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CNN NEWSROOM

U.S. Strikes May Have Killed Jihadi John; One of Four Alleged Bombers Survives Beirut Attack; On the Front Lines of Fight Against ISIS in Sinjar; Who is Jihadi John; Interview with Gen. John Allen; Suu Kyi's Party Wins Majority in Myanmar Election; Europe Sets Up Fund to Africa to Stem Migrant Flow; Strong Words from Tom Hanks on Migrant Crisis; Suspicions North Korean Leader Killing Elites to Consolidate Power. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 13, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:02] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And as we speak, more than 7,000 Kurdish soldiers are fighting to retake a key Iraqi city from ISIS control.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SESAY: The Pentagon says U.S. forces targeted the infamous ISIS killer known as Jihadi John in a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria. Mohammed Emwazi terrified the world from behind a mask. He appeared in videos allegedly showing him beheading ISIS hostages. He's a British citizen believed to have been born in Kuwait. And a senior U.S. official says authorities are confident Emwazi was killed, but the Pentagon has not yet confirmed his death.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more on this operation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon said in a very brief late-night announcement that it conducted an airstrike against Jihadi John, the notorious killer of so many hostages seen in those terrible beheading videos.

Now we know that the families of the American hostages have been notified. The British government was notified. The Japanese families obviously are getting word, as well, of what has happened.

U.S. officials are being very clear. They believe they got him with a drone strike against the vehicle he was in, in Raqqa, Syria, ISIS' capital -- its self-declared capital but they are not 100 percent sure. They are looking for confirmation. With no U.S. troops or intelligence personnel on the ground in Syria they will have to look at social media postings, intercepted communications, any indicators out there in the public arena, any announcement that he may have died. They still believe, however, that there is a very good chance that they got him.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, CNN international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us now live from Cairo with some analysis.

Ben, give us some perspective on the significance of the strike.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really more symbolic than substantive in the sense that this was a man who played a very high profile role in these videos of the beheadings of Stephen Sotloff and James Foley and the others which really did galvanize the U.S. certainly into taking decisive action against ISIS. But I think we need to look beyond this particular strike and the possibility that this Mohamed Emwazi, otherwise known as Jihadi John, is dead and look at the broader picture of the fight against ISIS.

And I think there you are starting to see that this entity which really expanded dramatically in the summer of 2014 is starting to be stopped and pushed back. The last major conquest they did was in May of this year, of Ramadi, that city, the capital of the province by the same name, to the west of Baghdad. Since then we've seen them driven out of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, and of course now we're seeing this major operation against ISIS in the Sinjar mountain to the west of Mosul.

So yes, in terms of symbolism, it's important. But I think beyond that, what we are seeing, and this may be part of it, is that ISIS is slowly being rolled back -- Isha.

SESAY: Ben, you mentioned this being a symbolic victory, but ISIS is an organization that all too well understands the value of symbols, of images and messaging. So for the U.S. it still presents a moment to exploit in those terms but the question is how?

WEDEMAN: Well, certainly yes, this is somebody very familiar. He's got this rather cutesy name assigned to him by the British tabloids, but beyond that keep in mind one thing that oftentimes with these organizations somebody is killed. Somebody is removed. And they're quickly replaced by somebody else. It's the organization itself that certainly needs to be undermined.

And we are seeing that after some false starts and trouble that the U.S.-led coalition with the help of Kurds in Syria and northern Iraq is beginning to make progress. So certainly how can the U.S. exploit this? It does definitely send a message to key figures within ISIS that they could be visited with a similar fate.

[01:05:02] Now we've heard in the past about sort of there were reports that perhaps Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the so-called caliph of ISIS had been killed in strikes. Of course they were proved -- those reports were proved to be wrong, but certainly it does perhaps send a bit of alarm through the ranks of the senior officials, the senior leadership of ISIS that they could be next -- Isha.

SESAY: Will this strike heighten regional affairs of a retaliation- type strike from ISIS?

