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U.S. Expands Airstrikes Against ISIS Into Syria; Ebola Patients In Liberian Struggle To Get Treatment; UN Holds One-Day Summit On Climate Change; Uyghur Economist Gets Life In Prison In China

Aired September 23, 2014 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Your watching News Stream. And we will continue CNN's special coverage of the

U.S.-led strikes against ISIS in Syria.

Also, protesters march in New York ahead of a UN summit on climate change.

And the desperate suffering of Ebola patients in Liberia.

Now we start with breaking news. A U.S.-led air offensive against ISIS is underway in Syria with the help of five Arab countries. Now

attacks are targeting the city of Raqqa, the self-declared capital of ISIS.

You're watching video taken by the U.S. navy as it launched Tomahawk missiles from the sea early on Tuesday morning local time. Bombers and

fighters followed.

But Raqqa wasn't the only target. The U.S. and its partners also launched strikes around the Syrian cities of Deir ez-Zor, al Hasakah and

Abu Kamal.

Now the U.S. military says that there were 14 attacks, which damaged or destroyed ISIS compounds and equipment.

Now let's get the view from a reporter on the ground at the Turkish- Syrian border. A CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is there. And she joins us now live. And Arwa, these UN-led airstrikes, they

have been raining down on various targets across Syria, including the town of Raqqa. What is the latest on this operation?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke to a Syrian activist inside Raqqa who was telling us that if he could he would

go out and dance in the streets, because finally the U.S. and this coalition were actually doing something.

Remember, a lot of opposition groups had been calling for international action to help them not just in battling ISIS, but action

they actually wanted to see take place when they were rising up against the Syrian regime, saying that if the Americans had taken this kind of action a

few years ago we wouldn't be finding ourselves facing an enemy such as ISIS.

But this activist was also saying that ISIS had evacuated a lot of these locations well before the strikes even began. And we had heard this

from analysts as well.

When the U.S. basically announced its plans, a potential for strikes in Syria, ISIS also adapted to that possibility, moving out of a lot of its

headquarters, hiding a lot of its equipment and heavy machinery, tanks that they managed to obtain after they moved through northern Iraq earlier this

summer.

This activist in Raqqa also saying that ISIS had a much heavier presence in the streets that it has had in the past and that they were

taking over some civilian homes, seemingly even further embedding themselves within the population.

So, still a lot that is unclear at this stage exactly what kind of an impact these airstrikes -- will there be more airstrikes in the upcoming

hours or days? That remains to be seen.

When it comes to what's happening in the northern part of the country, ISIS of course sweeping through northern Syria, the predominately Kurdish

areas in a massive offensive that began on Friday in earnest taking over dozens of villages and then centering around the town of Kabani (ph),

fighters there, the Kurdish fighting force managing to keep ISIS out of the town, hoping that with these U.S. airstrikes that might draw ISIS away from

Kabani (ph) and to other front lines, but that is what has caused this massive influx of refugees that we've been seeing from Syria into Turkey,

that because these refugees fleeing as ISIS was taking over their villages.

LU STOUT: That's right, it was happened -- it was what was happening in Kabani (ph) that triggered a mass exodus of tens of thousands, if not

hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees crossing the border into Turkey.

And Arwa, now that we have a major U.S.-led aerial bombing campaign in Syria, will the humanitarian crisis grow even worse?

DAMON: That is what the concern is. And the potential for that is most certainly there because there's a couple of points to be made here.

First of all, ISIS is not going to be defeated by military means alone, everyone acknowledges that.

The question is how is the U.S. and this coalition of Arab nations going to tackle the root cause of how it is that an entity like ISIS is

able to emerge and that is where certain nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia are really the home of this extremist Wahhabi-Salafi ideology, what

are they able to do when it comes to the religious schools that are in those countries, the significant and senior religious clergy, can they put

a message out standing against ISIS? Or will ISIS be able to turn this U.S.-led campaign into a war, or at least try to turn it into a war where

it will be playing out as the crusaders, the infidels, trying to attack Muslims.

The other issue, of course, is that defeating ISIS is not going to end the Syrian civil war that we've been seeing unfold, nor is it going to end

what we've been seeing happening in Iraq either. So it's such a multifaceted, complicated issue at this stage that these refugees who are

coming across will tell you that they don't know when they're going to go back home.

