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SeaWorld ride gets stuck for hours
6/30/2014 1:26:49 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Park: Employees provided guests with water and snacks
Engineers worked for four hours to restore power

(CNN) -- Four dozen people were stuck for hours on a ride at SeaWorld San Diego on Sunday after a power failure, the amusement park said.

Forty-six riders and two SeaWorld employees were stuck on the Skytower ride for four hours until engineers were able to restore power, the park said.

"The guests were never in danger and park officials were in constant communication with them while the power failure was being addressed," a park spokesman said. "Two SeaWorld employees were also in the Skytower providing guests with water and snacks."

The Skytower takes park visitors on an elevator ride 320-feet high for a panoramic view of the city and the ocean.

Benghazi suspect read rights?
6/30/2014 12:41:31 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Official: Abu Khatallah denied involvement but gave info on others
Abu Khatallah gave information before and after he was told his Miranda rights
Sen. Lindsey Graham: Mirandizing Abu Khatallah "would be a mistake for the ages"
He is suspected of being the ringleader of the September 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya

Washington (CNN) -- During his two weeks aboard a ship to the United States, Ahmed Abu Khatallah was questioned by FBI interrogators over his alleged role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead.

As it turns out, he was interrogated both before and after authorities told him of his Miranda rights -- which give him the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination, a U.S. official told CNN.

But Abu Khatallah continued providing information to officials after being advised of those rights, the official said.

The handling of his case has triggered fallout in Washington.

"I have serious concerns that conducting a rushed interrogation onboard a ship and then turning Abu Khatallah over to our civilian courts risks losing critical intelligence that could lead us to other terrorists or prevent future attacks," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, said in a statement Saturday.

A U.S. official told CNN that Abu Khatallah denied participation in the Benghazi attacks during his interviews with interrogators -- but provided information on others he said participated and were behind the attacks.

It wasn't clear if he provided the information before or after he was advised of his Miranda warning.

Shortly after the White House announced the capture earlier this month, Republicans like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio criticized the Obama administration because they believed the alleged terrorist should go through a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay instead of being tried in a federal court.

"If they bring him to the United States, they're going to Mirandize this guy, and it would be a mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said.

But the White House has defended its decision, saying that they have successfully tried a number of terrorists domestically and that no new captives have gone to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in years.

Abu Khatallah arrived on U.S. soil Saturday. After two weeks aboard the USS New York sailing from the Mediterranean Sea to the East Coast, Abu Khatallah was flown by helicopter to Washington and was driven to a federal courthouse.

There, he pleaded not guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say he is the ringleader of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

More charges possible

The single count is part of a legal strategy by federal prosecutors, who plan to file additional charges later, according to U.S. officials. The aim is to delay releasing to the public and Abu Khatallah's lawyer the FBI affidavit detailing the evidence the government has against him.

An earlier criminal complaint in July 2013 said the FBI believed it had evidence to charge him with murder and firing a weapon at the scene of the Benghazi attacks. Those additional charges, if formally added, could bring the death penalty.

In his court appearance, Abu Khatallah, a Libyan national, requested consular assistance from the Libyan government. U.S. authorities were working with Libyan embassy officials in Washington to provide him the assistance.

After the hearing, armed guards accompanied Abu Khatallah from the federal courthouse in downtown Washington, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol and near the White House.

He was then moved to the detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, which is across the Potomac River from the capital.

Details of the attacks

Authorities say Abu Khatallah is among the senior leaders of Ansar al Sharia, whose members were among several militias that participated in the attacks on U.S. government facilities in Benghazi on September 11-12, 2012.

The attacks spawned political controversy in the United States because some Republican lawmakers claim the Obama administration tried to mislead the public about them and should have done more to prevent them.

The GOP critics say they plan to make Benghazi an issue for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under whose watch the attacks occurred, should she decide to run for president.

The criminal investigation led by the FBI has been extraordinarily challenging, authorities say, partly because the lack of Libyan government control in the city prevented investigators from visiting the crime scene for weeks.

But U.S. officials say they collected surveillance video, phone recordings and witness statements to bring charges against Abu Khatallah and others involved.

Abu Khatallah became the face of the militant attack and a top target for the U.S. after he cultivated a celebrity profile in the wake of the attacks, meeting with journalists and granting interviews. He denied to CNN's Arwa Damon that he participated in the attacks.

