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Teens Arrested in U.K. on Terror Suspicions; Kentucky's Harrison Apologizes for Racial Slur; Netanyahu Criticizes Proposed Iran Deal; American Killed in Yemen; Celebrating Passover and Easter Sunday. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 5, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:05] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now in the "Newsroom," teenage terror suspects, a 14-year-old and 16-year-old arrested. Police telling CNN they were preparing for an act of terrorism.

The story behind "Rolling Stone" magazine's horrifying report of an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. Tonight, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism releases its investigation into the magazine's flawed reporting.

Plus - why being too skinny is now illegal in one part of the world. "Newsroom" starts now!

Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

British police have arrested two teens on charges they were preparing to commit an act of terrorism. After "examining some electronic devices" police detained a 14-year-old boy on Thursday. The next day officials raided another home in Northern England, and arrested a 16- year-old girl on related charges.

Police aren't releasing other details just yet but both suspects have been released on bail and have court hearings set for May 28th.

I want to bring in now Tom Fuentes, he is a CNN law enforcement analyst, and former assistant director of the FBI, joining us Washington. So these suspects are very young, but Peter Bergen reminds me, they're not the first, unfortunately, there are a lot of young people now being engaged or enticed in this kind of terrorist or potential terrorist activity.

How do you suppose these two in Great Britain may have been arrested?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Fredricka, we're probably have a similar story that we've had with many of them, they get on social media, they talk about it with their friends or classmates, put up postings, look at videos and basically attract attention, which eventually gets to the attention of the authorities and then they are able to look into phone records and internet records and determine just how active they are and start the investigation and see if they're serious or if it's just all talk.

WHITFIELD: But then, Tom, it has to be more than just curious. There has to be specific language, if it's by way of social media, that may have been conveyed by these young people or there has to be some actual activity, right, before you could lead to charges like this and arrests.

FUENTES: No, that's true. I mean, but what starts the investigation is the attention that they're talking about wanting to do something, and then the authorities start the investigation and then you know, arrive at a decision that it looks like they're actually serious about carrying out the attack and they let them go forward and go a certain distance, if you will, into the plot, and see, do they attempt to acquire weapons or knowledge of explosives or how do wield a machete and actually obtain a machete.

So as they go forward with that, the authorities get to the point where they just feel like, you know, they have to make an arrest, it's serious, kids or not, they're serious.

WHITFIELD: Do you worry about the ability for counterterrorism agents whether be in the U.S. or even abroad to be able to keep up with the ever evolving profile of these possible recruits?

FUENTES: Oh, absolutely. You know, everyone has talked about that, and all of the different countries. You have the French authorities talking about it after the "Charlie Hebdo" attack. You have the attacks in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Copenhagen, you know, where the authorities say there are so many of these individuals and groups of people out there who are watching these jihadi websites, who are getting on social media and saying they're interested in carrying out an attack and they're doing everything they can to keep up with it. Some of these cases are just nuisance cases, it's just all talk but they don't know. They can't take the chance that it's just all talk.

WHITFIELD: All right. But nonetheless, it seems impressive that there do seem to be a lot of arrests taking place. But it also seems like from continent to continent, it's nearly simultaneous. Do you believe there's an increase in activity in recent weeks or months or build up towards something, or it's just merely coincidence?

FUENTES: No, there's an increase in activity because ISSI and other groups have increased the numbers of postings that they have and the thousands of jihadi websites that are out there with these various postings of propaganda material. So, you know, the increase in material has led to an increase in people interested in the material and interested in joining up.

We've seen that with tens of thousands of people from 70 different countries going to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, to join other groups, to join Al Shabaab in Somalia, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen. So this is not a new phenomenon but it's an increasing one. I think the authorities are just increasingly overwhelmed trying to keep up with it and really have done an amazing job when you stop and think very few plots have gotten to where they were carried out. The attacks in Canada, Australia, London. But you know, the majority of attacks have been thwarted before they've reached the point of somebody getting killed.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom Fuentes, thanks so much. Always appreciate your expertise.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Kenyan officials say the mastermind behind last week's bloody Al Shabaab terror attack has an extensive network in the country. Authorities say Mohammed Mahmoud planned the assault on Garissa University that killed more than 147 people, most of them students.

