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Iraqis Seek Refuge in Church; Interview with Ali Khedery; Iraq War Veterans Speaking Out; Cease-fire Over, Rockets Fly; Developing Young African Leaders; Adding Something to Workout Regime; Relentless Gun Violence in Chicago

Aired August 09, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

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

Hello, again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the big stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Our top story, President Obama said this morning U.S. airstrikes in Iraq were successful in destroying militant weapons. On Friday, the U.S. dropped a series of bombs targeting ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The group is threatening the city of Irbil, forcing thousands of people to flee.

The U.S. military released this video of two 500-pound laser-guided bombs hitting an ISIS artillery unit yesterday morning. Later in the day, eight more bombs were dropped on an ISIS convoy.

The U.S. and Iraq have also dropped food and water supplies to people who have fled ISIS and are now stranded.

The president said today the U.S. military will take more action as needed, but ultimately, ISIS needs to -- needs to, rather, unite to fight -- Iraqis, rather, need to unite to fight ISIS, which is also referred to as ISIL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Says we are focused on the situation in the north affecting Kurds and the Iraqi minorities. Sunni and Shia in different parts of Iraq have suffered mightily at the hands of ISIL.

Once an inclusive government is in place, I'm confident it will easier to mobilize all Iraqis against ISIL and to mobilize greater support from our friends and allies.

Ultimately, only Iraqis can ensure the security and stability of Iraq. The United States can't do it for them, but we can and will be partners in that effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The attacks from ISIS have led to a humanitarian crisis. People have fled to the mountains to escape and have been stuck without water or food in blistering heat.

New video from a Kurdish television station shows refugees surrounding a helicopter full of supplies and a few, as you see right there, actually jumped inside the helicopter and managed to escape safely.

Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is live for us now in Irbil.

So, Ivan, what have you seen as people have been in desperate situations?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have that critical situation on Sinjar mountain, where the U.S. Air Force, the Iraqi Air Force have been delivering aid.

Some thousands of the -- believed to be tens of thousands of Kurds trapped on the mountain have successfully escaped with the help of Kurdish fighters on the ground, some of them running to nearby Syria, to a Kurdish enclave there. But we're being told more dying there every day due to exposure on the -- to the elements.

The situation here in Irbil, this Kurdish city, and in other Kurdish cities, less critical, but a major, major challenge and crisis because hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, many of them Iraqi Christians, have fled the ISIS military advances this week and come here and they have nowhere else to go. And this Kurdish safe haven is very close to the ISIS frontlines.

Take a look at this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of Iraqi Christians taking shelter in a place of worship. Sleeping amid the pews of St. Joseph's Church.

These frightened people have come here because there's simply no place else to go. They're part of a wave of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who fled their homes to escape Islamist militants.

(On camera): People are running for their lives and according to the patriarch of the Chaldean Christian community of Iraq, among the exodus are more than 100,000 Christians who tell us they've been given a choice by the militants from the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria, either convert to their brand of violent, harsh Islam or face the sword.

(Voice-over): The Kurdish leadership is struggling to deal with this wave of humanity. The governor of Irbil, a Muslim, working with a Christian priest to provide aid to these homeless families. The archbishop says Iraq's ancient Christian community is basically being cleansed from its homeland.

ARCHBISHOP BASHER WARDA, CHALDEAN CHURCH: But this is another kind of massacre because they are losing any kind of connection with Iran. They've killed their history -- WATSON (voice-over): The exodus includes the other minorities from

the religious and ethnic mosaic of northern Iraq, including Yazidis, Shiites, Kurds, Turkomen, Shabbaq. But Kurdish officials fear ISIS militants may try to attack Irbil, a city that has become a fragile Kurdish safe haven.

(On camera): Is Irbil in danger?

NAWZAD HADI, GOVERNOR OF IRBIL: Of course. There's little protection (INAUDIBLE). So it's very important to be quick and to start and to attack them.

WATSON (voice-over): The Kurdish leadership says it's grateful for U.S. airstrikes now helping to protect Irbil. But these desperate Iraqi civilians just don't know what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we do? What we do now? We want solutions to this problem. All these people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to be like other people in other countries. The U.S. government said in 2003 we -- the Iraqi people to be free. That's freedom, impossible. That's the feeling.

