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Jihadi John Named; FCC to Vote on Net Neutrality Proposal; Coalition Peshmerga Training Mission Showing Results

Aired February 26, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: Now you were watching our sister network CNN USA there. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Let's get more on our top

breaking news story this hour.

Once again, Reuters is reporting that the BBC and The Washington Post have identified Jihadi John. That is the masked man who appeared in

several gruesome ISIS beheading videos.

Now the reports say that he is a Kuwaiti-born Londoner named Mohamed Emwazi. In September, U.S. and British authorities said that they believed

that they had learned Jihadi John's identity, but did not want to disclose it publicly.

Now CNN's London correspondent Max Foster has been following reaction in the UK. He joins us now. And Max, first, the debate there on whether

Jihadi John should be identified. What is the British prime minister saying?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ...this has been speaking. Quite concerned about the fact that this name is out there in

the public domain, because there's an ongoing investigation here. Security services are investigating, police are investigating, and there are multi

agencies and multiple counties are investigating.

I was recently at a briefing where someone very senior in counterterrorism in the UK answered questions about, you know, what

happened if this name got out there for Jihadi John. They said it would be very unhelpful and we wouldn't confirm it simply because it would undo an

investigation, potentially. They're building a case against this man if it is indeed the right man.

And so they're not confirming or denying the name. We're not going to get that from official sources. This name has come from elsewhere. It's

not coming from Washington from what I can understand, or London official sources. And there's some frustration that it's out there already and it

could cause some harm.

We've just heard actually from the University of Westminster which is where he allegedly studied here in London. And they -- a spokesperson for

the university of Westminster just telling us a Mohamed Emwazi left the university six years ago. If these allegations are true, we're shocked and

we're sickened by the news. And they're setting up an advice and support service for people at the university who may be affected by that.

LU STOUT: Now Mohamed Emwazi, the man known as Jihadi John. His name is out there. His timeline, as well. And we've learned in these reports

that he was detained by British counterterrororism officials there in the UK back in 2010. So he was at one point on the radar. So how did he

manage to slip through?

FOSTER: Well, I mean, we're jumping steps there. Because until they confirm it, they're not going to give any information about he slipped

through the net, as it were, but obviously you've reported a lot, Kristie, on these types of stories in France and Copenhagen and in London. Often,

these people do come in touch with intelligence services, the police services, but as a case of resources and how much resource they put into

cases which don't seem as significant as others.

So, if he had had some sort of links with terrorism, or websites, a link with terrorism then, he would have hit the radar at some point. It's

just how much information there would have been there.

And they certainly -- my sense is from the security services and the police is that they probably do know who he is, or they have a suspicion of

who he is, but they're not quite there yet in identifying him. And if he is, you know, out in Syria, for example still and they wanted to arrest him

when he came back, the fact that his name is out there would disrupt that investigation.

I'm speculating here. But these are the sort of concerns that go through the minds of officers when they're considering whether or not to

confirm, whether or not this identity is true.

LU STOUT: And more about the identity of Jihadi John. We've learned Emwazi, he grew up in West London from a well-to-do family, well educated

with a degree in computing. Tell us more about his background. And at what point did he become radicalized?

FOSTER: Well, it's interesting because we haven't got a huge amount of information on him because normally we would get information from our

security forces. But we're not getting that this time.

But, I mean, the Washington Post has obviously been working on this for a very long period of time says he was indeed from a well-to-do family,

West London, he graduated from college, which we believe was the University of Westminster, with a degree in computer programming. And he traveled to

Syria around 2012, according to the Washington Post, later joined the Islamic State, the group which he's come to symbolize in many ways.

So, beyond that, we haven't got much more information. But certainly we've had many more cases of people being radicalized online since then, so

he was an early adopter of this ideology if, indeed, we've got the right man.