CNN's David Mckenzie is in Nairobi for us, what do we know about the alleged mastermind because he is known to have been involved in other previous attacks.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Fredricka. Mohammed Mahmoud or GAnderia as he is known has been linked to several attacks, several horrible attacks, which had similar outcome, they removed Muslims and Christians from the scene and then killed the Christians.

This man has deep links to Kenya, he's not purely a Somali alleged terrorist. And that's very disturbing for the Kenyan authorities. Also learning new details that one of the gunmen perhaps was the son of a Kenyan official. That will also pose more questions about how exactly the intelligence is working or not working in this country.

And we've seen disturbing images on the ground of how the Kenyans are reacting to this attack. I must warn you, some of the images in the story might be distressing to some viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): A gruesome parade through Garissa town, images far too shocking to show unblurred.

(on camera): We're following a convoy now, police have piled what they say are the terrorists' bodies into a back of a truck and the whole town is coming out to see.

(voice-over): The alleged gunmen locked in the macabre embrace, wrapped in an orange tarp, driven into a primarily school for viewing. In the baking sun, the stench is overpowering. But some in the crowd want more.

(on camera): You want them to be burned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MCKENZIE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they killed innocent children. We want to ban these people.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Perhaps police want to prove they killed the gunmen. Or perhaps they just want to avenge the dead.

(on camera): They're now driving the van next to the crowd so people can inspect the bodies. It's getting pretty chaotic here.

(voice-over): They skirt away those suspected of killing so many. Now they evacuate the students who survived the terror. Searching their bags for explosives, their university shut down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the unlucky lot seeing here.

MCKENZIE: (Inaudible) says his girlfriend was murdered with six of her friends. He says the gunmen slit the throats of the men because they didn't want to waste their bullets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most men they were slaughtering.

MCKENZIE: These students came to Garissa to build a better life. Now they are leaving broken, their friends lost in brutal violence. Their futures uncertain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: I must say, Fredricka, those scenes in Garissa, were quite shocking to us as well. I've certainly seen nothing quite like that in Kenya in all of my years reporting here. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: What about the family members of those many students that were killed? How are they coping right now?

MCKENZIE: It's so difficult for them. They're here in Nairobi, the bodies were shipped here to Nairobi, and they've been trying to identify the dead. Terrible scenes at the morgue here in Nairobi, as family members try to find out whether their loved ones are alive or dead and just really emotional scenes, as they found out that perhaps their children who had such big dreams to be getting a university degree here in Kenya, those dreams have been snuffed out.

Certainly in the wake of this horrible attack that Kenya's in shock. New questions being asked whether the authorities did enough and did it quickly enough to end the siege that lasted for so many hours at this university before those gunmen were killed. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Terribly sad. All right. Thank you so much, David Mckenzie.

One of the nation's top journalisms schools in this country is releasing a review of "Rolling Stone" magazine's editorial process after the magazine published a controversial piece about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. With the Columbia report will mean, next?

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WHITFIELD: Tonight, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism will release a report on that controversial article by "Rolling Stone" magazine about an alleged gang rape on the campus of the University of Virginia.

Well, now sources with direct knowledge about the investigation tells CNN the writer of the article Sabrina Ruben early will be issuing an apology. The "Rolling Stone" story, which was released in November 2014 detailed a graphic and horrific account about a UVA freshman named Jackie who says she was sexually assaulted by several members of a fraternity.

But Jackie's account and "Rolling Stone's" reporting quickly began to unravel after other media outlets started asking questions, inconsistencies and a lack of corroborating information forced "Rolling Stone" to apologize for the article. Here now is CNN's Sara Ganim.

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SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "Rolling Stone" story shocked both the campus at UVA and the nation. Seven men accused of attacking a young woman over several hours, an alleged gang rape during a fraternity party. But along with outrage there was suspicion, details began to emerge about the night the woman, named Jackie, says she was raped.