WATSON: All these people suddenly homeless. Looking to a higher power for some kind of help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: And Fredricka, if the ISIS militants were able to break through these front lines that are in some cases only 20, 30 miles away from where I'm standing, these scenes of displaced, desperate people, frightened people, it's just a drop in the bucket from what we would likely see here in Irbil, a city of a million Kurds. It's rather hard to even imagine the number of people who would then be on the run if that scenario was to unfold here.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

WATSON: Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much. Ivan Watson, appreciate that.

So what is next for Iraq and what is America's role going to be for the future?

Here to help answer some of those questions is Ali Khedery, a former senior adviser to several U.S. generals, ambassadors in Iraq. He's joining us right now from Dubai.

Good to see you. So you served under Presidents Bush and Obama and in a recent op-ed for the "Washington Post," you wrote this, saying, quote, "The crisis now gripping Iraq and the Middle East was not only predictable, but predicted and preventable. By looking the other way and unconditionally supporting and arming Prime Minister al-Maliki, President Obama has only lengthened and expanded the conflict that President Bush unwisely initiated. America is likely to emerge as one of the biggest losers of the new Sunni Shiite holy war with allies collapsing and radicals plotting another 9/11.

Those are your words from "The Washington Post." So you blame this administration for making matters worse?

ALI KHEDERY, FORMER ADVISER TO U.S. AMBASSADORS TO IRAQ: I do, Fredricka, and the reason why is because while President Bush unwisely initiated the invasion of Iraq. By the end of his administration and through the surge, we basically had reduced -- violence 90 percent and Iraq was back on the right path. Through supporting Prime Minister Maliki --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: What do you mean by that? Back on the right path?

KHEDERY: Well, so -- so after you recall the mosque bombing in 2006, you recall that as a result violence spiked and thousands of Iraqis were killed every month, but through the surge, both troops and diplomatic efforts in 2007, '08, the United States was able to reduce violence by 90 percent across Iraq with our Iraqi allies, and what we -- now the entire plan that Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus had at the time was by reducing --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: But fast forward now to 2014.

KHEDERY: -- and create space.

WHITFIELD: You've got to fast forward to 2014.

KHEDERY: Right.

WHITFIELD: Because we're talking about the action now of this administration and what it is doing in terms of imposing these airstrikes to assist in the humanitarian aid as well as protect the Americans that are on the ground. And you heard the president earlier today who said the reason why the U.S. has not been more involved before now is because the Iraqi government asked -- the Iraqi people asked the U.S. to not have a significant presence in that country, so now give me your thoughts in the present day, in the present circumstances with Iraq and how this administration is intervening in this way.

KHEDERY: Well, I'm thrilled beyond words, really, at the president's comments today and also at the recent comments of the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest because I think after six years of being poorly advised by their Iraq team clearly the president now is getting sage advice, new advice and his words today were absolutely perfect. His recent actions were absolutely perfect.

He is targeting un-reconcilable ISIS elements with these surgical but limited American strikes. He is conditioning American support for the Iraqi government in Baghdad on Prime Minister Maliki stepping down and more importantly on the formation of a new inclusive national government that will fairly represent all the Iraqis and he's explicitly recognizing for the first time ever really that the only way you can stabilize and rebuild Iraq is when all the Iraqis have a stake in their future as opposed to what's happened under Maliki which is the Sunnis have had the stake in Iraq's failure and not a success.

WHITFIELD: So when the president says no American military solution is available to this problem, there needs to be a legitimate Iraqi government, do you see that this all inclusive government that you say would be ideal is really something that's achievable in this country of Iraq?

KHEDERY: Again, the president is exactly right to have emphasized that point and again, after six years, it's really about time that he do so. The question is moving forward as number one, will Maliki step down without a fight and it doesn't look like it so far? Number two, who most importantly is going to succeed him? Will it be somebody from the Dawa Party, from Maliki's party, who will continue with Maliki's divisive policies even with just a new face or will he really lead a new, inclusive government that again represents all the Iraqis?

