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Tel Aviv Shooter Captured in Home of Off-Duty Police Officer; Brexit Debate Gets Nasty; France Ready for Soccer Tournament; President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton; Virginia Man Who Joined ISIS Now Facing Terrorism Charges. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 10, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: One of the attackers of the Tel Aviv shooting was found hiding in the home of an off-duty police officer.
The Brexit debate gets nasty. Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon are trading stingers.
And we will hear from the photographer who captured this rare picture of a fish trapped inside a jellyfish. One of our scientists, asks, is it real or is it a fake? We'll get into that later this hour.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom.
Euro 2016. That is our top story. France ready for the kickoff. The football championships opening match set to begin in the coming hours. It will be played near Paris, with the home team going up against Romania.
The tournament will last one month. Features 24 national teams and will be played across 51 games in 10 venues. Security as you can imagine, well, yes, it's tight. As France and other countries warn the tournament may be a target for terrorism.
For more on Euro 2016 and how France is handling the threat, we're joined by CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris. Certainly, Jim, the security for this month-long event approaches unprecedented.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Natalie. Now that we're just almost exactly 12 hours away from kickoff, officials have been taking more security step right up into the last minute, we have heard a couple of days ago that they've added more security forces and another ring of security around the stadium, where the first match is going to take place.
And there was a test to this security last night, it was a concert that was taking place in the fan zone. This is an area near the Eiffel Tower that is whopping about 90,000 people and they had the security fully deployed like it's going to be the whole during the tournament and checking backs, checking people and making sure that nobody was bringing anything into the fan zone. No liquid. It's very tight security operation and seemed to work fairly smoothly.
Here is what some of the fans that were there last night had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After everything that happened during the year, we decided to just have fun now. It's something we have all been waiting for a while now. So, we really hope it's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came by train from Germany and there was police on the train and when we came to the gates, there all was police and I feel really safe here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: So, the French putting their best face forward in this, with the security and whatnot, but there's a lot of other problems here as well. Strikes among them. There's a garbage strike on, that's really messing up the City of Paris.
Only about half the garbage is being picked up in the city this morning and as well, there's train strikes and transport strikes that are trying out -- trying up access to and from the stadium where tonight's match will be.
They are warning people they should try to get there about as early as three hours ahead of tonight's match. But the real problem is going to be after the match, getting all those people at the stadium out of the stadium and home to their residences after the match.
So, it's going to be a very complicated situation for officials and once more, it's going to go on most of the month. The strike maybe over, but the tournaments is going on for a month, so one can really let down their guard. Natalie?
ALLEN: Right. First, they had a security situation and then a garbage strike. Like they need right now. But you know, I guess they can do that of course.
You know, authorities, Jim, saying the terror threat has never been so great. That's what they keep saying. Is there a specific threat or specific threats or is this judging from the fact that Paris has been the target of recent attacks?
BITTERMANN: Well, there's been no specific threat recently. There was a couple of months ago. A specific threat by a group that said that they were going to attack during the Euro 2016 tournament. But there's been nothing recently and there isn't really a very -- it's the kind of thing that's actionable that authorities are worried about.
They are just worried overall about security. And by the way, it's not just terrorism they are worried about, they are worrying about hooliganism. There was in fact a little outburst of that last night in Marseilles. There was a notch like night or anything like that, but there were some British soccer fans that got into a punch up with some of the local residents. This is something that goes back to 1998 in the World Cup. There were
some rivalries back then and some confrontations. And last night, there was confrontation in Marseilles that led to the arrest of a couple people and some tear gas being used, Natalie.
[03:05:09] ALLEN: All right. Well, security has their hands full. We are having hope for the best for everyone there trying to have a good time there.
Jim Bittermann there, live for us from Paris. Thanks, Jim.
Crossings into Israel from Gaza and the West bank are closed through Sunday in response to Wednesday's terror attack in Tel Aviv. There are only a few exceptions Friday prayers for Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque and humanitarian or medical cases.
Meantime, we're learning more about how police caught one of the alleged gunman. Official say he was hiding among a group of people running away from the attack.
The homeowner sheltering them happened to be an off duty policeman who realized that the man was dressed like another who was arrested.
Also Thursday, hundreds attended a funeral for one of the shooting victims.
