Governor of Iowa No Longer Staying Neutral; UN Report on Civilian Casualties of Iraq Violence
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Breaking news, 13 days away from the Iowa caucus. The governor of Iowa no longer staying neutral saying he wants the front-runner Ted Cruz defeated.</s>GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: And I think that Ted Cruz is ahead right now, but we are doing is we are trying to educate the people of Iowa. He is the biggest opponent of renewable fuels and he actually introduced a bill in 2013 to immediately eliminate the renewable fuel standard. He is heavily financed by big oil. So we think that once Iowans realize that fact, they might find other things attractive, but I think it would be very damaging to our state and that's the reason why he hasn't been invited to this because he hasn't been supported renewable fuels and I believe it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him. And I know he is ahead in the polls. But the only poll that counts is the one they take on caucus night. And I think it could change between now and then. I think this event is an important, significant step to helping educate the voters in this state and this it state is where it all begins.</s>BALDWIN: CNN politics reporter M.J. Lee is in Altoona, Iowa, where Donald Trump is holding an event in just a bit. But to hear from Governor Branstad where he is no longer remaining neutral, what's behind this?</s>M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Brooke. I mean, these are pretty remarkable comments coming from the state's Republican governor precisely because the Republican governor here usually doesn't take sides before the primary process has begun. It's really hard to overstate just how important the ethanol issue is here in Iowa. I spent a lot of time on the road in Iowa over the last couple months speaking to voters and there are a lot of people who told me, look, because of Cruz's stance on ethanol subsidies and his opposition to ethanol subsidies, I simply can't support him for president. Obviously, something that Donald Trump, one of Ted Cruz's biggest rivals here in Iowa, has really seized on. I spoke to one voter who said he's likely to support Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses. And he was actually surprised to hear the state's governor take a stance on this, but that frankly because he himself feels so strongly about the issue, he was actually happy to hear the governor let other Iowan voters know we should not support Ted Cruz and here's where he stands on ethanol subsidies.</s>BALDWIN: M.J., thank you very much. I know we will have much more on the "the LEAD" with Jake Tapper coming up next. Also more on Trump's mystery announcement later tonight. Thank you. Abducted by terrorists, held as slaves, shocking numbers just out from the United Nations revealing exactly how many Iraqis are now living as ISIS slaves, 3,500 and most of those women and children. Some not even teenagers yet. Forced to match militants slaughter families before they are sold as sex slaves or awarded to ISIS fighters. And it doesn't end there. This report goes into horrendous detail of executions, executions by firing squads, beheadings, amputations, burning alive and even bulldozing. Let's go to Istanbul. Our senior international correspondent there, Arwa Damon. And Arwa, before we get to the news of this - I don't know the word is -- this report. You have this incredible information about the salaries of ISIS fighters.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And that is according to a document that was allegedly leaked to one of the activist groups called Aleppo 24. And according to this document, ISIS has, and I'm reading straight from it, decided to slash these salaries because of the exceptional circumstances experienced by the Islamic State saying no one will be excluded from this decision no matter what their rank. Another piece of information too, which is also very interesting, is that especially in Raqqah, ISIS is going to be controlling trying to control the level of power that is being consumed. Perhaps this is an indication of the pressure that they are feeling. But at the same time, ISIS does remain a very formidable enemy, as is detailed in this United Nations report. If we just look at the sheer scale of the numbers, 19,000 civilians killed in Iraq in less than two years. Much of that violence attributed to ISIS, yes. But this is also part of the violence that Iraqis themselves have been experiencing for quite some time now. When you were speaking there about those women and young girls that have been enslave d by ISIS, well, the vast majority of them are from the yasidi community and they were captured when ISIS swept into Mount Sinjar around a year and a half ago. Some people did manage to escape and many of us have spoken to them over the last year and a half. And they tell stories that literally just make your hair raise about how ISIS would line them up and fighters would choose which girl they wanted to take, how many of them were under age, forced into these marriages, effectively raped on a regular basis. And the ones that were able to flee despite having lived through this, they are the lucky ones. Imagine the 3,500 that still remain this their captivity. And also, highlighted in had this report is that the report has managed to verify claims that some 800-900 children, children have been abducted by ISIS in the city of Mosul and they are being forced into religious indoctrination, forced in to military training and various commanders that CNN has been speaking to that have been on the front lines in the fight against ISIS are saying that yes, they are coming across child fighters.</s>BALDWIN: Awful. It's awful. But we have to talk about it. We have to cover it. Arwa Damon, thank you so much. All right, to this. All this week we CNN anchor types are thrilled to be sharing our stories about the person who changed our lives. And today, it's my turn. He is my oldest friend. We go back to this awkward teenage years at the seventh grade. He is currently now famous for the bear hug with the president at the time when he graduated of the U.S. naval academy. We hang out. We went way back to our roots in Atlanta. I just can't wait to introduce you to this guy. Rashad Jones, yes, it is an old school pictures, coming at you, next.