And they're not just concerned because of ISIS, they're concerned because of the ongoing violence and the potential that exists for even more

violence, because these U.S. airstrikes inside Syria, even though they are part of an Arab coalition, are going to have a very significant ripple

effect, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and there are a number of complicating factors here, as you mentioned -- the ongoing civil war inside Syria, the political state

of play, but what kind of impact will this new military operation have? U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, they've been happening for weeks. They've failed

to dismantle ISIS there in that country. What impact is it going to have in Syria?

DAMON: Again, it's going to depend on whether or not the U.S. continues with these airstrikes. And it's also going to depend on what the

outcome of them is.

Now this Syrian activist we were speaking to in Raqqa said that he went out to the market and saw some killed ISIS fighters, others who were

wounded. We have been hearing various reports that we're trying to confirm about civilian casualties, that's going to add an entirely different

dimension to all of this if civilian casualties do end up being a result of these U.S.-led airstrikes.

What we've been seeing in Iraq is that the airstrikes have basically halted ISIS's advances in some areas, but they haven't really managed to

destroy ISIS, not in the very least. And when it comes to ISIS in Syria, again they have been well prepared. They've been anticipating this. And

this is an entity that is very adept at adapting. It has throughout the years when it started out first as just the Islamic State of Iraq back in

2006 and now morphing into this entity that is so formidable and so menacing and has such a lack of scruples that even al Qaeda itself has

tried to distance itself from it to a certain degree.

So all of this is adding to this entire uncertainty that exists, because at this stage no one really knows concretely what the outcome of

these airstrikes is going to be, how potentially Iran might react, which has come out and said it really doubt what America's intentions here are,

whether or not America can keep the support of at least the Syrian opposition groups if these civilians casualties do in fact exist or

continue to mount.

And of course this coalition does not contain Russia or Iran in it at this stage, and those are, even though it might be difficult for the U.S.

and its Arab allies to try to do, countries that do need to be reached out to if there is going to be a true international effort to try to defeat an

organization like ISIS, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a number of open-ended question as this U.S.-led operation against ISIS in Syria begins. Arwa Damon joining us live from

the Syrian Turkish border, thank you.

And for more details on the strikes underway in Syria, here's CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)??

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Overnight, U.S. and partner nations carried out 14 intense strikes against ISIS

strongholds in Raqqa, Syria, and other northern cities. The attacks destroying or damaging multiple targets, including training compounds,

headquarters, and command and control facilities, and briefly knocking out power in the region. ??

U.S. forces launching tomahawk land attack missiles from the sea. Bombers, drones and fighter jets, continuing the assault by air. Including

an F-22 raptor, a new Air Force tactical plane that can conduct air to air and air to ground combat with near impunity. The air strikes targeting key

is positions, including the city of Raqqah, where they are essentially based. The attacks meant to degrade their ability to command and control,

resupply and train, according to a U.S. military official. ??

Five Arab nations, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain joining in the fight, four of them helping attack by

air, alongside U.S. war planes. In January, ISIS turned Raqqah into their home base, creating a terrorist safe haven, the militants controlling the

city, power, water, schools and banks. ??

Two countries not taking part in the attacks at present, Turkey, who had previously joined the global coalition against the terrorist group, and

Syria itself. Then there is this buried in the press release from the military, a report that an imminent attack against the U.S. was thwarted in

Syria overnight, according to U.S. officials. Eight air strikes were conducted by the U.S. west of Aleppo, against the terrorist group Khorasan,

a network of seasoned Al Qaeda veterans. ??

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Barbara Starr reporting.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, more analysis on these new strikes against ISIS inside Syria from a U.S. military

perspective. We'll go live to our chief U.S. security correspondent in New York.

Also ahead, a day after environmental activists flooded Wall Street to spread their message, the UN kicks off its climate summit in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back to our special coverage of the first airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.

Now U.S. military officials are trying to assess the effectiveness of the first night of bombing.

Now fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles targeted ISIS in their stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria as well as several other Syrian

cities.

Now separately the U.S. says it also struck another group of militants west of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Now the targets were al Qaeda

affiliated Jihadists called the Khorasan group.