Erin McLaughlin was there.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a funeral for Ido Ben Ari. His wife's final goodbye. A family in shock. His brother-in-law Ygal Goldenberg describes the 42-year-old as the glue that kept their family together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YGAL GOLDENBERG, IDO BEN ARI'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: We have a saying, man of men. A man of men. He was a wonderful person. He is my brother-in- law. But he is my brother. I am married to his sister for 27 years and 27 years, he sits next to me at the Friday Sabbath dinner. Not tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: Ben Ari was a father to two teenage sons, when he was younger he served in an elite unit of the Israeli military. Wednesday evening, Palestinian gunmen stormed the restaurant where he was having dinner with his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLDENBERG: Instead of running, he turned to the perpetrator, stood face to face with him, and the second bullet was faster than Ido.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MCLAUGHLIN: His wife, Tal, a special needs teacher was injured, shot
multiple times. She left the hospital to attend her husband's funeral. Hundreds were there. Community in tears as Ben Ari's body is lowered in to the ground. One death of many, the latest in the wave of violence since October.
Thursday, Israeli officials announced that 83,000 Palestinians are not allowed in to the West Bank for Ramadan. No Palestinians are allowed in from Gaza.
Ben Ari's family says the travel freeze will make no difference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLDENBERG: So, they will punish the Palestinians and deny them of some work permissions, but it won't solve anything, unless there will be out of the box thinking, strategic thinking. Major steps. But it won't help Ido.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: With three other Israelis killed, more funerals to come.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Yavne, Israel.
ALLEN: In the case of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, investigators are set to examine newly found debris to see if it came from the lost plane. Three pieces were found on an island east of Madagascar, and another was found Thursday on an island off the coast of South of Australia.
CNN affiliate, 7 News reported, MH-370 disappeared in 2014 with 239 people on board.
In the U.S. presidential election, Hillary Clinton is consolidating her support within the Democratic Party, thanks in large part to the endorsement of her former boss, U.S. President Barack Obama, now she is ready to take on her republican rival, Donald Trump, in the race for the White House.
Here's our Jeff Zeleny with more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: I want to congratulate Hillary Clinton on making history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: On the sidelines no more, President Obama offering a full-throated endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In fact, I don't think there's even been someone so qualified to hold this office. And I'm with her, I am fired up and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Hillary Clinton welcoming the news on Twitter. Writing, "honored to have you with us, POTUS, I'm fired up and ready to go."
Democrats falling in line quickly. United around the idea of stopping Donald Trump. The President's blessing coming just hours after meeting with Bernie Sanders today in the Oval Office. The visit included a walk along the White House Colonnade. A courtesy normally afforded to visiting head of state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:09:59] BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me begin by thanking President Obama, and thanking Vice President Biden, for the degree of impartiality they established during the course of this entire process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, welcome back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Sanders returned to a place democratic leaders want him, back on Capitol Hill. Meeting with Senate democratic leader, Harry Reid and others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY REID, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: I don't think Bernie Sanders holding out for anything, he is -- I think he is somebody who is interested in changing the direction of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: it was a day long sign of respect and leverage for Sanders, after winning 22 states and aggressively challenging Clinton. Sanders didn't directly address plans to suspend his campaign, but did signaled he's ready to unite democrats against the presumptive republican nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Needless to say, I am going to do everything in my power and I will work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Trump also taking it all in. Tweeting "Obama just endorsed crooked Hillary, he wants four more years of Obama, but nobody else does." Clinton firing back, "Delete your account."
Rivals for a year, Sanders and Clinton will soon come together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SANDERS: I look forward to meeting with her in the near future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Clinton wants and needs his help. Particularly firing up voters as he did across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm looking forward to working with him to achieve our common goal, which is to defeat Donald Trump. And Senator Sanders has said that he'll work every day, every week, to see that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Now, Sanders has stopped short of an endorsement, but it's likely he will meet with Clinton soon and will get behind her candidacy. The question is whether all of his supporters who have spent the last year looking for an alternative to Clinton will take their cue from Sanders or go their own way.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
ALLEN: Clinton is also celebrating an endorsement from the U.S. Vice President. At a speech in Washington, Joe Biden said, "God willing Clinton will win the White House."
Plus, key democratic Senator, Elizabeth Warren is also endorsing Clinton. Warren attacked Donald Trump for saying a federal judge is biased because of his Mexican heritage. That judge is overseeing a lawsuit that alleges that Trump University was a multi-million dollar scam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH WARREN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Trump is picking on someone who is ethically bound not to defend himself. Exactly what you expect from a thin-skinned racist bully.
