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Russia Investigating Whether Air Strike Killed ISIS Leader; Death Toll Stands at 30 in London Tower Fire; Trump Lashing Out Against Russia Investigation In Latest Tweet Storm. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 16, 2017 - 08:00   ET

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

[07:54:52] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And we continue to follow this breaking news. He's been called enemy number

one in the fight against ISIS, and now Russia is checking whether one of its air strikes killed, the terror group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Now, Russian state media report the air strike was carried out last month on the outskirts of

Raqqa, Syria on a command post where ISIS leaders were meeting.

The Russian foreign minister says it does not have a full confirmation yet. And while the U.S. says it cannot verify the Russian claim at this time.

Now, here is what we know about al-Baghdadi, it's believed that he was born in Samara, Iraq, a Sunni Muslim from a religious family. A biography

posted on jihadists websites says that he earned a doctorate in Islamic Studies from a university in Bagdad.

It's believed that he joined the Iraqi insurgency after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He was later captured and spent four years at a U.S.-run

prison camp in Iraq until his release in 2009.

Within a year, he had became leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. He eventually broke away form

al Qaeda to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Now, the U.S. is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Now, let's go to Moscow and CNN contributor Jill Dougherty is there standing by for us. And Jill, there has been, as you know, a number of

previous reports about the death of Baghdadi, but what kind of evidence is Russia providing?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBITOR: Well, right now the ministry of defense is releasing images, which they say show the destruction of the ISIS

command post in Raqqa during a meeting of ISIS leaders there. And I think we have those images. They show kind of a before-and-after image. The

first one, the command post they say from the 13th of May, and then the after pictures are the command post the 29th of May, that would be a day

after Russia says that these air strikes were carried out. It says traces of missile and bombing strike objects

destroyed.

So, as you said, the Russians now are saying -- or at least the ministry of defense - is saying they are checking that information. They are trying

to confirm it. And so it's not to the point where they are saying it definitely did happen. And you're getting a number of Russian officials

right now who are being very cautious about saying it's 100 percent.

Foreign Minister Lavrov said exactly that, it's not 100 percent. And he added something important. He said, you know, when news comes out of

decapitating the terrorists, often they live to fight again. So, he was saying, you know, caution here, even if al-

Baghdadi is killed, ISIS could go on.

And then we also asked the Kremlin and the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said told the reporters that they, too, do not have final

confirmation. And he referred to the ministry of defense.

So there's a lot of caution. If this were true, it would be highly significant, but again, nobody so far, and the day is young, has said that

he definitely is dead - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, interesting to hear that note of caution from the Kremlin. If true, this would be very significant. It would also be a big propaganda

victory for Putin because ISIS has targeted Russia. It was named as the culprit behind the St. Petersburg attack.

Would killing of al-Baghdadi remove the threat though? Probably not.

DOUGHERTY: Probably not, because I think Minister Lavrov definitely is correct, that just

decapitating the senior leadership doesn't mean that the entire organization dies. And, you know, certainly that the problem for the

Russians is that they have estimates vary, but somewhere around 2,500 to 5,000 fighters who came from Russia and the former Soviet Union,

Uzbekistan, there are Tanjiks, Uzbeks, Kyrgys, who are fighting in Syria, fighting alongside of ISIS. And so the worry has always been, they're

fighting there, they could come back to Russia and carry out even more terrorist

attacks, and there have been some that definitely were, according to the Russians, done by fighters who were in Syria. So, it's really -- it's a

high concern for the Russians, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and if you could bring back those images that you showed earlier of the evidence that Russia put forward believing with caution that

the strike did succeed in killing the ISIS leader, you can see it would have to be a very clean, almost clinical strike to wipe out the compounds.

We can see the before and the after picture there where al-Bagdhdadi is believed to have been.

And this development, it puts Russia's involvement and its military investment in Syria back in the spotlight, doesn't it?

DOUGHERTY: Yes. In fact, you know, President Putin has said just this week that Syria was really proof that the Russians -- Russian forces are

using sophisticated Russian weaponry and it's always been a type of advertisement overall, Syria, for how the Russian military has come back

and has more sophisticated weapons.

