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CNN NEWSROOM

Obama Requests for War Authority; Interview with Rep. Ed Royce; Thousands Mourn Slain Muslim Family; Ceasefire to Begin on Sunday; "60 Minutes" Correspondent Bob Simon Dies

Aired February 12, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with the fight against ISIS. President Obama has a plan he says will defeat and destroy the terror group. Right now lawmakers on Capitol Hill are reviewing the president's official request to use military force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make no mistake, this is a difficult mission and it will remain difficult for some time. It's going to take time to dislodge these terrorists, especially from urban areas, but our coalition is on the offensive. ISIL is on the defensive and ISIL is going to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That mission not only sets restrictions for the use of U.S. ground troops but includes a three-year deadline with no geographic limitations. The president's plan also allows the military to confront, quote, "unforeseen circumstances," potentially opening up the door to special forces. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are already slamming the president's strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm not sure if it's a strategy that's been outlined will accomplish the mission the president says he must look out for. And his point, the president's point is that he wants to dismantle and destroy ISIS. I haven't seen a strategy yet that I think will accomplish it.

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: I think we need to refine what enduring offensive combat troops means. Even if the president puts some sense of numbers behind that, sense of timeframe, some sense -- what does that mean as it relates to defensive troops versus offensive troops.

SEND. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: It's fatally flawed. This -- when the president says he wants to destroy ISIL, I don't think anybody believes it, including me. Among our friends and our allies, he's seen as an uncertain trumpet to follow. And among our enemies he's seen as weak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in Republican congressman, Ed Royce, he's the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He's spearheading today's review.

Welcome, Congressman. Thank you for joining me.

REP. ED ROYCE (R), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. The debate over the president's war authorization is about to begin as you well know. Some predict it will take months and ultimately fail to come to a vote. What do you say?

ROYCE: Well, this is just the first step in the process but today my committee starts the hearings to look into how we at the end of the day give the commander in chief the authority necessary to decisively defeat ISIS, and as we debate, of course, the problem on the ground is that ISIS has about 30,000 fighters and so far we haven't seen them decisively push back, so our hope here is that we conduct this debate in a way that's bipartisan, that brings everybody together.

But let's keep in mind we've got Jordanian, we've got Kurdish, we've got Arab tribes on the ground right now that need to be encouraged to take on and defeat ISIS and every day that we wait in terms of being successful is another day of recruitment for ISIS up on the Internet where they say, hey, we're continuing to win. We're continuing to advance. They're not push -- rolling us back. And they need to be rolled back.

COSTELLO: As you heard the speaker, John Boehner, he doesn't like the president's plan. He said, quote, "If we're going to defeat this enemy, we need a comprehensive military strategy and a robust authorization, not one that limits our options. Any authorization for the use of military force, let's give our military commanders the flexibility and authorities they need to succeed and protect our people. I have concerns the president's request does not meet that standard."

Do we really want to give the president carte blanche on this?

ROYCE: Well, we're going to hear from military commanders in terms of what they feel they need in order to be successful. And of course one of the strategies here is to have the Jordanians, and have the Kurds, and have, as I say, those Sunni tribes lead in battle. But at the same time we know that we're going to have to have airstrikes, right? And we can -- we can certainly concur that originally in this campaign the airstrikes were not robust enough.

It was not the kind of air campaign that could prevent ISIS from taking those towns. We watched town after town as they advanced across Syria and then across Iraq, and took cities that -- in which they could have been prevented had we early on used robust air operations and certainly we needed spotters on the ground, right?

So now we're going to have to debate this whole question of spotters on the ground, and what does the president mean when he's talking about special forces or special operations?

COSTELLO: But let me ask you about that.

ROYCE: So we'll go into all of that. Yes.

COSTELLO: Because, sir, every general I have spoken to says to defeat ISIS you need ground forces. And who has the greatest ground forces in the world, that would be the United States. And of course --

ROYCE: And --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: There's something in the president's proposal that says enduring offensive combat troops. Nobody quite knows what that means. Do you?

