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ISIS Propaganda; Preventing Military Suicides

Aired February 23, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We have more disturbing video from the ISIS propaganda machine. It shows the group brainwashing what it calls ISIS cubs. This is what they call them, jihadists in training. These are children as young as 5 years of age.

Now, CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of this video here, but it shows what appears to be captured -- these are Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers in the orange jumpsuits in cages. They are paraded through the streets, the fate of these men here unknown.

But what's known is the fact that ISIS may be facing a new enemy on the front lines, a united Arab force, because Egypt says it's in talks with its Mideast neighbors, figuring out a military strategy to take down ISIS.

Let me bring in Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst and former Delta Force commander.

So, welcome to you.

JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I had a fantastic expert on last hour who was saying, Brooke, the idea is great on paper, but the notion of having Jordan, UAE, Egypt, with a storied past of issues, that this realistically is not possible.

REESE: Sure.

I disagree some. Well, first off, there already is an Arab force called Peninsula Shield. It's where the GCC countries -- so that's the countries on the Persian peninsula, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait -- that's been formed for a long time and it works together. It's a 40,000-man force.

Your last guest, yes, strategically, it sounds great on paper. Tactically, it can be a problem. But naysayers will be naysayers. And I think it's great that President Sisi is pushing this.

BALDWIN: Yes.

REESE: We have seen the president of Jordan, King Abdullah, he's pushing it now. For us, this is what we want. We want them to do this. What we should now become is, let's help coach, teach and mentor them together to do it.

BALDWIN: Hold on. What is the this? What would this look like?

REESE: Some type of Arab-led force that could go in.

BALDWIN: On the ground?

REESE: On the ground that can eradicate ISIS.

Now, Iraq -- Iraqis are going to do this. But, eventually -- we have been talking about this for months -- is, eventually, we have to have a policy about Syria and then what about Libya too with the Egyptians next door? That to me is -- it's a good discussion.

BALDWIN: You had a point about Egypt's motivation, right, and the oil right on that border. Talk to me about that.

(CROSSTALK)

REESE: So Libya is a failed state. People are trying to figure it out. We went in there, got Gadhafi out, try to help, failed. Now you got the Egyptians. They go in. I applaud them for taking care of their people.

But a lot of that --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It was personal for them.

REESE: Absolutely. And a lot of this oil sits right on their border between Libya and Egypt.

If I'm Sisi, I'm looking at a failed state. I want to get in there and protect the people, help the Libyan people out too. I might be looking for a land grab for that oil also.

BALDWIN: So you have talked a little bit about what this would look like. When would this happen?

REESE: Well, again, you can't lump all this in that I have watched people, hey, let's lump it together.

Libya is a front. Iraq is a front. Syria is a front.

BALDWIN: Got it.

REESE: The Libyans -- the Egyptians have a force. They have a pretty good darn army with a lot of U.S. weapons, M-1 tanks, all those type of things.

I think the Egyptians are smart to try to say, hey, let's talk about ISIS. And maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm Sisi, I'm looking -- my senior advisers are telling me this thing.

BALDWIN: OK. When ISIS murdered the American aid worker Peter Kassig, Jihadi John, the masked man, said this -- quote -- "We bury the first crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the rest of your armies to arrive."

We have talked about the provocation from ISIS specifically to the United States. But if and when -- and I know you talk about this 40,000-plus coalition already. If you're ISIS -- and, by the way, I can't even pretend to get into their heads.

(CROSSTALK)

REESE: Sure.

BALDWIN: But -- and you have this Arab coalition coming after you, instead of this U.S.-led coalition, how does that change the calculus for them, if at all?

REESE: I don't think it does. Unfortunately, what we have do is -- we got to do this sequentially. Right now, Iraq it the main effort.

And up north in Mosul is the main effort really for all the Arab states and really Iraq and the U.S. Then after Mosul is taken down, we're going to have to look at Al-Anbar province, Euphrates River Valley, going out towards Syria.

Then it becomes Syria. But that could be a year from now, could be two years.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. Colonel Reese, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

REESE: It's tough.

BALDWIN: It is tough. It's incredibly tough and very complicated.

To another terror threat here, this large-scale attack on an American shopping mall, the potential of it. The nation's homeland security chief is not taking any chances, but others are throwing some cold water on this warning here.

