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CNN NEWSROOM

Freed American Journalist Speaks Out; CDC Worker Exposed to Ebola?

Aired August 27, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue on, top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

We begin with this freed American absolutely overwhelmed with emotion, fighting back tears on his first morning back here at home. Peter Theo Curtis was held hostage for nearly two years by militants in Syria. And just this morning, this journalist here in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offering thanks to the hundreds of people who worked for his release.

The relief in his eyes, the joy in his heart were a stark contrast to this, these grim images from his time in captivity. He was held prisoner by al-Nusra Front. That's a Syrian group with ties to al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER THEO CURTIS, FREED JOURNALIST: First of all, I want to thank you all for coming out here on this beautiful Wednesday morning.

In the days following my release on Sunday, I have learned bit by bit that there have been literally hundreds of people, brave, determined and big-hearted people all over the world, working for my release. They have been working for two years on this.

I had no idea when I was in prison. I had no idea that so much effort was being expended on my behalf. And now having found out, I am just overwhelmed with emotion. I'm also overwhelmed by one other thing, and that is that total strangers have been coming up to me and saying, hey, we're just glad you're home. Welcome home. Glad you're back. Glad you're safe. Great to see you.

So I suddenly remember how good the American people are, and what kindness they have in their hearts. And to all of those people, I say, a huge thank you from my heart, from the bottom of my heart. And now, look, I am so grateful that you are expressing all this interest in me.

At the same time, I have to bond with my mother and my family now. And I can't give you an interview, and I can't give you talk back and forth.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what it feels like?

CURTIS: And that's all I can say to you. But in the future, I promise, I will respond to your e-mails and I will be present and I will help you guys do your job.

And I'm one of you and I know what you guys are going through, so I want to help you guys, and I will be there, and I will respond. But I can't do it now. Thanks very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So for Peter Theo Curtis, he gets to come home. But for captured American journalist James Foley, he never got to. He was beheaded by ISIS militants. And then American Steven Sotloff is still being held by that same group, by ISIS.

My next guest says war reporting may not be worth it in the long run now.

Tom Peter survived a kidnapping nightmare in Syria. It was November 2012 in Aleppo.

Tom, and you wrote about this in "The New Republic." But let me just hear it first in your words. Take me from when the gunman jumps in the car.

TOM PETER, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: yes. I had been reporting in Syria on and off since this summer.

And, you know, at that time, the moderates were the groups that held kind of the most sway in Syria. And we were just starting to see the rise of these kind of conservative Islamist groups that have sort of morphed into the Islamic State and others.

So, yes, we -- I was with a group of journalists, and some guys cut us off on the road and, you know, a gunman jumps into our car and drove us back to their base. And, I mean, I guess fortunately for us, we had -- we had a very different outcome than these other journalists. And I want to make clear my experience was much different and very, very brief compared to these other ordeals.

But it's very terrifying and it was probably one of the worst experiences I have had in seven years of working in the Middle East and covering conflict.

BALDWIN: You know, what struck me in reading your piece, that you wrote: "With our car cutting through the city at highway speeds and a carload of gunmen following close behind, escape was impossible. I leaned back in the seat, devastated that I had wasted my life. This wasn't my country. It wasn't my war. And now I would die for it in a horrible way."

How do you mean wasted your life, wasn't your war?

PETER: Well, you know, I guess, before I was working in Syria, I had done a lot of work in Iraq and Afghanistan. And while I was in those places, certainly, America obviously has a very strong interest in those places, given the U.S. presence.

And so I felt like I had a very kind of strong reason, you know, kind of a higher purpose for being there and it was important for America to know. And when I got to Syria, I thought, OK, well, you know, this is an internal kind of conflict, and, you know, really what am I doing here?

And, you know, I guess on a broader level, since I have been back, I have just started to ask a lot of questions, not just about work in Syria, but, you know, what journalists -- why we're going into any dangerous place, given kind of a lack of interest that I have observed being back here in the U.S.

BALDWIN: How do you mean lack of interest? I mean, you talk about -- you haven't obviously gone back over there. You spent years covering, and bravely so, what's been happening in the Middle East. But what has changed within the American populace, do you think, that makes you say, forget it, I don't want to be a war correspondent anymore?

PETER: Yes.

Well, certainly, I don't speak in absolutes. I might go back to another war. I won't say I won't stop. But certainly I think about it differently. And, really, for me, I spent so many years overseas without interacting with kind of everyday Americans and talking to them about what they think about the news, what they're reading, what they're watching.

And what's really surprised me is just how hyper-partisan things are right now and how -- I guess how little Americans are willing to actually take the time to educate themselves with news stories or books that are out there in, you know, quite large numbers.