If that does not happen, what the United States at that point needs to do is pivot away from our relationship in Baghdad and towards our historic allies in Iraq, the Kurds, and at that point, what we need to do is directly arm them, directly support them as Iraq would descend and further and further into a civil war between Sunnis and Shia.

COOPER: Ali Khedery, thank you so much from Dubai.

Iraq war veterans are speaking out on the U.S. strikes in Iraq. CNN's Alexandria Field sat down with several of them to get their opinions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A seven-year mission in Iraq, 4,424 U.S. troops gone. Two years after withdrawal, a new mission.

OBAMA: I authorize two operations in Iraq. Targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel. And a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians.

FIELD: All summer, Americans who serve there have been watching the violence in Iraq erupt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all agree that the Iraqis deserve peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FIELD: We sat down with some of them back in June when the U.S. took its first step to quell the violence. Sending in military advisers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think any intervention needs to be still limited in scope. FIELD (on camera): What do you want to hear the president say right

now?

ANDREW BARTHOLOMEW, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I want to hear President Obama acknowledge that America has a moral obligation to that country.

FIELD (voice-over): Two months later, the U.S. launches airstrikes.

BARTHOLOMEW: I think the United States is a bit slow in reacting to the situation in Iraq.

FIELD: Andrew Bartholomew served there in 2009 with the Marine Corps. He says the U.S. has a commitment to maintain.

BARTHOLOMEW: It's very much a humanitarian crisis, not just a military crisis. If we have the ability to do so, and we might be the only power with the ability do so, we are obligated to intervene.

FIELD: The White House is making assurances that this intervention won't look like the last one.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It will not involve American troops returning to Iraq in a combat role.

FIELD: Ross Caputi, an Iraq war vet, believes he never should have been on the ground. Today, he says he can't support military action from the air.

ROSS CAPUTI, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I think that as Americans, we need to first come to terms with what we have done during the occupation to Iraq because I think it's our misunderstanding of the past that's skewing our understanding of what's going on in Iraq today. So I think we need to educate ourselves on that level before you make any further decisions about any future course of action in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Alexandra Field joining us live now.

So you expect there would be opposite views among those who fought in Iraq, but, Alex, do these veterans have any common ground on what should be done, what kind of role the U.S. should be playing here?

FIELD: The only common ground that we heard when we spoke to these veterans, Fred, was this desire for peace for the Iraqi people, Iraqi civilians. It's something these veterans have shared for many, many years now. But really we're hearing two different things from the veterans. Some veterans who went over there and say that they felt they were able to make positive improvements in the lives of the Iraq people and those who say that the U.S. intervention left those people more vulnerable in their country.

It's those two different schools of thoughts that are really informing perceptions about how the U.S. should move forward today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alexandra Field, thanks so much in New York. All right. In a moment, we'll head to the border between Israel and

Gaza. A tense quiet for now. How long will this last?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now to the other major story we're covering. The collapse of a cease-fire in the Middle East and the new destruction as Israel and Gaza return to firing on each other. Israel claims it hit 70 Hamas targets yesterday. Another 20 overnight. A mosque in central Gaza was also hit. From Gaza, more than 60 rockets flew at Israel, hitting mostly open ground.

I want to bring in CNN's Martin Savidge. He's joining us from Gaza City.

So, Martin, paint the picture for us. How is it this evening now that it's nightfall?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Saturday night in Gaza and, you know, if you hear the sounds behind me, it sounds like it might be a typical Saturday night. You would also note it's not very bright behind me and that's because of the electricity problem which is the result of the conflict before we got to the cease-fire. Only about 10 percent of the electricity has been restored here. Much of what you see if you see any light generators.

And then there's the conflict itself. Let me show you some video we collected today. These are the Israeli airstrikes. It seems that not only that the retaliation after the rockets are fired from Gaza, and there were 26 today, that Israel responds with airstrikes. One of them we had right at breakfast. That was the view you had with the camera rushing out the doorway. So there's no way to escape it here.

