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Kurds Look Forward for U.S. Military Help Fighting ISIS; Vikings' Adrian Peterson Deactivated from Team; Pope Francis Warns of Perils of War; ISIS Recruiting Westerners; Is ISIS Dangerous for United States? Solar Storm May Disable Infrastructure on Earth
Aired September 13, 2014 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye in New York. John Kerry says destroying ISIS has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with wiping out a violent group fueled by hate. The secretary of state is on a swing through Arab states right now, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. He went there with a very specific request, join the growing coalition against ISIS. And the leaders of Arab nations are signing on. So far ten of them including Egypt home to a quarter of the world's Arabs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: ISIL claims to be fighting on behalf of Islam. But it actually has nothing to do with Islam. It is increasingly clear that its message of hate is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims all around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Let's go live now to far northern Iraq and our Anna Coren. Anna, it's about to get very, very busy where you are, the city of Irbil, the U.S. is about to base combat airplanes there for the first time since the withdrawal. Tell us how news of this growing coalition is being received where you are.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, certainly here in northern Iraq, Randi, the news is very much welcomed. They are looking for a partnership, a commitment from the United States, and they got that, and some. Obviously President Obama outlining his strategy to fight ISIS, not just here in Iraq but also in Syria, really welcome news to those who live up here. Because at the end of the day, these are the forces that are taking the fight directly to ISIS. It's the Kurds, the Peshmerga, as well as the Iraqi forces who are going to be the boots on the ground. President Obama making it perfectly clear there will be no U.S. combat forces.
But in saying that, they are an additional 475 U.S. soldiers who will be flown in. They will be assisting, advising, training, helping with intelligence gathering that takes the total number of U.S. Forces to 1,700 here in Iraq. And that role is critical. That leadership role has been lacking in the past few months as Iraq tries to fight ISIS. ISIS, we have to remember, now controls one-third of this country. And whilst obviously the U.S. airstrikes have really helped contain ISIS, it hasn't defeated them. They aren't retreating back to their strongholds. So that's why under the U.S. leadership that it's home to that - the Iraqis and the Kurds will come together and be able to be a far more effective force on the ground, Randi.
KAYE: Yeah, Certainly. Tell us what you've seen there in recent hours, I mean of the Kurdish forces fighting ISIS around Irbil, then has the tempo of that fight changed since the president revealed his strategy to defeat ISIS?
COREN: Look, I think it's fair to say that definitely everyone's feeling a lot more motivated about the mission ahead. There is a great deal of fighting happening not far from us here in Irbil as the Peshmerga try to push back and clean out many towns and villages that ISIS has taken control of. Mosul is the big problem. That just falls outside of Kurdistan's border and whilst that's not the responsibility of the Peshmerga, speaking to senior officials here, they say we do not want ISIS as a neighbor.
So, there are talks that they are prepared to work with the Iraqis to try and I guess tackle Mosul. But at the end of the day, as we all know, U.S. airstrikes, in which there have now been 160 today according to U.S. Central Command, we got that update a short time ago, U.S. airstrikes will be completely ineffective up there, because it is Iraq's second largest city, a population of more than, you know, 2 million people. This will be urban warfare. If you send in Sunnis or, I beg your pardon, if you send in Sunnis, Shias or Kurds to fight up there in a Sunni city, it will be a sectarian bloodbath, so that is where this Sunni uprising is required to really tackle ISIS in many of these towns and cities that they now control, Randi.
KAYE: Anna Coren, thank you very much. Appreciate your reporting there.
CNN spoke to the American general who once commanded all coalition forces in Afghanistan. Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal spoke about his former commander-in-chief, President Obama. Now, remember, he campaigned on the platform of ending U.S. conflicts abroad. General McChrystal told us that as the world changes, presidents change, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Has he changed?
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, (RET.) U.S. ARMY: I think every president changes in office and I think President Obama has established a record of being willing to do a number of counterterrorist operations around the world. I think that what we are now, though, is we are facing a big problem that may not be as easy to solve with what people want to say are very clean, surgical operations. It may well take more. And then the nation will have to decide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: General McChrystal appeared on CNN's "OUTFRONT" there with Erin Burnett. Pennsylvania's governor today ordered flags to fly half-staff in honor
of an officer killed in a shooting late last night. Corporal Byron K. Dickson was killed in an ambush outside the police barracks. Corporal Alex T. Douglass is reported in critical, but stable condition. The state police commissioner says the shooting has cut the police community to their core.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK NOONAN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: This is unbelievably heartbreaking to all of us. Both of them were young troopers. And the families and it's -- the only consolation we have right now is we are all working so hard we haven't had a chance really to deal with the emotions of this terrible act. But it is truly sad. And it's going to reverberate throughout law enforcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Police are interviewing what is described as a person of interest, but so far no arrests have been made.
