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ISIS Now Controls 70 Percent of Western Province Anbar; Secretary of State John Kerry in the Middle East; Australian Authorities Announce New MH-370 Search Area; Team USA Taking on Portugal at the World Cup; White Shark Spotted in Gulf of Mexico

Aired June 22, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Earlier this year, King's sons, Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, acting as board members of their late father's estate sued their sister, Reverend Bernice King, after she refused to hand over her father's Nobel peace prize and traveling bible.

According to court documents, the potential buyer was the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Had the center attempted to purchase the Nobel peace prize and traveling bible?

DOUG SHIPMAN, MUSEUM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: We had discussions over time about various things that they have that might be on display here or not, but there's never been an actual offer for anything.

BLACKWELL: Reverend Bernice King eventually turned over the items ever to the court. The siblings will be back in court in December in September.

ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: It is a very good beginning.

BLACKWELL: Former ambassador Andrew Young fought for civil rights alongside Dr. King and sees the center as a vision for the future and the ongoing push for workers' rights, LGBT right, and global fight for women's rights.

YOUNG: This is a moving spiritual artistic creation that will continue to be, you know, developed to address the conflicts and problems that we face today and in the future.

BLACKWELL: Victor Blackwell, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. It all starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to the NEWSROOM.

This hour, a special in-depth look at the crisis in Iraq. Islamic militants are on the move, grabbing even more territory from the Iraqi army. U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is in the region talking about ways to contain the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a critical moment where together we must urge Iraq's leaders to rise above sectarian motivations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Also this hour, new information on the mystery of Malaysia airlines flight 370. Officials re-examine the data and make a major announcement about the surge.

Plus, World Cup showdown team USA takes on Portugal at the World Cup in just three hours. We'll take you to Brazil coming up.

First up, our Special Report on the crisis in Iraq. Islamist militants known as ISIS are making significant gains in their efforts to take down Iraqi troops and take over strategic towns. Two Iraqi security officials say ISIS now controls 70 percent of the western province of Anbar. Two Iraqi security official say ISIS now controls 70 percent, as you see on this map. Among the towns, they've captured, Rutba, just 70 miles from the borders of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. And there are no other town or even cities between Rutba and the Iraqi checkpoint on the border with Jordan. Iraqi forces still have control of the checkpoint, but they are not sure how long they will be able to control the situation.

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is in the Middle East to discuss the ISIS threat and strategies to contain the crisis.

We have correspondents and expert covering all angles of the story. Let's begin with Nic Robertson in Baghdad.

Nic, what is the significance of these new issue sis victories?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the significance is they now link safe havens in Syria all the way to the outskirt of Baghdad, quite literally the suburbs of Baghdad now linked to those weapons piles to fighters by a main highway. They now control the Euphrates river valley. And as we're seeing, they're using in to sweep through al-Anbar province.

The town of Rutba, I've traveled through it many times over the past 20-plus years. The next stop from there, 45-minute drive away, is the Jordanian border. A tiny little Iraqi outpost on the border there. So that could fall any time soon. This is, you know, spreading the ISIS fighters closer to countries that have been outside of the fate until now, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. And also strengthening their hand in the country. They're solidifying their gain here -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And then I understand there's a new development involving

ISIS action in the northern town of Mosul. What are we learning there about what's taken place?

ROBERTSON: Sure. One of the things that people have said ISIS is going to do is create these Sharia Islamic courts. We've seen photographs of them already, executing people, even putting people through Islamic courts for thievery, cutting somebody's hands off, these sorts of things.

They have these incredibly harsh Islamic, their interpretation of Islamic edicts. And they are now applying them. They've told women that they have to cover up if they go out on the streets. They've told people that they can't smoke, they can't drink on the streets. But now, they've gone another step further.

They have destroyed statues, three statues in Mosul -- a poet, a singer, and the virgin Mary from a church. They have destroyed that. Now this is incredibly negative. But people are saying this is what is going to sprit the military offensive, ISIS on the tribes apart.

So, there's a way here, tribes are supporting ISIS. They're not as radical as ISIS. Over these source of actions a split might appear. And that is something certainly western capitalists are hoping and planning to try and help foster more of that, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic. Hold tight there. Let's expand the conversation now and bring in a panel of expert in Washington, Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, CNN political commentary Charles Blow in New York, and retired army lieutenant general Mark Hertling, joining us from Orlando, Florida.