LU STOUT: Downing Street saying they're not going to give any details on the ongoing police and security investigation. The foreign office

saying they're not going to give any sort of, in their words, running commentary on any element of this live security investigation. But from

what we were able to glean from these reports, especially that report from the Washington Post about how security services were able to work out the

identify of the masked man in these videos and know that he was in fact this Londoner Mohamed Emwazi.

FOSTER: Well, I know that the security services in multiple countries have been working very, very closely together on this, because when you

talk to British security officials, for example, they're very much sort of describing a mentality, which is agreed between everyone. We're not going

to identify this man at any one point.

I have to say, one of the main concerns is obviously that there are hostage situations involving ISIS. And if their investigation was going in

the wrong direction. I think they probably think it is at the moment now that his name is out there. They are worried about the possibility of

rescuing those hostages.

So, we have to sort of read into these sort of briefings what we do. But I think certainly they are concerned now, they will be concerned now,

about hostages being put at risk and about eventually prosecuting this man Jihadi John in the future, because the case against him will be much harder

to stand up at this point.

So, there are really the concerns in London right now. We're not getting much further than that. We've having to rely on what the BBC and

what the Washington Post claims to be legitimate information.

LU STOUT: Now Max Foster, appreciate your reporting what you were able to share with us so far. Max Foster at CNN London, thank you. Any

more information on this, we'll bring it to you right here this hour on News Stream right here on CNN.

Now we're also learning new details about the three men arrested in a terror related case in the United States. Now officials say two of the men

were planning to travel overseas to join ISIS. A third man is accused of financing their plan.

Now a criminal complaint, it says that two of the suspects also talked about assassinating the U.S. President Barack Obama. Now two of the men

appeared in a New York court room on Wednesday.

Now outside Irbil in Northern Iraq, soldiers from coalition nations, including Germany, Holland, Italy and the UK, are working to train Kurdish

Peshmerga forces in the fight against ISIS.

A senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman reports the program began last month and is already showing results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kurdish fighters rush to battle stations crawling to take up positions behind

sandbags. Moments later, they opened fire.

ISIS is a long way away. These men have left the front to participate in an expanding coalition training program for the Peshmarga. The

instructor are from the German army. For security reasons, they declined to be interviewed on camera and asked that we not show their faces.

Many of the Peshmarga like 18-year veteran Jalil Abdullah (ph), are no strangers to war. Nonetheless, this sort of modern training makes a

difference.

When we returned to the front, he tells me, I'm hoping we'll take fewer casualties and inflict more on the enemy.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, training is conducted by German, Dutch, Italian and British troops. Elsewhere in Iraq, U.S. troops are working to upgrade

the beleaguered Iraqi army.

Dutch soldiers trained the fighters in the most basic of battlefield first aid, how to protect and evacuate the wounded. How to tie a simple

tourniquet.

Peshmarga units don't have medics. The wounded are simply thrown in the back of a car and, if they're lucky, they'll survive the drive to the

nearest hospital.

One aspect of training the Peshmarga have asked for says the spokesman Helgur Heckmet (ph) is urban warfare. Foreshadowing perhaps a role in the

battle for Mosul. If that battle happens, the worry is that ISIS will sew the city with thousands of improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

Here, the Peshmarga troops are learning how to detect IEDs. IEDs are one of the most deadly tactics used by ISIS. More than 50 percent of

Peshmarga casualties and fatalities are caused by the ISIS IEDs. The training program began last month and is already showing results.

LT. COL. JURGEN BRADTMANN, KURIDSTAN TRAINING COORDINATION CENTER: The two platoons, we trained them at the frontlines. We got the answer from the

Peshmarga generals that those platoons are much more efficient than before.

WEDEMAN: And perhaps more deadly.

Here Italian troops are training the Peshmarga on the Fulgore (ph), an Italian made empty tank weapon, a weapon likely to make an impact when they

take it to the front.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Irbil, Northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you're watching News Stream right here on CNN. And we'll have more on the reports revealing the identity of Jihadi John right

after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right, coming to you live from Hong Kong you're back watching News Stream.