U.S. military commandos captured Abu Khatallah in a nighttime raid June 15-16. U.S. intelligence assets concocted a ruse to lure him to a villa where the Americans surprised him. The commandos, accompanied by several FBI agents, had come ashore by boat and quickly took him back out to sea with them.

Abu Khatallah was appointed a public defender, Michele Peterson. He was ordered to remain in custody until hearings set for Wednesday and Friday.

Timeline of the Benghazi attack

What's next for Benghazi terror suspect?

Benghazi 'mastermind' captured without a single shot

CNN's Sara Fisher and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

How to keep ISIS terror out of the U.S.
6/30/2014 8:02:27 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Aaron Miller: Debating what went wrong in Iraq not useful; protecting U.S. interests now is
Iraq is complex, he says, with sectarian groups at odds, neighbors with own interests
He says U.S. must work with Iraq's neighbors, even al-Assad, to halt ISIS. Democracy can wait
Miller: U.S. must help right Iraqi military, but without combat forces. Point is to check terror

Editor's note: Aaron David Miller is a vice president and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and was a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations. Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- We can spend the next few years beating ourselves up and debating the proposition that George W. Bush saved Iraq and Barack Obama lost it. Or we can get real and try to sort out what we can do now to protect U.S. interests in a region that's melting down.

Iraq was never the U.S.'s to win. That point -- along with lowered expectations and focused goals -- must be the basis of any new approach to the region.

And here are three reasons.

Aaron David Miller

1. Demography: There are two factors that nations -- even functional ones (and Iraq is not) -- can't alter: What they are -- their demography; and where they are -- their geography.

Iraq has been dealt an unhappy hand in both departments. There is, to be sure, a sense of Iraq national identity. But at the same time the end of Saddam Hussein's cruel rule -- for which the U.S. is responsible -- opened up a Pandora's box of sectarian tensions and expectations -- for which the U.S. is partly responsible -- that have never been adequately addressed.

In essence, the U.S. overturned a brutal minority Sunni rule and enabled Shia majority rule. The ins became the outs, and the outs the ins. And guess what? Despite several successful elections, $25 billion from the U.S. to train and equip the Iraqi military, and another trillion in support of the Nuri al-Maliki government, Iraq never equitably distributed political and economic power.

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Sunnis became disenfranchised, angry and vulnerable to jihadi persuasions; Shia sought to get even, get ahead and maintain a privileged position; and Kurds sought to protect their own interests and effectively create a separate governing authority. Iraq these days isn't so much a nation as it is a collection of battling sectarian groups, each seeking advantage at the expense of the Iraqi state.

2. Geography: Iraq's neighbors, particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia, do not share America's vision of an equitably balanced and independent polity. Each of them has its own vision. Iraq has become a pawn in a regional competition between Sunnis and Shia and Arabs and Persians. Iran wants a weak, stable Iraq not aligned with the West, under Shia influence. The Saudis want al-Maliki out and are happy that the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria may provide that opportunity, even as they fear the jihadists. They want Sunnis empowered and Iran disempowered.

Turkey has made its peace with the Iraqi Kurds and hopes to get them to moderate the radical tendencies of those in Syria, but really has no answer to the ISIS contagion. Jordan is vulnerable to ISIS too, but can't exercise much influence in Iraq.

And that leaves Syria. The regime of Bashar al-Assad is aligned with both Iran and al-Maliki, and -- likely under Tehran's encouragement -- has begun to use military force against ISIS along the Syria-Iraq border. All this regional maneuvering reflects the reality that the neighbors' interests will continue to trump America's by virtue of their proximity, their influence in Iraq, and the reality that Iraq is more vital to them than it is to us.

3. Syria: Iraq can't be stabilized without dealing with Syria. And to date, the U.S. -- by default the only power that remotely has the capacity to alter the course of the civil war there -- has been unable and unwilling to do that. The ISIS threat may prompt a review of the Obama administration's Syria policy, but we should be under no illusions that Washington is ready to jump in with a comprehensive political, economic, and military strategy to end the conflict.

Indeed, the United States will be faced with some tough choices. It may find itself in the odd position of ramping up support for the more moderate Sunni rebels in Syria but also striking ISIS. That means we will be trying to weaken al-Assad on one hand, but indirectly strengthening him on the other by attacking a common enemy. Under no circumstances should the Obama administration commit to trying to put two broken nations back together again. Bottom line is that the real challenge is ISIS, which is likely to remain ensconced in parts of Syria and Iraq.