In Al-Shabaab's newly released video, the terror group calls for its followers to attack shopping malls in Britain and in Canada and in the United States, and specifically in the U.S. they're talking about the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Moments ago during a news conference in Washington, Secretary Jeh Johnson was asked about this specifically what he said on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," and this what he said about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What other concerns do you have in terms of security at this point after hearing and listening all of the explaining today?

JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, I spoke about the situation with the Al-Shabaab video yesterday on the news shows. And we have issued to state and local law enforcement a bulletin about that earlier today. And I think I will stand on that. I don't know that I have much more at this point to add to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, insist that there is no credible, no specific threat to malls in the United States.

Let me bring in our correspondent Brian Todd. He is live outside the mall there in Minnesota. And also I have former CIA counterterrorism analyst Aki Peritz.

Welcome to both of you.

Brian, you're there. Are you seeing any tangible examples of increased security at the mall?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it's hard to actually see the examples, but we are told that there is stepped-up security here at the mall since that Al-Shabaab video came out.

But much of this is going to go unseen, we're told my mall officials. Customers are not going to notice much of a difference. We saw maybe one security officer walking around inside when were in there a short time ago, a couple of squad cars outside the mall.

But I did speak to a mall security consultant earlier today. He talked to me about the stepped-up measures that people are not going to see. He says they have plainclothes officers roaming around. They have surveillance, of course. They have people who are trained in behavior detection. Essentially, they're almost doing some profiling of people who are behaving suspiciously.

Those measures have already been in place, but some of those being stepped up as well. Brooke, we are told that there are bomb-sniffing canine teams. Those are things that customers may notice. But as far as the actual visible security presence here at the Mall of America, not a lot more that you actually see with the naked eye.

But, again, we're told by mall officials that it is being stepped up. And, of course, this area is of particular concern, because Al- Shabaab, the group that set up that video with that threat has recruited around two dozen Somali-Americans from this area to go fight with Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

One of them became a suicide bomber in Somalia. ISIS has now started recruiting Somali-Americans from this area to fight in Syria. The fear is that these guys with their American passports can come back here and launch an attack, maybe a lone wolf attack on a mall like this, which is still considered a soft target, Brooke, even with stepped-up security.

BALDWIN: On that point, Aki, everything that I have heard, two experts I have spoken with, they say everything they know about a very dangerous and very potent Al-Shabaab, still, logistically, this is not something they could pull off. Do you agree with that or not necessarily? AKI PERITZ, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Right now, I think that that's a

pretty credible thing to say.

People on the Internet say a lot of things. And mall security has been one of those sort of bugaboos that al Qaeda and its association organizations have been trying to sort of attack or threaten to attack for years now.

Remember that not only the Mall of America, which is the largest mall in the United States, but also the largest mall in Canada and the largest mall in Britain are supposedly under threat. But the question is whether this organization has the capability to actually carry out an attack.

According to the FBI and DHS, they still don't have credible information saying that these are threatened facilities. It doesn't mean that they don't have the ability to do so. But I would be taking everything with the grain of salt.

BALDWIN: So then, Aki, what is this really about?

PERITZ: This is really about getting into the media. It shows that they can make a comment on the Internet and, suddenly, it's ricocheting all over the world.

Here in the United States, our top policy-makers are extremely concerned, I'm sure. In the U.K., you actually have the same thing. What do they do? They don't actually have to do anything to do this. They just have to make a claim on the Internet and, suddenly, everybody's talking about it.

BALDWIN: What are people, Brian, there in the Twin Cities, in the Somali, Somali-American communities, how are they reacting to this threat and also I'm sure realizing the microscope will be right on them?

TODD: Absolutely, it is, Brooke.

We have been talking to Somali community leaders not just today here, but for years now, since this recruitment effort started by Al-Shabaab years ago. They are trying their darndest to get inside their own community and move around among the youth them, to try to talk to them, try to talk them out of being recruited by these groups. But it's not easy, because unemployment is rampant in that community.

Their opportunities are not very good. The education that they get is often not as good as they want it to be. So, these community leaders are frustrated. They're trying to head this off.

They think that they're making progress on it right now. But, Brooke, it's been an uphill climb since this recruitment started back in 2007. A lot of these kids don't have opportunities to do much else because they come from very poor families in a very poor area of this town. And it's been difficult to fend off that terrorist recruitment.

