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U.S. Sending More Special Ops Forces to Iraq; Obama Warns Putin Not to Intervene in Syria; Probe on Chicago Police Department Over Teen's Death; Trump Ready to Attack Back at Rivals; U.S. State Department Releases Clinton E-Mails; Abu Bakr Ex Wife, Daughter in Swap; Mystery over Juneau Mayor's Death; Zuckerberg to Donate 99 Percent Company Stock to Charity. Aired 1-2a Et

Aired December 2, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, the United States is sending more special forces into Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS.

Plus, Chicago's top cop is being forced to resign in the aftermath of the police shooting of an African-American teenager.

And Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges to give away billions of dollars of shares. The big change that inspired this big announcement.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I am Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he's putting ISIS on notice. You never know who is going to be coming through your window at night. He's sending more U.S. special operations forces to Iraq to carry out raids and capture ISIS leaders.

Chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After frequent White House denials that U.S. troops would face combat in Iraq and Syria today the president is ordering dozens of U.S. Special Forces into combat roles involving direct action against ISIS.

ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: These Special Operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIL leaders.

SCIUTTO: The new expeditionary force will number in the dozens. Those support forces will expand its total footprint to about 200.

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: This force and the operations this force will conduct will provide us additional intelligence that will make our operations much more effective. SCIUTTO: Part of their mission, raids like this one in northern Iraq

in October, a daring joint operations involving Kurdish commandos and the U.S. Army`s Delta Force to free these ISIS-held prisoners.

Demonstrating the added danger of direct action, one Delta Force Operator, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, was killed.

This new deployment to Iraq is in addition to the 50 Special Forces the U.S. is already deploying on the ground in Syria.

CARTER: It puts everybody on notice in Syria that you don`t know at night who is going to be coming in the window. And that's the sensation that we want all of ISIL's leadership and followers to have. So it is an important capability.

SCIUTTO: The expanded U.S. combat role comes in the aftermath of Paris. And, as progress against ISIS on the battlefield has been halting.

While President Obama declared the group contained in an interview two weeks ago.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: From the start, our goal has been first to contain and we have contained them.

SCIUTTO: Today, however, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dunford, appeared to contradict his commander-in-chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have we currently contained ISIL?

DUNFORD: We have not contained ISIL.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have they been contained at any time since 2010?

DUNFORD: Tactically in areas they have been. Strategically, they have spread since 2010.

SCIUTTO (on camera): Just as the role of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria has expanded, so have their numbers, rising from just a couple of hundred troops, a little more than a year ago largely to protect the embassy in Baghdad, the consulate in Irbil, now growing by a factor of more than 10 and coming up on the limit of 3550 troops that the president said he's going to have to raise that upper bar to accommodate this latest deployment and officials I speak to did not believe this would be the final deployment to Iraq and Syria.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, the British parliament will start its debate in the next few hours on whether to launch airstrikes on ISIS in Syria. Thousands of protesters marched outside the House of Commons Tuesday urging lawmakers to reject the plan. Prime Minister David Cameron says ISIS poses an unprecedented and direct threat to the UK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is part of a broader strategy. It's about the politics and the diplomacy and the humanitarian aid all of which we need to bring to bear to bring peace to Syria but to make sure we protect our interests, our national interests fighting against this appalling terrorist organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, currently, nine countries are part of the coalition launching airstrikes in Syria. Canada's new prime minister says his government is ending airstrikes but will remain in the coalition. Russia is also conducting airstrikes in Syria in support of the Assad regime. And Iran has sent more than 1,000 of its elite Revolutionary Guard forces to support Syrian army troops.

Well, CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona says the decision to send more ops forces to Iraq is a significant change in strategy for the U.S. I spoke with him a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:05:06] SESAY: Colonel Francona, always good to have you on the show. So this decision to send in these extra Special Forces Operations, break it down for us. What this would look like, how it would operate on the ground.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, this is different than what we've seen before. The 50 fighters, the 50 Special Operations Forces that were authorized to go into Syria were going to in as a train, and advise and assist as part of a mission to create a better fighting force in Syria. An indigenous fighting force.

