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NEW DAY

U.S. Unveils Plan to Take Back Mosul; Obama: 'Put an End to Cycle of Hate'; Record-Breaking Deep Freeze Moving East; Unrest in Venezuela Over Caracas Mayor's Arrest; Countdown to the Oscars; U.S. Muslims Take on ISIS Recruiters

Aired February 20, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: American-trained forces preparing to launch attacks in weeks to win back the key city of Mosul.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These terrorists are desperate for legitimacy. But we must recognize that lasting stability and real security require democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the animal a block away. Are you happy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were yelling over the speaker, telling him he needed to come out with his hands in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three felonies, including the murder of Tammy Myers.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We're live here in Hollywood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The glitz, the glamour, the red carpet.

UM UNIDENTIFIED MALE Hollywood's biggest night.

PEREIRA: The countdown to Oscar Sunday is near at hand.

(END VIDEO CLIIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, February 20th, just before 6:00 in the East. I'm Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota not here, but we have Brianna Keilar and JB here in the studio. Michaela Pereira, tough duty, in Hollywood covering the Oscars. Should have the vest on. Where's the vest?

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: No vest, no vest.

CUOMO: Good. Stay safe. Back here, we've got new developments in the war for you. There's a

major fight brewing with ISIS for what could be the key battleground in Iraq, and that is Mosul. U.S. troops had their hands full there more than once over the years. It is the ISIS stronghold there, and now serious talk that the U.S. may have to be not just back into the fight, but on the ground again.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And all of this happening as President Obama is calling for unity against violent extremism. The president is taking heat from both sides for his reluctance to use the words "Islam" and "Muslim" in describing the threats from terror groups like ISIS.

Let's begin our team coverage now with Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.

The Pentagon now revealing what it says is an Iraqi plan to take back the city of Mosul from ISIS. The way the plan was sketched out to reporters yesterday, here's how it looks. The fight will begin in April or May. A force of 20 to 25,000 Iraqi troops being assembled, being trained to go to Mosul.

A lot of detail offered by the Pentagon, even the fact that Peshmerga forces would help contain from the north and the west so ISIS fighters couldn't escape.

As you point out, the big question is still not decided: will it require a small number of U.S. troops on the ground to help pick out those ISIS targets for the Iraqi forces to strike?

So you might ask yourself, why all this detail? Because we know the Pentagon doesn't like to talk about future operations. Maybe a little psy ops, maybe trying to encourage the Iraqis. Maybe trying to throw ISIS off kilter. But nonetheless, the Pentagon yesterday saying this is the plan -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Barbara, that is the plan, thank you.

And President Obama marking the final day of a White House summit on extremism, saying that Muslim nations have a particular challenge and responsibility to counter radical messages.

Let's go now to CNN's Michelle Kosinski, live at the White House. And really, as the president addressed this issue yesterday, Michelle, even though he wouldn't say Muslim extremism, a lot -- almost all of these programs that were discussed were targeting the Muslim community.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes and President Obama took the time again to explain why the White House has had this stance. I mean, this wrapped up with again, blunt talk at times from the president and others, saying that everyone has not just a role, but a responsibility to try to prevent violent extremism. In particular, speaking to Muslim leaders, Muslim communities to be a voice to counter it.

And he, he hit those same points. That first of all, he didn't want to elevate terrorists to the level of being some kinds of religious leaders, that they desperately want that. And also that this is not a war against Islam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: None of us, I think, should be immune from criticism in terms of specific policies. But the notion that the west is at war with Islam is an ugly lie. And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it.

When peaceful democratic change is impossible, it feeds into the terrorist propaganda that violence is the only answer available. So we must recognize that lasting stability and real security require democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Well, that's the goal there. I think the real takeaways from this are more funding to be spent on programs around the world to try to counter extremism. Really, a deeper analysis of the problem.

And the president also announced this new program with the UAE, a digital communications hub to try to counter all the messaging on social media that's been out there from ISIS and others.

I think it was also interesting to hear from the director of the counterterrorism center, talking about what's not working or what could be done a lot better.

And first of all kind of early warning signs, identifying these in the communities. And he mentioned that there are good programs out there. I mean, these are very small; they're on a community level. But that's where the basis of extremism lies. And he says those need to be expanded quite a bit. It's going to take time, obviously, and in some cases a lot of time.

