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Justices To Consider If Threatening Words On Social Media Amount To Criminal Activity; ISIS Claims To Have Executed 1,700 Iraqis; U.S. Bolsters Embassy Security In Baghdad; Romney Blasts Clinton's Record At State

Aired June 16, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Don Lemon in for Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. We are beginning with breaking news, if you use social media at all you need to pay attention to this as the nation's highest court agrees to hear arguments on whether or not threatening comments made on Facebook should be considered free speech or a criminal threat.

Joining me now is CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. He joins us by phone. Jeffrey, what is going on here? Why is the Supreme Court taking up this case?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): This is how the Supreme Court tries to update the first amendment to deal with modern problems and try to apply 18th Century principles in the 21st Century. This is a case about a man who was in an ugly divorce who started posting ugly threats to his ex-wife and to others. And the question is a Facebook threat potentially criminal and is what this guy said honestly a threat that is deserving of a criminal penalty?

LEMON: So apparently -- and this is according to the a little bit of information that we have, again, this started in 2010, when he wrote on his Facebook page about killing his wife and others, Jeffrey Toobin, including an FBI agent, who was investigating his actions. Did you know that it was illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife? He wrote on one of his post, it's illegal.

It's indirect criminal content. It's one of the only sentences that I'm not allowed to say. So he obviously knows that, you know, it's an issue here, but he is writing this stuff on his Facebook page and now the Supreme Court is taking it up. What happens here depending on the Supreme Court's decision? If they say this is a criminal threat.

TOOBIN: Well, this could be a -- this has been charged as a criminal offense by this man. I mean, what makes the story even more complicated legally is a lot of what he said was parroting, what he said, rap lyrics, and many of the threatening statements are in fact similar to rap lyrics.

Then there's the question of is Facebook like journalism. Is it protected in a way that journalism is protected or is Facebook more like shouting in someone's face? These are the kind of modern questions that really the Supreme Court has not yet sorted out.

LEMON: It's going to be very interesting to watch this. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much. An interesting case involving social media being taken up by the Supreme Court. Everyone should be watching that one and we'll be on top of it here.

Now we want to turn toward Iraq where militants are marching toward Baghdad and in the U.S. is inching towards possible action. Just minutes ago, we heard from Secretary of State John Kerry in this interview with Katie Couric on Yahoo! News. Kerry says the U.S. is open to the idea of strikes on the ISIS spiders. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: They may well be one of the options that are important to be able to stem the tide and stop the movement of people who are moving around in open convoys and trucks and terrorizing people. I mean, when you have people murdering, assassinating, in these mass massacres, you have to stop that. And you do what you need to do if you need to try to stop it from the air or otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Speaking of the U.S. military, within the next few hours, the amphibious warships "USS Mesa Verde" will enter the Persian Gulf with 550 Marines on board. They could help with evacuating Americans in Iraq.

Well, some have already been moved from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and as many as 100 additional U.S. Marines have been scrambled there to provide extra security. Another measure of the deepening crisis. The U.S. may turn to a long time enemy. It is considering direct talks with Iran, which also shares grave concerns that Iraq could collapse and destabilize that entire region.

Meanwhile, the extremist Islamic group, ISIS, posted these photos seeming to show the execution of captured Iraqi security forces. ISIS claims it slaughtered 1,700 of the unarmed men. In a statement from the U.S. State Department condemns the executions as horrifying and says, they show, quote, "the bloodlust that these terrorists represent."

Only CNN has the vast resources to bring you every angle of this rapidly changing story and over the next two hours, our correspondents, analysts and our guests will walk us through the many layers of this very complex situation that's happening in Iraq.

I want to take a closer look as what's happening on the ground right now. Militants are gobbling up villages and cities as they push south towards Baghdad. Last Tuesday, Mosul was the terrorists' main prize. It's Iraq's second largest city in the far north near Syria.

