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Team USA Beats Ghana; Two Dead after Town Tornadoes; ISIS Fighters Closer to Baghdad; White House Scrambles to Assess Options; Hunting for Targets in Iraq

Aired June 17, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, you guys. A busy morning so let's get right to it.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning, I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Carol Costello has the day off. Thanks so much for joining me.

This morning the crisis in Iraq deepens and the sense of urgency grows. In Baghdad, security is tightened and tensions are rising as terrorists inched closer. Eyewitnesses are telling CNN that ISIS fighters have now advanced to just 35 miles from the capital.

The White House faces tough decisions, not a lot of time. President Obama has met with his National Security team to discuss all of the options both military and diplomatic.

And we will have a live report from Baghdad with our Anderson Cooper on the ground in just a moment. But first, a thrilling and perhaps unexpected win for Team USA in the World Cup.

Oh, yes, the crowd goes wild. The opening match victory setting off earthquakes at watch parties across the country. It was substitute John Brooks, just 21 years old, who scored that winning goal with that amazing header in just a few minutes left in the game. The 2-1 victory over Ghana, revenge after they beat the U.S. in the last two World Cups.

What an exciting game, and here to break it all down, Rachel Nichols, the host of CNN's "UNGUARDED," going to talk about the game. Also joining us CNN's Ted Rowlands with fan reaction. He's live in Chicago, has been seeing the watch parties all over the country.

Rachel, let's start with you. Big win for the USA. What does this mean?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS: It's fantastic. I mean, there was so much tension leading up to this game. The U.S. carried so much weight. There was controversy over the roster that they brought in. Long-time U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan left off the roster.

And also the coach came out before these matches and said, I don't think it's realistic that the U.S. can win the World Cup --

CABRERA: Right. He's downplaying it.

NICHOLS: -- which may be true but it's not really what you want to say going into a match. Caused a lot of controversy both inside and outside the locker room. Then they go out on the field and they're facing Ghana. This is the team that has knocked the U.S. out of the last two World Cups. So imagine walking onto this field with basically a boulder, a pressure on your shoulders.

They scored that early goal, boulder rolls off. They win this game. It just gives them confidence going into the rest of the tournament. And really relieves a lot of the pressure on them in this, quote, "group of death" where they have to get out of this opening round robin.

CABRERA: So much to be excited about.

NICHOLS: Yes.

CABRERA: We're seeing, you know, a lot of fans just jumping on that bandwagon because everyone wants to be part of this victory.

Ted, let's turn to you. You were there at Grant Park. I know thousands turned out to watch on that giant screen. Compare the atmosphere there to maybe a watch party for an NFL game.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think you could get a better atmosphere than we had last night here. About 10,000 people crammed into Grant Park in downtown Chicago. The weather was gorgeous. And you didn't have just -- it wasn't just the young men with their bodies painted, it was families and a lot of women.

And if you think about it, soccer in the United States is growing every year. Women's soccer is a huge part of the youth soccer programs around this country. And we saw that not only here in Chicago but across the country. I was talking to someone from USA Soccer. They put the event on last night. And he's been around this game his entire life and he said he really thinks that the United States has turned the corner.

And you mentioned the NFL. Soccer is nowhere near the NFL and probably never will be, but he really thinks that the U.S. has turned the corner in terms of fan participation and a game like last night's sure does help.

CABRERA: Well, the fans will be flying high on that victory certainly into the next round against Portugal which is on Sunday.

Ted Rowlands, Rachel Nichols, thanks to both of you.

And don't forget you can watch "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS" Friday night, 10:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

Parts of the Midwest are in the crosshairs again today as severe weather bears down on this region, threatening more than 40 million people. It is the same storm system that spawned this pair of side- by-side tornados. Unbelievable sight here captured on video. These tornados leveled the small town of Pilger, Nebraska. Two people we now know were killed, more than a dozen injured, several critically, and search teams are still going through debris looking for people who may still be trapped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a couple of houses on this side of the street and across the street there was three houses, which are gone. There were three houses on the opposite side of the block that are gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Everything is just leveled.

Indra Petersons is there in Pilger this morning.

Indra, I imagine now that the sun has come out. You're getting a better sense of just how devastating these tornadoes were.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Complete destruction, Ana. That's what everyone is saying this morning. Now we can actually see the destruction behind us. Very easy to be. This was a town of about 350 residents and this morning you can tell about 75 percent of this town has been completely wiped out by twin tornados. What's so unusual is not that there's two tornadoes, that is something you can see often, but what you don't see is two equally sized violent tornadoes, one right after the other, directly hit a town.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened here just yesterday afternoon. You can actually see the tornado moved in a northeasterly direction here, about 25 to 35 miles per hour. It knocked out a good six or seven city block here. Keep in mind, this town is only about one square mile so that equals about 75 percent of this town. And unfortunately this isn't just one lone incident yesterday. We saw incidents like this all across Iowa, Nebraska and even Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move, guys.