But what was put out there, not only from leaders in America, but from around the world, are practical ideas, for example, the mayor of Paris saying that when you look at the history of violent extremism in that country, you see a lot of school failures along the line. And she's talking about possibly keeping schools open on Saturday, especially in vulnerable communities -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Appreciate the dissertation on how we got here. You've got the fight for future. It's been, what, 20, 25 years so far. But you also have the urgency of the fight right now. And there's a battle coming that could be, for sure, the biggest so far. But it would have the most serious implications, practically, optically and politically.

So let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst, managing editor of "Quartz," Bobby Ghosh. Also joining us, CNN global affairs analyst, former U.S. Delta Force commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, also founder and chairman of Tiger Swan.

Mosul, it makes a lot of our best fighting men and women in the U.S. go, "Ooh, not Mosul." First question to you, Colonel, why do I know about this battle so far before it begins? Loose lips sink ships. What's going on here?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Chris, you know, I heard everyone yesterday discussing, "Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, we're telling them we're coming."

First off, everyone knows this is coming. The Iraqi forces are coming up the Tigris River Valley. The Peshmerga are already outside of Mosul. But we also have to keep one thing in mind: Mosul is a huge city. This is going to be a heck of a bloody fight when we finally get in here.

But one thing the Iraqis, the Iraqis want to do -- we have to stop putting a western -- our western strategy on this is -- the Iraqis wants to be able to give some time for the populace, if they can get out of there, get them out of there. So they're not having the populace inside this fight.

CUOMO: Now, that's a key thing. And I know that you say that the implications going on here are huge. People don't even understand it. And I'm going to have you explain it to us. But you just touched on a key point, Bobby, that you've been discussing. This is the second most populous city. But there also was a play here on advanced notice, that may hurt within the ranks of ISIS. How could this work to the advantage of the coalition, letting this be known ahead of time?

BOBBY GHOST, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, to some degree, the hope, I suppose, is that all these -- all these Young disaffected people from around the world who are flocking to the region to join ISIS, maybe if you -- if you start talking up the battle of Mosul, it will give some people pause. If you're a Young guy in Morocco, let's say, and you're thinking of going to fight with the Islamic State, when you hear that there's a big battle coming, perhaps that makes you think, "Mmm, I don't want to go right now."

I'm not sure that always works. Because for a lot of these people, the prospect of going to battle is exactly what draws them there. The idea of dying in some glorious martyrdom is what draws them there. But the scale of this...

CUOMO: They've seen seeing videos of smiling training faces, hit-and- run adventures where they're obviously superiorly equipped with assets. Not going to be the case this time.

GHOSH: That's right. And when you start seeing tanks begin to circle around the city, maybe that sends a little down your spine. At least that is the hope.

The trouble, of course, is that this, as you point out, is a huge city. To get some -- to get a perspective, Bashar al-Assad's army in Syria. Very sophisticated army with no concern for civilian lives, have been going in and pounding ISIS with tanks, with sort of bombs from the air, with ground troops. And they still haven't defeated ISIS on their home turf. So that gives you a sense. His -- the Syrian army much better prepared, much more used to fighting than the Iraqis.

CUOMO: Right. Well, we don't have Turkey involved yet on the ground themselves. But at least they're helping to train. Now there's some talk that we're going to start helping the Syrian rebels. I know both of you think we're too late and a dollar short with that. But at least it's something.

But Colonel, size up the military campaign ahead. You said that you would liken this to, what, Stalingrad, in terms of how hard a place it would be to fight. What makes it so hard? What can we expect going in there?

REESE: Well, Chris, any time you have to go into what we call a MOUNT environment, military operations in urban terrain, a bit city like this, you are fighting 360 degrees, up and down. It's an asymmetric fight. Everywhere you have to turn there could be a threat, both for the good guys and the bad guys in this fight. It is a difficult fight. It's a slog; it's street by street.

And what has to happen for the coalition is that what we're doing pretty well right now, is they're isolating ISIS in Mosul. Cutting off their supply lines, cutting off the ability to reinforce. Again, you've got the Peshmerga to the north and the northwest. And they'll start to isolate. Then we'll start pounding the ISIS positions, really starting to degrade them. And then what we'd really hope for ISIS decides maybe they say, "No mas" and puts up the white flag, which I don't think is going to

ever happen. But then eventually, we're going to have to gain a foothold into Mosul and take this street by street and eradicate ISIS out of Mosul.

CUOMO: So right now, we're looking ahead to the worst. There's going to be heavy civilian casualties. It's going to be bloody. It cannot be easy; it will not be quick. We've seen that before in Mosul, even with the best fighting men and women on the ground.

