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Southern Iraqi Town Falls to ISIS; Parts of Minnesota Under Flood Waters; Militants Take Fight to Social Media; Using Intelligence to Stop ISIS; U.S. to Face Portugal in World Cup; U.S. Military Advisers to Arrive in Iraq Soon; Bowe Bergdahl Recovery Continues; Training for Fit Nation Challenge; Missing IRS E-mails Spark Angry Hearing, Interview with Will Packer

Aired June 21, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Very few get the chance to come this close to a shark of this magnitude safely. People across the U.S. are fascinated with following this ocean giant, just as vacation season heats one plans to venture out into the ocean water.

Earlier this month, a 22- year-old woman was bitten by an unidentified shark while tubing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in the water, she's bit by a shark and she's bleeding everywhere. There's nowhere for me to go. I'm right next to her. I could be next.

MACHADO: This photo taken right after the attack showing torn muscle and crushed bone and just last week, a Texas teen had a run-in with a shark that was swimming dangerously close to shore off the coast of Galveston Island.

MIKAELA MEDINA, SHARK BITE VICTIM: It just felt like something bumped into my back. I was like, this could be a shark.

MACHADO: And it was. The 14-year-old emerged from the water with teeth marked etched into the right side of her back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: By the way, as far as we know, Catherine has not been involved in any of those attacks and it looks like she has company. Betsy, another great white shark who was tagged in August in Cape Cod, is also now in the Gulf of Mexico -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, Alina Machado. Appreciate it.

All right, hello, again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here are the stories we're following for you this hour.

Iraqi troops and Islamic militants are locked in fierce battle while troops there wait for the imminent arrival of U.S. military advisers.

We'll have a live report from Baghdad in just a moment.

And back here in the U.S., a severe weather threat. Massive storms triggered street flooding and mudslides in the Midwest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get landslides, but nothing like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We'll tell you who is in the danger zone.

Plus, a major box office release will have you thinking like a man. One of the producers of "Think Like a Man, Too" joins us right here in the NEWSROOM.

All right. First up the intense battles in Iraq, government security forces took on Islamic militants battling to control a largely Sunni area just about 35 miles from the capital of Baghdad. Iraqi TV says the Iraqi troops killed 15 militants in Fallujah.

There were other brutal fights in northern Iraq and all of this is happening just as U.S. military advisers are due to arrive in Iraq.

Our Arwa Damon joins us live now from northern Iraqi town of Erbil.

So, Arwa, I understand the ISIS militants managed to capture a strategic border town. Tell us more about what you know.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And that strategic border town, Fredricka, is called al-Qiam. They managed to capture it and the border crossing. This means that the entire border between Iraq and Syria is now open territory. ISIS fighters, the Sunnis fighting alongside them, have free movement between both of these battlegrounds.

The only portion that is not controlled by ISIS or by extremists is the furthest northern portion that is still under the control of the Kurdish fighting force known as the Peshmerga, but this most certainly opens up massive channels for all sorts of re-supply weaponry and fighters to be able to have complete freedom of movement between Iraq and Syria.

Al-Qiam also located strategically along the Euphrates River Valley. That is a very critical supply line that also leads directly potentially towards the capital Baghdad -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, Arwa, we keep reporting, you know, U.S. military advisers will be on the ground and we outline what might be happening, but from the Iraqi standpoint, is this welcome? Are people excited, anxious, to see these advisers back on the ground in Iraq?

DAMON: It really depends on who you're asking. If you're going to be peeking to the Sunni population, to those who are supporting the predominantly Shia government and Baghdad, this most certainly is going to be possibly seen as a move that could help the Iraqi security forces get their act together and begin taking the battle to ISIS and driving them out of their lands.

If you speak to the Sunni population they will tell you that the Americans need to be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Because from the perspective of the Sunnis, they have long been revolting against the prime minister's government, against this polarizing politics. They view his actions as being deliberately targeting the Sunnis. We've seen mass detentions of Sunnis. They view them as being a sectarian prime minister.

