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Army General to Investigate Bergdahl Case; Starbucks College Achievement Plan; U.S. Takes on Ghana in World Cup; Ukraine's Foreign Minister Drops Verbal Bomb

Aired June 16, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 contact the Taliban.

EVAN BUETOW, BERGDAHL'S FORMER TEAM LEADER: I heard it straight from the interpreter's lips as he heard it over the radio. And at that point, he was like, I don't know this is kind of snow balling out of control a little bit. There's a lot more to this story than just a soldier walking away.

CABRERA: Another question, were any U.S. troops killed while searching for Bergdahl?

Some soldiers say yes. Six troops were killed. The Pentagon says there's no evidence of that. The answer to another question is also not known -- just how long the investigation will take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Ana Cabrera reporting on that.

Now here's something you won't find in diplomacy 101. When Ukrainians vandalized the U.S. embassy in Kiev over the weekend throwing fire crackers and painting and turning over cars, the Ukraine's foreign minister showed up on the scene. He was apparently there to defuse the situation but he wound up tossing a verbal bomb, a profane one toward Vladimir Putin.

CNN's Matthew Chance following the story for us in Moscow. Matthew what happened?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes you shouldn't really smile about it, but you know it is quite funny because this is the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia. He's trying in all fairness to him to control a very rowdy crowd that's gathered outside the Russian embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. They are throwing stones and breaking windows, turning over cars. The situation is really getting out of hand.

It's a response to the tensions that have been under way and the killings that have taken place in eastern Ukraine over the past several days. And he kind of was coaxed by the crowd, essentially, into making profanity, using what is and I think it's fair to say one of the worst swear words that there is in the Russian language, linking it with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President.

And that's saying something because Russian is a language which is known around the region for its very rich vocabulary but even by those standards this word is one of worst swear words that they have in Russia. It's caused certain diplomatic tension if you can do that even more than there are diplomatic strains at the moment between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that he absolutely condemns the remark and he said he won't speak to his Ukrainian counterpart anymore.

LEMON: So Matthew, it's so bad we can't even make reference to kind of what it is on the air that he said?

CHANCE: Yes. It's a reference to, I suppose, that male genitalia. I mean people have described it as the sort of "f" word, but really that doesn't really quite do it justice. It's a sort of combination between the two really. So yes it's pretty bad. You can look it up on the Internet if you want. Do a bit of research.

LEMON: Yes he's kind of he called him a Richard Nixon or something like that. All right thank you very much. Matthew Chance I appreciate that.

Still to come as tensions spill outside of Iraq's borders all eyes are on the country's military forces as they strike back against radical fighters. Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is there, also Barbara Starr is going to report on what's going on from the Pentagon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, this morning, as Iraq edges on the brink of civil war, Republican lawmakers are calling on the White House to take swift and decisive action. Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham called on President Obama to work with Iran in order to achieve a solution to Iraq's escalating violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: They are in this. They are already on the ground. We need to put a red line with Iran. You know you can help stabilize well you just sit down and talk with them. Why did we deal with Stalin because he's not as bad as Hitler? The Iranians can provide some assets to make sure Baghdad doesn't fall. We need to coordinate with the Iranians and the Turks need to get in the game and get the Sunni Arab's back into the game form a new government without Maliki.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: In recent days Iran has reportedly sent hundreds of troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces. Iran has denied those claims. While this is happening as tensions spilled beyond Iraq's borders so

will the U.S. sit down with Iran to achieve a common goal? Joining us now from Tehran is Reza Sayah and senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is in (inaudible) Iraq.

Arwa, to you first, how are Iraqi forces reacting on the ground now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well they are trying to hold ground wherever they can. And much of that taking place closer to the capital with the ISIS and Sunni advance. Right now about an hour away from Baghdad, there's also been some pretty intense fighting in the northern part of the country, the city of (inaudible) that is to the west of Mosul where this all began, the scene of some pretty fierce battles between the Iraqi security forces and ISIS members.

