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Islamist Militants Threaten Baghdad; President Urges Iraqi Prime Minister Reach Out to Iraq's Sunni Population; Increased Numbers of Immigrant Children Crossing Texas Border; O.J. Simpson Trial Remembered; CNN Hero Helps Teen Mothers go to College>

Aired June 14, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It's 10:00 straight up. I'm Christi Paul. We're so glad to see.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 7:00 on the west coast. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

First this morning, Iraq's prime minister is vowing to take the fight for Islamic militants who are threatening to fight on Baghdad.

PAUL: He may get help from the White House. President Obama says all options but one -- sending combat troops back into Iraq. Everything else is on the take.

BLACKWELL: You know, there are they fears that the militants belonging to the extremist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as it's known, may soon push south toward the Iraqi capital. They have rapidly grabbed control of key territory in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

PAUL: You can see the red areas here on this map. We just want to give you a gage. Those areas include Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and that's where ISIS is in control.

BLACKWELL: The militant advances are ringing alarms for the U.S. and its allies, and Iraq's neighbors. The Iraqi government says thousands of volunteers have stepped up to defend their homeland.

PAUL: Even Iran's president says Tehran will consider helping if Iraq requests it. A U.S. official tells CNN a top Iranian general has been in Iraq this week. We're covering this story from multiple angles, and, as you can hear, there are plenty of them. CNN's Arwa Damon is in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, CNN's Athena Jones at the White House.

BLACKWELL: Let's start with Arwa in Erbil. Arwa, first, tell us how far ISIS has advanced. The question, will they make it to Baghdad? Will they take over the city? Where are they now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now in Diyala province, which is a province just to the north of Baghdad, they're about 60 kilometers away from the capital, battling there with Iraqi security forces, who in one town in that area made a gruesome discovery, saying that they found the bodies of 12 police officers who had been shot and then burned. Those bodies were found in an orchard. They suspect that ISIS was behind this, but they say the investigation is still ongoing.

ISIS also advancing on Baghdad again from the north, but this time further to the west of Diyala province, seeming to advance on the capital from two different directions, quite remarkable when one thing the entire advance by ISIS only just began on Tuesday, so in about five days they've managed to cover significant territory, moving from northern Iraq on down towards the capital of Baghdad, Victor.

PAUL: Hey, Arwa, I understand you just exclusively interviewed an Iraqi army officer who abandoned his position with his battalion. What does he tell you?

DAMON: That's right, we did. And it's really interesting because this really helps also explain why it is that ISIS was able to advance so rapidly. They have been able, as we look at the map of the area that they've been moving through, these are predominantly Sunni areas. And what he was telling us is that his unity, and he asked that we not disclose his identity, but it was predominately Sunni as well, and as ISIS was advancing they got actually got a call from their brigade commander telling them to evacuate immediately, grab whatever weaponry they could, and pull back to brigade headquarters. By the time they got there, he said ISIS had already taken over, and he listed all of the weaponry that they left behind, now in ISIS's hands, ranging from humvees that were purchased from the Americans to mortar rounds, heavy weaponry. This is a pattern that we've been seeing repeated throughout as ISIS was making its advance. He was because saying because these are predominantly Sunni areas, because these are predominate Sunni units, they do not feel as if they should or can fight for the predominantly Shia government in Baghdad. This underscores just how sectarian the conflict here has become.

We also asked him if he thought that ISIS and its allies, because there are Sunni tribes and former Sunni insurgent groups fighting alongside it, not because believe in the ideology or the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, but because they do want to defeat the Shia government in Baghdad. But he was saying that if they do manage to make it to the capital, there they will encounter fierce resistance because the various Shia groups, the former Shia militias are rising up, are taking up arms. They are ready to fight. When it comes to the Iraqi security forces defending the capital, this one particular Iraqi commander said that he believed the Sunnis would not fight, it would just be the Shia. So again, this very much becoming an existential battle between Sunni and Shia at this stage, Christi.

BLACKWELL: And we know many of those people responding to the call to arms from the Ayatollah Sistani during Friday prayers, asking them to take up arms and fight off these Sunni fighters. Arwa Damon there in Erbil for us, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thanks, Arwa.

