Joan Rivers on Life Support; Chilling Words From ISIS Terrorist; How to Fight Radical Recruitment
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be with you, Don. I'm Alisyn Camerota.</s>LEMON: Well, tonight, chilling words from the apparent executioner of American journalist Steven Sotloff.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.</s>LEMON: Experts fear that terrorist -- that terrorist becoming a star who can recruit even more fighters. What will it take to stop him, Alisyn?</s>CAMEROTA: So, tonight, we have got a team of experts here to weigh in on the terror threat and the military response. Also -- and this is going to be fascinating -- a former jihadist who knows how the terrorists work, how dangerous they really are, and how to break their mind-set.</s>LEMON: Plus, we will have the very latest on Joan Rivers on life support in New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. Is surgery more dangerous than we realize? But we're going to begin with the very latest on the fight against ISIS. President Barack Obama is sending additional U.S. military personnel into Iraq. And that comes just after the release of that video that appears to show the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. CNN's justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, is in Washington for us this evening and also Karl Penhaul is in London. Good evening to both of you. But, Pamela, I'm going to start with you first. I want to get the breaking news in tonight. More U.S. military personnel headed to Iraq, what do we know about that?</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, we're learning today the U.S. is sending over approximately 350 additional military personnel on the ground in Baghdad to provide additional security for the embassy and other diplomatic facilities over there. And this brings the total numbers of troops who are providing diplomatic security in Iraq to 820. Don, a statement from the White House notes the troops will not be serving in a combat role upon arriving and that the White House was fulfilling a request from the State Department as the country continues to fight</s>ISIS. LEMON: And I want to turn now to that gruesome ISIS video, Karl. You have seen the video in its entirely. Describe what you saw.</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, it's close to three minutes. It's a video with relatively high production values. At least two cameras appear to have been used in that video. Steven Sotloff, the 31-year-old American journalist, appears once again in an orange jumpsuit, reminiscent of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, also alongside him, a man who seems very similar to the man who appeared in the James Foley execution video two weeks ago. He also speaks with the same distinctive British accent that experts say is a multicultural London accent. That man once again talks to Obama and says, "Obama, I'm back." And then he concludes that video, warning Obama to back off and stay away. We see at some point a knife being passed across Steven Sotloff's throat, and then later pictures of his severed head on top of his body, a very difficult video to watch. And apparently ISIS making good on its threat that Steven Sotloff would be next if the U.S. did not cease its airstrikes on ISIS positions in Iraq -- Don.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Karl, it's Alisyn here. That video is obviously sickening. CNN is only going to play a small portion of the message, in part because it is clearly propaganda from this terrorist group. But here is the small portion that we will play so the viewers get a taste of it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of your insistence of continuing your bombings in Amirli and in Mosul dam, despite our serious warnings, you, Obama, have yet again, through your actions, killed yet another American citizen. So, just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.</s>CAMEROTA: So, Karl, what do we know about this executioner?</s>PENHAUL: Well, from what we have already gleaned, and that principally from the James Foley execution video two weeks ago, that experts, British intelligence experts, in fact, were saying 10 days ago they were pretty close to identifying who he was. We haven't heard from them yet if they have in fact managed to identify who he is and where he is from. But he does speak with that pretty distinctive accent that language experts say is from a multicultural district of London. But beyond that, we really don't know publicly at least who he ISIS. But, clearly, ISIS has put him up there for propaganda purposes, possibly also some people say to draw other foreigners to the jihadi cause, Alisyn.</s>LEMON: And, Karl, we want to hear now from Steven Sotloff himself. And we're showing this limited portion of his message, because we think it is very important to hear him and see how incredibly brave he is in his last moments. Steven Sotloff's last words on the video were clearly coerced. And for all we know, we thought that he -- his life would be spared possibly if he cooperated. So here is a brief portion of his remarks on video. Take a look.</s>STEVEN SOTLOFF, AMERICAN CAPTIVE: Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for the preservation of American lives and interests. So why is it that I'm having to pay the price of your interference with my life?</s>LEMON: Karl, how is that message being interpreted tonight?</s>PENHAUL: Well, there is no indication that U.S. administration is going to pull back from its campaign of airstrikes on ISIS positions, and also the indications that the U.S. may be considering airstrikes in Syria. Also, in terms of Britain, one of the United States' major allies there, Britain has also said that it is considering arming the Kurdish militias, who we know are fighting ISIS, and also Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will consider giving more intelligence to the U.S. to help it in its bombing campaign. And that brings a world of problems to the British prime minister because not only are we now faced with the fact that the executioner appears to be British, but also at the very end of this brutal video, a third man is brought forward, and that is at least, according to the ISIS propaganda video, a third Briton, British hostage, we didn't even know was being held hostage. The clear implication there, if this campaign against ISIS continues, that Briton will be the next in line for execution, Don.</s>LEMON: Karl Penhaul, Pamela Brown, thanks to see you both this evening.</s>CAMEROTA: All right, Don, we want to bring in Rita Katz. She's the director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the online activities of terrorists organizations. And her organization first spotted this new ISIS video today. Rita, thanks so much for being here. Explain how you came upon this video.</s>RITA KATZ, DIRECTOR, SEARCH FOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ENTITIES: Well, we at SITE for over a decade monitor, search, and study the jihadists online. You had me speaking here before, talking about the threat of the online recruitment and jihad network and infrastructure. We have been studying and monitoring the jihadists online, which also as they get more sophisticated, we follow their techniques and study them. And based on that, we could predict where they will be uploading their video. After all, we have to remember that much of this propaganda is being posted online. Their releases are released online. So they have to be able to use certain locations to upload their releases before they are published.