Now let's bring in CNN's chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto. He joins us live from New York. And Jim, what threat does this

Khorasan group pose?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, this is in some ways the most surprising element about last night's airstrikes. All the buildup

had been about ISIS and the threat, the imminent threat, or how imminent the threat was from ISIS. But I will tell you, in recent days,

intelligence officials had also brought up the name of the Khorasan group, this is an al Qaeda tied group, sort of an al Qaeda offshoot, al Qaeda

fighters who fled to Syria taking advantage of the safe haven that they could enjoy there due to the civil war. This is one of the problems with

this civil war is that has given a place to train, a place to fight, a place to hide from government authorities to groups like Khorasan and of

course ISIS and they've been able to thrive there.

So you have this group that is posing a threat to foreign interests as well both in Europe, possibly on the U.S. homeland. And the fact that they

went after them last night and used the term imminent -- this is not one that the U.S. military that the U.S. government uses lightly, means that

they were very concerned that this group was not just aspiring to attack western interests, but that it was in planning to do so that they had

credible and specific information and they launched eight strikes against them last night in addition to the strikes that they launched against ISIS.

LU STOUT: And Jim, we are waiting to hear U.S. President Barack Obama speak before he heads to the UN general assembly not far from where you are

right now. How much pressure is Mr. Obama under to get more nations into the fold against ISIS, including Turkey or countries of Europe?

SCIUTTO: It's a good question. I think that you could say that it's been an achievement to have the local, the regional participation that we

now know of last night, and that is five Arab nations, neighbors, Arab nations from the region who took part in these airstrikes, in military

action. I'm told that at least four of those nations -- Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain took part in what the military

calls kinetic airstrikes, that is that they dropped bombs.

This is a big deal in the region -- an Arab nation taking military action against another Arab nation alongside the U.S. in light of America's

long troubled military history in the region. That was a big ask from the American president. The fact that that ask was answered makes this an

international effort.

Now this is something that the president wanted as he arrived in the UN this week. And he's going to be asking for more international help

going forward. You mentioned Turkey. And this is a big deal. The president wants a binding resolution at the UN general assembly, at the UN

general assembly here, calling on nations to block the flow of fighters and financing to ISIS.

Turkey key to that, it's the key transit point into Syria for money and for those fighters. And there's been some criticism often in private

from U.S. officials that Turkey has not been doing its part to stop that flow, although some positive movement more recently.

So this is a multipronged strategy where the U.S. is going to be asking for foreign help. They got it in the military campaign. The

challenge this week is going to be getting it in the other elements of this fight against ISIS and as we been talking about, other radical extremist

terrorist groups fighting now, based now in Syria.

LU STOUT: And as you point out, that Arab alliance, very critical in gathering that international momentum behind the United States in all this.

Another question for you, Jim, was there any coordination between the U.S. and Syria ahead of these airstrikes?

SCIUTTO: I'm told by a senior State Department official no, no coordination, but I'm told by that same official that the U.S. did notify

Syria that it was going to take military action against ISIS targets inside that country. They did not, I'm told by the same official, ask for

permission. They did not ask to coordinate and have no plans to coordinate with the Syrian government, but they did notify them in advance. That's

something to be said for that.

These are two countries that are -- you know, remember the U.S. has called for the removal of Bashar al-Assad for some three years now, since

the start of the civil war. So they have that notification is something. But they're saying that they were not certainly asking for permission,

they're not asking to coordinate, which is something that the Syrian government offered to do actually in recent weeks against ISIS.

LU STOUT: But there was communication before it started, Jim Sciutto joining us live from New York, thank you very much indeed for your

reporting.

Now the U.S.-led mission in Syria features the combat debut of the stealth F-22 Raptor. Now the F-22 was to be the next generation battle

aircraft for the U.S. arsenal, but it suffered a long string of setbacks.

Now technical problems led to it being grounded several times. But now, there are reports that the troubled Raptor has finally gotten air time

in this airborne offensive over Syria.

Now that U.S.-led coalition that launched airstrikes in Syria was comprised, it was just mentioned by Jim Sciutto, it was comprised of

several Arab nations. And for more on this regional alliance, our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from CNN London.

And Nic, again, a number of Arab nations are participating in the strikes. But tell us more exactly who is participating and how.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you also who wasn't participating, and that was Britain. But it hasn't stopped

the prime minister or the ministry of defense here tweeting in support of the United States in these strikes against ISIS and in support of those

five Gulf region countries -- you have Jordan, you have the United Arab Emirates, you have Qatar, Saudi Arabia as well.

