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Cease-Fire Holds; ISIS Sympathizer Arrested; Iraqi Christians Under Siege; Hillary Clinton Criticizes Obama's Foreign Policy; Super Moon Puts on a Spectacle

Aired August 11, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Israel and Hamas trying for another three-day cease-fire that seems to be holding so far. In the meantime, indirect talks between Israel and Palestinian delegations have resumed in Cairo. This marks the second time in less than a week that the two sides have agreed to stop the rockets, artillery fire and destruction that have marked the latest battle.

Reza Sayah is live in Cairo to tell us more. Hi, Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

If you look at the history of this conflict, it's tough to be optimistic that this time is going to be different. For eight years, these two sides have tried to resolve the conflict over Gaza. They tried it last week. They failed. Even so, they're at it again here in Cairo.

Let's tell you where things stand at this hour. Aids to the Palestinian delegates, as well as Egyptian state television, report that the indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis have started already here in Cairo with Egypt once again acting as a middle man. Once again we have to look at the clock. This cease-fire ends at midnight Wednesday local time. So technically these two sides have another two and a half days to make something happen.

All of this happening, of course, with the latest cease-fire going into effect Sunday midnight. It took a lot to get these two sides back at the negotiating table, a lot of back and forth. The Palestinians said we're here, we're ready to talk but Israel kept saying, we're not going to come back to Cairo unless the Palestinians stop firing rockets. Eventually all sides agreed to come back here in Cairo to meet. That's the good news.

Obviously the big problem is, even with these two sides talking again, the glaring problems, the big obstacles remain. On one side, you have Hamas with its demands. It says that it wants some sort of concessions. They want an economic blockade lifted, the opening of the border crossings, an airport, a seaport, something that gives them access to the outside world. But Israel has so far said, no way, we can't talk about those issues. We have to address this security situation. We have to demilitarize Gaza and disarm Hamas and that's where the impasse has been, Carol. So a lot of people anxious to see if they'll get through this impasse and work something out because, again, history has shown that they've repeatedly failed to do so.

COSTELLO: All right. Reza Sayah reporting live from Cairo, Egypt, this morning.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: All right, some breaking news to bring you now.

A suspected American militant and his possible connection to ISIS. CNN justice reporter Evan Perez joins me now. Evan, tell us more.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Carol.

You know, this is an episode that definitely shows you how fine-tuned the U.S. national security system, how an alert the FBI and other national security officials are about the problem with ISIS and other militant groups in Syria and Americans going over to the fight. This is a man named Donald Ray Morgan, who was arrested on August 2nd, as he was arriving at JFK from Frankfurt. And authorities say that what he was doing was he was tweeting and making the statements online in support of jihad and in support of ISIS.

Now, he's not accused of plotting any attacks in the United States. They're still investigating. But right now all they have arrested him for is some gun charges. Apparently he has a previous felony arrest and therefore he is prohibited from having a firearm. So he was arrested for gun possession in the past. He is on his way to North Carolina to face those charges and they're still looking at him as far as what exactly any association with ISIS is. Right now they think he's just a sympathizer and perhaps someone who was talking online about jihad.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, there have been reports of Americans fighting with ISIS. So there's no indication as of yet that this man had any training whatsoever anywhere.

PEREZ: Right. Exactly. I mean so far they've -- the U.S. authorities say that there have been over 100 Americans that have gone over to Syria to be involved with various militant groups over there, including ISIS and al Nusra and all these other groups. And what we know about this man, Donald Ray Morgan, he's 44 years old, is not necessarily that he went over there. It doesn't appear that he did. He was in Lebanon for some time and he was, again, doing these tweets in support of ISIS. And that raised enough concerns for the FBI that they've -- that they've arrested him. Obviously right now he's only facing this gun charge, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez, thanks so much.

PEREZ: Thanks. COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, they take pride in being one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Now Iraqi Christians are desperately trying to escape the brutal campaign led by ISIS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Christians in Iraq are among the thousands fleeing ISIS militants amid reports of holy books being burn and churches being converted to mosques. Now Pope Francis is weighing in, sending a personal envoy to the region and slamming actions he says offends both God and humanity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): The news arriving from Iraq leaves us in disbelief and dismay. Thousands of people, including many Christians, chased away from their homes in a brutal manner. Children dying of thirst and hunger during the escape. Women seized, people massacred, violence of every kind, destruction everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's talk about this. CNN's senior Vatican analyst and "Boston Globe" associate editor John Allen is with me, also Father Edward Beck, CNN's religious commentator, and Jeremy Courtney, executive director of the Preemptive Love Coalition, a development group in Iraq and author of "Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time."

