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NEW DAY
American Teen Beaten in Jerusalem; Video Surfaces of Alleged ISIS Leader; President Obama Criticized Over Immigration
Aired July 7, 2014 - 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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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're pressing charges against the police who beat him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we will.
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Caught in the turmoil. An American teen beaten by Israeli police after his Palestinian cousin was murdered. New questions surround why he's being investigated and held under house arrest. We're going to look at the new developments.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details. Search warrants out today that reveal new information about the father accused of leaving his toddler in a hot car to die. And police are now looking at the mother more closely. We're breaking down this bizarre and disturbing case.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Shark attack. A swimmer off the Southern California coast bit in the torso by a great white shark. He says he thought he was going to die. How was he able to fight back? We'll hear from the swimmer about that ordeal. >
BOLDUAN: Your NEW DAY continues right now.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.
BOLDUAN: Good morning and welcome once again to NEW DAY. It is Monday, July 7th, 8:00 in the East.
John Berman is kind to be here with us. Chris is off.
We're going to begin with developments in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with the father of a Palestinian teen who was burned alive, calling his death a despicable murder. Several suspects are in custody and what's believed by many to have been a revenge killing. All of this as shocking cell phone video surfaces showing that dead
teen's cousin, a Palestinian-American teenager, being viciously beaten by two men, in Israeli border police uniforms.
Diana Magnay is in Jerusalem with all of the developments. A lot to be following with the violence that seems to be picking up there, Diana.
What are you hearing?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Kate.
First of all, the 15-year-old who is a sophomore from Tampa, Florida, has been released from police custody, Tariq Abu Khdeir, you can see he has terrible bruising on his face, from where he was kicked and beaten by police. He's been released on bail, but under house arrest for the next nine days as new details have emerged around the case of his cousin's murder.
Let's just take a look.
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MAGNAY (voice-over): On Sunday Israeli police brought six Jewish suspects before a judge in connection with the brutal killing of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, here in Jerusalem. This developments unfolding on the same day that Mohammed's 15-year-old cousin, Tariq Abu Khdeir was released on bail.
WEDEMAN: How do you feel now that you're out?
TARIQ ABU KHDEIR: I feel way better.
MAGNAY: Tariq is an American citizen from Florida whose summer vacation turned to horror when his 16-year-old cousin, Mohammed, was abducted from his home and burned alive in the woods last Wednesday. Now out on house arrest, Tariq shows us his bruises, angry markings of the hatred in its head in East Jerusalem once again.
Last week, Tariq was beaten and arrested by Israeli police at a protest following his cousin's death. This cell phone video shows Israeli police striking and kicking the boy's limp body. Now under investigation, whether Tariq physically bated the officers before the beating or if their attack was unprompted.
REPORTER: Why did they attack you?
ABU KHDEIR: I don't know. That's why I ran.
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: They said you were throwing stones.
ABU KHDEIR: No. I jumped the fence and I tried to run away because I saw somebody running at me. So, I tried to run away.
MAGNAY: Tariq's release and the arrest of six suspects in his cousin's death now small comfort for Mohammed's grieving parents.
His father says those arrests won't bring his son back. His son's murder widely believed to be the revenge attack for the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month, prompting the worst clashes the city has seen in a decade.
Both Palestinian and Israeli officials have condemned the killing and called for maximum restraint. The fear in these passionate times, the blood of the murdered teenagers could lead to the spilling of more.
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MAGNAY: Now, Kate, although there has been relative quiet in the last Sunday at least in East Jerusalem, by the Gaza Strip, there has been a steady exchange of rocket fire from Gaza and airstrikes from the Israeli defense forces back into the Gaza Strip. In fact, 25 today alone, 25 rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza.
Hamas says that nine of its militants have been killed. There will be funerals in the Gaza Strip in the city of Rafah today for some of those killed. And a Hamas spokesman has made a very worrying statement, saying that this is a grave escalation by Israel, that Israel has crossed the redline and that it will pay the price.
And that is exactly the kind of rhetoric that Israeli and Palestinian officials are trying to avoid when the talk here is that all of this, together, could tip the region into another cycle of violence, a possible third intifada, something that Israeli and Palestinian officials certainly in the West Bank and Jerusalem are trying to avoid.
BERMAN: All right. Diana Magnay in Jerusalem, thanks so much.
We're going to stay in the region right now in Iraq. Authorities there are looking into a video which surfaced that purportedly shows the alleged leader of ISIS. This video surfaced on various social media sites, tied to the militant group and shows a man conducting a sermon at the great mosque in Mosul. This would be one of the first known appearances of the extremist militant leader, a brazen provocative appearance in broad daylight.
