Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello 201501

CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello January 23, 2015

A saudi king dies and a deadline passes. Chaos and confusion in the middle east. Yemens president resigns and a power vacuum takes hold. So the question now is what happens next . Who does the u. S. Deal with. America cutting Embassy Staff. I think we ought to get our people out. I dont want to see a hostage situation. And saudis King Abdullah dies. The succession is going to be very important. A key ally. The 90yearold leader laid to rest. He was probably the most progressive and liberal minded king of saudi arabia since the early 1970s. This morning new concerns about the stability of the volatile region. And fate unknown. Two japanese men held by isis. Kenji is not an enemy of islamic states. Pleas from a mom this morning as a deadline passes. There are serious fears here in tokyo that perhaps isis never really intended to negotiate. A tense and delicate situation playing out on the world stage. Lets talk. Live in the cnn newsroom. And good morning. Im carol costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this morning with a deteriorating situation in yemen. As the Houthi Rebels take control of the capital city of sanaa, the u. S. State department is starting to withdraw Embassy Staff because of concerns over safety but despite the risks, Officials Say the offices are still open and theyre still operating. Lets learn more from our chief National Security correspondent, jim sciutto. Good morning jim. Good morning, carol. The embassy there in sanaa was on an ordered departure which gets rid of virtually all nonessential staff. They took an additional step yesterday and into today to bring it down to a smaller skeletal staff. Just a few dozen left there. This is an Important Mission for the u. S. , both in political terms, an ally in the fight for terror military terms. Cooperation in the Drone Campaign particularly in the southern part of the country targeting aqap. Its a staff that you want there, but really the danger reached such a level that the administration the state department decided to take this additional step and theyre prepared to completely close the embassy if necessary, but thats something its a step they havent taken yet. All right. Were going to talk more about that in just a bit so stick around. Jim sciutto, thank you so much. Because adding to u. S. Concerns in this very volatile region neighboring saudi arabia has a new leader. This morning americas top ally in the arab world bids farewell to King Abdullah who has led the oil rich country for over 19 years. His 07yearold brother inherits the concern and with it concerns about his own health and questions about the future dealings with washington. Cnns Becky Anderson joins us live from abu dhabi with more. Hi becky. Reporter yes, hes certainly a man with experience both on the domestic and sbrr National Stage and the view seems to be that king solomon, who has succeeded King Abdullah will be looking for stability and for clarity about what happens next for the saudi kingdom. He is one of the sons of the founders but the more interesting side to this transition it was extremely quick, within an hour of King Abdullahs death is that the first of the grandsons of the founder of the kingdom, this is important, he is salamans nephew. Hes from the ministry of intelligence. Hes been appointed second deputy Prime Minister and future crown prince. That means youve got a 55yearold second in line to the throne and so potentially the first grandson of as i say, the founder to take to the throne. Hes u. S. Educated has excellent ties to washington and is known for being a main force behind saudis war on al qaeda in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006. Not suggesting that he is in charge suggesting that he could be very soon the heir to the throne. Do remember that king salaman is 79 and is said to be suffering from dementia. It is clear at this stage internally they are looking for what will happen down the road, and that is very important to a key ally like washington. All right. Becky anderson reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much. As i said, the kings death could not come at a worse time. Yemen is in chaos. If you take a look at the map, saudi arabia is surrounded by terrorist states yemen to the south, iraq and syria to the north. Libya not far away. Keep in mind the saudis are allies in the u. S. War on terror so lets talk about this. Im joined now by former cia Counter Terrorism official and cnn Counter Terrorism analyst phil mudd and our chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto is back. Welcome to both of you. Thank you. Thank you. Phil ill start with you. Chaos reins, oil prices are dropping. What does the kings death mean . One of the things youve got to think about here weve heard the word stability since the kings death. From the saudi perspective, change is bad. You look at whats happened in libya, in egypt in syria, in iraq in every circumstance and now yemen when you see change be you see instability. For a monarchy thats been around for decades and that watches this instability on the outside of the arab world, they want stability to rein and part of stability means talking to the americans about common interests in places like iraq and syria against isis and in yemen where we both have a common interest in ensuring that we fight against the al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the south. Despite some of the differences in egypt on oil prices, on whats