Thanks to all of you for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

Jeremy, I want to start with you because you've been on the ground in Iraq and you know these Iraqi Christians. Ninety-five percent of them chose to flee rather than to convert, which is astoundingly courageous. Tell us about these people.

JEREMY COURTNEY, EXEC. DIR., PREEMPTIVE LOVE COALITION: Yes, I mean, we know these people because we've been living in Iraq on the ground for years. And we primarily know them through the context of providing lifesaving heart surgeries for some of their children and the people around them. So, I mean, we know them as mothers and fathers and we know them as children that we play with in the ICU unit and we know them as children that we play with in the ward before they go to surgery. They're people, just like us, you know. They want to love their kids. They want to have a future. They want to be able to say prayers over their kids before they go into surgery. They're people, you know, and the fact that they're fleeing from this is a tragedy right now. But thankfully, it seems that most of them have been able to make it out safely.

COSTELLO: Yes. And, Father Beck, just, you know, more about the incredible courage of these people. I don't know how many of us would choose to flee and perhaps face certain death rather than to convert or pretend to convert.

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: They really are the martyrs of today, aren't they, because many are being killed for their faith. They're choosing to say no, I cannot convert. I won't even pay a tax because this is so important to me. And you're right, Carol, there's nothing like it -- Christianity has been under oppression for years now in the region. But this is the worst it's been. This is a genocide taking place. This is the Islamic state saying, you convert or you're killed. There's no room for anyone else. And they won't stop until they're all dead or out of there.

COSTELLO: And when you talk about a war on religious liberty, this is the war we should be paying attention to, isn't it?

BECK: Well, this is a real war on religious liberty. This means that someone is not free to worship and believe in who they're called to. But they're baptized into. And so, yes, the other stuff may be important to religious liberties. We talk about like Christmas trees or creches (ph), but this is the real religious liberty, absolutely correct.

COSTELLO: OK. To John Allen now, the pope is sending an envoy. How unusual is this and what will that envoy do?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, Carol, we should say that the pope has a full time ambassador in Baghdad who has always been there and will continue to be there. But sending a special envoy to express his concern about some specific crisis is quite unusual. The last time this happened was April 2003 when the late Pope John Paul II dispatched French Cardinal Roger Egidari (ph) to try to stop the rush to war that was going on at that time. And, of course, as we all know, he was unsuccessful.

In this case, the pope is sending Cardinal Fernando Filoni, an Italian, who is currently the head of the Vatican's all-important missionary department. A place called Propagana Fedi (ph). And if that's all you knew about Cardinal Filoni, that would tell insiders that this is a heavy hitter. But what we know about Cardinal Filoni is that he is actually the pope's top Iraq expert. He was the ambassador in Baghdad from 2001 to 2006, which meant he was there in April 2003 when the U.S. shock and awe campaign took place. He was the only ambassador who refused to leave his post. Not only did he refuse to leave, he refused to adopt additional security measures because he said at the time he wanted to face the same struggles that ordinary Iraqis were facing. That earned him an enormous amount of street credibility. And so what Iraqis are taking away from this is that by sending Filoni, Francis has shown he's serious about his concern on this issue.

COSTELLO: And, Jeremy, for the Iraqi Christians, I don't know if they're getting word that the pope is sending an envoy, but will that matter to them?

COURTNEY: I think it will because the Christian thing to do is not simply to take to Twitter and take to FaceBook and gripe about the government. The Christian thing to do is to try and really stand in solidarity with people who are suffering. You know, this is the most Christian things that I'm seeing are coming from Muslims sometimes in Iraq and from fellow Christians and from people all over the world who are trying to get into these places of suffering and stand alongside the people and suffer with them. That actually is the message of Christianity. That is what Jesus is all about.

COSTELLO: That's nice. Do you want to add anything to that? That was such a lovely thought.

BECK: There's not much you could add to that. But I think it's to say that to stand in solidarity with, but there's a bombing campaign being -- taking place now. And the pope is always against the use of violence, but the Vatican has been pretty silent thus far because they -- I think it realizes that with this kind of aggression, certain forces necessary, innocent people are being killed. And so the world community, the faith community, has to do something and, unfortunately, military aggression seems to be part of that right now.

COSTELLO: Well, let's ask John Allen about that because, you know, the U.S. is --

ALLEN: Just to pick up on that, Father, you were right. As of today, they have been silent. Today, two different senior Vatican officials, the Vatican's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva and the Vatican's nuncio in Baghdad both came out explicitly in support of the U.S. strikes in northern Iraq, saying they are both necessary and inevitable.

So I do think you see a recognition here. The reason they were opposed to using violence in both Iraq and Syria is because they were worried about the rise of a radical Islamic theocracy that would put Christians in a bull's eye. Well, that's already happened so they no longer have to be worried about the aftermath.