WEDEMAN: Well, given that this man, Mohammed Emwazi, was not really a senior leader. He was a very prominent figure within certainly the media show that we -- that is ISIS, but in terms of its military leadership, its hierarchy, oftentimes these foreigners, of course yes, he -- you know, he was born in Kuwait, grew up in the U.K., but a lot of the leadership of the organization is Iraqi. And this man definitely was not part of that central leadership.

Now will perhaps ISIS use targets of opportunity to strike back? Not -- not necessarily, because of the alleged purported killing of Mohammed Emwazi or Jihadi John, but rather, as a result, as I mentioned, of the increasing, the mounting military pressure on ISIS in Syria and Iraq -- Isha.

SESAY: Ben Wedeman with some great perspective, some great analysis.

Ben, we appreciate the reporting from Cairo, thanks so much.

Well, Jihadi John's path to radicalization has been a few years in the making and authorities have had him in their grip a number of times.

Jim Sciutto reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED EMWAZI, "JIHADI JOHN": You now have 72 hours --

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's been the voice of some of ISIS' most brutal terror videos. Calm, ruthless, and with a distinct and surprising British accent.

EMWAZI: Our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.

SCIUTTO: Now U.K. authorities have identified the terrorist known as Jihadi John as Mohammed Emwazi, a 26-year-old British national born in Kuwait but raised in London. Though U.S. officials would not publicly discuss his suspected identity, the White House says Jihadi John is a top terror target.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: In the mind of the president, he ranks highly on the list because that individual is responsible for the murder of innocent Americans. And the president is determined to bring him to justice.

SCIUTTO: Emwazi illustrates ISIS' alarmingly broad appeal. From a well-off family, earning a college degree in technology at the University of Westminster. And until his travel to Syria in 2012, enjoying a life of privilege.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a diligent, hard-working, lovely young man, responsible, polite, quiet. He was everything that you would want a student to be.

SCIUTTO: His friends said they never saw signs of his future as a terrorist. ASIM QURESHI, CAGE RESEARCH DIRECTOR: He was such a beautiful young

man, really. You know, it's hard to imagine the trajectory, but it's not a trajectory that's unfamiliar with us -- for us.

SCIUTTO: Emwazi's friends say his path to radicalization may have begun in 2009 when he traveled to Tanzania to go on a Safari, a graduation present from his parents. But he was detained on arrival, held overnight then deported to the U.K. Authorities suspecting his true intention was to travel to Somalia. In 2010, he was detained again by counterterrorism officials in Britain. Just two years later Emwazi is believed to have traveled to Syria where he joined ISIS. His friends claimed mistreatment by British authorities sent him on a path to terrorism.

QURESHI: Our entire national security strategy for the last 13 years has only increased alienation, has only increased people feeling like they don't belong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Our Jim Sciutto reporting there. Our thanks to him.

And joining us now CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He is live via Skype from La Quinta, California.

Colonel Francona, thank you once again for joining us. This strike again said Jihadi John, if indeed he is dead, won't result in any change in the broader fight against ISIS, so what is to be gain by the U.S. here?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it was important that the U.S. and the coalition take the opportunity to deal some justice to him. Remember, he's got blood of Americans, Brits and Japanese on his hands. Certainly a murderer and certainly the face of ISIS. So taking him out really sends a message to ISIS that the United States and the coalition has the capability to monitor your movements, track you down, you can run, you can't hide. And it also sends a message to the families that we are concerned about justice for them.

[01:10:09] SESAY: How difficult will it be to verify whether or not he has been killed?

FRANCONA: Yes, this is going to be very difficult. Unless ISIS admits that he was actually killed and maybe shows the body or has a memorial service or something to that effect, it's going to have to be verified via intelligence. That means going through the intercepts. Listening to all the chatter, marking all the social media, trying to piece together everything that happened and come up with some way to verify it. It's going to be very, very difficult so I'm not looking for this in the very near future.

