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Wolf

Iraqi Forces Push to Retake Tikrit from ISIS; Family Says No Warning of Girls Joining ISIS; Turkey Urged to Clamp Down Turkey/Syria Border; U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Leaves Hospital; Amazing Story of Miles O'Brien.

Aired March 10, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

Let's get to the war against ISIS right now. Joint Iraqi forces have begun what they say is the final push to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS. A paramilitary force fighting alongside Iraqi troops say this is the decisive operation to liberty Tikrit. Forces have been steadily advancing toward the city from several directions. But ISIS is not going quietly. The terrorist group blew up a key bridge across the Tigris River keeping Iraqi forces from moving across.

Let's bring in CNN senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman; and CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, a former Delta Force commander.

Ben, are the Iraqi forces backed by these Shiite militias, Iranian Republican Guard advisors, are they on the verge of recapturing or liberating Tikrit?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's say, Wolf, they're on the verge of Tikrit. But liberating is still a ways away. They blew that bridge across the Tigris River from the east side of the bank of the river which the army and these militias control. We spoke to people out on the front. They say they have pontoon bridges to make up for the lack of that, the only bridge, in fact, across the Tigris.

But keep in mind there are also Iraqi forces coming from the south and the north. And they also have forces to the West of the city as well. So it's still essentially cut off and the noose is tightening. But what we've seen up to now is that they've gained a lot of territory, for the most part, it's open land, farms and whatnot. Once they get into the city, the progress is going to be very slow, simply because -- not necessarily because there's a lot of ISIS fighters. But we know they're leaving behind a lot of IEDs, booby traps, car bombs, truck bombs and that will inevitably slow down this operation.

BLITZER: Colonel Reese, we know this is an Iraqi military operation. They've got strong backing by these Shiite militia groups, very closely aligned to the Iranians. We know there are Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel there on the scene as well. The operation to liberate Tikrit, what, if any, role does the United States military or intelligence services play in any of this?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Wolf, the way we understand it right now, both from the front lines and from some folks we've talked to here in Baghdad, really nothing. There's been no help from the Americans. They continue to work the training piece in a couple of key locations out west, south and just north of Baghdad. And also as you know, they continue to work heavily on the al Anbar Province area.

But they also do continue to work coalition area. And one of the pieces we spoke to, with some of the militia out there, even though they said they did not need the American help, when you brought them to the side, they do admit the coalition aircraft with the majority of those being U.S. Air Force and Navy fighters conducting these sorties, that degradation they've done of Daesh, or ISIS, over the last several months definitely assisted them with their push towards Tikrit.

BLITZER: Ben, you've covered this story for a long time. How worried are Iraqi Sunnis in Tikrit and elsewhere that the Shiites, in effect, backed by Iran, are going to be the big winners in all this? As you know, no great love between these two ethnic groups.

WEDEMAN: There's a lot of concern and a lot of Sunni politicians have made it quite clear that they're worried about Iran's growing influence in general. But more specifically there is concern that these Shia-led militias, which really are doing the brunt of the fighting with the Iraqi army essentially playing a supporting role, the worry is they're going to go into Tikrit and start taking revenge, taking revenge for the killing of perhaps as many as 1,700 Iraqi soldiers last summer in June at the Spiker Base, which is in Tikrit. So many of these people have families who want to see revenge taken.

And there's a very high possibility that these troops will go into Tikrit not only start revenge killings, but also looting and vandalizing property. So that's a big concern beyond the immediate influence of Iran itself which, the fact of the matter is, it's been part of the political scenery here in Baghdad increasingly since the U.S. overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003.

BLITZER: Colonel Reese, is that your sense right now, hearing a lot more Farsi, the language of Iran, in Baghdad, elsewhere in Iraq? That their influence has dramatically grown over the past few years?

REESE: No, Wolf, I wouldn't say it was dramatically. Even yesterday when we were out just outside of Tikrit, we saw the Quds Special Forces, they were there and they speak a little broken Arabic and they smile.

But they're there. But again, I think we've got to remember, they have a job just like our Special Forces. They come in and advise and assist. And the militia and the Iraqi Army was very, very pointed to say that this is an Iraqi fight and an Iraqi push and they're very confident about that and very prideful about that, even though the Quds force and the Iranians are there advising them and telling them how to do it. The Iraqis are the ones leading the way.