What we're seeing now is an actual deployment of a U.S. combat unit. There is no way to spin this other than a combat deployment of U.S. ground forces. This will be boots on the ground. They're going to go in there and operate as an integral organized fighting unit. This is not advisers. So this represents a shift in U.S. policy and I think it's very significant. And I think a lot of people are very concerned that this might be the first step toward a larger deployment.

If this isn't enough to turn the tide perhaps we're going to send more troops and everybody is worried about what we call mission creep. So this is a real shift on the part of the U.S.

SESAY: With this shift and putting U.S. Special Forces on the ground in this capacity, it opens up the question of coordination with the Iraqi government and with the Kurds. Does that give you any concern or does that cause you any concern?

FRANCONA: Not too much concern. I think we have to get more closely aligned with the Kurds because the Kurds right now are the only effective fighting force on the ground over there outside of the United States. What we've seen from the Iraqi military, the Iraqi army, the security forces and the police has been very, very disappointing. Every time they go into combat, they don't seem to be able to get the job done. We don't see a willingness on the Iraqis to fight and when they do, they just don't seem to be very capable.

I'm not sure if it's the body government that needs to change or the situation with the Iraqi military, but whatever it is, it is not working, and I think that is the relation in Washington that's driving these decisions. I think Secretary Carter and the president himself are saying this is not working, we're going to have to put American forces to do what the Iraqis cannot do.

SESAY: Rick Francona, you and I have discussed in the past the intelligence gap that exists on the ground and its impact in the fight against ISIS. How far does this move go towards bridging or plugging that hole, if you will?

FRANCONA: Well, this is an attempt to do just that. You know, all of these operations that we're conducting, even the air campaign, but especially anything going on the ground is intelligence driven. If you don't know where they are, you can't go get them. If you don't know where the leadership is, you can't attack them. If you don't know what they're doing, it's very difficult to counter their operations. So American forces on the ground and the secretary is right, they're trying to set up this cycle where they'll conduct operations, those operations will lead to intelligence. That intelligence will then drive more operations.

This is very classic. This is what we normally do when you're conducting a unilateral American operation. And I think the realization in Washington is the Iraqis, the Syrian that we're training with, even the Kurds don't have the capability to do this. This is going to rely on American expertise, and I think, Isha, everybody is very concerned that we're going down that slippery slope to mission creep, to more U.S. involvement. This is how this begins.

SESAY: Yes. That is, indeed, the concern being echoed by many. That this is mission creep and how these things begin.

Colonel Francona, it's always good to get your insight and perspective. Thank you so much once again.

FRANCONA: Good to be with you.

SESAY: Now U.S. President Barack Obama says he warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin against intervening in Syria. Mr. Obama is back in Washington after meeting with President Putin at the climate change summit in Paris. But the U.S. president admits he hasn't been successful in persuading Russia's leader to change tactics so far.

Jim Acosta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They have met face-to-face twice in the last month. But they still don't see eye-to-eye. So President Obama told reporters at a climate summit in Paris expect Russia's Vladimir Putin to continue to go his own way in the war on ISIS. At least for now. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On Mr. Putin, I don't

expect that you're going to see a 180 turn on their strategy over the next several weeks.

ACOSTA: That means the U.S. and Russia will keep on bombing different targets, with Washington taking aim at ISIS and Moscow hitting U.S.- backed forces fighting Putin's man in Syria, Bashar al-Assad.

OBAMA: I don't think we should be under any illusions that somehow Russia starts hitting only ISIL targets. That's not happening now. It was never happening. It's not going to be happening in the next several weeks.

ACOSTA: Still, based on their conversations, the president is convinced Putin may be changing his calculus, away from supporting Assad to landing Russia in another military quagmire.