First to you, General Hertling. How concerning is it to you that particularly in the town of Mosul, as you heard Nic describing, that ISIS members are trying to set up Sharia law and already punishing people in a very brutal way?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.) U.S. ARMY: This is their manner of operations, Fredricka. This is to be expected when you have such an extremist group like this. And this could be what starts driving their supporters away from them. I mean, they've gained the confidence of some of the other Sunni tribal leaders who are disenfranchised with the Iraqi central government, who don't like the Shia domination government. But now you start to see the true portrait of ISIS coming out. I think you'll see perhaps some groups who are linked with them. Whether it be a Sunni tribal group, or as we've seen recently, (INAUDIBLE), a group of former Baptist officials in the town OF Owishias (ph). They just won't put up with these kinds of things. But it will take some time before the splits begin to appear.

WHITFIELD: And then Nic, one would, you know, think that this setting up of Sharia law, this kind of punishment would further intimidate Iraqi armed forces. Is that likely what will happen next?

ROBERTSON: Sure. There's going to be an intimidation there, and certainly we're finding the Iraqi government is really pulling all of its troops out of the Sunni areas where they feel the most threatened. They may concentrating them, protecting the Shi'a areas in particular, the Shi'a shrines. Because these radical ISIS Islamists are not going to stop at knocking down a couple of statues, even religious statues, Christian religious statues.

In Mosul, they would like to take down the Sunni -- rather, the Shi'a shrines in towns like Samarra, Baghdad, Kabla (ph), and Najaf. These are hugely important shrines to millions of Shi'as in Iraq and Iran, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit them. If they were to do that, that could trigger waves of sectarian bloodletting. Because it is an absolute flashpoint for that sort of thing to happen here.

So ISIS has only just begun. But as we heard General Hertling saying there, they're just beginning potentially beginning this phase of separating, isolating themselves from this sort of support that they've had on the ground from the tribes and other groups, as well, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Charles, we've been talking the past couple of days about part of the plan, the U.S. strategy is to send in U.S. military advisors. They're not on the ground yet particularly because Iraq hasn't signed the paperwork that still had has to come even though Iraq made the request. Now, given all of this is territorial, you know, takeover by ISIS, do you think this is now changing the strategy, the possible plan that the White House is considering?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that part of sending in the 300 was in order to get more intelligence, right. So you can't really figure out what's happening on the ground using other people's intelligence. We have to have American intelligence on the ground that was part of the strategy of sending people in.

And it would serve the option for Americans to use things like targeted air strikes or drone strikes. But you would want to do that with American intelligence. The last thing you would want to do make to mistake using targeted air strikes using someone else's intelligence and then have Americans -- America pay the PR costs for having done that.

But I think the bigger issue here is what the general is hinting at before, and what I think the president has already hinted at which is that the Iraqi people have to decide what kind of government they want and how they want their -- the country to be set up and facilitated. And you know, water kind of finds its level. And it has not found that level yet. No matter how we want to impose our vision of democracy on to Iraq, Iraq has to absorb that. And it its military has to absorb its own. We can't even imbue a separate military with our own kind of set of character and bravery.

We see that that doesn't even work. You can't train them -- you have to figure out who are you going to be, how brave you're going to be, who are you going to stand up to, and are you going to push these guys back on your own ground. This cannot be America's fight.

WHITFIELD: Well Kenneth, it seems that things are out of order now, though. Doesn't it appears though that Iraqi people can't even think about the next government because right now they want someone to stop the bleeding.

KENNETH POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: Right. Let's be honest here. The Iraqi people have no say in this. This is about a leadership on both sides who are doing thing that, quite frankly, the Iraqi people doesn't want. We repeatedly seen the Iraqi people, whenever they've gotten a chance, they have voted in favor of democracy, in favor of peace, against sectarianism.

The problem is, what you see in these situations in Iraq in the past and present, but also places like Bosnia, like Syria, all of these places, it's the leaders. The elites on both sides who have their own incentives for waging these fights.