Scandals continue to rock the NFL. Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson was released on bond today after being charged with child cruelty. His lawyer says Peterson used a switch to discipline his son, but that he never meant to harm the boy. The Texas attorney general says it was done with criminal negligence. The Vikings deactivated Peterson for tomorrow's game while the team gets some more information. Meanwhile former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice, showed up. Here you see him there, at a high school football game in New Rochelle, New York, this afternoon. You see him there with the whole family in tow. His former high school coach came to his defense saying Rice made a mistake and New Rochelle High School will always be his home.
Few world leaders have been as outspoken about ISIS as Pope Francis.
And now, he's speaking out against much more than that group. And you've heard about people joining ISIS, but who is actually recruiting them? We'll talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Another instance today of the world's catholic leaders stepping into the conversation over threats from ISIS. Pope Francis made some strong comments while on a visit to Italy's largest war memorial. He warned of a Third World War citing the potential for crimes, massacres, and destruction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS (through translator): War ruins everything. Even the bonds between brothers. War is irrational. Its only plan is to bring destruction. It seeks to grow by destroying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The Vatican has yet to officially confirm reports the pope will travel to Turkey and the Iraqi border in the coming months.
Reports of young men joining the fight with ISIS continue to pour in, but now we know more about who may actually be recruiting them. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's a 30-year-old with dangerous networking skills. Mourad Fares said to be a key recruiter for ISIS. He's a French national. Just handed over to the French by Turkish officials.
BERNARD CAZENEUVE, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER: This dangerous terrorist is known by our services and was on the ground during jihadist operations from July 2013 until this August.
TODD: in an interview in February, Fares talked about the people he lured to jihad. Ten young ones from Strasburg, two young ones from Toulouse, the 16-year-old girl and many others.
(on camera): How do they get teenagers to join groups like ISIS?
ARTURO MUNOZ, FORMER CIA OFFICER: They look for teenagers who are unsatisfied with their life. And they're unsatisfied with their prospects. They offer a sense of belonging. The whole idea that you are a jihadist, that you are part of this heroic jihadi community.
TODD (voice over): A CIA source says more than 15,000 foreign fighters from more than 80 countries have joined various jihadist groups in Syria. Of those, hundreds of Westerners are fighting for ISIS including maybe a dozen or more Americans. Well, produced, polished videos showing other Westerners who have joined are a powerful draw. This recent ISIS recruiting video shows a man identified as an American Abu Abdurahman al-Trinidadi saying join the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABU ABDURAHMAN AL-TRINIDADI: Please all believers come who can make it come, come to share as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Intelligence officials tell CNN ISIS targets disgruntled Sunni Muslims pushed to the sidelines in their countries and kids from poor neighborhoods. Are they paid to fight?
MUNOZ: So, after you pass their vetting and they are convinced that you really are a genuine recruit, then you formally become a member of ISISs and then you do get a salary.
TODD: Once in the fold part of the recruit's experience can be oddly civilized. One smuggler for ISIS told BuzzFeed correspondent Mike Giglio, he would pick up foreign recruits at the airport like a chauffeur. MIKE GIGILIO, CORRESPONDENT, BUZZFEED: And he would stand in the
arrivals and hold a (INAUDIBLE) signed with the Jihadi's name on it, and read them, pick them up and then drive them down to the border to be smuggled there.
TODD: Analysts say one reason groups like ISIS have slick, advanced recruiting tactics is because they have a hard time holding on to foreign recruits. Many of them end up leaving. A key reason experts say? They get worn down by the infighting between jihadist groups. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Obviously a war against ISIS includes some pretty huge risks, so does the threat at home justify war abroad? And is that threat here in the U.S. growing?
And about a quarter hour from now Sanjay Gupta, M.D. is live from Los Angeles. What you got coming up for us, Sanjay?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We got a pretty full show, Randi. We're also going to explain the enterovirus that's making a lot of kids sick across the country. What is it? What can you do about it? We'll have that at the bottom of the hour. More CNN "NEWSROOM" right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: With the help of highly produced pictures and video and social media spreading the message ISIS is a terror group making a terrifying march across Iraq and Syria, but are these militants a threat to Americans here at home? Retired General Stanley McChrystal talked to CNN's Erin Burnett about what he feels is the biggest threat to America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCHRYSTAL: But the number of foreigners, typically people of Middle Eastern descent who have gone from Europe or the United States to other places back into Syria or Iraq to join ISIS creates a pool of people likely to go home. So, that's one. That's the most obvious, ability to go back in to strike America or other parts of the world. I think that's a very real problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
