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Turkey Aiding British in Search for 3 Teen Girls; How to Combat ISIS Propaganda; Anti-American Sentiment Rises in Russia; Giuliani Dials Back on Obama Comments

Aired February 23, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

Here are some of the headlines we're watching right now.

The terror group al Shabaab is calling for attacks on some of the Western world's largest shopping malls, including the Mall of America in Minnesota and Oxford Street in London. The al Qaeda-aligned group was responsible for the brutal mall attack in Kenya in 2013.

Egypt is calling for other Arab nations to join the fight against ISIS. Egypt has launched air strikes against ISIS fighters in Libya following the execution of 21 Egyptian Christians there. Egypt's president is pushing for a united Arab force to fight the terror group.

Turkish security and intelligence officials say they're aiding the search for three missing British teenage girls. Alerts were sent out last week. It's believed that the teenagers, to of them 15 years old, the other 16, are trying to make it to Syria, possibly to join ISIS.

Atika Shubert is joining us live from London.

Atika, what's the latest on the investigation?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that British police still believe or hope they're in turkey and haven't slipped across the border yet. It's been several days since the British police first put out the appeal. This is why over the weekend we've heard directly from the family members of the school girls urging them to come back home before it's too late.

Take a listen to what one of the sisters had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENU BEGUM, SISTER OF BRITISH TEENAGE: We just hope that obviously a friend previously traveled out. We're hoping that maybe she's gone to see her friend, talk some sense into her. Because she was upset about her friend leaving. A conversation that she had that she knew it was a silly thing to do. I asked her, you wouldn't do anything stupid. It wasn't a reason to ask. She said she was upset that her friend had left and she didn't know why she had done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: You could hear there the family is heart broken, completely shocked that these girls would think about going into Syria.

This follows the case of a classmate who, from the same school, in December, left for Syria, is believed to be in Syria now. So the families believe these girls may have followed in the footsteps of this girl, possibly to try and bring her back. Worst case scenario is they've been lured and radicalized online by ISIS members.

BLITZER: Any indication on where the girls are getting money to fly, for example, from London to Istanbul and then cross into Syria?

SHUBERT: Well, to be honest, it doesn't take a lot of money to fly out to Istanbul. You can get there on budget fares. They could probably save enough money on their own.

The bigger question is who would have given them the information and the know-how to meet up with anybody from an ISIS follower, for example, to bring them across the border. There are several indications that this may have been done online. They were in touch with a young woman, a 19-year-old from Glasgow, who went to Syria last year and she has a blog that posts instructions for people on what to bring and what to expect when you arrive in ISIS. It looks like she may have been communicating with them through other social media means to possibly bring them over. We don't know for sure, but it's one of the lines of investigation that police are looking at.

BLITZER: 15 and 16-year-old girls. It's pretty shocking.

Atika, thank you very much.

The British prime minister, David Cameron, says it's now up to every school in every community to help combat the poisoning of the young minds by ISIS.

Let's talk more about what's going on, ways to combat the propaganda.

Joining us, Sasha Havlicek, the founding CEO and director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London

Sasha, thanks for joining us.

What's drawing the young girls to potentially leave their families, leave their homes, go to Turkey, cross into Syria and join up ISIS? What make as young girl do this?

SASHA HAVLICEK, FOUNDING CEO & DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC DIALOGUE: Thank you very much, Wolf.

In the first place, I'd say these girls are part of a growing and worrying trend. We're seeing young women from across Western countries, both expressing their support for and migrating to Syria now in totally unprecedented numbers. And I would say this is the result really of an extremely sophisticated propaganda recruitment machinery that's targeting young women very specifically. We're seeing peer-to-peer social media recruitment drives that would be the envy of many social media marketing companies.

A report that we put out three weeks ago signals that girls like her are extremely dangerous, they're prolific recruiters, and we need to be doing much more the counter messaging, counter narrative space in terms of competition. Right now, there's very little competing with these girls' messaging out there.

BLITZER: Are these girls -- and I know you attended the White House conference, the summit meeting last week, combating violent extremism, and all of the talk of social media was critically important. Are these girls being told they're going to become ISIS brides, 15, 16- year-old girls, go to Syria and you're going to get married to one of the ISIS commandos, if you will?

HAVLICEK: I think that is the expectation. I think brand caliphate has been incredibly powerful in drawing women. It's not just about fighting. It's about building the new state. These girls are being told they're part of a historic, heroic project, a state building project, that they will be rearing the next generation of jihadis, but there are more activist roles of part of the all-female brigades. Many girls go out there feeling this is empowering. The reality on the ground is very, very different.

BLITZER: What can the international community, whether in the U.K., or in the United States or elsewhere, do to combat this?