The Iraqi people didn't want Prime Minister Maliki to alienate the Sunni population. He did it for his own reason. The Sunni populace doesn't really want to fight Prime Minister Maliki. You heard the General Hertling make the point that the Sunnis have a very big set of problems with groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, they never wanted them.

And remember, in 2007 when the United States was ready to assist them, we had the Anbar awakening and they threw off groups exactly like this. So the bigger issue is Iraq's leadership. And that's really what's come off the rails.

WHITFIELD: All right, we are going to talk more about this.

Gentlemen, thanks so much. We will take a short break and continue this conversation about Iraq and what are the diplomatic options if any next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is in the Middle East to talk about the threat from Islamic militants in Iraq and a diplomatic strategy to ease the crisis. Our Jim Sciutto is traveling with the secretary.

Jim, what is Kerry saying about the severity of the ISIS threat?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, I have it tell you, traveling with secretary Kerry and other U.S. officials, you get a real sense of their sense of urgency and concern as this crisis grows in this part of the world. And there are two messages essentially that he's delivering as he travels from country to country, Egypt, now Jordan. There are other stops on the trip.

One is that the U.S. and others want an inclusive government. The leadership in Iraq has to make all the parties. The Sunnis, Shi'as, and Kurds feel that they have a part and voice in the government which they have not felt in the last several years, part of the root of the problem.

But the other message he has is this is a regional problem, not just a Iraqi problem or Sunni problem, but a regional and possibly even further appeal affecting Europe and the U.S.

Here's how he described it today as he was in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: No country is safe from that kind of spread of terror. None of cuss afford to leave that en-- none of us can forward to leave that entity with a safe haven which would become a base for terror against anyone and all, not only in the region but outside of the region, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: No country is safe. A sobering warning. We learned as we landed in Amman, Fred, that ISIS had reached just within 70 miles of the Jordanian border. They are pushing up toward Syria, opening a corridor from Syria, all the way down toward Baghdad and now Jordan. You know, every day you have a reminder of how it threat as secretary Kerry said, it extends far beyond Iraq.

WHITFIELD: It does, indeed. And so, Jim, do we know yet whether the military advisers have any legal protections to go into Iraq?

SCIUTTO: It's a remarkable question to be asking. And the fact is we don't have that answer yet. On Thursday, U.S. officials were saying they were confident that U.S. troops that are already on the ground in Iraq in the embassy compound, some of which are going to be re-tasked with this surveillance mission, they're OK.

But that new troops were coming in, U.S. officials said they were confident the Iraqis would give them that protection. I asked secretary Kerry today do they have that protection, I asked other officials, they said it is still being worked out. Still a question to be worked out. They say they're working it actively and believe the Iraqis will get. It after all, t the Iraqis who have asked for this help.

But still, several days after the president announced these troops going in, they don't have that legal protection. And remember, going back to the status of forces agreement which was not achieved three years ago, that was the issue. Immunity for U.S. troops in Iraq. And that was something the Iraqis did not grant at that stage.

WHITFIELD: All right. So it's a big question.

Jim Sciutto, why is it taking so long? Let's expand this conversation now. Especially on the diplomatic front with our panel of experts from Washington. Ken Pollack of the Brookings Institution, CNN political commentator Charles Blow in New York, and retired army lieutenant general Mark Hertling, joining us via sky from Orlando, Florida.

So Ken, to you first. What is taking so long? Isn't this strange or is this worrisome to you Iraq would ask for assistance, yet it's the Iraqi leader who have to sign off on this piece of paper that we heard it described from the White House, it's just a matter of signing it, faxing, and done. Why is it taking so long?

POLLACK: Well, first of all, the Iraqi bureaucracy is incredible Columbia inefficient. It is entirely possible. That is what is going on. Our former ambassador Ryan Crocker used to say everything in Iraq is very, very hard. It is very hard all the time.

Beyond that, the Iraqis may be trying to figure out exactly what they want these guys to see and not see. Obviously, Prime Minister Maliki would like help from the United States but wants it his terms. And what he's been hearing from the Obama administration is the administration isn't necessarily ready to simply let him do whatever he wants to do.