CNN's Arwa Damon live in Baghdad this morning with more -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, John, that appearance not just brazen, because it is in broad daylight, but also just take into consideration the amount of aerial surveillance, U.S. and other countries, have buzzing over this country.
In the sermon, the man ISIS at the very least is identifying as being Caliph Ibrahim, that is how Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is now how he's known for his followers, preaching about the need for Jihad, especially during the month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is beefing up its defenses around the capital in a noticeable way. In the last 72 hours, we have seen an increasing number of sandbag, fighting positions in various streets in Baghdad and especially around the western areas leading to this city, the area where the Baghdad airport is located. Multiple circles of defense in that location as well.
And just now, we're hearing the Iraqi parliament, remember how critical it is to have that government in place, and how many international leaders including the U.S. president have been urging the Iraqi government to form its new government moving forward, that parliament session has now been postponed until August 12th.
And just a short while ago, another car bomb exploding in Baghdad and predominantly Shia neighborhood, killing at least three people, wounding another 10.
BOLDUAN: Oh, my goodness, all right, Arwa. It's not going to get any better. That's for sure. Thanks so much, Arwa Damon on the ground for us in Baghdad.
Harsh criticism now coming from both sides of the aisle this morning for how the Obama administration is handling immigration. The president is headed to Texas this week, not expected at the moment to be visiting the border. The state has been dealing with an influx of undocumented immigrants, mostly women and children, from Central America.
Well, now, Texas Governor Rick Perry as well as Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar are both blaming the president for failing to act in time.
Jim Acosta is at the White House with much more.
(INAUDIBLE) for the administration, the White House knows it, the president knows it, what are they going to do about it, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And it's getting worse, Kate.
But we can say, later this morning, senior administration officials will be meeting here at the White House to talk about this border crisis. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday that the administration has vowed that it will stem the tide as he put it of this huge influx of undocumented immigrants flooding the border from Central America.
Republicans have been blaming this crisis on the White House as you know, saying that the president's lax immigration policy has essentially opened the floodgates to these immigrants coming into the United States.
Democrats and the White House are pointing the finger right back at House Republicans saying they failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. But as you mentioned, Kate, Henry Cuellar, who is a border district congressional Democrat, he was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" yesterday and said that the president has been, quote, "one step behind" in anticipating this crisis. He said it would be helpful if the president went down to the border.
But later on this week when the president goes to Texas, the White House says he has no plans to visit the border at this time, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Well, Jim, and also, as you well know, this is all kind of coming as the administration says it's ramping up efforts to try to discourage people from doing just that, attempting to make the journey across the border, especially sending their children to do that. What additional measures are they going to be taking? There is a lot of talk surrounding this issue, but that's different than action.
ACOSTA: That's right, Kate.
And we can report that U.S. Customs and Border Protection over the weekend sort of quietly released -- took this unusual step of releasing this ad campaign that will be running in Central America over the next several weeks. It's pretty startling stuff.
One of these ads shows a teenager from Guatemala who is lying dead or unconscious played by an actor, of course, in the desert, while making that trek to the United States. It is really aimed at sending, you know, the fear of what can happen on these trips to undocumented immigrants who are trying to make that trek up to the U.S. border.
But we should also point out that this ad campaign is scheduled to run well into September. That is an acknowledgment on the part of the administration that they know this crisis will continue on for another several weeks, Kate.
BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. Jim Acosta at the White House for us -- Jim, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
BOLDUAN: Michaela?
PEREIRA: Good morning, everyone.
Let's look at more of your headlines and we begin with breaking news. A massive 7.1 earthquake off the coast of southern Mexico near the Guatemala border. It happened not long ago, just before 6:30 a.m. local time. So far, no reports of injury and no word on the extent of damage. We will continue to update this story as we get more information. Again, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Mexico.
Also breaking this morning, Pope Francis has met for the first time with victims of the church's sex abuse scandal. Six victims all from Europe attended the pope's private morning mass in his Vatican residence and met with him afterwards. He reportedly begged for forgiveness for what he called sins of omission and said that the church's past attitude on abuse cannot be explained. However, critics of the pope say these meetings should have happened a long time ago.
Aaron Hernandez appears in court today. A judge will decide if the former New England Patriot can be moved to a jail closer to his attorneys. The defense says Hernandez is mistreated at the jail where he is at now. The judge may also set the date for Hernandez's trial on the first of three murder charges. Hernandez for his part has pleaded not guilty to the shooting deaths of a semi-pro football player last year and two other men in 2012.