What should Obama do?

First let's be clear about what he shouldn't do. The United States needs to abandon any illusions that it can transform or find an easy way out of the situation. It is stuck in a region that it can't fix or leave. There isn't a single problem in this region that has a comprehensive or definitive solution. Instead, the U.S. should accept the reality that it will be dealing with outcomes, not happy endings, there. Iraq may never be a unified polity, but it need not necessarily be a failed one.

The question is, can we shape these outcomes to our advantage? Bush 43 tried to do too much; Obama too little. Is there a balance?

The U.S. needs at least three different but related approaches:

1. Coordinate with regional partners. Sure, in the case of Iran, it's like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. But the U.S. can't begin to deal with ISIS on its own. Iran is the key external power in Iraq. And Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have a stake in stopping ISIS's advances. The U.S. may have to accept the reality that the evil al-Assad is a hedge against ISIS, even though his policies helped to facilitate its rise.

2. Think diplomacy first, then military force. You need the first to make the second effective. That coordination must try to produce a more acceptable political arrangement in Baghdad, with or without al-Maliki. Without the Iraqi government regaining Sunni support, ISIS will continue to roll. And this means some new and more inclusive political arrangement in Baghdad to share power.

Forget democracy and making Iraq whole. To bring Sunnis around and check ISIS, we may have to not only concede influence to Iran but also to some pretty bad Sunnis, including former Saddam supporters and insurgents.

3. The U.S. will need to do what it can to buck up the Iraqi military. This could easily lead to sending additional advisers, but under no circumstances should it involve the use of combat forces. We may well have to use airstrikes and drones against ISIS. And this is tricky, because it risks feeding jihadi sentiment. That's why a new political arrangement is mandatory.

But even without it, the United States must face the reality that ISIS -- with money, passports, and a base of operations -- will emerge as a threat to our friends in the region, to Europe and ultimately to us.

We shouldn't run scared. ISIS's own ideology will produce a counterreaction among Iraqis who will oppose its harsh, unforgiving ideology. Indeed as the International Crisis Group points out, ISIS is its own worst enemy.

The region is littered with the remains of failed jihadi efforts, including al Qaeda central. In 2013, there were 17,800 global fatalities as a result of terrorist attacks. Only 16 of those were Americans.

Terror is not a strategic threat to the homeland right now. But it may well require a coordinated counterterror effort with our regional and international partners to prevent it from becoming one.

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ISIS declares Islamic State amid battle for Tikrit ...
6/30/2014 8:57:34 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
The extremist group ISIS says it has changed its name to just "Islamic State"
Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Emboldened by a weakened Iraqi government that is struggling to stop their murderous advance, the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declared over the weekend that they have set up a caliphate spanning large areas of the two countries.

In a newly released audio message and written statement, purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

The group said in the message Sunday, which CNN couldn't independently confirm, that its flag now flies from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq. It announced that it was changing its name to just the "Islamic State."

The ISIS statement was just one of the many developments in the fast-moving situation in Iraq over the weekend.

Who controls Tikrit?

Iraq's government touted its military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from extremists, with some officials taking to state-run television over the weekend to declare the army had defeated ISIS.

But residents in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, gave a different account on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The woman, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

Heavy shelling

A video posted on YouTube appears to support her assertion. In it, a man gives a tour of the city to show, he says, that there were no Iraqi security forces on the streets on Saturday -- the day Iraqi forces said they launched the offensive.

In the video, the man can be heard repeatedly saying "June 28, 2014," presumably to offer evidence of the date. He says "Thank God, Tikrit is safe and still in the hand of tribesmen and not troops of 'al-Haliki,'" a derogatory reference to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that refers to his death.

Witnesses inside and outside of Tikrit said Iraqi forces were heavily shelling the city. Two days ago, the air force dropped leaflets from helicopters, demanding resident leave the city "for their safety."

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

State-run Iraqi TV showed video footage of large plumes of black smoke billowing from the city. Another video, released by the Ministry of Defense, showed Iraqi troops and convoys loaded with heavy weapons driving through the desert. The video was titled "cleansing the road between Samarra and Tikrit."

CNN couldn't independently confirm the different claims.

Fierce clashes

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, told CNN on Saturday that the Iraqi security forces entered the city supported by special forces and fighters from among the local tribes and had gained control.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

But a combatant told a CNN freelance reporter that ISIS fighters remained in control of Tikrit, though there were fierce clashes in an area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city center, toward Samarra.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit.