[01:10:04] OBAMA: With Afghanistan fresh in the memory, for him to simply get bogged down in an inconclusive and paralyzing civil conflict is not the outcome that he's looking for.

ACOSTA: But it's more complicated than that. Moscow is still outraged over Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane last week, angrily accusing Turkish leaders of trying to protect a black market oil supply from ISIS terrorists.

Turkey's President Erdogan denied that, vowing he would resign if the claim is proven true. And in a meeting with President Obama, he fired back that Russian bombers are slaughtering ethnic Turkmen in Syria. Mr. Obama all but told both sides to cut it out.

OBAMA: We all have a common enemy, and that is ISIL, and I want to make sure that we focus on that threat.

ACOSTA: With all of those problems, it's no wonder the president sounded more optimistic about addressing climate change after this week's summit in Paris.

OBAMA: I think we're going to solve it.

ACOSTA: With time running out on his presidency, Mr. Obama boldly predicted upcoming U.S. elections will make sure any climate agreement reached in France lives on.

OBAMA: Just with respect to my successor, let me first of all say that I'm anticipating a Democrat succeeding me. I'm confident in the wisdom of the American people on that front.

ACOSTA (on camera): A Russian news agency said Moscow had some evidence that Turkey was importing oil from ISIS across that porous Syria-Turkish border. While the president did not weigh in on that exact claim, he said he did have repeated conversations with Turkey's president about gaps at that border. It is a constant source of frustration for the White House.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Paris. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Here in the United States, a jury is expected to be chosen Wednesday in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Freddie Gray case. He died in April after he was shackled and put in a police van without a seatbelt following his arrest. Officer William Porter is the first of six city officers to go on trial in the case. He's charged with assault, reckless endangerment and manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked his police superintendent to resign. Gary McCarthy's dismissal comes after a video was released showing a white police officers shooting and killing a black teenager. That video has led to days of protest. The officer is now charged with first-degree murder. He was released on bail Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, CHICAGO: Superintendent Gary McCarthy has been an excellent leader of our police department over the past 4 1/2 years. His community policing strategy has led to the lowest overall crime rate on record and his efforts to remove guns from the street have yielded significant progress. But Superintendent McCarthy knows that a police officer is only as effective as when he has the trust of those he serves. After this weekend, after effectively handling both the protests that followed the release of the McDonald video last week and the arrest of Tyshawn's killers, Superintendent McCarthy and I had a discussion on Sunday about the direction of the department and the undeniable fact that the public trust and the leadership of the department has been shaken and eroded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, the Illinois attorney general now wants a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department more than a year after the shooting.

CNN's Ed Lavandera shows us what's led up to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six seconds. That was the time it took for Officer Jason Van Dyke to leave his vehicle and open fire on Laquan McDonald, killing him on the spot. It is these six seconds that have rocked the city of Chicago with protesters citing distrust and a lack of transparency within the Chicago Police Department.

The dash cam video released last week by order of a judge revealed some discrepancies regarding what happened the night McDonald was killed, including the initial claim by police that the 17-year-old had lunged at officers.

PAT CAMDEN, SPOKESMAN, CHICAGO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: Going at one of the officers. At that point, the officer defends himself.

LAVANDERA: It's a claim the McDonald family attorney says the video does not support.

MIKE ROBBINS, LAQUAN MCDONALD FAMILY ATTORNEY: The video clearly shows Laquan walking away. And he was not threatening anybody. And he is certainly didn't lunge at the police officer. This was originally presented as an act of self-defense.

LAVANDERA: The Chicago Police Department initially claimed McDonald was shot in the chest. An autopsy later revealed he was shot a total of 16 times, nine of which were in the back.

Another issue, there is an 86-minute gap in surveillance video from a local Burger King. The police dash cam video shows McDonald running through the restaurant's parking lot. The Burger King manager alleges the surveillance video was reviewed by police, then they deleted it, erasing potentially pivotal evidence.