The first trial in the Boston marathon bombing will begin today. Opening statements are expected in a trial of 20-year-old friend of accused suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Prosecutors say two of Tsarnaev's friend took a backpack containing fireworks belonging to the bombing suspect, after Tsarnaev's picture on the news. That friend told authorities they threw his backpack and fireworks in the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble.
PEREIRA: Recreational marijuana sales get rolling tomorrow in Washington state. Shop owners there bracing apparently for sky high sales. As many as 20 shops are expected to get their licenses today. A total of more than 300 shops plan on selling legal marijuana. We don't know yet how many will be ready to open. We do know just one store is ready to go in Seattle.
BERMAN: Interesting to see with Washington and Colorado both doing it how the difference, if there are similarities or differences now.
PEREIRA: How they manage it. Two test cases if you will.
BERMAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: All right. Coming up next on NEW DAY, President Obama as we have been hearing -- the hearing this hour, he's been facing criticism over the immigration crisis. He's now even getting that criticism from Democrats. So, what is the administration going to do about it?
BERMAN: And the father accused of leaving his toddler to die in a hot car is behind bars. Now, could the boy's mother also be arrested? Nancy Grace will join us to weigh in.
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BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.
Amid growing criticism, the Obama administration says it is preparing to take more measures on immigration and address the rise in undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border from Central America.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, he spoke out about the approach to the growing problem on "Meet the Press." Take a listen.
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JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Our message to those who come here illegally, our border is not open to illegal migration and we're taking a number of steps to address it.
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BOLDUAN: Number of steps. Let's dig deeper with CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, Republican strategist, and CNN political commentator Sally Kohn, progressive activist and columnist.
Good morning to both of you.
So, Sally --
SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
BOLDUAN: -- you heard from Jeh Johnson, from the White House, we heard from Jim Acosta this morning, that border patrol, they're starting an ad campaign, looked like commercials that they're going to be playing in Central America, saying don't send -- don't send people to our border. But it doesn't seem like that message is working.
Now, he's got criticism even from the left that the president is behind the ball on this.
KOHN: Well, I mean, look, putting aside for a second what the left wants the president to do, being critical about the president on immigration reform for quite some time. There is something important that Americans need to know about this, which is this rise in migration from Central America has been happening since 2009 and it's happening in a number of countries.
In other words, this notion that they're coming to the United States because of our policies, because of our border, just factually doesn't hold up.
BOLDUAN: Isn't that -- you say this has been happening for a long time, I mean, this has been a huge influx coming from Central America this year.
KOHN: Slow build with the recent spike.
BOLDUAN: So, it also opens them up to further criticism. And what have you been waiting for?
KOHN: I mean, look, he has a solution. The solution is to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which fixes the backlog. Look, we have a broken system. It makes is very hard for people to come right now, right? People don't realize that.
It is not just people are breaking the law, the system is broken, you need to fix it and do something about it. And then, in the meantime, look, we need to do something about the violence in Central America that's pushing people to come here.
BERMAN: Sally, I hate to say, you know, it's not going to happen anytime soon, comprehensive immigration reform. It's just not going to happen.
KOHN: Not because it shouldn't.
BERMAN: It's not going to happen. So, they have to figure out a way to solve this crisis on the border without it.
Ana Navarro, I want to ask you. You know, we heard Jeh Johnson a second ago saying, our message to people in Central America right now is the border is not open to illegal immigration. That may be the message the Obama administration thinks it's sending.
Do you think that's the message that is being received in these countries?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think it is the message that is being heard yet because I think the pull factors are far more than what the fear factors may be of getting the kids to cross the border.
And I think it is important to really understand that this is a perfect storm of push factors in Central America, the violence, the poverty, the gangs, and also pull factors from the United States, which do include immigration policy and the word of mouth that has spread in Central America.
I'm from Nicaragua. I'm from a small town in Nicaragua, and I can tell you that some of the conditions that the children are coming from are such, you're talking about children who grew up -- who grow up barefoot, in dirt, you know, dirt roads, with extended bellies, maybe eating nothing but mangos. So, the idea of dying on the trip is perhaps more better at -- you know, when they start thinking about it than continuing to live there.
So I do think this PR campaign is important, because people need to know that this is not an easy trip. It's right now a word of mouth thing that is spreading all over Central America. And it looks like any kid can jump on a train or get a coyote and end up in the United States. Well, that's not so. There is a desert. There are coyotes that rape kids.
It is a very dangerous trek. And I think parents need to understand what they are sending their children into.