Russian jets arrive

State-run TV aired footage Sunday of the arrival overnight of five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets. They are the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract agreed to by Moscow and Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to CNN.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power, in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints.

U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Al-Maliki's statements about the need for air support came as American and Arab diplomats told CNN that the United States is unlikely to undertake any military strikes against the militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

Mass graves reported

Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmens, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

The few Sunni villagers who remained in Guba and Shireekhan told those who fled that at least some of the kidnapped Turkmens had been killed, the rights group said. However, they had not seen bodies and could not give more information.

ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship in the predominantly Shia Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, earlier in the week, Human Rights Watch added, citing local sources.

But the allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Maps: Understand the crisis in Iraq

What is ISIS?

Iraq witnesses recall horrors in Tal Afar, Mosul

Iraq's Shiites answer call to arms

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter reported from Baghdad, Mohammed Tawfeeq reported from Atlanta, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Arwa Damon, Nima Elbaghir, Raja Razek and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.

Newlyweds decapitated, police say
6/29/2014 7:46:36 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Newlyweds in Pakistan are killed by the bride's family over opposition to the wedding
Police say the couple was lured back to the bride's village, tied up and beheaded
Family members turned themselves in after the murders and are now jailed

(CNN) -- A young newlywed couple in northeastern Pakistan died a horrible death at the hands of the bride's family in the latest honor killing in the nation, police in Pakistan said Saturday.

The couple, identified as Sajjad Ahmed, 26, and Muawia Bibi, 18, were married by a Pakistani court on June 18 against the wishes of the Bibi family, Punjab police official Mohammad Ahsanullah told CNN.

On Thursday, the bride's father and uncles lured the couple back to the village of Satrah in Punjab province, where Ahsanullah said the pair were tied up and then decapitated.

Despite the fact that there were no outside witnesses, family members turned themselves in to police and are now jailed in the Sialkot district of Punjab, Ahsanulluh said.

Such killings often originate from tribal traditions in Pakistan and usually happen in rural areas. Human rights activists said bystanders, including police, don't often interfere because the killings are considered to be family matters.

According to the United Nations, some 5,000 women are murdered by family members in honor killings every year.

However, women's advocacy groups believe the crime is underreported and that the actual death toll from this all too common crime is actually much higher.

In Pakistan, 869 women were victims of honor killings last year, according to the country's human rights commission.

Earlier in June, 18-year-old Saba Masqood was found left for dead inside of a sack in a canal in Pakistan, injured by gunfire. She accused her brother and father of shooting her because they didn't approve of her marriage to a neighbor. She survived, but many aren't so lucky.

Last month, the death of a pregnant Pakistani woman made headlines around the world.

Farzana Parveen, 25, was attacked with bricks by about 20 people, including members of her immediate family, police said. And her husband, Mohammad Iqbal, told CNN that he had killed his first wife six years ago so he could marry Parveen.

Pregnant Pakistani woman beaten to death with bricks

I killed my first wife, stoned Pakistani woman's husband says

CNN's Sophia Saifi and Deborah E. Bloom contributed to this report.

Mom web searched for hot car death
6/29/2014 11:18:31 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Police say Leanna Harris was questioned about the death of her son
She gave "similar statements" to ones her husband gave about looking on the Internet
Investigators used a warrant to take computers into evidence
Justin Ross Harris is charged with murder, child cruelty

(CNN) -- Leanna Harris, the mother of a Georgia toddler who died locked in a hot car, has told authorities that she researched such deaths and how they occur, according to a police affidavit.

Her husband, Justin Ross Harris, the child's father, who is in jail without bond, has also told police that he used the Internet to research child deaths in vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for death to occur, police said.

"Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen," the police affidavit said.

In the document released Sunday, police say that during questioning Leanna Harris "made similar statements regarding researching in car deaths and how it occurs."

The time frame for when this alleged research took place remains unclear.

Their son, Cooper Harris, who was 22 months old when he died June 18, was buried after a funeral Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Leanna Harris emphatically told a crowd at her son's funeral she loves and stands by her husband, even though he is charged with murder in the child's death.

"Am I angry with Ross?" Leanna Harris said Saturday. "Absolutely not. It has never crossed my mind. Ross is and was and will be, if we have more children, a wonderful father. Ross is a wonderful daddy and leader for our household. Cooper meant the world to him."