I suppose if you wanted to say there is any positive, it seems that the airstrikes are more selective in their targeting as opposed to what we saw previous to the cease-fire where there was more use of artillery, more use of tank fire. And that raised the casualty rate. Five people have been killed today and there have been at least 50 airstrikes that Israel has conducted. We continue to hear jets overhead and we continue to hear the drones that are used for part of targeting.

So the back and forth has gone on and it seems that so does life in some respect and that just, I got to tell you, seems rather weird.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SAVIDGE: And maybe tragically describes how this conflict may go forward from here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, too, maybe it's hopeful and I wonder how hopeful people might be of continuing talks that carry on in Cairo over this whole conflict.

SAVIDGE: Again, well, of course, that's what we would like to see. The cease-fire we thought 72 hours, it would have been easy to extend it another 72 hours even if they hadn't agreed on principal points. Apparently, the sides are so far apart and there is so much acrimony, they could not even agree to extend the cease fire, so that's a bad sign. Palestinian negotiating team remains in Cairo, but the Israeli team has already left, and so that doesn't bode well for any sort of quick response.

I think that the problem here is that Hamas feels that it's not getting Israel to pay attention to itself and Israel believes that it has no reason to want to negotiate at all when rockets are being fired at. So I don't see much of a reason why both sides would want to get together other than we're approaching a death toll of nearly 1900 people and I believe you had 64 Israeli soldiers. It's the deaths that probably everyone would like to see stop.

WHITFIELD: Right. Extraordinary numbers.

All right, thank you so much, Martin Savidge.

President Obama addressed the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq as he left the White House this morning. What he says Iraqis need to do to help defend themselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama left the White House earlier today. He was heading out on a summer break with his first family -- his family, and on the way out, he stopped to address the crisis in Iraq and the U.S. mission there. The president said U.S. forces in Iraq were successful in destroying militant weapons and providing humanitarian relief and took a few questions from the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: For how long a period of time do you see these airstrikes continuing for and is your goal there to contain ISIS or to destroy it?

OBAMA: I'm not going to give a particular timetable because as I've said from the start, wherever and whenever U.S. personnel and facilities are threatened, it's my obligation, my responsibility as commander-in-chief, to make sure that they are protected and we're not moving our embassy anytime soon. We're not moving our consulate anytime soon, and that means that given the challenging security environment, we're going to maintain vigilance and ensure that our people are safe.

Our initial goal is to not only make sure Americans are protected, but also to deal with this humanitarian situation in Sinjar. We feel confident that we can prevent ISIL from going up a mountain and slaughtering the people who are there, but the next step, which is going to be complicated logistically, is how do we give safe passage for people down from the mountain and where can we ultimately relocate them so that they are safe.

That's the kind of coordination we need to do internationally. I was very pleased to get the cooperation of both Prime Minister Cameron and President Hollande in addressing some of the immediate needs in terms of air drops and some of the assets and logistical support that they're providing, but there's a broader set of questions that our experts now are engaged in with the United Nations and our allies and partners, and that is how do we potentially create a safe corridor or some other mechanism so that these people can move.

That may take some time because there are varying estimates of how many people are up there, but they're in the thousands and moving them is not simple in this kind of security environment. Just to give people a sense, though, of a timetable, the most important timetable that I'm focused on right now is the Iraqi government getting formed and finalized because in the absence of an Iraqi government, it is very hard to get a unified effort by Iraqis against ISIL.

We can connect airstrikes, but ultimately there's not going to be an American military solution to this problem. There's going to have to be an Iraqi solution that America and other countries and allies support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, the president this morning, Now he'll be vacationing with the family in Martha's Vineyard.

All right next, the shelling continues between Gaza and Israel. I'm going to ask a Palestinian journalist why she thinks a long-term cease-fire hasn't taken hold.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now for an update on mortgages, rates dropped this week. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The violence in Gaza is back today after yet another cease-fire ended. Attempts to extend this week's three-day cease-fire failed. Today a mosque in Gaza was hit in an Israel airstrike, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, and Israel says more than 60 rockets for fired from Gaza.

Earlier, Jake Tapper asked a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if this on and off again fighting will ever stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Is that what is the new normal now? If there's no cease-fire deal that it's just going to be Israel waits for Palestinian rockets and then Israel hits Gaza and then it just resumes indefinitely?