BLACKWELL: As we mentioned, President Obama says he will not searched U.S. combat troops back to Iraq, no boots on the ground, but he is reviewing several other military options. PAUL: Our Athena Jones has details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iraqi security forces have proven unable to defend a number of cities, which has allowed the terrorists to overrun part of Iraq's territory.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three years after President Obama pulled U.S. troops out of Iraq, he says the growing sectarian crisis there now threatens America's national security. The president and his advisers are discussing a range of options, including airstrikes to help Iraq fight off the Sunni militant group that has captured its second largest city, Mosul. He says the U.S. Iraq's government won't get any U.S. military help unless Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, makes big changes.

OBAMA: This should be a wakeup call. Iraq's leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions.

JONES: Maliki has long resisted calls to strike power sharing deals with his Sunni Muslim and Kurdish rivals, deals that could help bring stability to the oil rich country.

KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKING INSTITUTION: Unfortunately what we have seen from the prime minister over the eight, nine years that he's been in office is that this is a man who is very reluctant to bargain with his rivals.

JONES: Shiite Iran has an interest in protecting Iraq from falling to militant and could help the U.S. push Maliki to bargain.

POLLACK: Iraq is one of those in the Middle East were the United States and Iran actually have something of a confluence of interests.

JONES: Meanwhile, Republicans are criticizing the president's Iraq policy, saying it was a mistake not to leave some U.S. forces behind.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I predicted that this would happen when they decided not to have a residual force, and anybody tells you they couldn't isn't telling the truth.

JONES: A president under pressure at home, pressing Iraqis to do more to help themselves.

OBAMA: Our troops and the American people and the American taxpayers made huge investments and sacrifices in order to give Iraqis the opportunity to chart a better course, a better destiny, but ultimately they're going to have to seize it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: So Athena joining us now from the White House. Athena, if ISIS carries out this threat of marching, continuing towards Baghdad, what does the U.S. plan to do at that point? And how soon might we expect a decision? JONES: Christi, these are the options that the U.S. and the president

and his national security team are looking into and discussing over the coming days. Certainly if ISIS forces make it to Baghdad, it is going to be a very serious problem, a serious escalation both practically with fighting in the streets in Baghdad and symbolically given all the time and money and American blood and treasure the U.S. spent winning the war in Iraq. I can tell you the president has said he'll be reviewing these options in the coming days. Any action the U.S. is going to take will take several days to plan so it's not going to be happening overnight. Christi?

PAUL: Athena Jones at the White House for us, thanks, Athena.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill. Mr. Ambassador, good to have you with us this morning. We heard from the president yesterday that what the U.S. does in some ways depends on what Prime Minister Maliki does next. If he starts to reconcile and bring Sunnis into the fold, into the government, if Maliki starts to even make those gestures, considering this would not be his first gesture of reconciliation, and sometimes that's all it is, does he have enough credibility with Sunnis to even pull this off? Essentially is Maliki the right man to move forward?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I don't think he's the right man. I don't think he has a lot of credibility with the Sunnis. But it takes two to reconcile, and the Sunnis have never really reconciled themselves to the idea of Shia government. This is a long-standing problem, as Arwa Damon correctly said, it's become a sectarian conflict. But it's broader than Iraq, it's a bigger problem. And by the way, it goes back some centuries. So the idea that this just depends on little Sunni outreach from a difficult prime minister is really underestimating the degree of problems here.

PAUL: Ambassador, stay with us, too, because coming up we're going to dig deeper into this, and we appreciate you sticking with us through the break here. We're going to take a look at what getting involved in Iraq, what could it really look like at this point?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Well, believe it or not, it's been more than a decade since we saw this. Take a look, this iconic image of civilians snatching down that statue of Saddam Hussein. It triggered celebrations in the streets of Baghdad. We remember seeing this.

PAUL: Oh, yes. Well, this morning Iraq and Baghdad a much different place. Radical Islamist militant tightening their grip on cities including Mosul and Fallujah, the same cities U.S. allies and forces died to defend during the Iraq War.

BLACKWELL: Right now the terrorist group ISIS, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, threatens to push toward Baghdad. Their goal is to create an independent Islamic state.

PAUL: Let's bring in former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill, who stayed with us here, back into the conversation, also joined from Baghdad by CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. Nic, let me start with you real quickly. Let us know what's happening in the capital city right now.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is real concern and fear that the fight will reach to Baghdad, and there is some panic buying that's fueled by rumors. People are stocking up on cooking gas, heating oil, although it seems hot, people are stocking up on that. There is increased security here. There are more checkpoints. And of course young Shia men from this city are joining or listening to the call of the prime minister and the country's most senior Shia religious cleric Ayatollah Sistani to mobilize and go and join and fight with the Iraqi army north of Baghdad to stop ISIS's advantage. So I would not describe this as a city in panic, but it is one that is concerned and there is a level of expectation about what may happen next.