BOLDUAN: Well, especially when you paint that kind of a picture. We know there is an immediate need that is going on, we have -- you just talked about that campaign, Ana, do you think republicans are ready to sign on even to emergency measures at this point? I mean, everything is looked at the this point in -- you look at the calendar, through the lens of the midterm elections. It seems that I feel like --
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NAVARRO: I have -- I have no idea, Kate, because, frankly, the dysfunction in Washington is such right now that even when they agree, they don't seem to be able to get anything done. And I think this issue of President Obama and the executive orders on immigration is also going to ruffle feathers when it comes to this request, even though there may be some agreement when it comes to this particular request, as opposed to come this week that the Obama administration is going to ask for $2 billion more and a change in the law so the kids from Central America can be repatriated as quickly as the ones from Mexico are.
They are right now falling through a loophole. Whether they will be able to get it done, the White House and Congress, I got to lift my eyebrows at that, I haven't seen anything get done between the White House and Congress and the dysfunction is such that I think there is a completely broken marriage.
KOHN: The White House is right. Incidentally the immigration bill that the Senate passed would pass the House.
BOLDUAN: That's not going to happen right now, Sally.
KOHN: It actually would pass if Boehner would bring it up for a vote. That's an important thing, right? Is that even Republicans support the law on the table if they bring it to a vote? The sad thing happening here --
NAVARRO: Sally, I support it, but I also recognize this issue with the -- you know, look, it is very -- you and I can be on TV spewing out all sorts of statistics about how the border is more secure, but when people in America are seeing little kids show up on this side of the border, unaccompanied, it becomes hard to convince folks that there is not this horrible ferocity to the border. It is a very difficult situation right now.
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KOHN: Look, here's the thing. We have two things. We have a humanitarian crisis. It needs to be solved with humanitarian measures. It is largely being driven by what is going on in Central America. And we should be solving this with aid and care and compassion as opposed to just militarization and more, you know, police forcing at the border, number one.
Number two, we have something that Republicans are trying to take and turn into a political crisis. They're trying to use it, especially John Boehner, to make an excuse for not passing immigration reform that they don't want to pass.
The joke's on them. The political crisis is going to be when they start losing more and more elections because voters don't want to vote for people who don't pass immigration reform.
BOLDUAN: John Boehner said he's open to this.
NAVARRO: Last I heard, look, last, I heard Henry Cuellar, the Democrat from the border in Texas, is not a Republican, is not a lieutenant of John Boehner. He is somebody that represents his border state and is seeing the problem. But I do think it requires a comprehensive approach. Sally is right in that.
And we also have to put some pressure on these Central American countries and Mexico. There is a lot of people turning the other way. And not looking at what is happening and allowing this to happen, for a kid to be able to get from Honduras all the way to the United States.
BERMAN: Right. And the leaders of some of these countries have got to step up.
Ana Navarro, Sally Kohn, great to have you with us this morning. Wish there were more solutions to this, I certainly do. BOLDUAN: Exactly. Rather than finger pointing, the only thing we're
seeing on both sides of the aisle in Washington right now.
Coming up next on NEW DAY, new search warrant had been released in the investigation surrounding the Georgia toddler who died in a hot car. Now, the attention is shifting to the boy's mother. Nancy Grace is joining us to give her take on that case.
BERMAN: And the battle for the Los Angeles clippers, a hearing expected today to decide if Shelly Sterling can sell the team. Could a last minute move by her husband's lawyers delay the case?
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PEREIRA: All right. It is time for the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.
At number one, Israeli Prime Minister Ben Netanyahu reaching out by phone to the father of the Palestinian teen burned alive, calling the killing of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir a despicable murder.
Iraqi officials looking into a video that purportedly shows the leader of ISIS delivering a sermon in Mosul. The video of Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi surfaced on social media and tied to the militant group.
U.S. military bases on the island of Okinawa, they are preparing for a massive typhoon. Super typhoon Neoguri is expected to hit the island tonight. Officials at the Kadena Air Force base warn that it is the most powerful storm to hit that island in some 15 years.
Documents from Edward Snowden show the NSA intercepts private conversations of regular Americans. In one collection of messages, nine out of 10 communications were from people who weren't even targeted for government surveillance.
If it has its way, the TSA will soon ask overseas travelers coming into the U.S. to turn on their electronic devices to prove they indeed work and are not explosives. The agency says if devices don't power up, they won't be allowed on planes.
We always update those five things to know. So, be sure to visit newdayCNN.com for the latest -- John.
BERMAN: Thanks so much, Michaela.
New search warrants just released this morning in the investigation into a Georgia father accused of letting his toddler die in a hot car. And now, the mother of 22-month-old Cooper Harris is being eyed in this investigation.
