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Search for Missing UVA Student Still Ongoing; Manhunt for Cop Killer in PA; Activists March in NYC Today; Blair Says ISIS Fight Must be Waged; Rallying The World Against ISIS; Actress Makes Big Impact; National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month; New Mission to Mars

Aired September 21, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he sounds awfully confident, but all of those details are not being revealed as yet. This is a little bit of what the Charlottesville, Virginia police chief Timothy Longo said a bit ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA POLICE: I looked closer and she's walking with a man. I believe that man was Jesse Matthew. I really do. I believe Jesse Matthew and Hannah found their selves at the Tempo Restaurant. I believe that. Eyewitnesses told us that. And I believe Hannah Graham left the restaurant with Jesse Matthew. I believe that. In fact, I believe that Jesse Matthew was the last person she was seen with before she vanished off the face of the earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Police chief Timothy Longo there will all certainty saying that Jesse Matthew is someone they want to talk to but he is a few steps away from saying that he is an actual suspect. There have been something like 900 tips that have come in according to other representatives of law enforcement.

Now what as they wait for that forensic testing result that Longo said could be tomorrow? It could come Tuesday, but he's not really sure when.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think there are several layers of things that are happening. The investigation will continue. They do say that that they will not have the community volunteer any more. That they did so much this weekend. It will be a targeted search and rescue, a professional type of operation that will be very focused, very targeted. As you say, they are waiting for the forensic result and I think they are looking for Jesse Matthew and I think that they will be trying to arrest him.

Also, it was a little surprising. They were asking people in this community, in the county, that if you see any unusual tire tracks on your large plots of land, please let us know. So that call out was made to this community also. WHITFIELD: Now, Mr. Longo did not give extensively any kind of details about what kind of evidence may have been extracted from that vehicle or even his place of residence because apparently both places have been searched. We only know that there has been evidence that has been taken to the forensic lab. What kinds of evidence would that entail?

CASAREZ: What they're actually looking for among other things, not only her personal items to see DNA that may be on them other than hers, but they're looking for bodily fluids. That's one of the things they always look for. Blood, for instance.

And they can do preliminary tests at the scene but many times they send this away. Now we saw out of the apartment there were paper bags that were taken out. We didn't see mattresses, parts of dry wall, carpeting samples unless they were in the paper bag. But many times (INAUDIBLE) the forensic to find DNA, to find, they want to place lace her in that car and it's forensic analysis that can do that.

WHITFIELD: But customarily in a case like this with that kind of search, if there was evidence that would point towards a suspect, wouldn't they know that nearly right away? All of the evidence would not have to go to forensic lab? Often that evidence that goes to forensic lab may be information that would help back up their initial suspicions.

CASAREZ: They can do preliminary tests on a car to see if something tests positive or presumptively positive for blood but when you're looking at DNA testing that has to be done in a lab, that is something. And they want to have all their ducks in a row here. And so I think they are very methodical in how they are doing this but I do think it's interesting that they want to arrest him and have him in custody, potentially when the forensic results come back in.

WHITFIELD: And potentially arrested on something unrelated, which would be reckless driving.

CASAREZ: Which is not uncommon.

WHITFIELD: It is not uncommon. It seems awfully unusual here and you're saying no?

CASAREZ: This is very curious. I mean, what is curious about this is the name that has been released, the name that was repeated over and over again by the police department. Because we have seen other cases where the person they believe that it's wrong. That it's absolutely wrong. So I think that's what a lot of people are surprised at. Law enforcement many times keeps this information close to the vest but in this case they want to be transparent. I'm sure they have thought about this and this is their decision.

WHITFIELD: I'm sure it was the decision of John and Susan Graham, the parents of this young sophomore, to come forward. But at this time it would seem that, you know, this is certainly putting the family through a lot. Give me an idea of how this decision may have come about? Was it the feeling likely of John Graham to say I feel like it's very important to understand who she is or is this something that the police department might say this could really assist in a great way in the ongoing search by parents doing this?