Now Reuters reports the BBC and Washington Post have identified Jihadi John, the masked man who has appeared in several gruesome ISIS videos. And

for more, CNN's Barbara Starr joins us live from the Pentagon. And Barbara, what more can you tell us about the man who has been named Mohamed

Emwazi?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you say, Kristie, Reuters quoting the BBC and the Washington Post identifying him as Kuwaiti-

born Mohamed Emwazi, a resident of London who went to Syria apparently some time in 2012, had become radicalized over time in a number of ways and came

to the world's attention in these gruesome execution videos starting with the one the world saw of the American journalist James Foley and several

subsequent videos of other westerners.

Believed to be in his mid-20s, according to the article. People who knew him have said they are certain that that is him in the videos, in

London said in these articles to have been well dressed, had prayed at a local mosque, was very cautious about any eye contact with women, someone

who was practicing Islam.

When he became radicalized, when he joined ISIS, clearly showed the world the face of brutality.

Now, the question is, of course, what to be done about all of this. Very difficult for targeting individuals by name on the ground inside Syria

when there are no troops on the ground. You would have to have perfect intelligence to know where he's going to be at a point in time if you're

going to launch an airstrike to try and kill him. That would be something that would be very difficult. And I think everyone agrees that as time has

gone on, we've seen his face of brutality, but if he is taken off the battlefield there are so many more ISIS operatives willing to step in and

do the very same gruesome work -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Barbara, just a moment ago we heard from Max Foster in London. He said that British officials are concerned that the identity is

out there in the public domain. Should he be identified? What are U.S. officials saying?

STARR: Well, at the moment they are not commenting here officially in Washington at all. Over time, when these videos first emerged, U.S.

officials very much in line with British security services and every reason to think that will continue, that they will not name him here in the United

States, they will leave it to the British that they feel this is a matter that is under British investigation. The U.S. clearly cooperating. But

they're not going to step out ahead of the British security services on this one -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Barbara Starr there, many thanks indeed for that.

We will have much more on this story across the hour. Also ahead on the program, a major vote is set to happen soon that could affect the way

you use the internet. We've got the details straight ahead. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: All right. Welcome back.

In just a few hours from now, U.S. officials will vote on an issue that affects lives all around the world. The federal communications

commission is expected to approve a proposal to protect net neutrality.

Now let's take a moment to talk about what that means. Net neutrality is the principle the all content on the internet should be treated equally.

So companies that hold the keys to the web don't play favorites without it.

Now the fear is that big companies could take advantage of fast lanes while start ups get stuck in the slow lanes.

Now the exact proposal in front of the FCC is secret. It might not be official for months. But we do know that the chairman wants to regulate

high speed internet like a public utility. In fact, a few weeks ago, he wrote this, quote, "my proposal assures the rights of internet users to go

where they want when they want and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone's permission."

But a fight is expected about whether the FCC has the authority to regulate the internet the way it wants to.

Now it's already been a long battle. And let's get more now from Nillay Patel. He is the editor-in-chief of the tech website The Verge. He

joins us now live.

Nillay, good to see you. And tell us why is this a big day? How is today's vote a landmark event for the internet?

NILLAY PATEL, THE VERGE: Well, it's historic. I mean, this fight has been going on for 10 years now. And it started all the way back with dial-

up providers saying that they provided services in addition to simple access. So you would get AOL and CompuServe and services like that saying,

well, we provide email services. And you can make websites and there's shopping. So we're more than simple utilities.

And what's happened over time is that consumers don't want to get that stuff from their broadband provider. They want to go to other services

like Amazon and Google and Facebook and shop in the marketplace of the internet.

So, what's happening is that access itself has become a utility. And this fight has taken 10 years to come to what is a pretty simple truth that

if most consumers kind of recognize.

And net neutrality is a concept, like you said, is there's an essential wonkiness and complication to the regulation. But the idea

itself is so simple that Comcast and Time Warner and Verizon shouldn't get between you and the marketplace. And that concept is so simple that

consumers have walked to it.