Police said Justin Ross Harris told them he forgot to drop his 22-month-old son at the day care center before going to work. The boy died after spending seven hours in a child safety seat in the back of an SUV.

Harris was arrested hours after his son's death and has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and second-degree child cruelty.

The affidavit was filed in the application for a search warrant used to seize computers from the Harris home.

5 questions about toddler's hot-car death

A timeline of events

On the day Cooper died, his father stopped for breakfast at a fast-food restaurant and afterward strapped his son into a rear-facing child restraint seat on his SUV's back seat, police said.

He drove to his workplace, a Home Depot corporate office, about a half-mile away. He works as a Web designer there.

Usually, he would take his son to an on-site day care. But that day, police said, Harris left him in the car seat.

During his lunch break, he returned to his car, opening the driver's side door to put something inside, police said.

After work, around 4:16 p.m., the 33-year-old father got in his car and drove away. A few miles away, he stopped the car at a shopping center and called for help.

When it became clear Cooper was dead, Harris was so inconsolable police had to restrain him.

"What have I done?" he wailed as he tried to resuscitate the boy.

The Cobb County medical examiner's office found the child's cause of death "consistent with hyperthermia and the investigative information suggests the manner of death is homicide," according to a Cobb County Department of Public Safety statement issued last week. Temperatures hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of Cooper's death.

The medical examiner's office is waiting for toxicology test results before making an official ruling as to the cause and manner of the toddler's death.

Mom of toddler who died in car 'absolutely not' angry with husband

Toddler's dad researched hot-car deaths of children online, officers said in warrant

CNN's Vivian Kuo, Marlena Baldacci and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

Shiites answer call to arms
6/30/2014 12:32:42 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Fallah al Araiby is glad his son, 25-year-old Ali, will be fighting Sunni insurgents
With three days of training, Ali was given a helmet, a rifle and sent to the front line
An Iraqi colonel says some 23,000 volunteers have signed up for the security forces
The big question: Are they enough to take on seasoned ISIS fighters?

Taji, Iraq (CNN) -- Under a sweltering sun, Fallah al Araiby hunched over the hood of a car, scrubbing away the dirt.

Once, his son used to work alongside him on a busy street corner in central Baghdad. Now, he does it alone.

His son is one of the thousands who have answered the call from Iraq's top Shiite cleric to take up arms to protect Iraq from extremist Sunni fighters whose aim is to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and establish an Islamic state that stretches from Iraq to northern Syria.

With three days of training, his son -- 25-year-old Ali -- was given a helmet, a rifle, a magazine of ammunition and sent to the front line, al Araiby said.

Some 23,000 volunteers, according to Col. Shihab Hamoud Nasir, have signed up for the security forces since ISIS seized Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. In a lightning advance, ISIS seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq earlier this month.

Al Araiby's son and many like him were taken by the loads in buses and trucks to the sprawling Taji training base, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad. There, under a makeshift canopy, volunteers wait for their turn to begin training.

When they are called, they are put into formation where they march -- sometimes out of step -- and practice shooting.

They get about a week to 10 days of training, Nasir said.

Much has been made about whether it's enough training to take on the seasoned ISIS fighters, who have had significant success in battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

ISIS fighters and allied Sunni militants have launched a number of attacks against military bases and checkpoints, killing a large number of the new recruits. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, details the deaths of ISIS fighters during military briefings televised near daily, but he says almost nothing about Iraqi security force casualties.

But sporadic reports about the fighting from police and local government officials paint a sometimes bleak picture. Take the report about fighting at a military base south of Baghdad:

ISIS fighters launched an attack Sunday against the base at Jurf al-Sakhar, on the outskirts of Hilla, where an infantry brigade is based.

At least seven soldiers, all new recruits, were killed and 15 were wounded, according to police officials.

It was the second such attack on the base in as many days.

Still, volunteers come by the hundreds to Taji to train.

"I can assure you that volunteers came from all of Iraq's provinces, and a few were underage but we convinced them to change their decision and return to their families," Nasir said.

While Nasir said recruits are not asked about their religious affiliation, the majority are Shiite who answered the call put forward by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric.

Among them is 23-year-old Mohammed Jassim, who left his job as a taxi driver in Baghdad's Sadr City to take up arms.

"This is my first day here, and I am ready to be deployed to the field, even to the front line, if that's needed," he said as he sat on a wooden bench waiting to be called.