SESAY: And so, you know, as we look at the strike that has taken place, as we look at this purported killing of Jihadi John as yet unconfirmed, does it signal a shift in U.S. operations in Raqqa? I mean, how do you look at this more broadly speaking strategically? FRANCONA: Yes, I think that's important. You know, up until now our

operations really haven't focused on Raqqa. Raqqa being the self- proclaimed capital of the caliphate, we really haven't done a lot of damage in Raqqa. There have been a few strikes here, a few strikes there. Of course the danger is Raqqa is a sprawling city. A lot of civilian population. The real concern is being able to pick out the targets and then hit them precisely without killing a lot of civilians.

The civilian casualties, collateral damage, as they prefer to call it, is a real issue here. So we preferred to go after military formations any time we've got ISIS fighters, go after them first. So I think that going after Raqqa when we can, when we have a target we know that we can hit I think it's important that we do that. But I don't think you're going to see a big shift toward Raqqa right away.

SESAY: It's our understanding that the strike was carried out with a drone. Is this the right way to go after these targets in Raqqa, in your view? Are the right tactics being used?

FRANCONA: Well, a drone is a kind of -- a really unique capability because it's very difficult to detect. They can stay over the target for a long period of time. They have excellent, you know, sensors on board. And you've got time when you're looking at the target to actually determine, is this the guy we have been watching? Is this the guy we're going to kill, rather than an aircraft that is moving at high speed, causes a lot of noise and of course being shot at? So you know the drone is a very useful weapon in these kinds of operations.

SESAY: You know, our viewers will listen to these conversations, they'll be watching the breaking news and see that Jihadi John has, you know, possibly been taken out and will be wondering about the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Should anyone raise any hopes that this taking out as we understand it of Jihadi John signals that they're moving any closer to Baghdadi? I mean, how should they read that in terms of that ultimate goal?

FRANCONA: Well, we all have hopes that of course we can take out al- Baghdadi. But this will tell Baghdadi that we are watching, we're trying to find him. So I think he may redouble his security efforts. You know, he's paranoid about security anyway, so I think this may drive him further underground because he saw what we could do here. And he's got to think, they're coming for me next.

SESAY: Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, always great to have you on the program. Thanks so much for the perspective.

FRANCONA: Great to be with you.

SESAY: Now at least 43 people are dead after two suicide bombings at a Beirut market. The police are learning more from one of the attackers who survived.

And Kurdish fighters say they are very close to reclaiming a major city in their battle with ISIS. We're on the frontlines in Iraq, next on CNN NEWSROOM live from L.A. Do stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:58] KATE RILEY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.

Norway took on Hungary in the Third Euro 2016 playoff match. Norway has lost every home game played in November for the last 20 years. As for Hungary, well, they haven't been to the Euros since 1972. And despite that fact, Hungary took the lead just before the half-hour mark thanks to Kleinheisler. The host had the golden opportunity for the equalizer in the dying minute. But it wasn't to be. Hungary wins, 1-0.

Friday is the day we'll find out what punishment, if any, the Russian Athletics Federation will receive after the IAAF president Seb Coe and all its members meet to decide Russia's fate. But the Russian Athletics Federation chief says it has sent a report on doping allegations to the IAAF.

Also on Thursday the acting president of the Russian Athletics Federation acknowledged there were some wrongdoing among the country's athletes. Here's what he says. "We admit some things, we argue with some things, some are already fixed. It's a variety."

The suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been discharged from hospital in Switzerland. Blatter was admitted on Friday suffering from what was described by his advisers as a body breakdown. He's set to continue his recovery at home.

And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back, everyone, to our breaking news.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces targeted Jihadi John during an airstrike on Raqqa, Syria. The face of ISIS Mohammed Emwazi terrified the world. Hiding his real face, the British citizen allegedly appeared in videos showing the horrific murders of ISIS hostages. A senior U.S. official says they knew they had Jihadi John in their sights when they launched the drone strike. But the Pentagon has not publicly confirmed that he was killed.

Well, turning now to the situation in Lebanon, a would-be suicide bomber claims he was sent to Beirut by ISIS along with three other attackers. And according to a Lebanese security source that's just one of many details the suspect has revealed to investigators.