Last point, Bobby.

GHOSH: There's going to need to be an internal revolt. People in Mosul have got to rise up against ISIS.

CUOMO: The people who live there?

GHOSH: The people who live there. They're only going to do that if they're confident that Baghdad has their back. And right now Baghdad hasn't proven that. The Baghdad forces just walked away from Mosul, left two million people vulnerable to ISIS. Those people now have to be convinced that, if you rise up against ISIS, we will come and protect you. We won't leave you stranded there with your families and sort of basically have ISIS come knocking on your door again. We have your back. We're coming in; we've got you covered. Now rise up and help us from within. Unless that happens, this is not going to work.

CUOMO: Colonel Reese, brother Ghosh, thank you very much. As always, a good weekend to both of you.

John, and as we know, that's the big paranoia in that part of the world. Is the Americans come in, they help us; and then they're gone, and we're left with a government that doesn't have our back.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, what happens later? All right, Chris. Thanks so much.

A record-breaking deep freeze bearing down on most of the eastern United States. We're talking about 185 million people in 30 states, gearing up for what will be and already is the coldest day of the season.

CNN's Ryan Young joins us from a frozen-over Niagara Falls, where this morning it feels like 30 below zero, or as far as Ryan is concerned, it just feels awesome.

Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It definitely feels awesome, but say that again, negative 30. Unbelievable temperatures. It is very cold out here but what a sight. Of course, they shut the lights off this morning for the falls, and of course, as daylight comes up we'll be able to see them better. But as you look over the edge, you can see the mist just pounding up. Because the water is still flowing, even though it looks frozen here. Especially if you look back towards the wall, you can see the water coming over the edge. More than 20 million gallons moves through here during the winter.

But this is a frozen ice-land, especially when you see it with your eyes. You can take a look at this video. We've been standing here with more than dozens and dozens of people as they've been enjoying the sight. In fact, it's become such a tourist attraction, especially with the frozen ice-land that we have here. Overnight, we saw people stopping to take pictures, kissing each other, just having a good time at the edge.

I can tell you it is never frozen. It hasn't frozen here in 150 years in terms of just the actual body of water. So it is flowing. On the American side it's rock-solid shut, because we're on the Canadian side.

Now take a look at the graphic just to see just how cold it is across the country. You see it, Lexington, Kentucky, it's a negative 13. And here, wind chill of negative 31. And I can tell you it's just so super cold. And then you see Boston, your home town, John, they haven't been above freezing in the last 15 days. You can tell everybody here, it is just cold. And you can feel it on your face. It just does something to you.

BERMAN: It's hard to talk. We can hear it, Ryan. It's simply hard to make out words when it is as cold as it is. Thank you for being there and braving this cold for us, Ryan. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.

KEILAR: Don't you think that's why people are kissing? They're trying to warm up their mouths?

BERMAN: I'm afraid if you kiss somebody, you're not ever going to be able to pull apart. It will be one long kiss.

KEILAR: Very romantic, you know, Niagara Falls.

CUOMO: He always has that theory. That has nothing to do with the temperature.

KEILAR: Well, you probably want to know if there's any relief to this unbearable cold. Chad Myers, tell us, when is it going to let up?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It gets better on Sunday.

KEILAR: OK.

MYERS: We have that to look forward to. In New York, you'll be above 40 degrees.

But the temperatures in Michigan right now are unbelievable. Pellston, Michigan, right now, 33 below zero. And that is not a wind chill. There is no wind. It's calm. Thirty-three below zero. Gaylord, Michigan, 32 below right now.

Wind-chill factors all across the northeast: 12 below, New York City; 7 below D.C. So bundle up yourself, the kids and the pets, please.

Record-breaking lows all across the country. It is 13 below right now in Lexington. The old record is zero. You have broken the record by 13 degrees. You've shattered that record today, and the highs don't warm up much. Nashville, you get an ice storm at 30. Dayton, you're going to get some snow all the way across to Pittsburgh.

Another storm system coming out of the south, spreading ice for a while for Nashville. But what you'll notice with this storm is that you'll get ice and then it will just rain, and it will be 36. So there's some relief.

Now it never warms up, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis or even into Columbus, Ohio. You stay snow almost the entire time. There will be snow for New York city, as well, and it will change over to rain. But watch that little period, guys, especially Chris, the little period, maybe one or two hours where it's a sheet of ice before it warms up.

CUOMO: That's what it is. It's not about the numbers. It's about the conditions, and we want people to be aware. Chad Everett, thank you very much. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.