Why are the battles there are so fierce when across the rest of the north the Iraqi security forces largely deserted. Well that we are being told is because most of the Iraqi Security Forces in this one area are Shia. They presumably have been hearing about the mass executions of the other Iraqi troops at the hands of ISIS fighters. For them this is much a fight to the death.

And in what is chillingly reminiscent of the worst days of the violence under the U.S. occupation, we're hearing that residents of that city, Shia residents are too frightened to flee because they have to cross through ISIS through Sunni territory to get to safer ground where we are here in the Iraq Kurdistan and therefore they are sitting at home and quite simply waiting to be hunted down there. The violence here at this stage is reaching horrific levels.

LEMON: And Reza you know we just heard from Republican Senator Graham he said that the U.S. needs to work with Iran to solve this crisis.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

LEMON: What is Iran is saying about all of this?

SAYAH: It seems like they were open to it Don and when is the last time you heard a U.S. Senator, Republican no less say we should sit down and talk to Iran. Indeed times may be changing. Over the past couple of days here in Tehran too there's been a lot of talk about this remarkable what if scenario: what if the United States of America joins the Islamic Republic of Iran and cooperate militarily and politically to pushback this rising Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

The talks heated up when two U.S. officials told us that they are exploring the possibility. Then today CNN confirmed that U.K.'s Foreign Secretary William Hague had a phone call Mohammad Javad Zarif Iran's foreign minister about Iraq and that could be a precursor for Washington and Tehran talking together. If that alliance happens it's going to be a watershed moments because remember these are two countries that have been bitter enemies for much of 35 years. No diplomatic relations.

In fact a few years ago the U.S. suggested that they may attack Iran to curve their nuclear program. But now, all of a sudden, they seem to have this very urgent and compelling common cause when it comes to Iraq.

Obviously the U.S. has expended a lot of blood and treasure when it comes to supporting the Iraqi government, and then you have Iran sitting right next door to Iraq. Much of this violence is taking place very close to their border. Iran takes a lot of pride when it comes to its internal security. This is a region that's plagued by suicide attacks, militant attacks, mass killings. Iran has avoided that remarkably and it wants to stay that way and also you have the very tight the Shia relation between the Shia led government of Iran and the Shia dominated government of Iraq.

So because of these reasons Don it seems on paper that an alliance would make sense but this is a complicated region with complicated alliances and that's why Washington Tehran partnership could be complicated as well. But it looks like they're exploring it.

LEMON: Reza, Arwa thank you very much I appreciated that.

We want to dig a little deeper on this crisis now. Joining us now from Celebrations, Florida is Michael Pregent. He is a former U.S. Army officer, a former senior intelligence analyst who worked on Iraq from 2003 to 2011. And he currently works as a Middle East marketing consultant from U.S. business clients.

We have heard a lot of people say you know they are not surprised that this crisis is going on, that it was in the making for years. Do you agree with that?

MICHAEL PREGENT, FORMER SENIOR INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, after the successes of the Sunni insurgency in Syria it was hard for them not to look over their shoulder back in Baghdad and say if we can do this here against one of more -- one of the capable army's in the Middle East, why can't we do it back there where they don't have an air force, they don't have artillery, they don't have chemical weapons.

We are not surprised in the IC, the intelligence community and I think those that have followed Iraq, after 2010, Iraqis were fairly optimistic. The Kurds and the Sunnis won enough seats in parliament that actually be able to form a unity government that could counter some of the extra political actions and extra constitutions action that Maliki took.

Soon after that, because the elections took place, we took a hands-off approach. Maliki -- because they are a sovereign government, so it was natural to take a hands-off approach. And Maliki started using emergency powers to take control of the ministry of defense and the ministry of interior. What's key about that is in the Middle East, any time one sect takes over the ministry, whether it's defense ministry or interior, they can basically quiet opposition with other sects. So we weren't surprised.

LEMON: OK. Let me ask you this and why is the U.S. only considering military options now when ISIS has been ramping up efforts for some time now? Was it inevitable? Did it have to come to this point? PREGENT: It didn't have to come to this point. ISIS can't survive in

Iraq without support from the Sunni population. The only caveat support. I don't want tacit support to the insurgency but basically allowing a permissive environment.

