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tv   Wolf  CNN  January 28, 2015 10:00am-11:01am PST

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hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 6:00 p.m. in london. 8:00 p.m. in amman, jordan, and 8:00 p.m. in jerusalem. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. up first, a deadly attack ratcheting up tensions in the middle east even more so israel says the militant group hezbollah fired on an israeli military vehicle in the golan heights. two israeli soldiers were killed. a spanish peacekeeper was also killed in the fighting. this was hezbollah's deadliest military attack on israeli forces since the 2006 war between the two sides. the conflict has much wider implications since hezbollah is backed by both iran and the syrian regime of president bashar al assad. our global affairs correspondent elise labott is up there, near the israeli border with lebanon and the golan heights up there.
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elise, we just got word that the prime minister benjamin netanyahu, assembled his security cabinet for an assessment meeting. what does all this mean? what are you hearing now about a potential escalation along the border between israel, lebanon and syria? >> reporter: wolf the israelis answered that artillery fire and those missile attacks into israel today with air strikes against hezbollah across the lebanese border and with ground artillery into the lebanese border. prime minister netanyahu saying israel will not stand for another front -- open front with hezbollah, warning hezbollah in effect about what happened to hamas in gaza during operation protective edge saying they could have the same fate. israeli military sources isiss are saying they seem to be kind of satisfied with the israeli response which was immediate and punishing, they feel. and they are hoping it could de-escalate.
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but as you know from covering the middle east for so long one wrong move on either side of the border and it could quickly spiral out of control. >> it certainly could. that's the great fear right now. walk us through -- the tensions along israel's northern border with syria and lebanon, they have been escalating dramatically over the past week, right? >> reporter: that's right. you have that attack last week into syria against high-level hezbollah and iranian targets. israel never copped to that attack. but certainly the idf forces were on alert right after because they targeted and killed those high-level iranian and hezbollah operatives. israel deployed the iron dome anti-missile system across the border on its side of the border. we visited that today. and everyone is on high alert. yesterday there were some rocket fire on the golan heights from syria into israel. overnight, israel targeted
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syrian positions saying the syrian regime is responsible for what happens on its side of the border. and then today you had that attack on that israeli military convoy. so things have been escalating over the last several days. hezbollah certainly saying this is punishment for that israeli attack against hezbollah and the iranians. however, it's been quiet for the last few hours. we'll see what happens overnight, whether it de-escalates. i don't think anybody wants a new front, an open war between israel and hezbollah. but things could quickly spiral out of control. >> certainly could. elise, stand by. i want to get back to you. but i want to get more insight on the latest fighting and what it means for the broader middle east. joining us is aaron miller distinguished scholar. what's going on over there? >> the middle east is full of surprises but this one was predictable. there's no question that hezbollah responded directly to the january 18th israeli
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targeted hit on that convoy -- >> it was a convoy of hezbollah vehicles going from syria into lebanon and it was four miles away from israeli forces were. >> yes. and whether they knew it was revolutionary guard commanders in this convoy is unclear. but hezbollah and iran wanted to expand and open a new front on the golan. and that's one of the implications here. i think what the israelis fear is that iran and hezbollah is looking for a way to establish a new baseline so that israeli civilians, military forces are going to be shelled from the golan, which as you know on the syrian side of the border is very much an open space, free fire zone. the hezbollah response was expected. they could have responded abroad in a terrorist attack or opened up a huge high trajectory weapons but they didn't. they took advantage of this
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attack to basically establish some measure of deterrence. and this was clearly payback. this morning's attack i'm told was quite sophisticated. >> the attack on the israeli vehicle? >> exactly. new generation of anti-tank missiles and mortar fire. apparently that israeli military vehicle was also unarmored. you'd have to raise a question about why the israelis anticipated this was going to happen why they weren't better prepared. >> the fear is it could get out of control. in 2006 there was a full-scale war between israel and hezbollah along the israeli/lebanese border. it was horrible. hundreds of thousands of israelis had to abandon their homes. haifa was generally abandoned, empty. the israelis lost billions of dollars in revenue. they certainly don't want that to happen now. but it could escalate to that point given the volume of rockets and missiles hezbollah
