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CNN NEWSROOM

The Battle Against ISIS; University of Virginia Student Still Missing

Aired September 29, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me here.

President Obama makes a stunning admission. ISIS caught him off guard. And he's pointing the finger of blame squarely at the intelligence community, telling CBS News that U.S. intelligence underestimated ISIS' rise to power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.

STEVE KROFT, CBS NEWS: He didn't say that -- just say that we underestimated ISIL. He said we overestimated the ability and will of our allies, the Iraqi army, to fight.

OBAMA: That's true. That's absolutely true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So with the admission that the Iraqis can't do it alone, the U.S. steps in with airstrikes. In the past 24 hours, anti-aircraft transport vehicles have been hit, along with an ISIS training camp, but the question still remains, are these strikes really working?

Not if you ask people living in the border town here Kobani. These dramatic pictures of a firefight caught on camera by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN photojournalist Claudio Otto (ph) saw some of those ISIS spotters take casualties on the top of that hill, still seeking shelter trying to use that territory to their advantage and protect themselves from incoming fire from the Kurdish opponents.

As I speak, there is small arms fire being traded. I'm not sure if you can hear it over our microphones. But that's what's been going on really for the last few hours. And in addition to that, we've been hearing a lot of heavy artillery fire, as well mortars. One sailed in and struck not far from that ISIS position only about 10 minutes ago or so. Dusk is falling now. It's getting a little bit harder to make out

precisely what's going on at that distance. I apologize for that. And the fighting itself appears to be slowing as well. But as it stands at the moment, those ISIS fighters on the top of that ridge appear to have been stopped or at least their advance slowed down at that location by the fighting of the coalition opponents.

Now, the thing that I think is quite striking, watching those ISIS fighters -- I'm just being told, sorry, John, that one of those fighters at the top of the hill was just injured. They've just taken casualties at the top.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was the voice of Phil Black, who, by the way, you are about to see again in just a moment here, but now you're looking at ISIS being pushed back, but now they say fighters are closing in and now fewer than two miles away and nearby airstrikes are not slowing them.

So Phil Black joins me live from Turkey just a couple hours away from Kobani, and Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst, joins me as well.

But, Phil, first to you there. Witnesses say ISIS fighters are very, very close to the east and southeast of that town Kobani. Clashes happening right now between the Kurdish fighters and ISIS militants. Tell me what you know.

BLACK: Yes, Brooke, that's right. Everything that we have been seeing and everything that we have been hearing supports the conclusion that ISIS is now very close to its goal on the outskirts of Kobani. It's been regularly shelling this city today according to people in the city as many as 20 times. We believe up to three civilians were killed as a result of that shelling. They are close.

They have been moving in increasingly closer from the east, the south and the west and those Kurdish fighters, they are doing everything they possibly can to slow them down, but they are outnumbered and they are outgunned -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Stay with me, Phil.

Colonel Reese, let me just bring you in here. As Phil just said, this town, this is really the goal of ISIS. What is so significant about this locale?

JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: One of them is the location of the city sits right on the Turkish border. It gives some credibility to bring in some of their foreign fighters and people they are recruiting to bring them in. They don't have to go as far and it just gives them a great -- another piece of stronghold that they're in the safe haven right now.

BALDWIN: So, it's the location there on the border that makes it such a prize, if I may. Phil, as people in Kobani outskirts are fleeing, we talk a lot about

of these refugees entering Turkey. How involved is the Turkish military in pushing ISIS back right now?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Phil.

BLACK: Sorry.

Yes, it's not involved at all really, Brooke. It's not part of this coalition that's taking the fight directly to ISIS, at least not yet. What we're see regularly is the odd ISIS shell or mortar crossing the border and striking Turkish territory. When that happens, the Turkish military does respond in kind.

But that's just following its rules of engagement. When something hits Turkish territory, the Turkish military fights back. That's not really a concerted effort to drive back ISIS or to slow down the advance that it is currently making.

