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Right Now: Obama Summons Leaders On Iraq; Iraqi Commander Orders Investigation Of 59 Security Officials Accused Of Abandoning Posts; Bergdahl Searcher Testifies Before Congress; Clinton On Medical Marijuana

Aired June 18, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let me assure, we are watching the White House closely while waiting for word about this high-level meeting, subject Iraq. In the oval office, President Obama summoned his four leaders of Congress to craft a plan to stabilize Iraq. And more immediately, to halt these extremist fighters before they reach the capital city of Baghdad.

So let's go back to the map. The red dots you see, those are the different towns in Iraq's Sunni heartland that are believe to be controlled by this Sunni rebel group, ISIS. Keep in mind, some of those towns are contested with fighting happening right now. And that includes Kirkuk, the major oil-producing city in the north.

We have also gotten word today from military sources that the Pentagon has begun to fly manned reconnaissance missions over Iraq, and a list of possible air strike targets has landed on the desk of Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey.

So with me now from New York, CNN military analyst, Colonel Rick Francona. Welcome back to the show here. Let's begin with air strikes because in terms of what they can actually accomplish, we know that they can kill individuals. But could they actually halt the advance of this entire rebel army?

COLONEL RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If they can find out where the logistics are, and the leading edge of vehicles. When these people move down these roads, and these are good roads, they move very quickly. And if you can detect them on those roads and you can stop them. Air can be very effective in that case. Once they get into the cities, it becomes a whole another problem because they mix in with the local population.

And then you run the risk of inflicting a lot of civilian casualties. So if they can catch them out in the open, yes, it can be very effective. I'm assuming that's the kind of targets they're looking for. These manned reconnaissance aircraft will be able to pick out those moving vehicles.

BALDWIN: Have to assume that is something at least being discussed right now at the White House. To the issue we have been talking a lot about today, the fighting for control of Iraq's oil fields because Right now, as we know, we have been looking again at the map, the fighting has been predominantly in the north, whereas most of the oil in Iraq is in the south. Should protecting -- Colonel, should protecting those oil fields be numero uno as far as priorities for the U.S. military?

FRANCONA: You know, actually, not right now. The only real oil facility being contested right now is the Baiji refinery. That's importantly domestically for the Iraqis. About half of the refined gasoline comes from there. But the major production that impacts the world market is in the south.

BALDWIN: Right.

FRANCONA: And the northern oil fields in the Kirkuk area are pretty much under control of the Kurds. So the oil is not really the issue right now, but we've got to stop these guys from getting to the capital city.

BALDWIN: OK. You were in Iraq in a combat role as we will know 2003 to 2011. Does the U.S. experience in Iraq -- would that translate into a benefit for us, militarily speaking or since you have this entirely new enemy now being ISIS, is this a totally new ball game?

FRANCONA: Not a totally new ball game. It's a different enemy, but we fought these guys before. AQI, they're the outgrowth of the al Qaeda in Iraq. They formed the Islamic State of Iraq and now they've expanded to include that part of Syria up in the north.

BALDWIN: But are they more extreme?

FRANCONA: No, they're the same guys.

BALDWIN: OK.

FRANCONA: This is al Qaeda in Iraq. They're the same guys. They've gotten a lot better. They've gotten more sophisticated. So it's a different enemy, but we know the terrain, we know the area. And hopefully we can re-establish contact with the Sunnis that supported us in the past. Right now, we have no contacts.

BALDWIN: Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, Congress is holding a hearing today on Capitol Hill to discuss the implications of trading those five Taliban detainees for Bowe Bergdahl and one of Bergdahl's fellow soldiers from his time in Afghanistan is testifying. We'll talk about that.

And Hillary Clinton talked about a lot with Christiane Amanpour, opened up about marijuana, for example. Does Hillary Clinton think medical marijuana should be legal? Stay with me.

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BALDWIN: At the White House right now, President Obama is meeting with congressional leaders in the oval office, discussing specifically this crisis in Iraq, ways to contain it. Those talks come as ISIS forces launched this bloody attack on Iraq's main oil refinery in the town of Baiji.

And then there's this. Iraq is now officially asked the U.S. to launch air strikes against the rebels. Let's go live to Baghdad, to Anderson Cooper. And Anderson, the new information and you know something about this, the investigation into these 59 high-ranking security officials accused of leaving their posts. What's that about?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Yes. I mean, certainly, if you need more evidence of the disarray that Iraqi security forces have been in over the last several days, an announcement made a short time ago here on Iraqi television by a spokesman for Nuri Al-Maliki, the prime minister, also who has oversight of military and security forces.