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has received over these past several years. >> it could. but the three primary parties here israel iran and hezbollah, i suspect don't want a repeat of that. from the israeli side you're facing elections on march 17. you remember this. in '06, for 33 days half of the middle east's most preemptive military power was essentially closed space. hezbollah has rearmed and their high-trajectory weapons are more sophisticated, greater precision, more lethality. iran already stretched in syria, supporting assad and hezbollah supporting assad as well on the ground with fighters i suspect don't want a second -- >> i agree. i'm sure the israelis don't want this to escalate. i suspect the iranians don't. but there could be a miscalculation as we all know. >> logic and rationality don't always apply. >> stand by for a moment. elise, let's talk about that
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iron dome. you went up to the golan heights. the israelis moved that iron dome system that works relatively very effectively in dealing with incoming rockets and missiles. you were there. tell us what it was like. did you actually get to see that iron dome on the golan heights? >> reporter: we did, wolf. we saw the batteries. they're not very large. we got a few hundred yards from it. the idf was pushing us back every time we tried to get closer. it's a very sophisticated radar system. as you know they can shoot down lock onto one of those rockets and shoot it down within 15 seconds. and that's very helpful during operation protective edge. israelis could live a relatively normal life during a very volatile time. the problem is it's untested against the kind of rocket fire that hezbollah is capable of firing large salvos of missiles. hezbollah could have about 100,000 missiles. if they start throwing hundreds of rockets at one time this
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system is untested about that. and it's unclear whether it has the capability to be as successful. probably does not. that being said i think that as we've been saying everybody wants to tone this down. it's really unclear right now whether you had your tit for tat tat. hezbollah answered that israeli air strike, hezbollah responded. the israelis came back and answered it. the israelis are saying to hezbollah, syria and iran we will not tolerate another front. we will not let you change the rules of the game. so i think now everyone's looking to see whether either side is looking to de-escalate. i think as you've been saying the answer is no here. >> i suspect you're right. aaron's right as well. quickly, aaron, where does the syrian regime of president bashar al assad fit into all of this? they're getting support obviously from iran, from hezbollah. what do they want? >> i think assad has reached the conclusion that there's going to
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be no western intervention. the israelis have intervenes half a dozen time through air strikes destroying probably missiles from hezbollah to israel. assad frankly has created a manageable status quo for himself, which is one of the reasons i suspect neither iran nor hezbollah wants to open up this second front. remember the iranians spent a lot of money helping hezbollah repair lebanon in the wake of the '06 war. price of oil going down stretched in syria, iran is simply not flush. and i don't think wants it this time around. >> aaron miller, thanks very much. elise, we'll get back to you later, elise labott on the border between israel and lebanon. coming up a potential deal in the works to swap a jordanian prisoner a jordanian air force pilot for two isis hostages. we have new details coming in. and a string of bomb threats targeting several flights here in the united states. why investigators may have a hard time tracking down the culprit.
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there's another developing story we're watching right now. the latest in the hostage demands by isis for a japanese journalist and a jordanian fighter pilot. the isis dictated deadline is now passed for a prisoner exchange. jordan agreed to release an iraqi female terrorist in chaeng for the pair. joining us with the latest is will ripley covering this from tokyo and barbara starr is over at the pentagon. will what is the very latest you're hearing on this very potentially deadly wait-and-see game? >> reporter: the last update publicly that we got from the japanese government was around midnight local time so three hours ago, one hour after the
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apparent isis execution deadline. the update was that there was no developmented to report. we can guarantee you if there had been a safe exchange or if there is a safe exchange we will hear about it once it is believed that all parties involved are safe. the fact that we're now into the overnight, early morning hours and there's no news, unfortunately hope is fading and fears increasing that this is not going to end well for japanese hostage kenji goto. the isis propaganda video in which goto is holding the photo of the jordanian pilot, moaz kassasbeh, he's only offering through isis his life in exchange for sajida al hish rilawial.
