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Soldiers Hunting for Gunmen in Burkina Faso; Iran Waits for Sanctions to be Lifted; Man Left Brain Dead after Drug Trial; Taiwan Vote Could Affect Ties with China; Trump-Cruz Friendship Fizzles; Dangerous Conditions at Detroit Public Schools; Sean Penn on "Rolling Stone" Article; The Child Soldiers of ISIS; The Gulf War 25 Years On; 102-Year-Old Teacher Keeps Working. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired January 16, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Another hotel popular with international visitors targeted by Islamic militants in West Africa. Many of the hostages are freed. But at least 20 people are dead. We'll have the very latest on this attack.
After years in the international wilderness, Iran waits for word on whether nuclear sanctions are about to be lifted. We will examine the decision from all sides.
And for life lessons, she's as qualified as they come. The 102-year- old teacher known to her adoring students simply as Granny.
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: And a very good day to you. We begin this hour in West Africa. The search and system rescue operation there, it is still underway in the heart of Burkina Faso's capital.
Security forces are hunting for Al Qaeda-linked gunmen who attacked a hotel and a nearby cafe under the cover of darkness. The gunmen took dozens of people hostage. The country's interior minister says at least 23 people were killed there.
Terrified survivors say the attackers shot everyone in sight and kept shooting before security forces could eventually get inside the hotel. That hotel and cafe that were attacked, they were popular with Westerners and diplomats and U.N. staff. Let's get the very latest now from my colleague, David McKenzie, who joins us now live in Johannesburg.
David, good to have you with us. So this operation, reportedly still underway, as teams are going through that hotel, trying to end the attack. What is the very latest that you understand?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is from the foreign ministry, George, that 126 hostages have been freed by that operation, which comprised Burkina based soldiers as well as French special forces and at least one American, giving advice on the scene. There's a number of American military assets in Burkina Faso at this time.
The survivors of this attack describe a horrifying scene as those gunmen waged death siege.
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YANNICK SAWADOGO, ATTACK SURVIVOR (through translator): It's horrible because everyone was panicked and was laying down on the floor. There was blood everywhere. They were shooting at people at point blank.
The sound of the detonation was so loud we could hear them talking and they were walking around and kept shooting at people that seemed alive.
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MCKENZIE: Authorities are saying of those 23 dead, at least now that there are more than a dozen nationalities. They believe many foreigners, including possibly, according to a witness speaking to state TV, Americans in that cafe that they initially struck and then moved over to the hotel, all in the region of the international airport. So that section of Ouagadougou, the capital, has been under lockdown. And there are tense times and some confusion as to whether the operation has finished or has moved on to another location -- George.
HOWELL: David, very similar to the attack we saw at the hotel there in Mali, an attack that hit a hotel that was packed with international visitors.
Tell us more about this group that's claiming responsibility, this terror group that's known as Al-Mourabitoun that has now apparently teamed up with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM.
MCKENZIE: That's right, George. And jihadi monitoring groups are saying these two groups, which did join up as you described, are responsible for this attack. They've claimed that they took this attack to Burkina Faso. It's the first time that the capital there has dealt with a major attack of this kind.
Of course, neighboring Mali suffered through that horrible siege at the Radisson Blu hotel in late November. We were there; based on our reporting on the scene and what we're are learning from, this attack, it seems to be an escalation in both the complexity and the firepower that these gunmen are using.
Unclear yet whether they have managed to secure that hotel entirely. But they've certainly put a perimeter up. And I'm sure foreign intelligence officers are closely monitoring the situation because it does represent an escalation of the threat in North and West Africa.
HOWELL: And David, as you have reported earlier, the simple fact that this was highly coordinated, that these gunmen apparently masqueraded as if they were tourists and then obviously blended in or mixed in with other attackers when this attack took place.
MCKENZIE: That's right.
HOWELL: Yes, please.
MCKENZIE: That's right. Well, that's right. They were there during the day and then later it seemed --
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MCKENZIE: -- like they were joined up, other gunmen, to orchestrate their attack. So would be a complex attack and certainly deadly.