[01:15:02] The top prosecutor in Chicago says the video was not tampered with, but the manager says in part, "I was just trying to help the police with their investigation. I didn't know they were going to delete it."

Former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy quickly swatted down those allegations.

GARRY MCCARTHY, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE: Yes, and it's absolutely not true. And I think the state's attorney addressed that today. There were apparently technical difficulties, but in no way, shape, or form is there any evidence that anything was tampered with.

LAVANDERA: But perhaps the darkest cloud of controversy continues to be how the Chicago Police Department seemingly went to great lengths and cost to try to make sure the public would never see the video.

First there was the $5 million settlement paid to the family. Critics say that was in part to keep the video from ever being released. Then the questions emerging about why the Chicago Police Department continued to employ Officer Van Dyke for a full year before pressing charges. Van Dyke had 20 complaints against him, 10 of them for use of force.

The police only suspended him without pay the day before a judge's deadline for the release of the dash cam video.

ANITA ALVAREZ, COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: I felt compelled in the interest of public safety to announce these state charges today.

LAVANDERA: For some in Chicago, that was too little too late.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Time for a quick break. Did Muslims in New Jersey cheer 9/11? Next on CNN NEWSROOM live from L.A., New York's former mayor, Rudy Giuliani, speaks out on Donald Trump's claim he saw it happen. Plus, newly released e-mails are shedding more light on Hillary

Clinton and the Benghazi attack. Find out what the former U.S. secretary of state told her daughter. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:44] SESAY: Hello, everyone. U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is facing criticism from fellow Republican Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City Mayor says Trump is exaggerating claims he saw thousands of Muslims cheering the September 11th attacks.

CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump is urging his rivals to bring it on.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So far, now, let's see, Christie hasn't hit me yet. He will. At some point, Rubio's got to hit me.

ZELENY: Bravado from the Republican frontrunner, exactly two months before the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2016 campaign.

TRUMP: Even, I think, Cruz is going to have to hit me because, you know, he's a nice guy.

ZELENY: After defending Trump for months, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is suddenly on the rise and may not be a nice guy in Trump's eyes much longer.

TRUMP: He's been so supportive. But at some point, he's going to have to hit me, right? It's going to be a sad day, but we will hit back, I promise.

ZELENY: Hitting back has become a Trump trademark. Few Republicans have escaped his buzz saw. Cruz is running neck and neck with Trump in one Iowa poll and already making a bold prediction.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me be very clear. I don't believe Donald Trump is going to be our nominee. I don't believe he's going to be our president.

ZELENY: Cruz appears to be taking a page from Trump's playbook, making attention-grabbing comments of his own. Asked about birth control in Iowa, Cruz says he knows of no conservatives who flat-out oppose contraception. He said he and his wife do not, sharing they were happy they had two girls, not 17.

CRUZ: Last I checked, we don't have a rubber shortage in America. Like, look, when I was in college, we had a machine in the bathroom, you put 50 cents in and voila.

ZELENY: But many religious organizations are opposed to birth control. He also told radio host Hugh Hewitt Democrats commit more violent crimes in America.

CRUZ: He's the simple and undeniable fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats.

ZELENY: And he took the media to task by reporting the suspect in the Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting reportedly said no more baby parts as he was arrested.

CRUZ: It's also reported that he was registered as independent and as a woman and a transgender leftist activist.

ZELENY: Aides said Cruz was trying to make a point against rushing to judgment. But sorting out fact from fiction has become a full-time task in this presidential race. Trump is still standing by his assertion that he saw thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11, even though no one has produced video evidence to support that claim.

On CNN's "NEW DAY," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said small pockets of cheering took place in the city, but he accused Trump of exaggerating his claims.

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Let him deal with it. Let him explain to people. Let him show the evidence of it. If it shows up, it will corroborate him. If it doesn't show up, it's going to make him look really bad.