New video appears to show the surviving suicide bomber from Thursday's attack in Beirut but we have not determined its authenticity. The pair of suicide blasts killed more than 40 people and wounded at least 200. The surviving suspect is a Lebanese national. It appears the other three were killed. A purported ISIS statement claimed responsibility for the blast.

CNN's Ian Lee joins me now from Cairo. And Ian, this was a horrific twin bombing. What is the latest we're hearing on the investigation?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now they're looking into seeing how ISIS was able to get these weapons into the country. How these weapons were made. And we're told that these men were coming from neighboring Syria, according to the man that was being interrogated.

Also, though, house security forces were unable to detect them, how they were unable to stop this. This is an area where there is army checkpoints. There are checkpoints also by the Lebanese base, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. They have checkpoints there, as well. So they're going to be looking into how not only these men were able to get into Lebanon, get these bombs in Lebanon, but also how they were able to get down to the south.

Now the man who was captured is reportedly from the northern part of Lebanon in Tripoli. So these are all questions that they're going to try to get answered at this hour -- Isha.

SESAY: Yes, indeed. And a big question that we are all considering at this point is the fallout from this, the fallout there in Lebanon, a country that is always it seems on the edge of falling into chaos and has a fragile grip on stability. The fear has to be that the fragile unity could be shattered by this.

[01:20:18] LEE: Yes, one of the things that was always said in Lebanon, among the Lebanese is that when this next civil war is going to happen. Now that is a saying that has been said for quite a long time. And no party wants that to happen. Lebanon has been described as stable instability. But when it comes to this bombing you have every faction coming out and condemning it.

ISIS has posed a new challenge for Lebanon as they really have -- well, they don't have backing from any of the various political parties. They are one that is seen as a threat to all the Lebanese. So it has been somewhat of a -- something to rally against for the political parties. And today they are having an official day of mourning.

SESAY: This area that was targeted in southern Beirut is an area with a large Shiite population. Shiite population, which has a large Hezbollah presence, as well. The question has to be also Hezbollah, which is a supporter of Bashar al-Assad across the board in Syria. Will they change their -- will they change their contribution, if you will, to the battle in Syria after this bomb targeting their areas?

LEE: Probably not and most likely not. They are in it for the long haul. They are a supporter of the Assad regime. And right now they are on the advance. They are taking the fight to ISIS. Now it's -- we need to point out back in 2013 in November there was another attack against Hezbollah, controlled territories, or areas in Lebanon by al Qaeda. And that also didn't stop them from taking the fight, not only to ISIS, to the rebel groups. Also to al Qaeda.

It is unlikely to deter Hezbollah going forward as they are a group that has been prepared for stuff like this, and they are willing to fight as we see in Syria and take a number of casualties.

SESAY: Ian Lee, joining us there from Cairo with the very latest on this twin bombings in Beirut. Ian, appreciate it, thank you.

Well, new details coming into CNN right now. Kurdish officials have just tweeted that their forces will enter Sinjar soon, clear it of improvised explosive devices and reclaim the Iraqi city. This comes after Peshmerga fighters seized control of significant stretch of a main road and supply line from an ISIS stronghold.

Reclaiming Sinjar is a big step to breaking up the caliphate ISIS says it's creating. CNN's senior correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more from the frontlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun broke bringing with it a vast trail of Peshmerga pushing for a new dawn of their own against ISIS. Crawling around the back of Mt. Sinjar their advance long expected and aimed here at Sinjar's western flank.

ISIS beaten back by dozens of coalition airstrikes, barely a local vehicle left standing. They've asked for new weapons, but used what they had facing booby-traps all around. Their mortars and continued airstrikes had one key target -- the highway that runs through Sinjar. And just after noon they took it, starving ISIS' east of supplies from Syria.

(On camera): ISIS are just 500 meters potentially in that direction, but also down this road, where also lies Raqqa, the caliphate's self- declared capital. This is why this road is so vital to the Peshmerga and the coalition. They need to seize it, to keep it, to separate the ISIS part of Iraq and their part of Syria.