ROYCE: But let me ask you this. If there's 30,000 ground forces that ISIS has under its command and if the Kurds have under 100,000 and if the Jordanian king is as angry as he seemed here in Washington as soon as that story broke about the burning to death of that young pilot, and we see the Jordanians step up and say, hey, these are our tribal allies in Syria, we can go in with them, and if we're willing to give them some level of support with special operations, then it seems to me we've got 3,000 special operations forces on the ground right now.

This is going to be a complicated issue, but the next roll in terms of Congress' responsibility here is to hear from the officers, hear from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, certainly hear from the president, the commander-in-chief in terms of what he's asking for, and then at the end of the day produce that authorization that leads to the ability to decisively defeat ISIS.

Can I tell you exactly what that document looks like right now? No. Because we haven't gone through the process, but that is the next step. That's the next requirement.

COSTELLO: Well, the president has assured the country that we're not going to get into another messy war like we were in Iraq.

Can you assure the American people that America will not conduct another all-out war that we eventually kind of don't win and lose and it's just hanging out there?

ROYCE: Well, here's what I can tell you. I don't know anyone on the Democratic side or the Republican side that wants to put the 82nd Airborne into Syria or Iraq. What I do know, what I do know is that the general consensus is that the offensive operations should be led by the Kurds, by the Jordanians, by the Sunni tribes, et cetera, and that there is a role here in air support, maybe some disagree with that. But it seems to be that -- to me that 95 percent of those I speak to

believe the United States should be leading a robust air campaign, that there is a role here for special forces. I mean, they're on the ground now. The administration just put them on the ground some time ago. And they carry out such activities as spotting in order to make sure that those observers on the ground can call in those airstrikes to be effective, right?

If -- what we want to see is these Arab troops and Kurdish troops be successful as they advance against ISIS lines and for that it's going to take a certain element of U.S. support in this. And this is what we're debating, but we're not debating putting in the 82nd Airborne. So I -- I just want to put this within the parameters as I perceive it in terms of the discussions we're having here.

COSTELLO: All right. Congressman Ed Royce, I know you have a busy morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I appreciate it.

ROYCE: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: Last night thousands of mourners gathered across the country in vigils like this one held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remember and celebrate the lives of three Muslim students who were gunned down execution style on Tuesday night. It happened in an apartment complex near UNC's campus.

The solidarity seen in these images was perhaps best summed up by the university on its Twitter account, sending out this image with the caption, "Love is, indeed, more divine than hate."

Police say they believe the shooting may have stemmed from a disagreement over a parking spot but many believe that not to be true, including one victim's brother. He talked to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARRIS BARAKAT, DEAH BARAKAT'S BROTHER: What could particularly be based around the parking spot but the hate and the anger and the rage was not. There's -- I mean, if it comes to it where three amazing lives are taken from us because of a parking spot, then we are in a more desperate state than I guess any of us have ever thought we would be. But we're not there and this is why I'm telling you this is not over a parking spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jean Casarez is following the story from Chapel Hill this morning.

Tell us more, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we are learning that the funeral for these three Muslim students will take place today. Meanwhile, the investigation continues as to whether this was a hate crime. The FBI is now assisting local law enforcement and they do have the

computer of 46-year-old Craig Hicks who has been charged in this case. They want to determine his state of mind. Is he biased? Was he planning an attack like this?

Meanwhile, the residents here in Chapel Hill, a very diverse community. They cannot believe that someone would execute with a bullet to the head three students just beginning their adult life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want everyone to remember them please only in the good.

CASAREZ (voice-over): This morning heartbreak and outrage over the murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard about eight shots go off in an apartment. More than one girl screaming.

CASAREZ: Friends and family deeming their execution style killing a hate crime.

DR. SUZANNE BARAKAT, VICTIM'S SISTER: It's basically incomprehensible to me that you can murder three people over a parking spot.

CASAREZ: According to a preliminary investigation, police say 46- year-old neighbor Craig Hicks may have shot Razan Abu-Salha, sister Yusor Abu-Salha and Deah Barakat in the head over an ongoing parking dispute at their apartment. Hicks' wife says her husband was frustrated with the parking issue.