CASAREZ: I think that they had numerous conversations about it but it's obvious they need more information. They need people to have their conscience take the better of them and realize they have to step forward with information. When you heard the plea of those parents asking anyone who saw their daughter distinctively dressed that night to come forward, I mean, that's a plea that many would not be able to ignore.

WHITFIELD: And the entire UVA community, to hear the emergency management department had, talking about - you know, it's the UVA community, it's the Charlottesville community, volunteers far and wide have been part of this investigation, what does it say that now there is a scaling back one week later of that effort?

CASAREZ: I think that they covered almost the entire area with these volunteers. I mean they were looking everywhere all week. And I saw them walking on the city streets, I saw them walking in the foliage around the community. And now I think they have to go with tips as we heard the chief say it's going to be focused, it's going to be targeted and it's going to be a professional search and rescue.

WHITFIELD: OK. And I think we were trying to rerack some of that interview from John Graham. Do we have that? All right. It looks like we're still working on that.

So I wonder, Jean, what is the next step in this investigation as they await whether this young man does step forward, voluntarily, with this now misdemeanor charge of reckless driving or at what point do they pursue him?

CASAREZ: Well at this point, they are intentionally going to arrest him on what they say is a reckless driving misdemeanor but you can only hold someone for so long. I do want to say the family of Jesse Matthew, they are here in Charlottesville and they are very concerned about this. It's a lovely family. And the friends of Jesse Matthew in this community, and I have been able to speak with a few of them, they're shocked. They say this is not that person. This person is a quiet person. This is not a person that would do something like this. I see shock on the faces of people that I have spoken to today that know him. That's one thing that makes this so curious.

WHITFIELD: Curious is the right word, Jean. All right. Let's listen to these heartbreaking words from John Graham with his wife, Susan, at his side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GRAHAM, FATHER OF HANNAH GRAHAM: If anyone could get through this, it is Hannah. I have been trying to frame my thoughts with the idea that every moment that passes, we are one moment closer to having Hannah back. Let's hope today is the day. A lovely message that we received this morning.

When I returned home from bringing Hannah back to Charlottesville for the beginning of term last month, I found that she had left this little guy behind. This is Hannah's favorite white rabbit, Bebe. He was given to Hannah by one of my friends when she was less than a week old. Bebe helped out in Tuscaloosa and he was Hannah's constant guardian, companion, friend and guardian angel until last month when she chose to return to Charlottesville without him. Constant companion that is except for about six months when Hannah was about three years old when he was lost at nursery. We found Bebe and brought him home to Hannah and us. All we want to do now is bring Hannah home safely. I appeal to anybody who knows anything, please, please, please help us. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. That from John Graham and Susan Graham, the mother. Clearly it was just too much anguish for her to be able to speak. So Jean, in cases like this, when you hear this kind of heartfelt plea, how does that help turn a case around potentially?

CASAREZ: I think it creates more attention for the case. People stop and they watch and they listen. And one thing that Mr. Graham said in the midst of all of this, he said they were searching yesterday. Nobody knew that. They haven't come forward but they were searching. I think that just has to touch the souls of the mothers and fathers. I mean I have spoken to mothers and fathers here. And they say we have to help. We had to come out. They're hoping to touch someone that knows something.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you so much. The family, the community, everyone hoping that some information leads to Hannah Graham, this missing sophomore at UVA. They're in Charlottesville. We will have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to the "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The other big story we're following out of Pennsylvania, the search intensifies for a suspected cop killer. Police continue to scour wooded areas and residences looking for Eric Matthew Frein. He's suspected of killing a state trooper one week ago and wounding another.

Here are the pictures of this suspect who is a self-described survivalist. We heard earlier from the authorities there out of Pike County who talked about how they are trying to narrow their search.

Alexandra Field was at that press conference. So Alexandra, while they are intensifying the search, at the same time they are asking residents to be vigilant to look for anything that is unusual while they have lifted that lock down, correct?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is correct, Fred. Because the suspect simply cannot be underestimated at this point. He has been on the run for nine days now but we are hearing quite a bit of confidence from Pennsylvania State Police who held a press conference here just a short while ago, announcing that they feel confident that they are moving in on their suspect. They are closely focused on an area that is just a few square miles. The larger search area? About 200 or 250 square miles.