HAVLICEK: We need a soft-parity competition strategy. We need credible voices, and in this case young women. Of course, we're starting to see disaffected young women. The girls who went from Vienna to Syria were dubbed the poster girls for jihadi brides, have expressed regret and want to come back. Some of these voices are very powerful of former extremists, if you like. But we need to be marrying those voices up with a really powerful social media high-tech marketing set of tools. We need partnerships with the private sector to do that so we can amplify these voices and get them to the constituencies that matter here.

BLITZER: These 15, 16, 17-year-old girls, based on all of your research, Sasha, I assume they're Muslim girls, not necessarily Christian girls, who have been convinced to convert to Islam. But what can you tell us about their backgrounds?

HAVLICEK: I mean, there is a disproportionately high number of converts to this movement. And that shouldn't be ignored. We've seen that among young men, as well as young women. Of course, Muslim girls are being targeted specifically online, as are boys. They tend not to be the profile that you might imagine. These are often well-educated. We've seen with these three girls, they're particularly bright student. They're politically very conscious. These are girls that could have gone another route in terms of political activism. You can imagine them being very successful having chosen other paths. There is a lot of work to be done both in a one-on-one sort of context as well as online with counter messaging to try and provide an alternative to young people like this.

BLITZER: Sasha Havlicek is the founding CEO, director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London.

Sasha, thanks very much for joining us.

HAVLICEK: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: The road to peace is far from clear, especially when tanks line the road. The Ukrainian military says it will not withdraw its heavy weapons. We're going live to Ukraine when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The so-call cease-fire in Ukraine is in shambles once again today. Heavy fighting continues in eastern Ukraine. Under the terms of the cease-fire, both sides are supposed to be with drawing their heavy weapons. The military says that won't happen because of shelling from rebel forces.

CNN's Diana Magnay is in Donetsk. She's joining us live.

Diana, for all practical purposes, is there anything really left of this cease-fire?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

(EXPLOSION)

MAGNAY: Well, I don't know if you can hear the sound of shelling behind you. Just as you were talking to me, there was what seemed like a launch coming from that direction, targeting the other side of Donetsk. And this shelling started off about 10, 15 minutes ago. It's been pretty quiet here all day since this morning. But this evening, there does seem to be renewed shelling.

So from where I'm standing the cease-fire really doesn't seem to be anything of a cease-fire.

(EXPLOSION)

MAGNAY: I don't know if you could hear that.

It's unclear who is fighting, clearly. But step two of the Minsk agreement was that once weapons were down, heavy weaponry should start to be withdrawn. And I spoke to the OSCE, who have their monitors in Ukraine, and they say there's continued fighting not just around Donetsk but also around Debaltseve, where we had the heavy fighting last week. And neither side has done what they're supposed to have done, provide an inventory of the weapons and the route in which they would withdraw.

We know foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France will be meeting tomorrow in Paris tomorrow to try to keep the shattered truce alive in some form. Perhaps they can do what wasn't clearly done in Minsk -- Wolf? (EXPLOSION)

BLITZER: We can definitely hear the shelling behind you. I hope if's not that close to you.

Diana, be careful over there. We'll keep in close touch.

The shelling continues. That cease-fire, for all practical purposes, right now nonexistent.

Anti-American sentiment, meanwhile, is on the rise in Russia. We're going to tell you why so many Russians now blame the United States, blame America for a lot of their own problems.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You can forget that U.S.-Russia reset button. Anti-American sentiment on the rise in Russia right now. Many Russians are blaming the United States for their economic troubles and for the war in Ukraine.

As CNN's Erin McLaughlin reports, the Kremlin propaganda campaign seems to be paying off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a small village outside of Moscow, people gather to celebrate the end of winter. With an economic crisis and war in Ukraine, many worry Russia will stay in the cold. They blame the United States for their troubles.

"The Americans should shut up," she says. "They shouldn't interfere in our life. We keep helping and helping. Putin is a good one. He's probably tired, poor thing."

"My attitude toward America is bad," she says. "The way I watch the news, I realize that Americans want to get a hold of half of Russia."

State news is full of that kind of story, warning the U.S. is behind the unrest in Ukraine and that Russia could be next. Some are giving reassurances that the country can defend itself.

UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCLAUGHLIN: This journalist declares that Russia is the only country in the world capable of turning U.S. into nuclear ash.

And here, an anchor outlines how long it would take Russian troops to march on Western capitols, including Washington, D.C.

The propaganda has taken a toll. The latest poles show 88 percent of Russians have a negative attitude towards the United States, the highest number since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

(SINGING)

In Moscow over the weekend, thousands gathered for an anti-Maiden protest in reference to the demonstrations in Kiev's Maiden Square that forced Ukraine's pro Russia president from power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCLAUGHLIN: They claim the West was behind the popular uprising.

