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ISIS Claims Another Execution of American Journalist

Aired September 02, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN. Got some breaking news for you this afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We have to begin with this video. This is a video. This is according to ISIS, or they call themselves the Islamic State. They released this video today. And this terrorist organization has beheaded another American, Steven Sotloff.

This video has a title. That is "A Second Message to America," and it appears to show the brutal execution of the 31-year-old American journalist. Sotloff disappeared while reporting in Syria last year.

We need to be clear here, as we're getting new information. At this point, the Pentagon is not confirming any reports on Steven Sotloff. Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby was just asked about that at the Pentagon briefing last hour. This is his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We have all seen press reporting about the potential murder by ISIL of Mr. Sotloff.

I don't have anything to confirm it today. Obviously, we're monitoring as best we can. And our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the Sotloff family, who has endured incredible hardship and suffering just by virtue of his captivity and being held hostage. But I can't confirm those press reports right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: British Prime Minister David Cameron has released a statement. He's saying Sotloff's apparent death is -- quote -- "an absolutely disgusting and despicable act."

Cameron is expected to make a further statement later tonight. And keep in mind just the context of this second beheading. It was two weeks ago in another video ISIS threatened to kill Steven Sotloff -- and we saw him in that video in that orange jumpsuit -- if President Obama did not back off on U.S. airstrikes in Iraq. And it was that video that showed the murder of American freelance journalist James Foley.

In this video that we're focusing on today involving Steven Sotloff in the final moments of his life, Sotloff spoke directly into the camera. He said he is -- quote -- "paying the price for U.S. intervention>" And considering he was a captive, it is likely that those words were scripted for him by ISIS, by these terrorists.

Sotloff's mother made a desperate plea for her son's life just last week. In her video message, Shirley Sotloff spoke directly to the leader of ISIS, saying her son was not responsible for American actions in Iraq.

So, joining me now, correspondent Karl Penhaul. He is live in London. He's seen this video.

We will begin with you, Karl.

Also standing by at the White House, we have Athena Jones, also terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank, and Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad.

So, let me begin, Karl, first with you. You have seen this video. Tell me what you saw.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a video of about two minutes and 45, Brooke. Of course, we see Steven Sotloff once again in this orange jumpsuit, the style of uniform that Guantanamo Bay prisoners would have worn.

We also see the man holding a combat knife in his left hand. This appear to be the very same man that appeared in the James Foley execution video two weeks ago as well. From what we can tell, these two videos do not appear to have been filmed at the same time. They are filmed in a very similar style. Seems that both were filmed with two separate cameras, giving us two different camera angles.

But there are a number of differences that indicate that the Sotloff video was filmed much more recently. First of all, look at Sotloff himself. In the video two weeks ago, his head was pretty much shaven and he didn't have much of a beard. In the video today, he's got a lot more hair on his head and the stubble of a beard growth as well.

A number of days have definitely passed there. Also, the man speaking in a British accent or apparently a British accent refers to bombings around the Mosul dam, but, more importantly, around the northeastern Iraqi attorney around Amirli.

Well, that bombing campaign, as Admiral Kirby said in the Pentagon press briefing just a few moments ago, took place late Saturday into Sunday, and so if the audio and video was recorded at the same time, that would put this video, the timing of it and the timing of Steven Sotloff's execution at some time just after Sunday.

Also importantly, in this video, we hear the executioner waving his knife and saying, "Obama, back off, just leave us alone," and then we see him grabbing another apparent hostage by scruff of the neck, a man that they -- that the ISIS propaganda video names as a Briton, David Cawthorne Haines, the implication there that he's next on the list, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You mentioned the Mosul dam and also the airstrikes over the weekend in Amirli, and the masked terrorist holding that knife mentions exactly that and we have a little bit of audio. I just want to air this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of your insistence of continuing your bombings in Amirli and in Mosul dam, despite our serious warnings, you, Obama, have yet again, through your actions, killed yet another American citizen.

So, just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It is chilling. It is maddening to listen to this.

Paul Cruickshank, let me just bring you in, hearing again a similar thick British accent as what we heard in the James Foley beheading video, your read on this?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Brooke, this is not just a message to the United States, to the White House, but also a message to ISIS' supporters around the world, their extremist supporters, and that message is that we're fighting back, we're not going to take this lying down an, this is going to be the way we will retaliate for U.S. strikes in Iraq.