For instance, I've got a very big question mark about what kind of a strategy we've agreed to with the Iraqis. I think the Obama administration wants our advisers to help them defend Baghdad. I suspect Prime Minister Maliki want to drive into the Sunni areas which would mean his troops and these Shi'a militias driving into the Sunni areas where there could be massacres. Where there could be atrocities. Will our troops be involved in that. Those are some very big questions.

WHITFIELD: Big questions. And then Charles, you know, secretary Kerry is asking these leaders in the region to help push for a more balanced Iraqi government, more representative of Sunni, Shi'a, and Kurds. But we're even hearing from countries that they're saying they're not even so sure they can trust the al-Maliki leadership. So we've got a big problem, don't we?

BLOW: That's a huge problem. And I think that particularly from our perspective, western perspective, American perspective, we often look for clear cut good guy and bad guys. And in this case, it doesn't seem to be so clear cut. In fact, you could look at it as choosing among lesser demons in a way because there are no clean good guys with clean hands. And that is one of the reasons that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to reengaging in any way in Iraq. And in fact, most Americans believe that this current crisis is not the result of us having pulled out too soon, but the result of us having gone in in the first place.

I think that getting over that hurdle both here at home and in neighboring countries about who can you trust and if you go in, you know, who is truly on your side and is there a good guy to be found, and can you trust that person is a real question that has to be asked and that people are asking around the world.

WHITFIELD: And then, General Hertling, will the diplomatic strategizing be equally if not more important than the military strategy planning?

HERTLING: Absolutely, Fredricka. That was our priority push in the north in 2007/2008. And were getting somewhere with that as Ken Pollack will note as he visited us a couple of times.

But the criticality of mixing the diplomatic solutions with the military solutions, is that's the crux of the matter. To comment, though, on the issue of horrendous things in the future, they will happen. You have extremist in the Sunni areas, you have extremist in the Shi'a population. Bad things will happen, and that's one of the things that as we take these 300 advisers and put them in harm's way, we have to consider. Because they are going to be faced with a very tough mission. They are going to have Kurds force potentially on their flank. They are going to have Shi's militia. You are going to have Sunni tribesmen who fought with us at times. You are going to have, like we said before, (INAUDIBLE), that all the various terrorist groups (INAUDIBLE). It is going to be a very confusing set of circumstances.

WHITFIELD: It will indeed. And it is already. General Mark Hertling, Charles Blow, Ken Pollack, thanks to all of you. Gentlemen, appreciate it.

BLOW: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: While ISIS militants continue their deadly march across Iraq, innocent families are left behind. CNN's Michael Holmes talks to one family who says they have lost everything, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Islamic militants in Iraq had another victory today and control 70 percent of the western province of Anbar. They keep moving closer to Baghdad. And over the years, Iraqi families have been simply torn apart.

Earlier this year, our Michael Holmes visited Iraq and met up with one family who lost three sons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A father's unimaginable grief, a mother's endless tears, and three children who barely comprehend what has happened to their family. Abuwale (ph), not a politician, bare a visceral human portrait of Iraq's grinding violence.

UMM ALI, MOTHER (through translator): We don't work with the government. We're simple people. We have nothing. We sell watermelons.

HOLMES: Their descent into agony began on July 23, 2007, when a bomb exploded at the family's humble watermelon store barely 50 meter was their home. Son Ali, 19-years-old and about to get married, was killed instantly.

"I was a week away from marrying him off," He says Abu Ali. "Instead I buried him."

Life went on such as it was until July 20 last year. Two other sons, Abwa Ali (ph), Alah and Abbas, on duty at the watermelon stand, when another bomb went off. Allah, 23, and by now a father of three, and brother Abbas, just 17, killed in the shrapnel. Evidence of its power etched in nearby walls today. The funeral turnout was huge. No one could believe what had happened

to this family. Allah and Abbas taken to be with their brother.

They are all gone, Abu Ali tells me, three sons, two bombings, a family destroyed.

"No one will call me dad," anymore, he sobs. "They were also our breadwinners. They supported us. Now I have no income. I haven't paid the rent for seven months."

This is all this family has. It is three rooms. One large bedroom, living room, and a kitchen. Given the tragedy that this story is, the real sad part is this is not unusual. This is happening every day around Iraq. And families are left in this sort of position. It really is heartbreaking.

"It's hard," says Abu Ali, "I've thought of suicide, but what would happen to my grandchildren?"

