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Kerry: Any Iran Deal Would Make International Community, Israel Safer; Iraqis Launch Major Offensive to Retake Tikrit; Jihadi John Considered Suicide; Twitter Employees Threatened by ISIS; Boris Nemtsov's Girlfriend Speaking Out on Murder; Report: Hackers Could Access U.S. Air Traffic Control System.

Aired March 2, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

Recent tensions between Israel and the United States have a lot to do with the ongoing talks with Iran over the nuclear program there. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Switzerland where the talks are taking place and had this to say about the progress right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Any deal that we would possibly agree to would make the international community and especially Israel safer than it is today. That's our standard. So our team is working very hard to close remaining gaps, to reach a deal that insures Iran's nuclear program is exclusively and verifiably peaceful. And we've made some progress, but we still have a long way to go and the clock is ticking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's go to our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, joining us from Switzerland.

So when is the deadline, Jim, and what are the major sticking points as far as we know right now?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, two deadlines actually and a number of remaining sticking points. The end of this month, March, for a framework political agreement, and then a final agreement by the end of June. It is possible you would get a framework deal and the whole thing could fall apart as you work out the details. Sometimes the final details are the toughest ones to get through. A couple of major disagreements. One of them today, saying that Iran has still not provided details, answered questions on past suspected effort and weapons. This is something that the U.S. and the West have been asking for months. As the deadline is approaching they still don't have an answer.

Another disagreement is this, the Iranian foreign minister saying that Iran wants all of the economic sanctions lifted at the beginning of an agreement. It's the West position, the U.S. position that those sanctions would be lifted gradually so that the West maintains leverage and insures Iran abides by the agreement. Even as they're getting closer on a lot of the points, Wolf, those are major disagreements.

I would add, it was a few minutes ago when Secretary Kerry wrapped up the first of the many meetings over the coming days in the hotel just behind me.

BLITZER: A lot of analysts believe, Jim, that the U.S., the other members of the Security Council, Germany, they might be able to reach a deal with this delegation, with this group of Iranians, a deal that might be supported by President Rouhani. But the question, will the supreme leader, the ayatollah, go along with it? There is a real concern that maybe the political leadership would accept the terms but the ayatollah would not. How realistic is that concern. You've been to Iran. You understand what's at play.

SCIUTTO: It's a major concern. You have real division. We talked about the division in the U.S. or even the division between the U.S. and Israel. You have division in Iran. You have a President Rouhani who is more forward. He ran for president on a platform of being more open to the West and perhaps being willing to give up a little, not all, but a little on their nuclear program. The supreme leader, much more of a hard liner. It's been interesting in recent weeks, you've heard some more open statements from the supreme leader talking about the possible benefits of the deal, or saying that Iran would still be Iran if it's made an agreement with the West. But you know, it's the negotiators here that have to convince the West, go home and convince their boss to get a deal through.

BLITZER: The Iranians are under a lot of pressure, as well.

Jim, thanks very much.

Jim will be back with us later in "The Situation Room."

The Iraqis have launched a major offensive to retake Tikrit in northern Iraq. Our military panel weighs in on whether this could be a turning point in the war against ISIS? Stay with us.

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BLITZER: There are several new developments today in the war against ISIS. Iraq state-run TV says troops are attacking ISIS strongholds to retake the city Tikrit. ISIS captured Tikrit last June, the second major city to be taken by militants since Mosul. An activist group says ISIS has released 19 Christian hostages. The militant group had taken more than 220 Syrian Christians hostage last week. A self- proclaimed ISIS court ordered some of them free.

Mohammed Emwazi, the man also know as Jihadi John, apparently considered suicide. In a series of e-mails with a British activist group, he complained about his treatment by British airport security. In an e-mail cited by "The Daily Mail," he says that authorities made him feel like, quote, "a dead man walking."

Meantime, the founder of Twitter says he and his employees are being threatened by ISIS. An online post by ISIS made the threat because of Twitter's attempts to shut down various ISIS accounts.

Let's get a closer look at these developments. With me now, CNN military analyst, retired major general, James "Spider" Marks, and CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen.

