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New Day Sunday

ISIS Video Claims American Hostage Beheaded

Aired November 16, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So glad to have you with us on this Sunday though we have some really dire news to share with you today. I'm Christi Paul.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Joe Johns in for Victor Blackwell. It is 6:00.

PAUL: We begin with the breaking news that in a video published online today, ISIS claims to have beheaded American hostage, Peter Kassig.

JOHNS: We don't know yet whether the video is authentic or whether it is indeed Kassig in the video. We see the aftermath of the beheading and the victim is clearly, we should say, not recognizable.

The 26-year-old Kassig was once a U.S. Army Ranger and an Iraq war veteran. In civilian life, he was an aid worker in Syria. That's where he was captured more than a year ago.

PAUL: We want to get right to CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson. He is on the phone with us from Washington. Nic, thanks for being with us. The thing that struck us is that the video we're seeing of this alleged execution is different from ones we've seen in the past. Can you talk to us about that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It's different in a number of ways. It's different because the man who apparently is doing -- or has done the execution or is talking about that, he's in a different location.

We've normally seen it in different location. We're not seeing that. The previous victims, Allan Henning, David Hanes, Stephen Sotloft, and James Foley, have all been beheaded this way.

Journalists and aid workers, they've been seen on camera before. That's not shown this time. This is a much longer video. It is the most barbaric of all the ISIS videos that I've seen so far. It shows the executions of people, it says, are from the Syrian Air Force.

It's a mass execution in the most barbaric way. The man addresses the camera and tells that this is Peter Kassig that has been beheaded. The man that does that is seen in another video clip actually beheading someone. This is the most barbaric of the videos that we've seen so far. And also the video also is longer and it talks about the history of ISIS and it talks about the plans and it draws attention to where ISIS is making gains around the Middle East. This, again, it can't be said enough, this is the most barbaric that they've done so far.

JOHNS: Typically when they release these videos, they've been used to forward some type of public relations aim. Could you give us some sense of what the public relations motive here with this new video might be?

ROBERTSON: All of them seem to have an aim for recruitment through education and grandizing ISIS itself. This one paints the history of ISIS. So it grows in Iraq through spilling to Syria and then very pointedly puts on a map and this just comes a few days after various radical Islamic factions pledged allegiance to ISIS.

They put them on a map. They highlight them individually, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Yemen. This seems to be, again, another message by ISIS to show barbaric cruelty, but also how it says it's growing and that it is making gains.

And this does seem to come at a time when the United States is deploying more troops to Iraq. The video goes on to say that there will be more troops deployed and we're ready for them.

It really points out that it uses the fact that Peter Kassig before he became an aid worker and spent a long time helping innocent people in Syria that before then he was a U.S. Army Ranger.

It appears to point to that fact and says we're ready for more troops coming to the region. So there are multiple messages here, which is typical of ISIS to do this.

JOHNS: The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has said that the United States has been making some head way against ISIS and there has been some speculation that this video might have been timed just to be sort of a counter point to that. Any feelings on that, Nic?

ROBERTSON: It would certainly be typical of ISIS to do that. Absolutely they would want to get their message across that this is a very, very slickly produced piece of propaganda. The way that it is shot, it is almost to the point of being a Hollywood style.

There is a very important piece of propaganda for them. It is clear. I don't want to go into details about the barbaric nature, but the way it is shot, the way that it is staged.

It appears to have been filmed not just by one camera reeling off events, but multiple different shots edited together at the same event. This is a prize piece of propaganda for them.

It does seem to betray to strike that message that the United States is making gains. It doesn't mention -- it doesn't mention their own battlefield loses. It grandize what they are doing. What is striking is this takes place in a different location than we've seen before. And we are not seeing the execution of the man that they say is Peter Kassig, but we are unable to identify so far. In the past they've done that and it's been done in the open. That doesn't appear to be the case this time.

It does put beyond any doubt now in this particular video that the man who speaks to the camera issues the threat to the west. We see him actually beheading someone else in this video.

There is no doubt that this man not only narrates and speaks for ISIS, but absolutely plays a central role in these murders and barbaric acts -- Joe.

JOHNS: Nic Robertson, thanks for that.

Joining us now by phone with more on this new claim by ISIS is Haras Rafiq. He is the managing director of The Quilliam Foundation. It's a think tank that works to tackle extremism and radicalism. Mr. Rafiq, do you think this video is real, first of all?

HARAS RAFIQ, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION (via telephone): Yes. I've watched the video a few times with a number of experts and we believe this video is real. It has been very professionally produced. It is one of the video propaganda they've produced so far.

Not just Peter Abdurahman Kassig being beheaded, but also a number of other Syrians as well. This is very symbolic. This is a response, as we see the U.S. and the coalition making gains against ISIL, we will find that they will try to show that they are still strong.

Try and show that they are just as barbaric as they have been and one of the things we'll see is the videos will become more and more barbaric as we make more end roads into -- into the fight against ISIL.