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the king of jordan apparently is not willing to deliver on that kind of a deal because he would receive so much intense criticism from his own people for turning over a high-level captive in exchange for a citizen. that's a sticking point. japanese officials have very little they can do. they've been on the ground in amman for a long time. but it's an unpredictable situation. isis were very clear, the king of jordan is very clear, which means these two men, we don't know what their status is right now. but many are fearing it's not going to be good as the sun comes up in tokyo. >> stand by, will. barbara is at the pentagon. the jordanians are making it clear they will release this suicide bomber this woman, who is part of a plot to kill some 60 people at several hotel
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weddings going on in amman, jordan, back in 2005. her suicide bomb did not go off. she's been a prisoner ever since. you see her right now. the jordanians are making it clear they're ready to release her but they want their jordanian air force fighter pilot released and that japanese journalist to be released at the same time. what are you hearing at the pentagon? >> reporter: we've been talking to a number of sources who have direct knowledge of the debate going on across all of these governments right now. for jordan, will is absolutely right. the top priority for king abdullah of jordan is to get the jordanian pilot back. that is something that we see in so many countries, even in this country. leaders do what they must to get their military personnel back. president obama releasing gitmo detainees to get bowe bergdahl back. the israelis released their palestinian prisoners to get israeli soldiers back. this is something that is done during a state of war, if you will.
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the jordanians very sensitive to any allegation that they are negotiating with terrorists. they say this is something that goes on. their top priority right now is to get their pilot back. and i have to tell you, i have traveled with the jordanian military. it is a relatively small organization. king abdullah knows the top leaders of the jordanian military personally the jordanian pilot comes from a very prominent family in jordan. jordan is a small neighborhood. they are under threat from isis from al qaeda, from extremism. and they've taken a number of steps to try and deal with it. so their sensitives right now really are resonating. whether this deal with actually come to fruition i think will is right. it's looking very difficult as the hours pass because the jordanian government again, wanting its pilot back but not willing to give this woman up
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for simply the single act of getting the japanese journalist back. in the jordanian minds, it's a little bit of two separate cases. >> we'll stay on top of this story and see what happens. you make a good point, barbara. the u.s. did give up five taliban prisoners who were being held at guantanamo bay in exchange for bowe bergdahl. that was a deal that was negotiated through qatar and obviously the united states was willing to do so at that time. the jordanians clearly willing to give up this woman terrorist in exchange for that captured jordanian pilot. we'll see if that deal works out and if they can get that japanese journalist out at the same time. thanks to both of you very much. why did isis suddenly demand an exchange? what's behind the change of tactics? we'll discuss this and more right after a quick break. (cough, cough) mike? janet? cough if you can hear me. don't even think about it. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough.
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let's get back to the hostage demands by isis right now. demanding the release of that jailed female terrorist in jordan in exchange for a japanese journalist and a jordanian fighter pilot. joining us now is bob baer, former cia operative. with me in washington our cnn analyst josh roggin columnist for "bloomberg view." bob, let me start with you. this is a change for isis. they're demanding a prisoner exchange they want this woman terrorist released from the jordanians. the jordanians clearly ready to release her but they want that jordanian pilot. they'd also like that japanese journalist to be released. is this three-way swap going to
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happen? what do you think? >> i think there's a good chance it will. you have to look at it from the islamic state's perspective. this is something of an outreach to the jordanian tribes. the pilot is from a prominent family. the king of jordan as you know depends on tribal support. in this war in syria and iraq the jordanian participation is not popular among the jordanian tribes. so they are trying -- the islamic state, i would imagine. this is speculation, but is trying to drive a wedge into jordanian politics and they apparently have succeeded. as for the would-be suicide bomber sajida rishawi, she's an iconic figure for the islamic state, she was prepared to commit martyrdom. this would be a win-win for the islamic state if this comes off. >> i remember that suicide attack back in 2005 in amman, jordan, killed about 60 people and injured a whole lot more. what are you hearing about what's going on josh?