This campaign to retake Tikrit right now, that's relatively modest considering what will be necessary to retake Mosul. You analyst, is this Iraqi government bluster right now or is it serious?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No. I think it's very serious. Certainly, there's coordination with central command to ensure if something goes sideways. The lessons learned that they can get from an operation in Tikrit right now could be applied to a much larger proposal in Mosul.

BLITZER: You think the Iraqi army is going to show up this time and deliver a knockout punch? There's a lot of symbolic value here.

MARKS: Absolutely. No, I'm not saying that there's necessarily going to be a huge positive outcome. But they have to get in the fight and they have to be able to bruise themselves and get some scar tissues before they take on a larger challenge.

BLITZER: The release of the 19 or so Christian by ISIS, people are wondering why would they do that. There are some reports that they got paid, got ransom, and they released them. What's your analysis?

PAUL BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That could be. But if we take ISIS at face value saying that the Shia court released them, they are people of the book, Jews, Christians, are people of the book under Islam. You basically sort of say, yes, I'll pay taxes or I'll donate to charity, you know, under Islamic rule, they should be released. Is, you know -- this is a rare example of ISIS following legitimate Islamic law.

BLITZER: Does that bode well you think necessarily for the 200 owe Christians being held?

BERGEN: It may be. Unlike the Yazidis, ISIS, you know, was quite happy to enslave the Yazidis. With the Christian, it's a different matter.

BLITZER: What do you make of the leaders of Twitter that they're in trouble right now, they could be in danger, these ISIS threats because Twitter deletes the pro-ISIS accounts?

MARKS: They need to keep doing that. Every publication, every media outlet has an editorial board. They need to do what they're doing. The fact that ISIS is putting the threat out should not surprise us.

BLITZER: Do you think they're realistic? Do you think they're serious? BERGEN: I don't think they're serious. Twitter and other social

media have, you know, terms of use, and basically ISIS is not, you know, they're not following the terms of use. You're not allowed to have threatening material, stuff that's calling for people being murdered. Twitter has been slow to take these down relative to some others. But they've got the message and they're starting to take these down.

BLITZER: Jihadi John, Mohammad Emwazi, the e-mails, he was blaming the way that the British authorities treated him for his decision to join us with ISIS. We saw the videotapes of him beheading various hostages.

MARKS: Absolutely insane that he would put this on the British authorities or some form of incarceration, his punishment for being a British citizen.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: He said, "I felt like a dead man walking," because of the way that the British authorities treated him in airports and other places.

BERGEN: They had good reason to treat him that way. He was trying to join al Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate in Somali. The idea that his treatment of British authorities led to him beheading people is insane.

BLITZER: Peter Bergen, Spider Marks, thanks for joining us.

BERGEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: An outspoken critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin is murdered within sight of the Kremlin walls. We'll get the latest on the investigation. We're also going to hear from the woman who was with him when he was gunned down.

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BLITZER: We have some new developments in the death of Boris Nemtsov, the severe critic of Putin who was gunned down in Moscow. The killing appeared to have caught on surveillance camera within sight of the Kremlin walls. Mr. Nemtsov's girlfriend, who was with him at the time of the shooting, she's now speaking out, describing what happened the night of the shooting.

Our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, is in Moscow for us.

What is she saying about the Friday night events?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She isn't providing a lot of details. She's spoken to one Russian TV channel from the apartment where she's been staying. She says she's been interrogated basically by the Russian security forces for three straight days since the murder and is under police protection. A key eye witness. But again, she's a 23-year-old Ukrainian girlfriend of Boris Nemtsov.

Take a listen from an excerpt from her interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR (through translation): Where did Boris's killer appear from?

ANNA DURITSKAYA, GIRLFRIEND OF BORIS NEMTSOV, (through translation): I don't know. I didn't see because this was happening behind my back.

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR (through translation): And by description, did this person react to your request immediately or started calling?

DURITSKAYA (through translation): When I turned, I only saw a light- colored car, but I didn't see the make or number of the car that was leaving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, Duritskaya, she wants to go back to home to Ukraine basically right now, and she says she is not free to go. Again, she's a key eyewitness here.

She was asked whether or not she'd be able to go to Nemtsov's funeral and she said she's not free basically to leave the apartment where she's watched by Russian police -- Wolf?