HOWELL: David McKenzie, we appreciate your reporting for us, like in Johannesburg. And we will stay in touch with you to continue to get updates on
Earlier, we spoke to a counterterrorism expert, who says these attacks have become all too common.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is becoming the new normal in which major world capitals are being hit several times a week. We had this just on the back of the Jakarta attack; we of course had two high-profile attacks in Paris. Attacks in countries that hadn't seen terrorist attacks in decades, like in Kuwait. You had the Istanbul bombing. It's hard to keep track of them all. That's how frequent the pace of attack is in major areas. So there's the question both of how do you defame (ph) a group like this, which, as we know from things like the Kony 2012 campaign, isn't an easy thing to do?
It's hard to get at a small group of guys, number one.
Number two, there's the question of prevention and mitigation.
How do we make our urban areas safer, especially given the lack of capacity of security forces in so many of these countries?
That's one of the key things that the U.S. is trying to do right now. It's working with partner nations to try to build up the capacity of security forces in order to mitigate and prevent attacks. But that's only a partial solution. That certainly is not going to present any sort of short-term solution to this overarching and worsening problem.
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HOWELL: According to David Gartenstein (ph), Ross (ph), the French who are pursuing militants in Africa were likely a target of the assault in that country, the Al Qaeda affiliate is known to attack areas that are frequented by Westerners.
We are awaiting word out of Vienna on whether decades-old sanctions against Iran will be lifted. That's where the International Atomic Energy Agency could certify if Iran has kept its end of a historic deal concerned its nuclear program.
Iran's foreign minister says that he fully expects the sanctions to go away.
For more on this story, we're coverage from all angles, we have our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who is live in Berlin, on what's next and CNN emerging markets editor, John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, on how Iran's economy will be impacted.
Fred, let's go ahead and start with you. Good to have you with us.
So if certified, this would lead to implementation day.
Can you explain to our viewers how quickly sanctions could be lifted?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it could be lifted very quickly, George. Certain that's what the Iranians expect. What we're expecting from today is that there is going to be an announcement from the International Atomic Energy Agency. That's something that the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who's actually in Vienna, has said he believes will happen.
He's already had a meeting with the E.U. foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. We expect him, Federica Mogherini, as well as John Kerry, to give some sort of statement after implementation day is announced. And he is already hailing this as a big moment for Iran. Let's listen in to what Javad Zarif had to say earlier.
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MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We have the implementation day, so we expect to have the implementation day today. I believe it's not just an important day for economic activity in Iran.
It is going to open the possibilities, vast possibilities in Iran, for economic engagement. And we have all seen that the national business community is very much interested in getting engaged in Iran to take advantage of it.
But more importantly, it is extremely important for diplomacy. Today is the day when we prove to the world that threats, sanctions, intimidation, pressure don't work. Respect works. Through respect, through dialogue, through negotiations, we can, in fact, reach mutually acceptable solutions.
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PLEITGEN: Three things, George, that the Iranians believe will happen very quickly. One of them is they believe that assets that were frozen because of the nuclear sanctions will be unfrozen very quickly. They believe they'll almost immediately have access to about $50 billion. They also think that they will very quickly be able to be a part of
international financial transactions again, which is something that's very important to doing business in that country because, at this point in time, if you wanted to do a deal in Iran, you would literally have to go there with a coffer full of money.
That's something that will change. And then finally, I'm sure this is something that John will talk about a little more as well, it is access to being able to sell more oil on the international markets, which has some a little bit worried. But certainly the Iranians, who have had to stockpile oil, are looking forward to bringing some of that on the international markets.
HOWELL: Fred Pleitgen, live in Berlin, following what's next, Fred, thank you so much for your reporting.
And now let's turn to John Defterios, who joins us in Abu Dhabi.
John, good to have you as well. So Fred pointed there, $50 billion in frozen assets --
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HOWELL: -- could be made accessible also, Iran being able to sell oil on the world market.
But oil prices broke through $30 a barrel to a 12-year low.