I think that that was pretty clear in the "Rolling Stone" piece, that you know, it was almost too perfect of a story.

GANIM: Jackie's friends, Alex Stock and Ryan Duffin say, they were with her the night of the alleged attack in September 2012. What they remember is very different from what Jackie told "Rolling Stone."

(on camera): The article says that she was beaten, hit in the face, that she was barefoot, that she was bloodied and that her face was obviously beaten. Is that true

RYAN DUFFIN, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENT: No. I didn't notice any sort of physical injuries. I didn't notice a lack of shoes. I didn't really notice anything.

GANIM: There were other discrepancies, about where she met her rapist, where they went on their date, and in the most strange twist, Jackie had asked her friends to text with her date, and the pictures and text messages he purportedly sent later appeared to be fake.

ALEX STOCK, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENT: There's a very good chance whoever I was texting was Jackie, there's a definite possibility.

GANIM: As the story began to fall apart, "Rolling Stone" admitted they never contacted the men Jackie had accused. They also admitted that Alex and Ryan were never interviewed by the writer of the story even though they were quoted in the article. "Rolling Stone" said it had taken Jackie's word, and failed to fact check must much of her story. That's left towering questions about what happens real and what's not.

Last month Charlottesville Police said their investigation found no investigation that Jackie was raped in the way that the story portrays but they were clear not to accuse Jackie of lying, leaving open the possibility that something bad might have happened to her, perhaps somewhere else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her lips were quivering.

GANIM: Her friends tell us they believe it's possible they'll never know exactly what happened to Jackie.

DUFFIN: I still think it's difficult to believe that she would have been acting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN correspondent Sara Ganim joining me now along with Brian Stelter, host of "CNN's Reliable Sources." So Sara, to you first, you, in the reporting that you did on this UVA after the "Rolling Stone" story, you found a lot of inconsistencies.

So was it very obvious at the onset or did it mean some particular digging to find out that the story just didn't seem to shape up, in your view?

GANIM: Well, initially the "Rolling Stone" and that writer, they where praised for sharing the story because initially a lot of people believed it. When it began to fall apart, really was when these friends that knew Jackie that night were with her that night when they began to talk to media outlets, because what they remember from that night is just so different from what Jackie told "Rolling Stone," and quite frankly, Fred, from what Jackie had been telling people publicly on campus, at events, for several months, leading up to the release of the "Rolling Stone" piece.

So it's when they began to speak and say "hey, you know, we don't really have a stake in this, but that's not how it went down," that's when the questions began to arise. So this report tonight, I'll be very curious to hear what they told the Columbia Journalism Review, because "Rolling Stone" quoted them, now they changed their names but they quoted them in the article and it later turned out that the writer never actually interviewed those three friends.

I think that that could be key. I'm really curious to find what the Columbia Journalism Review found.

WHITFIELD: Yes, what exactly was shared with Columbia. So then, Brian, "Rolling Stone," after a lot of reporting from our Sara and "The Washington Post" and other news outlets, "Rolling Stone" then came out with an apology and said that there was an admission perhaps the reporting was not rock solid.

So why or how would "Rolling Stone" now benefit from engaging Columbia to now look at their reporting, look at the process and make public its review?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: Yes, I don't like to use the word "extraordinary" very often, Fredricka, but this is an extraordinary instance of a magazine, a publication, going to an outsider and saying here's everything we have, investigate us, figure out what we did wrong, and the product of that is what will be published tonight at 8:00.

"Rolling Stone" did that because they concluded they were never going to be taken seriously if they just did an internal investigation. They believe they had to find an external review board to go through this and do that work because this report's release will be step one toward them restoring their credibility.

I think the fact that we're going to hear from the writer, that she's going to make the apology statement, we're going to hear from the magazine, I suspect they will also have some words of contrition today or tomorrow, so that it will start to begin to rebuild their reputation.

By the way, the other thing they will do is take the article off-line. That's a pretty formal way of saying this article should not be taken seriously, it's being taken down.

WHITFIELD: Well, they've never formally retracted it but doing that would almost be retracting.

