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Iraq Update; Bergdahl Parents and Hearings; Malaysia Flight 370

Aired June 18, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for joining me here on CNN.

We have just learned Iraq officially asked the United States to launch air strikes against the rebels who are seizing control of Iraqi cities. Right now, President Obama and leaders of Congress are getting ready to discuss this escalating crisis in Iraq. Live pictures of the White House. We know that will take place in the Oval Office in about an hour from now.

This meeting could answer the big question, how will the U.S. respond, if at all? The political and economic stakes just got higher for the U.S. because today ISIS militants stormed Iraq's largest oil refinery, this is just north of Baghdad in the city of Beiji. At one point, terrorists controlled most of this site.

Meantime, Reuters is reporting that oil giant Exxon Mobil is carrying out a major evacuation of its staff with its branch offices further south in both Baghdad and Basra. BP is also reportedly evacuated some 20 percent of its staff over concerns about worker safety. All of this here as ISIS is moving ever-closer to Baghdad.

But the word from Iraq's prime minister today, everything is under control. Let's take you straight to Iraq to CNN's Anderson Cooper, host of "AC 360." He's been hosting his show out of Baghdad each and every night this week.

So, Anderson, first to you. When we talk about the advance of ISIS on Baghdad, what do you know about that, a.? And you're there on the ground. I mean what are Iraqis there telling you about everything?

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": Well, certainly, you know, Baqubah is the latest town where there has been fighting. That's the closest town to Baghdad. As we talked about, some 37 or 40 miles or so from the capital. That's obviously of great concern. Still, as far as we understand, there is still fighting going on there. Last we heard, the ISIS forces and Sunni supporters were in western parts of Baqubah. That fighting said to continue. Certainly if ISIS is able to take over the oil refinery in the north, in Beiji, that the largest oil refinery in the north, it's also got a power station for the entire north, that would be a major blow to this government. Last we heard, fighting was continuing there. There was still Iraqi forces on-site there, though some had said to have left, according to at least one source that I have talked to.

You know, there's a lot of -- there's obviously concern here in Baghdad. There's a lot of uncertainty here in Baghdad. People aren't really sure what to believe. A lot of the statements coming out of the Iraqi government. It's hard to verify them. They haven't really held up to the light of day after they've been made. We heard from Nuri al Maliki earlier today in a weekly address. He's said to be making a statement on Iraqi television any time now this evening. So we'll watch to hear what he says.

But as you said, he says that they have turned the tide, the momentum is going in their favor. We have not really seen evidence of that here on the ground. And certainly he has a warning for the United States, for Europe and for other countries saying the terror that they are seeing here now will very soon and very possibly come to other countries because of what is happening here. Clearly an appeal to other countries, as you just echoed, a public appeal to try to get some sort of help here to turn the tide on the battlefield.

BALDWIN: Right. As we will watch for that Nuri al Maliki statement, what are you hearing as far as Iraq trying to reclaim this oil refinery, as you pointed out, the largest oil refinery in Iraq?

COOPER: Well, there are said to be some hardened troops. Iraqi government forces which have maintained positions there, which have been still fighting. We did get a report that some of the Iraqi troops who had been there had actually left their positions, had tried to flee that base. The foreign personnel, the westerners who were working there, Siemens has a contract for that plant, they were actually evacuated by private contractors before the attack by ISIS began. So the westerners were able to get out. It was Iraqi military and also other local workers who remained on site. And, again, the status of that right now is simply not clear.

BALDWIN: OK. Anderson Cooper, thank you so much. We'll talk to you next hour in Baghdad.

And again, just a reminder to all of you, the president holding this meeting at the White House next hour, and we'll see you tonight live from Baghdad, "AC 360," 8:00 Eastern.

So, could this latest attack on Iraq's biggest oil refinery be a sign of what is to come? Let's bring them back in, Michael Holmes, CNN International anchor and correspondent. I always want to point out, you've been there 14 times, each and every year of the Iraq War. In talking specifically here just - for -- this always helps me looking at maps here. So you have Beiji. This is the town - this is the country's largest oil refinery. That was actually taken by Sunni militants, what, between 2004, 2007?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: It was, yes.