KAREN HICKS, MURDER SUSPECT'S WIFE: I can't say with my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or victim's faith.

MOHAMMAD ABU-SALHA, FATHER OF MURDER VICTIMS: We're in shock.

CASAREZ: But the family says there have been issues of disrespect and harassment.

ABU-SALHA: My daughter, Yusor, honest to god, told us on more than two occasions that this man came knocking on the door. She told us, daddy, I think he hates us for who we are.

CASAREZ: Hicks, who claims he is an atheist, allegedly posted an antireligious statement on his Facebook page, quote, "If your religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I."

CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this post.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you. We will never forget you.

CASAREZ: Overnight thousands gathered on University of North Carolina's campus.

DEAH BARAKAT, MURDER VICTIM: I'm embarking on a trip to Turkey with 10 dentists to help Syrian refugees in need of urgent dental care.

CASAREZ: Mourning the loss of three scholars dedicated to serving their community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ: Now the Council on American Islamic Relations believes this should be investigated to see if it is a hate crime for four distinct reasons. Number one, the brutality of the crime. Number two, the social media postings of this defendant. Number three, the religious attire that the victims wore, and number four as they believe, the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in America.

And, Carol, the defendant in this case was moved to the central prison from Durham County Jail. He stays there without bond. He has never, ever been convicted of a crime, according to a source close to the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jean Casarez, reporting live from Chapel Hill this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, after talks go long into the night, Ukraine, Russia and separatists actually reached a cease-fire agreement. The question is, will it last?

Nick Paton Walsh is just back from the front lines -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So many complex issues there. The first one being what happens before the cease-fire comes in at midnight on Saturday here. A lot more could go wrong, Carol.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It took a marathon session, 17 hours, for a cease-fire to be reached in the crisis Ukraine. But peace could be a long, long way away. The leaders of Russia, Ukraine and separatist groups along with France and Germany finally came to a deal. It will go into effect on Sunday and includes a withdrawal of heavy weapons.

But those same heavy weapons, a military spokesman from Kiev tells "Reuters" we're crossing into Ukraine even as these peace talks were ongoing.

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us from outside the summit in Belarus with more.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol.

The headline from here has to be marathon session. An agreement was made but it wasn't an agreement on all the issues that were on the table. That we heard from the German foreign minister. Of course, in the deal that has been hammered out there are serious

concerns about it. Number one, the cease-fire isn't supposed to come into effect for 2 1/2 days. That allows for the potential for the escalation on the front lines. Then there's the issue of sequencing after the cease-fire.

Then you pull back the heavy weapons. You move back to the positions allowing for this sort of demilitarized zone for the two forces to take place. If that is successful there are local elections for the separatists. If that's successful, then by the end of the year the Ukrainian government should get control of its borders between Russia and that separatists-controlled area.

So all of this is built, if you will, on growing trust as all these steps take place, but the reality is here in Minsk, there wasn't enough trust around the table. There wasn't enough faith in the various parties here to actually get agreement on everything. So you have to look at this right now and say, there are significant concerns, albeit, the leaders happy there's a ceasefire that can at least stop some of the bloodshed, Carol.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you'll be able to see this, Nic. But "The Economist" has an interesting cover this morning. It shows Vladimir Putin as a puppet master and kind of intimates that he's already won in trying to control what the West does.

Are they right?

ROBERTSON: There is a lot of analysis at the moment that says, number one, Vladimir Putin is all about dividing the United States from its European allies and on this perhaps he's scored to some degree because the United States wants to give defensive weapons to the Ukrainian government. The Europeans don't.

Angela Merkel, the French president, really rushed here to Minsk to get this deal. It's a deal that has an uncertain future at the moment. So, perhaps he has scored there.

And, of course, the fundamental here that everyone, the Ukrainians, the Europeans, United States, believe that Russia is putting troops and heavy weapons inside Ukraine, giving them -- backing the separatists.

And then, of course, Vladimir Putin wasn't called to question over that in the talks here. He's the only leader that came out after the talks and spoke about what the deal looked like. The Russian media in advance of the outcome was spinning heavily about -- you know, that this was all -- that a deal was achievable.