That said, they are not known for using a lot of precision-guided weapons. The Americans have a lot of those. This would tend to indicate that, if

this did happen, that they were using some type of precision-guided weapons. We have to see -- again, there are a lot of questions about this.

But I think also on a geopolitical plane, it would be significant, because afterall the United States, at least for quite a while, has said that the

Russians were - the primary aim of Russia was to protect and prop up Assad, president of Syria, and not really to go after ISIS. That has changed

somewhat, but here you can have the Russians conceivably, if this is confirmed, saying what proof do you need? We went after ISIS and, guess

what, we got the head of ISIS.

But that is still is down the road. We have to see whether it's confirmed.

[08:06:13] LU STOUT: Absolutely. Jill Dougherty live from Moscow. Your analysis always

appreciated. Thank you.

Now, let's get more insight now from Arwa Damon who has reported extensively in the fight against ISIS. She joins us live from Irbil in

Iraq. And Arwa, it was believed that the ISIS leader al-Baghdadi was in Iraq, that he was around Mosul. Now Russia says that their strike in

Raqqa, Syria, killed him. So, should we believe this claim?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're being, as we heard Jill saying as well, extremely cautious saying that there is a

possibility that he was at this particular location that the Russians say they targeted, along with hundreds of other ISIS fighters. That in and of

itself raises a lot of questions because ISIS is a very savvy organization. It has grown and morphed over the years. It is effectively a better,

stronger, more adept, more powerful, more capable version of what it started out as, which is al Qaeda in Iraq back in 2004.

The likelihood that so many of its senior leadership would make themselves -- present themselves as such a target of opportunity, that in and of

itself, as I was saying, raises a lot of questions. When we look at the broader battle against ISIS, this most certainly is not the first time

that there have been claims or possibilities raised that al-Baghdadi himself was killed or wounded. That has happened on a number of occasions

in the past. And if we look at the battlefield in Iraq, for example, around Mosul, their ISIS fighters, yes, are finding themselves more and

more confined to a smaller piece of territory, pretty much just the old city itself. But even within that context, they are still launching waves

of suicide bombers. They're launching attacks in other parts of Iraq and, in fact, across the globe.

So, while we're discussing all of this, it's also worth pointing out that historically speaking, when the heads of these various different terrorist

organizations, whether it's al Qaeda in Iraq's first leader, Zarqawi, whether it's Osama bin Laden, whether it's other key leaders, those deaths

do not necessarily end up significantly hindering the organization's capability to continue carrying out various attacks or even eventually

regrouping and morphing into something that is even more dangerous.

LU STOUT: But ISIS is believed to be on the back foot in Iraq and in Syria. So if this report is true that al-Baghdadi has been killed by this

Russian air strike, could it be a tipping point in the fight against ISIS?

DAMON: Look, a lot of observers do like to, yes, say, that ISIS is on its back foot, but an

equal number of analysts who have been looking into the fight against ISIS and other terrorist organizations do caution, as I would, about using that

kind of terminology when it comes to talking about dealing with an organization like ISIS.

Because remember, we've heard the exact same thing in the past. In fact, al Qaeda in Iraq was

effectively declared defeated. It then morphed and emerged as the Islamic State of Iraq, which was this umbrella organization that had al Qaeda as

its leading member.

That then was declared effectively rendered inefficient or ineffective by the U.S. military prior to their withdrawal from Iraq, but then the Islamic

State of Iraq managed to regroup and morph into what is today the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

So, trying to use terminology that is so black and white in terms of deeming an organization as

being on its back foot creates the impression that perhaps it is on the way to its defeat. We do need to take into consideration the history over the

course of the last 10-plus years when it comes to trying to deal with these organizations.

ISIS will, yes, eventually be pushed out of Mosul. It most likely will eventually be pushed out of all of Iraq, Syria, perhaps, will be a much

tougher battle when it comes to defeating at least ISIS on the ground in Syria, but taking away territory from these organizations does not

ultimately mean an end to their capabilities to strike in other parts of the world or even as Iraqis themselves do caution and as Iraqi commanders

themselves do caution coming back as something that is eventually even more powerful, more destructive and worse.