The market where the family's watermelon store stood is still there today, a portrait of the three dead sons a reminder for all of what happened here in 2007, last year, and could happen again at any time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Michael Holmes has been to Iraq 14 times to cover war there. And he told our Brooke Baldwin earlier in the week, what he has learned from the people who have been putting up with violence for so long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The vast majority of people in Iraq and all these other places in the West Bank or Gaza, they want nothing of the nonsense of war. They want what you and I want. We want to go to work, want to take the kids to school, want to go and do the shopping, and have a reasonable expectation that you will get home alive that night or have a them to come home to. And I just think it's worth remembering that every now and then, and we don't just look at this blanket thing of a bunch of Iraqis killing each other -- it's not like that. There's a lot of unbelievable people there who don't want any part of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Michael Holmes there.

The U.N. reports that at least a million people in Iraq have fled their homes this year alone.

A new development in the search for flight 370. Authorities will announce a new search area. What have they learned and when will the search resume?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. And here are several stories topping our news desk right now.

At the World Cup, a huge game for team USA coming up in just a few hours. They go up against Portugal, and if they win, the U.S. is guaranteed a spot in the next round after beating Ghana in their first game last week. The U.S. will have to do it without one of its star players. Jozy Altidore is injured. Portugal's superstar player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is expected to play despite his knee injury.

And take a look at the baseball hat on this picture. Does it look unusual to you? A little big? Well, that's Alex Torres of the San Diego Padres. And there's a reason for that new look. He became the first pitcher in the major league baseball to wear a protective cap. It is padded to protect the pitcher if he is hit with a batted ball. Torres ordered the cap after nearly getting hit in the preseason.

Australian authorities plan to announce a new search area Wednesday for missing airlines flight 370. Safety officials have been re- examining data that could shift the search area hundreds of miles south. Well, since the plane vanished back in March, March 8th, searchers have found no trace of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people on board.

Meanwhile, Malaysian police are denying a report in a London newspaper that the pilot is the primary suspect in the probe in to the plane's disappearance.

CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo is joining us from North Carolina. And on the phone, from Chicago, CNBC safety analyst David Soucie.

All right, so Mary, to you first, what does the new search area propose to do? It this good news in your view?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, it's a little bit of confusing news. The new search year means that they have continued to refine the Inmarsat data. Now, if you recall last week, there was a very robust group of very distinguished gentlemen had reviewed that the evidence from Inmarsat. And they say that the area should be moved several hundred miles to the southeast. Now we're hearing it's been moved south.

But that does mean that the investigators and the searchers still have an open mind, and they're still refining the data. The flip side means that we still haven't pinpointed the location. So that's the bad news of the good news. But say they're refining the data and that's always good.

WHITFIELD: And then David, is this an entirely new area, or is it an issue of incorporating an area that's already been searched but focusing on something else?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST (via phone): No, it's an entirely new area. I met with Michael (INAUDIBLE) who is part of the independent group in Colorado about a week ago. And he showed me exactly where he felt the aircraft was -- had terminated the flight. And it's remarkably similar to what the NTSB had recommended to the -- to the search as much as a month ago. So, it's very something to me that we've kind of come full circle on

this and taken some assumptions and the fact that they didn't take action when the NTSB had told them pretty much where it was and that now we're back into the same location. It's maddening certainly for us and certainly for the passengers and the families.

WHITFIELD: Are you able to reveal, David, you know, based on what information this new search area has come about?

SOUCIE: Yes. I think there's two things that are going on here, and the most encouraging thing for me, is that it appears the independent group and ATSB, the Australians, have come together on what down the model for what the data looks like. There were some errors in the data originally, and that gave them some mis-locations.

But now, the variance in the model seems only to be about two different things. One is how fast the aircraft is flying and what altitude. The assumptions that were made before is that it would maintain the specific speed, but it doesn't.

Actually, as the fuel is burned, if you're in a certain mode of the auto pilot, it will change the speed of the aircraft to be the most efficient rate. So there are change in the speed of the aircraft. And those were not calculated in before, but have been now.

So I think that you will see that these -- the independent search area just is south of the most recent searched area. And it's north of where the -- where the original search area was. It's kind of in between the two where there's never been any searching going on at all. So I'm encouraged that they may find something there.