(APPLAUSE)
ALLEN: Joining me now to talk about all of this is Tharon Johnson. He was the regional director for Obama's campaign in 2012, and was an adviser to Atlanta's democratic Mayor, Kasim Reed. Tharon, thank you for being with us.
THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thank you.
ALLEN: All right, we are on a different track now in this presidential election.
JOHNSON: Yes.
ALLEN: So, let's talk about that. First of all, Obama's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, that means we will see him on the campaign trail, and he is popular with democrats, but does it also create another liability for Clinton, where any problem with the Obama administration also becomes her problem?
JOHNSON: It's been a really monumental week in America this week, because you had really the first woman of a major party become the nominee or the presumptive nominee and then you had a president who actually did not wait until the convention to actually endorse the person who's running for the party nomination.
So, I think at a time where President Obama has a 51 percent approval rating, higher now than George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, I think it was a big, big day for the Hillary Clinton campaign for a few reasons.
Because I think the president is going to be able to basically have a conversation with the American people and really draw that contrast between a Trump presidency, and how that will look, versus a Clinton presidency.
ALLEN: Right. Because he has been sitting on the sidelines just waiting to see what happens. So, now he is going to be with her in the next few days. But Bernie Sanders still on the campaign trail until Washington, D.C. vote next week. Will he be able to convince the Bernie or bust crowds to vote for Hillary?
JOHNSON: Listen, you know, President Obama extending an invitation for Bernie Sanders to come to the White House to have a meeting today, really it was a discussion about path forward.
And I think more importantly it was honorable of Bernie Sanders to take the president's invitation. Listen, Bernie Sanders has ran a very, very good race.
ALLEN: He is a hard worker.
JOHNSON: And he should -- he should stay in as long as he feels that he's viable. Now we know he's mathematically inconceivable that he'll be the nominee. But what he has got to do now, since we have this roll of endorsements from President Obama and now Senator Warren, he's got to fall in line and basically say to his supporters, listen, I came up short of the democratic nomination but we've got to rally behind Hillary Clinton to make sure that she can defeat Donald Trump in November.
ALLEN: You mentioned Warren, she has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
JOHNSON: Yes.
ALLEN: And is acting as an attack dog, really going after Donald Trump, he loves it and she seems to love it.
JOHNSON: Yes.
[03:15:00] ALLEN: Already the republicans are trying to undermine her, the RNC saying, and I want to quote this, "By endorsing Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren has shown herself to be a sellout. Whether it's the Wall Street speech transcript, she refuses to
release, her ties to fossil fuel industry, or coziness with big banks, Hillary Clinton represents everything Elizabeth Warren supposedly stands against."
So, how do you respond and do you think Warren is playing a bigger role going forward? Do you see her doing that?
JOHNSON: A lot of people were talking about Elizabeth Warren running as president of the United States, now she decided not to do that. If you look at national polling, she is doing well as particular with liberals and also with independents. And that's going to be the key to this race.
But the problem with Donald Trump, that he is escalating his war on women. I mean, I've never seen a person running for the president of the United States of America who has done everything he possible can to alienate women and call them names and stuff.
So, I think what you saw from Senator Warren today was really the beginning of an attack on basically talking about Donald Trump's failed record on dealing with women, especially in the workplace.
ALLEN: Speaking of Donald Trump, it seems though, no matter what he says no matter what he does, he keeps going on and going on.
A new Fox News poll shows Clinton barely beating Trump but within the margin of error. And liberation -- libertarian Gary Johnson polling in the double digit. Both Clinton and Trump have remarkably high unfavorable ratings. What explains that to you?
JOHNSON: Listen, one of the things that we're going to see, and this is going to be the first time in history where you are going to have both nominees on both side of the aisles basically having high unfavorables.
Because usually a person who runs for president sometimes have more favorability than other person. But one of the things that this poll really spoke to that I think gives me a lot of optimism and hope, is that when they asked the question about who is really prepared as far as temperament to basically assume the office of presidency.
Hillary Clinton is beating him by 24 percent, and then when they said who has the knowledge and who has the experience to basically assume the Office of the President, Hillary Clinton is beating him to roughly 33 and 34 percent.