So from their perspective, they're not necessarily, according to one prominent tribal leader we spoke to, against the presence of the Americans, but they say the U.S. needs to understand that the Sunni battle is with al-Maliki. The Sunnis do not want ISIS to be here and they do plan on fighting them at some point and time to drive them out of their lands, as they once did with al Qaeda, but right now, al- Maliki needs to go and the U.S. needs to come into Iraq understanding that.

WHITFIELD: And then there's U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveling to Jordan soon to discuss the Iraq crisis with a number of the neighbors there, hoping that perhaps some of these other governments or leaders might be able to influence Iraq to make sure that there is a government that's both representative of the Sunni, Shiites as well as the Kurds.

How realistic is this?

DAMON: Well, that's something this country has been struggling with really for more than a decade. The American invasion took out Saddam Hussein. It's something also that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has failed at miserably despite his public statement of wanting to create an inclusive government, of wanting to have this government of national unity. He has, from the perspective of the Sunnis and his opponents, broken every promise that he has made, so any sort of government structure that's going to center around him is most likely going to be doomed to fail.

The big question is what other leader does this country have who can actually bring everyone together and ask that of any prominent Iraqi politician and they will struggle to find an answer. Now again going back to this conversation we just had with this prominent Sunni tribal leader, he was saying look, at this stage, Iraq actually needs to consider having an interim government, perhaps something of a governing council for a period of a year or two and then fresh election, and let the country start all over again from scratch.

WHITFIELD: Oh my.

DAMON: So it's a very difficult, complicated, multilayered problem right now.

WHITFIELD: It is indeed. To say the very least.

Arwa Damon, thank you so much in Erbil, Iraq.

All right, back here in the U.S., days of heavy rain are taking quite a toll in Minnesota where flooding is threatening parts of the state. The governor in fact has now declared a state of emergency in 35 counties as rivers break their banks and roads flood.

Ana Cabrera joins me now from the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. A frightening sight behind me with that hospital, but tell us more about all the concerns there.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: That is obviously the big concern where we are, the good news is the imminent threat we're told has passed. You can see the cleanup operations that are underway here today and we understand that geologists and engineers have done a thorough inspection and have deemed that hospital on top of that collapsed hillside is safe. Built on a rocky shale bed.

You can they're laying out a tarp. We're told that is to repel any additional rain, prevent further erosion because there is more rain in the forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA (voice-over): Geologists and structural engineers are literally digging in this morning trying to determine the depths of the bedrock that's holding up this hospital along the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

CAROLYN WILSON, CO-PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA HEALTH: And as we speak basically they're testing how deep that is. But they're assuring us that we can be here and care for patients safely.

CABRERA: And city officials agree saying it appears the buildings remain on solid ground. Part of the bluff came crashing down on the roadway along the river after days of intense rain in the upper Midwest left rain-swollen rivers and flooded homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had landslides but nothing like this.

CABRERA: In Blakely, along the Minnesota River, there's just one road leading in and out of town. The reason -- the ground has slid away from the county highway and no trucks or cars are allowed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's pretty bad. They can't even give us a time limit when we can get back. There's no electricity. They can't even get power lines up because it's so muddy.

CABRERA: The high water came rushing through parts of town, carrying mud and debris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm in complete shock. I have never -- I'm number 11 out of 12 kids and we've lived in a lot of places but I've never went through anything like this in my life.

CABRERA: While some people struggled with the aftermath, others are preparing to deal with the high water. Work crews are building temporary levies along River Street in Delano, Minnesota. And residents at Creek Side are putting down sandbags around their property. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some neighbors who have lived here for

40 years. They've never seen this high water level before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: At the point, much of this flooding is affecting parklands, farmlands, but as you showed, as we showed you, there are some neighborhoods that are dealing with flood damage, about 100 plus homes around the state and around the region are having to cope with that. So it is a damaging situation and with the river still rising, we're not out of the woods yet -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's a bad situation and we'll find out if it will worsen.

Ana Cabrera, thank you so much.

Let's check in with Karen Maginnis on that forecast. So is there a greater threat on the horizon?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It does look like there will be additional rainfall for Minneapolis, but, Fred, for the most part, it's a rain they've already seen.