BALDWIN: And so here we go again with ISIS. What do you make of that? HOLMES: The thing about Beiji is that it is the biggest oil refinery

in Iraq. But, crucially, and this is where it gets interesting, were it to be taken and held for any length of time, that is the place where Iraq gets 20 -- nearly half, 40 percent, of its domestic oil. So you talk about people filling up their cars with gas, you know, heating oil, all that sort of stuff. The domestic use.

Now, if you end up shutting that down for too long, and it is shut down at the moment because of this attack, you can see fuel lines in Baghdad and elsewhere as shortages come in, and that could foster civil unrest in Baghdad if they get that sort of hit. You know, you've got Mosul up here where the pipelines run and into Syria, as well, where ISIS already controls some of those pipelines. Make money off of it, as well.

BALDWIN: As Anderson pointed out, there's still basically ISIS just north, right, of Baghdad.

HOLMES: Yes. Right around here.

BALDWIN: These southern - these southern oil fields, too, could be - could be another target. But you say, not so fast. There's no way they're getting south (ph).

HOLMES: Yes. I - look, this is all Shia down here and the notion - it's -- mixed areas. But it's mainly Shia. And the idea of them getting down there -- this is, by the way, what they want as part of this sort of Islamic caliphate that they talk about, all this area. And you can include Lebanon and Israel and all the rest of it. But the idea of them getting down there militarily to Basra, which is the important export area for the oil, that's unlikely at the moment. I think they're going to hold in place here. They would love to have that.

BALDWIN: What will they do with it?

HOLMES: They sell it. They actually can. They can sort of intercept the oil pipeline. They've sold some of this oil up through Syria into Turkey. They make money on it. They made a lot of money on it.

BALDWIN: As you hear about this, and just your knowledge with Iraq, what is your concern, number one?

HOLMES: You know what I'm worried about?

BALDWIN: What?

HOLMES: I think - I think that ISIS won't get into Baghdad. I don't think they're going to be able to take on the Iraqi military in terms of assaulting the city in some sort of traditional military sense. I'm worried about inside the city. The Sunnis, who are in there now, already setting car bombs against Shia targets. Nuri al Maliki has given power to the militias. Muqtada al Sadr's militia are on the streets walking around with guns in all this. You go back to 2006, where those same militias reacting to Sunni insurgents setting bombs in places like Samarah (ph) as well, but also in the capital, you had the death squads. I'm worried about that. I think you could see death squads being formed and then you get the sectarian killings. And then you're going to find the bodies on the streets and that then devolves into mayhem because there's no Americans there now to do the refereeing as they were back in '06-'07.

BALDWIN: Let's hope not.

HOLMES: It's a mess.

BALDWIN: Michael Holmes, thank you so much. As we mentioned, waiting for word from this meeting, top brass in Congress and, of course, the president of the United States at the top of the hour in the Oval Office.

Just ahead, how is the U.S. interrogating the suspect in the Benghazi attack who, by the way, is on board a Navy ship as I speak? We'll talk about that.

Also ahead, rumblings the pope is sick after scrapping a couple of appearances. We'll hear how the Vatican is responding to that.

And an Olympic swimmer breaks her silence after a devastating injury.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, this injury sucks. And, yes, things hurt. But I'm alive and I'm so thankful to be alive.

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BALDWIN: As Iraq will be the topic of discussion at the White House in just about 50 minutes from now, a controversy from America's longest war, Afghanistan, is taking center stage right now. In this room, on Capitol Hill, you have these two House subcommittees are holding a hearing, should begin any moment -- though it looks like perhaps these are live pictures, it has -- on this prisoner swap involving the only known military member held captive in Afghanistan, Bowe Bergdahl. As you know, five high to mid-level Taliban commanders were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for the Army sergeant.