But again, the bulk of their focus on an area that is just a few square miles. And for the first time we are hearing from Pennsylvania State Police today that they now have evidence which appears to show that they are on Frein's trail. They say that in a wooded are they have found AK-47 which they believe belong to Frein along with ammunition and magazines.

They say they also now have additional evidence after investigating for more than a week now that this is something that Frein had prepared and planned for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CO. GEORGE BURENS, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF OPERATIONS, PA STATE POLICE: Based on our investigation we know that Frein has prepared and planned extensively for months, maybe years. He planned his attack and his retreat. We believe we are closing in on him. Up until now his advantage has been that this is his backyard. That he knows this rugged terrain. Our tactical operations people now also know his backyard, the area he once felt safe in. We are pushing him hard. He is no longer safe and I am confident that he will be apprehended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: All right. The public does play a very large role in this, Fred. Because while police have lifted a shelter in place order, they are also asking people to remain vigilant. They're also asking people in this wider search area for help. They want to know any information that these people can share with police about the terrain that you just heard described. They want to hear from people if they are aware of any potential shelters, that they are aware of any potential bunkers. They really want people to come forward with any information that could be useful at this point.

There have been several reported sightings of Frein. Police tell us that they are running down all those leads, working to verify whether or not those were in fact sightings of the suspect. We're also hearing more from them about an encounter that happened on Friday night.

At that time we were told that police appeared to be surrounding an area where they believed that the suspect was. We also know that shots were fired sometime during the course of that night. Right now police are not linking these events together. They say there was no gunfire exchange with the subject. We want to be clear about that.

They do say that they have also heard the reports of shots fired, they cannot verify for us whether or not those shots were related to this search, but again they do want people to be cautious. They want people to be careful because this is an extensive search that is going on in a deeply wooded, thickly forested area. So everyone truly, Fred, has to continue to be vigilant even with this shelter in place order now lifted.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And then also he was underscoring, it's at the discretion of the school districts to determine whether indeed they should carry on with school as scheduled even given this ongoing manhunt. All right. Thanks so much. Alexandra Field, keep us posted.

All right. Meantime in cities around the world today. Activists are rallying for action on climate change. Tens of thousands filled the streets of Manhattan for the people's climate march, and among them celebrities and world leaders. In two days the United Nations will hold a summit on climate change.

Alison Kosik was there for today's march in New York City. A huge turnout earlier. Now it looks like it has dissipated a little bit. But nonetheless people are hoping their message kind of as a resilient, one, right?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No doubt about it, Fredricka. Their voices were heard. This was a massive protest that took five hours just to move through midtown Manhattan. We're standing here on an empty 6th Avenue New York City because the march is way down there. It's still marching through the city. Once again, this was several thousands of people marching for hours.

Why are they marching? They're trying to shine the light on the issue of the need to cut down on fossil fuels all around the globe. They're trying to get either countries to cut down on the use of fossil fuels or cut them out all together. And the timing is significant. This week starts the U.N. general assembly here in New York City.

And also the timing is significant because it was just a few days ago that some top meteorologists said that June, July, and August, during the summer that we had the hottest summer globally. So that adds more fuel to the marchers fire. On getting their message across. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then what about the star power because there was a lot behind the message today.