The Turkish president has said that Turkey can't stay out of this international coalition, but he really hasn't indicated what it's prepared to do in a practical sense. The Turkish effort in terms of ISIS is really focused on dealing with those refugees, those 200 or so refugees that are fleeing before its current advance.

BALDWIN: What know Erdogan and we know President Obama had a conversation when President Obama was on Air Force One end of last week. And I think really the key just geographically with Turkey is, right, the issue with the foreign fighters and keeping them from entering into Syria and joining this fight.

Colonel, did you want to jump in, one final word?

REESE: No, I think you guys have it. This is exactly what's going on. When ISIS sends indirect fire and it crosses into Turkey, the Turks by their rules of engagement have counterbattery fire. They fire back. That's about all they're going to do.

BALDWIN: Colonel Reese and Phil Black, thank you, gentlemen, very much.

CNN has just been given incredible access into the mind-set of these ISIS fighters. Arwa Damon, our senior international correspondent, actually sat down with a recent defector and even speaks with an active ISIS fighter. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When coalition airstrikes blasted the ISIS strong hold of Raqqa, Abu Talha saw a target of opportunity. He called the only person he could trust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He was a relative. He was always telling me to defect.

DAMON: Defect from ISIS. He shaved his beard and crossed into Turkey. Visibly anxious as we speak. Now wanted by all sides. The organization he refers to as the Islamic State he tells us relies heavily on foreign fighters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't see anything. The French, they have so much control. They're even more extreme than we are. They come from France, but it's as if they have been a part of the Islamic State for years.

DAMON: And he says ISIS was well prepared for coalition airstrikes, moving their fighters and equipment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They almost entirely emptied out the headquarters him some equipment they hid in civilian neighborhoods, some they hid underground. DAMON (on camera): We are interviewing him by Skype, he's ran ISIS fighter in Raqqa. But he won't speak directly to a woman so that's why (inaudible) is asking the questions.

(voice-over): Since the coalition airstrikes in Syria, he says, ISIS band all communications from Raqqa. With permission from his emir, Abu Talha travelled closer to the border with Iraq, to be able access the Internet for this interview.

ABU TALHA, SYRIAN ISIS FIGHTER (through translator): We have been ready for this for some time. We now our bases are known because they're tracking us with radars and satellites. We have back-up locations. They thought they knew everything. Thank God, they don't know anything. God willing. We will defeat the infidels.

DAMON: He says he was with the fighters who overran Mosul and that they knew how easy it would be to push out the Iraqi army and seize their weapons and armor, much of it American made.

TALHA: This thing was all planned and prepared. There was nothing by chance. It was all organized.

DAMON: Abu Talha scoffed at the coalition strikes on the oil installations and other targets.

TALHA: We, the Islamic State, we have revenue other than oil. We have other avenues and our finances are not going to stop just because of oil losses. They hit us in some areas. We advance in others. If we are pushed back if Iraq. We advance in Northern Syria. These strikes cannot stop us, our support or our fighters.

DAMON: For Abu Omar, the caliphate was a dream. One he still believes in, but not under ISIS. Not like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a 70-year-old sheik killed in front of me. Islamic state can't continue like this there are a lot of youth who are joining, 14, 15-years-old. Maybe my voice can make them think again.

DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Gaziantep, Turkey. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa, thank you.

Coming up next here on CNN, we have some breaking news in the disappearance of that University of Virginia second-year Hannah Graham. There's now word that this man who is accused of kidnapping her could be linked to the disappearance of a Virginia Tech student five years ago. We are talking to a reporter in Virginia who broke the story.

Plus, we're learning more about the man accused of beheading a co- worker in Oklahoma, what he told investigators about his work environment and the kinds of videos he watched before allegedly killing his victim, plus this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, we are following breaking news here in the disappearance of the University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham.