ZELENY (on camera): But so far, nothing Donald Trump has said has slowed his rise or diminished him in the eyes of his supporters. And he's stepping up his campaign. He's been in Georgia, New Hampshire, heading to Virginia, North Carolina, even Iowa this week. A new aggressive phase as voters are only two months away from starting off this long 2016 presidential campaign.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, the U.S. State Department has released some of Hillary Clinton's e-mails about the deadly consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya. In an e-mail to her daughter, the Democratic presidential frontrunner blamed it on al Qaeda like group.

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The e-mail was sent just hours after the attack in Benghazi, from Hillary Clinton to Diane Reynolds, actually a pseudonym used by her daughter Chelsea, telling her two officers were killed today in Benghazi by an al Qaeda-like group. In a public statement that night, Clinton raised the possibility that

inflammatory material posted on the Internet, a reference to a video portraying the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, was a precursor to the attack. Five days later, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice expanded on the inaccurate assessment when asked about reports that Libyan officials had arrested suspects in the attacks.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: They're saying that some people involved were from outside the country, that there might have even been al Qaeda ties. What's the latest information?

[01:25:07] SUSAN RICE, U.N. AMBASSADOR: What this began as, was a spontaneous, not a premeditated response to what had transpired in Cairo.

KEILAR: Republicans have seized upon Clinton's emails to claim she was covering up the cause of the Benghazi attack for political reasons, less than two months from President Obama's re-election.

REP. JIM JORDAN (R), OHIO: You tell the American people one thing, you tell your family an entirely different story. You can live with the protest about a video. That won't hurt you. But a terrorist attack will.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no doubt in my mind that we did the best we could with the information that we had at the time.

KEILAR: The new e-mails also revealed behind-the-scenes insights into this moment from Clinton's 2013 testimony.

CLINTON: Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?

KEILAR: And e-mails newly released by the State Department showed denial among top Clinton aides, that that controversial moment in her testimony was damaging. As congratulatory messages from Clinton supporters poured in, longtime confidant Mark Penn aired this concern, "I don't think the emotion in the hearing works to your advantage. Looks more like they rattled you on something no one outside the crazy right blamed you for anyway." But a top aide dismissed the assessment, e-mailing the secretary, "Give me a break, you did not look rattled, you looked real. There's a difference. A big one."

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, a woman who is married to one of the most wanted men in the world is now out of prison. You'll hear what officials could find out from the ex-wife of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:22] SESAY: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

The headlines this hour -- Chicago's mayor has forced his police superintendent to resign. Gary McCarthy's dismissal follows the release of a video showing a white officer shoot ago black teenager 16 times. That video led to protesters to accuse the city of trying to cover it up.

A jury could be seated Wednesday in Baltimore, Maryland, for the first police officer on trial in Freddie gray's death. Gray died in August after he was shackled and pus in a police van without a seat belt. Six officers are charged in the case and will be tried separately.

The U.S. military is strengthening its presence on the ground in Iraq. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is sending Special Operations forces to help in the fight against ISIS. He says they will be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIS leaders.

More U.S. Intelligence officials could soon get unique insight into the man who leads ISIS. The Lebanese government has just released Abu Bakr Baghdadi's ex wife from custody.

Brian Todd has more on what information she has to share on the mysterious ISIS leader.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She has an intimate connection to the most wanted man in the world. Sujidah Dulaimi, the ex-wife of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has just been released from a Lebanese prison and now downplays her past with the ISIS leader.

SUJIDAH DULAIMI, EX WIFE OF ABU BAKR AL BAGHDADI (through translation): We divorced six or seven years ago. He wasn't al Baghdadi or anything.

TODD: This is believed to be footage of Dulaimi who was arrested in 2014 along with a young child. A Lebanese security source says a young girl, her daughter, believed to have been sired by Baghdadi was released with her. One Lebanese official tells CNN she was freed as part of a prisoner swap, traded for Lebanese soldiers held by the al Nusra Front.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was released because I think, A, her intelligence value to the Lebanese security forces ran out. She revealed all she could reveal or that they could get out of her and they ran out of other options to retrieve the soldiers.