LU STOUT: Got it. And thank you very much for pointing that out. With or without al-Baghdadi, ISIS remains a significant threat, a significant

fighting force. Arwa Damon reporting live for us from northern Iraq. Thank you, Arwa.

Now to London where police have just said at least 30 people were killed in the apartment tower fire. That number is still likely to rise

considerably.

The catastrophe has now become a criminal investigation with Scotland Yard appointing a senior investigator.

And earlier, the queen and Prince William met first responders and people who lost their homes.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins us live from the scene in West London. Erin, there in London, you're witnessing it firsthand, just grief has turned into

deep frustration. A public inquiry has been ordered, but is that going to be enough to quell the anger?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, people in this community want answers, and they want those answers now.

I was just at a police and fire press conference just a short ways away from here, and the anger and the frustration of people within this

community was palpable. They were shouting out questions, asking the officials why they haven't released the number missing in this tragedy.

The police commander responding saying that he's not going to give out information that he simply does not know. They do not know at this point

how many people were in that tower block when that deadly fire broke out.

He did say, though, that they have established that 30 people tragically have died in this incident. He said that number is expected to rise. One

individual in the overnight hours tragically dying in the hospital. 12 bodies, he says, have been able to be recovered, are now in the mortuary

which leaves the remains of 18 likely still inside that building.

The interior of the building, the building itself, proving to be especially problematic for this investigation. Conditions inside have been

characterized as hazardous. Yesterday, emergency crews were inside when another fire broke out. They had to evacuate. The commander today saying

that they have been able to get inside the building and they have also been able to locate where they think the

fire started.

They said they do not believe there was any criminal intent behind the start of that fire. He did say, however, that they're not going to give

anym ore information out at this point about how the fire broke out, citing this ongoing investigation, but that kind of answer simply just adding to

the frustration here as people really desperate for information.

LU STOUT: Yeah, looking for answers and looking for accountability as well.

Erin McLaughlin reporting live for us from the scene in London, thank you.

Now, heartbreakingly, rescuers say they don't expect to find any more survivors, but one family is clinging to hope that a 12-year-old girl got

out alive. Oren Liebermann has their agonizing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Notting Hill Methodist Church very close to the scene of the fire has in and of itself become the scene of a

memorial and an ongoing candlelight vigil. You can take a look here behind me, people have come -- dozens, if not hundreds of people have come to say

a few words with these flowers, to think and to mourn respectfully, as well as to light some of these candles here as they hope there are some miracles

left in this story, while worrying and fearing that the number of dead at this point will only rise.

Jessica Urbano's family is still holding out hope against all odds. They're out there walking the streets handing out fliers, hoping perhaps someone

saw the 12-year-old girl who lived on the 20th floor, someone saw her get out. Or maybe she's in a hospital, unconscious, unable to tell her family

she's ok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hoping that that's the case. That she'll wake up soon and let us know where she is.

LIEBERMANN: In the first minutes of confusion of the fire, Urbano was separated from her family, her cousin says. In the smoke and the fire,

chaos spread as quickly as the flames. The last time they spoke was at 1:40 in the morning, 45 minutes after the fire started.

JASON GARCIA, JESSICA URBANO'S COUSIN: The last we heard from her, two phone that calls she made from inside the building from another person's

phone. So we also understood she's missing (ph). So since that second phone call, we've had no contact at all.

LIEBERMANN: If you walk around this neighborhood near the fire, you cannot miss the face of Jessica Urbano. Her friends are wearing her picture on

their shirts. We've seen her picture taped to concrete walls and their flyer in cars -- anything they can do to get the message out and to get the

word out about Jessica Urbano.

Jessica Urbano is one among many still missing, there are flyers with more faces, more pleas for help, and more families who want answers.

[08:15:11] AHMED CELLAT, RELATIVE OF MISSING RESIDENT: The police are reporting that the number of dead is rising and rising. And we don't know

who. We don't know who and whether they are dead (inaudible) and whether they're the ones in hospital. We still don't know what's going on.