I think one of the things, the way the Cardinal Filoni sees this mission, is not just -- he doesn't have any illusion that he's going to be able to wave a magic wand and make the forces of ISIS go away. I think he wants to work with local leaders in trying to figure out local political solutions.

But in addition to that, he told me Sunday night he also sees this mission as a cry of conscience to Christians all around the world to come to the support of these people, that is, to put their money where their mouth is, to not just sort of wring their hands over contemporary martyrdom. But here are people in need for -- who need an urgent humanitarian response, who need help with settlement, who are going to need long-term support wherever they end up. Cardinal Filoni wants to ring the bell to the 2.3 billion Christians all over the world, particularly Christians with deep pockets in places like the United States to say, hey, it is time to step up.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll leave it there. John Allen, Father Edward Beck, and Jeremy Courtney, thanks so much for being with me. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: As they say, Rome is burning, but for the next two weeks, President Obama will be hitting the links and soaking up some sun on Martha's Vineyard. The president insists however he can keep an eye on Iraq and Israel and Gaza and the Ukraine and Putin and the list seems to go on.

The voices in Washington are growing for the president to do more. Even Hillary Clinton is distancing herself from the president's foreign policy, telling "The Atlantic," quote, "Great nations need organizing principles. 'Don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle."

Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is following the president. He joins us live now from Massachusetts. Good morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. And as the White House will say, the president is never really on vacation. He's taken his national security advisers with him on this trip. They're giving him three briefings a day on all those crises that you mentioned.

And you just read a quote a few moments ago, Carol, that "Don't do stupid stuff" quote. That's been sort of the informal foreign policy of this president over the last several months. But Hillary Clinton went further in that interview with "The Atlantic" magazine, which I thought was very interesting. A lot of other people are seizing on it. It's not quite a flashback to 2008 but she is putting some distance between herself and President Obama on the issue of Iraq and the battle against ISIS. She is suggesting that the failure to arm the Syrian rebels, the Syrian opposition in that civil war, contributed to what is happening right now in Iraq.

Let's put a quote up on screen. She told "The Atlantic" magazine, "The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad, there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle, the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled."

So some pretty tough words there but I talked to a White House official over the weekend who said this isn't really new coming from Hillary Clinton. She has talked about wanting to arm the Syrian opposition before. It's even in her book, "Hard Choices." And so they were expecting this.

And I also heard from a White House official who said, Carol, that they were given a heads up by Hillary Clinton's people that she was doing this interview. So very interesting as she is positioning herself for a possible run in 2016. And you can read through the lines here and see this implicit criticism of the president's foreign policy, that that is also almost confirmation that she is very seriously running for president, that the White House was not surprised by this. In fact, they knew that this was coming, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, we're going to talk more about this in the next hour of NEWSROOM. Jim Acosta reporting live from Massachusetts this morning.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I want to take a few moments now to enjoy the celestial show nature is putting on for us right now. These are a series of pictures of last night's super moon as it crossed the skies over China -- isn't it beautiful? This summer, we're being treated to three -- oh, listen to that music. Anyway, this far this summer we're being treated to three full moons in a row that appear bigger and brighter than normal, but last night's super moon was the biggest and brightest of them all.

Except, of course, for Indra Petersons. You're the best and brightest for us, Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I love it.

(LAUGHTER)

PETERSONS: I like we're setting the mood here with the music too as well.

All right, so everyone wants to know what is a super moon? You have to keep in mind, when you have the moon, it orbits around the Earth, right? When it gets closest to the Earth and lines up with the sun, that's when you get what looks like the super moon. I mean, this thing shines 30 percent brighter. This is key for something I'm going to tell you in a few seconds. And it appears 14 percent larger.

So look at these shots. We just showed you what it looked like all around China, but how about some of our i-Reports? Lot of you submitted these amazing photos. And look at this -- incredible. We see this huge full moon. Beautiful shots out there.

I just want to keep in mind, we now have a meteor shower that's expected; the peak is supposed to be tonight in through tomorrow. Here's the problem -- we just talked about this being 30 percent brighter. That is never good. It means it's the biggest meteor shower you're supposed to see all year. You see want to see it really lit up? Well, if it's a lot brighter out there, it's going to be a lot more difficult to see.

Not to mention, we also have some rain out there. So if you want to see meteor shower, we have that concern of course. So we're going to be talking about visibility issues.

COSTELLO: But it's still worth taking a glance at it, right?

PETERSONS: I'm still going to try -- well, I say I'm going to try, but I'm going to be asleep. Someone else will try.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: We'll take a picture of it for you, don't worry. Indra Petersons, thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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