Now by Thursday, ISIS' fighters captured much of Northern Iraq sweeping all the way to Fallujah, just 100 miles from the capital. And today, the militants have wide control of the north, threatening to cut off that corridor to Baghdad and making it all the more vulnerable to a siege.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Baghdad for us. Nic, I want to begin with those execution photos. Those horrible executive photos that show the brutality of ISIS. They apparently came from the group itself. Is that part of their campaign of terror, to terrify Iraqi security personnel to lay down their arms without even fighting?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You bet. That's exactly what they are trying to do. They claim that they had killed 1,700. The pictorial evidence doesn't speak to that. It speaks to dozens. Prior to this, ISIS released a video showing what appeared to be hundreds, hundreds of captured Iraqi security officers.

Now we see these still images. They are absolutely horrific. Cold blooded murder of the worst type by these ISIS fighters. Branded you can see with the black and white flags that these mass gunmen are carrying with them there. What they want to do is intimidate Iraqi security forces to pull out of the fight and the other thing is to stoke sectarian tension on both sides of the divide here.

Why? Because they believe they will capitalize out of it. This is them trying to fuel a massive countrywide sectarian fight, Don.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Chilling images inside the country on the brink of another civil war. The radical Islamist terrorist group, ISIS, apparently capturing dozens of Iraqi soldiers dressed in civilian clothes, lining them up for execution. The bloodshed leaving no doubt about their brutality as ISIS seizes Tel Afar, another major city in Iraq.

The terrorists possibly gaining control over its army base which would mean more armored vehicles, weapons, and ammunition up for grabs, some of the weaponry provided by the U.S. Asking his identity be concealed, CNN's Arwa Damon interviewing an Iraqi colonel who says his unit alone left behind 25 Humvees, 80 other vehicles and trucks, 10 sniper rifles and 20 rocket launchers when they fled.

ISIS already well into Baquba overrunning another army base just 37 miles northeast of Baghdad. The terrorists edging closer than ever to the capital.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If Baghdad falls, if the central government falls, a disaster awaits us of monumental proportions.

ROBERTSON: The U.S. partially evacuating Baghdad's embassy and beefing up security. The imminent threat from the north leaves the Iraqi government desperate for soldiers calling on volunteers. Hundreds of civilians, young and old, marching through the streets of Baghdad, now having to defend their country. With minimal resources or little control on the ground, the Iraqi military uses aerial strikes to target ISIS positions in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

AYAD ALLAWI, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ: Now it's more dangerous than before. This one definitely would not be restricted to the boundaries of these countries, it will spill over to Europe and the terrorism could spread to the world at large.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has said he will clear the country of terrorists from the top to the bottom. The Ministry of Defense says they have killed over 200 ISIS fighters. However, there really isn't the evidence so far to back that up. Those images of helicopters shooting on buildings, showed buildings exploding. We don't see people running away from those buildings if they were actually hiding in them -- Don.

LEMON: Nic Robertson, Nic, appreciate your reporting. We're going to turn down to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and what's being done to protect Americans there. Foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott is in Washington with the very latest on that. Good morning, Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Hi, Don. The U.S. Embassy is relocating a small percentage of its employees at the embassy to other consulates in the country. They are doing that for a few reasons, Don. First of all, the embassy has plenty of food and water, officials tell me to hunker down and ride out the crisis.

But if they move some of those officials out, then they will be able to ease the burden and the provisions could last a lot longer many they are also using some employees to neighboring Jordan where there is an Iraq office there.

Secondly, if they want to do a full evacuation, if things really get out of hand, there's less people to evacuate. Right now, the airport is open. The U.S. feels that it could get people out on commercial air or also some of their State Department planes, but they are planning for the worst-case scenario in which they would need to evacuate the entire embassy so they want do it in stages.

Thirdly, these people are close by. This way if this crisis ends in a relatively short period of time, the U.S. can bring them back. That's why they are not -- this is atypical. They are not moving them outside of a country. They are hoping this is going to be a short term solution for the embassy -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Elise Labott, keep us posted. Thank you very much. So what options do the U.S. military have in Iraq, if any? Joining me now is a former head of the U.S. Central Command, Retired General Anthony Zinni. He is also a former fellow at the College of William and Mary Therese Center. Good morning.