BLITZER: She's only 23 years old, a fashion model.

What's happening, meanwhile, over there at Red Square? I assume security has been tightened in the aftermath of this shooting.

WATSON: It has. The Russian security forces, they vow that they want to bring the killers to justice. They've offered the equivalent of a $50,000 reward to anybody with any information on the killing of Boris Nemtsov Friday night.

I just came from that area. What is so striking about the geography of this is that basically Nemtsov was killed just outside of Red Square. It is arguably one of the most closely monitored, heavily guarded places in all of Russia because it's right next to the Kremlin, right next to Lenin's tomb, right next to the offices where Russian Vladimir Putin goes to work every day. The area is bristling with security cameras. It's remarkable that somebody could manage to kill anybody in that area using a gun and somehow manage to escape. And until now, the Russian security forces say they have not captured any suspects.

Now, supporters of Boris Nemtsov, members of his political party, have basically said that they've raised a lot of questions about that. How is it possible, some of them have told me, that in what they describe as a police state, that the killers could get away from outside this, arguably, a ring of steel of security forces, and that's led them to question the sincerity of the Russian government's efforts to try to bring the killers to justice here? BLITZER: As you correctly point out, closer, video cameras all over

the place. So far, we've seen one little snippet that doesn't show a lot, but I assume Russian authorities have a lot more video that you're going through presumably. We'll see what happens.

All right. Thanks very much, Ivan, for that report.

Authorities in Bangladesh, meanwhile, have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of American blogger. The American author, Avijit Roy, was hacked to death on the streets of the capital last week. He and his wife were returning from a back fair in Dhaka when they were attacked by men armed with machetes and knives. Roy's wife was seriously injured. Police say the suspect posted photos of the crime scene within minutes of the attack. Roy's parents say the suspect also threatened to kill their son in social media posts. Extremists resented the blogger for his writings which were critical of religion.

Coming up, a brand new report says hackers may be able to access the U.S. air traffic control system. We're taking a closer look at what this could mean for pilots, for passengers. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: We're learning of a disturbing new report on the safety of the United States air traffic control system. A congressional watchdog agency is calling on the FAA to address weaknesses that they say leave the system vulnerable.

Let's bring in our aviation and government regulation correspondent, Rene Marsh, who's working the story for us.

Rene, what does the report say?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION & GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: This is a report, 41 pages. It's very alarming. Essentially, they say that the nation's air traffic control system is weak and vulnerable to hackers.

Now, the FAA's computer systems, they are critical. It helps air traffic controllers communicate to pilots when it's safe to land, when it's safe to take off. And it also keeps the planes at a safe distance apart. A hacker could interrupt all of that. Needless to say, that could be catastrophic. There are thousands of planes in the air at any given time.

So what are the problems? According to this report, the FAA lacks adequate ways to protect sensitive data. The FAA also lacks adequate ways to protect unauthorized access to the computers. Now, it doesn't detail word for word what the weak points are because essentially they do not want to lay out a blueprint to wreak havoc on airspace. The agency does say in the report, until the FAA effectively implements security controls, the weaknesses GAO identified are likely to continue to put the safe and uninterrupted operations of the nation's air traffic control system and increased and unnecessary risks.

So, again, very alarming. I spoke with Senator Bill Nelson a few minutes ago on the phone. He says he's drafting a letter to the FAA. He wants him on Capitol Hill, to know why this is happening and when the problem will be fixed.

BLITZER: Sounds pretty alarming to me. Let's stay on top of this story for our viewers.

Rene, thank you very, very much.

The trail blazing U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski is stepping aside. Today, the 78-year-old Maryland Democrat announced that she won't run for re-election when her term runs out next year. She'll leave as the longest-serving female in congressional history, having served in the House of Representatives and later in the U.S. Senate for the past 39 years. All that, since 1976. Senator Mikulski was also the first woman chosen to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, though Republican victories pushed her from the chairmanship to ranking member this year. Barbara Mikulski, United States Senator from Maryland, won't be seeking re-election.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is up next.

For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Ana Cabrera starts right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Brooke Baldwin.

We begin with a video that is intense and disturbing.