KOSIK: Oh yeah, Leonardo DiCaprio, Evangeline Lilly, Chris Rock, Mark Ruffalo, who I talked to, you know, with a lot of issues, especially with climate change, they bring out celebrities but a lot of the celebrities that showed up today, they really have carried this issue with them. I want you to listen to what Mark Ruffalo said to me earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Why is it important for you to be here today and lend your name to this? MARK RUFFALO, ACTOR: Because of my kids and who I love dearly. I see the world changing very quickly already and I want to see them - I want to do my best to give them the best world that they deserve to have and that I was fortunate to come up into.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: And I talked with lots of activists out here as well and they say the point of this march is to build momentum to a big climate change conference that is happening in Paris of next year. Now they do say that there is going to be no agreement that's going to be signed during the U.N. meeting this week but once again it is about momentum. I want you to hear what one activist had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKEN PATEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AVAAZ: Yes. We're seeing droughts, massive droughts across the midwest, in California. We're seeing storms that are devastating the East Coast and the gulf coast. We are seeing flooding that has threatened this city and many others. All of those (INAUDIBLE) but it is just a taste test of what's to come if we don't urgently reverse course and the solution is so clear to get to 100 percent clean energy in every economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Also taking part in today's march, U.N. secretary general Ban- ki Moon, Al Gore as well. They will be prominent faces clearly at the U.N. general assembly this week. Interestingly enough, a footnote here, the U.S. has actually made great strides in getting a handle on carbon emissions because this country seems to be using more natural gas instead of coal to make electricity but many people out here marching say it's just not enough. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alison Kosik, thanks so much for bringing that to us.

Straight ahead, debating the best way to stop ISIS. Two CNN military analysts don't necessarily see eye to eye on everything and how it should be done. But they join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday. he's expected to rally world support in the fight against ISIS. Fareed Zakaria sat down with former president Bill Clinton and asked him about the horrific beheadings and executions by ISIS militants. He asked Clinton if the executions are designed to bait the U.S. into a protracted conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL CLINTON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: No. But there's a difference in, for example, using targeted drones and air strikes as we did against Al Qaeda effectively for years to try to take down their leadership and infrastructure and let them know that they can't just decapitate people for the cheap thrill of global media response and get away with it and getting bogged down in the kind of war they would like us to get bogged down in that would cost us a lot of lives and a lot of treasure and inevitable lead to greater civilian casualties which is why I think the president's strategy has a chance of succeeding because the Iraqi government is more inclusive than it has been since the fall of Saddam Hussein and that seems to be awakening the willingness of Sunni travel leaders to participate in traveling.

We know the Kurds and the (INAUDIBLE) are willing to fight. If we can help them and support them, I think the larger fight against ISIS can continue as it should, as a local struggle for the freedom and liberty of the people.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": You talked about the Iraq part of the strategy, which strikes me that you're right. It's viable. There's an Iraqi army. It could be more better, made more effective if you were a loyalist and made more professional officers in and more inclusive. That's the Kurdish forces.

The Syria part is the real puzzle.

CLINTON: Much harder.

ZAKARIA: Because you know, this is fierce civil war in which the stakes are very high. Generally moderates don't do well in those circumstances. The Turks have been trying to stand up moderate Syrians for a long time. How do you think we should handle it?

CLINTON: Well, I support giving the forces that we most closely identify with greater capacity to fight ISIS. The whole question about Syrian government is really academic between Iranians and the Russians and others have given them enough money and military capacity and knew what they had to do.

ZAKARIA: So do you think Assad is going to stay?

CLINTON: I don't know. But I think that the worst enemy right now is ISIS. And I don't think we should be in a position directly coordinating with or cooperating with Assad, but I think we all recognize what would happen if ISIS had a monster like state that included most of Syria and Iraq. But I don't - I think therefore that when the president said we would cooperate with moderate Syrian forces, they're the only people we have to try to empower there to do their part in this struggle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Former President Bill Clinton speaking out on the fight against ISIS. So will the U.S. or the UK eventually have to put boots on the ground to defeat ISIS? Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley spoke with former Prime Minister Tony Blair on "State of the Union" about the fight against ISIS and the president's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY BLAIR, FMR. UK PRIME MINISTER: The president is absolutely right to take on ISIS and to build the broadest possible coalition. So he and Secretary Kerry, I think have put together I think round about 50 countries now as part of this coalition. We got absolutely no choice but to do this, not just in order to contain and then destroy the onward march of ISIS but also to send a very strong signal to the other terrorist groups operating in region and beyond the region that we intend to take action and intend to see it through.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So do you think this plan is going to do it? Basically, both the U.S. and Britain have the U.S. particularly has committed to aerial assaults in Iraq for sure. In Syria, possibly later on. It seems your country is moving that way, both ruling out putting combat troops on the ground. Is that enough to get rid of ISIS?