MARK REGEV, CHIEF SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI'S PRIME MINISTER: We can't allow Hamas to have initiative to shoot us when they're comfortable to do so and to hold fire when it's comfortable for them to do so. We have to have a situation where the border is quiet. And we've said over and over again, our goal in the military operation has always been the same. It's to create a sustained period of quiet without rocket fire. Without terror tunnels. That's our goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I'm joined now by foreign policy analyst and Italian Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal from South Hampton, New York.

Good to see you again. So --

(CROSSTALK)

RULA JEBREAL, FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So, in your view, Rula, why are these cease-fires not holding?

JEBREAL: Because the demands are so far apart and because it seems like the Israelis and it seems that their policies only a military one and it's not working. This is the third war in Gaza and after 2,000 people killed there, there are not putting on the table another policy or another approach. What every head of mossad, the Israeli secret service has been calling on the government to do is talking to the Palestinians and addressing the demand of the Palestinians, especially the Palestinian Authority, the moderate side of the Palestinian Authority.

And now that there's a unity government and there's a reconciliation with Hamas, it's actually an opportunity to bring Hamas in, let them not only recognize all the three conditions that they accepted the Palestinian Authority, which is recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and above all, subscribing to all the previous accords.

That means now there's a window to actually bring Hamas to the table, de-militarize them, but in change, you have to give them the end of the occupation. And --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So that really is the -- that really is the lynch pin right there. It's the what in exchange for demilitarization, in exchange for ending the occupation and Israel is not agreeing to that, but you're saying if the Palestinians feel like the occupation would end, if Hamas feels like the occupation would end, then the two could live in peace? Is that what's really at the core here?

JEBREAL: Absolutely, yes. And look, there's -- if you look at what happened historically with other conflicts, the IRA signed a peace agreement where they laid down the arms and that was brokered by Americans and the Brits and that brought piece to the Northern Ireland. Today we have an opportunity in the Middle East, but politicians are too concerned about the next election and not the next generation.

The question here, how many people needs to die before both sides understand that only politics can solve this issue? There's no military solution that will guarantee the security of Israel or will even give Palestinians their rights. (CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Sorry, but really it does seem like the numbers are high right now. We're talking about 1900 people, Palestinians alone, if these numbers don't seem to make members of both sides come to terms, then I mean, surely -- or is it your feeling that the numbers have to, you know, be far greater than this in order for the two sides to find, you know, common ground?

JEBREAL: Look, I think now and what was happening that the Israelis are not challenged on their talking points as if there's a monologue, and not just -- not a dialogue, as if we're not breaking down. And I'm talking about all us reporters, not -- and Jake did a great job in challenging the Israeli spokesperson, the Bibi Netanyahu spokesperson, and asking him what other policies are on the table? What are you doing? What's next?

This is what we are not challenging -- you know, the Israelis with. And another thing that when we talk about Palestinian victims, we're talking about it and most of the question are framed as if it's a PR issue for Israel and this is part of the tragedy.

Look, we have an opportunity today more than ever because of social media and independent media, to have from the ground, firsthand accounts and proof of what's going on and fortunately for the first time, there's a huge debate about -- among young Americans that they are challenging Israeli narrative and especially their policy. Is it really a policy that will guarantee in the long run Israel as a democratic state, as a safe state? I don't think so.

WHITFIELD: OK. Rula Jebreal, thank you so much. From South Hampton, New York. Appreciate it.

All right. They are young African visionaries and they're sharpening their skills at U.S. universities. A look at this dynamic program which put them in the company of two American presidents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Five hundred African leaders were in the United States this summer participating in a program that President Obama introduced to help them develop their skills. These young leaders are undergoing training at 20 top universities and colleges across the country. And we caught up with a few of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): President Obama first announced the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in 2013. He wants to help Africans ages 25 to 35, who are already entrepreneurs, college grads or business leaders in their communities, but need a little help getting to the next level.

OBAMA: We're launching a new program that's going to give thousands of promising young Africans like you the opportunity to come to the United States and develop your skills at some of our best colleges and universities.