MYERS: You're welcome.

CUOMO: Want to tell you this morning about an intense shelling at the rebel stronghold of Donetsk overnight, almost a week into the "ceasefire." The leaders of Ukraine and Germany speaking overnight, emphasizing that international monitors should be allowed to observe.

Meanwhile, Russian separatists in complete control of Debaltseve, including a crucial rail hub, major development.

BERMAN: We want to turn now to new unrest in Venezuela. Well, the mayor of Caracas was arrested amid accusations of a coup attempt. We want to get straight away to CNN's Rafael Romo with the latest on this. And a complete disregard for the idea of respect for political opposition, Rafael.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.

The mayor's arrest seemed like a military operation. Witnesses including his wife say as many as 150 heavily armed intelligence agents burst into his office, breaking the door with a sledgehammer. There was a lot of pushing and shoving before opposition Mayor Antonio Ledesma was taken away violently.

It was hours before the Venezuelan socialist government acknowledged the arrest. At a public event broadcast on national TV, President Nicolas Maduro said the mayor will be prosecuted, quote, "so that he answers for all of the crimes committed against the peace, security and constitution," end quote, of Venezuela.

Last week, the president accused the Caracas mayor of being involved in a plot to overthrow the government. The mayor has denied the accusation, calling it the government's latest attempt to manufacture controversy and target political opponents. Opposition leaders say Maduro is targeting political opponents to shift the focus from the country's multiple problems. Inflation reached 63 percent last year alone. Shortages of goods and services are commonplace.

Back to you.

KEILAR: All right. Thanks, Rafael.

The NFL's Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers are proposing to move to Los Angeles and share a stadium if they can't get new stadium deals done in their home cities by the end of the year. The proposed site is in Carson, California. The stadium would be privately financed. Both teams have seen attendance dwindle in their current aging homes, which have been used since the mid-'60s.

BERMAN: The countdown is on for Hollywood's biggest night. We're talking about the Oscars now just two days away. Michaela Pereira on the red carpet in Hollywood. The anticipation we're feeling it all the way over here -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: The anticipation is pretty strong at 3 a.m. in Hollywood. Just me and the club kids are up. Listen, all of the voting is done. They have been cast. All that is left is the big glamorous show on Sunday, Hollywood's biggest night.

Now the producers are billing this show as a mix of magic and song. But as you're about to find out, the competition is really, really close. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): This morning, the countdown to Oscar Sunday is near at hand. The steep competition igniting debate.

RAMIN SEFOODEN, SENIOR MOVIE EDITOR, "VARIETY": The Oscars tend to do well when movies do well. And so this year you have seven of the eight Best Picture nominees with moderate or small box office success. And then you have this goliath.

PEREIRA: A driving momentum, a box office record-breaker and independent heavy-hitters pushing political and social hot buttons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. King!

PEREIRA: The struggle for gay rights plays out in "The Imitation Game."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if I don't fancy Germany in that way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's illegal. They're looking for any excuse to put you away.

PEREIRA: Then there's "American Sniper," the highest-grossing war film ever, making hundreds of millions more than every other Best Picture nominee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to get the bad guys, but if I can't see them, I can't shoot them.

PEREIRA: Critics calling the lionizing of a sniper as a patriot and a hero, both a pro-war and an anti-war film.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This one is just American hero. He's a psychopath patriot, and we love him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This right here is the next great battle.

PEREIRA: This, as "Selma" digs into racial injustice on the heels of heated protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not asking, we're demanding. Give us the vote.

PEREIRA: The African-American-led feature sparking dialogue after being snubbed for most nominations.

SEFOODEN: There's no real easy explanation for why it was snubbed. Some people think the studio wasn't aggressive enough. The movie wasn't finished until the last minute. Oscar voters may not have seen it or may not have connected with it.

PEREIRA: The result: all 20 lead and supporting nominees are white. The controversy shining the spotlight on the historical lack of diversity by the Academy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the class of 2014, thank you, thank you and congratulations.

PEREIRA: In Oscar's 87-year history, only 14 African-Americans have ever won an acting award out of over 300 presented.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: So controversy aside, a lot of films and a lot of performances, getting a lot of buzz, but also a lot of those categories are down to the wire. It's anybody's guess how they're going to fall. A real nail-biter. Hard to predict. You know we're going to try our hand at it, anyway. I've got two Hollywood insiders going to join me, coming up on NEW DAY to talk about their predictions for the big night, Hollywood's biggest night. Chris, Brianna, John, I can't wait.