Now these countries have played different roles in this. Jordan, we know, has used its aircraft over Syria. And the importance of this

coalition here, and we've heard it from Prime Minister David Cameron, we've heard it from President Barack Obama over recent weeks that it has been

important, number one, to form a coalition, but also to support those counties in the region that feel threatened by ISIS and also want to tackle

ISIS, it also has to be said that countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also been very strong and clear that they also

want to see the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.

Indeed, Saudi Arabia has even asked for troops to be put on the ground. There is no hint or sign that that's anywhere in the near-term.

But it's certainly Saudi Arabia that's taking the lead, we understand. We know that Jordan has been, but Saudi Arabia now as well in training what

are called moderate Syrian rebel fighters to go in on the ground.

However, those efforts until now, and particularly those that -- where Jordan was playing a role -- have not been affective in stopping ISIS

alone, or even taking on the government of President Bashar al-Assad -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Nic, as you pointed out at the very top, no European country is on board with these military airstrikes, including the UK. Will

that change?

ROBERTSON: Well, David Cameron says that he's in New York this week. And that while he's in New York he plans to hold meetings to find out what,

if anything, Britain and other countries can do to support what is going on. And there certainly is a feeling here that David Cameron would like

Britain to play a more active role, but he doesn't have political support for that.

There's been a lot of discussion, you were discussing with Jim Sciutto about the Khorasan group there that's also been a target for these

airstrikes, a group that is al Qaeda-linked taken from al Qaeda's playbook to try to take foreign fighters that are going to a fight -- used to be

Pakistan to fight an Afghanistan, now to try and recruit them in Syria, fighters who have come from Europe, the United States, give them training

and weapons, bomb making and send them back to perpetrate attacks inside Europe.

As these details become more apparent and the public and the politicians in these countries -- and here we're talking about Britain --

get more knowledge of this, then that also is likely to give David Cameron more political support. But he'll also get political support by the fact

that we now see a broader Arab coalition supporting the United States, but again that falls short of the political support in Britain he needs to do

that. But he says he will be having these meetings at the UN to discuss that further -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson reporting live from CNN London for us, thank you, Nic.

You're watching News Stream. We will have a lot more on the airstrikes against ISIS in Syria ahead. And we'll tell you about another

pressing issue for world leaders -- climate change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

In the coming hours, the U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to talk about these new airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and those remarks

will come before he departs for the UN General Assembly in New York.

Now the fight against ISIS will be a big topic for world leaders there, but first they're addressing a different battle, a battle against

climate change.

Now the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he calls it, quote, the defining issue of our time. You're looking at live pictures from the UN

General Assembly. Climate champion and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore speaking there. The feeling is that this is a crucial meeting, the time to

act is now. And let's go straight for our correspondent for the latest, our senior UN correspondent Richard Roth. He joins us live from New York.

And Richard, as we look at these live pictures, we know that the protests, a very colorful one, has taken place. We have the presence of

high profile individuals like Al Gore, or celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio, they've been there raising the level of public interest. Is it raising the

level of pressure on the leaders there to act?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little bit. I mean, anybody who is speaking inside this one-day special climate summit at the UN General

Assembly is very aware of the urgency on this issue.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said we can't go back. The fate of the whole planet is at stake. in his opening remarks. We are soon expecting

Leonardo DiCaprio, his newly named messenger of peace for climate change, Ban's representative here.

Of course, the big gap is between what the countries of the world are ready to commit to regarding carbon emission cutbacks, and also what they

can get through their national legislators, to have treaties ratified, and to sacrifice economically for the adjustments that will be needed.

Chinese Actress Li Bing Bing is now speaking to the UN General Assembly hall. Everyone's been asked to speak for only four minutes on

this worthy topic, because there are at least 120 world leaders supposed to speak in three separate rooms.

President Obama, several hours from now, will also talk to the General Assembly.

Kristie, the plan is to try to get the momentum going here at this one-day summit for the latest round of international talks set for Paris

next year after a round in Lima, Peru. But there still are major differences between those carbon emitting countries, such as China and

India, who don't have their full president level people at this one-day summit, and other activists, including UN scientists and the like who are

advocating for urgency to cut carbon emissions.

New York City Mayor De Blasio just spoke saying that he echoed and repeated his promise to the city of New York for drastic cuts in carbon

emissions by the year 2050 -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, Richard, it's interesting to see this very well known Mainland Chinese actress speaking live from the UN General Assembly

speaking and addressing the issue of climate change when the leader of her country, the Chinese president, is not there. In fact, the leaders of a

number of countries are absent -- the leaders of India, Russia as well.