How will the lifting of sanctions impact the oil price near-term?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it's a crucial point, George. Iran is eager to get back into the game. But it couldn't come at a worse time for the international oil market. We lost $2 on Friday to a new 12-year low of $29 a barrel. And here's why.
In part, due to Iran, in part due to the oversupply we see in the market; near-term, Iran, once those sanctions are lifted -- and this is going to happen this week -- we could see them release up to a half a million barrels a day within the first week. That is the plan by the minister of oil, Bijan Zangeneh. And he's stuck to that plan since we saw him initially back in September. He has not wavered on that target.
Then medium term, another half a million barrels a day by June and there half a million after that by the end of 2016.
So what does that mean?
Iran, by the end of 2016, hopes to add 1.5 million billion barrels a day. The market is already oversupplied by 1.5 million barrels a day. So it's adding almost the equivalent of another Kuwait or a UAE, a big major producer to the market. So a lot of pressure.
But this is not a slam-dunk, George. They need to raise $170 billion in the international markets, international oil companies. Can they do so with oil around $30 a barrel?
It will be a very challenging time. Iran is a low-cost producer. But coming back into the market with so much downward pressure on prices will be a challenge for Iran. I would think they would like to have that done five years ago when oil was well above $100 a barrel.
HOWELL: Right. So the timing here a little tricky for what is expected to happen.
Iran, though, has been severely restricted economically, obviously, due to these sanctions.
What's the potential here?
DEFTERIOS: Again, another great point that you bring up.
Javad Zarif, one of the first things he said when he got into Vienna, is that we need to have economic engagement. This moderate government needs to prove to the Iranian people that better times are ahead.
In the last five years, they've seen their per capita GDP, the average Iranian lose about 25 percent in five years because the sanctions were basically getting tightened every single year, George. Now look at the potential if Iran -- I like to call it the Germany of the Middle East, same size population. A lot of people don't know they're great manufacturers of autos and steel.
And they have the blessing of natural resources that Germany does not have; 9 percent of the proven oil reserves of the world, 18 percent of the proven natural gas. Probably more, because these sanctions have held exploration, even 7 percent of the world's minerals.
So this great potential, investors would like to go into the market. They've been shut out. As Fred was suggesting, you can't even do a banking transaction in Iran right now.
But that is about to change. Think about the days of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and how recalcitrant he was and the fighting with the West. That is all about to change. The cloud's going to lift.
Can the moderates prevail, give the opportunity?
And in this uncertain climate, can the foreign direct investment come back into Iran to support the oil and gas sector but also the consumer sector with 80 million highly educated consumers waiting to get back into the global economy?
HOWELL: As we await, to watch, to see what happens, no better team to have watching this than John Defterios, live in Abu Dhabi with your depth on the markets in that region, and Fred Pleitgen, who has traveled to Tehran numerous times to give us insight on perspective there and also the reporting on what's next.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for your time. And we will stay in touch. As you just heard, the possibility of Iranian sanctions being lifted
is just one factor in plunging oil prices.
It dropped below $30 a barrel on Friday, fueling the global selloff. The Dow then reacted in part by dropping another 390 points, closing just under 16,000 on Friday. The FTSE, DAX and Hang Seng closed down as well.
The French health ministry has launched an investigation after an early phase drug trial left a man brain dead. Five others are also hospitalized. Health officials say dozens of volunteers have taken this drug. CNN's Phil Black has this report.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "An accident of exceptional gravity," that's how the French health minister describes this drug trial, which looks to have destroyed the lives of a handful of its participants.
BLACK (voice-over): Around 90 people have taken the drug at the center of the trial but in different doses. Those who have reacted negatively to it were all part of the same group taking the same dose.
They started taking it repeatedly from January the 7th but it only took a few days before one of them developed negative symptoms. He is now clinically brain dead. Others followed as well, also suffering neurological symptoms. They're all men, aged between 28 and 49. Three of them may suffer permanent disabilities.
This was a phase I trial, which means it is the first time this drug is being tested on healthy human volunteers. The purpose of a phase I trial after animal testing --
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BLACK (voice-over): -- is to determine if it is safe for human consumption.