Here are some additional note, and that is since 2011, they have seen drought conditions across the state of Minnesota. There are no drought conditions across Minnesota now, which is probably part of the problem. The ground has been so dry and then they get all of this rainfall. In some cases, more than four inches.

Now over the next 24 hours, a couple of inches of rain maybe some areas, a little more, a little less, but the Mississippi River right now is in this moderate flood stage.

This is kind of a difficult graphic to understand. But essentially you just follow this line, take it out through Thursday and this is what we're seeing -- the peak or the crest of the Mississippi River at just under 20 feet. That it's probably not going to be a record but, Fred, nonetheless already a dangerous situation. It is expected to get worse by Thursday.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy. All right, not good at all. Thank you, Karen.

U.S. military advisers soon to join Iraqi armed forces who are fighting off the ISIS militant group. Much of that work will be gathering intelligence for the advisers, but is the move a little too late? Up next, we'll talk with a man who spent four decades in the Defense intelligence agency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The militant group ISIS has made itself known in Iraq and Syria in brutal ways, but did you also know that it has a very visible presence on Facebook and Twitter and even Instagram. The militants are using social media to recruit and gain support from around the world. Here now is Michael Holmes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While ISIS fighters continue their military offensive in Iraq, supporters of the Jihadist group have also launched a public relations offensive online. Blitzing sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with their extremist message.

Their latest social media salvo, a slickly produced recruitment video shot in high-definition with camerawork and editing to rival a professional production. The 13-minute video purports to shows a group of ISIS fighters, five young men who claimed to be from Britain and Australia speaking English and urging Western Muslims to join their cause.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All my brothers living in the west, I know how you feel when I used to live there, in the heart you feel depressed. The cure for the depression is jihad.

HOLMES: The footage which CNN cannot independently verify appears to have been shot recently in Syria, as the circle of men talk about waging war in Iraq.

There are other videos of support, too, some in different languages like this French speaking militant who calls on Muslims in France to join the Jihad.

Experts say while ISIS isn't the first extremist group to build support online they may be the most savvy to date as social media has become an important tool for extremist groups.

SETH JONES, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY CENTER: Over 95 percent of terrorist groups today use Facebook, use things like Twitter, so this is a huge, huge way for groups to collect information. It's a huge way for them to finance and get people to provide assistance to recruit members. Social media is where it's at for these groups.

HOLMES: That leaves many users asking, how can social media sites let this happen? Biz Stone is one of Twitter's founders. While he is no longer with the site, he believes Twitter must remain neutral.

BIZ STONE, TWITTER CO-FOUNDER: If you want to create a platform that allows for the freedom of expression for hundreds of millions of people around the world, you really have to take the good with the bad.

HOLMES: On Friday, ISIS supporters aimed to get one billion Muslims posting on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, to support the Islamic state. While there were thousands of posts, many supporters tweeting photos of themselves holding up signs of solidarity at landmarks in Spain, France, and the U.K., they did fall dramatically short of their goal of a billion. And many other Muslims took to sites like Twitter to voice their opposition with the #notoISIS. Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So as ISIS ramps up its effort to recruit through social media, U.S. military advisers are headed to Iraq. Part of their job will be to gather intelligence on the ground.

Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at the Washington Institute and was a senior intelligence officer for years at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

Good to see you, Jeffrey. All right, so given the climate right now, ISIS only miles away from Baghdad, active recruiting happening on social media, how can any intelligence gathering forces get ahead of this ISIS momentum and anticipate perhaps its next move?

JEFFREY WHITE, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Well, first of all, you have to get established on the ground. I mean, the advisers have to get in there. They have to take up their posts. They have to make contact with Iraqi forces. Iraqi government institutions. They have to begin to establish some kind of networks inside the country. And then they can begin to take a flow of information in and pass it back to U.S. organizations.

But we have to remember there's already some substantial intelligence collection effort underway. You see U.S. national means, satellite, signals, intelligence, drones, manned aircraft and so on, so they won't be going into the situation with a completely blank slate. There will be some body of information for them to work.