And yet they have very strong opinions. So I guess I have just had way too many conversations with people where they're arguing with me about, you know, something in the Middle East or an area that I reported in, and it becomes very clear to me that they haven't really read past the headlines, and they have some very strong beliefs.

So I guess it's hard for me sometimes to think about news reporting now as something more than the average news consumer is going to look at it, try to find something that supports what they already believe, and if we report something that happened that isn't in line with what someone believes, it seems like it often gets disregarded and we're called biased or they say we're working with some kind of hidden agenda.

And it's just ridiculous to me. I could be doing a lot of other things and making a much better living. So it's really crazy to me when people say those kinds of things.

BALDWIN: It is. It was an eye-opener, for sure, your piece, "Why I Decided War Reporting Was No Longer Worth the Risk."

Thank you so much, Tom Peter. I appreciate your openness and your candor.

And let's talk now about the mother of captured American journalist Steven Sotloff, because she now is begging terrorists to spare her son's life. ISIS militants kidnapped her 31 year-old son while he was reporting in Syria. His mother appealed directly to the leader of ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIRLEY SOTLOFF, MOTHER OF STEVEN SOTLOFF: Since Steven's capture, I have learned a lot about Islam. I have learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others.

Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S. government. He's an innocent journalist. I have always learned that you, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you to please release my child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Her son briefly shown in that ISIS video that was released last week showing the execution of another American journalist, James Foley.

The militant in the video warned Sotloff's fate depends upon what President Barack Obama does next in Iraq. The U.S. military announced fresh airstrikes in Iraq hours ago.

How will Sotloff's captors respond to this plea from his mother? Coming up in about half-an-hour, we will talk live to a former FBI agent who specialized in negotiations. He will explain what strategy he would use to try to free this American journalist.

Now to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. The CDC, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, says one of its own workers now, who has returned to the U.S. from that region, may have been exposed to Ebola. How significant is this?

Let's go straight to our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, live in Atlanta.

And, Elizabeth, what is the CDC saying?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the CDC is saying, look, this person was in Sierra Leone, working next to, within three feet of someone who later turned out to have Ebola. And this person was actively ill.

And so they said the CDC worker, it was time for them to go home, their tour of duty was up, so they said, we're going to take you home, but on a private chartered plane so that just in case you do get sick, you won't be with a whole plane full of other people. And the CDC is very clear on this.

They say, look, this person does not pose a risk to the public at this time, because, number one, it was a low-risk situation. They were working next to someone. They weren't touching his vomit or anything like that. And, secondly, this CDC person is perfectly healthy, has shown no symptoms whatsoever.

And you can only transmit Ebola if you're actively ill. So this person is taking their temperature twice a day. If they do get sick, then it's a whole different story. But right now, this worker has returned to Atlanta, and they can go to work, run around, do whatever they want.

BALDWIN: Wow, so no isolation, continue monitoring.

COHEN: No isolation.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: When will they know that he or she will be in the clear?

COHEN: Twenty-one days. So this exposure happened about a week ago, so we have about another two weeks left. And -- but in the meantime, they are free to go, as I said, wherever they want, because they are not actively ill.

BALDWIN: OK. Elizabeth Cohen, keep us posted on the status of the patient. Hopefully, he/she will be a-OK. Appreciate it very much.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And you know the story we have been covering out of Ferguson, Missouri, an unarmed black man, Michael Brown, shot and killed by a white police officer. And that story, as you know, sparked protests, national outrage.

Next, a story in a similar vein. But this is a male shot and killed by a police officer while leaving a convenience store. His family says he was unarmed, didn't deserve to die. Coming up next, we will talk to his family member about what happened, and why there hasn't been the same reaction as Ferguson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We begin now with this unarmed man shot and killed by police. Officers say he wasn't cooperating. Witnesses say he was unarmed. And I'm not talking about Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. This is the story of Dillon Taylor in Salt Lake City.

Back on August 11, an officer shot and killed Taylor, who was 20 years of age, after he left with a brother and friend. An official from South Salt Lake police -- that's separate from Salt Lake's force -- told affiliate KTVX that officers confronted Taylor in response to a previous 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DARIN SWEETEN, SOUTH SALT LAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT: There was a man with a gun, waving a gun around. Those officers responded to this area, happened to be nearby. And they encountered that male that matched that description and he became agitated when they verbally challenged him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Similar to Ferguson, protests have followed after the shooting. And just like in Ferguson, police are keeping much information to themselves, including the officer's name and whether Taylor had a weapon.

But Salt Lake's police chief defends the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS BURBANK, SALT LAKE POLICE CHIEF: We have an unfortunate incident where Dillon Taylor lost his life. But I cannot stress enough that this is not Ferguson.