The French health minister says the drug is designed to treat anxiety and motor disorders, but she denied very strongly reports in the French media that this is a cannabis-based drug.
MARISOL TOURAINE, FRENCH HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): This drug does not contain cannabis nor is it a product or a drug derived from cannabis. It acts on natural systems which fight pain, a system called the endocannabinoid system, but I must stress there is no cannabis in this drug.
BLACK (voice-over): So no cannabis but the bodily system this drug is designed to influence is named after cannabis because the receptors are the same ones which interact with compounds in the cannabis plant.
Now the private lab, under contract with the French government, Biotrial, says that all international guidelines were followed through this trial. So it is Bial, which is the Portuguese company developing the drug. But the French government says that an event like this in a medical
trial is unprecedented and it will work hard to investigate this, find the answers and, if necessary, determine who was responsible -- Phil Black, CNN, London.
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HOWELL: Dr. Joel Zivot is a professor of anesthesiology at Emory University. Earlier, my colleague, Natalie Allen, spoke with him about the potential impact on volunteers who sign up for clinical trials.
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DR. JOEL ZIVOT, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: I think that by signing, what you're really just saying is that you acknowledge that you've had an opportunity to review the document. It's not really a function of giving away anything.
The experimenter and the volunteer continue to have a relationship. And the intention, again is that information should be exchanged in an impartial way, again, so a person can understand.
And so by signing, it's not a setting-aside of rights, it's really just to acknowledge that they've seen the document, they understood and that they volunteered.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in the world of social media and media being global and all-encompassing, do you think this could have some impact on future phase I trials, that anyone that might be a candidate for a volunteer might Google and go, "I'm not doing that"?
ZIVOT: Well, I hope not because clinical trials are important. And we need these trials and we need people to volunteer. We are indebted to volunteers.
Volunteers, especially in a phase I trial, who recognize and accept a certain degree of risk, to be able to allow themselves to be used to learn something very important. And one always hopes that a drug in its beginning stages ultimately becomes that drug that makes the difference in the life of someone in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: That was Dr. Joel Zivot, professor of anesthesiology at Emory University.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, in the U.S. city of Detroit, some school conditions are so poor that attendance has become dangerous for some students. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus: votes are being counted in Taiwan. And the island may soon have its first female leader. That story ahead as this broadcast continues around the world this hour on CNN International and CNN USA.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
The votes are being counted in a potentially historic election in Taiwan. The polls closed about an hour ago. The results should come soon. And Tsai Ing-wen could be elected Taiwan's first female president. Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally favored Taiwan's independence.
China is said to be paying very close attention to this election, given that. Our Kristie Lu Stout is in Taipei and has been speaking to voters leaving the polls and she joins us by phone this hour.
Kristie, what are you hearing right now?
I just saw your Instagram post actually that showed the wall of information there, the wall of data.
What are you hearing?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's so many people here in Taiwan, an island of 23 million residents, are closely watching the ballots being counted, the vote results coming in.
And George, we are expecting victory for Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party or the DPP. She is known as Dr. Tsai. She has a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. She has also never been in an elected office before.
If she becomes the next president of Taiwan, she will be staring down a number of challenges. Among them, a stagnating economy also a rising, a very vocal youth movement that demands to be heard.
She also has an uphill battle to find a way to work with China. And an interesting development: a Taiwan pop star has been forced to apologize after waving the Taiwan flag at a concert recently. The clip has gone viral and many people here in Taiwan are outraged.
There are people here who want to assert their sense of Taiwan identity. But there are also voters I've talked to who want a closer relationship to China. Now, George, the ballots are being counted. And right now, it looks like we are on track to Taiwan having its first female president, Dr. Tsai Ing-wen -- back to you.
HOWELL: Kristie Lu Stout, live on the phone with us from Taipei, Taiwan.
Kristie, thank you so much. We'll stay in touch as the results come in.
The U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is being slammed for his criticism of New York City, even as some Democrats find a very rare reason to praise Donald Trump.
All this came just two weeks before the first electoral test of the presidential election, the Iowa caucuses. CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash looks at whether Cruz's strategy backfired on him.