BLACKWELL: Mr. Ambassador, yesterday the president made it clear while the U.S. is considering military aid, this is something that needs to be taken up by the Iraqis. The headline on CNN.com was "This is a you problem." Let's listen to what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We can't do it for them. And in the absence of this type of political effort, short-term military action, including any assistance we might provide, won't succeed. So this should be a wake-up call. Iraq's leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises on behalf of the Iraqi people in order to bring the country together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You know what I found interesting, Christiane Amanpour was on our air yesterday from London talking about this. And she said she had a conversation with former prime minister Allawi in which she talked about some of these Iraqi forces just laying down their arms and walking away, and she said that the former prime minister said they don't see they have something to fight for. They have nothing to fight for. What's your response to that?

HILL: Well, first of all, there's no question that Nouri al Maliki does not remind anyone of Nelson Mandela. Reconciliation has been not been on the top of his agenda. But rather than just look at Maliki, I look more broadly at the whole political elites in that country and make the comments that the Sunnis have never accepted Shia rule. They would much prefer something where they would take turns with the Shia or something like that. I don't think that's been an offer from any of the Shia.

You know, Maliki, who is a very flawed politician nonetheless is still the most powerful Shia politician. He was able to put together the parliamentary majority that he needed. So it's clear he has not succeeded with Sunni outreach. But I would just caution your viewers on the view that somehow Maliki could solve this if he only gave the Sunnis a few more ministries. When you look at that ISIS crowd, these are not people interested in a deputy prime ministership. They're interested in something much more fundamental.

And as for Ayad Allawi, who opposed Maliki, Ayad Allawi was in charge of a coalition political party, and they failed to get anywhere close to the votes they needed. So I think we need to understand this is a problem.

PAUL: Ambassador, such good points to make. Nic, I want to toss it back to you here real quickly, because we know that ISIS is not alone in their fighting. We have Sunni tribes and Sunni insurgent groups that are fighting alongside them, maybe not for the same purpose, but they are fighting. How strong tactically are ISIS fighters. And would they have made it this far without that Sunni help?

ROBERTSON: ISIS have had an agenda, and they've had an agenda since they grew out of the embers, if you will, of Al Qaeda and Iraq, when they went to Syria and they joined the rebels there. They figured out that they wanted to create space, take towns so that they could be free to grow and prosper in the chaos, attract foreign fighters and money. They had an agenda there. They have an agenda in Iraq.

But strategically, having talked with at least one Sunni tribal leader here, there are also elements of the former Baathist army, if you will. Many generals disaffected, forced out of the army, now returning to give guidance and advice, so that helps them. There is some military expertise planning and strategy going on, not necessarily within ISIS, but within the Sunni movement against the government.

BLACKWELL: All right, Nic Robertson joining us from Baghdad and Ambassador Christopher Hill, thank you both so much.

PAUL: Thank you, gentlemen.

Ahead, ISIS, think of this, ISIS using Hollywood style propaganda to recruit more extremists. The question is can Iraqi lure in supporters with this video that purports to show their military taking out an ISIS convoy.

BLACKWELL: Plus migrants at the border, thousands of children, many alone without their parents. A look at what it's like and why some of them are now being sent home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: New images coming out of Iraq this morning, allegedly showing Iraqi military helicopters firing on convoys that reportedly belong to the terror group ISIS. As you look at these, you can see that of course the Iraqi military trying to do something, although there are those reports of Iraqi forces walking off their posts.

Meanwhile in Baghdad civilians are gathering to join the fight, volunteering to fight and protect their city.

PAUL: They're going to be facing down a brutal enemy. ISIS has released these Hollywood style propaganda videos that really show how deadly they can be. Mohammed Jamjoom has the story for us. And let me just forewarn you here, because I don't want you to be taken by surprise, but some of these images are extremely brutal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A chilling sight, resident of Mosul, Iraq, cheering on the takeover of their city by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, a terrorist organization so brutal even Al Qaeda has disowned them.