So, I think at the time where the American people are going to take a very close look at the next five months on both candidates, I think Hillary Clinton has got to be very proud of her experience, and not run away from it.
And again, with the big endorsement of Barack Obama today, and let's not forget First Lady, Michelle Obama, who is basically the most popular of non-elected official in the country, she is going to be able to have a conversation with women and I think that's going to help Hillary Clinton as we get closer to November.
ALLEN: Tharon Johnson. Thank you, Tharon.
JOHNSON: Thank you, Natalie.
ALLEN: Former republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is hosting his fourth annual private retreat. Big donors and conservative leaders are attending the summit to talk about the future of the Republican Party.
Romney has been a strong critic of Donald Trump and analyst are speculating he may try to build support for an alternative candidate.
Key republican leaders have voice their discontent with Trump's antiques.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KASICH, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why would I feel compelled to support somebody who's positions I'm going to fundamentally disagree with.
PAUL RYAN, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He has a ways to go to give us a campaign that we can all be proud of.
SCOTT WALKER, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is not yet the nominee, officially that won't happen until the middle of July.
MITCH MCCONNELL, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER: I think it's still time for him to begin to act like a presidential candidate should be acting. And though, I have not given up hope, but certainly last year -- last week was not a good week for Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The latest on the U.S. election. Well, now we are going to turn to a vote happening in Britain. The Brexit vote riling up people there. We'll get some analysis on Thursday's feisty debate and what's at stake for Scotland, should the U.K. leave the E.U.
That's coming up. You're watching CNN Newsroom.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: It is almost time in two weeks, the U.K. will vote on whether to leave the European Union. It seems as the biggest decision the country has faced in decades.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, faced off with former London Mayor Boris Johnson in a heated debate Thursday. Sturgeon is part of the remain campaign and Johnson heads vote leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: What is Johnson is asking people to trust his word, he is making a lot of claims and he is asking you to trust him, and vote the way he wants you to vote in two weeks.
So nonsense asking him, if he is telling the truth tonight about the protection about what could rise, was he not telling the truth when he said he wanted to get rid of all of the ones I just listed.
(CROSSTALK)
BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER LONDON MAYOR: I'd say -- I'd say E.U. wants...
STURGEON: The thing -- the thing is Boris Johnson is not interested in Euro judgment, he's only interested in David Cameron's job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, Johnson brushed off that attack but later fired back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: I'm very struck by the way that they do this. Because there is one -- there is a member of that panel who's complained about the remain campaign, it's said to their it's miserable, negative, and fear-based. And fear-based campaigning this time starts to insult people's intelligence. Now that was Nicola Sturgeon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nicola Sturgeon.
(APPLAUSE)
STURGEON: Well, he's going to respond.
JOHNSON: I agree with Nicola.
STURGEON: At least it's not driving around the country, in a bus with a giant whopper painted all over the side of that bus.
JOHNSON: It's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That whopper that Sturgeon was talking about is this slogan emblazon on the vote leave campaign bus.
Richard Whitman is a visiting senior fellow at the Chatham House. He joins me now from London. Hi, there, Richard. Thank you for talking with us. Johnson and Scotland, Sturgeon facing off in that debate. Could the Brexit call a second Scottish independent referendum?
RICHARD WHITMAN, CHATHAM HOUSE VISITING FELLOW: It's quite possible. I think it's a question of the timing, that certainly I think the Scotts nationalist like Sturgeon. They are in the different position because on the one hand they want the U.K. to remain in the E.U. but they want Scotland to be in the E.U.
But they also, of course want Scottish independents. So, I think for a lot of their supporters they're conflicted in terms of which way to vote.
ALLEN: And former Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and John Major from different parties both indicating that leaving the E.U. might only reopen the question of Scotland's independence but damaged the stability in Northern Ireland. What do you think about that possibility?
WHITMAN: Well, I think it was a big day in terms of Northern Ireland. Having those two former prime ministers both involved in the Northern Ireland peace process, going at it to ring the alarm bell about the possibilities of sort of reopening of the political settlement there.
I think it is a possibility. It's clearly something that worries not just people in the U.K. but also outside the U.K.
ALLEN: Yes, and Richard, you know, that argument right there, that just kind of illustrates the magnitude of the decision before the voters there, you agree.
