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@THISHOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA
Yemen on Edge of Civil War; U.S. Trying to Confirm Threat to Servicemembers; Findings Expected on UVA Gang Rape Allegations. Aired 11:30-12p ET
Aired March 23, 2015 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:34:4] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A key U.S. ally in the war against terror now on the edge of civil war. That dire warning about Yemen coming from the United Nations. The Iranian-backed rebel group, know as the Houthies, have taken over Yemen's third-largest city and a key international airport at the very same time the country is also facing al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as ISIS also trying to gain ground in the country.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now that deteriorating security situation has forced the U.S. to pull the last of its forces out of Yemen. Britain has followed suit. Where does that leave counterterrorism efforts now in that country, which is known as a haven for jihadists?
I want to bring in our military analyst, Lieutenant General Rick Francona.
Colonel, there are no more troops there. You have drone strikes but this has to be a serious blow in this battle against terror in a place where we know there are active terrorists.
LT. GEN. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is a major blow, John. Our primary goal in Yemen was go after al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This is a capable organization. They mounted attacks against the United States, the underwear bomber, the printer cartridges. It was home of Anwar al Awlaki. We were concerned about what was going on. We were making inroads. We had a good relationship with the Yemeni government and have been working with them for years, particularly in the counterterrorism arena and the Special Forces units that were there were doing a fairly credible job of going after AQAP. Now what do we have? ISIS on the rise there, a virtual civil war in the making. If we don't have a civil war, I'll be surprised. We're looking at a combination between Libya and Syria here. This is going to devolve before it gets any better -- John?
BOLDUAN: And doesn't it devolve -- isn't it just the ripple effects beyond the country of Yemen when you talk about U.S. Special forces pulled out and U.S. Closed its embassy. You have British Special Forces pulling out. You are losing your eyes and ears on the ground. That has to have the ripple effect of impacting U.S. Policy and strategy far beyond Yemen.
FRANCONA: Yes. And if you look at Yemen as a position where it is in the Arabian Peninsula, it's of great concern not only to us but to the neighbors in the area, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is looking at what's going on particularly in relations to their chief rival in the area, Iran. They believe now that Iran is in control in Beirut, in Baghdad, and now on their southern border in Yemen. The Saudis are beginning to feel threatened here and are hoping that the Yemen situation doesn't spiral out of control. There are agencies that can broker a diplomatic solution but I don't see anything stopping a major war down there.
BERMAN: It seems this country has slipped into civil war. You have cities falling. And the question now is, with no troops there anymore, can the U.S. Have any effect? What can the United States do to change the outcome or force a different outcome in the weeks and months ahead?
FRANCONA: You know, now we're looking at the slippery slope. Are we going to get involved in another country's civil war there? Are we going to take sides? We're backing what we believe to be the legitimate government of President Hadi. I think Houthies have the upper hand. So are we going to help al Hadi mount an insurgent effort and supply arms and weapons more than we already have? This is just a real problem for us. What do we do now? I think there's a lot of meetings going on in Washington right now on how do we handle this? We have enough problems in the Middle East right now. We've got ISIS. We're conducting military operations in both Syria and Iraq. We're watching what's going on in Libya. We had these events in Tunis. Algeria is starting to spring up. Now we have events in Sudan. It's all coming together in almost the perfect storm.
BOLDUAN: The country has been falling into chaos for months but with the mosque bombings we saw at the end of last week, it's blowing up and now everyone is paying attention.
Colonel Francona, always great to see you. Thank you.
FRANCONA: You're welcome.
[11:35:06] BERMAN: We'll look at some other headlines right now.
Murder suspect, Robert Durst, expected back in a New Orleans courtroom with a new look today, a shaved head. Now, there are no cameras allowed inside the courtroom so you can't see a picture of that new haircut, but his attorney wants to show the judge that his client has a stint on the right side of his head, as part of a medical condition. The lawyer is trying to make sure that Durst is detained in a hospital setting opposed to prison. Durst faces charges of possession of a gun by a felon and drug possession. It is still not clear when or if he will be extradited to California to face murder charges.
Pope Francis is being credited with a miracle, or at least a half miracle. "The Vatican Insider" reports that a saint's blood sealed inside a capsule turned to liquid after the pope kissed the relic during a trip to Naples. The website said this is the first time this has happened with a pope in more than 150 years. The blood belonged to a saint martyred during Roman time. Now skeptics say the blood liquefies when there are changes in conditions, such as when the relic is moved from storage to display. BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, names, addresses, photographs of U.S. troops
now all targets on a hit list. An ISIS related group claiming to be behind it. We'll look at how seriously the threat is being taken at this point.
And we could learn the truth today about a much-disputed claim of campus gang rape detailed in a "Rolling Stone" article last year. You probably remember people talking about this. What the investigation could reveal. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:39:53] BERMAN: New this morning, U.S. officials are trying to figure out the validity of an online threat against U.S. servicemembers. A previously unknown group called Islamic State Hacking Organization posted names, photos and addresses of 100 U.S. military personnel. The file, which has been taken down, called for attacks against these troops.