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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to be here so much in the next two weeks you're going to be sick of me.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Energized by a strong debate performance, Donald Trump rallied for votes in the first caucus state Trump style.
TRUMP: People say, oh, well, just say you want to do well in Iowa. Just say you want to do well. That way, at the end, if you come in second or third or fourth, you know, you can say, I didn't say I wanted to win Iowa.
BASH (voice-over): He is neck-and-neck in Iowa with Ted Cruz, a political death match that spilled onto the South Carolina debate stage.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Donald's mother was born in Scotland. She was naturalized. Now Donald --
TRUMP: But I was born here.
CRUZ: On the issue of citizenship, Donald --
TRUMP: Big difference.
CRUZ: -- on the issue of citizenship, Donald, I'm not going use your mother's birth against you.
TRUMP: OK, good, because it wouldn't work.
BASH (voice-over): Cruz tried to turn the tables on Trump, who has been questioning the Canadian-born Cruz's eligibility to be president.
CRUZ: Back in September, my friend, Donald, said that he had had his lawyers look at this from every which way. And there was no issue there.
Since September, the Constitution hasn't changed.
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CRUZ: But the poll numbers have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you raising this issue now?
TRUMP: Because now he's doing a little bit better.
BASH (voice-over): But Trump got the last word, going after Cruz for disparaging his, quote, "New York values," by invoking 9/11.
TRUMP: And it was with us for months, the smell, the air. And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan and everybody in the world watched. That was a very insulting statement that Ted made.
BASH (voice-over): For that, Trump got rare backup from New York Democrats, including New York Governor --
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BASH (voice-over): -- Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Ted Cruz insulted the people of New York. He owes the people of New York an apology.
BASH (voice-over): Former New York senator, now Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted, "Just this once, Trump's right. New Yorkers value hard work, diversity, tolerance, resilience and building better lives for our families."
The New York "Daily News" was more blunt, saying, "Drop Dead, Ted," with the Statue of Liberty giving him the one-finger salute.
This afternoon in South Carolina, Cruz responded.
CRUZ: I'm happy to apologize. I apologize to the millions of New Yorkers, who have been let down by liberal politicians in that state.
BASH (voice-over): As for Trump and Cruz, their scuffles would be standard fare had the competitors not been embracing only months ago.
CRUZ: Donald Trump has been tremendously beneficial to our campaign.
BASH: Why do you have this bromance?
TRUMP: Well, it is a little bit of a romance. I like him. He likes me. He's backed me 100 percent.
BASH (voice-over): That was then. This is now.
TRUMP: So I guess the bromance is over.
BASH: Do you see Ted Cruz as your biggest competition right now?
TRUMP: No, not really. I mean we're going to see what happens. But certainly I don't see him as my biggest competition. I see him as competition. Certainly he's competition and others are competition.
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HOWELL: That was chief political correspondent Dana Bash reporting for us.
In the U.S. city of Detroit, the public school system is so low on money that conditions in some buildings have become dangerous for the students there. We'll have that story ahead. Plus Sean Penn, he calls his interview with El Chapo "a failure."
Coming up, what the actor says he regrets about the article on the drug kingpin.
You're watching CNN worldwide.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell. The headlines we're following this hour.
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HOWELL: In the U.S. city in Detroit, the conditions in some public schools have deteriorated to the point of danger. But for the time being, there isn't enough money to solve the obvious problems. Jean Casarez has this report.
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JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): School conditions like this at Spain Elementary prompted Detroit Public School teachers to call a sickout several days this week.
Sixty-four or roughly two-thirds of the city's public schools were closed Monday, leaving thousands of students out of the classroom, sparking Michigan's division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch an investigation into Spain Elementary School.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our gym wing. We have been told that this portion of the building is off limits to us as of two months ago.
Our pool has been empty like this for about six years.
We've now been banned from our own playground. No gym and now no playground.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Twenty minutes away at Frank Cody High School, principal Latoya Hall-King told the national president of the American Teachers Federation, who flew in from Washington for the meeting, conditions at the school are intolerable.