What does that mean for this summit and for any new climate agreement?

ROTH: I think it shows the gap on this issue between the major countries and their industrial pollutants and the differences that exist on

the stage. China's vice premier will be speaking for the country. He spoke to Ban Ki-moon yesterday and said that his country is still committed. The

Indian UN mission spoke to the press yesterday, says the problem with why the new leader of India Modi is not here is because this is not related,

this one-day summit, to the ongoing negotiations and India will be represented here nonetheless.

LU STOUT: All right, Richard Roth, reporting live from New York. Many thanks, indeed.

Now you're watching News Stream. Still to come, we take a closer look at the latest strikes in Syria, including U.S. efforts to thwart what it

calls an imminent attack by another terrorist group.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back to News Stream. We're bringing you special coverage of the first air strikes against ISIS in Syria.

Now the U.S., working with Arab partners, hit ISIS targets in Raqqa and these other cities.

A senior U.S. military official says the operation began with a flurry of Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea. Now they were followed by

attacks from bomber and fighter aircraft.

Now separately, the U.S. struck the Khorasan group in western Syria. Now the U.S. military says it acted to disrupt and imminent attack being

plotted. The source tells CNN that the operation was planned in advance, but mixed in with the one against ISIS targets for the element of surprise.

Now the airstrikes against ISIS focused on the city of Raqqa in northern Syria. It was once one of Syria's most liberal cities, but has

been under ISIS control for more than a year.

Now the militants consider Raqqa the de facto capital of their Islamic State. It is known as the place where ISIS houses training centers,

weapons depots, and accommodations for fighters.

Now ISIS has imposed hard-line Shariah law on the residents of Raqqa who have suffered barbaric punishments like beheadings as well as

crucifixions.

All this is just the beginning of what could be a very long campaign. Let's bring in our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski for more.

And Michelle, we know that President Obama is due to speak shortly on ISIS. What is he going to say?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Well, the way the White House framed this statement that should take place shortly before he leaves for the UN, that will be at 10:30. So any

time between now and then we're expecting to hear from him. But they said that he would talk about the continued counterterrorism strategy against

ISIS. And that's really how they framed this throughout.

Although the White House finally acknowledged that, yes, the U.S. is at war with ISIS, if that's what you want to call it, they say that this

looks more like a sustained counterterrorism strategy.

So we expect to give a little more detail, perhaps, on how this was done and how this was planned, on what the outcome is. And of course we

want to know more about this Khorasan threat. I mean, consistently the White House has said that there is no imminent threat to the U.S. homeland,

that there are no known plots planned. But that seems to be in contradiction to what we're hearing about this plot that was in the works

from this group Khorasan in western Syria.

It is possible that the threat that they were planning would have been overseas, that that's where it would have been enacted. That might be the

discrepancy in information. But hopefully we'll get some more information about that as well.

And also the ISIS fighters, the foreign fighters, that's one of the topics that we'll be tackled while President Obama is at the UN. He wants

a resolution from other nations, too, that would try to stop the flow of foreign fighters. That has been a big threat.

And some more information has come out about that over the last few days that some of these people who have traveled to fight with ISIS may

even be back in the U.S. So we're -- it's unclear right now if the president will take questions. But we should know some more detail within

the next few hours -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So we will likely hear more about the ISIS threat, about foreign fighters as well as this new threat, the Khorasan group inside

Syria, and after Mr. Obama's address he's going to head to the UN General Assembly. He will talk to international leaders.

How much pressure is he under right now to broaden the coalition and to get more nations into the fold to join this battle against ISIS in Syria

and Iraq?

KOSINSKI: Well, up until now, I mean, over the last few weeks there has been a lot of pressure, especially since the White House has been

saying over and over that it's really a regional problem that ISIS is much more of a regional threat than it is even a threat to the U.S., that that

region needs to take care of its own security problems, that Iraq needs to step up, that Syria needs to be stabilized.

So the question has been, well, where are these other countries in the region? And why has it been only the U.S. so far up until the point that

France stepped in just in the last few days, that the U.S. has been conducting this -- these airstrikes. Well, now we see that five Arab

countries were part of this mission last night.

So, now you see the coalition. I mean, you see the shape it's taken. And it is incredibly significant that these countries that took part were

regional partners.