WHITFIELD: But there is something about getting that intelligence on the ground. Again, Iraq still hasn't given that written consent to the U.S. to say, you know, your military advisers can come here and, you know, wouldn't be facing any kind of criminal, you know, charges if things were to happen. But tell me why it's important or what kind of deficit might there be in intelligence gathering, you know --

WHITE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: -- by not having folks on the ground and how much more important it will be for U.S., you know, personnel to be on the ground to gather intelligence.

WHITE: Sure. I think it's very important to have people actually there because they can get a professional military assessment of what's beginning on. They can receive information directly from the battlefield through Iraqi government reporting channels or if they're out with combat units, they'll be able to observe the kind of activities that are going on. And there's no substitute for having these, you know, professional eyes looking at the situation and reporting back the chain of command.

Now they'll also be tapping in I think to Iraqi government nets. They'll be able to look at the intelligence flow that the Iraqi government forces are getting, presumably, of course, but I think they'll be able to look at that and they'll be able to meld that with, you know, whatever they are seeing themselves.

Plus, they're supposed to go into these joint operations centers and in that position, they ought to be able to get a very good picture of what's going on on the battlefield from a somewhat higher level than immediate advisers in the field.

WHITFIELD: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Go ahead and punctuate that. All right, I thought I was interrupting a thought there.

All right, Jeffrey White, thank you so much. Appreciate your expertise. Appreciate it.

All right. Still to come, here's a question. You know how humid Houston, Texas, can be, right? Especially noontime in July. Well, now envision jogging in that kind of climate. Well, now you know what the U.S. team will be facing when taking on Portugal in Brazil tomorrow.

More next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Soccer star Hope Solo has been arrested on two counts of domestic violence assault. The former Team USA goaltender is charged with hitting her sister and nephew during what police called an out-of-control party. Police were called to Solo's home near Seattle on reports of an assault and noise disturbance and when they arrived, they found the alleged victims with what they call -- police are calling visible injuries. Solo, who now plays professional soccer in Seattle, is being held without bail.

OK. So what will the U.S. men's soccer team do for an encore this weekend after winning against Ghana earlier in the week? Well, we'll find out soon. The American team will take on Portugal tomorrow at the World Cup.

Lara Baldesarra is on the story for us from Brazil.

So, Lara, Portugal will have something to prove after that beat down by Germany, right?

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they certainly do. Portugal definitely needs to win this match against the USA, meaning it will be very, very hard fought, but for the USA, it's also kind of a must win, let's call it. If Germany beats Ghana in the match before the USA plays Portugal, and then the USA beat Portugal, it means that USA will go through and carry on into World Cup. This could be a very big match for the USA.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that could be huge, especially since wasn't it the USA coach himself who was saying, you know, fat chance on the U.S. really doing super well or even winning the World Cup? So now he's going to have to eat those words if the U.S. does well with Portugal, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDESARRA: Certainly will, but my goodness, he looked kind of like a genius almost in keeping the expectations really, really low.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's true.

BALDESARRA: And then turning around and saying, look how far we went, it's wonderful news.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDESARRA: I do want to add a little note, though, because there is a bit of a concern about Clint Dempsey, that I just want to clear out.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BALDESARRA: Yes, he is dealing with a broken nose and he can only breathe in one nostril, and you may or may not see him wearing one of those protective masks on his face. But he says that he will be OK and he will be good to get to play. This guy's a trooper. That's why he's the captain.

WHITFIELD: Hey, I guess, you know, you -- hey, you've got to be a warrior out there. You don't get to this point in World Cup soccer and, you know, allow an injury to stand in the way I guess, right? I mean he is more than a trooper.

BALDESARRA: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: OK. Lara Baldesarra, thanks so much, keep us posted there from the World Cup. Appreciate it.

All right. U.S. military advisers arriving in Iraq very soon to help the Iraqi army, but what exactly will they do once on the ground?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Mortgage rates held steady this week. Have a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. A look at our top stories right now. The stories crossing our news desk.