From a rodent infestation, to girls' bathroom stalls having no doors; the technology classroom, without access to the Internet.
RANDI WENGARTON, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: I see a lot of bad situations. This ranks about some of the worst.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Additionally, water leaks at the school, fixed but never sealed. CASAREZ: I've been in this building about 40 minutes now and I am hoarse. I wasn't hoarse when I walked in.
Are you concerned about that for the children?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. There's clearly environmental issues when you have leaks in buildings, when you have carpeting that has been leaked upon.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Darnell Earley, appointed one year ago by the governor to head emergency management for the district, says not all of Detroit's 97 public schools have these issues. And with an accumulated debt of $515 million, they have to make tough decisions on what schools get what improvements first.
DARNELL EARLEY, EMERGENCY MANAGER, DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Financially, we don't have the capacity. And decisions have been made for years about how best to use those dwindling resources. You have to really use a kind of a crystal ball to decide what's the best way to spend these few dollars.
CASAREZ (voice-over): At this Detroit Parent Network Forum Thursday night, teachers got support across the board but not everyone agreed on the tactic of the sickout.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe it's a bad thing for the children. I believe that their education, you know, should have really been really considered and thought about.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Although the community is divided on what to do about very real challenges and until the district can get money, the students will continue to bear the burden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I worry about is losing, losing, losing the teachers and also closing down the schools.
CASAREZ: State senator Jeff Hanson tells me that on Friday he and other lawmakers came here to Detroit to see the conditions for themselves. Legislation has been introduced in Lansing, controversial, he says, which ultimately would allow Detroit Public Schools to make the necessary repairs to schools where thousands of students attend each and every day.
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HOWELL: That Was jean Casarez, reporting for us from Detroit.
Now on to actor Sean Penn and his interview with the Mexican drug lord, El Chapo. He is calling it a failure. Penn's article appeared this week in "Rolling Stone" magazine after he secretly met and later submitted questions to Joaquin Guzman. But now the actor says he regrets that interview. CNN's Rafael Romo explains.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Sean Penn says he wants to set the record straight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO (voice-over): In an interview with Charlie Rose for the CBS show, "60 Minutes," Sean Penn says his goal was not to glorify Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman or the Sinaloa cartel.
"What I wanted to do," he told Rose, "was to start a conversation about the policy on the war on drugs."
But the coverage about Sean Penn's 10,000-word article that appeared Saturday in "Rolling Stone" magazine has centered on potential legal problems he may face because of it and the process of how he got access to El Chapo in the first place.
Penn also wanted to dispel the notion that the interview helped Mexican officials find El Chapo's whereabouts leading to his capture.
SEAN PENN, ACTOR: We have met with him many weeks earlier.
CHARLIE ROSE, CBS NEWS HOST: On October 2nd.
PENN: On October 2nd, in a place nowhere near where he was captured. We're not smarter than the DEA or the Mexican intelligence. We had a contact, upon which we were able to facilitate an invitation.
ROSE: Do you believe that the Mexican government released this, in part, because they wanted to see you blamed and to put you at risk?
PENN: Yes.
ROSE: They wanted to encourage the cartel to put you in their crosshairs?
PENN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO (voice-over): Mexican officials have told us in the last few days that the meeting with El Chapo was essential to the drug lord's capture.
Kate del Castillo, the Mexican star that facilitated this interview, may also be in legal trouble. Authorities say they want to find out whether El Chapo funded her tequila distribution business in the United States and, if so, why.
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ROMO: All authorities have said so far is that they want to question both actors to find out more about their interactions with El Chapo -- Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOWELL: Some wintry weather moving into parts of the Northeastern United States, Derek Van Dam. You know, just a month ago, we were talking about how warm it is.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Record highs. That's right. But I'm timid this time around, George, to call this one a full-fledged nor'easter. People get scared of that word.
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VAN DAM: Get a load of this video coming from our friends at Red Bull. Wow, some Formula 1 fans out there will really love this. And this just astounded me.