So, this is clearly also for propaganda purposes for ISIS, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We have just actually gotten a message from Steven Sotloff's family. It's brief, but let me just read this for you.

This is from the spokesman. And they have said the family knows of the video and is grieving privately. The family is awaiting the authentication of the video. And so that is happening within the intelligence community. Again ,this just based upon what we're reporting, what we see in this ISIS video, the family and presumably the White House, State Department waiting for the authentication of the video as well.

Jomana, let me just go to you in Baghdad as we're talking and just to pull back for a minute and give our viewers perspective. When we talk about these airstrikes, this is the most recent round of airstrikes in Iraq. It was over the weekend in Amirli, correct?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke.

Those airstrikes were a game changer. Amirli was besieged for more than two months. The U.N. warned of a massacre that would happen if ISIS managed to get into the town. People in there were defending themselves. The Iraqi military and Shia militias had been mobilized to go and break that siege of Amirli, but they were having real difficulty getting there.

The areas around in Salahuddin province, that's north of Baghdad, had been under the control of ISIS since June. They were facing a lot of resistance. And on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, when we saw those U.S. airstrikes, the U.S. said those were in conjunction with the aid drops to facilitate the humanitarian mission.

But within a few hours of that, Brooke, the siege of Amirli ended and Iraqi forces and Shia militia entered the town. Really these airstrikes in the areas where we have seen them taking place have been a game changer, allowing these troops on the ground to make advances and to roll back the gains of ISIS.

BALDWIN: So a game changer over the weekend, part of this greater, larger airstrike campaign that we have seen playing out in Iraq, but not in Syria.

Let me just pivot to you at the White House, Athena Jones, because you see this ISIS fighter, this terrorist speaking once again directly to the president saying essentially back off, back off of these airstrikes. The president has been criticized, particularly when he spoke at the White House after meeting with his national security team last Thursday. When asked specifically about potential airstrikes in Syria, the president said he didn't want to put the cart before the horse, that he had no strategy and he's been criticized since.

What is the White House response to all of this?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, the reports of the killing, the second beheading of an American journalist, were coming out during the White House press briefing.

And so White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded during the briefings to those reports. If we have that, let's go ahead and play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I have not seen those reports today.

That may have just happened in the last few minutes while I have been standing up here. This is something that the administration has obviously been watching very carefully since this threat against Mr. Sotloff's life was originally made a few weeks ago.

Our thoughts and prayers, first and foremost, are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr. Sotloff's family and those who worked with him. The United States, as you know, has dedicated significant time and resources to trying and rescue Mr. Sotloff.

I am not in a position to confirm the authenticity of that video or the reports at this point, obviously since I just walked out here. But this is -- if there is a video that has been released, it's something that will be analyzed very carefully by the U.S. government and our intelligence officials to determine its authenticity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And of course the community is working as fast as they can to try to confirm this.

But just as we heard the video described by Karl Penhaul, it sounds very similar to the video we saw just under two weeks ago, the beheading of James Foley. And so we'd be surprised of course if is not authenticated and it's going to talk about the pressure we have been talking about, the pressure now from both sides of Congress on this president to put together a plan. He's now hearing from even folks like Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioning whether he's taking too cautious an approach to figuring out how to deal with ISIS not just in Iraq, but also in Syria -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Athena, thank you so much. Sorry. I was just getting some news in my ear that we're now beginning to get statements from previous employers of Steven Sotloff. We will share those for you on the other side of the break.

But, quickly, if I may, Paul Cruickshank, let me just come back to you for one more point, because in the wake of the first beheading of the American, of James Foley, you know, we started to discuss -- and I just think it's worth reminding viewers the U.S. policy when it comes to not paying ransoms for these Americans, for these prisoners held by these organizations like ISIS, because we know a number of Europeans are held hostage and certain European nations, for example, Spain, they are willing to pay millions to rescue their own.

Why is that?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, you will have to ask them that very same question and they have certainly been criticized that this is incentivizing terrorist groups to take Europeans hostage because it can be a big moneymaking thing for them.

Over the last five years, al Qaeda and its affiliates have raised over $100 million from these kind of kidnappings. So, ISIS has clearly got into this business as well. There was big ransom demand for some of these Americans which we saw, Brooke, a few weeks ago.

BALDWIN: Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much. Athena, Karl, I thank all of you here as we continue our breaking coverage.