The FBI and CDC are investigating how dozens of CDC workers possibly became exposed to anthrax. As many as 86 Atlanta based employees are being monitored. No one has become six so far. Early reports indicate an Atlanta lab did not adequately inactivate samples. The CDC says staff, family members and the general public are not at risk of exposure.

Torrential rains hitting Omaha overnight. It was enough to flood several streets and leave some motorists stranded. It's hot and humid there today and forecast is more rain. And possibly again tonight.

And this isn't your average fixer-upper. Not even close. The renovation of the Kensington Palace Apartment for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge -- that's Prince William and his wife Catherine -- will now cost British taxpayers four million pounds or U.S. translation $7 million. That's up by 300 percent in just the past year.

And a short time ago, Iraqi security forces say they killed 15 terrorists in Fallujah. The country is in a fight for its life as militants threaten to take over its capital. This new development comes as U.S. military advisers are arriving there very soon to help the Iraqi army.

Let's bring in CNN's Erin McPike now from Washington.

So, Erin, tell us more about what these advisers are expected to do according to the White House plan.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, they are there to gather more information, really so they can determine what to do next, and as you said, to assist Iraqi forces. Well, Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, was on "THE SITUATION ROOM" just yesterday and he addressed this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Mission right now is not to go after ISIL. The mission is really threefold. One, assess the state of the Iraqi security forces. Two, assess the security situation on the ground, we need to get better intelligence before the president can make any kind of kinetic decisions. And number three, we need to assess the advising mission itself. How many advisers total we need, where do they need to go and we have to stand up these two joint operation centers. So the mission of these folks right now is really to do some good assessment and some advice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And right now, Fred, we're seeing about 300 military advisers head there.

WHITFIELD: OK, so U.S. troops, not supposed to be in combat there. We heard the president, you know, lay that out earlier in the week, but what if the U.S. personnel that's there is attacked. Then what?

MCPIKE: Well, Fred, the point again of these military advisers is just what it sounds like, to provide advice, advising to Iraqi forces and President Obama has maintained throughout the past week both in statements he's made and to our interview with Kate Bolduan just yesterday, that they are not meant for combat. So we need to underline that point, but essentially, we also know that right now what the U.S. government is looking for is an agreement in writing from the Iraqi government to provide legal protections, but again, they're not expected to go into combat.

WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right. It's been three weeks since Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's release from captivity in Afghanistan. What the army believes is the secret to his recovery, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Three weeks after his release by the Taliban in Afghanistan, new details are emerging about Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and his progress at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Bergdahl spent nearly five years in captivity and the army says his reintegration into society depends on routines.

I asked CNN's Martin Savidge about what Bergdahl is facing each day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first and foremost, you know, there are privacy issues and they will be very guarded about trying to talk about any kind of diagnostic thing with Bowe Bergdahl. But what we're learning is that the day-to-day routine is vitally important and I mean routine. In other words the routine of just a natural study, daily schedule that he relies on.

In other words, he wakes up at a normal time, has meals at a normal time, he's not changing his life around to match the kind of captivity he had. Then on top of that he's got a regular hospital room and he's on a regular floor. There are other patients. He doesn't interact that often with them.

WHITFIELD: Does not.

SAVIDGE: No. I mean, everything is done in small steps. There's security outside of his hospital room. Not the military says to keep him in, but to prevent those that shouldn't be interacting with him from going into this room. That's the only difference they point out.

And then beyond that there is what they're call storytelling. And it isn't the, you know, fairy tale kind of storytelling. It is him being able to tell his story about five years of captivity from the very beginning to the very end. Not a 30-second synopses.

WHITFIELD: The whole thing.

SAVIDGE: The very careful, day-to-day break down. Now the people listening, a very small expert group. He's got what's called his (INAUDIBLE) psychologist, a military psychologist, he's got his medical team and he's got the army debriefers, and all are listening for very different things, but carefully paying attention. They don't like to interrupt. They let him just tell it as he says it.

WHITFIELD: Are officials willing to say whether there's any apprehension in his storytelling? Is he concerned about whether his story telling goes beyond, you know, the confines of that private moment?