PETERSONS (voice-over): An incredible outbreak of deadly tornadoes tearing through northeastern Nebraska Monday resulting in a rare and stunning sight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where has that happened before?

PETERSONS: Storm chasers capturing not one by two massive tornadoes side by side on the ground ripping through the town of Pilger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a town, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). That's a water tower.

PETERSONS: The twin tornadoes surprising even the storm chasers who shot the video.

BEN MCMILLAN, STORM CHASER: Two possibly three. I've never seen anything like this. This is just very, very dangerous.

REED TIMMER, STORM CHASER: This is definitely the first time I've seen two tornadoes like that that violent on the same storm.

PETERSONS: They will resume searching through the rubble today, but so far no one is unaccounted for. The governor of Nebraska issuing a state of emergency, putting the National Guard on standby. The storm carved a path of destruction 25 to 30 miles long, leveling homes, farms and schools over three counties. The small town of Pilger, the hardest hit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whole blocks of houses are destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to see something today I wish I never would have seen.

PETERSONS: The funnel clouds spawning early a mile wide, powerfully churning up the ground below.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh look at the little Morrissey in there. That's crazy.

PETERSONS: Tossed around by the sheer force of the winds, estimated up to 200 miles per hour in each tornado. Sirens blaring, warning residents to get underground as the twister barreled through nearby Wisner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the kind of storms you need to be underground to survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep moving fast.

PETERSONS: Another storm chaser caught the same twin tornadoes devastating this farm around Wakefield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are merging. They are going to merge.

PETERSONS: Before merging into one colossal funnel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PETERSONS: The residents here sought shelter yesterday at a nearby town of Wisner and it looks like now they are slowly being allowed to return. And this is the sight they're looking at this morning. Remember, 40 if not 50 of these homes have been completely leveled down to the ground. We're hearing the fire station, completely gone this morning. The middle school, beyond repair. And the entire business district completely leveled down to the ground.

Right here behind me, this was actually a home. And it looks like it was about a two-story home, but this morning you can barely see just a little bit of timber and lumber left on the ground. This is the sight they're going to be looking at this morning. They want us to get the message out today, please, rescue agents, do not come in today. They want to let the residents come in first and pick up the pieces of what was once their lives and let them get settled first and they'll get that help in through tomorrow.

But unbelievable the destruction you see here. I mean, 75 percent of the town -- Ana.

CABRERA: Yes. Tough images to see for sure.

Indra Petersons, thank you so much.

If you want to help out these victims of the tornadoes, visit CNN.com/impact.

Now let's return to the crisis in Iraq. Witnesses tell CNN that terrorist fighters are now within about 35 to 40 miles of Baghdad. They did storm a police station in Baqubah, that's northeast of Baghdad, stealing all the weapons, engaging Iraqi troops in firefights there. In Baghdad also fears are building, security is intensified. "The New York Times" now reporting the first flash points of major violence there in Baghdad since the terrorists invaded the country.

Four men shot to death, their bodies left on the street. The threat of sectarian bloodshed in the capital is appearing more imminent.

Now President Obama has notified Congress that up to 275 troops were sent to support the U.S. embassy there in Baghdad. Most are already on site, beefing up security.

And there is now more American fire power. The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush is in the Persian Gulf along with another five warships.

And still developing, whether the U.S. will work with Iran to stop the militants' advance on Baghdad. We now know officials from the rival nations talked a little briefly yesterday.

Only CNN has the vast worldwide resources to bring you every angle of this rapidly changing story. And so over the next couple of hours, our correspondents, analysts and guests will dig down through the many layers of what's become a very, very complex story.

Let's begin our coverage there in Baghdad on the ground with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

I know, Anderson, there must be a growing sense of urgency there, as there is here in Washington, that the U.S. maybe has to decide very soon on a course of action.

Let's listen to this from Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Look at what happened in Afghanistan. Everybody pulled out, said that's it, we're done. The Taliban took over. It fostered al Qaeda. A safe haven like we've never seen. 9/11 happens. And so what we see here is all of the recipe is there. All of the ingredients are going in the stew and we see it happening on our watch.

Here's the trick or here's the question, not the trick, is how can you disrupt it long enough to have Iraq do that political reconciliation and get their army back in the fight? That's going to take a little bit of investment. It's not going to take huge military presence. It's not going to take huge amounts of sorties from an aircraft carrier every single day. It will take some of that to change the momentum. But it is in our national security interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So let's head back out there to Anderson.