They flew in one of their Formula 1 cars via helicopter, dropped it on one of the slopes in Kitzbuhel, Austria. This is just outside of the Innsbruck region and decided, George, they'd take it for a test drive. Never been done before, first-ever show run on an alpine peak like this.
The race course was actually marked by ski gates. And they had to specially design snow chains to fit around the tires just so this particular gentleman, Max Verstappen, wouldn't spin out of control.
HOWELL: OK, but snow chains?
Is that really going to help?
(LAUGHTER)
HOWELL: Really?
VAN DAM: You know what, there was over 3,000 spectators watching, too. So Red Bull needed to be sure that those snow chains were going to do their job.
HOWELL: Derek, thank you. Thank you so much. Very cool video to see.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, we take a very sobering look at some of the innocent pawns scared by ISIS, children who, instead of seeing playgrounds, see battlegrounds. You'll meet some of those who were lucky enough to escape -- next.
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HOWELL: In Iraq, there is an ongoing battle to bring home children who were forced to kill for ISIS. Those who've been freed from the terror group still live in fear. Our Nima Elbagir went to Northern Iraq in this CNN exclusive to get the chilling story of the ISIS child soldiers.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five-year-old Sara was captured alongside her mother by ISIS.
Now free, when her parents aren't looking, she runs to cover her face. It's what their ISIS captors taught her at gunpoint.
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ELBAGIR (voice-over): Al Farouq Institute in Raqqah: ISIS claims it is their main child soldier training facility.
"To jihad, to jihad," they're chanting.
In this propaganda video, spread out on either side of an ISIS trainer, blank-faced rows of children sit. One boy shakes visibly. Others unable to raise their gaze.
These are the so-called cubs of the caliphate, ISIS' army of child soldiers.
"And by God's grace," he's saying, "in the coming days they will be at the front lines of the fight against the nonbelievers."
The Gweyr front line, south of the Kurdistan regional capital, Erbil, the Peshmerga commander tells us this is one of their most contested front lines.
ELBAGIR: Just the other side of that river there --
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ELBAGIR: -- that's where he says the ISIS positions are. Just the other side of that broken bridge and it's from there, he says, that desperate children are fleeing, making their way through that river, swimming through the river, under cover of dark, risking their lives to make it here to safety.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): But not all manage to escape.
AZIZ ABDULLAH HADUR, PESHMERGA COMMANDER (through translator): Many times when we are fighting ISIS, we see children at the front line. They're wearing explosive vests.
ELBAGIR: What's it like for you to have to open fire on children?
HADUR (through translator): They are brainwashed. When they make it through our lines, they kill our fighters. It's an unbearably hard decision. You don't know what to do. If you don't kill them, they'll kill you.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): U.S. military sources tell CNN, as ISIS comes under increased pressure on the battlefield, they are relying on child soldiers to fill out the ranks. This 12-year-old boy was featured in the Al Farouq Institute
propaganda video. He says he was training to be a suicide bomber.
Now reunited with his mother, he's asked us not to broadcast his face or his voice. He's asked that we call him "Nasir," not his real name.
"NASIR," ISIS CHILD SOLDIER (through translator): There were 60 of us. The scariest times for us all were when the airstrikes happened. They'd lead all of us underground into the tunnels to hide. They told us the Americans, the unbelievers, were trying to kill us but they, the fighters, they loved us.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): This, of course, was all part of the indoctrination. His ISIS handlers would tell him they were now his only family.
"NASIR" (through translator): When we were training, they would tell us our parents were unbelievers, unclean, and that our first job was to go back and kill them, that we were cleaning the world of them, of all unbelievers.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): "Nasir" says the youngest of the boys was 5 years old, none of them exempt from the grueling training.
"NASIR" (through translator): We weren't allowed to cry but I would think about my mother, think about her worrying about me and I'd try and cry quietly.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Highly stylized and romanticized, ISIS has released a number of videos, showcasing its child army. But the reality is, of course, very different.
HADUR (through translator): When they arrive to us, they are so skinny they barely look human. They tell us they've been living in a hell.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Back at the camp, Sara's mother hopes her little girl will evenly forget about the headscarf and the face covering and the men with guns, who threatened her life -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, Gweyr, Iraq.