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>> today on social media, major isis propaganda organs have declared success saying they've secured the release of the sister. this was denied by the jordanian foreign minister who is asking for a proof of life before the deal goes through. but the point is that for isis, even getting the jordanians to go this far is being used to try to achieve a propaganda victory. and as far as the japanese go this has totally thrown the japanese public into a quandary about whether or not to continue support for the international mission against isis. so even if this deal doesn't come off, isis will try to spin this as a success. for the jordanians and the japanese, the result is quite the opposite. if the deal doesn't happen it will be a blow to both of those governments' popularity. >> you've heard, some analysts suggesting it could be a win-win for isis. if they get the woman terrorist back that's a win. if they don't get her back and they behead the jordanian pilot
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and/or the japanese journalist, from the propaganda point of view they put that video out there on social media, they for sick reasons, see it as a win as well, right? >> capturing the pilot was a win. why wasn't he rescued? he was wandering around the desert for a couple of hours. it was a failure on the part of the coalition. and they need a victory. they lost kobani in syria. i wouldn't call this a charm offensive. but i think the islamic state is starting to understand that simply cutting the heads off hostages isn't getting them anything. and by doing a trade, they are -- i wouldn't say legitimate. but getting a little bit closer to it. >> but they're still beheading people. they beheaded that other japanese hostage just the other day apparently. >> like i said, they have a long way to go. they're never going to make it. but the fact that they could actually carry out a deal with the jordanians would make them a bit -- i say a bit, more
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legitimate. >> let's talk about something else. isis is now claiming responsibility as you know for the attack in the libyan capital of tripoli which is for all practical purposes, a failed state. an american contractor among the victims dead. what's going on over there? >> two competing governments in tripoli. i spoke with the prime minister of the tripoli government yesterday after the attack. he lives in the hotel. he was there during the attack. he blamed the other government. now, that information may or may not be true. he has a vested interest in blaming them. but the bottom line is that both governments are calling for the united states to be more involved in the crisis in libya. the united states has stayed on the sidelines and both governments say, if you don't become more involved in a solution to the crisis in libya, these terrorists, including isis, including al qaeda, will continue to gain ground and the threat from them will continue to grow. >> i don't see the u.s. getting involved. the u.s. tried to get involved. they got rid of gadhafi in
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libya. hundreds of tomahawk missiles went in costing u.s. taxpayers a couple billion dollars. and the u.s. embassy in tripoli is now shut down completely evacuated and terrorists are swimming in the pool of the ambassador there in a propaganda video. so i don't see the u.s. getting involved, do you? >> it's more than just two parties there. you have a group that's sworn allegiance to the islamic state. they are setting up trading grounds. as far as i'm concerned, it's a basket case, libya. we're not sending troops in. we have some tier one units in there to tamp this down. but a couple of dozen people isn't going to do it. i don't see the united states putting ground forces in libya when we don't have a partner. there is no government there that has any sort of real true backing. it's just a basket case. >> it's a basket case it's a failed state.