And among those testifying in D.C. today, you have the father of Second Lieutenant Darren Andrews (ph), who some soldiers say died in the search for Bergdahl after he left his post. The panel will also hear from Cody Full (ph), a platoon mate of Bergdahl's. He tweeted last month about the search for Bergdahl saying this about one Afghan village. Quote, "our platoon came upon some children. They asked him, have they seen the American. The children said, yes, he was crawling on his belly through weeds and acting funny a while ago." As for Bowe Bergdahl himself today, well, he continues his recovery at a Texas hospital, but he still has not talked to his parents. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins me from Texas.

And let's begin there, Ed. Do we know why they haven't spoken yet? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know the Bergdahl parents have

been mum since the day after his son was recaptured or - and taken safely in Afghanistan and turned over to U.S. special forces, but we have not heard anything officially as to why this phone call or at least a phone call or this meeting has not taken place yet. Army officials say that it is simply up to Bowe Bergdahl, that everything has been provided, that the moment he wants to make that phone call, it could be made at any second. And that once they -- he wants that reunion to take place, that they would make everything line up so that his parents could travel to San Antonio, which we thought very early on would be happening in the course of several days after Bowe Bergdahl was turned back over to the United States. So a little bit surprising that that hasn't happened.

Army officials do say that the Bergdahl parents, even though they're not speaking publicly and have said that they would not make their travel plans to San Antonio public, they would not let anybody know about that, they do say that the Bergdahl parents have been trusting in the process of this reintegration program, and, you know, they're following those steps.

BALDWIN: OK. And we had you on, you know, yesterday. You were reporting the fact that Bowe Bergdahl himself is being exposed to some of the media reports, the criticism, in recent weeks since his release. What about this hearing? Let's go back to those live pictures on Capitol Hill, guys, and just remind everyone. We talked about a couple of the people who will be testifying. But, Ed, what do we expect out of this?

LAVANDERA: Well, this is looking at the whole exchange process and what it means for national security. Of course, as we've reported over the last few weeks, a great deal of controversy not only about the way Bowe Bergdahl was captured and the circumstances and the questions still kind of surrounding that, but whether or not it was smart policy to exchange five Taliban prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl. So they'll be taking a closer look at that.

And as you mentioned, part of this hearing is hearing from one of Bowe Bergdahl's unit comrades, as well as a family member of one of the soldiers that some people say died in the search for Bowe Bergdahl. And this is an interesting thing. This is one of the things that is also part of Bowe Bergdahl's reintegration process that we're now learning, is that these medical professionals that are with him now are going through the process of letting him know that Bowe Bergdahl, when you walk back out of this hospital, you are -- you are in the spotlight intensely around this country.

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera on the story for us in Dallas, Texas, this afternoon. Eddie, thank you.

Also today, right now, that suspected Benghazi raid mastermind is being interrogated on a slow boat ride to America. He is Ahmed Abu Khattalah. He is on board this U.S. Navy ship, taking him by sea rather than by air. That allows these FBI investigators maximum time to talk to him, to question him. The terror suspect did not put up a fight when special forces captured him over the weekend in Libya. Khattalah says he was directing traffic in Benghazi on that September night in 2012 when fighters attacked the U.S. consulate. Four Americans were killed. And one expert tells CNN, interrogators first question the Benghazi suspect, they will not actually be about the raid itself at all.

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PHILIP MUDD, SENIOR FELLOW, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: We don't have to read him his rights right away. You can sit on a ship and talk to him, because that's what the law says. He's not in U.S. custody -- I mean he's in U.S. custody, he's not -- the FBI does not -- is not required by law, regulation or policy to give him his rights right now. They can talk to him. Not a problem.

By the way, they're not going to talk to him about Benghazi right now. I can tell you what they're going to ask him. A, forget about Benghazi, where's the next attack? B, who's responsible for the next attack and tell me about who those people are? And, C, if those are the people responsible for the next attack, where are they and how do I get them?

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BALDWIN: When Khattalah arrives in the U.S., as we've been reporting, he will face justice in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C.