TODD: Dulaimi's marriage reportedly lasted only a few months. The ISIS leader's current personal life is a mystery. The Iraqi intelligence has said he has two wives.

U.S. Intelligence officials won't comment on whether they'll want to question her or on any information Dulaimi might have given to the Lebanese.

But a former CIA officer we spoke to says U.S. Officials likely will want access to her. Dulaimi could provide U.S. Intelligence with cell phone numbers, metadata, and even if it's dated, it could still help target the ISIS leader. Given his obsession with secrecy, any insight Dulaimi could give on him could be critical.

(on camera): That far removed, could she say anything useful now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest, I think the most, the biggest thing she could have is relationships with people, who he trusts, whose circles he moves around with, which areas he feels secure in.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Some of the questions that could be asked of her include to what degree does al Baghdadi is an object session with the apocalypse, with the end of days? Is he driven by that? Is he going to go for broke? All out in his confrontation with the West?

TODD: But given al Dulaimi's current loyalties, not clear if she would have given the Lebanese any useful information. A Lebanese security source says her current husband is involved with an al Qaeda affiliate the al Nusra Front and she has a brother who is a senior official within the group.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: The relatives of terrorists do not always share a violent ideology. When Zak Ebrahim was just a boy, his father plotted the 1993 plotting of the World Trade Center. Now Zak dedicates his life to a message of peace and tolerance. I spoke with him a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Zak Ebrahim, thank you so much for joining us.

Zak, your father was convicted of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center as well as a number of other charges. How did he become radicalized?

ZAK EBRAHIM, SON OF CONVICTED TERRORIST: Well, you know, I can only look back and try to understand the path that he took that ultimately led him to make these terrible decisions. He had some experiences when he came to the United States that I think incorrectly made him jaded toward the West. And it was also a time when he began interacting with men. For example, one of the most influential figures in the world for raising funds and finding volunteer efforts at the time for the war in the Soviet Union. So I think it was a combination of some really negative experiences he had here that he blamed on the United States. As well as his interaction with men like that.

[01:35:27] SESAY: And before he was sent to prison, how exposed were you to his dogma, if you will, his world view?

EBRAHIM: Sure. Well, he wasn't radicalized my entire life. It really wasn't until a few years before he went to prison that even I, as a young child, noticed a change in him. You know, we spent weekends going to the shooting range with many of the men that would ultimately be responding to the World Trade Center. I am supposed to the inside for which he preached. I was isolated from the people and taught to fear anyone who did not fall into a very specific category of what it means to be a Muslim.

SESAY: What impact did this ideology, these teachings, have on you?

EBRAHIM: Well, to put it simply, I was a bigot. I believed that Muslims and jus were natural enemies. I believed that all gay people were evil and were trying to make me evil so I would go to hell. It really wasn't until I was holder and I began interacting with people. And you know, initially, I felt a sense of pride, but it was the first time in my life that I thought to myself, perhaps what I had been taught wasn't true. And ultimately, through years, I have come to realize it is isolation that is the most important ingredient in radicalizing someone and that is why it is so important that communities come together to interact with one another.

SESAY: And I want to talk more about that, what it is that leads to young Muslim men living in Europe being radicalized. How is ISIS able to do this? You mentioned one element, you said isolation.

EBRAHIM: True. Unfortunately, I think there are many motivating factors and, you know, not any one person doesn't fit the entire mold for, you know, why someone can become radicalized. I think, obviously, there are influences in some of these men's lives. Ultimately, they are seeking what we all seek, which is influences in life. Unfortunately, the influences they have around them direct them towards a path in violence in the name of ideology that the vast majority of Muslims in the world do not share.

SESAY: And how do you ultimately combat the terrorism and the ideology? What in your view is an effective path?