Right now ISIS -- everybody is taking lessons learned from the surge and from the insurgency in Syria and applying them. The Sunni insurgents know that they cannot take on the Sunni population, the Iraqi Security forces and the U.S. military at the same time. So they are not alienating the Sunni population.

They are targeting the Iraqi Security Forces which are predominately Shia along the sectarian fall lines. They're clearing territory and what we're hearing from our sources, as they clear territory, yes there are pockets where they are trying to institute Sharia law, but really that's a temporary thing. I don't think the Sunni population will -- will allow that to happen.

As they clear territory, Sunni former regime elements technocrats and disenfranchise call it additions are speaking to the Sunni population. Not via broadcast necessarily but putting it out through word of mouth that deal with this for now, this is a temporary thing that ISIS is doing as they move towards Shia targets. They just can't take on everybody.

So they are focusing primarily on the Iraqi security forces and the Maliki government.

LEMON: I want to focus in on something that you wrote because you co- wrote an op-ed for CNN.com. And then you and I will talk, let me read this, it says "In the end the solution to the ISIS threat is a fundamental change in Iraq's political discourse which has become dominated by one sect and one man and the inclusion of mainstream Sunni Arab's and Kurds as full partners in the state. If al-Maliki truly wishes to restore government control to Sunni provinces he must reach out to Sunni and Kurdish leaders and ask for their help to help regain the territory they once help the Iraqi government defend."

Do you think that is a like scenario? Are you suggesting that, do you think that will happen or can happen?

PREGENT: Well, somebody -- somebody who is respected in the Shia community -- a Shia politician other than Maliki needs to reach out to those disaffected Sunni politicians --

LEMON: Who can do that?

PREGENT: -- former regime elements.

Who can do that? We're looking for that guy to step up. The problem is the majority of the Shia politicians who have made these promises to the Sunnis and the Kurds in the past have been sidelined by Maliki. In order to actually have something lasting, you have to have credibility. You need to be tied to a dominant Shia political party and unfortunately tied to militias in order to have credibility when you're bringing the Sunnis to the table. LEMON: It sounds like what you're saying is that it can happen but

you are not optimistic that it will happen, correct?

PREGENT: Here's why I'm not optimistic. No Sunni politician is going to negotiate with a Maliki government while militias are indiscriminately targeting the Sunni -- the military age male population.

LEMON: Yes.

PREGENT: Conversely, no Shia politician is going to negotiate with a Sunni former regime leader while ISIS is indiscriminately killing Shia in Shia population centers along sectarian fault lines.

LEMON: That's going to have to be the last word. Michael Pregent -- thank you very much. We appreciate you.

We will be right back.

PREGENT: Thank you for having me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to tell you that college is expensive. We report about it all the time. You actually have to pay for it. What if I told you that you can get a job and the company you work for will pay for your tuition? That's amazing. The reason you are seeing the pictures of Starbucks that's what's Starbucks is doing.

Poppy Harlow is here. Poppy -- What's going on? That's a good deal.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well it's not any -- it's not any college And it's a really interesting bold move. We're going to have to see how this plays out. But it's a partnership with Arizona State University online. These are online courses. I want to show you the numbers here.

Here's what Starbucks will do if you are an employee and you get into ASU online on your own merit. For juniors and seniors, they will cover full tuition of the online program tuition for two years -- that's about $30,000 for an employee. You have to stay working at Starbucks at the time. You have to stay in school. You can't drop out. If you do, they're not going to cover those loans. Freshmen and sophomores are going to cover about 22 percent of your tuition -- about $6,500 over two years.

This is the company saying look we know there's $1.2 trillion in outstanding U.S. loans. And frankly, if you are a company and you keep someone in college and they have to keep working with you to get paid for college, this is good for you. You have less people leaving.

LEMON: Because of the turnover, you said -- right.