What's the view among Iraqis? Are they wondering where the American involvement is?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": Well, there's certainly a lot of concern about that and a lot of questions about that. Sure. The government of Nouri al Maliki here, the prime minister, would like to see a greater level of U.S. involvement, a greater level not just the support that the United States said they are willing to give thus far but clearly want to see a lot more U.S. involvement and U.S. support militarily in order to try to turn the tide.

There is a lot of concern here about the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces. I mean we've seen that for the last five days, and now this dramatic news today about fighting some 35 to 40 miles from the city of Baghdad itself. I mean, yesterday we were talking about ISIS forces being, you know, 50, 55 miles outside the city. Well, if they are able to take the city of Baqubah, that is 35 to 40 miles away.

Sources on the ground in Baqubah are telling us there has been intense fighting there, that ISIS forces and their supporters on the western side of Baqubah, they made a foray, as you said, took over the police station, took the weapons, killed a number of personnel there and then withdrew. The fighting is said to be going on there.

But again, if they are able to take that city, it's a straight shot to Baghdad and there are real concerns about just how capable is the Iraqi military. Can they actually stand up and fight effectively when needed. And there are real concerns about just how capable are -- is the Iraqi military. Can they actually stand off and fight effectively when needed. That -- thus far we haven't seen that, certainly not in Mosul and yesterday in Tal Afar, a city of some 200,000 up in the northwest.

That was taken over by ISIS forces so a lot of certain here in Baghdad. You can feel it. A lot of checkpoints all throughout the city. And we're seeing more and more volunteers trying to join the fight but again their capabilities are under question as well.

CABRERA: All right. Anderson Cooper in Baghdad, we appreciate that reporting right there on the ground.

Still to come, the terrorists gain ground. President Obama loses precious time.

Michelle Kosinski is at the White House picking up that part of the story.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana. Well, U.S. troops are on the ground in Baghdad. We'll have all the latest coming up. They're serving a very specific purpose.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: At the White House, President Obama has summoned his most trusted national security advisers to discuss this crisis in Iraq. With terrorist fighters now less than 40 miles from Baghdad, the debate over options, both military and diplomatic, becomes even more urgent, we're giving you a look at some of those trusted national security advisers.

Michelle Kosinski is at the White House.

Michelle, are you getting any sense that this administration is closer to a decision?

KOSINSKI: Not really. I mean, they're not giving us any detail in terms of a timeline. They're always going to be sensitive about that.

What we've been hearing the last couple of days, even from the president himself, is this is not going to be an overnight decision, it's going to be several days in the making.

We know that there was a very big meeting last night. The latest we're hearing this morning from the national security team is that they continue to work on options for the president.

I think what we can look at is the action that's already been taken, the moving of troops, about 275 troops to the region, even some of them within Baghdad already. But for a very specific purpose, to protect the embassy in the first place and then, if possible, if needed, move more in to protect air fields. Also the moving of an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf.

So there are these moves in preparation that have been taken. We know that there have to be specific options associated with those preparatory moves. But when there will be a real decision on whether the U.S. takes military actions -- and what measures exactly those will be not yet known, Ana.

CABRERA: All right. And timing not known yet either. Michelle Kosinski, thank you.

I want to bring in one of our contributors here in a moment, as we're seeing these American troops and warships assembled there in the Persian Gulf. A key question still looms large. Is there going to be an attack? What are the targets? Gathering information in this region is tough, especially since

American troops left in 2011 and a majority of the intelligence being gathered on Iraq comes not from inside the country now but starts in places like Turkey or Qatar.

So, let's bring in Kimberly Dozier, contributing writer for "The Daily Beast", who was in Iraq, covering the war from 2003 to 2006.

I know you were actually wounded by a car bomb during that time.

Thanks so much for joining us.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, THE DAILY BEAST: Great to be here.

CABRERA: Kimberly, intelligence officers from the CIA, the Defense Department, now working from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. But you say this situation requires a different kind of intelligence. Explain.

DOZIER: Well, what is complicating the Pentagon's process of making recommendations to the White House right now is that it really doesn't understand the composition of this invading force that's moving south. Yes, part of it is ISIS, the Islamic militants that have spilled over the border from Syria, but they also have Baathist leaders from the former Saddam Hussein government and they have tribal leaders, all mixed in together.

So, they have to try to get a clear picture of who is where, what's the leadership structure, to try to figure out, OK, who do you hit to stop this force from moving? If they hit the wrong target, say they accidentally hit a House that's full of former Baathists that U.S. troops used to work with during the invasion -- well, they have just alienated that whole part of the country. What they want to try to do is figure out who is the enemy, who are the irreconcilables and can we separate them from people we used to work with.