WHITMAN: Absolutely. I mean, it really is a tremendous decision to be made on the part of the British public. As you said in your intro, I mean, really the country hasn't faced such an important decision in decades. The polls are showing are evenly matched, so you know, it really will be one of those votes that determines the future of the country I think.
ALLEN: What do you think as far as if people vote to leave, could that cause some sort of instability in the U.K., what might be the issues facing them?
[03:25:06] WHITMAN: I think there would be two sets of issues. I mean, one of the immediate economic issues. The way that the markets react in the short-term, but then there's also the medium and longer term costs which is the instability in terms of what the U.K.'s future relationship would be with the E.U., and also the disruption to our political system.
Because we could end up find a parliament which is broadly in favored with the U.K. remaining. But the government sets through the referendum are endorsed by the referendum on the road to exiting the E.U. So, a high degree of political instability, I think.
ALLEN: Some polls show that as far as the split among people, that it's largely generational. Where is the biggest divide right now in the country?
WHITMAN: Well, the things that we do know about the polls are that generally if you are older, you favor leaving, if you are younger, you favor remaining. but we also know the older voters turnout, the younger voters turnout in the lower numbers.
The only other thing we are really sure about, is that those high level, higher level of education attainment, university degree and above, the more likely you are to vote for remain. But the polls otherwise are really, really close and within the margin of error, so there's a great deal of uncertainty as to way tis vote -- the way this vote may go.
ALLEN: Yes, it's really amazing, isn't it? That no one really knows and we're coming close to the vote. Well, we hopefully will talk to you again, as it ticks down. Richard Whitman with Chatham House. Thank you so much for your time.
The first ISIS affiliated American captured on the battlefield said he is full of regrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMAD JAMAL KHWEIS, AMERICAN CHARGED WITH JOINING ISIS: At the time, I made the decision to go because I was not thinking straight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Coming up, more about this Virginia man and what he is saying now about ISIS.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: And welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories.
France is gearing up for the Euro 2016 football championships set to begin in the coming hours. Security is on high alert for the event, following terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. France says its deployed 90,000 security forces for the tournament.
Israel now says it will allow Palestinians to enter for Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and also for humanitarian and medical cases. All others are banned through Sunday. This comes after Wednesday's terror attack in Tel Aviv, which killed four people.
U.S. President Barack Obama is endorsing Hillary Clinton in her bid for the White House. Mr. Obama said he has seen the judgment and toughness of the presumptive democratic presidential nominee, and says there's no one as qualified for the office as Clinton.
He said that he will campaign with her beginning next week.
Separate suicide attacks across Baghdad killed 22 people, including Iraqi soldiers on Thursday. The bombings also wounded dozens of others, ISIS claimed responsibility.
Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us now live from Baghdad. And Ben, what more can you tell us about the attacks across that city Thursday?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, one of them was a car bomb in the new Baghdad neighborhood, which left at least 17 civilians dead in that case, the other one happened in a check point in Taji, north of Baghdad, where the target seems to have been soldiers.
And of course, it's important to keep in mind that one of the reasons why the Iraqi government has put such a priority on crushing ISIS in Fallujah is that they fear that many of the car bombs and suicide bombings are coming from Fallujah itself, or are being directed from there. Natalie?
ALLEN: Also, reports that armed groups, operating in support of the Iraqi security forces are detaining people now fleeing Fallujah and even perhaps executing them. What do you know about that, Ben?
WEDEMAN: This is a report put out by human rights watch. That according to eyewitness accounts that they have collected, that there have been many cases of abuse of the civilian who is have fled Fallujah, tens, and we understand, well over 10,000 people have fled.
And in some cases, members of the Iraqi federal police and the so- called Hashd al-Shaabi or the popular mobilization units have been involved in summary executions of some of those civilians.
Now we know that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formed an investigation committee to look into these allegations and Iraqi officials said that whoever is found guilty will be harshly punished.
Now yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to the head of the Iraqi federal police who acknowledged that there had been what he called excesses by some members of the force of pro-Iraqi, pro-government, Iraqi governments, but he denied there have been systematic allegations.
Now the human rights watch reports also allege that there have been, for instance, mutilations of bodies, of ISIS fighters by Iraqi forces as well.
Now I can tell you one story. We were up at the front line yesterday, on our way back we saw some soldiers or fighters, we don't know whether what group they belonged to, they were burning a body by the side of the road.