But it's not just portions of the population this group has won over. Far more worrying, they now control an arsenal of weapons left behind when Iraq's army fled the scene. Here you see a terrifying display, ISIS proudly showing off missiles they promise to use on their march towards Baghdad. Scary scenes like this are nothing new when it comes to ISIS the group that is perfected propaganda techniques that showcase their strengths, like this recent video, over an hour long, highlighting horrific killing sprees in Iraq, deliberately recorded on video, bombings, executions, kidnappings, and worse. This production displayed glossy camera work and high-level production techniques, as though ISIS were taking cues from Hollywood films such as "Zero Dark Thirty" and "The Hurt Locker" to maximize the terror. Analyst say it show how effective a threat ISIS is becoming.

NADIA OWEIDAT, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: There's money behind it. It's not just idiots. These idiots have somebody controlling them and providing them with equipment that is very expensive.

JAMJOOM: One frightening sequence shows ISIS fighters disguised as Iraqi soldiers setting up fake checkpoints. In another scene a man is hunted down. After being shot, he pleads for his life. "I'm just a driver," he says, "just a driver." What appears to be the man in a Iraqi uniform is shown, then sheer brutality, a hail of bullets shot into his back.

And that's not the worst of it. This man was accused of working with the U.S., he and his two sons forced to dig their own graves.

OWEIDAT: What happened to these people to lose their humanity? Their propaganda is the tool, the only tool that can defeat them.

JAMJOOM: Experts say to judge by this video the reign of terror shows no signs of abating, which is exactly what ISIS wants, even at the risk of their tactic backfiring.

Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: As brutal as that was, I think it was important for people to see so that we're not just having conversations about politicians and maps and cities, that we see that these are people who, in the case of a father and two sons having to dig their own graves -- our thanks to Mohammed Jamjoom for bringing us that story.

Another story we're watching, hundreds of children coming into the U.S. illegally every day, and many more expected to pour in. The conditions they're enduring here in the states, they're bad. But in many cases the alternative at home is so much worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 29 minutes past the hour right now. You are in the Newsroom, and we are so glad to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Let's start this half with five stories we're watching this morning.

PAUL: Number one, President Obama is staying in close act with his national security team this weekend as he weighs military options for Iraq, including possible airstrikes, but he says no boots on the ground. Islamic militants have seized Iraq's second largest city, Mosul and other towns, and they are threatening to advance toward the capital of Baghdad.

BLACKWELL: Up next, 49 people dead after insurgents shot down a military plane in Ukraine. Officials in the country say pro-Russian rebels used antiaircraft machine guns to bring down the transport plane. You see here the result of the explosion after the plane hit the ground. This is likely the deadliest incident yet as government forces face off against pro-Russian rebels.

PAUL: Number three, a federal judge has put a halt to same-sex marriages in Wisconsin just days after she first allowed them. The state's attorney general asked the court to stop the marriages while he appeals the ruling. Some 600 marriage licenses were issued to same sex couple, and those marriages are now in legal limbo.

BLACKWELL: Number four, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is recovering at the San Antonio military medical center, Brook Medical Center there. Officials say his condition is stable and he was able to walk into the hospital. But they added that he will be doing more tests, and Bergdahl's full recovery and rehabilitation will take months.

PAUL: Number five, all right, all you who are still up and alive in L.A., celebrating, the L.A. Kings Stanley Cup champions after a thrilling double overtime victory before one raucous home crowd in game five. Alec Martinez slapped in the game-winner, sending the New York Rangers home. Kings may be a new NHL dynasty in the making. This is the second championship in three years, so congratulations to them, to the fans, and all of you who are going to spend the entire weekend --

BLACKWELL: Yes, celebrating, quote/unquote.

PAUL: You know, every day hundreds of children are crossing illegally into the U.S., and they're doing this by themselves. I think that's part of what is so jolting about this. Some of them are as young as five years old, think about that, by themselves, coming from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

BLACKWELL: So many of these children are arriving that U.S. authorities are struggling to find space to house them. National correspondent Polo Sandoval joins us from Mission, Texas. Polo, does law enforcement there expect the volume of these crossings to at least not stop, but slow down at any time soon?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Guys, good morning. If the numbers that we have seen so far are any indicator, really law enforcement expected to only get busier, and really the struggle there means having to put most of these children into holding areas, and also in holding facilities that are already overcrowded. More on that, of course, in just a second.

