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Group: Second American ISIS Fighter Killed; Middle East "Worst In 40 Years"; Mom Begs ISIS To Release Her Son

Aired August 27, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We are just past the bottom of the hour, you're watching CNN. We are now getting word that a second American may have been killed fighting alongside ISIS. The U.S. government has not confirmed this. The claim comes, though, from a coalition of Syrian opposition groups that released this.

The American passport of Douglas McAuthor McCain, who we do now know was killed fighting with ISIS in a suburb of Aleppo. McCain was 33 years of age. He had a child, grew up in the Midwest, was raised Christian, had converted to Islam.

And a friend recalls him as a nice, quiet kid with a big heart and enjoyed basketball. McCain did have some minor scrapes with the law, but in the wake of everything, his family absolutely stunned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENYATA MCCAIN, COUSIN IDENTIFIED AS AMERICAN ISIS FIGHTER: I feel like maybe it was some people he was hanging out with because that's not who he is. He's not ISIS. He's not a terrorist. He's a happy person. He's close with family. You know, very close with his mom and his child, like, I don't -- believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So she is, you know, incredulous. But when you look at his Twitter page, you saw his Twitter bio saying he's increasingly sympathetic with ISIS, put him squarely in the sights with that U.S. intelligence.

Law enforcement sources tells CNN McCain was on a terrorist watch list. And we have been talking about options for taking on ISIS in Syria. Now let's talk again about Iraq. We can't point out enough that ISIS had declared itself a state, having carved out parts of both Syria and Iraq.

And so when you look at the map, what you see in red here, that is territory either controlled or contested by ISIS and the group is essentially trying to build that section out.

As it has done in other areas, ISIS is killing and driving out Shiite Muslims. These are the desperate Shiites and this may look very familiar. It's a video that was shot this week showing these desperate Iraqi Shiites being flown away from an ISIS advance north of Baghdad.

And CNN's Anna Coren is with us now from Erbil in Northern Iraq. This is the region controlled by the Kurds. And Anna, you had had a car bomb in Erbil as recently as last weekend. What is the state of play now between ISIS and the Kurds?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes. Car bomb here, as well as ISIS militants very much on the doorstep of Erbil, which as you say, is the capital of Kurdistan. I have to say, that ISIS militants are very much on the back foot ever since those U.S. air strikes began more than two weeks ago, Brooke.

The reason being is that they are taking out those key positions, the artillery, the mortars, the vehicles, the Humvees. American Humvees, mind you that they seize from the Iraqi army after they fled.

So they are, you know, making gains on the battlefield allowing the Kurdish forces with the help of the Iraqi commandos to take back important places like Mosul Dam where we were last week, the very critical piece of infrastructure.

But 101 air strikes today. That's what we're hearing from U.S. Central Command. Some around Erbil, as well as Mosul Dam. So fighting still continuing there. But we have to remember that ISIS still controls one-third of Iraq -- Brooke.

And their headquarters are very much in Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, 1.5 million people living there. So certainly there are methods of getting around Iraq change because of U.S. air strikes.

But then they are looking at other methods, such as car bombing suicide bombings. We were down in Kirkuk yesterday, 100 kilometers south of here and officials say they have arrested dozens of ISIS militants.

And they also believe, Brooke, there are sleeper cells down there. So ISIS still agitating, still trying to disrupt communities, really still trying to create fear and panic amongst civilians here.

BALDWIN: Anna Coren, thank you. Let's stay on this since we're talking about ISIS and Iraq specifically. I want you to listen something. We heard this week form Bob Baer. He is one of our CNN national security analysts. I want you to listen closely. He made several alarming points. Here's one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This chaos or this state or call it whatever you want, is going to move down into the gulf, where 60 percent of the world's oil resources sit. I don't like to put it in terms of oil, but we better look at this realistically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You hear that word, oil? Let's go to one of our other go-to guys, Jim Clancy, CNN international. You heard it. He said the magic word, oil. So you have major oil fields in the north around Kirkuk and ISIS isn't far from there now. That's the red section.

To get to the major oil fields in the south. Is would first have to battle through Baghdad and then access other hostile territory. Should the U.S., Jim Clancy, be worried?