SABA KAHSAY, WASHINGTON FELLOW/ETHIOPIA: My name is Saba Kahsay. I'm 28 years old, I'm from Ethiopia.

JAMES MSIPA, WASHINGTON FELLOW/ZIMBABWE: My name is James Msipa from Zimbabwe.

WASHINGTON FELLOW/GHANA: Hi. My name is Valeria Labi. I'm from Ghana.

WHITFIELD: There were more than 50,000 applicants. Only 500 were selected, including, Saba, James and Valerie. Saba Kahsay led a construction company for five years, but couldn't find enough skilled workers. She hopes this fellowship will give her the tools to start a training facility teaching Ethiopians how to be multi-dimensional laborers.

KAHSAY: So we're creating a labor training center and a skill labor contracting agency once I get back, and that's what I'm trying to, like, trying to get -- to grasp from this program.

WHITFIELD: James Msipa from Zimbabwe is the managing director for a financial services company providing financial literacy to rural communities.

MSIPA: The next working opportunities with various lenders who may have an objective to develop communities.

WHITFIELD: Valerie Labi is on a mission to bring clean commodes to the Ghanaian villages that don't have them.

LABI: We provide in-house mobile toilets to these households. We provide the toilet for free and actually run a service model around managing the toilet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job. Welcome.

WHITFIELD: These fellows are getting their mentoring and training at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia. One of the 20 top U.S. colleges and universities hosting these leaders of tomorrow.

CARLTON F. BROWN, PRESIDENT, CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: We've been an international institution for most of our existence so it was very important to us, with a very international faculty, that we become major participants in this program.

WHITFIELD: While at Clark Atlanta, the fellows were introduced to executives of Fortune 500 companies. And got to know the city, particularly the underserved communities, but helping to restore pride by planting and unifying. And sorting donated clothes for those who need it most. But perhaps the biggest highlight of this fellowship, meeting two U.S. presidents. Former President Jimmy Carter and the sitting president who made all of this happen.

MSIPA: President Obama, he has sowed the seeds and all we need to do is to take this initiative to the next level. WHITFIELD: Three promising leaders, one amazing six-week journey in

America. Now back in Africa, feeling better equipped to change lives there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And with the blessing of the Mandela family, President Obama announced that the program will now be called the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

All right. Now our "Fit Nation" challenge. If you can't get motivated to exercise, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a few suggestions that might help you get off the sofa and maybe get into the gym.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the number one excuse for not exercising is I don't have time. But a lot of people also tell me that exercise is boring. I get it. Sometimes, I'll focus on a specific problem during a run, letting my mind sort of mull it over. I also love using technology to see if I'm getting any better at my runs or just older and slower.

Well, San Francisco runner Clara Riekoff (ph) something I haven't seen before. She uses the GPS on her Nike running app to draw aliens from the Atari game Space Invaders. Take a look. One morning, she decided to run Slimer from "Ghostbusters." And check out the first attempt there at running (INAUDIBLE). Pretty impressive.

Now I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that a lot of the drawings she sent us we simply can't show you on television, but the point is this. Add a little something extra to your exercise, you'll be far more likely to do it on a regular basis -- Fred.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New video paints a terrible picture of what's happening in Iraq, people rushing towards a helicopter as you see right here, begging for food and water. They are hungry, dehydrated. They have left their homes, fleeing as militants who threatened to kill them get even closer. And several countries including the U.S. are trying to get relief supplies to them.

Forty thousand desperate Yazidis are hiding in scorching summer neat the Iraqi mountains. We've seen reports of dozens of deaths because of dehydration already.

Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is in the CNN Weather Center.

So help people understand where is this, you know, Mt. Sinjar, what are the conditions, what can they equate it to?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's incredibly sad. This is basically like -- you can equate it to the southwest region of the United States. Middle of the summer, triple digits, you know, putting somebody in the middle of, say, Arizona, New Mexico, middle of the day, triple digits, no food, no water. We're talking about temperatures 104. You factor in the heat index,

it's going to feel like 110, 115. And you're not even going to get any relief at night. Overnight temperatures only drop down to around 90 degrees.