But we can tell you for now, law enforcement on the ground really struggling to get by. They're trying to do the best that they can. We see them on patrols. Really the main issue which changed lately is a lot of these people, not only these children, but families, men and women all together, they are flagging down law enforcement. Reports right now is we are hearing from those Central American countries, which is where most of these people are from, are that there's really a promise, or at least this misconception that if they travel to the United States right now, they at least stand a better chance of eventually staying here. Guys?

PAUL: All right, so there have been these allegations of overcrowding. You just mentioned it in terms of the facilities where they're being held here in the U.S. What do you know?

SANDOVAL: We've seen the pictures of writing, we've seen the number of people crammed in some of these cells, and so there has been some outcry here and really calling on the government for some improvements. The government, though, is responding to that. They are making it very clear there in several prepared statements that they have released that these children are being dealt with in the best way possible, that they are in fact being fed, they are really in a sanitary sort of situation there. So the government there ensuring that they are working extra hard to make sure that these children are kept safe.

But still, again, a lot of these pictures telling a different stories. And you're seeing a lot of people there, a lot of children really huddled together there. But the bottom line is the numbers already 1,800 kids crossing this stretch of the border in south Texas. That's a lot of them. Guys?

PAUL: Polo, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Polo. Let's bring in Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. And joining us on the phone is immigration lawyer Matthew Green. I want to start with you, Matthew. You're the attorney here. What role does the perception of maybe a leniency in U.S. immigration policy play in this migration of children to the southern border?

MATTHEW GREEN, IMMIGRATION LAWYER: Good morning, I'm sorry I'm not able to be with you over the television. I don't think that is a significant contributor to this. I mean, we had a situation a couple years ago where the Obama administration decided to exercise prosecutorial discretion and pass the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy to deal with children who have been here in the United States for a long time. If this was actually a contributing factor, we would see a huge amount of Mexican children storming the border. We would see a huge amount of other Central American countries' children like Panama and Nicaragua. But three quarters of these kids are from three countries, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, all of which have seen huge surges just recently in the violence and the gang problem.

PAUL: OK, but Dan, 47,000, I think, went up to 60,000 that are expected to try to cross the border? That was not a small number by any means. We know the U.S. is in talks with Guatemala, with El Salvador, with Honduras to try to get the children home faster. A lot of people are looking at these children and the gang violence they're coming from, and they're saying they're kids, they're five, six years old. Is that the right move to send them back? Won't they try again once they get home? What do you say to that, Dan?

DAN STEIN, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: Of course, the United States has a lot of experience in handling these uncontrolled immigration situations, 1991, Cuba, Haiti, and other situations from Mexico and Central America. And we know basically one thing, that if you give somebody an incentive to cross our border illegally and that gives them an advantage in getting into this country and staying, then they're going to do it.

There are very specific reasons why this is happening, very specific reasons. The smuggling operations are taking advantage of intelligence in the United States that says DHS is not deporting most illegal immigrants who are here in the United States. They also know there's this deferred action program for childhood arrivals that although wouldn't apply initially to this group makes it clear there's going to be potentially leniency if you're able to get here for some period of time.

Then you have an asylum system that has virtually collapsed. It requires years to resolve any case. And then you have these discussions about Congress passing an amnesty at some point. That's what the Senate Bill is, it's just a big amnesty bill. And so people are saying the smuggling operations are able to say to people, hey, this is the time to go because under this childhood arrival, the unaccompanied minor detention policy, border patrol has to release them within 72 hours. So in the end, we, the United States, this administration has created this perfect storm, if you will, to incentivize this kind of uncontrolled influx. You don't see six, seven, eight-year-old kids crossing an international border by themselves unless there's a very good reason, a rational expectation of what's going to happen once they come in.

And the only way to stop it, unless you want to have border anarchy and lose control of your borders and your destiny, the only way to stop it is for those who are planning to come in the future to see immediately people being put on planes and returned back home. If they can't find the guardian or parent, obviously they have to detain them, but clearly we're going to have to revamp the whole way in which we're processing people, but this is completely out of control.

BLACKWELL: Let me go to Matthew on this. Matthew you're an immigration attorney. Is there a case, do you think that many of these or how many of these children do you think will be able to stay as an asylum process is started for them. They are escaping violence.