And if you look at just the amount of comments the FCC has received on this issue, it's the most ever in FCC's history, which is absolutely crazy.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the petition attracted so much attention. As you said, this is a long fight. It's been going on for a decade.

And the internet has changed a lot in the last 10 years. How significant is it that the FCC proposal does plan to cover wireless devices

and services as well?

PATEL: Also massive.

So, just a few years ago when a very similar plan was floated by the previous FCC chairman, wireless was not included, because wireless was

nascent. So, smartphones have only been around in their modern form since 2007 when the iPhone came out. That's not so long ago, especially in the

context of something like an FCC telecom proposal.

And if you look at just how consumption has changed, people are getting more and more of their content, their access to the internet more

and more on smartphones, particularly in this country wireless internet access is the primary internet access for younger people, for poorer

people.

So, when you look at letting AT&T get between you and the marketplace, not including wireless, allows that kind of company a tremendous amount of

control. And that's not what you want in the mix.

And what is particularly interesting is that just a few years ago, the wireless companies would scream and shot that they were under a spectrum

crunch, that they didn't have enough bandwidth to deliver. And they needed to manage it aggressively and really get in the mix. And what's happening

now is that has proven basically to not be true.

Verizon just said, we're done by spectrum, we have enough. AT&T and Verizon and Sprint and T-Mobile, all of them doing such a great job

providing service with the spectrum they have that their argument doesn't really hold water anymore.

And it's true that wireless internet is becoming very much the same for people as regular wired broadband.

The difference is that the wireless companies still charge more and still cap your broadband.

LU STOUT: All right, Nillay Patel, we'll leave it at that. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to the news coming out on this big day, this

big bill later today. Nillay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, thank you.

And net neutrality is an issue we've been following very closely here on News Stream. But it's admittedly a term that some people out there

might find a little bit boring.

Now comedians have helped bring more attention to the issue of net neutrality. And Brian Stelter took a look at their role back in November.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is a debate that has never gotten all that much attention from the mainstream news media, but it has

gotten a lot of attention from the men who make fun of the news.

This is a remarkable poll I want you to see. It's from the University of Delaware. It shows that regular John Oliver, Jon Stewart and Stephen

Colbert watchers are a lot more familiar with net neutrality than newspaper readers or the cable news watchers.

Yes, their jokes have sometimes been, I don't know, downright journalistic. Watch .

JOHN OLIVER, HOST, "LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER": Net neutrality. The only two words that promise more boredom in the English

language are "featuring Sting."

But here is the thing. Net neutrality is actually hugely important.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Every site on the Internet has to be equally assessable to the user, whether it be a huge

behemoth like Google or some obscure little mom and pop site like Bing.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: But, folks, this court ruling, this recent court ruling ends all of that.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Kind of like creating a carpool lane on the Internet, except, instead of high- occupancy

vehicles, only rich (EXPLETIVE DELETED) will be able to drive in it.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now we can't promise that we'll be funny, but we do promise to continuing net neutrality, this important issue for you right here on

News Stream.

Now still to come on the program, more details on the masked man who appears in many of those ISIS execution videos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now Reuters reports the BBC and Washington Post have identified Jihadi John, that is the masked militant who appeared in several of those gruesome

ISIS beheading videos. Now the reports say he is a Kuwaiti-born Londoner named Mohamed Emwazi. We've got more on this story in just a moment.

Now we're also learning new details about the three men arrested in a terror related case in the United States.

Now officials say two of the men are planning to travel overseas to join ISIS. A third man is accused of financing their plan. A criminal

complaint says two of the suspects also talked about assassinating the U.S. President. Now two of the men appeared in a New York courtroom on

Wednesday.

The Taliban are claiming responsibility for a suicide attack in the capital of Afghanistan. It killed two people and injured at least two

others. A suicide attacker inside a car detonated explosives near a Turkish military vehicle. It happened in front of the Iranian embassy in

Kabul.