(Voice-over): ISIS weren't giving up the town, though, without burning it first. Once home to thousands of Yazidis they persecuted, it's being retaken by Kurds. Some suspicious of the other local group, the Sunni Arabs there.

"The local Arabs here are all with ISIS," this local commander says.

Throughout the day one mushroom cloud after another, ISIS car bombs. Some beaten back by a new Peshmerga weapon from the West, the Milan missile, which stops the suicide bombers in their tracks. This is what one did to an ISIS car, melting this pistol flat. Sinjar's urban sprawl, too, could be flattened if ISIS choose to fight in it. The first day's bravado taking the Kurds far, but not to victory.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sinjar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:25:15] SESAY: Now Russia is trying to authenticate an alleged ISIS video that threatens attacks inside the country, quote, "very soon." The five-minute video was released Thursday. It shows Russian cities with chants in Russian promising that, quote, "blood will spill like an ocean."

CNN has not been able to independently verify the video. It comes two weeks after an ISIS affiliate claims to have brought down a Russian jetliner in the Sinai. The video does not mention the plane.

Well, we are following breaking news for you. The U.S. says it has targeted the face of ISIS. We'll tell you more about Jihadi John before he became an infamous killer.

Plus, an exclusive talk with a U.S. general who has been coordinating the international fight against ISIS. He has a stark warning about the global war on terror. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles, I'm Isha Sesay.

Our breaking news, the Pentagon says U.S. forces targeted the notorious Jihadi John during an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria. Mohammad Emwazi became the face of ISIS while hiding his real face. He appeared behind the mask in horrific videos showing him allegedly murdering ISIS hostages. His victims include journalists and aid workers from the U.S., Japan and the U.K.

[01:30:00] Emwazi is a British citizen believed to have been born in Kuwait. A senior U.S. official says authorities are confident he was killed, although the Pentagon would not publicly confirm that.

So who is Jihadi John and where did he come from? Atika Shubert went to London to find out more about the man behind the mask.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an ordinary scene in a west London high school, teenage boys goofing around with a basketball. One wearing a backpack shows off fancy footwork. Then someone calls out the name to match the now famous face. Mohammad Emwazi, confirmed by U.S. officials to be Jihadi John, the marked figure featured in videos. In this video, you can see him throwing a playful punch when the bottle is chucked at him but in front of the camera he covers his face.

Emwazi was shy, but not a bad student. A teacher describes the moment she heard her former student was the mask behind ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: He was reserved, he didn't have a huge circle of friends but had a good friend. He was bullied a little bit because he was quiet and reserved. But generally, he was fine.

MOHAMMAD EMWAZI, KNOWN AS ISIS's JIHADI JOHN: I will continue to strike the next of your people.

SHUBERT: It was his distinctive British voice that led to Emwazi being identified. Since then, a fuller picture is coming out. He is described as a polite young man from a middle class university, described as a student at Westminster University and more recently in Kuwait, a reported audio recording from 2009 released by the British advocacy group.

EMWAZI: What happened was wrong.

SHUBERT: But for the people who knew him, it is difficult to understand that the football-loving teenager they knew as Mohammad Emwazi has emerged as the man behind the mask.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: And the U.S. is playing close attention to the growing global influence of ISIS. General John Allen had been spearheading the U.S. battle against the terror group and says ISIS can't be fought without understanding the underlying issues.

His last day in office is on Thursday and he sat down with an exclusive and candidate interview with global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stark warning about repeating mistakes of the past.

GEN. JOHN ALLEN, U.S. COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: We're fighting with a radicalization and an environment where people can be easily radicalized, become extremist and ultimately join a terrorist group. If we don't get to the left of the symptoms and try to solve the problems, working collaboratively with those in the region who better understand the region then we will be condemned to fight forever.