GREEN: It's hard to say. But what I would say is that we have a very tried-and-true system in place. It is the current detention and deportation system that's been operating for decades and principally since 2002 when the Homeland Security Act was passed and the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement were created.

The problem we have right now and the reason this issue is newsworthy at all is simply because the system at this point, because of this humanitarian crisis, because of the huge surge, doesn't have the capacity over the last few weeks to accommodate this. But that's the definition of a refugee crisis, that's the definition of a humanitarian crisis. But all of the infrastructure is in place. What Dan was talking about actually already exists. Within 24 hours, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Human and Health Services, they go to work immediately trying to find out whether or not these kids actually can be removed to their countries of origin. But listen, this is whole system is in place, especially for kids, because the most important thing is they are kids. We want to be sure they are going to be safe.

BLACKWELL: And that's what many people are hoping, that the outcome is that these children are safe. Dan Stein, Matthew Green, thank you very many.

PAUL: Thank you, gentlemen.

So as the fighting in Iraq seems to be getting worse, as we continue to get new video in for you, there is growing concern that Islamist militants are going to march on Baghdad. That is the belief. We're going to bring you the latest in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Let's go back to our big story this hour. Militants from the group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, they're threatening to march towards Baghdad.

PAUL: Their journey may not be an easy one, though, even though it looks like it has been up to this point. Tom Foreman, CNN's Tom Foreman has a real good way for us to look at this and understand better. Good morning, Tom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But it's not the toppling of the government that they may want, nor is it the establishment of the Islamic state that they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: OK. So --

PAUL: All right, we do have Tom Foreman.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and more than a second of Tom Foreman.

PAUL: We're having some technical problems.

BLACKWELL: We'll get back to him in a moment. Actually, I think we've got Tom from the start. Let's start over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Let's talk about the worst, best, and most likely scenarios. We'll bring you the map here and talk about this area where ISIS has been able to seize a lot of territory, and notably where they have been able to launch this march, day by day by day, closer and closer to Baghdad, bringing them within about 50 miles of the city here.

Worst-case scenario, this continues, and, importantly, Sunnis, who have been supporting them already because they're angry at the Shiite government here, continue supporting them in a broader scale so the 800 or so ISIS fighters are multiplied by millions of angry Sunnis who in fact keep moving to topple the government in Baghdad, worst-case scenario.

Best-care scenario -- the Iraqi army responds well, they surround the cities, as they're already trying to do. They're able to fend off this attack of the ISIS fighters, and just as importantly, the ISIS fighters become more isolated. They don't really have all that territory. They just have little pockets here there and they can't sustain it. So with their supply line spread out, they essentially have to grind into something less effective than what they had before, and ultimately they're defeated.

So what's the most likely thing? One military analyst says something in between. Yes, the ISIS fighters may want to push in toward Baghdad, but if they are stymied there by the Iraqi army they may have to turn to a long, slow campaign of terrorist bombings in the city, that sort of thing smaller attacks. It's a painful grind, it's difficult, but it's not the toppling of the government that they may want nor is the establishment of an Islamic state that they want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: All right, from top model to top chef to real housewives of anything, who would have believed it could all be traced back to this, a Ford Bronco on the run in the real world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: And 20 years ago, millions of us, you watched, I watched.

PAUL: Yes, sir.

BLACKWELL: We all stopped and watched a police chase unfold on live TV, slow speed chase. It went on for two hours. A white Ford Bronco drove down one of the busiest interstates in California, and in that SUV, O.J. Simpson, he had a gun to his head. The chase led up to one of the most controversial trials of all time, and it's the subject of a CNN documentary about the case. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point we can only pray that they'll be able to pull this off in a safe measure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Distraught with a gun to his head, O.J. Simpson is on the run and threatening to end his emotional pain with a bullet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just throw it out the window. Nobody is going to get hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: More than 95 million TV viewers watched that car chase alone. The trial was a circus. Let's get to Jim Moret, an attorney and chief correspondent for "Inside Edition." And Jim, first of all, thanks for being with us. You were part of CNN's coverage of the O.J. trial back in 95, so when you look back, what is the big difference between that trial coverage and trial coverage today?