PAUL: Mr. Rafiq, one of the things that, you know, we look at when we see these videos and you talk about they seem to be highly produced and more so even this one. Doesn't that speak to the fact that we really don't know when this was carried out? It takes time to make those videos, yes?

RAFIQ: Absolutely. If you read today's national newspapers in the U.K., you'll find a story on the front page of one of the papers saying that about a week ago, just over a week ago, the beheader known as Jihadi John, was severely injured in U.S. airstrikes.

Now these claims we can't collaborate them yet, but it seems highly likely that he was involved in some sort of -- he did suffer some sort of injury. So it is my suspicion that this video was actually made a while ago.

I think especially because of the fact that they didn't have Rahman actually saying anything, maybe in an earlier version he did, and maybe that is now out of date. But certainly you're absolutely right. We don't know when these videos have been made. And one of the things we analyzed in the initial video is there is a high chance that some of the earlier executions that they showed were actually done the same day because if -- there is some very sophisticated software analysis.

It has been determined that for some of them, the camera was in exactly the same place, which means that there wasn't any lapse of time in between the beheading. So yes, we don't know when they were done and evidence would suggest that this video was actually done a while ago.

JOHNS: Why? Why are they doing this? What is the purpose they're trying to achieve by killing westerners, putting it on camera and releasing it on social media and eventually, you know, sending it along to cable television and all the others in the west? Why are they doing this? Why are they making it so public?

RAFIQ: There are two wars that are going on. We have the war that is taking place on the ground in Iraq and Syria. And we have the coalition doing airstrikes and the Kurds and others fighting ISIL in the region. Then we have the propaganda war.

I remember many years ago when I was in the corporate law, somebody came along and said to me there is a guy in the U.S. who is doing great work around social media. Why don't we leave our company and set something up?

I said that will never take off. But the reality is that many, many people nowadays actually live a second life and that is an online world, in the online world. And this is a way for them to get their messages out.

This is a way for them to recruit and also show, try to show that they are still strong and that they still are a force to be reckoned with and it's also publication. So the online world really is becoming just as important as the real world in the 21st Century warfare.

PAUL: All right. Haras Rafiq, we so appreciate you being with us. Thank you for taking the time.

Want to let you know that we are hearing from President Obama that he did speak at the G20 Summit about ISIS and we're going to have a live report about that in just a moment after the break. Do stay close.

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PAUL: Breaking news this morning, we are following word that ISIS claims to have now killed Peter Kassig, a 26-year-old man from Indiana, former U.S. Army Ranger, Iraq war veteran, had been held since October 2013. His family made this plea, even tweeting directly to ISIS to please spare his life.

JOHNS: Yes. He changed his name while he was in captivity to Abdul Rahman. And his family continued to plea that since he was a converted Muslim that he ought to be released and not murdered. Nonetheless, ISIS says it has beheaded him. There are some pictures. This is a little bit of a different situation than some of the other videos we've seen. Nonetheless, the United States government is working to try to confirm whether, in fact, Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul Rahman, has been executed on camera.

PAUL: We did hear from David Cameron in a tweet prime minister of England saying, "I'm horrified by the cold blooded murder of Abdul Rahman Kassig. ISIL has again shown the depravity. My thoughts are with his family."

So that's one world leader we've heard from right now. We know President Obama is on his way back to Washington after wrapping up the G20 Summit in Australia.

JOHNS: CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, joining us now from Brisbane. Jim, the president is returning home as we get word of this possible beheading of Peter Kassig. Do you know whether the president has been informed yet?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, we don't know yet, Joe, and that is possibly perhaps because, you know, this news broke within minutes after the president left here in Brisbane, Australia, to start heading back towards Washington.

He is going to make a refueling stop in Hawaii. So presumably, you know, obviously they have coms on Air Force One, Joe. It is possible that president has been briefed on this already.

But it's not clear whether or not his communication staff on Air Force One is able to communicate that with communication staff that is still here in Brisbane, Australia.

We can tell you that we do have a statement from one of those officials who is still here in Australia, the National Security Council spokeswoman put out a statement on what the White House is saying right now about this apparent beheading of Peter Kassig.

It says, "We are aware of a video that claims to show the murder of U.S. citizen, Peter Kassig, by ISIL. The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine the authenticity. If confirmed, we're appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American aid worker and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends and we will provide more information when it is available."

Joe, you covered a number of these. I've covered a number of these over the last several months. We both know this is pretty much the boiler plate response from the National Security Council staff when something like this happens.

But as the hours go on into tomorrow, we should have more of a statement coming out of the White House, I would think one from the president as well. That, of course, takes time to formulate that sort of statement.

And whether or not there are contacts with the family and so forth. So all of those details will come out, I think, over time in the next 24 hours -- Joe and Christie.

PAUL: Well, Jim, we know that ISIS was part of the discussion of world leaders at the G20 Summit. What did they say? Do we know?