BLAIR: You certainly need to fight groups like ISIS on the ground. It is possible that those people who are there locally and who have the most immediate interest in fighting ISIS can carry on the ground offensive against them. Look, this will evolve over time and I'm sure that the leadership both in the U.S. and elsewhere will make sure that whatever is necessary to defeat ISIS is done. I think, by the way, no one is talking there's no need to put in kind of an army of occupation. You're not re-running Iraq or Afghanistan but I think that we will undoubtedly be over time a need to hit ISIS, not simply through an aerial campaign but also on the ground. The question will be can those people if they're supported locally, can they do that job or will we have to supplement that?

CROWLEY: Still an open question. Let me talk to you about the heartbreak we're now hearing another plea from yet another British family to ISIS saying, please don't execute this man of peace. And we're also -- the heartbreak it seems to me particularly in Britain at this point must be worse because we're pretty sure that the man who is murdering these people is also British.

Explain to me why do so many British citizens seem to have joined up with ISIL because Britain has one of the larger amounts of citizens that have gone over to join the fight in Syria with ISIS and others.

BLAIR: Well, first of all, the way these hostages are abused and subject to this grotesque form of public parade and then execution, it's just -- it's horrific. It's evil and it's totally contrary to the principles of any form of religious faith.

The question you asked about how many British borne jihadists are going from Britain to fight in Syria? The estimates are several hundred have gone there. This is not unfortunately, though, a problem just for Britain. Most European countries also have foreign fighters there. Just a few weeks ago there was a terrorist plot foiled in Norway from returning jihadist fighters from Syria.

These are a small number of people that we've drawn massive -- the Muslim community in the UK will be absolutely horrified and appalled by this and condemn it completely.

(CROSSTALK)

CROWLEY: Sure, but --

BLAIR: And but --

CROWLEY: My question really goes to the why, rather than the numbers, simply because if you're sitting in Britain or you're sitting in the United States or you're sitting in Norway, life isn't -- from the outside you think life's not that bad. Why would you go join this war and behead people?

BLAIR: Right. This is an excellent question and one we've got to answer very clearly. I mean, these people aren't going because they are mistreated back in the UK. They are given the benefit of a free education, free health care. They are given all the benefits of -- the freedom that come living in a country like Britain.

These people are -- have been subject to an ideology that's come from aboard that unfortunately is not just limited to Britain but is right around the world today. It's an ideology based on a complete perversion of the proper faith of Islam. But it is powerful. It is proselytize and preached by people in mosques, in madrazas, not just in countries like Pakistan and parts of the Middle East and parts of Africa, but even back in parts of Britain.

And one of the things that we've got to look at as a country is how do you root this kind of teaching out and make it absolutely clear that it is completely unacceptable to teach these forms of extremism, whether in a form of school setting or an informal school setting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Tony Blair suggesting ground troops just might be needed in the ISIS fight.

And still ahead, debating the best way to stop ISIS. Two CNN military analysts don't necessarily see eye-to-eye on how it could be done. They join me, though, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Back now to the battle to fight the terrorist group ISIS. President Obama has said the U.S. can destroy ISIS without engaging U.S. troops in another ground war in the Middle East. But not everyone agrees with that.

I want to bring in two of our military analysts who view the challenge of defeating ISIS from different angles. Major General Spider Marks and Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

All right. So, General Hertling, you know, this week the president will try to win universal support. Is it a worry if the U.S. were to carry out these airstrikes alone?

LT. GEN. MARK HURTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it would be worrisome if we didn't get additional coalition partners joining in on that, Fredricka. That's a critical piece. This is a worldwide issue. And I think the emphasis so far is building the coalition. We've already seen France participate and I think we need to see many more.

WHITFIELD: And so, General Marks, is it worrisome if there aren't more who commit to airstrikes?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think the worrisome part is that we haven't made the case if the coalition partners don't join the coalition to try to achieve an in-state, then we've got a challenge on our hands. However. there still is a requirement to achieve an in-state that has ISIS out of Iraq and the Iraqi government in Baghdad achieving some degree of relevance in its ability to move forward now that it has a new government in place.