So, it's a lot more complicated than just sending a jet over the town of Mosul and taking out targets.

CABRERA: Well, and we've also heard Secretary of State John Kerry talk about how even in this region, there are so many foreign fighters too that may have in their mind a desire to go back and harm other countries even. And he said that they could have focused on doing harm not just in Iraq but also Europe, and even America so I know that is weighing heavily on the U.S. as they make this decision.

There's also a big debate about what legal authority the United States has. Now, the president is already reaching out to Congress, as we mentioned.

Do you think that's the right move?

DOZIER: Well, he has to decide on a couple of different options. He can either use the old authorization of use of military force against al Qaeda. That was the legal basis for the invasion of Afghanistan.

But ISIS isn't technically al Qaeda. They actually divorced from each other and have been fighting each other in Syria. So he could also just say there are Americans in danger in Baghdad, therefore, under Article 2 of the Constitution, I am the commander-in-chief, I have to protect those Americans, I have to put a small number of forces in to make that happen.

He's already done that with a vanguard of troops that will protect the physical compound and facilitate the exit of those thousands of American diplomats if necessary, but he could take it a bit further. One of the problems is to send U.S. troops in there, you need immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. That's the same agreement we failed to get in 2011 that necessitated the withdrawal of U.S. troops. It doesn't look like Prime Minister Maliki is any closer to granting that to the U.S. this time around even as he asks for help.

CABRERA: And that's the question that I guess a lot of people are asking, what about al Maliki, is he the guy to make a difference politically in this region that's going to get to the root of the problem. What's your take?

DOZIER: Well, he won the last election. He managed to cobble together a government. So, this is the guy that the U.S. is stuck with for now. They can say we'll only grant you X amount of aid if you reach out to your Sunni minority.

But at this point when you've got killing happening at the scale that it's happening and blood soaking into the ground, we've seen this in Iraq before. That normally kicks off a period of blood-letting and revenge killings that could make it very difficult for Maliki to reach across to the other side.

And on the other side, on the Sunni side of the divide, there's very little trust in anything he has to say. They have heard it all before.

CABRERA: And that's also in part what's giving these fighters so much passion, is uniting against what they see or perceive as a common enemy. So, that's something that's scary to be witnessing at the moment.

Kimberly Dozier, we really appreciate your insight on this.

DOZIER: Thanks much.

CABRERA: As the situation in Iraq heats up, CNN covers it like no other network. Join Anderson Cooper tonight. He again is live from Baghdad.

We'll have the very latest on the day's events. That's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That's right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Fast forwarding now, tonight at 5:00 Eastern, Hillary Clinton will be answering tough questions from you, live right here on CNN. Now, the former secretary of state and presidential candidate is

sitting down for an exclusive town hall hosted by our own Christiane Amanpour and Christiane won't be the only one asking questions. CNN has teamed up with Tumblr to take questions from all around the world.

Brianna Keilar is at the museum where the town hall will be held.

And, Brianna, I imagine it's bustling already this morning preparing. How are things going?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a really big day and this is a big event, Ana, because this is the only televised town hall surrounding Hillary Clinton's book rollout.

Obviously, she is really considering her options for a 2016 presidential run. As she has put out our book, "Hard Choices" last week about her time at the State Department, there's so much curiosity about her foreign policy record, about what her vision perhaps for the future would be.

And so, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked. We'll be hearing them tonight from Christiane as well as from members of the live audience, which CNN has picked by going through universities and colleges, civic organizations, social organizations, not just here in Washington, D.C., but also farther afield.

So, we'll be getting questions from those folks. We'll also be getting questions through Tumblr, they have been submitted. All of these being closely guarded by an editorial team working with Christiane Amanpour.

Secretary Clinton has not seen these questions, her team has not seen these questions, so no topic is off limits here tonight.

CABRERA: That being said, can you give us some examples of the types of questions people are sending in or at least the topics they're asking about?

KEILAR: Well, there's all kinds of questions. I think some folks want to know exactly maybe what her economic plan might be or what she would see that as if she were to run for president.

There are going to be a lot of questions as well about her foreign policy record at the State Department, about Benghazi. As you know, you're looking around right now and seeing international hot spots like Iraq, like Ukraine. She'll be asked questions about her role in relations with Russia or that's very possible that she'll be asked.

There are questions all across the board. Many, many questions. So, we've had to -- CNN has had to whittle them down for sure, but I think there will be sort of a broad swath of topics that will be covered.

CABRERA: Hopefully, we make some news tonight. Brianna, thank you so much.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 5:00 p.m. Eastern as Christiane Amanpour hosts this global town hall with Hillary Clinton. And don't forget she will be taking your questions. Again, tonight 5:00 Eastern, also at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)