Announcing investigations into 59 high-level officers of the Iraqi military, also the police services and other high-level officials who abandon their post, even before fighting began in some of these areas. The fact that in a place like Mosul, it wasn't even a question of Iraqi forces losing on the battlefield, engaging with enemy fighters.

They left in the advance of before enemy fighters got to the battlefield, taking off their weapons, taking -- dropping their weapons, taking off their uniforms and disappearing. Their officers disappearing. So now investigations, according to the Iraqi government, into 59 high-level officials, high-level officers, who are said to have abandoned their post.

If found guilty, they could get the death penalty. They could be executed under Iraqi law. But it is just the latest sign of the really sort of pandemonium, especially in the early days that we saw among Iraqi security forces. And we continue to hear reports of fighting still going on up in Baiji for control of that oil refinery.

The most important, the largest oil refinery up in the north of Iraq. And, again, if that fell to the hands of ISIS and ISIS forces were said to control parts of it earlier today, that would be another major blow for the government of Nuri Al-Maliki.

BALDWIN: Given this most recent example of disarray, given what's happening in Baiji, we have been dissecting possible military strategies for Iraq. Looking at history, talking geography. You are there on the ground. You're talking to Iraqis. I imagine they're incredibly alarmed.

COOPER: Look, there's obviously a lot of concern. There's a lot of uncertainty, but this is a place where people are used to that. They have been living like that for decades now. In Baghdad, there is not a sense of impending catastrophe. Though ISIS forces and their Sunni supporters are said to be some 35 to 40 miles outside the city, and in the town of Baquba where there has been fighting for the last two days.

You know, in many ways, life in the city of Baghdad itself continues on. This is a predominantly Shia city, volunteers have been called up, tens of thousands of volunteers. The feeling is that if forces were to get closer to Baghdad, they would start to engage with more motivated forces, highly motivated forces.

Shia forces within the military who are in charge of protection of this city and also a lot of these volunteers. You've got to remember, there are thousands of voluntary Shia fighters, civilians, who have been fighting in Syria for the last two years in support of the government of Bashir Al-Assad against ISIS forces and others there. They have heeded the call to return to Iraq, to bolster the Iraqi army here.

So there's not a sense of panic in this city because the feeling is, even though ISIS forces may be not too far off, what stands between them, where they are now and the gates of Baghdad are a lot more motivated troops than what we have seen in some of these Sunni areas.

BALDWIN: Anderson Cooper, we'll be watching tonight, 8:00 herein here on CNN, "AC360" live from Baghdad. Thank you.

Happening right now, members of two House subcommittees listening to some pretty powerful testimony. These witnesses talking about testifying about the prisoner swap involving Bowe Bergdahl. The Taliban held the army sergeant captive for more than four years. His release came in May, in exchange for those five Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo Bay.

Some of Bergdahl's platoon members say that he deserted and they blame that for the deaths of six soldiers who were out looking for him. We're learning new details from one of the witnesses who commanded the Special Forces assigned to search for Bowe Bergdahl in the weeks after he vanished.

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MIKE WALTZ, COMMANDED SPECIAL FORCES SEARCHING FOR BERGDAHL: We were ordered to devote all resources and energy to the search for Bergdahl. It soon became apparent, however, that the Taliban knew we were conducting an all-out search for him. And they began feeding false information into our informant network in order to lure our forces into a trap.

On several occasions, my men were lured into ambushes. Including an Afghan home rigged with explosives, a car bomb that was primed to explode, and other types of deadly traps. Fortunately, the bombs failed to explode in those situations, but they were too close for comfort. Other soldiers, as we know, were not so fortunate.

All of us commonly understood at the time that Bergdahl had walked off his post after a guard shift into a local Afghan village. We knew, though, we had to do whatever it took to find him. And that was fine. But I have to tell you, all of my men, me included, were absolutely furious and resent of, frankly, that a fellow American soldier had put us into this position.

But I'm confident saying Sergeant Bergdahl endangered the lives of thousands of men and women sent to search for him. He diverted scarce and valuable resources, such as predator drones, helicopters, IED clearing teams from other units that desperately needed those assets. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Also today, the father of fallen soldier, Darren Andrews, testified that he heard from a handful of soldiers who say that his son was killed in Afghanistan out searching for Bergdahl, which he says is not what he was told by military officials.

Just ahead, Hillary Clinton weighing in on medical marijuana in that CNN town hall, talking to Christiane Amanpour. Coming up next, let's get Sanjay's reaction. Sanjay Gupta joins me.

Also ahead, World Cup fever sweeping the nation. We'll take you live to Miami, where some very excited fans are watching every single minute. Stay here.