SAVIDGE: Well, you know, this starts to get into what is his state of mind.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SAVIDGE: And that's definitely a no go as far as getting the information. Other than they can talk in generalities when it comes to former captives, all former captives that have had through the program. And they all have had what they call kind of survival skills or coping skills.

If you remember the movie "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks and he was talking to that ball, Wilson.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SAVIDGE: Well, that is true, that there are coping skills a person may adapt to help them get through the horror of captivity. Talking to yourself could be one way.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You might even befriend your enemy just for the sake of survival.

SAVIDGE: But when you come back to normal life, all of that would be now considered, wait, that's not the way we act. So teaching him to forget about the skills that allowed him to cope during captivity is part of what is the reintegration process and every former captive has them. So that's part of it, too. Other things are just teaching him the things we all take for granted. Hygiene. How to interact with somebody, how to carry a conversation.

WHITFIELD: Gosh.

SAVIDGE: How to take orders. He's still in the military, he has to follow that decorum. And then on top of that how to relax. What do you do in your spare time? I mean, all of these things which we just naturally take for granted, he sort of has to learn all over again. And every day, they try to give him more and more personal freedom to make choices on his own because that's eventually how he's going to have to live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Martin Savidge, thanks so much.

Next, the IRS scandal leads to verbal fireworks on Capitol Hill. Ahead of the IRS in the hot seat as well, but first, our "Fit Nation" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 52-year-old Connie Sievers, staying in shape was never a problem.

CONNIE SIEVERS, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: When we got married just shortly after college, and then we had three children. It was still not a problem. GUPTA: That is until her 3-year-old daughter Emily was diagnosed with

leukemia and Emily passed away just three years later. Throughout the ordeal, Sievers gained more than 70 pounds and it's weight, she says, she was never able to get rid of.

SIEVERS: I knew that I needed to make a change.

GUPTA: So she applied to our Fit Nation challenge. And she got in. Connie joined the team in Atlanta back in January. Uncomfortable in the water, not having been on a bike in almost 20 years, and unable to run.

Now just four months later, she is a new woman. With the help of her coaches and her sassy six teammates, she conquered four swims in the Pacific Ocean, rode 45 miles on the bike and jogged seven miles this week alone.

SIEVERS: It's just incredible that we started from zero and now we can make it work.

GUPTA: Down 35 pounds already, Sievers is looking forward now to race day, and also beyond.

SIEVERS: I'm really excited about when the cameras turn off to have the next finish line to try to cross and try to work for, and it's my better time or a little longer distance. There's just always a next something.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, San Clemente, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Boy, things got hot on Capitol Hill as the IRS commissioner was called to testify about some missing e-mails. They're a vital part of the congressional investigation into whether the IRS unfairly targeted conservative and other political groups then tried to cover it up.

Here's Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the IRS scandal had died down a bit, but with this explosive hearing, it's clear it's come back to life with a vengeance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regular order, Mr. Levin.

BASH (voice-over): In the annals of white hot moments on Capitol Hill, this IRS hearing ranks high.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: This is a pattern of abuse, a pattern of behavior that is not giving us any confidence that this agency is being impartial. I don't -- I don't believe you. This is incredible. JOHN KOSKINEN, IRS COMMISSIONER: I have a long career. That's the

first time anybody has said they do not believe me. I am actually --

RYAN: I don't believe you.

BASH: Former Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan is usually more policy wonk than attack dog but not here.

RYAN: You asked taxpayers to hand seven years of their personal tax information in case they're ever audited, and you can't keep six months worth of employee e-mails?

BASH: Republicans pushed John Koskinen on new IRS claims that two years of e-mails from IRS official Lois Lerner vanished because Lerner's hard drive crashed. E-mails from the same timeframe the IRS targeted Tea Party and other groups.

KOSKINEN: The actual hard drive after it was determined that it was dysfunctional and that with experts no e-mails could be retrieved, was recycled and destroyed in the normal process. This was --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So was it physically destroyed?

KOSKINEN: That's my understanding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So was it melted down? Do you know?