This is the hottest time of the year, August is the hottest month of the year. You're not going to get any rain and we're not even going to get any clouds. So we're basically going to be looking at pure sunshine all day long and you can see not even any clouds. This is a satellite picture that would normally pick up clouds. We would also even see some rain on the radar. Not even going to see that.

So, Fred, this is going to be -- continue to see very hot conditions, very dry conditions, not going to see any rain anytime soon. Running temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal for the next week or so.

WHITFIELD: Unbearable conditions for thousands of people there.

All right, thank you so much, Jennifer.

Meantime, back in this country, the danger of gun violence isn't letting up in Chicago. More shootings reported overnight. Has anything changed since our series "CHICAGOLAND" exposed the rampant violence?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

An all-clear for the Hawaiian Islands. All storm warnings and watches have been canceled. Tropical storm Iselle hit the big island yesterday morning. This is what it looked like at landfall. Some areas got more than a foot of rain. A second storm, Hurricane Julio, will miss the islands.

And a landmark ruling against the NCAA. A federal judge ruling in favor of former UCLA college basketball star Ed O'Bannon, who sued to end the NCAA's control over the rights to athletes' names, images, and likenesses. The decision means athletes could share revenues with schools. The judge did say the NCAA could set a cap on payouts to student/athletes.

The death of former White House press secretary James Brady earlier this week now ruled a homicide. A Virginia medical examiner determined his death was directly related to wounds he suffered during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Brady were shot in the head. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair advocating against gun violence. It's unclear when or if the shooter, John Hinckley Jr. will face murder charges.

Another weekend of gun violence in Chicago. Local TV stations reporting five people were wounded in shootings overnight. A week ago, one of the young men featured in our series "CHICAGOLAND" was shot twice in the leg. Now 40 Illinois state troopers are partnering with Chicago Police and hitting the streets to try to curb the relentless violence.

Since our series "CHICAGOLAND" last aired in April, have things changed at all for the better?

Here's George Howell with a look.

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When a young Chicago high school student featured in the CNN series "CHICAGOLAND" was recently shot, it served as a grim reminder of just how difficult it is for many of the young men and women trying to escape violence on the city's south side. Twenty-year-old Lee McCollum Jr.'s story depicted the challenges showing a student trying to make that transition from gang member to high school graduate at Chicago's Fenger Academy where Liz Dozier is the principal.

With the start of the new school year less than three weeks away and with the murder rate in Chicago on pace to be lower than it was last year, I recently caught up with Dozier and, among other things, talked about whether she has seen positive change since "CHICAGOLAND" aired on CNN. Listen.

(On camera): Is it as simple as saying that it comes down to one or the other, you know, get a job, get into a program, a summer program, or get into gang life?

LIZ DOZIER, PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: Yes. Unfortunately, I think it is that simple. I think that if children often times are not engaged, other forces on the outside that are not as positive will engage them. And so for us at Fenger High School has been critical to make sure our students are engaged in summer programming, whether that means connecting with a job at a fast food agency or a corporation downtown or a mentoring program at (INAUDIBLE) services.

For us it's critical to get them connected because we don't want them to have to make that choice. We want to provide them with a healthy alternative to the other things that they're faced with on a daily basis.

HOWELL: You're on the ground here. You're in a school, you're dealing with students. What has to happen to make things change?

DOZIER: I think people have to take ownership. I think parents have to stand up and take responsibility for their children. I think as a community we need to take responsibility for our children as a whole.

HOWELL: Is that happening?

DOZIER: I think in isolated pockets it's happening. I don't think it's happening systematically, because if it was I don't think we'd see the amount of violence and the amount of situations that have occurred over the course of this last several years.

HOWELL: When it gets hot and people start coming outside, do you get worried? DOZIER: The summer is never usually a good time. For me I always

worry. We all know how the incidents oftentimes increase in the summer exponentially, and so our biggest role I think as a school is to make sure all of our kids are connected to programs, to job opportunities.

HOWELL: On September 2nd, 400,000 students return to classrooms in the country's third largest public school system. Meanwhile, Lee McCollum, who graduated from Fenger Academy with a honors and still hopes to attend college, will be recovering from a gunshot wound.

George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.

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