There is now word this afternoon that the man accused of kidnapping her could be linked to the disappearance of a Virginia Tech student who was in Charlottesville, Virginia, when she went missing five years ago. Hannah Graham was reported missing on September 14. She was last seen the day before in this surveillance video along with Jesse Matthew Jr.

So, police named Matthew a suspect. Here's his mug shot. They tracked him down to this beach in Texas. He's expected to make his first court appearance this Thursday. But now police say Matthew's arrest has provided them with a forensic link to the abduction and death of Morgan Harrington from 2009, a link they are now actively pursuing.

So reporter Laura French from CNN affiliate WVIR who broke this story for us joins me live in Charlottesville, Virginia, and also Sunny Hostin, CNN legal analyst.

But, Laura, I have got a lot of questions for you, beginning what are your sources telling you and what can you tell me about the link between the two cases?

LAURA FRENCH, WTVR REPORTER: Well, we learned exclusively last week that, as you said Jesse Matthew, the suspect in the disappearance of 18-year-old second-year UVA student Hannah Graham, has been forensically linked to 20-year-old Morgan Harrington.

Now, Morgan Harrington is a Virginia Tech student that went missing from here about five years ago. Actually next month will mark that five-year anniversary. And Morgan's body, it was found about seven miles from the John Paul Jones Arena. That's where she went missing on the night of October 17, 2009.

Now, what we can't tell you is exactly how he came in contact with her. All we know is that forensic evidence links him to Morgan on October 17, 2009, the night that she disappeared. This is a huge break in this case, her parents very vocal in all of this.

BALDWIN: But talked -- Sunny, I'm coming to you in a minute because I wanted to ask you your thoughts on the forensic link.

But, Laura, I just have to stay with you. You talked to Morgan Harrington's mother a little while ago. They have had for five years just no idea what happened to their daughter other than knowing her body was found on a farm in Virginia. What did she tell you?

FRENCH: Right.

Well, you know, they just in one word said they are absolutely relieved. In her words, she said for the past five years, she has learned how to be the parent of a daughter who was murdered. Now she said she's going to have to learn how to be the parent of a daughter who was potentially killed by a serial killer. Those are of course her words. She said it's time for her now to take a step back and let the legal process come to light. She also said now is a time that we need to focus on finding Hannah Graham.

BALDWIN: Gosh, just feeling for parents of both of those young women.

And, Sunny, as a former federal prosecutor and just knowing the law as well as you do, when you hear this from police and they are very specific in not being specific in saying just this forensic link, what does that tell you?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's significant. It certainly is significant for the police department to come out with that kind of statement.

What we don't know is what they mean by the term forensics. A lot of people jump to the conclusion that it is DNA evidence, which it could be. But sometimes when lawyers and law enforcement officers talk about forensics, they are talking about ballistics. They are talking about weapons. They are talking about anything sort of scientific that would tie a suspect, a defendant to a scene.

It could be blood evidence. And, yes, it could be DNA evidence. And so I think, when we hear that term, a significant break, those terms, rather, significant break, forensic evidence, this is huge, huge. We are talking about something scientific linking this suspect to that crime.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you.

Laura French, we're going to stay in close contact with you from WTVR in Richmond. Thank you, both of you, very much.

Just ahead here on CNN, President Obama calling out the country's head of intelligence when it comes to information or lack thereof pertaining to ISIS. Is he passing the buck? We will debate that.

Plus, after a woman is beheaded in Oklahoma, allegedly by a co-worker trying to convert people to Islam, we now know more about the suspect's alleged motive, including how he felt at work. There are new accusations another man threatens to behead his co-

worker, all in the same state. Is there a connection? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, he says it was a joke, but his million-dollar bond show authorities are taking an Oklahoma man's alleged threat of beheading his co-worker quite seriously.

Police say Jacob Muriithi told the woman he -- quote -- "represented ISIS" and that he was going to cut her head off. The alleged victim told police that Muriithi approached her September 13 because she was wearing the Star of David, a Jewish symbol. Muriithi and the woman worked together in this nursing home.