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but north africa strategically very important. >> the question is as these two sides struggle will the u.s. play a role in bringing them together to come to a solution where everyone can live together under a new government. the u.n. is not likely to succeed. either the u.s. will have to be a part of the solution or have to deal with an increasing problem. >> thank you both. airlines here in the united states receiving more bomb threats. they're coming from twitter users. why investigators are taking them seriously and what they're doing to stop them. stand by. my goal was to finally get in shape. not to be focusing again, on my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i finally made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to
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welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. since saturday more than two dozen bomb threats have been posted on twitter and other social media have forced airlines here in the united states to divert, evacuate or cancel flights. the threats began saturday when military f-16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort two flights bound for atlanta. the number of threats keep growing. 17 were posted yesterday alone. rene marsh is joining us now from new york. the fbi has gotten involved in tracking down these threats. the fbi and faa have to take them seriously. what's going on here? >> reporter: absolutely right. no one wants to take a risk. so far all these threats have been unfounded but in the
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climate we're in in this day and age, law enforcement, airlines no one wants to take the risk. just last night, there was another threat via twitter, bomb threat in which san francisco fbi as well as four delta planes, they were threatened. i spoke with a u.s. official today and this official admits that there is indeed a spike in the number of these sort of threats via social media. used to be something where this happened once in a while. now this has become unfortunately an everyday occurrence. that same official telling me that they noticed an uptick in the trend following a specific incident. this was on january 17th. this was a delta flight from atlanta to raleigh, north carolina. it received a lot of publicity and following that incident the number of these twitter or social media threats just increased exponentially. many of the officials i speak to law enforcement, they
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believe that this is copycat incidents in which someone sees this whether it's in the paper, on the news and duplicate the efforts of trying to create a scary and chaotic situation for travelers and airlines as well. it really is problematic for travelers and the airlines. we're talking about diversions as a result of this talking about fighter jets military resources being scrambled as a result of those sort of threats. passengers having to be evacuated from planes rescreened their luggage rescreened passengers missing flights. it's costly to airlines if they have to divert. we should note the fbi are investigating all of these incidents. so what they will likely do is try to trace back that i.p. address to get ahold of the person who's responsible or persons responsible. and this is a crime. >> these people can be arrested. they can wind up in jail for a long time. they think they might be having some fun posting these kinds of fake threats out there on twitter or social media.
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but this is potentially a significant crime and people could go to jail for a long time. there have been some of these threats that they've claimed to have ties to isis. are investigators taking those claims seriously? >> reporter: yeah some of these threats, they do pledge allegiance to isis or other jihadi groups. at this point, the information that i'm getting is this they don't necessarily feel that all of these threats are credible. however, that said again, in the climate, no one wants to take the risk. whether this individual is indeed just purely inspired by isis, it's unclear. but one law enforcement official put it like this to me. they said that in most cases, someone who truly is a member of isis they're not going to tweet out what they're going to do. they have the equipment. they're going to just do it. they won't give us a heads-up via twitter, that from a law enforcement official.
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but that said everyone takes these seriously. down to law enforcement, down to the airlines because you just don't want to be wrong that one time because so many lives are at stake, wolf. >> yeah. and law enforcement officials have said to me they have ways of going back and finding these individuals who are posting these threats. they may think they can do it anonymously, they can run, but the fbi believes they'll find these people eventually. rene thanks very much. up next the cnn exclusive. our own fareed zakaria goes one-on-one with president obama. the president discusses iran nuclear weapons, israel his decision not to meet with the prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu. the interview, that's coming up next. eh, you don't want that one. yea, actually i do. it's mucinex fast-max night time and it's got a nasal decongestant. is that really a thing? it sounds made up. i can't sleep when i'm all stuffy. i take offense to that. i'm not going to argue with a talking ball of mucus. i think you're being a little hasty...
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president obama says he won't be meeting with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu during his planned visit to washington in march. in a one-on-one interview with our own fareed zakaria, the president explains his decision. he speaks about the political implications of the visit, his battle with congress over the ongoing nuclear discussions, the negotiations with iran.
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here's part of his conversation with fareed. >> last week it was announced that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, is going to come to washington and do a joint session of congress at the invitation of the republican speaker of the house. many people are saying this is a rebuttal of your arguments about negotiations with iran or the possible deal with iran. do you think it's appropriate for him to come in this manner at this time to washington? >> well, i'll let mr. boehner answer that and mr. netanyahu. i speak with prime minister netanyahu all the time. we're declining to meet with him. i'm declining to meet with him simply because our general policy is we don't meet with any world leader two weeks before their election. i think that's inappropriate. and that's true with some of our closest allies. david cameron who has an election coming up recently came to visit because we insisted if he wants to come and it was an important meeting, he
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needs to be far away enough from the election that it doesn't look like in some ways we're meddling or putting our thumbs on the scale. to the broader issue, fareed i don't think there's been any rebuttal of my argument. i haven't heard a persuasive rebuttal of my argument that we crafted very effective sanctions against iran specifically to bring them to the negotiations table to see if we could resolve the iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. by all accounts including the accounts of israeli intelligence, iran has abided by the terms of this interim agreement. they have not advanced their nuclear program. they have actually rolled back their stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. and so we have lost nothing during this period of negotiations. iran's program has not advanced.