CUOMO: I like it. And just to practice, I love who you're wearing, Brianna told me not to say what you're wearing. I love who you're wearing.

PEREIRA: You know, there's a bit. We're going to talk about that, because there's a little bit of push-back on that. People saying, "I'm more than just the dress. I'm more than just the fashion."

CUOMO: That's what Berman says every morning. I'm not just my suit. I'm not just my hair.

PEREIRA: Every morning.

CUOMO: See you soon, Mick.

PEREIRA: So true.

CUOMO: Take a quick break, President Obama admitting that we're losing recruitment battle to ISIS. How is the terror group able to convince so many young people to basically go die? We have what the best answers are to that question, and to stopping it.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The notion that the west is at war with Islam is an ugly lie. And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That was President Obama's during his three-day White House summit to combat extremism. He called on religious leaders to confront extreme ideologies that attract young recruits. Will those leaders heed the call?

Well, I want to bring in someone who already is, Imam Mohamed Magid. He's the executive director of the All-Dulles-Area Muslim Society, and he's intervened in several cases of young men being recruited by ISIS. Imam, thanks so much for being with us, and give us a sense. I think

so many people don't understand how ISIS in particular, how it recruits young people and the methods that it uses to really sell its ideology.

IMAM MOHAMED MAGID, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALL-DULLES-AREA MUSLIM SOCIETY: Thank you for having me.

As the American Muslims always, you know, work with the youth and integrate them into society and have them to be part of Girl Scout, Boy Scout programs, they also -- they are very alert that -- for any kind of targeting of the -- to the children.

And most of the cases that I dealt with, it's the parents who are the one who came to me and says, "We realize that our child being recruited or being talked to, about violent extremist ideas." What the ISIS does, it used the Internet. And try to isolate children from their mosque, from their parents, and to try to project itself as the only legitimate source of Islam.

And as we have heard many times, that ISIS does not represent Islam in any way or form. It is the ideology that preach hate. And Islam is the theology of love. And it is the ideology that preach death, and Islam is the theology of life. And therefore when we talk to young people, we explain to them that what you've been hearing is not the true message of Islam. And we help parents, as any pastor or rabbi might talk to a child being recruited for gang violence group, to try to integrate that child back into the community.

KEILAR: Yes. I wonder, Osama bin Laden, when he was declaring jihad, in 1998, he quoted the Koran. He said, quote, "fight and enslave the nonbelievers wherever you find them. Seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem," meaning every stratagem of war.

What do you say when you are referring to tell young people who are at risk that this is not -- this is not the message of Islam?

MAGID: I would like us to say that in every religious text, there's passages that can be taken out of context. And when I teach young people, when I share with them the message of Islam, I say to them look to the marvel of the prophet of Islam. His message was a message of love, and God said we send you as a mercy to the whole world. And see how he dealt with his neighbor, how he forgive other people who wronged him, how he engaged the entire community around him in the message of peace.

Therefore, when ISIS or anyone who tried to teach the ideology of hate to young people, quoting the Koran to them to try to legitimize violence, we deconstruct those ideas by using the same text.

KEILAR: Yes.

MAGID: The only way to address this issue from the ideological perspective is to use the same text...

KEILAR: Exactly.

MAGID: ... to preach the message of love and peace.

KEILAR: Let's talk about the risk factors of those who are most vulnerable. It seems to be that they are men. They seem to be getting younger. We heard President Obama say that poverty really puts some of these young men at a risk. But it sounds like, talking to you and other Muslim leaders, that it's alienation that is the bigger issue, right?

MAGID: Yes, absolutely. You're right. It's not about being poor only. There's many factors, and one of them is that the young people, when they engage in the virtual community, when they start talking to people in the Internet and try to take their religious teaching from them, that's where the problem starts.

And that's why the -- our mosque and many mosques around the United States, have created program that really provide youth engagement program that made them part of the social fabric. We have the largest Boy Scout-Girl Scout program in our mosque. Therefore, many people that -- who come to me, they didn't go to the mosque. They have learned all of these things on the Internet.

KEILAR: Yes. It's such important work that you're doing, Imam Magid. Thanks so much for coming on and talking to us about it.

MAGID: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Chris.

CUOMO: Now that is an important conversation.

After the break, Brianna, we have an arrest in the Las Vegas road rage murder. Few saw this coming. Wait until you hear who this 19-year- old is and the relationship he had with the victim.

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