Caroline Kennedy Back to Work after Death Threats
KEILAR: Even as the U.S. in Japan investigate death threats made against her, Caroline Kennedy appeared to relax this morning as she spoke at an event with first lady Michelle Obama. This is her second public appearance since those threats were made public. Kennedy's husband though admits that he has concerns.</s>EDWIN SCHLOSSBERG, CAROLINE KENNEDY'S HUSBAND: I worry about the safety of my family every day. Any threat is scary, but I think everyone's taking the proper precautions.</s>KEILAR: To discuss, we are joined now by Thomas Schieffer. He's a former ambassador to Japan and he's also the former ambassador to Australia. Ambassador, thanks for being with us.</s>THOMAS SCHIEFFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA: My pleasure.</s>KEILAR: And, you know, you were the subject of threats while you were in Japan. Maybe they weren't quite as public, but what can you tell us about those incidents and what it was like to go through that? Well, I think it's hard for Americans to understand sometimes is that when they hear about a post to what-not and the nomenclature is severe, middle, low chance of something happening, there's never a rating for any American facility in the world that has no danger involved, including our facilities that we have in New York and the United Nations. It's just part of the life. And American ambassadors around the world are targets for somebody. They can be people that are mentally deranged, they can be terrorists, they can be ideologues. But there is no place in which an American ambassador does not serve without some sort of threat. And these threats are not unusual. They occur in a lot of places. And I had situations in both Australia and Japan in which there were threats made. There was an off-duty policeman from a city outside Tokyo that threw a Molotov cocktail into the compound one day. It didn't hurt anybody, fortunately, but security is something that every ambassador is concerned about. Not just about himself or -- but about the people that are under him. That's the primary concern you have is to be sure that everybody is safe every day, every hour of the year.</s>KEILAR: So you go into an appointment like this, just knowing sort of accepting that there is a level of risk. Certain posts are higher risks. Japan and South Korea, for instance, where Ambassador Lippert was attacked by a knife recently, a lot of stitches, very bloody event, very scary, could have been much worse. Those appointments are actually considered relatively low-risk appointments.</s>SCHIEFFER: That's right. But --</s>KEILAR: Do you think that there is -- there is an -- so you look at that and we've had these kind of instances in that region. Is there an increased risk for Americans in general abroad right now or are we just hearing -- is this just us hearing more about this?</s>SCHIEFFER: I think you're hearing a lot about it but I think that 9/11 demonstrated that there's no place on earth that's safe that is without these kind of risks and you have to be aware of them. I mean President Kennedy's ambassador to Japan, Edmund O. Reischauer was stabbed by a deranged person and it was almost a fatal wound that he had. But as I said, these things happen. I mean I remember going through the security seminar at the State Department in preparation of going before going to Australia. And somebody said there, you need to keep in mind that since the end of World War II, there has been more American ambassadors killed than American generals and admirals. That's a sobering thought. But I think it's important to remember that it's not just ambassadors that are at risk. You will see through the year a number of American personnel that are serving in embassies around the world, somewhere around the world that will be killed or injured at the post. It may be an aide worker, an aide counselor as it was in Jordan during my time that was killed outside his garage. What I came to understand in my service was that we are fortunate to have young men and women and older men and women who are serving our country abroad at great risk to themselves and it's not just in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. It's all over the world because you are a trophy to some sort of group who wants to do harm to the United States. It's something you live with.</s>KEILAR: Yes. It's --</s>SCHIEFFER: But it is something that we have to constantly be on guard about. I was in Australia. I was in Japan. And I can assure that the Japanese are all over this. They provide a lot of security to the American ambassador. They do it quite well.</s>KEILAR: So that's my question, Ambassador. Because a lot of it is -- you know, a lot of it with the State Department, they're relying on security from the host country so often I know this is sufficient. But it gets sensitive when you're dealing with the balance between U.S. security and the host country's security. We sort of hear this talked about in -- I don't want to say sanitized terms but this is diplo-speak when we're hearing from the State Department. We heard earlier from Caroline Kennedy's husband. This was a very human reaction where he says that he's concerned. Did your family ever have reservations about your posts and the possible threats?