LABOTT: Today, the fight against ISIS returned to where it began, Sinjar Mountain. A year into the campaign against ISIS, the Kurds are coming out as the U.S. most reliable partners in Iraq and Syria. But airstrikes by key allies, like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan have all but stopped.

(on camera): If the Arab nations are not willing to be a part of this military coalition why should the U.S. be holding the bag here?

ALLEN: We should not measure the contributions of the Arab nations solely on whether or not they're flying missions over Syria. The Saudis, for example, have been very aggressive providing humanitarian support. In fact, they have given one of the largest humanitarian contributions to help Iraq and Syria along earlier in the crisis. The Emirates have been similarly helpful as have the --

(CROSSTALK)

LABOTT: But you want to defeat this group.

ALLEN: There's Arab leadership within the coalition. I would be careful about measuring success based solely on the number of airstrikes in Syria.

LABOTT (voice-over): When he took the job a year ago, Allen said the situation there in Iraq and Syria was dire.

ALLEN: A year later, we find Daesh shrunken significantly. We find that there has been about 14,000 or so Iraqis who have been trained. We have partners on the ground in Syria. We have the capacity to work much more closely with Turkey. So in that space of a year, we see real revolution. I think the one area we are really attentive now is the expansion of Daesh beyond the region and we're watching that closely, as well.

LABOTT: Allen says lone-wolf attacks worldwide and the growth of ISIS affiliates throughout the region shows ISIS global reach is on the rise.

ALLEN: We want to address each part of it. Bear down hard on the center, on the core with the coalition, work regionally, bilateral or multi-laterally against the provinces, and then understand the context of where there are vulnerabilities and where the network can be taken down or collapse the network or corrupt the network.

LABOTT (on camera): Which areas concern you the most?

ALLEN: We're watching closely the one in Libya. We're attentive to the organization in the Sinai. Clearly, the one in the north Caucasus is going to be a problem that the Russians are going to have to deal with for some period of time.

[01:35:04] LABOTT (voice-over): The downing of the Russian commercial airliner by an ISIS affiliate, a potential game changer. Moscow now in ISIS cross-hairs over its intervention in Syria.

(on camera): Has Russian intervention made is stronger?

ALLEN: It certainly has not hurt ISIS, in my mind.

LABOTT (voice-over): The U.S. recently abandoned a $500 million effort to train and equip Syrian rebels to fight ISIS after only a handful of fighters made it to the battlefield.

(on camera): Why did it fail?

ALLEN: When you want the individuals to concentrate on one area, and in another area, they're worrying about whether the regime is going to blow up their neighborhood, or the future of the Assad regime, that is a difficult challenge and choice to put before them.

(GUNFIRE)

LABOTT (voice-over): A new strange to rely on Kurds and other Syrian groups, Allen says, is starting to bear fruit. But with President Obama now sending in Special Forces to Syria, U.S. involvement only seems to be deepening.

(on camera): When you first took this job, when you first sat down, you said this conflict will be long, it will be years. How many more people will occupy this chair, do you think, before the job is done?

ALLEN: I hope it's maybe one.

LABOTT: Is that realistic?

ALLEN: No, I think we'll be at this for sometime. Whether we need someone that fulfills my duties or not is -- remains to be determined. But I still, as I said that day a long time ago, when you and I sat down for the first time, I still believe this is going to be a long conflict.

LABOTT (voice-over): After 45 years on the front line, General Allen says he will miss most is the people, working with the troops and the U.S. diplomats and allies who risked their lives to keep people safe. For now, he will be in the Brookings Institution in Washington, but he did tell me he would come off the bench if he gets the call from the president.

Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: We turn our attention now to Myanmar's landmark election. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has won an absolute majority in the country's parliament, giving the party enough seats to elect the next president. Sunday's vote was been hailed as the freest elections in decades.

For the very latest, let's go to CNN's Saima Mohsin, live from Bangkok.