KOSKINEN: I have no idea what the recycler does with it. This was three years ago.

BASH: The IRS commissioner repeatedly said Lerner herself worked with IT, even an IRS criminal forensics lab to restore the e-mails but they couldn't. Beyond the question of what happened to Lerner's missing e- mails is whether the IRS purposely kept Congress in the dark, that e- mails were lost, fueling GOP accusations of cover-up which Koskinen flatly denied.

KOSKINEN: There's been no attempt to keep it a secret. My position has been that when we provide information, we should provide it completely. If we provide you incomplete information, people sometimes are tempted to leap to the wrong conclusion.

BASH: It was testy right out of the gate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I didn't hear in that was an apology to this committee.

KOSKINEN: I don't think an apology is owed.

BASH: The IRS commissioner tried to give as good as he got from Republicans, with backup from Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could the witness answer the question?

BASH: They mocked Republicans for obsessing over conspiracy theories.

REP. RICHARD NEAL (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The only thing that's missing is Oliver Stone.

REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D), TEXAS: How about Area 51 out in Roswell, New Mexico, where all those space aliens alleged came? Have you had any responsibility for that?

KOSKINEN: No.

DOGGETT: Have you ever had custody of the president's birth certificate?

KOSKINEN: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: When this scandal first broke there was bipartisan outrage at the IRS. No more. Not only the Democrats defend the IRS in this hearing, they also sent around stories from 2007 to reporters like me, about the fact that there were missing e-mails in the Republican Bush administration, too -- five million of them -- about an alleged political scandal that they had. The firing of federal prosecutors -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Dana Bash. Hot stuff on Capitol Hill.

All right, the movie "Think Like a Man Too" came out this weekend. We'll go behind the scenes with the film's producer, Will Packer. Next.

And as we head to break, here's your first day of summer. A little sizzling moment there on Hollywood, Florida. The beaches of Hollywood, Florida. Very nice, folks getting out. Got the umbrellas working. Suntan lotion flowing. It's a nice day at the beach.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The film "Think Like a Man Too," the sequel to the hit "Think Like a Man," hits theaters this weekend. And all of the couples from the first film are back for a wedding in Vegas. But plans for a romantic weekend go haywire when a series of misadventures threatens to derail the big event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your land (INAUDIBLE), right? That's my car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your bachelor party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next 24 hours, the boys will be with boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the girls with the girls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this battle of the sexes, I was determined to keep us ahead of the girls.

You're rolling with the pros.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Floyd Mayweather.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. Familiar faces there. You got Gabrielle Union. You even saw Wendy in there. And Kevin Hart, one of the big stars, says this film is one for everyone. Just because it has a predominantly black cast doesn't mean it can't appeal to a wider audience. Well, the film's producer Will Packer joins me now.

So, Will, congratulations.

WILL PACKER, PRODUCER, "THINK LIKE A MAN TOO": Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: I know it's very fund to roll out yet another one, and at the same time, is it kind of annoying to have to remind audiences that this is for everyone despite the fact that it's a black cast?

PACKER: You know what's interesting? We're in a very interesting time in entertainment.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

PACKER: And soon that won't be a conversation anymore. The first one came out --

WHITFIELD: Why is it soon and not now?

PACKER: Well, you know what, it takes time. And so for a very long time Hollywood thought that a firm with predominantly African-American cast, that's who the audience would be. If it had young teen women, that's the only people that would go to see it. If it was animated, only kids.

Audiences are diverse. America is so diverse that now there's such a cross pollination among audiences. And good content is good content. And audiences will find it. So for me, it's about making the best film possible and putting it out there and I think audiences will find it.

WHITFIELD: And it is a topic that transcends really all cultures, all ages, et cetera. We're talking about based off Steve Harvey's book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man."

PACKER: "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man." That's right. Yes.

WHITFIELD: Is this a continuation of that? What's the message that you're trying to send to folks about, you know, relationship, taken all too seriously or, you know -- PACKER: You know what, I'll tell you what's interesting. So the

first movie was really about that book. And it was really about how couples get together, how they live and love and break up, and get back together. The second one, we take all that off. The first one is kind of a traditional romantic comedy. This one is more like a romp.