So, "The Economist" is going to find a lot of support among a lot of analysts for how Russia has managed to manipulate the situation.

You know, when you get to the end of normal negotiations generally because everyone has agreed, the leaders will come out together and speak together in a joint press conference. It didn't happen. The only one who spoke was Vladimir Putin and that says a lot for what happened here in Minsk, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

So, they reached a cease-fire agreement. Will anybody listen? Will they follow it?

Well, let's go to the front lines right now because our Nick Paton Walsh broke the news to some rebels today. He's live near the Ukrainian/Russian border.

So, what did those rebels tell you?

WALSH: Well, they didn't believe the Ukrainians could go in for a cease-fire. They said to me that the only way they would stop the war here was to clean the Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian military that is off the territory, what they refer to as the Donetsk region.

These are guys on the front line under fire shooting back and of course emotional because of that. Emotional because what they say are the civilian lives lost by some of the shellings that comes from the Ukrainian sides. But, of course, also, separatists fire into Ukrainian areas as well. We've seen that ourselves.

But these men would eventually get instruction from their commanders. But you get an idea of one of the complications, one of the complications that will be faced in implementing the cease-fire when you see how angry they frankly are and how they don't believe they can have any trust with the Kiev government.

The details Nic was outlining there, it's a lengthy series of steps. The key first one effectively asks for the separatists to pull their heavy weapons back, well, more or less close to the Russian border. They have to adhere to lines agreed back in September.

But it allows them to keep all the territory they take until midnight on Saturday. So, we could have a flurry of violence in the next 50 hours or so to take key towns, to concretize make gains made. That itself could massively upset the potential for a cease-fire. If one side sees a trust disdainful they can still back out of the deal potentially or say it's a violation of what they had agreed.

A lot that can go deeply wrong, but really in talking to these men on the front lines, you got a sense of where their emotions lay, and that's going to play enormously into implementing this quite carefully parsed document that frankly give the separatists more or less of what they want except their heavy weapons have to pull back pretty far -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live this morning -- thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: trial of the man who killed Chris Kyle is underway. CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Stephenville, Texas.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we've learned a fascinating and scary detail about one of the final moments in a text message sent by Chris Kyle just moments before he was killed. We'll have that story continuing here on CNN.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Journalists are mourning the death of "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon, fighting back tears, Scott Pelley broke the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: We have some sad news from within our CBS News family. Our "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon was killed this evening. It was a car accident in New York City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining CBS in 1967, Simon quickly began filling up his passport covering everything from Vietnam -- from the Vietnam War to Ebola. In 1991, a long with his crew he was captured by Iraqi forces at the beginning of the Iraqi war and imprisoned for more than a month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB SIMON, CBS NEWS: Our 40 days and 40 nights had a long list of horrible things that happened to us. It had a very short list of good things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: An eloquent writer, Simon earned countless awards during his five-decade career, notably 27 Emmys. And he was asking the tough questions right up until his final interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: You were quoted as saying, tell me if it's correct, that you were not interested in making a white savior film.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. I'm interested in having people of color at the center of their own lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Simon died last night when a chauffeur driven town car lost control and slammed into a median. Simon was 73 years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I think from the time I was a kid his voice was so strong as a writer. And back then he was a correspondent in the Middle East. And I just -- to me, he was everything a reporter should be and that I dreamed of being and still to this day hope to be, you know, 1/4 of the reporter and writer that Bob Simon is and has been.

When Bob Simon presented a story on "60 Minutes", you knew it was going to be something special. No matter what it was, he had this curiosity and this willingness to go anywhere. And for somebody who'd been in the business that long and seen as many things as he had seen, to still have that curiosity and that desire to tell other people stories, it's an incredible thing and it's just so stunning to me that he's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Bob Simon is survived by his wife and daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: In fact, just as we were beginning to discount them seriously, in turned out to be real, that that Scud that came here that was shot down by a Patriot. This one is called by the British. The Americans are not in a state of alert. There has been no siren, but everyone in the hotel we're staying in has been ordered into shelters with gas masks. And we'll keep you posted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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