Muriithi is now facing a charge of making a terroristic threat. That was the case in Oklahoma City and police say it was beheading Thursday in the nearby town of Moore, Oklahoma, that prompted Muriithi's co- worker to have authorities take a second look at Muriithi, who was initially charged with a misdemeanor.

And charges are expected to be filed today against the man accused of the beheading in Moore. But terrorism will not be among those charges. It appears Alton Nolen may have been lashing out against his employer and not for any terrorist group.

To explain, let's go to justice correspondent Pamela Brown.

Pamela, just tell me what you know about Nolen's motivations here.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we're learning from law enforcement officials that Nolen told investigators during an interview after the beheading that he felt oppressed at work and he was particularly upset about not getting a pay raise.

Apparently, that was something that he was asking for. We're also learning that he watched beheading videos online some time before he allegedly severed the head of one of his co-workers in Moore, Oklahoma, as you just mentioned. And law enforcement sources are telling me that Nolen was told by management just before the beheading that he was this trouble for disruptive behavior and trying to convert co-workers to Islam.

He allegedly returned to work Thursday with a knife and targeted co- workers at random. But at this point, investigators say the beheading was actually not an act of terrorism, but an isolated act of workplace violence. However, there is a trail of disturbing red flags indicating Nolen's extremist views on his Facebook page.

Nolen posted a picture of a beheading, an Islam of Muslim extremism, Osama bin Laden and along with several anti-American rants, Brooke. And we're just learning that he will be charged with first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, as you said. He will not be charged with terrorism at this point, Brooke.

BALDWIN: How long ago had he converted? BROWN: Well, we know he got out of prison last year and we're told by

officials that at some point along the way he converted to Islam and then became increasingly radicalized online from there, and, as I just mentioned, he watched beheading videos and had visited Web sites that other extremists were known to visit and from there that's when he started going to work and preaching and trying to convert his employees to Islam, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Pamela Brown, thank you.

President Obama saying the United States intelligence community underestimated the threat of ISIS. Should the president have taken more responsibility? Our political analysts will debate that.

Plus, we have got some new poll numbers we just want to share with you that indicate how you Americans think about how President Obama has handled the ISIS both threat in Iraq and Syria. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

President Obama said, yes, the United States did, his word, underestimate the growing power of ISIS in Syria. In fact, he called out his own national director of intelligence, national intelligence, by name as someone whose department failed to recognize the rise of ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Well, I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's talk about ISIS and the intelligence and the president with Larry Haas, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the America Foreign Policy Council. He should -- I should add also communications director for former Vice President Al Gore, and also S.E. Cupp, host of CNN's "CROSSFIRE."

So, great to have both of you on.

And, S.E., let me just begin with you, because we know that intelligence officials told Jim Sciutto, our national security correspondent last week, that the CIA issued multiple intelligence reports on ISIS in the months before this advance of ISIS into Iraq.

But now we see the president in that "60 Minutes" interview calling out Clapper. Clapper underestimated. What was the president trying to say?

S.E. CUPP, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, look, and the Kurds were also warning the United States and Britain long, long, long ago of the ISIS threat coming out of Syria and into Iraq.

The problem with this administration is twofold. They have a history of politicizing terrorism and foreign policy. You remember in 2012, just before the election, we were told al Qaeda is decimated, Russia is not a threat, Iraq is all sewn up. And they also have a history of getting foreign policy wrong, whether it's on ISIS or the Russian reset or on Syria.

So, it's really difficult to trust what's coming out of the administration, whether that's President Obama or, frankly, the CIA, when it comes to these dual issues. The information and the spin just hasn't been credible. And that hurts both the American public when we try to decide what to do and, frankly, our global allies.

BALDWIN: OK.

Larry, I want to make sure you can respond to that. But I also just want to play a little something just, again, exemplifying multiple people and the warnings over the course of the year.

Roll it.