BOLDUAN: CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank, is joining us to discuss this and much more.
We heard from ISIS calling for lone-wolf attacks in your home country. We heard of this before. This seems new. Do you think this is a credible threat?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It certainly is concerning that the details of these U.S. servicemembers would be posted online.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
CRUICKSHANK: This isn't a hack. This is pro-ISIS supporters scouring the Internet, souring Facebook, social media, finding details and putting it on the Internet.
But there's concern about this because there's been concern over these lone-wolf types of attacks in the United States. We've seen several previous cases where lone wolves have talked about hitting U.S. soldiers. We saw a case in Rochester, New York, a guy arrested in May of last year talking about targeting United States servicemen returning from Iraq. We saw a couple of soldiers being killed in Canada in two separate attacks in October and back in 2013. We saw a British serviceman being attacked and killed on the streets. And ISIS's leadership have said to their supporters in the West, go off to soldiers.
BERMAN: Obviously, Paul, you know, to distinguish between credible and non-credible may not be a luxury that U.S. military has. The fact is that a hundred names and faces and addresses have been posted and they have to protect these personnel. And the U.S. military, Pentagon, they warned about this in February. It told servicemen around the country and servicewomen around the country to be careful about what you have on social media. The concern is there.
CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. And, indeed, in November the FBI put out a warning asking U.S. soldiers to scrub their Facebook accounts of any sensitive details because they were so concerned that ISIS supporters around the world would go on social media and find details and post them online and encourage sympathizers in the United States to try to target these individuals. Clearly, significant concern about this. This is a low-scale attack, just some people maybe just in basements somewhere in the West finding this stuff on Facebook.
BOLDUAN: Paul, I have to get your take on 11 medical students believed to have gone over into Syria to work at ISIS hospitals. Their motivation for going in is one thing. Now we're hearing from a Turkish official they believe these students have been brainwashed and are now supporting is. How is that possible?
CRUICKSHANK: We've seen it before. A stream of medical volunteers were going in to Syria, particularly early in the way, for humanitarian purposes. And there are other doctors that have been radicalized. There was a British trainee NHS doctor who was involved in a kidnapping plot back in 2012. Actually, the first time John Cantlee (ph) was kidnapped, he was kidnapped allegedly by a British trainee NHS worker. We've seen another British medical student allegedly become involved in a plot in October 2014, somebody who traveled to Syria and also studied in Sudan, and involved allegedly in a plot to target British soldiers and British law enforcement on the streets of London. So there's a track record here. With terrorist groups, they have a history recruiting a lot of doctors. The leader of al Qaeda, Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri.
BOLDUAN: Excellent point.
BERMAN: Thank you so much, Paul Cruickshank. Important discussion of what's going on here in the United States and overseas as well. Appreciate it.
Ahead AT THIS HOUR, Senator John McCain tells President Obama to get over his temper tantrum. Up next, why he says the president is making tense relationships with Israel even worse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:47:38] BOLDUAN: In the coming days and weeks, the White House will be reassessing -- the president's words -- certain aspects of the relationship between the United States and Israel. This latest salvo, if you will, coming after newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign vowed that a Palestinian state would not happen while he was in power. That was while he was campaigning. He then backtracked on that following the election. Well, now President Obama says he's looking for other options in the Middle East. Take a look at this interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We take him at his word what he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership. That's why we have to evaluate what other options are available to make sure we don't see a chaotic situation in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: What does this mean?
Joining me to discuss, Ambassador Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat.
Good to be with you, Mr. Ambassador.
Kate, good to be with you.
BOLDUAN: President Obama saying, "We take him at his word that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership, and now we're going to evaluate what other options are available." These are President Obama's first public comments really following the election in Israel. What does that mean to you?
AMB. ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: It means that the toxic relationship is going on with even more toxins inserted into it. It means the relationship that went south and sour ever since it began in 2009 has now morphed into something even worse because it now touches the actual structural foundations of the Israeli/American relationship. It's no longer between those two.
As for the Palestinian issue, Mr. Netanyahu in his defense never supported the two-state solution. Under American pressure, he made a speech in 2010 in Israel and kind of committed to it. Then there were negotiations which produced nothing as we all know. Now while campaigning, he said not under my watch, guys. And now after the election, he said, you know, while he was campaigning, he said not on my watch. Now he saying, that was campaigning and I'm kind of retracting this, maybe. And so the president is actually right to ask for clarification. The question is, do you do it on television?
[11:49:57] BOLDUAN: That's an excellent point. Also, this. What does that mean if President Obama says -- what if the United Nations and the United States does not stand in the way of a framework being formed of a Palestinian state? We're talking decades and a reversal. What does that mean to you?
PINKAS: Let's put it in 10-second context for our viewers.
BOLDUAN: Good luck.