In a homicide, I don't call you all together and say here is all the evidence that I have on this homicide. We reserve that for the process, because is there a due process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: On the phone with me now, from West Valley City, Utah, Taylor's aunt Gina Thayne, who helped raise Dillon after his parents passed away six years ago.

Gina, welcome. And I am so sorry for your loss.

GINA THAYNE, AUNT OF DILLON TAYLOR: Thank you, Brooke. And I'm happy to be here.

BALDWIN: Let's just begin with facts. I want you to tell me what you know about what happened to your nephew. What have police explained to you?

THAYNE: Actually, police haven't explained anything to me.

I didn't even get a courtesy call to say that anything had happened. I actually received a phone call from my son, which is Dillon's cousin, that night. And he had told me that Dillon had been shot and killed.

The guys -- the three boys, Dillon, Jerrail and Adam, were all on a bus, public transportation. They were going up to the city cemetery to see their parents' grave. And they had just met up in Salt Lake. They stepped off the bus. They went into that convenience store, went in, got a drink, everything was fine.

Dillon had his earbuds in his ear. The three boys came out of the store. They were commanded to get on the ground. And like I said, Dillon had his head buds in. He started wandering off the other way. The two other boys complied. Dillon -- two officers followed behind him. Two were in front of him.

It was told to me by my son and Jerrail that one officer had said for him to place his hands above his head. Another officer had said to get on the ground. By this time, obviously, Dillon had realized that, you know, he was being followed. He took his head buds out. He reached to pull up his pants, so that he could kneel down on the ground and he was then shot directly in the chest, as well as the stomach.

BALDWIN: So he was shot and killed. And I just -- I have to ask why from -- if you have heard from other accounts from people who were there with him why he didn't listen to police, why he didn't comply like the others did from the beginning.

THAYNE: It's my understanding it's because they don't believe that he actually heard the command. He had the earbuds in.

BALDWIN: Got it.

THAYNE: He was listening to music. And, you know, he started wandering a different direction than the other two guys.

Now, mind you, my confusion with all of this that -- you know, I have a lot of confusion about it, because, like I said, you know, the police have not really been very cooperative as far as giving us a whole lot of information. The only thing that I get out of them is, it's under investigation by -- different organizations are investigating this case.

BALDWIN: Well, we're trying to --

(CROSSTALK)

THAYNE: In the meantime --

BALDWIN: No, forgive me. We're just trying to get -- we're trying to help get more information. Obviously, we made phone calls to Salt Lake Police, who say -- they told us, and maybe this is news to you, that the case may go to the prosecutor as early as the next week.

And then the police chief also said that the officer who fired the shot was actually wearing a body camera. I know, Gina, you asked to see the video, just speaking of what police have and haven't shared with you. Have they been willing to share that video with you? What have they said to you about that?

THAYNE: No. They absolutely will not. Chief Burbank's exact words, why would we reveal our most valuable evidence that we have? And my response is, why wouldn't you?

You know, they have not revealed to the public that Dillon was not armed. They have not revealed to the public the 911 call. None of us are aware of any of this. I find it really peculiar that I have people contacting me and saying, hey, I was across the street.

You know, if there was chaos, somebody waving a gun around, don't you think that the store, everybody would be in an uproar? There was business as usual. There was nothing different. I don't -- I don't know.

I have so much confusion. And it was -- it was in a Salt Lake City jurisdiction. No, let me get this right. BALDWIN: South Salt Lake City.

(CROSSTALK)

THAYNE: It was a South Salt Lake City jurisdiction and a Salt Lake City police officer was the one that killed Dillon.

BALDWIN: We're trying to get more information, Gina. I hope you're able to get more information in this sort of time of -- as we're covering shootings, all very, very different. But the need for transparency is apparent clearly here.

Gina, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.

We're going to stay on that and other stories we have been covering. But let me move along to a story that has a lot of other people talking today. Have you seen this video? This 9-year-old little girl shooting an Uzi at a gun range accidentally shoots and kills her instructor. And the whole thing is caught on camera. Question: Should she have been handling such a powerful gun in the first place? Where were her parents? We also have news whether or not police say she or her family will face charges. That's next.

Plus, we're learning more about the American killed while fighting for the ISIS group in Syria, where he went to school, more about his background. And we're also hearing his family. Did they see any warning signs?

Stay with me. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right.

We have to talk about this Arizona shooting. Call it a freak accident, call it a bad, bad, bad idea from the very beginning. It has left one man dead and a little girl just absolutely devastated. She has to be. Here's the video.

This 9-year-old, you know, complete with a ponytail and pink shorts handling an Uzi -- you can see her shooting instructor to her side, trying to teach her how to do this. Sheriff's officials have just announced in the wake of this shooting death there will be no charges.