WHITFIELD: And so, Mary, new search area, what kind of equipment would be used here?

SCHIAVO: Well, they're going to do -- keep their plan of the course to map the ocean floor first. So the Chinese have had a ship there mapping, and the additional assets to map the floor first, and then they will deploy the submersibles, except they will be using next time submersibles that are capable of operations at greater depths.

So, they are going to do a little bit different. And once the mapping is done, they'll be able to send them back in. But they're still in the process of taking bids from private groups or private or not for private groups. But they're looking for an outside group to carry on that search with the underwater robotic vehicles.

So it will be just a little different in that they'll have more to go on. So the robotic vehicles don't hit any underwater obstacles, mountains, et cetera. So many more months to go.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mary Schiavo, David Soucie, thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

SOUCIE: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk World Cup soccer straight ahead. Team USA taking on Portugal in the World Cup in Brazil in just a couple of hours. Next, we'll meet some American soccer fans who trekked to Brazil to cheer on team USA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Huge day for team USA at the World Cup. In just a few hour from now, they will have a showdown with Portugal. This game matters because a win would push the USA team into a spot in the next round, and today's game with Portugal is taking place in Manaus, Brazil. And it may not be the best known place in the world, but they have definitely got that soccer fever there.

And among them, Shasta Darlington, you have found many American fans right there.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT You know, it's hard to hear you because I am surrounded some diehard -- They've been following me -- So if you want if you want to see what they have been up to, check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARLINGTON(voice-over): A long flight from pretty much anywhere in the world, it looms up in the heart of the Amazon. A concrete jungle with two million residents.

We've come down the Rio Negro. This a tributary of the Amazon River, not even the real thing. And you could see how big it is. The other side, you need a boat to get over there. This is the beach in Manaus. Let's check it out.

A pickup soccer game, and in the middle, a star spangled bandana. A group of recent grad was Cornell playing with local talent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk around with these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Probably had 100 people come up and take pictures of us wearing them. We're like celebrities whenever we wear American stuff.

DARLINGTON: We find more bandanas at the port. This is the closest thing to a bus station they've got here. Fans wanting to get to know the Amazon, this is where they start.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to see the water and anacondas, hopefully.

DARLINGTON: And at night, they've set up screens in strategic points across the city. This is in the heart of the historic center. It's right in the shadow of the opera house. And this is where people come together to watch the games.

More team USA fans turn up here, optimistic about Sunday's match against Portugal. But a group of Portuguese supporters a few steps away say they're keeping their faith in Cristiano Ronaldo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!

DARLINGTON: I'm going to have to let these guys have the last word.

WHITFIELD: We're just going to read your lips, because we get it. They are excited.

But you know what, you have taken us there. We get the fever, high pitch. Go, USA. I think they are not saying that.

Oh, there -- Shasta's into it. Yes. Go USA! Very good. From Manaus, Brazil.

A lot of fun there. Taking on Portugal in just about -- what, couple hours from now. but the party's already started there.

Thank you very much, Shasta. We heard nothing from what you were saying, but we heard your fans. We get it. All right.

Well, you could call this couple right here the oddest couple perhaps in Washington. Maybe not as vocal as what we saw there from Manaus. But we're going to explain why conservative Republican Rand Paul and liberal Democrat Cory Booker are joining forces in the USA Senate. What's behind this union.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: They say politics makes strange bell e bed-- bedfellows. And this week in the U.S. Senate, we will see living proof of that. Tea party favorite and conservative Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and liberal Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey are co-sponsoring a bill that if passed would restore voting rights in federal election for nonviolent criminals upon release. It's called the civil rights voting restoration act of 2014. Paul and Booker are also on a separate bill to stop the justice department from going after medical marijuana.

Candy Crowley is anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION," and our chief political correspondent.

So Candy, you interviewed senator Paul today. What's behind this partnership? And what are the chances of this actually getting passed or two bills getting passed?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me take the last one first and that is that as controversial as it might sound, to give rehabilitated ex-felons who did not commit a violent act, give their voting rights back to them is not all that unusual, many, many states do it. This would apply to federal races, that is, U.S. Senate race, the presidential race.