GENERAL ANTHONY ZINNI, FORMER COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, CENTCOM: Good morning, Don.

LEMON: Listen, the "USS Mesa Verde" with 550 Marines on born, will join the carrier "George H.W. Bush," which is already in the area. How does this help the situation?

ZINNI: Should there be a non-combat ant evacuation, they can seize the air field if necessary. Protect the routes of the U.S. Embassy to ensure they get there. I don't know how many Americans we have in Baghdad or its environs, but if the situation would worsen, I think you could bring in more of the MV 20 ospreys that they have and even more Marines if it requires a greater evacuation.

LEMON: General, we've been talking about the situation at the embassy there. A lot of people are concerned about that and rightfully so. There are more marines that are now stationed at that U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Two military personnel are now guarding the facility, what else do we need to do there?

ZINNI: I think if the threat begins to materialize inside Baghdad, if we begin to see suicide bombings and there is a threat of a large group of ISIS moving in, you could reinforce with more marines. It's a large complex. It's the largest embassy we have in the world, and these fleet anti-terrorist support teams are trained to support the embassy, reinforce the Marine security guard there, and increase the level of defense and security that we would have at the embassy.

LEMON: General, a lot of people have been talking Benghazi, not wanting a repeat of that. How much does what happened in Benghazi play into the security situation now with the embassy there?

ZINNI: I think since Benghazi, we've learned to have forces positioned around the world that could respond immediately in threatened areas of the world or areas where there's a potential threat to our people, and I think what you see in this quick response, inputting in these marines is exactly a fallout from that. More forward-based, more on short alert to be able to do this kind of reinforcement, and I'm sure there's even layers of backup that U.S. central command has beyond what we have in there now.

LEMON: Retired General Anthony Zinni, thank you. We appreciate your expertise here on CNN. Still to come, she hasn't announced whether or not she is running, but most Americans now think Hillary Clinton would do a better job in the White House than President Obama. Our senior political correspondent has details for us.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It might surprise you. They stopped President Obama on all of the categories that CNN polled. We're talking about domestic and international, everything from health care, the environment, and even terrorism. We'll explain all of it after the break.

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LEMON: According to a new CNN poll, most Americans think that anything President Obama can do, Hillary Clinton can do it even better, jobs, economy, health care, the fight against terrorism, you name it and most people think the former presidential candidate could make a superior commander in chief former presidential candidate, Mitt Romney has a different opinion. He blasted her record as secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think her clueless comments about the Bergdahl exchange and as well as her service as secretary of state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Live from Washington, this is all of course before she's even in office, even if she runs or elected. We shall see. What do the polls show?

KEILAR: What it really shows, when you read into this is just how unpopular a president about six years in. That certainly has some of it. Also a lot of Americans just view her time as secretary of state to be very much a positive.

What we'll be seeing is Hillary Clinton really she will need to distance herself from President Obama if she wants to run for president. His popularity has dipped as I mentioned. She will need to preserve her high popularity right now if she wants a shot at winning the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): Forget Republicans, Hillary Clinton is walloping a big name Democrat in a new poll, her former boss, President Obama. In a new ORC poll, Clinton tops Obama from how she topped the president over terrorism, including Benghazi. As Clinton considers whether to try persuading voters to elect back-to-back presidents from the same party, a difficult feat, she must decide how much to distance herself from an unpopular commander in chief.

She's starting to drawing contrast on foreign policy. In areas she leads the president on 63 percent to 40 percent. On arming the rebels in Syria --

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Did feel quite strongly to see if it were possible to vet and train and equip moderate opposition figures.

KEILAR: On ousting Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.

LIASON about just showing Mubarak out had a lot of apprehension just throwing him out of the office not knowing what was going to come next.

KEILAR: And lifting the trade embargo on Cuba.