So, you know, who else is going to step up militarily? There have been a number of other countries that have pitched in, in some part, even

if it was only support or intelligence or humanitarian aid.

It seems like there is a coalition there. I mean, it's broad. And now we see the immediate effects of it.

Much of that pressure now is off. This sort of what happened last night sort of proved that the support, even within the region, even among

Sunni countries, is there.

LU STOUT: All right, Michelle Kosinski, reporting live from the White House, thank you.

Now ISIS militants, they use ruthless tactics to enforce their brutal interpretation of Islamic law in Iraq and Syria. And one 15-year-old girl

in a refugee camp near Dohuk can speak to that violence only too well. And she shared her story with Anna Coren.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Inside this refugee tent in the stifling heat, Areah -- not her real name -- goes about her daily

chores. This is not a burden, but rather a distraction from what this 15- year-old Yazidi has suffered and endured.

She asks her parents to leave. She doesn't want to talk about what happened to her in front of them.

Six weeks ago, the family fled their home in Sinjar, northern Iraq, as ISIS stormed in. A convoy of vehicles with black flags drove past them.

Minutes later, they were surrounded.

"They forced us out of the car," explains Areah. "The girls and women were separated from the men, but they only took the girls forcing us into a

minivan."

From Sinjar, Areah says they were driven 120 kilometers to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul and locked in a three-story house with dozens of other

teenage girls who had been captured.

For more than three week, they were kept here. During this time, a sheikh came and collected 20 girls, including her 14-year-old sister-in-

law.

"He forced himself on her. I was so scared. A lot of my friends were raped. Its' hard to talk about it."

Sexual abuse is a taboo subject in this culture and to admit being a victim is unheard of. And while Areah claims she wasn't raped, this

visibly traumatized girl has been through much more than she's willing to admit.

"I see their faces all the time. I have nightmares. I can't stop thinking about how they forced themselves onto the girls. I have seen and

been through too much."

Areah's story is just one story in one tent among the thousands here. And there is a growing body of evidence of the crimes being committed by

ISIS against Yazidi girls and women aimed at shattering and tearing apart these communities.

Areah and her friend were taken to Fallujah by two ISIS militants she calls Abu Hassan (ph) and Abu Jaffar (ph).

"They forced us to marry them, threatening to hurt us if we didn't. They gave us a phone to call our families to tell them we converted."

Areah says they secretly called her friend's uncle who knew people in Fallujah prepared to help.

When the militants left their house, the girls dressed in niqabs escaped to a safe house.

"I never thought I would be freed from ISIS. I'm happy to be with my mother and father, but I found out my brother was killed. ISIS shot him

when they took me."

Everyone at this camp knows what happened to Areah, but her shame is dwarfed by her guilt after learning what her freedom meant for the other

girls.

"They raped them as punishment because we escaped. They tightened security so no girls can escape anymore."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: It's just heartbreaking to hear what she went through.

Anna Coren, she joins us live now from Irbil in Iraq. And Anna, the horrific trauma of these young refugees, it just highlights the brutality

of ISIS, the brutality that you have seen evidence of many times over.

COREN: Yeah, that's right, Kristie. I mean, we're not just talking about a handful of girls, we're talking about hundreds, if not thousands,

of Yazidi girls and women. And you know Kristie, one of the most chilling things that Areah told me was that they are not raping the women, they are

raping the girls.

So, you know, her story, it was verified by UNHCR, the agency we were there with at this refugee camp. And as they have told us from the girls,

the women that they have spoken to -- also the men of this camp, you know, many of them have had their wives, their sisters, their daughters taken.

This is something that ISIS is doing. And it's not just about finding brides to marry off to their militants, this is about destroying their

community. They know full well the shame that this brings to these families. It really is about destroying this society.

LU STOUT: You know, just so many despicable acts of evil perpetrated by ISIS militants. You've been reporting on it for weeks now.

President Obama has pledged to destroy this militant group. And now we know that these airstrikes have begun in Syria.

Now these airstrikes, they've already started Iraq weeks go, but they have not been able to defeat ISIS there. What's your feeling about the

kind of impact these new airstrikes will have inside Syria

LU STOUT: Kristie, I think it's fair to say that this part of the strategy to certain degrade ISIS, sort of wear them down. But certainly

here in Iraq, we've been here now for six weeks watching these U.S. airstrikes take place, 190 to date, plus those few French airstrikes over

the weekend.