EBRAHIM: Well, I think that as an individual, your goal should be to treat everyone, regardless of their race, religion, gender, orientation the same way been you judge someone based on their character. I can as far as the role of government, you know, our governments and by our governments I mean the Western governments, we need to take a very hard look at the relationships that they have with governments like Egypt, like Saudi Arabia. Countries that have, you know, frankly, tortured and killed their only people for decades and yet we're very close allies to western governments. You know, I think there is a great deal of resentment that comes from the fact that we supply weapons to these sorts of countries and the citizens of those nations cannot help themselves. And often our freedom can be to the detriment of the citizens of places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. So I think it's very important that citizens in the West recognize the role that their government plays in the Middle East and, as well, it's very important that, you know, it is not a Muslim's responsibility to make people understand that they are not racist. It is our responsibility as human beings to recognize that just because someone is a Muslim or a Christian or what have you, that they are not a racist. So it really comes down to the individual making conscious efforts throughout their life to try to break down the stereotypes that we all share.

[01:40:24] SESAY: Zak, it's a pleasure speaking to you. And thank you for the work that you're doing. It's extremely important. So thank you.

EBRAHIM: It's a privilege. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Time for a quick break. There's a mystery hanging over Juneau, Alaska. Hear what people in the state's capital are saying after the new mayor was found dead in his home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: This week, after taking office, the new mayor of Juneau, Alaska, was found dead in his home. Police say Stephen Fisk was found with injuries, and many people now wonder if he was assaulted.

CNN's Randi Kaye reports on the mysterious death.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About 3:30 in the afternoon, the 911 call came in. Mayor Stephen Greg Fisk of Juneau, Alaska, was dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At about 3:34, we've received a 911 call from a man and there was someone who appeared to be deceased inside. Officers were on scene in about four minutes.

KAYE: Mysterious deaths like this one, let alone, the mayor, rarely occurred in this remote capital city of 32,000, a community tucked away on Alaska's panhandle, often reached by boat and seaplane.

The strange circumstances have many in town speculating about what happened. The detectives here are, for now, stumped.

The mayor's son had gone to check on him Monday afternoon after getting word that others in town were having trouble reaching him. After he looked inside the home where his father lived alone, neighbors say the son could be heard shouting. That's when he called 911. Others rushed to the scene, but the mayor was already dead.

[01:45:] (on camera): Right now, there are more questions than answers. Juneau police say they found no sign of forced entry and they've concluded that Mayor Fisk did not commit suicide. So what happened? Some are suggesting that the mayor was assaulted. The police are playing that down, though the chief did tell the Juneau "Empire" newspaper that assault is one of the possibilities out there, but that it could have also been a fall or something else.

(voice-over): Meanwhile, Juneau's deputy mayor will take over his duties. She was a long time friend of Greg Fisk, even taught his son when he was in the sixth grade. MARY BECKER, JUNEAU DEPUTY MAYOR: My husband and I are devastated.

He was a wonderful person and a friend and from the calls I've been receiving tonight, I'm not the only one who has felt that he is a wonderful person and a good friend to Juneau.

KAYE: A neighbor told us Fisk was active and in good shape. He hiked and swam often. She said he had a great smile and was a great guy.

Greg Fisk was elected mayor just about two months ago. He won with 66 percent of the vote over the incumbent mayor after running a very positive campaign. He was looking forward to diversifying Juneau's economy and improving the housing market and fixing a tight budget. But all of that is on hold as mystery now hangs over this town.

BECKER: It's just so devastating to have this happen. It's basically unbelievable.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

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SESAY: Facebook's billionaire founder plans to donate most of the stock he owns in his company to charity. See what event inspired him to do that.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A couple of days to fill your Advent calendar. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri here for "Weather Watch."

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[01:50:42] SESAY: The image of a special baby is filling news feeds on social media. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife, Priscilla, are now proud parents of a baby girl, their first child, born early last week. The couple said they plan to donate 99 percent of their Facebook stock to charity during their lifetime. They say they want to leave the world a better place for their daughter and all children. Their shares are currently valued at $45 billion. Wow.