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Rita, do you know about this report that they did not intend to release this video today; somehow, it was leaked?</s>KATZ: I mean, we released it because we found it on the site that they prepare for a release. I believe -- I strongly believe that it was supposed to be released today. And, in fact, they even posted a message on their social media official site, ISIS, that they will be releasing the video soon, and that was about very shortly after we released their video. They were also going to release it in other additional languages, German and French and Russian. But we first released the video.</s>CAMEROTA: So, Rita, you study these guys. You have made your career out of following ISIS and similar groups. So how do you think the U.S. should be handling them?</s>KATZ: I think that it's very important to understand the online infrastructure. We're all facing the problem of recruitment online. We're facing the problem of Americans, Brits, Australians, you name it, all over the world. Individuals are joining ISIS. The executer is British or at least has a British accent. Last week, we faced the problem of two Americans killed while fighting for ISIS. And the list is long. And we are facing currently the problem of how are we going to stop the radicalization process? Unfortunately, though, I don't remember any comprehensive study that was made by the United States or other governments in trying really to understand what makes, what creates the radicalization, what is making individuals going to fight with these groups from the sense of what is happening online? And the online component is so important. And as long as we will not pay attention to it, unfortunately, their recruitment will continue.</s>CAMEROTA: So you think we aren't paying attention to it? You think the U.S. is not paying attention to the online component or that we're not as savvy as they are?</s>KATZ: I believe that not enough is being done on the online network. I believe that the bottom line is that we have been in this war for almost 14 years. And at this stage, al Qaeda is very strong and ISIS is very strong and almost every single country in the world is facing the problem. What we can say for sure is that the drone attacks were not enough, because we are having a serious problem that we need to study, and studying the Internet is extremely important. I have testified before Congress years before, but 2007, 2008, and I said the problem of the Internet is going to be extremely important for every -- because the Internet breaks the borders. The problem over there suddenly becomes a problem over here.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes.</s>KATZ: The video is released there. The situation that is happening in Iraq is affecting every single individual. And among the problems we're having right now, not only that individuals from the United States and other Western countries are going to fight in Syria and Iraq. There are a lot that emotionally and ideologically supporting the group, and for various reasons, they can't leave, they can't go. And they are among us. And as long as the Internet will not be faced very seriously, I think that the radicalization process will be coming in even more an important threat.</s>CAMEROTA: All right, we will be talking all about that for the next couple hours. Rita Katz, thanks so much for your insight. She says that we have to beat them at their own game and become as savvy as they are online, which we're not yet.</s>LEMON: Yes. I want to talk now to a woman who has known Steven Sotloff since they were both children. Danielle Berrin is a senior writer for L.A.'s Jewish Journal. Danielle, thank you for joining us tonight. I need to tell our viewers that you grew up and you went to school with Steven back in Miami. And when you first realized that the man in the video was your childhood friend -- when did you realize that?</s>DANIELLE BERRIN, JEWISH JOURNAL: It was a couple of weeks ago when I saw the video in which James Foley was beheaded, and I was instantly horrified. Steven was my hero. He was traveling to the most dangerous, troubled places on the planet, so that he could report back stories of human suffering. He was someone who could not ignore pain and injustice. He felt responsible. And he had to respond.</s>LEMON: So, you know, you shared your first great class photo from your temple. And I want to show it here. You tell us that Steven Sotloff, there he is in the top second row from the right, and you're on the lower right. You hadn't seen him in 15 years. But he actually reached out to you in 2010 to reconnect, right?</s>BERRIN: Yes, he did. I think we had a kinship because he knew I was writing and he was writing and we were both journalists, although I certainty would not put myself in the same category as him. But he did reach out to me. And he would send me lovely notes. And he would send me articles that he was writing and send them from wherever in the world he was. He would always let me know when he was going into the Middle East. And I know that was a passion of his. He really felt a responsibility to go there and tell stories of human degradation and pain.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Danielle, we're playing only a small portion of the hideous video that was released, in part to show Steven's stoicism at the hands of this barbaric act. And I know that you say that it was a trademark of his personality to not cower from danger.</s>BERRIN: No, I mean, what I remember of him -- and for some reason, he was one of those -- he was one of those kids who just made an impression on you. I have such a powerful memory of him even from such a young age. He was goofy and playful and fun, and just so full of light and joy. And he was an incredible, beautiful soul and spirit.</s>LEMON: Have you spoken to the family tonight? And if so, or lately, how are they doing, do you know?</s>BERRIN: I have not spoken to the family. They have asked that people respect their privacy. I can only imagine the horrific amount of grief that they're feeling at this moment. But I have been in touch with friends from home and certainly people from the synagogue that Steven and I both belonged to. And it's just the whole community is grieving. It's a terrible tragedy. And I think anyone, you know, who cares about freedom of expression and human life should be appalled and saddened by this really horrific act.</s>LEMON: Yes, barbaric. Thank you very much, Danielle Berrin, a childhood friend of Steven Sotloff.</s>BERRIN: Yes.</s>LEMON: And as we have been talking about the family, you know the mom last week made a plea for the release of her son, and then all of the sudden this today.</s>CAMEROTA: She made a personal appeal to the head of ISIS, Baghdadi, hoping that, speaking as a mother, that it would change the course of fate. But, of course, it did not.</s>LEMON: It did not. When we come right back, from ISIS to Al-Shabab, is the White House doing too much or not enough to battle terrorism? We will ask a man who has reported from hot spots around the world. That's Nick Kristof.</s>CAMEROTA: Also, how terrorists recruit young people in this country. A former jihadist is going to tell his personal story.</s>LEMON: And then Joan Rivers on life support in New York City, in a New York hospital. Are the surgical procedures we take for granted more dangerous than we realize?