(on camera): The square here is full of anti-Western sentiments. People here say they are concerned the United States and its allies are trying to take away the sovereign of this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American forces want to germinate on Russian fields. And I think Mr. Putin is the last person who can save our country.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Here, they agree. They're worried about what could happen if the relationship between the United States and Russia continues to slide.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Moscow region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Clear echoes of the Cold War. A very disturbing report, indeed.

After doubling down, Rudy Giuliani is stepping back at least a little bit. The former New York City mayor is now clarifying the bitter criticism of the president of the United States. We're going to tell you what he's now saying about President Obama's patriotism.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm in the fourth quarter of my presidency or, as some of you might call it, the kick off for your campaign season.

(LAUGHTER)

But I think there's still a lot we can get done together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president sounding a little optimistic as he speaks at the National Governor's meeting over at the White House today.

Meanwhile, one of his harshest critics dials back at least a bit. Dialing back on his comments questioning Obama's love for America. In an op-ed article in the "Wall Street Journal," the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, writes this: "My blunt language didn't intend to question President Obama's motives or the content of his heart. My intended focus really was the effect his words and actions have on the morale of the country."

Let's discuss what's going on. CNN'S chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is here; and national political reporter, Peter Hamby, as well.

He's dialing back a little bit in op-ed article in today's "Wall Street Journal."

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "Carefully drafted," key words. "Dialing back a little bit," other key words. I think there were 760 words -- we counted -- and none of them were "I'm sorry." That was not his intention. He's trying to say that he's too blunt and what he was really intending was for a conversation about presidential leadership, that the president needs to be out there more defending America, talking about American exceptionalism. But I can tell you -- you're probably hearing a lot of the same thing -- Republicans forced to answer questions about Giuliani's comments, wishing he didn't write this op-ed because it's just another news cycle of conversations about what he said, and he said that the president doesn't love America.

BLITZER: Yes. I assume a lot of Republicans, especially those that want to be president of the United States, are happy they're being asked questions reacting to what Giuliani said.

PETER HAMBY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. This is day four, five in the cycle now. What we're learning from this is how they're choosing to respond to it. They can be as frustrated as they want and private. This is the world we live in, fair or unfair. Candidates get asked about outliers in their own parties. It's what you do with that. And looking at others answers to the question, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, Mark Rubio, all said that Rudy said in that op-ed, finally, which was they're not questioning his motives, it's questioning what he's done, his actions.

The problem is, of course, Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who has played this cautiously. As first he didn't want to condemn Rudy's comments. And then this weekend, Dan Balz, of "The Washington Post," asked him, do you think the president is a Christian, and Walker said, I don't know, which brings up --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Let me put up on the screen. He was asked, Walker, who is a leading Republican, governor of Wisconsin. He was asked if he believes the president is a Christian. "I've never talked about it or read about that. I've never asked him that."

(CROSSTALK)

He has an awkward response, since all of us know he is a Christian.

BASH: Right. Someone like Dan Balz, he is a veteran. He is --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He's a political reporter for "The Washington Post."

BASH: He's a political reporter for "The Washington Post." He's not a gotcha reporter. That is not his bag. But we were talking earlier about, this was his way of testing whether Scott Walker was ready to answer that question, and he punted. He punted here after he punted in London about the question about evolution. He punted about Rudy Giuliani. And this does go to the question of whether he's ready.

Now, he and his people will say, and have said loudly on Twitter and elsewhere, this has just got to politics and he doesn't want to play that game and that is his intention. But it's the big leagues, the presidential arena, and it's a different kind of thing. And subtleties are critical in answering or not answering, especially a question like this, which has been so toxic in regard to the Republican base and President Obama.

HAMBY: These guys are going to face moronic, silly, dumb questions over the next year or two years. They still have to have a smart answer for it because, as Dana said, they're running for president. Now, as Rand Paul did when he was faced with the measles question the other day, Walker is blaming the media, and today he sent out a fundraising e-mail. He said, "The media's out to get me. Please contribute"

BASH: And it is. The other thing I'm certainly getting in my inbox from lots of my Republican sources and people I know, this is so unfair. Why are the Republicans getting these questions and Democrats are getting a pass? The answer is because there's pretty much one Democrat whose going to run and she's not saying anything yet. It's a huge Republican field and that's where the activity is right now. It's just the way it is.

BLITZER: These questions, if you want to be president of the United States, get ready for a lot of questions. It's not just the media. You know you're in trouble if you start blaming the media for inappropriate answers that you should have bluntly said. You believe he's a Christian? It's a simple question and simple answer. And the answer is yes, he is a Christian.

OK, thanks very much for that.

That's it for me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next.

For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brook Baldwin starts right now.