And look, there is no doubt, they are containing ISIS. They have stopped their rapid advance. They still, however, control a third of this

country. But I think that everyone would have assumed that they would be scurrying off back to their stronghold. That is not happening. ISIS is

still digging in. They are fighting and they are adapting on the ground here as well.

You know, we've been down to the front lines, spoken to the Peshmerga who have said what they are finding from these ISIS militants is that they

will pack a truck filled with explosives and a suicide bomber will just drive it into the frontline to take out as many soldiers as they possibly

can. This is what they're accounting, plus those landmines and IEDs that they are laying as they move out of these townships and villages.

So, certainly airstrikes making a difference, providing that cover, allowing those ground forces in. But, Kristie, but as we have been

discussing for weeks now. You know, the Peshmerga, the Iraqi security forces they aren't, you know, this elite military. They don't necessarily

have the skills to take on ISIS who have some serious hardware.

But, look, it will be interesting to see what these airstrikes in Syria do, the knock on effect, if you like, between Syria and Iraq, the

flow of fighters, the flow of weapons, to see whether that does have some effect on the fight here in Iraq.

LU STOUT: Anna Coren, live in Irbil for us. We thank you for your insight and your reporting.

Now the first indication of the U.S. airstrikes may have come from Twitter.

Now, a resident of Raqqa, Adbul Qater Hariri (ph) posted a tweet announcing huge explosions in the city. Now this came half an hour before

the Pentagon officially announced he operation.

Hariri went on to describe the operation, later saying that the sky over Raqqa was full of drones.

Now this is not the first time a U.S. military operation was first announced on Twitter. Back in 2011, a twitter user in Pakistan started

tweeting about a helicopter near his house in the town of Abbottabad. He didn't know at the time, but Soha Batter (ph) was talking about the raid

that killed Osama bin Laden.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come, a chilling warning from the World Health Organization about the uphill fight against Ebola in West

Africa. We'll show you the desperate situation in Liberia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: In China, a prominent Uyghur scholar has been sentenced to life in prison for separatism. Ilham Tohti was arrested in January in

Beijing where he was an economics professor. He was then taken to his native Xinjiang and spent months behind bars before being put on a two-day

trial for, quote, splitting the country.

Now police said that they gathered evidence of inciting ethnic hatred and advocating independence in the rest of Xinjiang region.

Human rights advocates, though are condemning the verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOPHIE RICHARDSON, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It's a devastating outcome for him, for his family, and I think for the larger human rights community, and

frankly for human rights in general inside China. The state's such a hostile response to somebody who has tried to work entirely within the

system to advance constructive solutions to rapidly deepening problems does not bode well for the future in China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Ilham Tohti is known as a moderate Uyghur voice who spoke out for human rights, rule of law and autonomy.

Now here's what a fellow activist had to say after the sentencing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HU JIA, CHINESE ACTIVIST (through translator): First of all, I think that Ilham Tohti is my brother. He's not just a friend, he's my brother.

I respect him very much. He's a very good teacher and a good friend.

Today, I was very anxious because I knew the result would be bad. But I never thought it would be the worst possible outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Hu Jia there.

Now Tohti's lawyers told CNN that they plan to appeal the verdict.

Now an alarming warning from the World Health Organization. It says the number of Ebola infections in West Africa could soar to 20,000 by

November if authorities failed to step up control efforts now. That number more than triples the latest figures.

Now 5,800 confirmed and suspected cases have been registered so far, most of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In Nigeria and Senegal,

the outbreak has largely been contained.

Now it's believed more than 1,500 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, the hardest hit nation. Now our senior medical correspondent

Elizabeth Cohen shows us the scenes of desperation at one clinic in Monrovia.

?(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)??

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside this ambulance, three Ebola patients including a teenager. All of them

denied entry to one of Monrovia's overcrowded Ebola treatment centers.??

The ambulance weaves through traffic trying desperately to get care where it's been promised, the city's newest Ebola hospital opened just

hours before, the Island Clinic.??

But when we arrive with the ambulance, we find the hospital not ready. The patients in the ambulance we followed are strong enough to walk in, but

there are ambulances already here carrying patients who are too weak to enter the hospital on their own.??

Two patients stay curled up in a ball. These men can't move either. We're told he's not wearing clothes below the waist because of the intense

diarrhea caused by Ebola. Try to come down and walk a little, a worker tells the man. I'm too tired, he says. Then summoning up his energy, he

tries. For now, he's left where he falls.??