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BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton says she did not smoke pot when she was younger and has zero plans to try any marijuana any time soon. Even when it comes to medical marijuana. The former secretary of state is not 100 percent ready to give it a thumb's up. She talked about her views on medicinal marijuana last night at that CNN town hall in D.C.

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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don't think we've done enough research yet, although I think for people who are in extreme medical conditions and have anecdotal evidence that it works there should be available research. There is a lot that we don't know.

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BALDWIN: Joining me now to discuss our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

I don't know if Hillary Clinton saw your documentaries on weed, Dr. Gupta. You famously changed your mind on this. Tell me why there are real benefits to this stuff.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I also agree that more research needs to be done. I think everybody agrees with that although it's very difficult to do in this country, and I am happy to talk about that, but let me remind you, Brooke, that marijuana has been used as a medication and used for medication for a couple thousand years even in the United States until 1943.

It was part of the formulary under which doctors prescribed medications and it was there at the time to support its use. Even now we have medications, known as Marinol, which is a marijuana-based medication, which is available in the United States. Another medication known as Sadevex for patients with MS is available in 20 countries around the world. So there's a lot of research that's gone into many of these things although much of it admittedly not happening in the United States. We talked a lot about the use of marijuana for epilepsy, for example and seeing some of these children who have responded to the use of a medicinal marijuana when other drugs didn't work was quite astounding and that stimulated more research.

Let me tell you the reason why not, Brooke, as fascinating medically as it is socially, it is a Schedule 1 substance and what that mean, just wrap your mind around this, what that means is it is categorized as something around one of the most harmful substances and also has no medicinal use and it's pre-ordained as having no medicinal use.

You can imagine a researcher saying I want to study this, and I want to go to the various agencies to get approvals to study this and the answer comes back, look, it's Schedule 1. It doesn't have any medical use and that won't be a fruitful laboratory for you.

I agree with Secretary Clinton when she says that more research is necessary. Part of the problem, though, is that it's just so challenging in this country at this time.

BALDWIN: Can you just remind me before I let you go, what is the number one reason why you changed your mind?

GUPTA: Look, when you look at the United States research, what I think you see ultimately is a pretty distorted picture. Most of the studies aren't looking for benefit. They're looking for harm and they're not giving the approval to study that benefit. For me is when I started looking outside the country and when I started looking at laboratories that were not dependent on federal funding, when I started listening to this chorus of patients who I previously dismissed as malingerrors and wanted to get high.

They're getting benefit when nothing else had worked and that started to change my mind and it also prompted an 18-month journey around the world to go see these things for myself and now I think it can have a real benefit to people and sometimes it can be beneficial when nothing else has worked and it's improper to withhold it as a result. By the way, I think Secretary Clinton said the same thing. In certain situations it may have real merit.

BALDWIN: If you haven't seen the documentary, the documentary, as I should say, "Weed," part one and part two, go see them. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for your perspective on that.

Coming up, world cup fever sweeping the country. We'll take you live to Miami where fans are excited to talk soccer -- football, I'm sorry. Stay with us.

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BALDWIN: That cracks me up. Right now the defending World Cup champs from Spain are facing the do or die showdown. Spain playing Chile and even soccer legend Pailey (ph) has said Chile might surprise Spain in today's matchup. Spain is still relenting huge opening 5-1 loss to 2010 World Cup runner up the Netherlands.

Alina Machado is live at a bar in Miami for us surrounded by I imagine, pretty rowdy fans. What do you have do they have to say to you?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, there is a bit of a contrast here between the Espana fans, the Spain fans and the Chilean fans. I want you to look at this. These are the Chilean fans and they're very, very excited by the fact that their team as of right now is beating Spain. They are up 2-0.

A sharp contrast if you look over here. This is a group of Spaniards, Spain fans who are here, obviously, very, very disappointed at the moment, but Brooke, they are hopeful that Spain will turn around and come back.

BALDWIN: What -- what, exactly, is it? I imagine especially in Miami, what is it about the World Cup that has people packing bars in the middle of the afternoon? I mean, hello? Don't some people have to work?

MACHADO: Yes. I mean, think about it, it's a world party. It's the opportunity for people no matter where they are to come out to wear the jerseys and to have the flags of their countries and just really rally around this huge celebration of their culture, of their country and obviously, a lot of hope here today, as well -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alina Machado, thank you so much in Miami for us right now watching that Spain-Chile game. Before I go, just a quick reminder because we never really do this and I would like to start. Go to our Facebook page for some of our very best interviews and we were shooting a little behind the scenes video and we'll have it for you later, facebook.com/brookebaldwincnn and as always go to the Brooke blog, cnn.com/brooke.

Let's go to Washington, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.