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.S. has to be concerned and this is why President Obama is trying to accelerate the drawing up, if you will, of a battle plan. How are we going to deal with ISIS? The U.S. has some kind of a strategy.

No, it's not going to be as simple as ISIS, you know, marching through one city after another. As Anna correctly pointed out there in Erbil, they're seeing the prospect, in Kirkuk, they are seeing the prospect that there are ISIS activists, ISIS supporters that will carry out car bombings.

This has been one of the tragic realities of life for the Iraqi people for a dozen years or more. I mean, the Iraqis have just been through this, now going through another round of it.

Obviously, ISIS is filling any void it can find, any dissatisfaction it can find, and certainly, oil is very much on its mind. But moreover, oil is on the minds of those sunny tribal leaders, Brooke.

The ones who threw in, you know, their fate with ISIS because of their frustration of not sharing power, and yes, sharing money with Nouri al-Maliki's regime. They felt left out, they wanted to sit at the table. They wanted a share of the pie.

Not getting it, they threw in their lot with ISIS. Could that be turned around? Only if there was a deal with the Iraqi government and those Sunni tribes.

BALDWIN: So there's that. Then there was, you know, when Bob Baer speaks, we listen, and one other point he made. This is a guy who has been a CIA agent. He's been an analyst for years and years and he told us the Middle East now is the worst he has seen it in 40 years. Would you agree with that?

CLANCY: I agree with him. I mean, you know, I lived in the Middle East, Brooke. And it's the worst that I've seen it. It's falling apart at the seams. Power vacuums everywhere and these radical groups are taking over. Another sage, if you will, and all of this is Rammy Curry, the Palestinian Lebanese commentator out of Beirut and says look at the source of all of this.

If you want the solution to ISIS, you have to look at the source, and the source has been the frustration of Arab and Muslim people in the Middle East for one dictatorship after another.

One regime that was all about one or two people or one family and the vast majority of people were left out. That frustration first vented as the Arab spring and now just exploding across the map.

BALDWIN: Jim Clancy, thank you. Coming up, a mother makes a plea to the leader of ISIS. The terror group holding her son hostage. We'll talk to a former FBI agent who specializes in negotiations.

And the search to find this missing American. The 23-year-old was hiking in Jerusalem five days ago and he hasn't been seen since. And now his family is trying to get the word out. His brother spoke to CNN and explained what he was doing in Israel. We'll share his story and their plea, next.

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BALDWIN: Day five in the search for an American hiker missing and the forest outside of Jerusalem. Search teams are frantically looking for this 23-year-old. He is Aaron Sofer. Authorities say he disappeared while just walking with a friend.

And now his family is desperate to find him. Even offered a $28,000 reward via social media. Aaron's father flew from New Jersey to join the search for his son.

Joining me now is "THE LEAD's" Jake Tapper, who spoke with Aaron's brother. Jake, what did the brother tell you? Do they have any leads?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": The last time, I spoke with the family and when I contacted the Israeli police today, still no leads on the disappearance of 23-year-old, Aaron Sofer. He was walking in Jerusalem forest with a friend last Friday before the Sabbath.

And they were both going down an incline at different -- separate from each other and Aaron disappeared. Here is what his brother, Joel, had to say when I spoke with him yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do police seem to have any idea where your brother might be?

JOEL SOFER, BROTHER OF MISSING IN ISRAEL (via telephone): I don't have any idea. They were searching and searching and, you know, that place where the forest was where he got lost, I actually was over there today on site. And, you know, there is nothing. They have no evidence, they can't find anything.

He's a very, very good boy and he was just, you know -- now they have -- they don't have any -- he was just going on a little to take a little break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Hundreds of police and volunteers have been searching since he was reported having disappeared. Here's the thing, though, Brooke. First of all, the Jerusalem forest is not terribly big. I believe it's only about 400 acres. It's shrunk since it was first created in the 1950s. And second of all, this is the chilling part of the story. This is the same forest where the body of Mohamed Kadir, the Palestinian boy who was killed --

BALDWIN: Wow --

TAPPER: -- thought as a revenge killing for the three Israeli boys, who were kidnapped and killed. This is where the body of Mohamed Kadir was discovered southwest of Jerusalem. Obviously in the current climate in Israel, that is a big concern.