Now, when we inquired with the Iraqi federal police what that was, they informed us that there's a system, where by, any fighters who can show that they have killed an ISIS sniper will each be paid 1 million Iraqi dinars, that's about $850 a piece, if they can bring the body and show it to their commander.
And apparently, in this case, that's what it was. It was a team from a Humvee that killed a sniper, they collected each one, their 1 million Iraqi dinars, then they took the body and burned it by the side of the road. I do believe that that might register for the sort of violation that the human rights watch is reporting.
Although it's important to keep in mind that of course, this country has been at war for almost 35 years in one form or another and such brutality, unfortunately, is common place. Natalie.
[03:35:00] ALLEN: All right. Ben Wedemen, live for us there in Baghdad. Thank you, Ben.
A Virginia man who left the U.S. to join ISIS now faces a federal terrorism charge.
CNN's Brian Todd tells us about the man once described just as a regular teenager and what he has to say about the terror group, ISIS, that he joined.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where are you from?
KHWEIS: United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: He is the first American fighter with ISIS to be captured on the battlefield. Now, 26-year-old, Mohamad Khweis is back in America, charged with providing material support to ISIS. A terror group that U.S. officials say Khweis wanted to join and then soured on.
KHWEIS: I didn't really support their ideology, and that's, at that point, that's when I decided I needed to escape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: After Khweis' dramatic capture by Kurdish forces in March, he did an interview with Kurdish TV, we don't know whether he was coersed at the time of the filming. He talked about he flew from the U.S. to London in December, and made his way to Turkey.
While there, Khweis said, he met up with at least two women, one of whom helped him get into Syria, then Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHWEIS: I made a bad decision to go with the girl, and go to Mosul. At the time, I made the decision to go. Because I wasn't thinking straight. And on the way there, I regretted I wanted to go back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Prosecutors say an ISIS militant once asked Khweis if he wanted to be a suicide bomber, they said Khweis answered yes, but he thought the question was just to test his commitment to ISIS. Kweis' lawyer downplayed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ZWERLING, MOHAMAD KHWEIS' ATTORNEY: I have no reason that thinking he wanted to end his life for any particular reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: When CNN went to Khweis' home in March, his father was upset with the media attention. Outside the courthouse, he again didn't feel like saying much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to see him today. TODD: Khweis graduated from Edison High School in Alexandria,
Virginia in 2007. Harrison Weinhold, a friend from high school, says Mohamad Khweis was a normal teenager who made fun of people who were religious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: What do you make of this news about your friend?
HARRISON WEINHOLD, MOHAMAD KHWEIS' HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND: It's really, it's upsetting. It really sucks. It's something that you feel for his family, you know, it's not just something that you would ever think would happen. He definitely wasn't the type of person, he wasn't -- he wasn't an angry person, he wasn't a, you know, an outcast by any means, he was just a normal guy and we did normal stuff in high school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Now, analysts say Khweis could be a goldmine for U.S. intelligence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BERGEN, CNN'S NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: His certainly has interesting information about the recruiting process, the training process, the other recruits that were there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Khweis' attorney would not say whether or not his client would cooperate with prosecutors or with U.S. intelligence. If he is convicted, he could get 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
But our analyst Peter Bergen says, Khweis at this point, is just lucky to be alive. Bergen says when ISIS catches fighters who try to defect, they kill them.
Brian Todd, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.
ALLEN: Outrage over a rape sentence in California is growing even louder. Coming up, why one million people are now pushing to remove the judge in that case.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: We continue to follow the global outrage over a U.S. sexual assault case and what is widely viewed as a lenient jail sentence.
More than one million people have now signed the petition asking that California Judge, Aaron Persky be remove from the bench. They're upset, Persky gave a former Stanford University athlete, a six-month prison sentence for sexual assault on an unconscious woman.
CNN's Sara Sidner has more on the fall-out from this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIRLANE MCCRAY, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR'S WIFE: You don't know me, but you've been inside me. And that's why we are here today.
CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTRESS: I was butt naked all the way down to my boots. Legs spread apart, and then had been penetrated by a foreign object by someone I did not recognize.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I stood there examining my body beneath the stream of water and I decided I don't want my body anymore.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The searing words of a sexual assault victim, brought to life by people who have never met her but want her voice herd. The 12-page letter first read allow in court by the 23- year-old victim to her 20-year-old attacker.