We have got these couples in Vegas. And it's all about can these relationships survive. It's men versus women, it's the guys trying to have the best bachelor party ever. It's the women saying you have no idea what we have planned for our bachelorette party. And mayhem ensues. It's like a great, fun summer movie. It's exactly the kind of film that you want to see in the summer with your popcorn and your Coke and your friends.

WHITFIELD: Right.

PACKER: It's a ton of fun.

WHITFIELD: Is it kind of life imitating art or the other way around?

PACKER: You know what's funny is that this group, this cast is a lot of fun. They like to party. It's almost as if I told them, you know what, come to Vegas and hang out, and let me just roll the cameras.

You can tell when you see the movie that this is a group that has a lot of good chemistry.

WHITFIELD: Good chemistry.

PACKER: And that they actually have a lot of fun being around each other.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And this is also something that -- are you keeping in mind -- you're a father of four.

PACKER: I am.

WHITFIELD: Are you keeping in mind that your kids, you know, you're trying to create a movie, a story, that's appropriate for them, when -- age appropriate, when the time is right?

PACKER: Yes, I mean, you know, look, as a father, I want to make entertainment that can be good fun. Right? Doesn't mean that you can't have some edge, some reality to it, some authenticity. But at the end of the day, it's a movie that has broad appeal. You know? It's Vegas, right? So we definitely have some of those elements.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Anything can happen. Can happen.

PACKER: Absolutely. So, you know, for audiences, PG-13, so for audiences that are age appropriate, they are going to love this movie.

WHITFIELD: You have a remarkable story how you end up in the movie business. How does an engineering college major end up making movies?

PACKER: That's a traditional route. I didn't, you know, go to film school and I didn't know anybody in Hollywood. You know --

WHITFIELD: How did it come to you or you came to it?

PACKER: You know, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. And this is an interesting story for anybody that's watching right now. You know, I'm involved with something. I want to be something else, you know. I'm not in my passion just yet. That's OK. You give a 110 percent at whatever you're doing.

For me, I was in engineering, and I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and a classmate of mine wanted to be a film director. And I helped him do it.

WHITFIELD: This is at FAMU?

PACKER: This is at Florida A&M University.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

PACKER: Proud graduate, absolutely. And so -- and he wanted to be a film director and I helped him get the film financed, and find distribution and hire actors.

Fredricka, later I found out, that's what a Hollywood producer does.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

PACKER: And so then I made another film that was a little bit bigger and another one a little bigger than that. And now here I sit with you talking about, you know, this summer's next biggest blockbuster.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And the sky's the limit.

PACKER: Absolutely. I believe that.

WHITFIELD: What does the future hold in your movie-making? You know, where does your passion take you in terms of the type of story that you want to tell?

PACKER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: The type of audiences in which you want to appeal to?

PACKER: Yes. Broad audiences. I want to film everybody. You know, the stigma in black, Kevin Hart bought it out there because, you know, you can't say a film is just a black film because it got a black cast. For me, it's about making good content that has universal themes because they happen to have African-Americans in front of it doesn't mean that other audiences can't relate to it.

So for me, it's about continuing to make bigger and better content. Make stuff that has commercial as well as critical appeal and just continuing to push the bar forward and challenge the industry and challenge the parameters and challenge perceptions about what good film can be?

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Well, congratulations.

PACKER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

PACKER: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Nice to meet you.

PACKER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Pleasure.

All right. Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Our top story this hour. Ferocious battle right now between Islamic troops and Islamic militants. It's happening in al-Qaim. A northern town right near the border with Syria.

The location is key because if the ISIS militant seized a strategic border crossing there. They could connect their strongholds in Iraq with their bases in Syria. And they're making process. Iraqi security officials say large parts of al-Qaim are now in the hands of ISIS.

Meantime, the first of about 300 U.S. military advisers are due to arrive in Iraq very soon. Their first order of business will to assess the capabilities of the Iraqi troops to determine if any additional security measures are needed before more advisers are sent in.