</s>SCHIEFFER: Sure. I mean on Christmas Eve, one year when we were in Australia after 9/11, we received a packet of white powder on Christmas Eve. It required a lockdown of the embassy. It turned out to be a hoax but we, of course, didn't know it at the time. There were a couple of other times that I received packets like that. There were numerous threats. It's just part of the job. But it's the part of everybody's job that is at a foreign post. And one of the things that I resolved to do when I got back home was to remind as many people as I could that there are dangers to serving your country and it's not just on the battlefield. It's other places. But we've worked with foreign governments and it's not a question. We're guests in everybody else's country as they are in ours. Here in the United States, the Secret Service provides the diplomatic protection for all of the embassies that are located here. When you're abroad, the local governments provide that. They do a good job and they work closely with our people. No one wants somebody injured in their country. They just don't.</s>KEILAR: Yes.</s>SCHIEFFER: But having said that, we live in a dangerous world. And there are a lot of people out there that want to do harm to the United States. And I would say one other thing which I noticed both in Australia and Japan. The security that I had was the same that the prime minister of each of those countries had. Foreign ministers, defense ministers in those countries didn't have the security that I had and the only other embassy that had that level of security was the Israeli embassy for the same reason. There are people that want to do harm to Israelis and they are around the world.</s>KEILAR: They want you to stay safe certainly on their watch. All right. Ambassador Schieffer -- thanks so much. Really appreciate --</s>SCHIEFFER: Thank you -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: -- your special insight on this. And I want to get now to Anna Coren because she has some new details for us on this case -- on the threats against Caroline Kennedy as well as another U.S. official more. What can you tell us, Anna?</s>ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. Developing anew here in Japan, a local media station TV Asahi which happens to be a CNN affiliate is reporting that a 52-year-old man from Okinawa has been arrested. That he has admitted to police that he made three phone calls to the U.S. embassy here in Tokyo threatening to bomb it as well Camp Schwab in Okinawa. That's where about 28,000 U.S. Marines are stationed. We should stress that these calls -- these three calls were made this month. Now, the death threats to Caroline Kennedy -- they were made in February. And we understand from these reports that police are also investigating 30 phone calls made to the U.S. Embassy here in Tokyo specifically against Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador here in Japan. She's been holding this post for some 16 months. Well respected, very much admired here in Japan. But it was seen that those threats are more specific to Caroline Kennedy and police are investigating whether there is any connection between the 30 calls made last month and the three calls made this month by this 52-year-old man -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: 30 calls. That sounds like an awful lot. Is that why the flag was raised here -- the red flag about this? That this is out of the ordinary?</s>COREN: Yes. Look, it would appear so. And I should note that we are working our contacts with the police. We are waiting for confirmation. One of our producers is on the phone to them at this very moment. So until we get that specific, you know, confirmation, it's really hard to tell. But you would have to assume, 30 calls made specifically against Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, certainly raising the red flag for authorities. Particularly in light of what happened with Mark Lippert the U.S. ambassador to South Korea -- a horrific incident in Seoul. He was slashed across the face and arm with a knife and sustained hideous injuries and needed something like 80 stitches. So as we know security very much has been tightened here in Japan for Caroline Kennedy. But you know what, in saying that, Brianna, she has been going about her duty. She has been escorting U.S. first lady Michelle Obama who is here in country pushing her girls' education initiative, a partnership that the United States is working with Japan. So it is very much business as usual and she addressed the media earlier today. And it wasn't about her own personal safety. It was about the three Japanese citizens who were killed in those terror attacks in Tunisia -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: It is a calling that there is some potential danger in it. Business as usual though for Caroline Kennedy, it appears. Anna Coren for us from Tokyo -- thank you. Still to come, victims of a massive hack attack on Target could get a pretty good payout. We'll have details next.