Former Stanford student and swimmer, Brock Turner. The two go to the same party, both drink too much and Brock Turner attacks her. Two graduate students find her unconscious behind the dumpster. A jury convicts Turner of three felony counts.
The prosecutor asks for six years in prison. The judge sentences to him just six months in jail and three years' probation. In line with the probation officer's recommendation, the decision sparks outrage by the prosecutors, victims' advocates and more than 950,000 people online trying to recall the judge.
Then, letters in support of Brock Turner are revealed, some partially blaming the victim for drinking, others turning Brock Turner into the victim. Turners father writes in part, "His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve, that is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."
That letter causes its own fire storm. Another father's message to the Turners going viral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN PAVLOVITZ, NORTH CAROLINA PASTOR: There's no scenario where your son should be the sympathetic figure here, he is the assailant, he is the rapist. I can't imagine as a father how gut wrenching that reality that is for you, but it is true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: In this case, the deeply personal words of a victim managing to stir a nation and spotlight an issue so often kept in the dark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to the CDC, one in five women will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in 80 percent of those cases, those attacks are perpetrated by someone they already know. And one in four girls will be sexually abused before the age of 18.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn't a secret, it's reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: What is further outraged people is that, Brock Turner won't spend six months in jail, he will spend half of that time, that is the law here in California, only 50 percent of the six months, which means he'll be out in three.
ALLEN: Peru has chosen its next president but it's not yet official. The country's election office announced that Pedro Pablo Kuczynski barely won a majority of votes just over 50 percent. Kuczynski cannot be named president elect until the electoral college makes the vote official. But he says he is ready to get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:45:01] PEDRO PABLO KUCZYNSKI, PERUVIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (TRANSLATED): I thank you for being here. Since these results are not official, they are semiofficial. I'm not giving a press conference, I want to tell you what I just said, unity, conciliation, dialogue, and especially work for Peru.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The 77-year-old beat out this woman, Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a controversial former Peruvian president.
Thousands of mourners have been paying their respects to Muhammad Ali ahead of his public memorial service and funeral later Friday. Ali and his rival, Joe Frazier had faced each other twice before their fight in the Philippines back in 1975. They have each won once.
Andrew Stevens looks back at what became a rematch for the ages with a fan who got to know the greatest personally.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: When Muhammad Ali arrived in the Philippines in October, 1975 for the Thrilla in Manila, he was already a household name in this boxing mad country.
Thousands of fans turned out to welcome him and thousands more just to watch him train. One of them was a young Romy Macalintal, a hard core fan who just wanted a signature on his prized possession, a collection of newspaper clippings about Ali. But, Romy got a whole lot more than he had bargained for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMY MACALINTAL, MUHAMMAD ALI'S FAN: It was an experience which I cannot forget. One of the most memorable experiences in my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STEVENS: Romy ended up not only meeting Ali in private but spending the entire afternoon alone with the boxer, the two of them watching movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACALINTAL: We were just sitting on the carpet, while watching the movie. And in between, he would stand up and he would some get cookies some juice and he would be offering me, he was serving me, imagine, the heavyweight champion, serving me at a time with biscuits and juice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Romy didn't get to the fight, but like millions of other Filipinos, watched it on television. A brutal encounter eventually won by Ali and now regarded as one of the greatest bouts ever in boxing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RECAH TRINIDAD, JOURNALIST: Their eyes would turn around because of the blood flushing from their mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Recah Trinidad was a journalist who watched the fight ringside, for him, the fight wasn't about the sport so much as the politics. The dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos had been in power for three years, and the country was under Martial Law. Marcos himself had been key to getting the fight staged in Manila.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRINIDAD: He was hunting for camouflage; the misdeed of martial arts, as far as the word, the word audience was concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: But to a young fan, the memories are not of politics not even the fight, but of Muhammad Ali himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACALINTAL: For me, I would always remember him as a very humble and a humble man. He was a man with the humility and a man with a heart.
My encounter with the greatest, a very great man, and really the greatest heavyweight champion in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.
ALLEN: I'm sure he will hold on to that booklet forever.
Quick programming note, CNN will have special live coverage of the memorial service for Muhammad Ali, it starts Friday at 6.45 p.m., London Time.
And coming up here, an oddity of the deep. The story behind this rare photo of a fish trapped inside a jellyfish. We will talk with the guy who took that picture right after this.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Excessive summer-like heat has started to build across the Central and Southeastern United States.