STELTER: Yes, this will be essentially be the retraction. You know, I think Sara and I have both spoken to students at UVA who say one of the real damaging parts of the story is that now in people's minds there's a sense of rape being this extreme situation, this alleged gang rape involving seven men when in fact we know, all the studies show, most often sexual assaults on campus involving one or two people, they're involving acquaintances or friends, that's the vast majority of campus assault is all about.

And unfortunately this story painted a very different picture.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and Sara, of course, that does bring into question the concern, by many, that perhaps this story, this review of the story, whatever fallacies there were, is certainly going to make an impact on the reporting and investigating of alleged sexual assault cases, whether they be on campus or otherwise.

GANIM: There's always that fear of a chilling effect. You know some of the advocates for women on campus that I spoke to before and after the apology, said that they were concerned at the portrayal of Jackie's story or the exact reason that Brian mentioned, many of the other women on campus at UVA who were interviewed, who say that they are also rape victims said "You know, my rape is not as graphic and as shocking as Jackie's but it's really more likely to happen to a woman who is on college campus" and that they were disappointed that "Rolling Stone" didn't give them as much attention in that story.

Now I also think it's important to point out that there's one more piece to this, and that is how the University of Virginia responded, not just to Jackie, but to all women in their history who have come forward and reported sexual assaults. And we're still waiting on that investigation. And I think that, you know, that's a piece of the "Rolling Stone" story, when Brian mentioned that they're going to pull it down, that's a piece of the story that no one has ever disputed and it's still really important that the University of Virginia never expelled a single student, even after they admitted to rape, raping another student.

WHITFIELD: Any kind of investigations.

GANIM: Right. How they handled this issue, which is a nationwide issue, how the school handled it was a big part of the story and I hope that doesn't get lost. I think that, you know, there is another investigation by the state attorney general that hopefully will bring that part of it to light.

WHITFIELD: All right. So again, that Columbia review will be released later on this evening, and then at some point, either today or tomorrow, we'll also be hearing from the writer of "Rolling Stone" and the sequence of events leading up to this point.

Brian Stelter, Sara Ganim, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kentucky's Stargard is in a apology mode today after being caught making a racial slur. Our Andy Shoels is in Indianapolis with the latest.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT: Yes, Fred, the Kentucky Wildcat players clearly frustrated that their perfect season came to an end last night at the hands of the Badgers. We'll show you one of their players said that's got them in some hot water when "Newsroom" continues.

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WHITFIELD: The table is set for tomorrow's NCAA men's college basketball championship game. It will be Duke Blue Devils versus the Wisconsin Badgers.

But today the story is about Kentucky, not how their perfect season ended last night but how their star player is now in apology mode today. Our Andy Scholes is in Indianapolis with more. Andy?

SCHOLES: Yes, Fred, you can definitely tell the Kentucky players were very frustrated and disappointed that their perfect season came to an end last night at hand of the Badgers. The Harrison twin, their star guards they were so frustrated they didn't even shake hands with Badgers after the game.

The controversial moment happened during the postgame interview, Andrew Harrison was one of the players available to the media and a reporter was asking Carl Anthony Townes a question about Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky, who had an awesome game last night. He had 20 points, 11 rebounds. When the reporter was asking Townes about Kaminsky, Andrew Harrison hand over his mouth and he uttered a phrase, he uttered an expletive, that n-word, referring to Kaminsky.

Take a listen to how to happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SCHROEDER: George Schroeder "USA Today," this is for Carl, I wonder if you can talk about Kaminsky and what makes him so difficult? What if anything is unique about defending him, things he does?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Carl?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Once Harrison realized what had happened he apologized on twitter. Let read you the tweet he sent out early, early this morning. He said "first I want to apologize for my poor choice of words using jest towards a player I respect and know. When I realized how this would be perceived I immediately called big Frank to apologize, to let him know I didn't mean any disrespect. We had a good conversation and I wished him good luck in the championship game on Monday.