BALDWIN: Sure. It's definitely on the minds of his family and father who wants to find his son and bring him home. Jake, we'll look for the interview in its entirety at the top of the hour. Thank you, sir. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper at 4:00 Eastern here on CNN.

Coming up next, the mother of a journalist held hostage by ISIS came forward today, begged for her son's release. So next we'll talk to a former FBI agent who actually specialized in negotiations.

What would be a strategy here to try to convince this terror group to free this American? We'll talk about that with him next.

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BALDWIN: An American mother today is pleading with the head of ISIS to release her son. I'm talking about journalist, Steven Sotloff. He's been missing for a year. He was shown in the same video of the beheading of James Foley.

In the video, ISIS said Sotloff's fate rests with President Obama's next moves in Iraq. The Al Arabiya TV network showed a video today of Sotloff's mother pleading with the leader of ISIS to let her son go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIRLEY SOTLOFF, MOTHER OF JOURNALIST HELD BY ISIS: I've learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the since of others. Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S. government. He's an innocent journalist. I've always learned that you can grant amnesty. I ask you to please release my child.

As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the examples set by the Prophet Muhammad who protected people of the book. I want what every mother wants, to on live to see her children's children. I plead with you to grant me this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A plea from a mother and here is my next guest, Chris Voss, former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI. Chris, I mean, a lot to talk about here out of this video. What do you think that Miss Sotloff has been hearing behind the scenes be it from State Department officials or ISIS themselves? CHRIS VOSS, CEO, THE BLACK SWAN GROUP: Thank you for having me on, Brooke. As far as what she's hearing behind the scenes there must be a lot of people who don't know for sure what's going on.

I know that's very undefined right now and in James Foley's case there was silence from ISIS prior to the final things, the cowardly things they did when they murdered him and more than likely they're hearing a lot o silence from ISIS now.

BALDWIN: So then why now release this video, this emotional plea to this -- to the man, the Khalif that she calls him. Why now?

VOSS: Well, his is a good idea right now. She demonstrated a lot of courage and a lot of respect. I'm very respect with how courageous she was with this video and with all things considered and especially with the recent events it's probably best for her to try to make a direct appeal in a very respectful way to find out whether or not the person she's appealing with thinks enough of themselves to recognize that respect.

BALDWIN: So you say she's brave. In what circumstance could this -- could this prove to be hurtful or -- or maybe not the best thing to do?

VOSS: Well, I don't think there's any way that there's any down side to this. I don't think it's particularly hurtful and there aren't a lot of reasons that are hurtful to indicate the threat is very high. This is probably the best thing to do. I think this is the smartest thing for her to do and she needs to show that her son is from an honorable family and that she's an honorable, respectful person.

BALDWIN: It's interesting in talking to folks like you who have done negotiating before, we are talking about negotiating with ISIS. Abu bakr al Baghdadi is who she's addressing. What would one need to appeal to from a group as brutal as this to get them to stop and listen to this mother's plea?

VOSS: Well, this group is very brutal and each group like this even though we don't like their rules they have their own rules and by her communicating with them in this fashion, she's demonstrated a recognition and respect for these rules.

She talks about the fact that the prophet protected people of the book which is true, and Muslims have a history of doing that for those that recognize their authority in appropriate circumstances. She's simply demonstrating a respect for their history and who they are and if they are worthy of that respect they'll respond.

BALDWIN: What are the chances, Chris, that the message has been received by Baghdadi?

VOSS: In circumstances like this, the very frightening thing that the family faces is that their chances for success are slim and none. It's an extremely long shot and it talks a lot of courage knowing that the odds are against you in the first place.

BALDWIN: Chris Voss, thank you so much.

VOSS: Thanks for having me on.

BALDWIN: Hopefully her son can be returned safely and healthily. A quick break. We're back after this.

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BALDWIN: Before we go, you have to see these pictures out of Malibu. I mean, you see these waves here. This is just absolutely monster waves as a result of Hurricane Marie and it's pushing huge waves into Southern California beaches.

And depending on who you ask, I mean, you see the guy here. You know, it could be a serious threat. It could be awesome though for some surfers. The National Weather Service issued a beach hazard and high surf warnings for more than 100 miles north of L.A.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. We'll see you back here at this time tomorrow. In the meantime, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.