Get a load of these temperatures, middle and upper 30s. For Denver, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta, New York, you're slightly cooler with sunshine overhead, look at the West Coast, and upper teens in lower 20s from San Francisco into Los Angeles.
We broke the heat wave across the Pacific Northwest, so we focus our attention across the central parts. In fact, this is an astounding statistic. Almost 50 percent of the United States is over 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 32 degrees Celsius.
So, some extreme heat across the Central U.S. Take a look at some of the major cities along the East Coast through the course of the weekend, Atlanta, hot and very humid, temperatures in the middle 30s, even warmer than that by Monday. More of the same for Charlotte. Washington breaking the 30-degree mark, and we stay relatively comfortable into the big apple.
Well, we had a few thunderstorm move through the Chicago region, will move that chance of severe weather across the Great Lakes, particularly from international falls into Minneapolis, and look at parts of Montana has a potential of large hail and damaging winds and perhaps an isolated tornado.
Central America and into the Caribbean, daytime highs in the lower 30s. We're anticipating showers and thunderstorms across this region.
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ALLEN: Welcome back.
Sometimes a picture captures a moment of greatness, other times a scene of tragedy. And on rare occasion, the downright strange will count this picture in that category.
Yes, that is a fish inside a jellyfish. An Australian photographer Tim Samuel captured this incredibly rare phenomenon of Eastern Australia and he decided not to free the fish and just let nature take its course. We're not sure how all of that ended up for both fish and jellyfish.
But we will talk to the photographer now. Tim Samuel joins me from Byron Bay, Australia via Skype. Tim, you take one picture and look what happens. How does it all feel to you?
TIM SAMUEL, PHOTOGRAPHER: Yes, it's been absolutely incredible. I can't believe it at all. ALLEN: Well, this photo has certainly lit up social media, and for
good reason, my goodness, look at that. When you first came across this spectacle, what were you thinking; did you have to take a second or third look?
SAMUEL: Yes, absolutely, I was so confused by what I was looking at and then when I realized, I was just I couldn't believe it. It's such a strange thing.
ALLEN: How long, how deep were you? And how long were you able to follow fish and jellyfish?
SAMUEL: So, it's about two meters under the water and I followed it around just watching it and photographing it for about 20 minutes.
ALLEN: How about that. And was anything else around that or it was just this lone jellyfish with a fish stuck inside of it?
SAMUEL: Just the lone jellyfish I was trying swim out to a reef which has lots of turtles to go and photograph them and this was just on the way out in open water with no other fish around.
ALLEN: So strange to see that little fish in there looking like hey, somebody get me out of here. But could you tell whether the fish was trying to push its way out, who was -- who was driving, the jellyfish or the fish?
SAMUEL: So, the fish was definitely driving. It's little tail was sticking out of the back of the jellyfish and it was pushing it along, so that making the jellyfish go on a bit of a ride.
[03:55:04] Yes, but he seems to be doing OK in there, he did not seem too stressed out. He was pushing it along and you know, it would bubble go off course a little bit sometimes get stuck going in circles, but it did not seem too bad in there.
ALLEN: Oh, my god, it's all alone, too. His family in there to try to help out. You know, scientists, they reached out to scientists over your picture, specifically jellyfish researchers weighed in and they doubt this will work out well for the fish or the jellyfish. Did you think about intervening at some point to try to save either?
SAMUEL: Yes, absolutely. Like I felt a little bad for the fish that was stuck inside, but at the same time, I didn't know if it was some sort of strange symbolic relationship between the two where they were kind of just enjoying each other's company. So, in the end, I just decided to let nature, yes, sort of do its thing and yes. Swam off to go find some turtles afterwards.
ALLEN: I can't believe you were still interested in turtles after that picture. But any-who researchers said that jellyfish usually consume a fish much smaller and that this type of fish here is known to hover below a jellyfish.
So, perhaps this encounter between the two was unfortunate accident. And another researcher question whether the photo was so fake, it's so bizarre. What's your reaction to that?
SAMUEL: Well, I have other photos of it to back it up. Sorry.
ALLEN: All right. It's truly amazing. but thank you so much for talking with us, Tim. And good luck there in the water, bring us some more.
And that is CNN Newsroom. The news continues next with Max Foster in London.
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