This little boy tries to walk in, too, but then he collapses as well. Get up and go inside, workers tell him. You'll only get food if you go

inside. Another worker says let him rest and they agree that's best for now. The workers tell us staff inside is suiting up in their protective

gear so they can carry the patients in. The Island Clinic is supported by the Liberian government and the World Health Organization. We showed our

video to Peter Graff with the WHO. His first reaction???

PETER GRAFF, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: It's horrible. I think what the lesson is here that people still come too late. They're already very

sick. That's when you get scenes like this. Much better to come when you feel the first signs of symptoms and get yourself tested.??

COHEN (on camera): Many people do try to get there earlier and they're turned away over and over.??

GRAFF: That's why I'm so glad that we now opened this clinic.??

COHEN: I mean, the hospital was open.??

GRAFF: Very good question. I don't have the answer. Yes, they should have.??

COHEN: Graff says perhaps the hospital became overwhelmed. Almost all of the 120 beds were already filled within the first day.??

GRAFF: This is shocking. I mean, and of course, this is exactly what we should try to do in the future. It's horrible.??

COHEN: This is something you're going to check on???

GRAFF: Of course, I will, immediately.??

COHEN (voice-over): When we left the hospital, the boy and the man were still on the ground, the symptom of a system overwhelmed and a new

hospital apparently unprepared.??

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, desperate and shocking scenes there. That was Elizabeth Cohen reporting from Monrovia.

You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, Russia weighs in over the latest airstrikes inside Syria. We've got a report from Moscow next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Let's return to our top story now, the launch of a U.S.-led air offensive in Syria. With the help of five Arab countries, the U.S.

military says it successfully damaged or destroyed at least 14 ISIS targets around Raqqa and other key Syrian cities.

Now this is video from the U.S. Navy. It's showing Tomahawk missiles being launched into Syria overnight. U.S. officials say this is merely the

beginning of coordinated attacks on ISIS.

Now Moscow is weighing in on Washington's latest attack, saying it supports international efforts to stop ISIS, but that it won't support

strikes in Syria without consent from the Assad regime.

Now senior international correspondent Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ISIS fighters show off a Russian-made war plane that was captured on Syrian battlefields. This

group clearly enjoys publicizing its gains and making threats.

"This is a message to you, Vladimir Putin," he says. "These are your jets that you sent to Bashar al-Assad. Now we will send them back," he

promises.

It's just bravado. But the Kremlin, like many western countries, is deeply concerned that Russian citizens who've joined ISIS may soon return

home, well trained and radicalized. Concerned enough for the Russian Foreign Ministry to grant us access to what it calls the Department of New

Challenges and Threats, led by this man.

ILYA ROGACHEV, DEPARTMENT OF NEW CHALLENGES AND THREATS: There are hundreds of Russian nationals traveling abroad and participating in the

fighting in different conflict areas.

CHANCE: You say hundreds. How many? Can you be more specific?

ROGACHEV: Well, I can refer to the number that was provided by the head of Federal Security Service, Mr. Bortnikov (ph) and he mentioned some

800 Russian nationals fighting in Iraq for ISIS.

CHANCE: That conservative estimate makes Russians, mainly Muslims form the north Caucuses, including Chechnya we're told, major contributors

to ISIS ranks. Even the military leader of ISIS in Syria, say Russian officials, goes by the name Omar the Chechen, who is believed to be a

Georgian national.

It's the threat posed by ISIS, and other rebel groups, that Russia says is now a main, if not primary, reason for its support of Bashar al-

Assad in Syria. Moscow has close ties with the regime, and says western backing for anti-Assad rebels created this crisis.

ROGACHEV: So, some of our partners tend to differentiate the terrorists as bad and not so bad. And perhaps the not so bad are those who

contribute to toppling to destabilizing political regimes that are not allied to Washington, for example. And that was the case with ISIS and

Jabahet Al-Nusra and other opposition in Syria and that was a major reason, as we see it, for the emergence of the threat of such scale.

CHANCE: In the face of this threat, Russia says it will cooperate with international efforts to fight ISIS, but rules out supporting

airstrikes in Syria without approval from its ally in Damascus. What should be a common battle with the Islamic State may once again divide Russia and

the west.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that is News Stream. And CNN's special coverage of the U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in Syria continues after the break.

END