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and we have the chance of providing a mechanism where we can verify that iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon and iran has the ability over time to reenter the community of nations as a responsible player. now, i don't know that we're going to be able to get that done. but my argument is for the united states congress to insist on imposing new sanctions that all our partners as well as the iranians can interpret as a violation of the interim agreement, for us to undermine diplomacy at this critical time for no good reason is a mistake. what we need to do is to finish up this round of negotiations put the pressure on iran to say yes to what the international community is calling for and what's been remarkable is the unity we've been able to maintain in the p5 plus 1, even
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with russia given all the strains we have with them china, which has a great hunger for iranian oil, we've still maintained that unity, which shows how effective our diplomats have been. and if in fact we don't get a deal make sure that it's the iranians' fault because they couldn't say yes to a reasonable deal. so i haven't heard a good counterargument yet. i will veto legislation if it comes up that imposes additional sanctions and, by the way, what i've said to members of congress and what i've said to the israelis is the day after iran walks away from a reasonable deal, the easiest thing for me to do in congress is pass additional sanctions against iran. it would take about two days for me to be able to sign a bill like that. so we have the ability to exert additional pressure. but it's important for us to show that we've exhausted every possible avenue of diplomatic resolution. >> if you listen to what people are saying in congress about the
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prospective deal -- everyone knows where it is somewhere in the range of 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges centrifuges, seems like any deal you bring to this republican senate it's not going anywhere -- >> i think it's important for us to actually have a deal in place and then make an argument for what the deal is. i've said before that we will take no deal over a bad deal. but if i can prove that the deal we've put in place assures us through indisputable verification mechanisms that iran cannot achieve breakout capacity if i've got a bunch of scientists and nuclear experts saying this assures us that iran is not on the brink of being a nuclear weapons power, then that's a public debate we should
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have. and i will then ask every member of congress to ask, why would we reject that deal and prefer a potential military option that would be less effective in constraining iran's nuclear program and would have extraordinary ramifications at a time when we've already got too many conflicts in the middle east? i'm pretty confident i can win that argument. >> you'll be able to seyfried's full interview with president obama this sunday 10:00 a.m. eastern on "fareed zakaria gps" only here on cnn. the first lady michelle obama, has come under some fire for her wardrobe in saudi arabia. she was there with the president to offer regards to the new king. the first lady is being criticized by some for not covering her head as is the tradition among saudi women. but as we look back that's not the case with american women leaders. hillary clinton, condoleezza rice, madeleine albright when
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they were all secretary of state and visits saudi arabia. laura bush nancy pelosi who was on this trip with the president on this trip and the german chancellor angela merkel when she was there, she did not have a scarf on either. none of them actually covered up. but it's interesting the first lady did cover up during a visit to jakarta, indonesia, back in 2010. that's because she went inside a mosque and out of respect to islam, she wore a scarf at that time. still ahead, more on our top story. two israeli soldiers killed in the golan heights. the idf spokesman is getting ready to join us live with more. we'll hear what's going on. will there be an escalation? all that coming up.