Now Wisconsin was available to the media just a couple of hours ago and Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, they discussed what happened late last night. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK KAMINSKY, FORWARD, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: Yes, he reached out to me, we talked about it, over it. Nothing needs to be made out of it.

Bo?

BO RYAN, COACH, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: Yes, I - It's - in this day and age, it always reminds all of us it reminds us that whatever we say can and will be heard, it seems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, Fred, in terms of what kind of punishment Harrison could face for what he said it might not be anything because Harrison's rumored thinking about going into the NBA draft and if that's the case he'd never play another college game for the Kentucky Wildcats.

WHITFIELD: Potentially bruising, nonetheless. All right. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

All right. Still ahead - political sparring over the Iran nuclear deal, the Israeli prime minister and a top U.S. senator not mincing words at all. Next, what Benjamin Netanyahu and Diane Feinstein said on CNN today.

[16:32:08] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit the Sunday talk shows today to express his concerns over a proposed Iranian nuclear deal. A deal that Senator Diane Feinstein says has the potential to work and she says she has yet to hear a better option from Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the alternatives are not either this bad deal or war, I think there's a third alternative, that is standing firm, ratcheting up pressure until you get a better deal and a better deal would roll back Iran's vast nuclear infrastructure and require Iran to stop its aggression in the region, its terror worldwide and it's cause inactions to annihilate the state of Israel, that's a better deal, it's achievable.

SEN. DIANE FEINSTEIN (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE VICE CHAIRMAN: But I think that having watched this for a long time and knowing this particular foreign minister, I think this is the best that's going to get done. It's a framework. It has to be wrapped into a final agreement; there still can be some changes. But I don't think it's helpful for Israel to come out and oppose this one opportunity to change a major dynamic, which is downhill, a downhill dynamic, in this part of the world.

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WHITFIELD: Joining me right now is Jackie Gingrich Cushman, the daughter and former campaign adviser of Newt Gingrich and democratic strategist John Rowley joining us from Nashville. Good to see both of you. Jackie on set with me here in Atlanta, one has to wonder, you've got six nations on board with this framework of a deal and you've got Netanyahu who says adamantly, it will not work, and he's pushing for an alternative but has yet to release any kind of information about an alternative. Might this potentially backfire for him and Israel?

JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, METRO ATLANTA WEEKLY NEWSPAPER WRITER: He raises a very important point. It's important to step back and understand the background of who we're talking about. 35 years ago, our embassy was seized in Tehran under Jimmy Carter. Hostages were not released until the day Ronald Reagan took office. Secondarily, if you look at what's happening in Yemen, the Shia Muslims are supported by Iran. On March 21st, their supreme leader called for death to America. Additionally they've called for Israel...

WHITFIELD: The message of trust or distrust, but what does that have to do with the road ahead of trying to allow diplomacy to work, and that's from the point of view of six nations?

GINGRICH CUSHMAN: It has everything to do with it because when you enter into any agreement, whether between nations or people, think about an important agreement that you have with someone, it all comes down to matter of trust. What is their intent? What is your intent? Do you have the same perspective? Fascinating when they left last weekend they had their own like list of what happened, totally different opposite views of what happened in the agreements. So I think the matter of trust is key and I think it's very important for us understand who we are dealing with.

WHITFIELD: John is that the bottom line, that history should prevail, that there is no sense in trying to create new history whether it be between Iran and the US or Iran and any of these six nations?

JOHN ROWLEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Fred, some of the apocalyptic hyperventilating going on around the issue is a little out of control. It's a framework, it's not yet an agreement and the good news is that we have a lot of allies, some world powers that have agreed to it. The Obama wanted something that was stronger, it was better than some of us had feared, the best agreement we can get to from allies and we've got to raise other questions. We know the history of our relations with Iran and the hostage crisis, but let's go to the modern world where Iran is also having an impact fighting ISIS in a big irony, assisting the fight and counteracting of ISIS. Some of the hard-liners and other people that want to take this kind of black and white approach to this issue, what does it do to that? There's a give and take that's going on in the Middle East right now, and I think every foreign policy deal takes time, it's a winding road. I think both sides will have Iran and the United States both has saber rattling and up and down before we get to an agreement.