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HOWELL: The U.S. Department of Defense has released video that it claims shows an explosion.
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HOWELL (voice-over): An ISIS cache depot in Mosul, Iraq, being bombed by the U.S. earlier this month. The Pentagon officials there say that is cash that you see fluttering in the air. They did not say how much money was there in that explosion but they describe it as millions. The strike was intended to deprive ISIS of some of its massive resources.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: This weekend marks 25 years since the start of the Persian Gulf War. Apart from the geopolitical fallout of that conflict, it was a major turning point in media coverage from conflict zones. CNN led that coverage, reporting from the front lines and now the journalists who were there reflect on the historic events.
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VITO MAGGIOLO, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Well, I knew that it would be unprecedented in that we were the only news organization that Saddam was allowing back into Baghdad, to cover the war from his backyard.
That weighed upon me. I knew it was a tremendous responsibility. Certainly one that impacted me tremendously was when we covered a bombing by the allies on what they thought was a command post.
But from the best we could tell, once we got there, was being used as a shelter. Many dozens of people died in that attack, mostly women and children, who were sheltered there.
PETER ARNETT, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: The roof of this building is 15 feet deep of concrete, reinforced with steel bars. The bomb cut through it like butter.
What is this area?
What is this part of town?
Are there any military targets here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Absolutely. There's no any military targets, just a residential area.
DAVID RUST, CNN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: A large number of women and were killed in that thing. Two bombs came in, one right after another, into the shelter, penetrated it and completely destroyed everybody inside in the shelter itself.
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RUST: When we got there, the Iraqis wanted to see it. They knew that it was all women and children and they thought that would get a lot of propaganda for them. So they brought us to the location immediately and gave us free reign to shoot whatever we wanted.
MAGGIOLO: That was probably the most profound of the events that we covered during the course of our time there.
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HOWELL: And, of course, we will have more insight from our reporters and photojournalists who covered the Persian Gulf War.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And ahead, you will meet a woman who is 102 years old. She is the oldest working teacher in the United States. You'll hear her secret to a good life and why she has no plans to retire. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: In the U.S. state of New Jersey, a home economics teacher loves showing her students how to cook and sew. Granny, as she is called, has set a record of sorts. Hazel Sanchez with our affiliate WCBS New York has her report.
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AGNES ZHELESNIK, HOME EC TEACHER: Oh, that's going to be a good one.
HAZEL SANCHEZ, WCBS NEW YORK (voice-over): At 102 years old, Agnes Zhelesnik is officially the oldest living and working teacher in America.
ZHELESNIK: 102 is -- I feel like maybe 95.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): She certainly doesn't act her age. Zhelesnik, better known as Granny at Sundance School in North Plainfield, New Jersey, spent most of her adult life as a stay-at-home mom. Then, at the ripe age of 80, started her career as a cooking and sewing teacher when the school found itself in need.
Granny's daughter recruited her; she teaches here, too.
AGNES ARAKELIAN, AGNES ZHELESNIK'S DAUGHTER: Well, I saw how she took care of the family. And I knew that she wanted to get out a little bit. And it wasn't supposed to be this extensive.
SANCHEZ: Do you love teaching?
ZHELESNIK: I love it. The children, they are lovable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Granny.
ZHELESNIK: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good.
Granny is a wonderful teacher. And she knows lots of things that can help us do better in life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I learned how to cook delicious foods with her.
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SANCHEZ (voice-over): The students and staff held a huge birthday celebration for Granny, who shared her secret to a long life.
ZHELESNIK: I just think you have to take care of yourself and be happy.
I had a good life, a good life.
SANCHEZ: And you're still having a good life.
ZHELESNIK: Yes. You're right. It's a good life.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Granny says she has no plans to retire anytime soon.
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HOWELL: Thanks, Granny.
And thanks to Hazel Sanchez at WCBS for that report.
And we thank you for watching this hour. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is next. And for other viewers around the world, "AMANPOUR" starts in just a moment. Thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