BLITZER: Let's see if they actually can get the job done and if they get the job done in Tikrit, how that impacts an eventual operation in the much larger city of Mosul, which continues to remain under ISIS control.

Guys, thanks very much.

Just ahead, three British schoolgirls run away, apparently, to join ISIS. But today, relatives said there were no warning signs. And what about efforts to tighten the border where the girls crossed into Syria? Arwa Damon is standing by in Turkey. She's got new information.

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BLITZER: The families of three British schoolgirls suspected of traveling to Syria to join ISIS say they had no idea what the teens were planning to do. The relatives testified today at a hearing before U.K. leader lawmakers. The sister of one of the teens says there were no, repeat no, warning signs.

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SAHIMA BEGUM, SISTER OF TEEN WANTING TO JOIN ISIS: My sister was into any normal teenage things. She used to watch "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and stuff like that. There was nothing that indicated that she was radicalized in any way in our home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The girls boarded a plane from London to Istanbul on February 17th. They're believed to have crossed the Turkish border into Syria within a few days. Turkey has been under enormous pressure to try to clamp down on ISIS fighters crossing into Syria.

Our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, has this part of the story.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four years now the porous Turkish/Syria border has been a well-traveled highway for refugees fleeing the violence and fighters intent on joining the complex battlefield. And Turkey has long been accused of turning a blind eye to the flow of jihadis and their weapons, allegations Ankara has consistently denied.

In late 2013, CNN was taken by a smuggler along the route he used to one of the illegal crossing points. He claimed to have shipped hundreds of fighters across in just a few months, many to join al Qaeda-linked groups.

Under increased international pressure and as ISIS gained in notoriety and power, Turkey has tried to crack down. At airports across the country, additional screening measures have been implemented. Turkey has a list it has compiled of some 10,000 individuals who are barred from entry. And plainclothes officers wait as passengers disembark certain planes.

Turkey argues that Europe needs to do its part as well in preventing suspicious individuals from traveling, pointing to confiscated items like these that were found on passengers Turkish intelligence suspected were on their way to war in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey has also been digging massive ditches along parts of the border, fortifying others with thermal cameras, guard posts and a beefed-up military presence.

Earlier this year, we met two smugglers in a town close to the border. "For the last few months, Turkey has really cracked down," one told us. But fully shutting down a border of 800 kilometers or 500 miles is impossible. There will always be security breaches and alternate routes, especially for those who believe that joining ISIS is their ultimate destiny.

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BLITZER: Arwa is joining us now live from Istanbul.

Arwa, you mentioned some of the steps Turkey has been taking to tighten up that border. What else do western countries including the United States want Turkey to do?

DAMON: Well, there's this fundamental belief that despite everything that Turkey has done so far, it can, in fact, do more to tighten up on border security. There's a sense that there's still a level of passiveness when it comes to some of the border guards turning a blind eye when cross-border violations are taking place. But one also has to bear in mind that Turkey is in a very precarious political solution. It's home to over 1.6 million Syrian refugees and it also has the position that it does not just want to see ISIS being combated when it comes to any sort of joint effort vis-a-vis the situation in Syria and Iraq.

It also ultimately wanted to see the downfall of the Assad regime. And that's put them at odds with the thinking and the desire of Western allies. Turkey will emphasize it can't do this on its own. It needs the assistance of Europe when it comes to people boarding planes. It wants to see more support from the United States. And one also needs to remember that Turkey is, in fact, one of the key areas where the U.S.-backed training of vetted members of the Free Syrian Army is going to be taking place.

So, yes, Turkey is doing their fair share at this point. There is belief that more needs to be done. But the big issue at hand is what can be jointly done to try to prevent this smuggling from taking place.

BLITZER: Lots of stuff in the works right now.

Thanks very much, Arwa Damon, reporting live from Istanbul.

Other news we're following, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea injured seriously last week in a horrific attack is out of the hospital. Five days ago, Mark Lippert was slashed by an assailant wielding a 10-inch knife. It took 80 stitches to close the wounds on the embassy's face and arm. Before leaving the hospital today, he met with reporters and says he's healing well.