WHITFIELD: Are either of you optimistic that the framework will change, better solidified or weakened in the next three months, John, you first, quick.

ROWLEY: Absolutely. I mean I think it's going to take some time. I think you're going to hear tough talk and backtracking, maybe from both sides. But what's the alternative? Is the alternative to do nothing? Isolating and attacking Iran has not worked. I think this approach is worth a try and I think that's what the president's attempting right now.

WHITFIELD: Jackie, does it mean reinforcing, trying to build a better framework or dismantling it altogether and saying there's no hope in even trying?

[16:37:02]

GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Look where we are, Netanyahu was right to say we need to make sure we stay very strong. It's not just about what are we going to do but make sure that we have the sanctions ready and we don't release them too early, make sure we can go in and make the proper, you know, make sure we can inspect things I think it's very important that we understand that there's a false construct between we have to have a deal, no matter what. We don't have to have a deal. We can as the Prime Minister said; we can continue sanctions and negotiate later. But to think that you have to be forced into a deal, often if you think about your own life it puts you in a very bad position and make you accept things you wouldn't naturally accept.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about the road to 2016 now. Ted Cruz, the first to put his hat officially into the ring and the first to have his campaign ad. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were it not for the transformative love of Jesus Christ, I would have been raised by a single mom without my father in the house. God's blessing has been on America from the very beginning of this nation, over and over again when we faced impossible odds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. While the numbers show when he's up against something like nine other potential 2016 candidates he's at the very bottom. There's something very smart, right, about him coming out front, flooding airwaves with his first campaign ad. Does that assist him, particularly as he tries to go after the evangelical vote?

ROWLEY: He's playing the only card he has, you're right, in a crowded field. Targeting the evangelical vote makes sense. He's one of the more politically shrewd candidates in the entire republican field. Now, for the republicans, him as someone who gets traction and becomes a front-runner or nominee is a disaster. He could be the republican's Todd Aikin of 2017 or 2016, who somebody who is great in a primary playing to the tea party evangelical base but a disaster in the general election.

WHITFIELD: Does this speak to his boldness?

GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Very smart for him to get out in the field very early. Clearly the ad plays to his family, his young children, faith and what he's going for. I think anytime you're a front-runner in the republican primary, you're naturally a huge target. So no matter whom you are. You have to be ready for that. I do think because he's relatively young and compared to other candidates in terms of experience possibly on the national scene. But also from experience, national campaign is very different than running for senator. I think some of the heat we can temper him a little bit.

WHITFIELD: Jackie Gingrich Cushman, John Rowley, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead new details emerging about the first American killed in the latest chaos in Yemen and the reason he was over there in the first place, heartbreaking.

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[16:45:01]

WHITFIELD: The latest fighting in Yemen has now claimed the life of an American citizen for the first time. Jamal Alabani apparently left the US for Yemen just two months ago; the country has descended into heavy sectarian fighting, that's claimed more than 500 lives in the last two weeks alone. The international Red Cross has called ford a cease-fire so those wounded in the fighting can get medical help. Nick Valencia has more on the American killed and why he was there.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: Yeah, he had recently secured a passport for his 2 1/2-year-old daughter and his intention when they traveled in Yemen February was to bring back his pregnant wife and his 2 1/2 daughter. But in the three weeks leading up to this death, he noticed that the situation was worsening in Yemen, according to his family. As a matter of fact, his cousin tells me that that man that you're looking at on the screen, two days before he died, his plan was to cross the border into Oman and take a flight to Egypt to escape the violence. He just never made it. On Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., after praying at a local mosque, he was walking when hit with shrapnel by a mortar round. He died minutes later. Fred?

WHITFIELD: US State department is responding in what way? Because there are a lot of Americans who are trying to offer pressure to the state department to help Americans there?