A report has found that Jimmy Saville sexually abused at least 60 victims at a UK hospital. Now multiple investigations were launched in

2012 after the death of the children show host and allegations that he sexually abused underaged girls. The report says the attacks went

unchecked because Saville was given, quote, an unprecedented degree of unsupervised privilege.

Now let's get more now on media reports putting forward the identity of Jihadi John. Again, he is the masked militant who appeared in several

of those ISIS beheading videos.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins me now. And she is in the West London neighborhood where he once lived. But current residents, we must add have

no known connection to him.

Now Atika, what more can you tell us about Emwazi's background and where he came from?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we believe that he was a 26-year-old man living here in this neighborhood. We have talked

to neighbors. They say the family was very quiet, kept to themselves. We did briefly speak to one man who said he knew him, but was absolutely

shocked to hear that this maybe the man identified in those videos as Jihadi John.

So, this is what we know of his background here.

What we also know from The CAGE, which is a sort of a rights group here in London is that he was a 26-year-old who originally born in Kuwait,

but had moved here at a very young age and that he apparently had a -- was known to security services, that he had traveled to Tanzania and after his

graduation from university here and was stopped by security services and questioned a number of times, specifically about links to Somalia.

Now, according to CAGE, he says that they say that he viewed this as harassment and this is why he decided to move to Kuwait for some time and

eventually leaving the UK altogether in around 2012.

So, that's the background we have on that.

But again all of this needs to be doubled-checked, because both British and American officials have not confirmed that this is in fact the

identity of that military that we know as Jihadi John.

LU STOUT: That's right. We have received no confirmation from U.S. or UK officials. According to reports, we're learning the Emwazi was well

educated. Hew as a Londoner from the neighborhood where you're reporting from right now. He had a degree in computing. He's from a well-to-do

family.

From what we've learned in these reports, I mean -- and given that background -- what made him leave that neighborhood in London and become an

ISIS militant?

SHUBERT: We really don't know at this point. We need to know more about what specifically motivated him to leave.

What we can say is this report that has come from CAGE, this group here that represents a number of people who have been brought up on terror

charges, or have been otherwise involved by security services. And what they say is that they have a picture of a young man, quite religious and

devout, but yes educated and from a fairly well off family, and that they say he was continuously harassed for his beliefs. That he kept trying to

travel overseas and was told he was put on no-fly lists. They kept treating him as though he was somehow going to be involved with the al

Shabaab group and Somalia. And that he viewed this as harassment. This is why he came to CAGE, because he was complaining about harassment from

security services.

So that is a key factor in what we know about him.

But this was up in 2010. What has happened to him since then, and specifically what drove him to go to Syria, is still a mystery.

LU STOUT: You know, I remember when the Jihadi John video, the first one came out. And you were reporting interviewing analysts on how they

could just forensically analyze these videos to be able to track down and determine the identify of this masked person.

How were the reporters at the BBC and Washington Post able to look at the video, see the figure of this masked man, body and face completely

covered, and be able to name him as this Mohamed Emwazi?

SHUBERT: Well, I think it's important to note that even though -- even CAGE, the group that has been talking to Mohamed Emwazi all those

years, says they can't be 100 percent certain that it is him in that video, although they say there are some very striking similarities.

Now the Washington Post clearly spoke to a friend -- a close friend of Mohamed Emwazi's who feels very certain that it is him. But again, we have

no independent confirmation from either British or American officials that Mohamed Emwazi is, in fact, Jihadi John.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Atika Shubert reporting from West London. Many thanks indeed for your reporting.

You're watching News Stream. We'll be back with more on the identity released by media outlets on Jihadi John, that ISIS militant, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And back to our breaking news. We now have a name for the masked man who appears in several gruesome ISIS beheading videos. Now Reuters, citing

the Washington Post and the BBC, have identified Jihadi John as Mohamed Emwazi.

I want to bring in Haras Rafiq. He's an outreach officer with the Quilliam Foundation, it's a think tank devoted to counter extremism. And

thank you so much for joining us here on CNN.