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MARK LIPPERT, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: I'm happy to report that my family and I are doing well thanks in large measure to the extraordinary care I received. I expect to be able to return to work very soon and to eventually make a full recovery. I feel pretty darn good, all things considered. It was obviously a scary incident. But I'm walking, talking, holding my baby, hugging my wife.

So I just feel really good. Got a little rehab left to do on the arm. The face feels really good. But thanks to the great medical professionals, I feel, like I said, pretty darn good.

The bottom line is that this incident has only strengthened our love and affection for this country and our belief in the unbreakable bond that exists between the United States and the Republic of Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Lippert's attacker, Kim Ki Jong, is in custody, could face attempted murder charges. Happy the ambassador is doing just fine.

Just ahead, the incredible story of a CNN friend and colleague and the seemingly minor accident that changed his life in so many ways.

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BLITZER: This is a story close to all of us here at CNN. It's the story of an accident that seemed minor at the time. About a year or so ago, an equipment case fell on arm of our good friend, long-time colleague, Miles O'Brien. He thought it was just a bad bruise, but the accident cost him his arm and almost his life. Now Miles is sharing his life-changing experience in a CNN special with Dr. Sanjay Gupta that airs later tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miles was rushed into the operating room. At that point, he thought he could still be treated. But complications from the compartment syndrome caused Miles' blood pressure to rapidly fall during the procedure. So with Miles still under an anesthesia (ph), the doctor made a decision to amputate Miles' arm above the elbow. A painful decision that had to be made and probably saved his life.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & PBS CORRESPONDENT: I could barely believe what I saw. I mean, you know, it's amazing that I could -- you know, it felt like it was there. It really did. But it wasn't. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For the past year, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has followed Miles O'Brien as he's learned to cope with the loss of his arm both physically and emotional.

Sanjay is joining us now.

Explain what happened to our good friend Miles.

GUPTA: Well, it seemed like a rather innocuous, harmless accident; something fell on his arm. It hurt. It was one of those cases, Wolf -- you're familiar with what's called a pelican case that holds camera gear. He got a bruise on his arm, didn't think much of it. As a result of the injury, the muscle underneath was injured and started to swell. In your arm, that area of muscle surrounded by a thick layer of tissue.

So as the muscle was swelling, it had nowhere to swell and started to die, essentially. That muscle tissue started to die. He took about 48 hours before he went to the hospital. By the time he got to the hospital in the Philippines, where he was, there was no saving the muscle or the arm. That's when they performed the above-elbow amputation.

BLITZER: Could they have saved that arm if he had gone right away to the hospital?

GUPTA: It's a great question, and one of those challenging questions to grapple with. The answer, I think, Miles would say, and I think the doctors who cared for him did say was, yes, possibly. If he'd gone in right away, there was certainly a much better chance his arm would have been saved. He was in the Philippines. That was part of the difficulty. He didn't know the medical system over there.

Also, Wolf, people ignore things. This is one of the themes in this documentary. In this case, it was his arm. But people ignore medical maladies all the time, thinking it will just get better. They don't always. You can't ignore these sorts of thing things. You have to try to get care.

BLITZER: I know, Sanjay, this was an emotional experience for both you and Miles. Was it difficult for you to do this kind of reporting, knowing that he was a good friend of yours? Obviously a good friend of mine as well.

GUPTA: It is challenging. We journalists don't do this sort of reporting often, on someone that we know so well. There was a challenge to it, I think, certainly.

The other part of it was I learned a lot, I think, going through this process. In medicine, we like things in nice, neat, tidy packages. If you are grieving, you're going to go from denial to anger to bargaining to depression to acceptance and so forth. We just look at it. Everything should fit. When you spend time with somebody, like I did with Miles, who was grieving, he lost his arm, he's grieving over this, what you learn is that things don't fit those patterns very well at all. It is sticky. It is messy. It is unruly. It is painful, emotionally. So I learned a lot.

BLITZER: It's really an amazing story, though, if you look at what Miles is up to now, he's come back. This is an amazing documentary, Sanjay, that you and Miles have been working on. We're all grateful to you for sharing this kind of information with all of our viewers.

Sanjay, thanks very much.

GUPTA: You got it, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: And don't miss CNN's special report "Miles O'Brien, A Life Lost and Found," later tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN, as well as on CNN international.

After a quick break, our special coverage of the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's e-mails. She's getting ready to speak live, answer reporters' questions. We'll have live coverage right after this.

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