VALENCIA: Certainly. The advocates for Yemeni Americans, US citizens in Yemen say the US State department is not doing enough. Other countries like Russia, China, and India evacuated citizens. They're wondering why more is not being done to help US citizens of Yemeni descend. We encourage all US Citizens to shelter into a secure location until able to depart safely. US Citizens wishing to depart should do so via commercial transportation options when they are available. His family is still heartbroken and devastated. When I spoke to his cousin, I asked what kind of man Jamal Alabani was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD ALLAZANI, COUSIN WAS KILLED IN YEMEN: He is very young, healthy, quiet person. You will see the smile on this face when you talk to him, even if he's upset or mad, he will always have that smile. He works on the gas station and co-owns it, and his customers even get really upset and some of them to you will see the tears in their eyes that Jamal passed away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: A good man, according to his family all around. The council for American-Islamic relation says 150 families currently there US Citizens in Yemen caught in the conflict.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much keep us posted.

For more on how you can help keep children and others safe as violence continues to escalate in Yemen, check out CNN.com/impact.

Still ahead, the pope gets political in his Easter address, his message for the masses coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:43]

WHITFIELD: Families all over the world are celebrating Passover and Easter Sunday. And America's first family, well, they're sharing their holiday observance online. In this way, White house photographer Pete Souza posting this photo of the Obama's on instagram and of course you can see the family there including their dogs, Bo, and Sunny, the beautiful cherry blossoms in the rose garden. This Easter Sunday, Pope Francis is asking for an end the bloodshed in Iraq and Syria and praying for students who were massacred this week Kenya, thousands of faithful Christians packed into St. Peter's square to hear the pope's annual Easter message. Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Rome.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's supposed to be a holiday of celebration, when Christians mark the resurrection of Jesus, but the weather in St. Peter's square was cool and rainy, the spirit of Easter this year marred by violence, most recently in Kenya, where militants from the Somali islamist group al shabaab slaughtered almost 150 mostly Christian students at garissa university. Pope Francis marking his third Easter as pontiff, prayed for peace, in Kenya, Iraq, Syria, in the holy land, in Libya, in Yemen, in Nigeria, Sudan, democratic republic of Congo and in Ukraine.

Translator: We ask peace for Syria, Iraq, that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored. Among the various groups which make up those beloved countries. May the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries, and the drama of the numerous refugees.

WEDEMAN: Clearly, his mind occupied by war and rumors of war the world over. He did, however, end his Easter address on a slightly lighter note, asking all of those present to pray for him and wishing one and all a good Easter lunch. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

WHITFIELD: Watch the season finale of "Finding Jesus" at 9:00 on CNN. We're back in a moment.

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WHITFIELD: Checking our top stories, a father remains hospitalized and his two sons still in a coma after possible exposure to a strong pesticide in their Virgin Islands villa last month. The chemical in question is highly regulated and restricted to outdoor agricultural use only. Earlier I asked the Georgia poison center director Gaylord Lopez why it might have been that this insecticide was used inside a unit.

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GAYLORD LOPEZ, GEORGIA POISON CENTER DIRECTOR: Well, there probably were pests, termites, a host of reasons, but indoors, in a living dwelling area, not the place where you should put this powerful chemical, odorless, tasteless, and colorless. This is a dangerous poison.

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WHITFIELD: Federal officials have launched a criminal investigation. And Cuban state media just released pictures of a rare public

appearance by former leader, Fidel Castro. He was meeting with a group of Venezuelans last week visiting Cuba on a solidarity mission. It's been more than a year since the ailing 88-year-old has been seen in public.

And the French parliament has voted to make it illegal for fashion agencies to use dangerously thin models. Photographers and editors will have to label photos that they have retouched to alter models' bodies, even photos on line. A former fashion magazine editor tells CNN that the industry itself needs to change.

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CARYN FRANKLIN, FORMER FASHION MAGAZINE EDITOR: The fact of the matter is, fashion creative's have to think about the messaging they're promoting around body image ideals and the fact that they are normalizing an unachievable physical appearance.

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WHITFIELD: This legislation would allow the government to impose fines and even jail time for those who violate the ban.

That's it for me. Thanks for being with me all afternoon long. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, much more in the NEWSROOM straight ahead with Poppy Harlow.