CLINTON: I would like to change the psychology of this issue. We've been in a corner for too long. We need to get out of the corner.

KEILAR: This finds her top link the president even on health care. Her push for health care failed in the early 1990s. Sixteen years later, President Obama successfully signed his own bill into law, but then --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That's on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this health care law.

KEILAR: Healthcare.gov flopped initially.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So Brianna, Hillary Clinton even topped the president when it comes to environment?

KEILAR: And that may be somewhat surprising, but I think what you really see those polls say Clinton would do a good job, 55 percent, President Obama 42 percent. There's quite a spread there. I think what you see here is the politics of it. President Obama viewed very much through a political prism at this point. Hillary Clinton, we're starting to see that and her approval has dipped because of this. It was very high when she came out of the State Department.

Secretary of state is an apolitical role generally speaking and she had a 67 percent approval rating when she came out of the State Department a little over a year ago. That's dipped considerably by over 10 points. I think over time what you would see you would expect that her approval on the myriad of issues would probably dip as she's seen more and more through a political lens.

If you look at the facts of it, Don, President Obama, obviously, Keystone XL, the pipeline is hanging out there. Secretary Clinton didn't have to touch that. A big positive for environmentalists was regulations on existing power plants. He's done some things that environmentalists would be in favor of but he has a longer record on it and because of that they might be judged a little more harshly as well.

LEMON: Not a position to be in if you are considering running. I think she's already running and we should just say it and she should as well. Make sure you turn -- tune in tomorrow, at 5:00 p.m. As Christiane Amanpour hosts a town hall.

Responding to another technical hiccup this morning, Target stores were hit by the glitch this weekend that brought checkout lines to a halt. Christine Romans is here to explain. I'm a target guy. My mom is a Walmart gal. I would have been in flee in Target going what's going on.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Your mom would have won last night. She would have been through the check out. We've got all those images on social media. It became sort brought to you by social media. People started posting pictures of these very long lines, carts full, going nowhere. It was some sort of glitch at the checkout and immediately people are saying hey what in the world is going on at Target.

There was a hack at Christmas. The company said no, it was an annoyance, it was a minor glitch. It was not anything related to the hack attack. There was one woman who love to tweet, computers are down at Target, longest lines that I've ever seen. They are handing out water and popcorn. Feels vaguely like disaster area. Presumably they have got that all fixed and they are moving forward here. At least five states, the company very quick to say it has nothing to do with the hack from a few months back.

LEMON: And Target, come on, get it together. Thank you, Christine Romans. I appreciate that update. Still to come, Ukraine's foreign minister shows up at an anti-Russian protest to calm the crowd. What he said about Vladimir Putin really fans the flame. You have to watch this.

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LEMON: Why did Bowe Bergdahl walk away from his post in Afghanistan? That's what his comrades have been asking for five years. Starting this week, a high-ranking army officer will try to get to the bomb of it. -- bottom of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ELSPETH RITCHIE, MILITARY PSYCHIATRIST: The main question in the Bowe Bergdahl controversy, is he a deserter. Now a two-star general will investigate. The general appointed by the Pentagon, but not named publicly will look into his disappearance in June of 2009. An army investigation in the months after he disappeared found that Bergdahl did deliberately leave his base in Afghanistan, but did not find that the deserted. That would depend on his intent and the answer to that question is not yet known.

EVAN BUETOW, BERGDAHL'S FORMER TEAM LEADER: You want to make sure that he knows what's going on. That he is oriented and alert and he's not psychotic, but that I mean hearing voices that aren't there or seeing things that aren't there.

LABOTT: It's not clear when Bergdahl himself will be questioned. Afghan witnesses tell CNN that when he disappeared; Bergdahl was abducted and beaten. Some of his fellow soldiers say he may have been trying to character the Taliban. I heard it straight from the interpreters lips as he heard it over the radio. At that point, this is snow bawling out of control a little bit. This is a lot more to this story than just a soldier walking away. Another question, were any troops killed while searching for Bergdahl?