happening with the Iranian Nuclear program, i think there will be conversations with the americans about keeping things cool in the critical areas of iraq syria, and yemen to the south of saudi arabia. Jim, you would think saudi arabia would be doing all of those things. In Many Americans minds, saudi arabia isnt doing nearly enough even when its own interests are at stake. Well its interesting. I was speaking to senator richard burr. Hes the new republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee this weekend and he made the point that you know in this battle against groups such as isis and aqap ideology is arguably as important as military action and saudi arabia while its a military partner, feeds he says, the extremism. It helps fund the madroses around the region that create the jihadis. On a week when you have the attacks in paris you had the saudiing flogging a blogger, 1,000 lashes for beginning a debate online about extremism within the kingdom. So you have this contradiction there. Thats something that u. S. And western officials have wanted saudi arabia to address. On the military side saudi arabia has been a great partner of the u. S. I think while you do have change there in the leadership, you do have consistency, now king salaman, the new crown prince consistency ideologically. Becky made a good point of lining up the next heir. Someone who has been key in the fight against al qaeda, thats a sign of stability Going Forward in that part of the relationship. As far as specifically what the United States is doing to fight terrorism within yemen, which is now in chaos, it could dissolve into a civil war, we just dont know yet, the u. S. Embassy there is in part being evacuated, right, but well have personnel who stays. So specifically phil, what is america doing militarily so to speak, in yemen to fight terrorism . To understand the problem of al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula youve got to Counter Terrorism operations understand the leadership understand the players. The primary purpose of drone strikes against al qaeda in yemen will be to eliminate the kind of leadership that creates terror cells that staged attacks in places like france. So the criticality of the embassy is to work with the Security Services in yemen to say, can we collect enough intelligence to map the leadership of al qaeda in yemen so that we can eliminate them with drones with Yemeni Military or Security Operations . The problem today, carol, to cut to the chase, what Security Service are you going to work with . Is the Security Service focused on the fight against al qaeda or are they focused on what appears to be an emerging civil war. Theres a vacuum. If im sitting in the embassy, whos my partner if the government falls . Who am i going to work with to collect the intelligence to map the al qaeda presence. Jim, because of what phil just said, Many Americans are wondering why were keeping any personnel inside that embassy in yemen. Reporter its a fair question. Keep in mind it is down. It is a skeletal staff. They have two u. S. Warships off the coast for a military evacuation if necessary. Theyre prepared if it reaches a point where they think their lives are in danger. Keep in mind the Houthi Rebels are not seen as a threat. They dont have the u. S. In their targets, in their cross hairs, but why do you want to keep people there . Because this is an important military relationship. You need that cooperation with the government to carry on the Drone Program which puts enormous pressure on aqap there. Thats a key partnership. We saw what aqap is capable of in paris so yes, there is a danger but theres also a danger in leaving Going Forward because you do want to keep pressure on that group there and without a u. S. Presence on the ground its really hard to do that. All right. Ill have to leave it there. Jim sciutto, phil mudd, thanks so much. The fate of two japanese hostages held by isis unknown this morning after a deadline to pay a 200 million ransom has apparently passed. The men shown here in iraq last summer were featured in a video released by isis earlier this week just hours before that deadline an isis spokesman telling a japanese broadcaster that a statement about the hostages would be released. That statement has yet to come. Now one of these mens mothers is making a desperate plea for her sons life while trying to appeal to his captors in the process. Translator to all members of isis kenji is not an enemy of isis. I really think he is a man who is able to help you as your friend once you get to know him. Since august isis has issued multiple videos featuring brutal beheadings among them five western captives including three americans. Still to come this hour health alert. Measles outbreak. Any compliance base with a lot of people. If you have somebody thats infectious and youre not protected, theres a 90 chance that youre going to come down with the disease. New details and new cases this morning. They should get protected because it is in our community. What you need to know to protect you and your family. Also tom brady deflate gate and isis . This isnt isis. No ones dieing. The press conference everybodys talking about. I have no knowledge of anything. I have no knowledge of any wrongdoing. As other quarterbacks call him out. Its obvious that tom brady had something to do with this. First in a country mile. The case of whodunit on the 50 yard line. Tom brady didnt want anybody touching the balls or rubbing the balls because theyre perfect. The members of the press took a 45 minute giggle break. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. Were helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. You give. And you give. And then you give some more. But sometimes you get. And so you take. Tylenol® cold is Strong Enough for you while childrens tylenol® is gentle enough for them. We give you relief from your cold and flu. You give them everything youve got. Tylenol®. Does a freshly printed presentation fill you with optimism . Then you might be gearcentric. Right now, get this case of paper for only 24. 99 and save even more after rewards. Office depot officemax. Gear up for great. Health officers confirmed 59 cases of measles in the state, 42 directly linked to disneyland. Heres how the numbers break down. 28 were unvaccinated, one had received one dose and five had received two or more. In the meantime publications are taking on the issue. The Washington Post cleverly giving a voice to the germ. He writes quote, doctors call people who dont get vaccines stupid. That sounds like bullying to me. These doctors sound less like medical professionals and more like meanies. Lets talk about this decision to vaccinate or not. Heres dr. Sanjay gupta. Remember that the threat of ebola captured the worlds attention, in part because there is no vaccine or treatment. While outbreaks of mumps measles and whooping cough have returned and Health Experts say its fueled by people not getting vaccinated. For example, in 17 states less than 90 of children were vaccinated for measles in 2013. And that makes it less effective for everyone. Were all immune if all of us who are strong are protected and then the weak among us are protected also because we surround them and the bad germs cant find them. We ward them off. So why the reluctance . Well some parents believe that vaccines may be linked to autism but remember the 1998 study that made that claim was completely discredited. Others are concerned about the use of mercury but that hasnt been used as a preservative in routine childhood vaccines since 2001. There are also some who feel the cdc recommendations are motivate motivated by the money the agency makes from vaccine manufacturers. The cdc says that is just incorrect. Some parents say its simply too many shots. More than 20 vaccines by the age of 1 so they choose to use a delayed schedule. Some mothers are concerned doing all those vaccinations simultaneously. Wont that in some way harm the baby . The American Academy of pediatrics the pediatricians who care for those children assure you that theyre safe and effective. In 2014 according to the cdc there were 644 cases of measles in 27 states. Thats the largest number since the year 2000 when the disease was considered eliminated. The u. S. Had over 48,000 cases of whooping cough in 2012. The highest recorded since 1955. And last year there are over 1,000 cases of mumps in the United States. More than double the year before. The outbreak even side lined 15 professional hockey players. A rising tide of cases that all could have been prevented. Carol, i do want to point Something Else out as well. Just how protected are you against a measles virus . If youre an adult and you got the measles shot and then a booster shot you should be protected. If youre not sure about that you can get a blood test from your doctor and find out how many antibodies you have in your blood. That will give you an idea how much protection you have. You could just get another booster shot as well, which is what some doctors are advising their patients to do if theyre unclear. Carol, well keep an eye on this. As more details come to us well bring them to you. We appreciate that. Dr. Sanjay gupta. Still to come in the newsroom, 48,000 worth of crystal meth. Thats how much this drone was carrying when it crashed south of the u. S. Border. Up next well talk to a former International Drug smuggler about how dealers are using this new technology. Your daughter has a brilliant idea for her science project. And you could make it happen. Right . Wrong. Because youre not you youre a Cancer Hospital and your daughter. Shes a team of leading researchers. And that brilliant idea is a breakthrough in patient treatment that could save thousands of lives. Which means you need a diverse team of advisors helping you. From Research Data analytics all the way to transformation of clinical care. So you call pwc. The right people to get the extraordinary done. Please no. Please . No. For those headaches that just arent bad enough for a lot of please. Please. Please. Medicine, theres new excedrin mild headache. Please please 35 less medicine plus a booster to end everyday headaches fast. Wow, my headaches gone. Excedrin mild headache. Youre driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom youve had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . Liberty mutuals new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car plus depreciation. Call and for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch to Liberty Mutual insurance and you could save up to 423 dollars. Call Liberty Mutual for a free quote today at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. We have disturbing new details about inside the cockpit of airasia flight 8501. Officials said the plain climbed rapidly and stalled shortly before this crashed killing all 162 people on board. Heres what we now know. At 6 14 in the morning the cockpit asked for permission to climb and turn left. They only had perfect m igs to turn not to go up any higher. 3 minutes later the plane deviates from the flight path. It climbs at a rate of 1400 feet per minute. It then reaches max

© 2025 Vimarsana