ACOSTA: That's right. That's right. It was a big topic on the agenda here. There is a big problem with the flow of foreign fighters from the west, from even here in Australia. There are concerns in Australia.

They did talk about in these various meetings that president had with the prime minister of Australia and all of these other leaders who were here in Brisbane for the G20 Summit.

But at a news conference that wrapped up this summit, President Obama fielded a whole range of questions on issues ranging from Vladimir Putin to domestic politics like his expected action on immigration reform.

But I asked the president a question about ISIS and whether or not he would envision a scenario in the future where he might want to deploy U.S. ground troops in Iraq to take on ISIS.

The reason for that question is because the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Martin Dempsey, said up on Capitol Hill just last week that he could envision scenarios where he might make that recommendation to the president.

So I asked the president whether or not he might take General Dempsey's advice were the circumstances right and here's what the president had to say.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes, there are always circumstances in which the United States might need to deploy U.S. ground troops. If we discover that ISIL had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon and we had to run an operation to get it out of their hands.

Then, yes, you can anticipate that not only would Chairman Dempsey recommend me sending U.S. ground troops to get that weapon out of their hands, but I would order it.

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ACOSTA: Now we should point out that was a slight shift at least it sounded to us, a slight shift from what the president said before. He steadfastly ruled out putting troops on the ground in a combat role against ISIS in Iraq.

The president has said, you know, if we're talking about the subject of hostages being held by ISIS, the president has pointed out that in the past he has deployed ground forces in rescue operations and that attempted rescue operation that failed to release or free those hostages being held by ISIS in Syria. The president, of course, did put troops on the ground in that scenario. The president is saying today that there might be scenarios in the future where he might decide it would be appropriate to go and put ground forces in play in Iraq. So I thought that was a slight shift on the part of the president.

PAUL: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you so much. Jim, we appreciate it. Want to let you know that we're getting word the family of Peter Kassig has now given a statement.

JOHNS: Right. We're going to hear from them in a couple minutes. Also, we're going to go to our military analyst, Spider Marks, talk to him a bit about what's going on with ISIS in the Middle East.

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JOHNS: Following breaking news this morning, talking about the killing apparently of a U.S. aid worker in the Middle East, who was being held by ISIS. In a video published online today, ISIS claims to have beheaded American hostage, Peter Kassig.

PAUL: The 26-year-old aid worker was once a U.S. Army Ranger, an Iraq war veteran. He was captured in October of 2013. He was held for more than a year. We are now getting reaction from his family.

JOHNS: CNN's Alexandra Field is live in New York. Alexandra, what are we hearing from the family this morning?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christie, Joe, they have given us a statement a few minutes ago saying, quite simply, we are aware of the news reports being circulated about our treasured son and are waiting for confirmation from the government as to the authenticity of these reports.

We will have no other statement at this time and ask that you please respect our privacy." They do, however, go on to say that they hope that their son will be written about and remembered for his important work and the love he shared with friends and family.

Ed and Paula Kassig, they're from Indianapolis. That's where they raised their son, Peter Kassig. He went to high school in Indianapolis and they have been fiercely fighting and trying to secure his freedom.

We've heard a lot from them over the last month. They released a video on YouTube in which they appealed for mercy for their son. They wanted safe return. They begged for it.

At one point Peter Kassig's mother, Paula Kassig, even went on Twitter directly tweeting at ISIS leaders asking them to speak directly with her. She was doing everything in her power as a mother, as a parent, to try to secure her son's release.

A lot of people in that community in Indianapolis rallying around that family. Peter Kassig briefly attended Butler University last month, a vigil was held there. There were also local Muslim community groups that had rallied around the family showing and offering their support.

Peter Kassig had also made some friends with the Syrian-American Alliance. They had been in close contact with him until he was taken into captivity. Last month, we traveled to Indianapolis and got an opportunity to speak to some of Peter Kassig's friends.

They talked about what he was doing over there. You know, this is a young man that served in the Army. He deployed to Iraq. He came home, went to Butler University, did some schooling and from everything that we've heard from his friends and family, he decided that he was just called to do something else.

He really deeply wanted to return overseas to engage in the humanitarian work that he was doing at the time he was taken. Everyone we talked to about Peter Kassig described a man who was deeply committed to that work.

Again, this morning, as his parents try to seek verification from the U.S. government that that is in fact their son in those videos, they are asking people to focus on the work that he went over there to do.

JOHNS: Yes. It's just really interesting. Thank you so much, Alexandra Field.

The thing about this story is that Peter Kassig did convert to Islam while he was in captivity. And there seemed to be some controversy over whether ISIS even among radical groups would be seen as right and proper to kill a person who is actually been --

PAUL: Who has converted to Islam, exactly. So we're going to talk more about that in just a moment after the break. Do stay with us.

But again, as we break the news this morning that Peter Kassig, the fifth westerner now, ISIS claims to have killed.

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