So it's not all that controversial having said that. It's a midterm election. I think it's a pretty uphill climb at this point to expect it would be passed this year, but rarely do things get passed quickly in Congress. As far as what's behind it, Rand Paul, you may recall, has done a lot

of outreach to African-Americans and he said, look, we have to change the dynamic in the Republican party. He's expected to speak at NAACP meeting in July in Las Vegas. He has helped open Republican headquarters in minority parts of various towns. He's been to Howard University to talk economics. So he really feels that there, he said, look, I have a lot in common with minority communities and I have issues in which we agree and one, he says, is this. However, it's very hard to take the politics out of this and he doesn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: It is opening the door for me to talk to communities. Three out of four people in prison are black or brown for nonviolent drug use. However, when you do surveys white kids are doing drugs at an equal rate and there are much bigger part of the population. So why are prisons full of black and brown kids? It's easier to arrest them. It is easier to convict them. They don't get as good an attorney.

There is nearly a million people in our country who have lost their voting rights. In Kentucky you lose your voting rights forever. I have a friend whose brother grew marijuana plants 30 years ago in college, has a conviction and still cannot vote 30 years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That is something that has been said for a very long time by many people. Let's see if it makes a difference given that is now being said by Rand Paul.

All right, on Iraq now, you spoke with senate intelligence chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, military advisers, returning to Iraq, they will gather intelligence for one, for possible air strike against militants who have taken over so much at Iraq already. Was Senator Feinstein and the rest of the intelligence community caught off guard by the overnight advances almost to Baghdad?

CROWLEY: I can't speak for the rest of the intelligence community, but this a woman who is privy to U.S. intelligence, by her chairmanship and I put that to her exactly. Because I think most Americans woke up and thought, who is this ISIS? What is this group that has taken over a third of Iraq? And I asked her whether she saw this, whether then tell against signaled that this was coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: I would have to say no. But I think it's a real wake-up call for the United States because they want to develop the caliphate, they do want and they now just about destroyed the border with Syria. I think the president's doing right thing. He's being circumspect, but I think the most important thing that I can say today is that the Iraqi state as a state is in danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, is she made up her mind on U.S. air strikes in Iraq?

CROWLEY: She certainly thinks under the right circumstances that would be the thing to do. She really is of the two lead guests, Senator Rand Paul and Senator Feinstein, a Republican and a democrat, respectively, she is by far the most muscular in this approach to this. She believes that this group, ISIS, is a threat right now to the U.S. homeland and needs to be dealt with. So, she would be supportive of air strikes. Senator Paul not so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, lots to watch this week. Thanks so much.

Candy Crowley, thanks so much.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, world traveler spotted in the gulf of Mexico. Her name, Katharine. And she's a great white shark that has been swimming thousands of miles. The science behind keeping an eye on her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time now for our science behind segment. It is our weekly look at the why behind the what. Researchers are tracking a great white shark named Katharine. And so far her journey has been nothing short of amazing.

Alina Machado explains how far this shark has traveled and where she's headed next.

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ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it's not just scientists who are interested in knowing where Katharine is headed. She has thousands of followers on twitter eager to find out where she's going next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shark is named Katharine.

MACHADO (voice-over): Fourteen long, 2300 pounds, Katharine United States a great white on the move. And team of researchers from OCEARCH able to able to track her in real-time, by the looks of it, she's got her sights set on Texas.

Last summer, Katharine was tagged and outfitted with a locator in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, then clocking in pings all the way down the eastern seaboard. Last month pinging several times in central Florida, and now the Gulf of Mexico, possibly arriving in Texas in coming weeks. That's more than 4,000 miles.

And the reason they're doing this is because they're trying to unravel the mystery behind the great white shark in the Atlantic ocean. They want to figure out where, when these sharks and breeding and where nurseries are located so they can protect these areas. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very large.

MACHADO: 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 up with plans to venture out into the ocean water.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in the water, she's been bit a shark and bleeding, 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 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 marks edged into the right side of her back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: By the way, as far as we know, Katherine has not been involved in any of those attacks or others seems being tagged. 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?

WHITFIELD: That's pretty incredible. Hopefully hunters won't take advantage of the information we're learning about Betsy and Katharine.

Alina Machado, thanks so much.