Saima, we stand on the edge of a new political era in Myanmar, and on a personal note, a remarkable moment for Aung San Suu Kyi, the very model of democracy in that country.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you really cannot emphasize the extraordinary nature of the election itself taking place, the first free election in Myanmar since 1990. Unimaginable. 25 years. And Aung San Suu Kyi as you say, not just a symbol of democracy in Myanmar, but right across the world. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for the efforts in Myanmar, and being held in house arrest for so many years and then finally being able to be released and then campaign in her first free election in so many years. An extraordinary moment for her. And for the people of Myanmar, which the United Nations has come out and said have held this in a very peaceful and dignified moment. And right now, Aung San Suu Kyi is on her way to the capital at the NLD headquarters for her party. Posters are being it up about her victory. At this moment, people are gathering to celebrate once again -- Isha?

SESAY: Yes, just remarkable. But her party may have won the majority but as we know the military-drafted constitution barred her. She has said her party will place her above the presidency. How would that work?

MOHSIN: Yes, an extraordinary thing to say. And of course, being a very pragmatic politician, which she has had to be, there has been criticism about that as well, about why she is so pragmatic leading up to the election. Now that she is there, what she is really saying is, look, I don't really care if you're barring me from being president. I hold a lot of power in this party and amongst the public. And once she has gotten that majority which she need, which we know now she has, she will hold a lot of influence in that party and she will be able to lead it perhaps in the direction she wants, regardless of the fact that, yes, the military has made sure she cannot be president. There could be, of course, a constitutional amendment, but the military will have the right to veto that -- Isha?

SESAY: Yes, they absolutely do.

Saima Mohsin joining us live from Bangkok. Appreciate it. Thank you.

[01:40:01] Now, the E.U. is giving Africa billions of dollars to stem the migrant crisis. We'll tell you how the money is being used coming up in a live report.

Plus, some strong words from actor, Tom Hanks, about the migrant crisis.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. As Europe faces its worst refugee crisis since World War II, the European Union has set up an emergency fund for Africa to tackle the spiraling number of migrants flooding its shores. The nearly $2 billion fund was unveiled at the end of the two-day summit of E.U. and African leaders in Malta on Thursday. The fund will support projects to combat poverty, slow down migration, and speed up repatriation programs. This new money adds to the $21 billion the E.U. and its 28 states donate to Africa every year.

Let's turn to CNN's Arwa Damon who joins us now live from Lesbos, an island off the coast that has seen a lot of migrant activity.

Arwa, they have met prior to this summit and there has been barely any progress made on previous agreements. Any indications that this latest plan will be activated immediately?

[01:44:24] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, I think the problem is to even if it is -- even if they were somehow able to just throw $1.8 billion at various different African nations, which is not a very realistic scenario or way to handle this, it would not address the court issues or other issues that are driving refugees to these shores because you have a lot of different dynamics that play here, all of which are resulting in the massive flow of migrants and refugees, and all of which need to be handled differently.

When it comes to those fleeing Africa, it is also mostly corruption, oppression, and the lack of opportunity to make a living. This money if the E.U. has pledged -- and that is a big if -- could affect what is happening in Africa. But when we talk about people, the majority, who are arriving on these shores from islands in Greece, arriving to islands in Greece, rather, from Turkey's shores, you can just see two hours in the distance, a boat ride those people making the journey are mostly those fleeing the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Just up the coast, we met one woman who was traveling with five of her children. She was from Syria. Yesterday, last night, we met a man who had been separated from his family, only to spend hours searching for him and then realizing they were still stuck in Turkey. Their boat had not been able to leave.

So what is driving people to make this particular journey and flee Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, is the ongoing war that is happening there. And that was not something that was addressed at this most recent multi-conference. And it is something that has to be put forward and has to be a massive part of these negotiations, moving on whether it is how to deal with the migrant issues or the court and the issues forcing them to flee -- Isha?

SESAY: Yes, there is no one way to solve the issue.

Arwa Damon joining us from Lesbos, Greece. Thank you, Arwa.

Now, Hollywood star, Tom Hanks, is speaking out about the migrant crisis. He told CNN's Christiane Amanpour he is dismayed by the chaos driving people from their homes, and he believes the world community should do more to respond to the crisis.