LIEBERMANN: For Ahmed Cellat, grief has turned into frustration. His sister's family and their three children were inside the tower. The

youngest child is still missing.

CELLAT: We're still hoping that he might be in a different place, he might be in a different list. We don't know.

LIEBERMANN: At community centers, churches and mosques in the area, there's been an outpouring of support -- Londoners trying to help so many families

who now find themselves homeless, many overflowing with clothing, and food and donations, turning away any more as a way to ease the transition for

the hardest hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People coming in from all parts of London, anywhere else bringing the stuff. It's been amazing. Everyone's helping each other.

LIEBERMANN: The fire swept through the Grenfell Tower so rapidly that every life saved is a miracle, every life lost a tragedy. More than 36 hours

after the fire, Jessica Urbano's family praying she is one of the miracles.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, the British prime minister ordered a public inquiry into the fire, but she is having to handle some political maneuvering.

Theresa May is working to set up an alliance with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist

Party. It's an attempt to shore up her government ahead of next week's Brexit talks. But while both say discussions for a deal are going well,

some politicians say the alliance will have more problems than expected.

Now, let's get more on that as well as the upcoming Brexit talks. Nina Dos Santos joins us now live from Downing Street. Nina, what does an alliance

with the DUP mean for the peace process in Northern Ireland. Is peace at risk?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends who you ask, Kristie. Remember that parties like for instance Sinn Fein are

vehemently opposed to this kind of deal. We just saw Gerry Adams on the streets, on the steps of 10 Downing Street just yesterday afternoon after

Theresa May met with not just Sinn Fein, but the other four main parties in Northern

Ireland assembly to reassure them of a potential deal for the DUP. Gerry Adams said, well I told her

straight away that she was in breach of the Good Friday agreement.

Now, the reason why he said that, Kristie, is because the Good Friday Agreement struck in 1998 was based upon both the British government and the

Irish government being impartial, neutral guarantors of the peace process. So, the logic is if Theresa May is in bed with one of the parties that's an

interested party in Northern Ireland, the DUP, obviously that could potentially compromise her

neutrality.

It wasn't just Sinn Fein who was the party that was making that point, we had other Northern Irish parties coming out of 10 Downing Street making

that point saying they were concerned about the neutrality of any potential tie-up between the DUP and the Conservative Party.

But remember that this isn't a formal coalition. It is a confidence and supply deal, so a lot of these parties are concerned that on a vote-by-vote

basis, the DUP could have significant amount of leverage over the Conservative government, which is of course extremely weak at this time.

Both the DUP and Number 10 seem to say that the talks are going well, that a deal should be struck soon. But of course we've heard that for a few

days now and there's no sign of a government in 10 Downing Street. And the queen's speech is fast approaching, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, the clock is ticking. And from her weakened position after the election, Theresa May must also contend with upcoming tough

Brexit talks. How is she going to approach that?

DOS SANTOS: Well, first of all, she said that they're definitely going to start on the date when they're supposed to start, the 19th of June. A

little bit consternation on the other side of the Channel about this particular set of affairs, because it means that the Brexit talks before

the queen's speech. So, some people on the other side of the channel in Strasboug - I was speaking to at the start of this week - and also in

Brussels a few days later have been questioning whether Theresa May really should be embarking on these talks when obviously she may not have a strong

mandate,or indeed a government in place to do that.

It's likely that those Brexit talks are probably going to start off on the footing of talking about a timeframe rather than the nitty-gritty of

whether or not she's going to change towards a softer Brexit than the kind of hard stance that we've heard consistently in the last year from Theresa

May.

But basically who knows? These are big decisions she's going to have to make. I can tell you anecdotally, over the last two days here at Downing

Street, I have noticed a few senior business figures, particularly some of the lobby groups, some of the business lobby groups, some of the big think

tankers arriving here. So, obviously there is some kind of consultation that seems to be happening among the business community to find out what

they want.