(LAUGHTER)
PINKAS: The U.S. cast a veto on anti-Israeli resolutions submitted to the U.N. Security Counsel I think 52 times since the U.N. Security Council was formed. The U.S. repeatedly casts vetoes sometimes against its own policies. What the president is basically saying is that the U.S. casts a veto on the two state solution on the Palestinian request for unilateral state hood at the U.N. on the count of or using the argument that unilateralism is bad, this has to be born out of consent and a bilateral negotiation. Now that Mr. Netanyahu is saying, I'm not committed to it, the U.S. cannot cast a veto in the instant that the Palestinians submit another resolution. Does that change the world? Does the sky fall? Will there be a Palestinian state that the U.S. does not cast a veto? No, no, no and no.
BOLDUAN: You don't believe so. There is a big question, though, in terms of the toxicity of this relationship and what it means to the long term American-Israeli relationship. What role does Barack Obama have?
You know, John McCain not -- a long-time critic of President Obama, especially on foreign policy. On this issue of the relationship between Netanyahu, John McCain said this. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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)
BOLDUAN: Do you think John McCain, who he clearly believes that? Do you agree with him, do you think that President Obama has let his personal problems with Netanyahu get in the way of smart policy?
PINKAS: Well, it's a complicated answer because I think Mr. Netanyahu allowed his personal animosity toward Obama get in the way of his policies. I mean, if we look back at 2010, when Vice President Biden was visiting Israel, the announcement of a settlement comes out, and we look at sort of the public endorsement, not explicitly, but a public endorsement of Mitt Romney by Mr. Netanyahu in 2012 --
BOLDUAN: Will it get better while President Obama is still in office?
PINKAS: It should get -- as long as the two of them are in office, I doubt it will get better. Mr. Netanyahu has aligned himself with the Republicans and inserted himself and Israel into the American political scene and American political open rift between Republicans and Democrats. Mr. Obama -- I have to say in this respect, I do agree with Senator McCain. Mr. Obama perhaps should not have followed suit and made this into a public thing. The whole idea, Kate, of the relationship between an American president and an Israeli prime minister was that things are spoken about and differences ironed out in closed rooms and discreetly. This is not happening.
BOLDUAN: Right. It happens in private, not in public, and that's not what we're seeing here.
Ambassador, it's great to see you. Alon Pinkas --
PINKAS: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: -- thank you for coming in.
John?
BERMAN: Ahead for us, was her claim of rape at the University of Virginia true or not? Today, we get the results of the investigation into her story that was detailed first in "Rolling Stone" magazine. New details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:47:09] BERMAN: In Virginia, police are about to reveal their findings of a reported college gang rape at the University of Virginia two and a half years ago. Now you may remember that, just a few months ago, "Rolling Stone" magazine detailed the alleged sexual assault of a female student at a UVA fraternity party. Not long after, the publication apologized when the critics found discrepancies in the victim's account. "Rolling Stone" asked the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism to conduct an independent review of the reporting. The results could be coming soon as well.
Sara Ganim has been following this story.
Today, we're getting the police report. Any sense of what to expect, Sara?
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're expecting to finally learn if there is any evidence of this brutal gang rape actually happened. You'll remember the woman Jackie told "Rolling Stone" in their publication in the fall that she was led to this prominent fraternity on campus and brutally gang raped by seven different men while two others watched. But the story quickly began to fall apart. Her friends started to come forward and mentioned inconsistencies in her story and how it changed over the years. And police launched this investigation shortly after this story appeared in "Rolling Stone," and very quickly, they came out and said that there was absolutely no evidence that that gang rape happened at the fraternity that was mentioned in the article, the fraternity that Jackie said it happened. But they always left open the possibility that maybe she was gang raped somewhere else, at a different fraternity maybe on a different night. That's what we're expecting to learn today -- John?
BERMAN: Sara, you were down there and you detailed some of the discrepancies in the reporting and the changing stories. This is the criminal investigation as you -- if you will, from the police itself. There's also this "Columbian Journalism Review" of the "Rolling Stone" report. Any sense of how the police review and the "Rolling Stone" review will differ?
GANIM: Right. There's actually three different investigations, all fascinating to me. You have this criminal investigation where we know that the standard is pretty high, whether or not there's enough evidence for criminal charges. There's also a state investigation into the university and how the university handled these allegations, because we know that officials on campus and leaders on campus, including some student leaders, had known about Jackie's story, because she was telling it publicly for several months before it appeared in "Rolling Stone." So there's an investigation into whether the university responded correctly to her story. And then, as you mentioned, there's a "Columbian Journalism Review," which is going to get into the journalism of how this ended up in "Rolling Stone" if so much of it could possibly be wrong.
BERMAN: Sara Ganim reporting to get it right. Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
GANIM: Of course.
[11:50:02] BERMAN: That is all for us AT THIS HOUR.
BOLDUAN: Thanks for joining us.
"LEGAL VIEW" starts right now.
