King Abdullah Dead; Yemen's Government Falls to Houthi Rebels; No Word on Fate of Japanese Held by ISIS; Colorado Teen Who Sought to Join ISIS to be Sentenced Today; TSA Seizes Record Guns in Airports; Yemen in Chaos
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Upheaval in the Middle East, a crucial U.S. ally is dead, an entire government crumbles. Is America less safe today? The happiest place on earth? Not so much right now. A measles outbreak linked to Disneyland in California. So what is fueling the comeback of a disease once declared eradicated? And Tom Brady, he might be handsome, but the question today, was he too cute by half? And this question on "Deflate-gate," what if there is no proof? What happens then? All right, happening now, Washington loses two critical allies as power shifts in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, it was the death of 90-year-old King Abdullah, hailed by some as a cautious reformer and essential partner in the U.S. fight against both al Qaeda and ISIS, although noted by others as a leader of an oppressive regime that beheads people and flogs writers. His more conservative brother, Salman, has already ascended to the throne. Meanwhile, neighboring Yemen is in chaos after its pro-U.S. president and prime minister resigned. Shiite Houthi rebels are now in control of the capital and the United States is starting to withdraw embassy staff because of safety concerns. And the deadline passed with no word on the fate of two Japanese men held by ISIS on a $200 million ransom demand. A spokesman for the terror group tells a Japanese broadcaster that ISIS will soon release a statement about the hostages. We're looking closely at all of these major developments today. I want to bring in our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. And, Jim, Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the United States, a complicated alley but a close one, a key friend in the battle against terror. How concerned is the United States now about this transition of power, the death of the king there?</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They're not hugely concerned because, one, the health of King Abdullah, the late King Abdullah, had been in question for some time. The Saudis had a succession plan in place for some time. And you see in that succession plan consistently -- consistency, rather. Salman, ideologically consistent with his predecessor, now he's put in (inaudible) as the crown prince, so the next in line, another son of the founder of Saudi Arabia. So you see -- you will likely see a continuation of the policies that we saw under King Abdullah, which -- who, by Saudi standards, one, a very close ally of the U.S. in the war on terror, but also by Saudi standards a relative reformer. As you know, this is still a country that beheads people. It has flogged a blogger simply for starting a debate about extremism online. It's got a long way to go, but by Saudi standards, he's moved in the right direction. I think U.S. officials expect that to continue.</s>BERMAN: Yeah. He's a key friend of the United States when it comes to both security and a key influence when it comes to the economy as well. Obviously Saudi Arabia with great control over world oil prices. Jim Sciutto, thanks so much for being with us. I want to turn now to the disturbing new developments in neighboring Yemen. The U.S.-backed government in Yemen has collapsed, and now the United States is pulling more embassy staff out of that country. Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has just left the capital of Yemen, Sanaa. Nick, give us a sense of the latest. Let me know what it was like there in your final moments. Did you get a sense that that country was slipping into just pure chaos?</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Interesting to see how the Houthies, frankly, took control. They have had control of the streets for months, but it was clear once the president, prime minister, and cabinet wanted out that we were going to be heading into much more of sort of a spiral towards the unknown. The streets were pretty calm. We heard intermittent sounds of gunfire occasionally, fireworks, though, too. And on our drive out through the airport came across four or five polite, reasonably calm Houthi checkpoints. The Houthi militiamen there, young a lot of them, a lot of them rural too, and that's half of the strength, many say, of the Houthi movement, is fundamentally harnessing the frustrations of sort of the Shia rural poor to a degree. The airport itself was reasonably calm too, although they did appear to be looking for some Yemenis, perhaps former regime members. The issue really, John, now is what next? It was a bit of a high- stakes gamble by the president once his cabinet and prime minister left their jobs to also quit too, and I think in the words of one of his ministers a few days earlier, naming and shaming the deal that was being done with the Houthies for what it really was, which was pretty much the dissolving and weakening of his powers and giving the Houthies kind of what they want, not letting the Houthies run the government without actually having to own it, so to speak. So we're in for a confusing days ahead. The parliament may meet. The speaker under the constitution, I believe, is technically the next in line for acting president, but what do Houthies wish to honor of that is very much the street that's dictating Yemen's politics at the moment. There are talks of the cities in the east or the south seceding, refusing to recognize the Houthi government. They're immediately contradicted, often as soon as you hear them, but it's a very chaotic situation, one of course that will have U.S. diplomatic community slightly on edge, those who remain there, and of course one which will be deeply troubling it neighbor, Saudi Arabia. They see, I think, the hand of Iran there. And I have to say when you see how fast the Houthies have got their act together in the past few months, there has to be somebody presumably helping them become quite so effective. John?