Interestingly enough, Phillip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer, canceled a major economic speech yesterday evening, one he said he canceled

based on the tragedy of the Grenfell Fire. But people were expecting him to potentially to soften his stance on Brexit. But that speech hasn't yet

happened. And we haven't heard more from 11 Downing Street or Number 10 on the issue of Brexit apart from the fact that the talks will supposedly

start on the day they were supposed to, Kristie. [08:20:17] LU STOUT: All right. Nina Dos Santos, keeping a very close eye on 10 Downing Street. Thank you, Nina.

And to some developing news close to London's parliament. Police say a man in his 30s has

been arrested on suspicious of carrying a knife. Authorities are on alert after the two recent terror attacks in the country. We must stress here

there is nothing to suggest that this arrest is in any way linked to terrorism.

Now, Chinese media report a deadly explosion outside the kindergarten the Xuzhou was a bombing. Thursday's blast killed eight people and wounded 65.

No teachers or students were injured as classes were in sessions when the bomb went off.

Xinhua reports the 22-year-old suspect was killed in the blast and police found bomb-making material at his home. It reports that he had a history

of mental illness.

U.S. President Donald Trump is lashing out at the U.S.-Russia investigation which is now reportedly also looking directly at him. We'll tell you what

Mr. Trump said about Hillary Clinton in a new tweet storm just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now, a recap of our top story, Russia says it is investigating reports that one of its air strikes

killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Now, Russian state media report that the air strike was carried out last month on the outskirts of Raqqa,

Syria on a command post where ISIS leaders were meeting. The U.S. has describbed al-Baghdadi as enemy number one in the fight against ISIS.

U.S. officials say they cannot verify the Russian claim at this time. And there have been multiple reports in the past claiming he had been killed,

that turned out to be false.

Turning now to Washington where U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise remains hospitalized in critical condition following a shooting attack that stunned

the nation. As of late Thursday, the hospital says Scalise's condition improved. It says that he underwent a second surgery for internal

injuries, but will need further operations.

On Thursday, the annual congressional baseball game went on as planned but took on a

special meaning. Democrats handed the winning trophy back to Republicans so that it could sit in Scalise's office.

Now, five or people were hurt when a gunman opened fire on Republicans practicing for that

baseball game on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump is lashing out at a Washington Post report that he's under

investigation for possible obstruction of justice. Now, Mr. Trump is attacking the Russia probe as a whole and making reference to former rival

Hillary Clinton with a series of tweets.

Athena Jones is live for us at the White House with more on this story. And Athena, the Russia crowd looming over the Trump White House is growing

and Trump is fighting back. Tell us how.

[08:25:09] ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. That's exactly right. And this is so interesting, the White House has been refusing to

answer any questions about this investigation for several weeks now. That's what we heard from Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who

was asked eight times during yesterday's off camera press briefing about this investigation, this expanding investigation, and eight times punted,

referring all questions to the president's outside legal team.

I tried to ask the president twice during an event in the Roosevelt room about this investigation. He ignored my shouted questions. And yet he

hasn't been entirely silent. He's been using his favorite medium, Twitter, to express his anger and frustration over these investigations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): President Trump lashing out on a day when many sought to overcome partisan bickering. Sending out a flurry of tweets blasting the

Russia investigation. Attacking Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team, though not by name, as "bad and conflicted people." Denouncing the

possible obstruction probe against him as a witch hunt, and lashing out again at Hillary Clinton 219 days after the election.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I think it would be good for Donald Trump to watch his tweets a little more carefully.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you think of that? When he calls the Mueller's investigation a witch hunt?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think you know me. What he does, not what he says. I learned that a long time ago.

JONES: The president's campaign also attacking Democrats in a fundraising e-mail an hour before the congressional charity game, saying, in part,

"Democrats have absolutely nothing to offer our country. All Democrats have done is obstruct President Trump and maniacally scream the word Russia

until they're blue in the face."

This as the "Washington Post" reports that the special counsel is investigating the finances and business dealings of President Trump's son-

in-law Jared Kushner.

SARI HORWITZ, REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: They reported that they are looking at obstruction with President Trump. And so you can see that

Mueller is really expanding his investigation.

