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CNN 10
Tracking ISIS Threat; Russia Supporting Separatist Rebels in Ukraine
Aired August 29, 2014 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Fridays are all something we can appreciate. In less than nine minutes, you`ll see just how much we`ve appreciated them
through the years. I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS.
First up, the U.S. is looking for support in fighting ISIS, it`s a brutal terrorist organization that`s taking over about a third each of Iraq and
Syria. ISIS has murdered scores of people who don`t share its extreme Islamic views. It wants to create a country based on those views and
declare war on the Western world. Iraqi forces have been fighting ISIS with support from U.S. airstrikes. President Obama has authorized
surveillance flights in Syria. That`s expected to lead the U.S. airstrikes there, too. Yesterday, the White House held a meeting to discuss other
ways to take on ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let`s start with this sobering thought. ISIS is not just a local Iraqi or Syrian problem. Because in addition to
the massive amounts of territory it has captured in Iraq and Syria, it is now already threatening Saudi Arabia. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. And as
Americans, the great concern is that they also have their sites set even further afield.
Intelligence officials believe that there are about 1,000 Westerners fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria, among them, about 100 Americans. And
it`s a belief of U.S. intelligence officials that they are being trained and encouraged to carry out attacks when they return home.
In fact, it`s belief that ISIS veterans have already carried out two attacks in Europe. The fear is that they will carry out many more going
forward.
Now, U.S. intelligence and counter-terror officials are tracking ISIS veterans as best as they can when they attempt to go home. The trouble is,
even they will admit that this is happening as U.S. intelligence capabilities are declining. For one, human intelligence, known as humint
in the intelligence community has declined, virtually non-existent in Syria and it`s decreased in Iraq after the U.S. withdrew U.S. forces from Iraq.
Much of the intelligence done there by the U.S. military.
Two, what`s happening is, what`s called SIGINT, signals intelligence is declining as well. In the post-Snowden era, terrorists don`t communicate
the way they used to, on cell-phones, or by email, on Internet websites, and that`s also decreasing the ability of intelligence agencies to track
their movements. Iraq and Syria are just two failed states that are now home to terrorist group with international aspirations. There are others
in Libya, in Yemen and Somalia. And when I speak to U.S. intelligence officials, they say that nothing keeps them up at night more than the
threats emanating from there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Another conflict U.S. officials are watching is in Ukraine. It`s a nation divided between East and West. On one hand, many Ukrainians want
closer ties with the European Union, the West. Their new government sees that as the future of Ukraine. But other Ukrainians, especially in some
eastern regions are aligned with Russia. Some have been fighting for independence from Ukraine. Western leaders accuse Russia of supporting
these rebels with troops and weapons. Russia`s denied that repeatedly. But the U.S. officials says as many as a 1,000 Russian troops cross the
border into Ukraine Thursday, to fight alongside the rebels.
The U.S. is warning Russia of new sanctions, economic penalties if it doesn`t pull back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Putin`s annexation of Crimea and his support for the pro- Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has raised his popularity with
the Russian people. His ratings haven`t been so high since he went to war with another former pro-Western neighbor, Georgia, in 2008. For years,
Putin has made keeping Ukraine from joining the European Union and NATO, a major strategic goal. But the recent ouster of pro- Russian president,
Victor Yanukovych, has really weakened his influence there. One way to stop Ukraine from joining the West is to make it too unstable by keeping
this insurgency running.
But sticking with the separatists brings Putin problems on the international front. There`s no smoking gun against Russia for the downing
of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, but the Western world says Putin`s support for the separatists has led to this tragedy.
The U.S. and the Europe have already imposed sanctions against Russian companies. Entire sectors of the Russian economy could be next. It`s
already been tittering on the brink of recession for months, and the damage done to Russia`s world image from the conflict will take years to undo.
In the choice between appeasing the Russian public and antagonizing the West, it appears Vladimir Putin has no good options.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: For more than seven weeks in the Middle East, explosions have been almost constant in Israel and Gaza. Relative silence settled over the
region in the past few days. No missiles from Israeli airstrikes, no rockets from the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza. It`s a truce, and as
of last night, it was holding. The most recent flare up between Hamas and Israel killed about 2200 people. Previous cease-fires have come and gone.
One thing that sets this one apart is that it`s open-ended, there`s no expiration date.
It doesn`t resolve any major issues between the two sides, but they both agreed to negotiate in the days ahead.
From northwest to southwest, it`s time to see who`s watching on the CNN STUDENT NEWS "Roll Call." From Tacoma, Washington, we`ve got the Koats
(ph), with the K. Hello to our viewers at Keithley Middle School. We`ll make a quick stop in the land of 10,000 lakes at Washburn High School in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Good to see the Millers. And at Hagerman Municipal Schools in Hagerman, New Mexico, it`s the Bobcats who round out
today`s roll. Thanks to all of you who made a request on Thursday`s transcript page.
All right, charging stations. They popped up in officers, airline terminals, parking lots for electric cars. MIT workers in the research
company had been developing technology that merges a charging station with a park bench. It`s not cheap. While an everyday bench is anywhere from
160 to 900 bucks, these could sell for thousands.
Here`s a look at an early project that eventually led to a new kind of bench. One that`s giving folks a charge around Boston, Massachusetts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA RICHTER, MIT MEDIA LAB VISITING SCIENTIST: I`m Sandra and I live in the city of Boston. We are here at MIT media lab. We made the future for
every park bench, a connected solar powered charger. Cities of the future need to be designed around the human being, around us. We are seeing more
and more efforts for sittable (ph) cities.
We hacked a lot of things together that normally don`t make sense. We took six solar panels, three lithium ion batteries, a waterproof plug, and then
we have batteries sensing. So, what does it mean, we actually noticed when and how many people are charging off of solar energy and we can communicate
that into the cloud. So, the bench right now is actually connected to the Internet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Before I was the anchor of CNN STUDENT NEWS, I was a news writer. And I always thought that when I got on air, one thing I`d say regularly
was how I felt about Fridays. Here`s how that turned out in the years that followed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Great? No. Excellent? No. Stupendous? Not quite. Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
You know what`s not as awesome as Fridays? Stagnation.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are totally sweave (ph).
If I may quote myself.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays.
Fridays.
Fridays.
I`ve got a special message, Fridays are awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Fridays are acceptable.
Fridays are awesome.
You know why Fridays are awesome?
You`ve made it to Friday. Awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Fridays may be awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
It`s the most awesome day of the week.
Pretty awesome. Not as awesome as Fridays.
You know it.
Fridays are always awesome.
It`s almost as awesome as Fridays.
Fridays awesome.
Oh, it`s Friday all right.
Fridays are awesome.
You guys are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
We know that Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
Even when they are freezing, Fridays are awesome.
Fridays are awesome.
All right, forgive Fridays, that was awesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Of course, some don`t think so. Shrimp, fish, chicken and catfish all hate Fridays. Many vegans won`t touch fried eggs, and if you hate
ghost stories and horror movies, you are not going to like fright days. But even those of you who hate puns, love Fridays because they mean too
more days until pun days. Though next pun day are Monday, we will not be on the air. We`ll be off for the Labor Day holiday. So, hope you enjoy
it, and we`ll see you on Tuesday our next news day. What? I`m Carl Azuz.
END