I have Brian Stelter just waiting in the wings. He's getting some new information, some comments, as I mentioned, from Steven Sotloff -- we have a statement from the family spokesperson and also learning a little bit more about Steven Sotloff, 31-year-old from Florida, what previous employers are sharing with us here at CNN in the wake of the news, according to this ISIS video, he's been beheaded.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As you continue to follow the breaking news here on CNN, I just wanted to take a moment to talk a little bit more about what we're learning about Steven Sotloff, this American journalist who, according to this most recent ISIS video, has been beheaded. Steven Sotloff was a 31-year-old who grew up in South Florida with his

mother, his father, his younger sister. He studied journalism, majoring in journalism at the University of Central Florida. He took Arabic classes and subsequently picked up freelance writing work for a bunch of publications, including "TIME" magazine, "Foreign Policy," "World Affairs," and "The Christian Science Monitor."

His travels took him to Yemen, to Saudi Arabia, to Qatar, to Turkey and then eventually to Syria. Just getting more information here on Steven Sotloff the man, the journalist, the son, I want to bring in Brian Stelter. He's our senior media correspondent and host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

And so just again, in case you're just tuning in, let me just briefly read. We have heard from a family spokesman from the Sotloffs again saying that the family knows of the video and is grieving privately. And they're awaiting the official authentication of the video.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: We will hear more from the family once --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: -- receive more confirmation.

BALDWIN: What are you hearing from former employers?

STELTER: "TIME" magazine just put out a statement saying of course how shocked and deeply saddened they are.

I want to read a part of it, if I can, from Nancy Gibbs, the editor.

BALDWIN: Sure.

STELTER: And she wrote: "Steven was a valued contributor to 'TIME' and other news organizations, and he gave his life so readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

I just want to underline the point about giving readers access to information from these countries. You were listing some of the countries he reported from. He was eager when he was in school, when he was at the University of Central Florida to leave school and to go to the Middle East and to start covering these stories of, in some cases, the oppressed people that ISIS claims wrongly to represent.

BALDWIN: That's exactly what his mom, Shirley, said in that video.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Every murder that ISIS commits is horrible to see. And there have been others, Syrians and others murdered, executed there. But to see a journalist who was there to tell their stories executed, really, I just -- it's worth underscoring, that that's what he was there to do. He was there to tell their stories.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And you had a -- you cover media, social media here at CNN and you had a family representative of the Sotloffs reach out to you last week asking for help.

STELTER: Last week, this was -- for a year after Steven went missing in Syria, there was a lid on his story. That means the press, any members of press who knew about it didn't talk about his disappearance because the family thought he would be safer if his disappearance wasn't publicized.

But once he was shown in that ISIS video, they had no choice but to be public about it.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: And of course when that happens, the family employs various people at various places to try to manage the situation.

So I had a person reach out to me and say, we need to reach someone at Twitter to get some tweets taken down that we believe might jeopardize his safety.

BALDWIN: As recent as last week.

STELTER: And that was last week.

And I think what we will hear about in the coming days is other efforts that were going on behind the scenes to secure his release, in the same way that we heard that James Foley's employers were trying to come up with the ransom money that ISIS had demanded. Of course it seemed afterwards as if ISIS wasn't -- was going to go through with their plans regardless of whether that money came through or not.

But I think we will hear more about those efforts and it seems like the family will have more to say once they have heard more.

BALDWIN: We're getting a little bit more. Let me just read this.

We're just -- the control room just telling me Steven Sotloff's high school has just released a statement. This is a statement from Kimball Union High School in Maryland. And in part this is what they write about Steven: "Steven was dedicated to putting a human face on the sufferings and hardships in some of the world's most challenging conflict zones. His work became a humanitarian mission that helped others gain a more accurate and realistic global perspective on issues in the Middle East."

Exactly to your point.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: And we should mention that when we're showing images on screen of Steven Sotloff, we're trying to show images of his life. BALDWIN: Yes.

STELTER: There are a couple of still images that we have chosen to show from the videotape that was put online, but for the most part, we are showing images like these, as we should, celebrating the person he was and the work he was doing and the reporting he was doing.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Even Web sites that typically show these terrible videos, Web sites that exist just to show gory videos, some of them, LiveLeak.com, for example, said we're not going to show any more of these beheading videos.

They serve no purpose. There's no reason to be showing them and of course news organizations go a step further and they say, like CNN, we're only going to show a couple of still images and not of the actual beheading because there's really no need or reason to be seeing that.