And we're showing you this video here from this gun range just to help you understand what happened. This instructor was giving this little girl a lesson. Little girl lives in New Jersey. Now take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, turn your -- this leg forward. There you go, just like that. Cool. All right. Go ahead and give me one shot.

(GUNSHOT)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So the Mojave County sheriff says seconds after that clip, the girl pulled the trigger again and it was the recoil from that Uzi sent the gun actually over her head. That's when her instructor, 39- year-old Charles Vacca, was hit and killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM SCARMARDO, GUN RANGE OPERATOR: Well, a 9-year-old gets an Uzi in her hand when -- when -- they're -- within the criteria is 8 years old to shoot firearms. We instruct kids as young as 5 in .22 rifles. And they don't get to handle high firearms, but they're under the supervision of their parents and of our professional range master.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's talk about this with radio talk show host, CNN political commentator and gun rights advocate, may I add to that, Ben Ferguson here.

As a gun rights activist, you, my friend, have an issue with this.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I just -- you don't give a gun like this to a young girl in this way.

That clip should never have been filled, because it's going to recoil. There should have been maybe two or three bullets. Let her try that. And he should have been behind her not beside her. He should have had his hands on that gun. I mean, you're talking about a 9-year-old here. You're going to be nervous.

This is exciting at the same time. Of course, when you're getting those instructions, you may not be getting it all. I would not hand this gun to a lot of adults, even, without first seeing how they handle one or two shots, because then at least it's not going to get away from you. This young girl, it's not her fault. She should not have been in the situation.

BALDWIN: Help me understand, for people who have never shot this kind of weapon this kind of recoil, what does it feel like just even for an adult?

FERGUSON: Sure. It's serious.

No, it's a whole 'nother world. It's like if you shoot a low-caliber gun, you can enjoy it, have a great time. The bigger it gets, the scarier it is. I take my wife to the range and she hates my gun. She will shoot it. She doesn't like it. And that's not even fully automatic. That's a handgun, a pistol.

This is something that will rise up on you, just like it did this little girl. If you don't realize how powerful it is and you're not stationary, if you're standing feet side by side, as an adult and you shoot it, you're going to go backwards. You have got to know what you're doing.

And this instructor, I hate to say it, but he should have had his hands on that gun. He should never have loaded that clip up where it could get away in that way, because once it starts going off, it's going to get away from you if you don't know what you're doing.

BALDWIN: So it's horrible, tragic --

FERGUSON: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: -- for obviously the instructor and the instructor's family.

But, Ben, I just can't help but think about these parents who for everything I have read, you know, were there.

FERGUSON: Yes.

BALDWIN: She's 9 years of age.

FERGUSON: This is like taking your kid to get an ATV and you give them a governor. You don't give them the key that lets them go full- out. There's nothing wrong with putting a kid in a go-kart at 9.

BALDWIN: How are there not rules, Ben Ferguson?

FERGUSON: Well --

BALDWIN: Is it normal at a gun range, at 9 years of age, to be able to shoot something like this?

FERGUSON: I have never seen a gun range person teaching stand beside you while you're shooting a fully automatic weapon.

I have been around a lot of them in my life. I have never, ever seen that. That's the first issue. The second one is, I don't think you have to judge by the person. Age doesn't matter with the gun in this situation.

BALDWIN: Is it size, height?

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: It is, are you comfortable with it. If you're not comfortable with it, you shouldn't be shooting it. It's not even the gun.

It's more of, are you around guns, do you understand this, should you put a young child in the situation? Under an instructor, again, you never load that clip all the way up, because once you pull that trigger, it's going to go until it's empty, unless you pull off the trigger.

And they're coming so fast. Even in a controlled environment, this was a bad decision. Put two or three in there. See how she does, because, even then it might rise a couple inches. It's not going to go behind you.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Awful. Awful. Awful. She's 9. This is the kind of thing she will remember for the rest of her life.

FERGUSON: Rest of her life.

And I hope they get her the counseling she needs, because, honestly, everyone should be telling her this is not her fault.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

FERGUSON: This is an accident. But it's not her fault. And I hope that she gets all the help she needs, because this is going to be something that's going to haunt her. And it's not her fault.

BALDWIN: Ben, thank you so much, Ben Ferguson.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Coming up, a mysterious disappearance that has investigators absolutely baffled. This American was last seen five days ago hiking near Jerusalem. Hear what his brother says he was doing in that part of the world.

And a family in shock, this American man killed while fighting for ISIS in Syria. His family is speaking publicly about what they knew and when, and we're learning a lot more about him from his presence on social media, what he was tweeting about. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)