</s>BERMAN: Nick, do you have a sense of what the current status of U.S. influence is inside Yemen, and how well will the United States pursue its battle against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in that country now that there's been this shift in power?</s>PATON WALSH: I think if you look at how the U.S. functions in states where there's sort of only half compliance -- I mean, Yemen, I think, is as helpful as it can be but doesn't really have the infrastructure and institutions to throw that much behind the U.S. -- the U.S. tries to operate more or less independently or at least gather information without necessarily being entirely reliant on the host country. So they will probably carry on much of the counterterror surveillance, human intelligence gathering, I would imagine, as best as they can, given the swirling chaos but the reduction, I'm sure, in embassy staff is going to take some sort of toll as I'm sure would be a degree of restrictions on movements they'll have to undertake if this situation becomes increasingly unstable. And then of course there's the broader issues of what do the Houthies make of all of this. They are not overly anti-American, frankly, when you speak to them, talk to them. They're actually quite polite and pleasant. But one of their slogans is death to America, so it is going to be a complicated relationship for the U.S. to fathom if they decide they have to deal with the Houthies because the Houthies eventually decide they actually want to run Yemen rather than just being the main dominant influence on the streets. And I think that period of confusion too, many as I left were telling me, will give a window for al Qaeda to attack, to grow, and of course a pause in counterterrorism operations is in itself giving the enemy a hand for (inaudible). John?</s>BERMAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh for us in Beirut, having just left Yemen, thanks so much, Nick. @THIS HOUR, the lives of two men hang in the balance. More than 11 hours have passed since the deadline set by ISIS to execute two kidnapped Japanese citizens. ISIS has asked Japan to pay $200 million in ransom. Atika Shubert joins me now. Atika, what is the status at this point of negotiations? Are there negotiations?</s>ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know if there are negotiations. As far as we know, the Japanese government has said that they have tried to make contact with ISIS through intermediaries such as Jordan, but so far they have not had any success. Having said that, the national broadcaster, NHK, was apparently able to speak to a spokesperson or someone representing ISIS saying that a message would be broadcast soon. Now, it's been many hours since that message from ISIS was received, but we haven't seen any video, anything else come out yet. And as you can imagine, it's an agonizing wait for the families of both men. And at the moment the Japanese government says they are doing everything they can, but they have had no confirmed contact with ISIS so far.</s>BERMAN: And one of these men, I understand, Atika, has a newborn child at home?</s>SHUBERT: That's right. Kenji Goto is a very well-known Japanese journalist covering the Middle East, and he left to cover Syria when his baby was just a few weeks old. That's something that his mother said publicly yesterday in a very tearful plea to have him released. His other companion in this was Haruna Yukawa, and he was sort of acting as a security guard for him during this trip. Both men have been held hostage now for a number of months by ISIS, and as you can imagine, it's an agonizing wait for the family as they wait to see whether or not ISIS will spare their lives.</s>BERMAN: All right, Atika Shubert for us. We again are awaiting word on the fate of these two men, word, we hope, of their safety. Atika, thanks so much. Other stories making headlines today, a Colorado teenager will face sentencing after pleading guilty to trying to join ISIS. Shannon Maureen Connelly told CNN that her name is now Amatullah, which means "servant of Allah." The 19-year-old nursing aide was arrested last year after trying to board a flight to Turkey to meet and marry a ISIS fighter she met online. Her parents say their daughter was a victim of the jihadist group and they worry about other impressionable young other impressionable young Americans. Connelly faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Happening this hour, the next step in the new era of U.S.-Cuba relations. A high-level State Department official is talking about the progress made in historic talks this week in Havana. (Inaudible) welcomed seven Cuban dissidents to the U.S. chief of missions residence for a meeting, but Cuban diplomats slammed the United States over the issues of human rights, using Ferguson, New York, and Guantanamo Bay as examples. Activists have said Cuba is one of the worst offenders in the world when it comes to human rights. The number of people trying to take loaded guns on U.S. flights is rising. TSA reports that officers recovered -- discovered a record 2,200 firearms in travelers' carry-on bags last year. More than 80 percent of those guns were loaded. You're looking at pictures right now of actual firearms recovered. The passengers who were caught face thousands of dollars in fines. You can bring unloaded firearms onto planes but only onto checked bags that go in the belly of a plane. In just a few minutes, the team co-captains of the New England Patriots will face the media, and they no doubt will have to take questions about "Deflate-gate." What can they tell us about the situation right now, the air reportedly missing from 11 Patriots' footballs in Sunday night's AFC championship game against the Colts? The quarterback, Tom Brady, the coach, Bill Belichick, they didn't have any answers really. The NFL only says it is still investigating. If course Tom Brady said they hadn't spoken to him yet as of yesterday. In just a few minutes, we'll speak to a couple of former players, including one former teammate of Tom Brady, to find out what they think should happen and exactly who is to blame. Coming up, a key U.S. ally crumbles. How the turmoil in Yemen goes far beyond its borders, And Mitt Romney, his key aides are meeting today to talk about what exactly? Is the campaign three-peat on? Stay with us.