So the worrisome part is not necessarily in terms of the impact on the ground. It has to do with whether the rest of the world embraces this as a challenge.

WHITFIELD: And then you've got this internal debate as so many have been talking about ground forces. It may be customary to -- take place in private but then perhaps seen as problematic when it comes into public view.

So, Major General Marks, you know, did General Martin Dempsey undercut the president by being so public about that dissent?

MARKS: You know, I think he did. General Dempsey commands the facts and he commands the room. He is an intellectual warrior leader. A first rate individual and a magnificent chairman.

He's exceptionally glib and when asked by the Senate whether there might be contingencies that soldiers or some form of ground forces would be required on the ground he answered in a way and then he gave an example that said yes, possibly that would be the case.

My suggestion certainly would have been, General Dempsey, keep that to yourself. Planning can be done and is always done in a secret, in a rather closed way. He didn't need to answer the Senate's questions with that degree of detail. But certainly that's his job. He has to do that. He didn't have to do it publicly.

WHITFIELD: And General Hertling, do you agree with that especially leading up to, you know, the eve of this U.N. Security Council speech by the president?

HERTLING: Well, I think Spider and I agree on just about everything and that's one thing we disagree on. I think General Dempsey did exactly what he needed to do. He needed to show that yes, we're considering what might happen next. That's what we depend on our chairman to do. And I agree with everything Spider said. This is one smart guy. I have known Marty Dempsey for a very long time. And he's the best we could have in this position.

He also knows the area. Remember, he commanded a division in Iraq. He helped train the Iraqi army at one point. He spent over five years of his life there and I think he knows what might have to happen next and he is preparing the American people for this long war with some potential branches and sequels to the original plan.

WHITFIELD: And Major General Marks, you know, this morning -- this week, former Defense Secretary Gates says that ground forces has to happen. Do you agree?

MARKS: Yes, I do. And the preparation of what the horizon looks like, how long this might take, clearly is the job of the administration and primarily the job of the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief, to galvanize the nation to say look, this might be a long haul. In fact it's going be a long haul. And this may be generational. Clearly the president is going to have to hand this off to his successor and maybe that success is going to have to hand this thing off.

That's not the job of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs is to provide the president the best military counsel completely transparently as he can. My only concern is that is a very private conversation. He needs to take those.

WHITFIELD: And then, General Hertling, I know you don't like the term boots on the ground. So as we talk about, you know, ground forces, everything from, you know, spotters to advisors on the ground, is it -- do you see that inevitably it will mean that they will have to engage in a conflict?

HERTLING: Well, there -- again, I agree with Spider. You certainly have to have ground forces. It just depends on where those ground forces come from.

And, Fredricka, having spent several years of my life in this area, I remember one time when I was talking to the provincial governor of Diyala, one of the provinces in the north, and he said, you know what the problem is with the Americans? You want this more than we do. And until we want it more than you, we can't win here.

And I think what we have to see is -- and what the president is pushing is the Iraqi government to stand up where as they did have the new replacement for the prime minister and the president this week, they still do not have a minister of defense. They still do not have -- which is supposed to be a Sunni. They still do not have a minister of the Interior, the one that controls the police forces and secures the people, that is supposed to be a Shia.

So they still have some problems facing them. And until they get their act together in terms of driving that and providing security for all Iraqi people, I don't think our ground forces should be the priority or even be considered as the major force going in.

WHITFIELD: All right. Major General Spider Marks and Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, good to see both of you. Appreciate it.

HERTLING: Thank you, Fredricka.

MARKS: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back right after this. Wait, but first, sorry about that. You may know her as a quirky

detective "Veronica Mars" or maybe you know her as the voice of Anna in the movie "Frozen."

Well, Chris Cuomo says when she's away from Hollywood, actress Kristen Bell is making an impact on the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN BELL, ACTRESS: It's so basic. Water is the only thing that everybody needs.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY (voice-over): Actress Kristen Bell says she was alarmed to learn that hundreds of millions of people don't have access to clean water so she found a unique way to try to change that.