BALDWIN: Brian Todd and Aki Peritz, thank you both very much. Appreciate it.

PERITZ: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, what life is truly like day in and day out living under ISIS, the stories of the victims, ordinary people, prisoners in their own cities. We will talk to a young man who lives it firsthand.

Plus, three British teenagers, three young girls possibly trying to join ISIS. And there may have been a red flag. One of their classmates had gone to Syria months ago.

And it was an emotional Academy Awards. One documentary filmmaker dedicated her award to her son who committed suicide when he was a teenager. We talk to her and the director of that film, helping our nation's veterans coming up.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Words matter as much as weapons in a time of war, the leaders of ISIS making that crystal clear. We know the group of ISIS refers to itself as Islamic State. But there's one word the group absolutely doesn't want to be called and they mean it.

Here is CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a name that ISIS hates being called, despise so much, in fact, they have threatened to cut out the tongues of anyone who uses it, that name, Da'esh.

There's a big discussion on what to call the terror group. We say ISIS. Others say ISIL. The State of the Islamic Caliphate is what they would like to be called, Islamic State for short. But what they hate is Da'esh. It's an acronym and in Arabic it translates as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the name they used before they declared their so-called caliphate last summer.

But many Arabic still just call them Da'esh. So, what do they hate about it? Some say because it sounds like other words, including (SPEAKING ARABIC) which can mean, among other things, to stomp on something. Some ISIS supporters say they want the full name of their alleged state to be shared with the world.

There's a push in the West to start calling them Da'esh to deny them the legitimacy Islamic State implies. France has already started doing that and even some U.S. officials.

So what about the other names we use in English, ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or another version, ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant? But their name, the Islamic State, leaves geography out of the mix since their ambitions aren't limited to a specific territory.

But can anyone really call them an Islamic State? They hold land, which is one of the attributes of a state, and they have in some areas what amounts to a government. But they're not recognized internationally as a state, just a terror group. And there's no consensus on whether they're actually Islamic.

To supporters, ISIS is the essence of Islam, and everyone else an infidel, a notion flatly rejected as absurd by countless Muslim scholars and believers around the world. ISIS fighters and supporters insist they follow the path of Allah, God, and that the West is hell- bent on battling Islam.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's how they recruit. That's how they try to radicalize young people. We must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie.

WEDEMAN: Whatever we call it and it calls itself, Da'esh, ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, it is what it is, a group utterly without scruples, bent on spreading a reign of terror.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting for these three teenage girls missing since last from Great Britain. It's believed the teens are headed to Syria possibly to join ISIS. Turkish authorities now joining the search to find these girls.

Let me bring in CNN's Atika Shubert live from London.

And just back up for a second.

Do we know what prompted them to leave in the first place?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know exactly.

But there were a number of red flags, basically indications that they had been communicating with people inside ISIS. That's what police are now investigating.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): They crossed security and immigration, three schoolgirls from East London, 15-year-olds Amira Abasa and Shamima Begum and 16-year-old Kadiza Sultana.

They few from London to Istanbul believed to be headed for the border with Syria. But what convinced the girls to leave their families and head to Syria? And were there any red flags that police and families should have noticed? In fact, one of their classmates left for Syria in December and police talked to the girls at the time, warning them of the dangers of traveling to Syria. But their school principal insists that the girls were radicalized online, not in school. MARK KEARY, PRINCIPAL, BETHNAL GREEN ACADEMY: Access to social media networks at the academy is also strictly regulated. Students are unable to access Twitter or Facebook on academy computers. With such measures in place, police have advised us that there's no evidence that radicalization of the missing students took place at the academy.

SHUBERT: Social media chats indicate that at least one of the girls were in touch with Aqsa Mahmood, who left for Syria at the age of 19 more than a year ago. She runs a blog, urging young Muslim women to join ISIS, giving them step-by-step instructions in what to bring, how to dress and what to expect upon arrival in ISIS-controlled territory.

In fact, terror analysts say women are some of the most successful recruiters for ISIS online.

ERIN MARIE SALTMAN, INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC DIALOGUE: As far as radicalization and recruitment goes, women are better equipped at recruiting other women. In fact, they would feel more comfortable talking with women, especially on some of these forums, saying, well, what is it like? What can I expect once I get there? And having a woman communicate with you, that brings down the threshold for feeling comfortable to leave.