What do you make of the reports? And what more have you been able to learn about this individual?

HARAS RAFIQ, OUTREACH OFFICER, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION: Well, there were a number of things. I was just listening to the previous report that you

were conducting.

First of all, he wasn't as clear that he wasn't radicalized in between 2010 and 2012. He was stopped from joining al Shabaab, which is a

terrorist organization before that. And the British intelligence agencies and the Tanzanian intelligence agencies believe that there was enough

evidence to do that.

So, I think if we start looking at the 2010 and 2012 period alone, that's actually a false flag.

So, clearly he was radicalized before.

And the other thing is, it's very, very upsetting that an organization like CAGE would spin this in the way that they've done. What they've

actually done in their version of events is that they've blamed the British intelligence agencies, they've blamed the Kuwaiti intelligence agencies,

they've blamed the Tanzanian intelligence agencies, when in fact, as I mentioned, he was going to join al Shabaab before that.

The truth of the matter is that he -- it wasn't the fault of the Kuwaitis, it wasn't the fault of the British intelligence, it wasn't the

fault of the Tanzanians, this was somebody who was radicalized to an Islamist ideology. He believed that he was OK to go and join a terrorist

organization already. He believed that it was -- god wanting him to go and do it and fight for this organization. And he's a cold-hearted killer,

that's exactly what it is. He's not a victim. He's a terrorist. And he's killing and beheading people if, indeed, it actually is him.

LU STOUT: Before he joined ISIS, become an ISIS militant, he was interested in joining al Shabaab. He was, as you say, radicalized years

ago.

We know his background. He comes from a well-to-do family in west London. He was well educated. So at one point, and how, did this person

become radicalized and then turn into a terrorist?

RAFIQ: The profile that you mentioned just there is actually -- it's quite typical. It's a lot of people incorrectly think that the profile of

somebody who becomes a jihadi is somebody who is below the poverty line, somebody who is not educated, that's actually not true. So the profile is

actually one that matches many people that become Islamist terrorists. And the statistics show that here in the UK.

But typically, each person's journey is unique. But again there are certain factors, you know, some perceived personal grievances either

partial grievances or even real grievances have been converted by charismatic recruiters to actually believe that the whole world is against

him because he's a Muslim, the only way that he can actually find answers to his problems is to join the global Islamist caliphate, set up this state

-- it's almost like a gang, grooming towards a gang -- and that god wants him to do this.

We also know that for some people there are elements of revenge involved as well. And for some people there are mental health issues. We

know that in Norway, for example, a significant number of their convicted Islamist terrorists have suffered from Asperger's Syndrome.

So it could be a number of things. But these are typical pathways that an individual such as him would have followed.

LU STOUT: The Washington Post reports that Mohamed Emwazi appears to leave very little trails on social media. Does that surprise you at all?

RAFIQ: No. Not at all. For somebody who in those days, especially, was wanting to become a jihadi, they would have had some potential contacts

with groups like al Shabaab, would have known how to overcome basic social media protocols. There are a number of mechanisms that they use to

communicate with each other, which didn't involve Facebook or Twitter or any other aspect of social media.

Social media really only became a big mechanism sort of 2012, '13 onwards. It was used before then, but it really became a vehicle much

later on. And we also see that as a result of that, the typical age range of people that go out and join ISIL has reduced as well. And it's

somewhere in between 14 to 25, and it includes women and young girls as well.

So, I'm not surprised that he didn't leave that much of a digital footprint, especially if he was, as is alleged, involved with groups like

al Shabaab at that time.

LU STOUT: All right, Haras Rafiq, we'll leave it at that. But many thanks indeed for joining us and lending us your very clear insight into

the mind of Jihadi John and the many others like him. Thank you.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. We'll have much more on the breaking news and reports that Jihadi John has been identified at

the top of the hour right here on CNN. But coming up, we've got World Sport with Alex Thomas.

END