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here in washington temperature state department the state department is weighing in. the spokeswoman said this mexicos ago. >> we support israel's legitimate right to self-defense and continue to urge all parties to respect the blue line between israel and lebanon as prescribed by 1701. we also of course condemn the act of violence and will be watching the situation closely. >> joining us on the phone now is the israeli military
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spokesman colonel from jerusalem. colonel, is this situation along the northern border of israel confrontation about to explode into a full scale war? >> well i certainly hope not. here's what we know. earlier today, five lethal antitank missiles were fired and launched at civilian vehicles traveling a civilian road. happened to be there were soldiers inside. ultimately they could have killed anybody traveling this road. indeed a staff sergeant and seven -- sergeant killed and seven wounded. we don't hope for it, but we are charged with it and have to be prepared. that's what we're doing, steps we are taking currently in order to closely watch the situation,
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closely watch the developments on the other side of the fence and be prepared for anything that could happen. >> we know israel has moved some of the iron dome antimissile systems up north to the heights. i assume israeli forces are reemploying, moving north as well. is that right? >> we have forces defensive capabilities in the north along the border in the border area, specifically to deal with the threat and we know we need to be prepared for potential threats. it would be rockets and cross border attacks. today we had a drill that could have been conducted north of israel. we need to be prepared and take precautions to address the threats. we're not willing for hezbollah
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to attack us. >> they started this a week or so ago when it launched a convoy attack on vehicles going through syria and killing several militants and an iranian general in one of the vehicles as well. what do you say about that? >> without going into specifics, clearly they're a terror organization that's carried out against several western targets. they're at beck and call of iran. that's what they do. they have hundreds and thousands of rockets just for one mission. this is exactly the type of threat we are facing. that is what we need to be
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prepared for. this iranian backed terror organization. >> thanks for joining us. >> thank you wolf. still ahead as we mark 70th years since auschwitz. i'm going to show you how that death camp impacted my own family.
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hezbollah
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. now a story with deep meaning for my family and me. yesterday marked 70 years since the liberation of the auschwitz nazi death camp. my grandparents were included. there i traced my personal connection to atrocities that happened there. watch this. >> it haunts us to this very day. you hear that word auschwitz and think of death. you spell the death when you're walking around. >> i read a lot about holocaust saw the pictures and movies. until you see the location, where it occurred you get a sense of the enormity of this crime. it's hard to believe people can be as cruel as they clearly have been. 1.2 million people within two or
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three years were slaughtered. then when i went and saw the cemetery it was a powerful moment. survivors went through hell. we lost parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents. it's moving to listen appreciate and understand what these people had to endure. when i think about what she and her sister had to endure at 10 years old. taken to the doctor for the most barbaric kinds of torture experiments. it's so shocking so horrible. to believe these were so called doctors. this is a sick part of the nazi history, sickest you can imagine. it's hard to believe people could do this to other people.
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parents were taken to the right. older brothers and sisters were taken to the right. they went right to gas chambers. >> when i first walked into the gas chamber, i thought about my paternal grandparents. my dad's mom and dad who were killed probably in that gas chamber. i don't know for sure. i know they were killed murdered at auschwitz. i know that they probably were taken into that gas chamber. i don't know what was going through their mind. did they know it was going to be the end? i waited a long time. i could have gone many years earlier, but for some reason i didn't. i don't know why. on my dad's side he grew up in the town of auschwitz. he was born there and grew up in the village town. i walked around the town. i couldn't believe how close it was. he himself was never taken to
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auschwitz. they took him to other slave labor camps. my parents were hope about it. they never hid anything from me. it was a powerful moment when you walked around the areas of auschwitz knowing the blood in the ground there. it wasn't until that moment it hit me that my father's parents were killed in auschwitz. powerful experience something i'll never forget. don't miss the special report voices of auschwitz. for viewers in north america, it premieres tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern. for international viewers, see it saturday at 11:00 a.m. and sunday at 8:00 p.m. london time this week and on cnn international. that's it for me. see you at 5:00 p.m. in the situation room. news continues next on cnn.
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hello. i'm brianna keyilarkeilar. some are calling this a deal with the devil. a potential hostage negotiation with the most brutal terrorists in the world. this is a woman seen here with a bomb strapped to her chest. a bomb that failed to go off during a deadly terror attack in jordan in 2005. she's on death row in a jordanian prisonen. it appears isis wants her. jordan may swap her for this man, a