SHUBERT: But the families of these three schoolgirls are hoping they will be stopped from entering Syria before it's too late.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, British police say the best chance of getting them back may be directly contact them or getting them a message to make them stop and think before crossing the border.

And that's why the families put out a personal appeal over the weekend, imploring their daughters to come back home as soon as possible.

BALDWIN: If they haven't crossed the border already.

Atika Shubert, thank you.

The father of that American hostage killed while in ISIS captivity says the U.S. government "put policy in front of American citizens' lives." The parents and brother of aid worker Kayla Mueller just gave an interview to "The Today Show" about their ordeal. ISIS abducted Mueller in Syria back in August of 2013, months before the terror group gained infamy for its video of beheading captives.

Just two weeks ago, Kayla was confirmed killed, though it's still not clear how. ISIS blamed a Jordanian airstrike. The Muellers told NBC they don't believe that. They also say their situation worsened after the U.S. swapped five Taliban members for captive American soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During this time when Kayla was being held, the U.S. traded five Taliban prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl.

ERIC MUELLER, BROTHER OF KAYLA MUELLER: That made the whole situation worse, because that's when the demands got greater, they got larger. They realized that they had something. They realized that, well, if they're going to let five people go for one person, why won't they do this or why won't they do that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The Muellers have launched a foundation to continue their daughter's humanitarian work. It's called Kayla's Hands.

Coming up here on CNN, our rate interview with a journalist living within ISIS' capital of Raqqa, lived there for some time. We can't tell you where he's in now, but what life is really like for women in a terror state and you may be surprised what he says ISIS fighters are addicted to.

Next, the poignant moment at the Academy Awards when a mother remembered her late teenage son. She just won an Oscar. She dedicated to him who had committed suicide -- their story on how to help our veterans come home next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This Oscar season was full of films based upon true stories. Many of the award-winning entries touched our hearts and our minds. That was definitely the case for best documentary short.

It's called "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1."

It opens your eyes to the growing suicide crisis facing our men and women in uniform and those hot line counselors who try with every bone in their beings to help them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ""CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Veterans crisis line. My name to Lewis. How may I help you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Veterans crisis line. This is Robert.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you said you have a knife nearby you, and do you agree to not use that knife while I put you on hold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happens when you start saying I'm going to take that .22 and put it to my heart?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One option was driving your car into the tree. But you have told me that that is not an option you're going to take today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But putting a gun in your mouth is not a solution that we want to discuss today, sir. Look, you have been dealing with this for a long time. Today, you were sitting in your car with a belt around your neck since 8:00 a.m. Wow. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the last thing, did you say -- in an e-mail,

did he say that he's thinking about killing other people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That is heavy, heavy stuff.

I want to talk about these phenomenal boys here at this one center, but also on these two women you're about to see. During the acceptance speech, the thank-yous and the dedications, it took a very personal turn for the film's producer, Dana Perry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA PERRY, OSCAR WINNER: I want to dedicate this to my son, Evan Perry. We lost him to suicide. We talk about suicide out loud. This is for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And joining me from Los Angeles are the Oscar-winning director and producer of this documentary.

I have Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry.

Ladies, congratulations.

PERRY: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Dana, just what an incredibly powerful, powerful moment witnessed by millions. You took what happened to your son. You took that moment to make such a powerful statement. Can you just tell me about that?

PERRY: Well, the thing about suicide is that it changes your life forever.

Once this happens to you, you are really a different person. And since we have lost Evan, I devoted a lot of energy to prevention and awareness. And, basically, the Oscar stage is a place to be heard. And I thought this was a great place to get my message out, our two messages, one about veterans and the help that is available for them and the trauma that they're going through, but about suicide in general, which is still a stigma -- there's a lot of stigma and there's a lot of silence around it.

So, I wanted to break that silence. That's why I said we need to talk about it out loud.

BALDWIN: I really applaud you for doing that, both of you ladies. I talked -- I'm sure you're familiar with Clay Hunt and his story. I have talked to his parents on this show. We have tried to shine the light on helping veterans when they come home as well. The bill signed into law, we saw it all happen at the White House a couple of weeks ago.