JONES: Sources have stressed to CNN that there are no allegations Kushner committed any wrongdoing. His lawyer said any such scrutiny of Kushner's

business would be standard practice.

CNN reported last month that the FBI has been looking into Kushner role on the Trump campaign. Including his involvement in the campaign's data

analytics operation, his relationship with fired national security adviser Michael Flynn and his contacts with Russians.

The Justice Department issuing an unusual statement Thursday night. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein warning Americans to exercise caution

before accepting as true any stories based on anonymous officials.

Amid all of these developments, Vice President Mike Pence hiring a private lawyer to help answer questions that may come from Mueller's investigation.

Aides say Pence's decision has been in the works for weeks and was not prompted by anything in particular.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And despite taking a break from angry tweeting last night, the president sending last night a couple of tweets talking about his recent

trip to Wisconsin and about last night's bipartisan baseball game. This morning he is back on Twitter complaining saying after seven months of

investigations and committee hearings about my, quote, collusion with the Russians, end quote, nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad.

So we'll be watching the president's Twitter feed to see what else he has to say about all this today - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, he continues to tweet, including another one just four minutes ago about the fake news media and how he uses social media to get

around them.

Unfortunately, we have to leave it at that. Athena Jones reporting live for us. Thank you so much. Take care.

Now, we continue to follow breaking news out of Russia. Moscow says it might have dealt a major blow to ISIS killing the terror group's top

leader. We'll take a closer look at that claim when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:37] LU STOUT: Let's get more on our breaking news. Russia says the leader of ISIS might have been killed.

CNN's Clarissa Ward has reported extensively on the fight against ISIS. She joins us now live from London. And Clarissa, of course as you know,

there have been a number of there have been a number of previous reports about the death of al-Baghdadi. Should we

believe this claim from Russia?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I actually think, Kristie, we should be extremely skeptical at this stage, and that's for a number of

reasons. First of all, let's look at what the Russians are claiming. They're saying that they launched an air strike on May 28th in the

evening, that the air strike targeted an ISIS military council meeting in a southern suburb in the city of Raqqa. Raqqa, of course, is their sort of

self-declared capital.

They're saying that 300 people, ISIS personnel, ISIS soldiers were likely killed in this attack in addition to 30 mid-level field commanders.

Now, the reason I raise this point or emphasize it is because ISIS has learned a lot from the

experience of being bombed from the skies on a regular basis over the past few years. They tend not to travel in large numbers, and they certainly

don't congregate in large numbers.

What would be even more surprising on top of this would be to see the leader of the group itself, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi attending a meeting along

with mid-level field commanders, along with hundreds of ISIS personnel and all this taking place reportedly in a southern suburb of the city of

Raqqa.

Of course, Raqqa has been encircled. The assault against Raqqa has already begun by various different forces associated with the coalition. We had

heard and believe to be true that most ISIS leaders had and, indeed, many ISIS supporters and residents, had been pushing their forces south towards

the Iraqi border.

So, for a number of reasons I would say, Kristie, there are very real questions about this report. Even the Russians themselves have said --

even Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, saying we don't have 100 percent confirmation here. We're simply investigating the possibility that

he was killed in this attack.

LU STOUT: So a number of reasons why we should be skeptical about Russia's claim, which also puts Russia's involvement in Syria back in the spotlight.

Now, why is Russia there? Is it there to take the fight to ISIS or to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad?

[08:35:01] WARD: Well, that's the million dollar question, Kristie. And if you ask the Russians, they'll say that it's to take the fight against

the terrorists. And if you ask people living on the ground in Aleppo or in Idlib Province, they will tell that you the vast majority of Russian

firepower has been directed at essentially obliterating the opposition that is fighting against the regime fighting against Bashar al-Assad.

If this claim turns out to be true, and if a Russian air strike did, indeed, kill the leader of ISIS, this will be a huge propaganda victory for

Russia. Russia has been very keen to try to show the world that it is doing its part in the fight against ISIS. It is even trying to show that,

if anything, it is leading the charge in the fight against ISIS. That has not previously been borne out this terms of facts and substance, in terms

of what we've seen on the ground. But of course something like the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would be a huge boon for Russia.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a huge propaganda coup, if true. The claim also puts Raqqa in the spotlight. What's the latest out of Raqqa in terms of

progress to retake the city, the ISIS stronghold away from the militant group?