It has been more than 100 days since it vanished. A group of independent experts believes they know where this missing plane, Malaysian Air Flight 370, might be. The new potential search location, hundreds of miles southwest of the previous search site.

Also ahead, a barefoot firefighter wearing just shorts and a t-shirt could be lost in the woods. The search for the missing hiker, coming up.

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BALDWIN: The loved ones of a California firefighter fear he may need to be rescued. He is Mike Herdman, who is a paramedic. He's been missing for more than four days now in the wilderness, about a 90- minute drive from Los Angeles. The 36-year-old went backpacking with a friend on Wednesday, and his family believed he was going to be home for Father's Day. His friend told authorities that Herdman vanished with no supplies after his dog ran off Friday evening. The two got separated looking for the pet.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big concern is the exposure, because when he left the camp, he was barefoot, he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. So he wasn't equipped to be out in the back country at that point. What he has on his side is that, you know, he's a firefighter, he's used to rescuing people, he's trained, he's been in the back country before, so hopefully he puts those skills to use. We found his backpack and some footprints and things like that. So they're going to be searching really heavily in that creek bed where he was last seen. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The friend, also a firefighter, had to hike for two days just to get help for himself. A helicopter has been flying, searching this remote area.

And now to this new theory about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and where it might be. An independent group of experts says five separate computer models put the plane in the southern Indian Ocean. But it's in a stretch of water hundreds of miles southwest of that previous search area.

So, Jeff Wise, we bring you in. CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise.

You have been in touch with two different people from this independent group. What did they tell you?

JEFF WISE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, it's really a group of people who have loosely come together over the Internet and have been cooperating, have been talking to me and to each other. And there's, you know, a dozen or more of people who have been part of this ongoing conversation. It's really very informal. And, you know, for months now, a lot of us have been saying to Inmarsat, to the Malaysian authorities, please release this raw data.

BALDWIN: Right.

WISE: And finally they did. And it's taken some time, but finally enough has emerged from this raw data that it -- we finally know enough to be able to form an idea of what the authorities were talking about. When they said that it had to have gone south and to try to piece together basically how we can determine mathematically where the plane must have gone.

BALDWIN: That was the whole thing with the Inmarsat releasing some of the data. You wanted - you wanted more to be able to see, to be able to determine. And when it comes to this particular independent group, I know that the co-founder said his opinion was that the official search team just weighed too heavily on those pings. Do you agree with that?

WISE: Well, right. I think even the official search people would agree with that, as well. I mean they themselves are about to announce their own new opinion of where they think the plane probably went. And, you know, there's mathematically, you can determine using the frequency and the timing of the signal that was received by the satellite from the airplane pretty much where it went. But there's also other considerations having to do with navigation, having to do with fuel burn. There's other things we might want to consider.

And as it happens, they were apparently, according to their own report, they were about to go look at this most likely area. And then they were distracted, they said, by these underwater signals that you'll remember well from April when basically the entire month was spent trying to locate the source of these mysterious pings. That didn't pan out. BALDWIN: Turned (ph) up nothing. Right.

WISE: And now they've gone back, they've crunched the numbers once again. And meanwhile, while the officials are crunch their numbers, now these independent people finally know enough about what's going on, how the equipment worked, that they themselves can also crunch the numbers themselves. And they've come to a slightly different conclusion. That doesn't mean that anybody's wrong or made mistakes with their math, it just means they might have placed different weight on certain assumptions.

BALDWIN: OK. So we wait and hopefully it's not an if but a when scenario. Jeff Weise, we'll bring you back when we know more of the when. Thank you.

WISE: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I appreciate it.

House Speaker John Boehner says the U.S. should absolutely not talk to Iran about the urgent situation in Iraq. And minutes from now, I should point out, Speaker Boehner and other top brass from Congress will meet with President Obama in the Oval Office. We will take you to the White House for that.

And then a woman is told she's just stressed out. She then records her symptoms here on her cell phone. The result that you're looking at, she was suffering a mini stroke. We will talk with her, live, coming up.

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