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TOM HANKS, ACTOR: The other side nowadays, the refugees are fleeing, what do you call this sort of chaos that is Syria and parts of Afghanistan, the places where Muslim fundamentalism is reigning and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the honoring of human life. Down throughout history, the civilized world has had to deal with this problem. And I don't know if we have ever dealt with it well. Have we? We have an opportunity here, I think -- we have most of the world, or a great part of the world anyway, is civilized nations that should be able to address the problems and should be able to accept the realities of not just refugees and migrants, but the great humanitarian crises that are going on. And the answer is not going to be fences, is it? I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, for more on the migrant crisis and to learn about ways you can help, please visit our web page at CNN.com/impact.

Coming up, a senior official in North Korea apparently goes missing. There is concern he might have been purged. After all, it has happened before.

Plus, the man who is accused of the largest bank robbery in New York, inspiring the classic film "Goodfellas," and almost four decades later, the verdict is in for the alleged former mob boss.

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[01:49:48] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, with a quick look at your "Weather Watch."

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SESAY: Breaking news, the Pentagon says U.S. forces targeted the alleged ISIS executioner known as Jihadi John with an airstrike on Raqqa, Syria. He is the alleged man believe to be behind the murders in Kuwait. And he is shown murdering the hostages. His victims include hostages from the U.S., Japan and the U.K. It has not been confirmed whether Jihadi John died in the airstrike.

And to other news now, there are new suspicions that North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, is trying to solidify his power by killing off a member of its elite inner circle. The suspicion began when the senior official did not show up for a key gathering.

Brian Todd has the details.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An ominous sign that Kim Jong-Un may have eliminated another person from his circle. Choe Ryong-hae, consider one of Kim's closest confidents, a right-hand man, was not seen recently among names of officials planning for the funeral of a top military leader and reportedly did not show up for the funeral itself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hear he is likely purged or, at a minimum, sidelined from the top elites. This would be a very significant event. Unless he is on his death bed, he would attend the funeral.

TODD: It is so significant that South Korean officials are taking the rare step of saying publicly they're looking into it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Considering previous incidents, it is unusual.

TODD: Why was Choe apparently purged? Experts say it could have been incompetence, betrayal, or possibly an internal dispute with others in Kim's circle over shady business deals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The North Korean regime is essentially now a kleptocracy and the way for Americans to think of as the "Sopranos," drama, where families who represent different cliques are vying for more power.

(SHOUTING) TODD: A news agency citing South Korean intelligence says Choe Ryong- hae has been sent to the Kim el Song Higher Party School in East Pyongyang, where analysts say officials who run afoul of Kim undergo brutal psychological conditioning and interrogation. The North Koreans call it re-education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a country club. It is almost certainly a very gruel process where there's both physical and mental abuse and strain.

TODD: Experts say Choe may not have been executed because he is a so- called princeling, the son of a revolutionary hero who fought with Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-song, against the Japanese.

But Kim Jong-un doesn't shy away from killing legendary figures. He executed his powerful uncle, who he suspected of betrayal. He reportedly had a defense minister killed with an aircraft gun.

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[01:55:00] TODD: South Korean officials say he has executed more than 70 top officials since taking power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we see a protracted power-consolidation process in which the leadership is acting in very ruthless ways, very draconian, not subtle ways, in order to try to gain leadership within the system.

TODD: But analysts say Kim's ruthless purges could backfire on him. They say that anybody close to Kim doesn't feel safe, that no matter how loyal they are, they could be betrayed. That raises questions, experts say, about how secure Kim himself is within his circle.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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SESAY: A suspected New York gangster, who prosecutors say was linked to the largest robbery in the city's history, walked out of a federal court room Thursday not guilty. 80-year-old Vincent Asaro celebrated after the verdicts came down. The jury found Asaro not guilty of racketeering and extortion in connection with the famed Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport back in 1978. The crime was dramatized in the hit movie, "Goodfellas."

Well, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The news continues here on CNN.

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