kind of connection there. Listen, they...

CUOMO: How fast can you get 40 grand in cash?

HOUCK: A rich family, yes, they've got to go to a bank and then get the money. You've got to take a couple phone calls. You've got to move money around.

You know, large families like this don't keep cash in the house. They do everything with a credit card. There's no need for cash anymore. So these thieves think they can go into a rich person's home and get tens of thousands of dollars of cash, it ain't going to happen, because it's not there.

CUOMO: And rich and poor people don't keep their cash like they did when we were growing up, where people would have it.

HOUCK: Exactly. You can't.

CUOMO: Harry, thanks for helping us understand this. Worst kind of knowledge to have, but we do want to see this closed as fast as possible -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris. Should the U.S. should send troops back into Iraq? That's what some Republican presidential hopefuls are suggesting could change the entire 2016 debate about how to combat ISIS. John King has that and much more "Inside Politics."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:26:24] PEREIRA: Breaking overnight, ISIS terrorists taking full control of the ancient desert city of Palmyra after Syrian government forces retreated from the area. It is a key town in the battle for Syria. At least 100 Syrian troops were killed fighting against ISIS in and around Palmyra. The city is near ancient ruins and temples. Officials fear ISIS could destroy those.

CAMEROTA: We now know the identity of the second Marine killed in a military chopper crash in Hawaii. Lance Corporal Matthew Determan died of his injuries Tuesday. The 21-year-old was on board the osprey that made a hard landing during routine training at Bellows Air Force Base Sunday. That's Corporal Joshua Barron, also died in the crash. Two Marines remain hospitalized in stable condition.

CUOMO: The U.S. and Cuba resuming talks in Washington this morning with a goal of opening embassies in each other's capitals and re- establishing diplomatic ties. Both sides are reporting big progress in closing in on a deal. This is the next chapter in that controversial agreement hammered out between President Barack Obama and leader Raul Castro back in December.

CAMEROTA: Watch this. This was caught on surveillance video. A bold attack on a jewelry dealer. This happened just outside of a hotel in suburban Atlanta. The two would-be robbers pepper-spraying the jeweler and his entire family, including an elderly woman. But the dealer fought back, ripping the shirt off of one of the suspects, as you can see there, before both the suspects drove off. The good news is no one in the family seriously hurt. And the robbers did not make off with the loot.

PEREIRA: How about that?

CAMEROTA: So just always rip their clothes off.

PEREIRA: Thank goodness they weren't armed.

CUOMO: You know, interesting turn in play here. The wife is the one holding onto the guy at the end.

CAMEROTA: Uh-huh.

CUOMO: She gets sprayed too, not to give the man all the credit. He gets in there. Sure he rips the shirt off, but the wife.

PEREIRA: ... this guy.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I love it.

CUOMO: The irony that I'm the one making it.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

CUOMO: You two failing to stand up for your girl there in this moment of need.

PEREIRA: We just decided we're going to give it to you.

CUOMO: I took it. What do you think? Tweet us.

PEREIRA: I'm sure John King has defense of you. Let's turn to him for "Inside Politics."

CAMEROTA: Or not.

PEREIRA: he'll defend -- actually, I know you. You're a gentleman. You always have the girl's back.

CUOMO: Come on, that was all me.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: I'm going to play here...

CUOMO: Hey, John. Have a good weekend.

KING: My take on that was is there anything not caught on camera nowadays? Anything at all that's not caught on camera nowadays?

Good morning, folks. Let's go "Inside Politics." A lot to talk about. With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, CNN's Sarah Murray; the "National Journal's" Ron Fournier.

Let's start with Rand Paul's technically not a filibuster, but he spoke for ten and a half hours yesterday on the Senate floor. He does not like the government surveillance program run by the NSA. He hasn't liked it for some time. More noteworthy now, because he's running for the Republican nomination for president.

He spoke for ten and a half hours. When he was done, one of his fellow rivals for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, came up. Now, these guys are going to slug it out. They have some differences. But listen to Ted Cruz, giving some credit to his friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His is a voice that this body needs to listen to. I'm entirely in agreement with my friend, the senator from Kentucky, that the federal government should not be collecting the data of millions of law-abiding citizens with no evidentiary basis to do so.

Now, I will note, standing here with the senator from Kentucky, with the senator from Utah, at 11:40 p.m., I'm reminded of the movie "The Blues Brothers," saying, "Jake, we've got to get the band back together again."

(END VIDEO CLIP)