BALDWIN: Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

More coverage of the life of Steven Sotloff after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You are watching CNN breaking news here and the apparent murder of American journalist Steven Sotloff. This is according to the latest ISIS video just released in the last hour or so.

And no doubt that this killing will bring the same kind of chill to war reporters as James Foley's beheading did two weeks ago.

My next guest is a peer of Sotloff and Foley. Michael Weiss, columnist for "Foreign Policy" magazine, editor-in-chief of "The Interpreter," joins me live from Kiev in Ukraine, which is according to this president -- quote -- "in full-scale war."

We were planning, Michael, to talk to you about what is happening with Russia and Ukraine, but we have to talk about this latest video here.

First, did you know Steven Sotloff? What can you share about that?

MICHAEL WEISS, "FOREIGN POLICY": No, unfortunately, I'm sorry that I didn't know him.

But I knew his body of work and I certainly -- among journalists, he was held in very high esteem. He had written a few articles for "Foreign Policy," a publication that I'm a columnist at. He was very well-respected.

It's just another grave tragedy, and I'm sorry to say I think this was almost inevitable. I don't think anything that the United States could have done would have stopped ISIS from doing it. They have a very specific strategy, which is to inspire and provoke fear and a sense of menace in the United States and in the West. I think it's also interesting -- this is speculation, but they didn't

do this or release this video yesterday, probably knowing that this was a national holiday. It was Labor Day and most Americans are switched off and they are not paying attention to the international news.

Remember, ISIS, the guys that are running their media campaign, they put out publications in fluent French, English, German, every kind of language imaginable. They are very savvy and sophisticated and this all goes towards their larger propaganda effort.

Again, people in the West have a hard time getting their heads around this, given how barbaric such activity and behavior is. But this is designed to recruit. More people will want to join the ranks as a result of this video.

BALDWIN: That's exactly what other terrorism analysts have been saying to me on the show, that this is total propaganda and this is a recruitment message for whoever that could be out there.

But it's interesting you point out that they would have held this potentially off because of Labor Day, that they would be thinking like that, because they knew they would have a bigger American audience today. We know that this black-masked terrorist with the knife was speaking and had a direct message to Barack Obama, but you also say this is an overarching message to the West.

WEISS: Yes. Sure.

It's the same methodology as the James Foley beheading video, in fact, probably the same guy doing the beheading and addressing the camera, a British citizen, right? According to "The Guardian" newspaper, which reported after the Foley murder, this is part of a three-man ring of British national jihadis known as the Beatles for their country of origin.

They speak fluent English. They're talking to a society from which they come from. They are addressing the West. They are saying, we have rejected your way of life, we have rejected your civilization. We have now joined this radical transnational terrorist army/state and coming soon to a theater near you.

That is the message that they are trying to underscore with this.

BALDWIN: You are in Kiev. We know President Barack Obama is headed to Estonia before going to this--

WEISS: Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: The stakes are huge obviously at this NATO meeting in Wales, but just speaking about the greater sense of this global affairs, what is happening where you are, Russia, Ukraine, and now with ISIS, the stakes were already obviously high.

But how does this beheading of the second American -- and, by the way, there was a second person in the Steven Sotloff video, we should point. How does this news change the equation and the priorities for the president at this meeting Thursday?

WEISS: Well, he's probably in the least enviable position of world leaders, juggling the Ukraine crisis, and also trying to reassure European allies that the United States and NATO has a deterrent capability should Russia decide to invade other countries, and now this crisis in the Middle East, which has a direct effect.

Remember, Obama's foreign policy is rooted in a very simple principle or sort of understanding, which is unless it directly affects the American national interest, it's really not our problem and we shouldn't be involved. Well, now two American citizens have been killed.

So, clearly, ISIS has become our problem. Also, just on a final point there, he's going to Estonia. I think it was very interesting that President Ilves, the president of Estonia, who is raised and educated in the United States and is very amenable to American audiences, the other day he tweeted, calling what Russia has done to Ukraine a -- quote -- "invasion."

And, actually, of all these statements from Western officials that I have seen or Western leaders, his was the most robust and he actually referred to the separatists as terrorists, which is how the Ukrainian government refers to them.

So I think, from Estonia, a very small nation of about a million people, a recent NATO ally, very vulnerable to attack from Russia, OK -- and Russia has already made noises about trying to stoke up separatist unrest and discontent in -- in Estonia, which has a sizable Russian minority population -- the president needs to emphasize and affirm, thus far and no further; Russia better not even think about it.