BELL: For my 30th birthday I handed it over to Charity Water. The water crisis is vast but we can solve it. They have a spectacular program where you give up your birthday and you basically create a Charity Water page and you ask your friends instead of a present to donate building a well for people that are in need of access to clean water.

Together you and I raised $100,000.

CUOMO: Charity Water partners with groups already on the ground to build wells and rain collection systems. 100 percent of the profits go towards these projects.

BELL: There are so many aftershocks of positivity, one of which is being they are really focused on gender equality. So the committees that are put together to oversee the maintenance of the specific wells are often headed by women. It creates a whole different dynamic in the village.

Impacting someone you don't know is such a next level karma of paying it forward. My mom taught me that you have two hands for a reason. One is yours and one is to help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. It's National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And it's estimated that more than 10,000 kids under the age of 15 will be diagnosed this year alone. But one CNN Hero is helping kids kick cancer with power, peace, and purpose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.

RABBI ELIMELECH GOLDBERG, CNN HERO: When children get a diagnosis like cancer or any major disease, they lose any sense of feeling that they are controlling their lives. They are prodded and poked and they are often so afraid.

Our daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. She was such an incredible little soul who taught me about the power that's inside of ourselves.

Are you ready?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GOLDBERG: OK. Begin.

After our daughter passed away I started a program that provides classes to children who are sick to teach them the martial arts and make them feel powerful.

Every single type of martial arts uses the breath to take control.

I'm a black belt in Choi Kwang Do. We use the martial arts as a platform for meditation, for relaxation, to allow children to gain these tools to really face down so much of the fear, the anger that accompanies pain.

Breathe in.

And you can see the light on their face. I feel like their souls are shining.

Hey, you did it.

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WHITFIELD: And an epic mission to mars is underway right now. A NASA spacecraft is set to arrive at the red planet tonight.

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WHITFIELD: NASA's latest Mars spacecraft Maven is set to reach its destination tonight.

Here's CNN's Chad Myers with the "Science Behind" this epic journey.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: NASA is back in the news this week awarding two contracts, one to Boeing, one to SpaceX, to get Americans back to the space station by 2017.

Something else, though, that's happening tonight? Maven is going to arrive at the red planet. Now is this going to be the next step to a colony of Mars? Well, maybe but maybe a very baby step.

I talked to Dr. Jim Green of NASA about their latest adventure.

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DR. JAMES GREEN, DIRECTOR, NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE: Ten months ago on November we launched Maven flawlessly. The rocket footage right on the correct trajectory, straight trajectory to Mars. As we get there on Sunday, we're going to reorient the spacecraft, we're going to fire our thrusters, and that's going to slow us down. And we hope that will be enough that Mars' gravity will capture us and put us in orbit.

The spacecraft will then unfurl its instruments and start making major measurements out on the solar wind all the way down to the upper atmosphere of Mars.

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MYERS: So with Mars Curiosity already on the surface of the red planet, why do we need a spacecraft in its atmosphere?

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GREEN: Way in its past, several billion years, we believe Mars had rivers, lakes, and even oceans. It had an atmosphere that was much more extensive than it is now. And so Mars, way back when it looked much more like Earth than it does today, you know, one of the things that Curiosity found was that by measuring certain isotopes and how out of whack they seemed to be, it really indicated that Mars lost an enormous amount of atmosphere. And then there's plenty of indication that Curiosity is in an ancient river bed. And so where did all that water go?

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MYERS: So billions of years ago, Mars was wet, had an atmosphere, and looked like Earth. So billions of years from now, could earth look like Mars?

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GREEN: Well, you know, that's one of the things that we study. These terrestrial planets are very similar. Earth and Mars in particular. And what happens on Mars could happen on Earth. You know, all the -- all the questions we want to answer about how Mars and its upper atmosphere interacts with the solar wind could be very important in our history.

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MYERS: OK. So we're not talking about climate change, global warming, El Nino or any other short-term event. NASA is researching the natural evolution of planets, billions of years in the making, and for the Earth still hopefully billions of years in the future.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Chad Myers.

Hey, thanks so much to you for spending part of your Sunday with us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, the next hour of the NEWSROOM begins right after a short break with Ana Cabrera in New York.

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