Well, joining me to discuss Zuckerberg's generous donation is Kim Lachance Shandrow, a senior writer at entrepreneur.com, and often writes about technology and social media issues.

Kim, thank you so much for joining us.

This donation, this pledge by the Zuckerbergs is in line to be among the world's largest. Put this in context for us. KIM LACHANCE SHANDROW, SENIOR WRITER, ENTREPRENEUR.COM: Well, I think

what they're looking to do is to inspire other young entrepreneurs, but particularly the sort of elites in silicone valley that are in a position to give to the level that they have. I think they're making a statement. They're very young. Zuckerberg is 31. His wife is 30 and they're looking to basically show the world that you can make a statement and give at a scale that hasn't really been seen before with people this young. So they're looking to inspire a future generation.

SESAY: And this is the perspective that he was a member of the Gates and Buffetts giving pledge where he said he would give most of his money but now they've stepped it up to this 99 percent of their shares. I think it is interesting in the way they've chosen to distribute their money through their own personal foundation. What do you make of that?

LACHANCE SHANDROW: Well, actually, they have more control over how the money is disbursed in that case. It's not a nonprofit. So what they can do is they can do investments with companies. They can lobby this way with legislation and they can also basically disperse it in a way that will let them impact public policy. So they have more control and they have more control over how often they give. So they're looking to do 10, 25 and 100 year increments.

SESAY: Very interesting. I have to say, when I went online and looked at the reaction to the announcement, there is some cynicism in some quarters. You know, surrounding the fact that when rich people give money to charity, the point cannot be ignored that they also benefit by the tax deductions.

LACHANCE SHANDROW: Yes, absolutely. They are going to be saving a lot of money in taxes by doing this. And I think they also took advantage of it being Tuesday and of a press moment. They were able to sort of polish their brand, but it was also a little bit -- some of the timing as one of my colleagues pointed out today in entrepreneur.com, the timing was a little bit -- it left a little bit of a bad taste in several people's mouths today because they showed their daughter so publicly, max, born a week ago and the first image of her out there in the world is essentially at the top of what amounted to a press release about the Zuckerberg Foundation. So it was odd in how it came out.

SESAY: You mentioned the personal brand. The personal brand is boosted by acts of philanthropy. What about the business side of things? Is there a boost to business? Does it burnish the Facebook brand and anyone else at that level who has a business and gives at this level?

LACHANCE SHANDROW: I think definitely. I think, you know, social good is an important -- it's important to show the world that you care for others. It's also very convenient, though, to spread experience access across the globe, which has been something that Zuckerberg has been championing for so long. So I think this makes -- it extends his business brand, but I think it might have turned off some of the users in the way this all came to light today. SESAY: One last question to you, as someone who watches the scene, it

seems to be, you know, quite commonplace, so it's happening with some regularity, if you will. That people or wealthy people are giving big. Let's just put it that way.

LACHANCE SHANDROW: Absolutely.

SESAY: Why is that? What's going on? How do you read the times we're living in?

[01:55:03] LACHANCE SHANDROW: Well, sometimes I feel it might look on the outside like they're trying to outdo each other, we have a lot of money and they lived big. So I think there's a lot of sincerity behind Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla. I think being bill gates is one of his mentors, I think he was inspired by him. I think they're close with the gates. I think this is extending that theme out to other people and letting them know that, yes, if you have the means, you should give. But it certainly doesn't hurt that you're going to get a tax break at the same time, and lest we should forget that.

SESAY: Lest we should forget that.

Kim Lachance Shandrow, thank you for coming in. Thank you.

LACHANCE SHANDROW: Thank you, Isha. It's been great.

SESAY: And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

For our viewers in the U.S., "Amanpour" is next.

Everyone else, the news continues with Rosemary Church right after this.

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