HARLOW: Less turnover. You don't have to interview as many people. You lose money and service when people leave companies often. And this is the service sector. This is what happens. LEMON: They can train more people, people know the company --

HARLOW: Yes, exactly. they have got 135,000 employees in the U.S. about 70 percent don't have college degrees and the CEO Harold Schultz said to me the number one thing employees ask for our at our company is college tuition. So this is the arrangement they have come up with. I want to take a listen to part of our interview this morning with both the CEO of Starbucks; also the president of ASU about how this all came to be and why they are doing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: It's going to cost millions of dollars, but I don't view it as a cost. This is an investment, and I am so confident this investment is going to drive performance and enhance value for our shareholders.

DR. MICHAEL CROW: I think in the past of all the abandoned companies and factories and other things where if they had been investing more in human capital, training their employees to be more adaptive. Educating their employees to a higher level of learning capacity and adaptability, what the outcomes of those enterprises might have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: One thing I find really interesting, Don, is that usually when companies pay for your higher education, you have to stay working at the company right, for a number of years. No -- I mean Starbucks is saying "no".

LEMON: Is that an oversight? No.

HARLOW: No, no, no. They meant to do this. If you don't want to stay, you can leave, but what also is very interesting here as I said to Howard Schultz. Four or five years when some of these people graduate, are you going to have higher paying jobs that aren't barista jobs for them to go into and he sort of smiled and nodded and said yes and that leads you to think about the future of Starbucks. Is it becoming more of a technology company --

LEMON: Right.

They are going to have those higher paying jobs to fill.

LEMON: It's very interesting. I mean it's a very progressive way of thinking -- correct. And it's not indentured servitude. You can't say you must work here for 10 years after you get your college degree. Let's see how it plays out though it sounds like a good idea.

HARLOW: Yes, it's going to be interesting and see if other big companies follow suit if their competitors follow suit.

LEMON: Usually it's cut, cut, cut. Don't spend more money. But this is -- they're thinking differently.

HARLOW: They think it's going to be good for the business and the employees.

LEMON: Thank you Poppy.

HARLOW: You got it. Still to come it's a grudge match of a group death as they call it. Team USA begins World Cup play. Lara Baldesarra covering it all for us -- you lucky devil, you.

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I certainly am -- Hi Don. And yes they will be playing right behind me right here in the (inaudible) in just over seven hours time and coming up -- I'm going to have all the latest on what to really look for in that match in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Team USA begins its long shot quest to win the World Cup today. The U.S. is taking on Ghana which knocked them out of the last two World Cups. And after today's match it doesn't get any easier in the so-called Group of Death.

CNN's Lara Baldesarra joins me right now from Natal, Brazil. Lara, everywhere I go here in the United States -- fancy establishments everywhere, there are TV monitors set up and people are watching the World Cup.

BALDESARRA: Oh, yes, this is the time that -- it's once every four years, everybody no matter where you are in the world, all of the attention is absolutely focused on the World Cup. And with the Americans we're seeing this huge growth in soccer in the USA, and these American fans, they are some of the most hard-core fans that there are in the world. It's almost as though the American fans know that they kind of have something to prove because soccer isn't exactly on the same level of the popularity of football or basketball in the USA.

So they are really out there. And they want to show their colors even here around in Rio where we were before getting over here to Natal. You know we've seen guys out, all of the American fans shirtless. Their stomachs covered in their USA paint.

This is a really big deal. It's all going to take place right here, right behind at this really pretty stadium actually. It was built to look like a sand dune of Natal and this is where the ultimate grudge match is going to take place Don because as you mentioned the USA does not have a very good history with Ghana. The last two World Cups, they lost to Ghana and in fact in 2010 they were knocked out of the World Cup by Ghana so there's revenge here. There's some redemption on the line. There's a lot of things going on here. This is more than just a soccer game.

LEMON: Don't rub it in Baldesarra. Don't rub it in OK -- so good luck fingers crossed everyone.

BALDESARRA: You know something?

LEMON: Yes.

BALDESARRA: Absolutely. I love making you jealous, Don. I got to throw that out there.

LEMON: All right. Have a good day. Enjoy.

Thanks for joining me, today. I'm Don Lemon.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" -- they have so much in store for you. You won't believe this one story that they have. You are going to wait until after a quick break.

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