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": I think that trial set the tone for trial coverage today. Before the O.J. Simpson case, there really wasn't a wall-to-wall case that was covered, certainly not of this magnitude. I know it sounds flippant, and I'm mindful of the fact that this was a brutal double murder, but this in my view ushered in reality programming, because I was anchoring all of CNN's coverage wall-to-wall from 8:00 to 4:00 every day pacific, and we really captured, unfortunately, all of the audience from the soap operas, because this in fact became a real-life soap opera. We knew all the characters by name. We felt like we knew them and we were watching this drama unfold. And, frankly, people were riveted.

BLACKWELL: You know, you're right, Jim, this was a trial of big moments -- O.J. trying on the gloves, Johnnie Cochran and the "If it doesn't fit you must acquit," putting on the hat. Which moment stands out most to you?

MORET: The glove, clearly. It's interesting. I went down to the district attorney's office and got a rare glimpse at the glove and the cap that you just mentioned. The glove and cap were important, because the cap was blood-stained with the victim's blood. It was found at the scene and it had hair, according to tests, that matched O.J. Simpson's. That linked O.J. Simpson to the crime.

The bloody gloves, there were two, one was found at the murder scene, one was found at Rockingham, O.J. Simpson's house, and that had the victim's blood. That connected O.J. Simpson back to the crime scene. They were very important.

And Christopher Darden was the deputy D.A. who discussed O.J. Simpson to try those gloves on in court. And it's viewed by many to be the turning point, the key moment in the trial that shifted everything into the defense's favor, because at it appeared when O.J. Simpson tried those gloves on, they didn't like lie they fit. There are reasons for that. The blood had caused the gloves to shrink, O.J. Simpson was wearing latex gloves underneath, but none of that matter. If you didn't understand DNA, if you didn't understand anything else, you saw O.J. Simpson go like this, and it looked like the gloves didn't fit. And Johnnie Cochran used that to his advantage in gaining the acquittal.

PAUL: A lot of people -- it's become a joke in some regards that he got off easy, because a lot of people believed hem to be guilty, but this is an interesting little nugget. According to a new CNN poll, a majority of African-American respondents now today believe that the charges against O.J. were not true. What do you say to that, Jim?

MORET: Well, I mean, look, you saw this case go down on racial lines, there's no question about it. The issue of race was introduced by the defense and allowed in by judge Lance Ito. I didn't really view this as a race case based on the facts, but that was irrelevant because it was established as a race case. The defense effectively made Mark Fuhrman, the detective, the lead detective on this case, the villain, painting him as a rogue cop who in their view planted evidence against O.J. Simpson. That's all that mattered. And you see even 20 years later, people are still passionate about their views.

PAUL: They certainly are. Jim Moret, great work then, great work now. So good to see you again, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jim.

BALDWIN: We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: I'm not sure you know this, but only 50 percent of teen moms graduate from high school in the U.S.

PAUL: This week's CNN hero is using her own experience as a teen mom to try to change that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICOLE LYNN LEWIS, CNN HERO: I was 17 when I was pregnant with my daughter and 19 with my son.

Ready to get up? Ready to go to school?

When being labeled a teen mom, there are certain stigmas, that you're lazy, that you're going to end up living on welfare and working the system. Everybody has their own opinion on what will be the most beneficial for you. Often it can feel like a downgrade from what you want to do.

When a young person discovers a pregnancy, people stop talking to them about college. We saw we could be that voice, saying, yes, you can go to college. This doesn't have to be the end of your life. I knew from my own experience that college had transformed my life as a teen mom. So I wanted that same success for other young parents.

We're going to get the other room set up for the kids.

It becomes imperative for parenting students to have their band of cheerleaders behind them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got my GPA up at 3.8, which I didn't believe was possible --

(APPLAUSE)

LEWIS: We offer training on various topics. We're going to talk about balancing school and balancing your role as a parent.

The most important part of our program is the intense one on one mentoring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I won the college of science Dean's award.

LEWIS: I knew you could do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Generation Hope has really helped me believe in myself. They prepare us to have the skills for the future and we can pass those skills onto our kids.

LEWIS: I'm motivated by the potential that's out there that's untapped. I want to be able to help each and every one of them achieve their own success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Good work. Good work. If you want to nominate someone, visit CNNheroes.com.

PAUL: And we are so grateful for your company as always. So we hope you make some good memory das.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and keep it right here, because we're tossing things over to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield. Fred?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. I know you guys have had a very busy morning.

BLACKWELL: Very busy.

PAUL: Oh, no.

WHITFIELD: I know. Well, you set the stage for us, so we'll take it from here. You guys have a good one.