WARD: Well, people have been saying that this actually might not take as long as had expected, that it might not be quite as brutal and bloody as

the battle that we've seen in Mosul.

We know that forces have encircled the city, that they are due to really begin - they say they've already begun their assault, but when they

actually begin their assault on the city center itself in earnest it is another story.

The complicating factor in all of this, Kristie, is the question of who goes in to Raqqa, the

Kurds who the U.S. is backing? Difficult for them to go in. This is an Arab civilian population. Then you have forces aligned with various

different proxies. It becomes very complicated to see who actually goes in there and who after Raqqa falls and ISIS has been removed, who holds Raqqa?

Who is in charge of Raqqa?

These are the kinds of questions that we really don't have answers to yet. And until we do have answers to them, it's hard to see how you can have a

real meaningful push or final assault against this is stronghold - Kristie.

LU STOUT: Clarissa Ward reporting live for us. Thank you so much, Clarissa, and take care.

An American family wants answers about why their son fell into a coma while detained in North Korea. Now, 22-year-old college student Otto Warmbier

was returned to the U.S. And North Korea says that he had been in a coma for more than a year.

U.S. doctors say he's now in what's called a state of unresponsive wakefulness. He can open his eyes and blink, but he can't move or respond

to verbal commands.

The family doesn't buy North Korea's explanation that their son contracted botulism and went into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very difficult time for the Warmbier family in Ohio. The doctors here at University of Cincinnati Medical Center

saying that they did a full body scan of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old.

They looked at both his bone structure and the soft tissue and they found no indication of any sort of trauma that would lead to the state that he is

in now, essentially saying that the oxygen to his brain was cut off for a long enough period to do serious brain damage.

Fred Warmbier had spoken earlier at a press conference, a very emotional press conference. Hard to watch a father speak about his son who he didn't

know what had happened to him, and then when he did, to find out he's in a coma and then when he finally gets his arms around him and eyes on him, he

discovers his son can't respond to anything he says.

Mr. Warmbier wore the jacket that his son wore the last time that anyone saw him in good shape. He was forced -- seemingly forced to make a

statement in North Korea wearing a white jacket. His father wore that jacket and said this about him.

FRED WARMBIER, OTTO WARMBIER'S FATHER: I'm able to wear the jacket that he wore when he gave his confession. I'm not confessing. I'm speaking, but,

Otto, I love you and I'm so crazy about you and I'm so glad you're home. You are such a great guy.

MARQUEZ: His father also upset about the tour company, Young Pioneer Tours, based in China. He says that they basically lured his son on to that tour

in order to be taken hostage by the North Koreans. He did say that he and his wife okayed their son to go on that tour. He reserved most of his anger

for the North Korean government.

He also blames the Obama administration, saying they didn't do enough to get their son out. He thanked President Trump and the secretary of state

for bringing their son home.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Cincinnati, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A heartbreaking story.

We'll have more News Stream after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:44] LU STOUT: Now, deliberations in the Bill Cosby trial resume on Friday. Now, members of the jury had announced they could not reach a

decision, but the judge told them to try to find a verdict.

Cosby has pleaded not guilty to aggravated indecent assault. Prosecutors say he drugged and

assaulted Andrea Constant (ph), a former Temple University employee 13 years ago. Cosby's lawyers asked the judge to declare a mistrial for a

third time. He denied that request, saying that would be premature.

Now, it is something that residents of Gotham City are all too familiar with, but last night Los Angeles fired up one of the most well-known

emblems of the comic book universe: the bat signal. It was to honor actor Adam West who died last week at the age of 88. He, of course, played

Batman in the '60s TV series. And in tribute, the Los Angeles mayor even led the

crowd in a bat sing-along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: While fans continue to argue over who the best batman is, I mean, one thing for sure here, no actor has ever lit up our screens quite

the way Adam West did.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

END