As Nasir detailed the training for CNN, he was interrupted by a man in his 70s who reminded him that he has come to the training center every day for much of the last two weeks.

"When will it be my turn," he asks Nasir. "When God wills," the colonel tells him. "When God wills."

On the street corner in Baghdad, al Araiby praises his son's decision to volunteer. He doesn't know where he's been deployed.

"No, I am not afraid for him. He is a brave young man, and it is his duty to obey the religious authority," he said.

"... I encouraged my son to join as a volunteer because this is our responsibility and duty."

The 50-year-old al Araiby hopes to join his son at the front line. He says he's just waiting for the military to call.

Actor Meshach Taylor dies
6/29/2014 11:24:41 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Taylor fought terminal illness and died surrounded by his family
He also appeared in the series "Hannah Montana" and "In the Heat of the Night"

(CNN) -- Another familiar Hollywood face bid farewell late Saturday -- actor Meshach Taylor. He died at age 67 at his Los Angeles area home, his agent Dede Binder said.

Many may remember him from "Designing Women," where he played assistant Anthony Bouvier.

Taylor had fought a terminal illness and faded markedly in recent days. His wife, children, grandchildren and mother surrounded him as he passed away, Binder said.

"It is with love and gratitude that we sorrowfully announce that our darling, amazingly brilliant and dynamic, Meshach, the incredible father, husband, son and friend has begun his grand transition," the family said in a statement.

Taylor made his screen debut in the 1978 movie "Damien: Omen II." He has appeared regularly in television dramas since, including the series "In the Heat of the Night," "Hannah Montana," and "All of Us," according to his profile on the Internet Movie Database.

Most recently, he appeared in two episodes of Criminal Minds. The last one ran in January this year.

During the run of "Designing Women," Taylor's co-star Dixie Carter described him as "a good man who is confident and strong. He's absolutely grounded," according to a profile in People.

"The eldest of three children of two former college professors, Taylor, a precocious child, first learned acting technique as a survival skill. 'The kids called me the Professor, and I got beat up a lot,' he says. 'So I dummied up until I got into the 11th grade,'" the profile read.

"Even when he didn't have any money, he always had style. He was on the cutting edge of men's colognes, and he was always buying yachting magazines and GQ," actor Joe Mantegna told the magazine.

People we've lost in 2014

Militants killed in Pakistan offensive
6/28/2014 6:45:39 AM

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani forces have killed at least 19 militants as part of their offensive in the country's tribal region, the military said in a statement Saturday.

The operation, in North Waziristan, includes airstrikes and artillery shelling.

A Pakistani Taliban leader known as Commander Umer was killed Friday evening on the outskirts of Miranshah, according to the military.

A prominent al-Qaeda commander, who was not named, has been arrested while trying to flee northwestern Pakistan and security forces determined during his interrogation that he is an expert in explosives.

The group, formally known as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, is a coalition of militant groups. It was founded in 2007, seeking to establish its version of sharia law across Pakistan.

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ISIS declares Islamic State amid battle for Tikrit ...
6/30/2014 4:26:59 AM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Militants declare Islamic state extending from Syria to Iraq
The extremist group ISIS says it has changed its name to just "Islamic State"
Iraq's government is touting its offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown
But some residents tell CNN a different story: "There are no Iraqi troops here"

In a newly released audio message and written statement, purportedly from the official spokesman of ISIS, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state.

The ISIS statement was just one of the many developments in the fast-moving situation in Iraq over the weekend.

Who controls Tikrit?

But residents in the city nestled along the Tigris River, about 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) northwest of Baghdad, gave a different account on Sunday.

"There are no Iraqi troops here," one woman told CNN by telephone from Tikrit. The only presence, at least in her neighborhood, is the "Islamic state," she said, referring to ISIS.

The woman, who asked not to be identified over concerns for her safety, said she could hear the sounds of a fierce battle, in the form of shelling, being carried out by both sides.

Heavy shelling

A large number of people have fled Tikrit for smaller villages to the north, according to witnesses, who say Iraqi forces are battling ISIS on the southern edge of the city.

CNN couldn't independently confirm the different claims.

Fierce clashes

Iraqi security forces were routed by ISIS fighters earlier this month during a lightning advance that saw the al Qaeda offshoot seize large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

State-run Iraqiya TV reported that the Iraqi army and volunteer militia groups had cleared ISIS fighters from the city, having advanced on the city from four directions.

He said ISIS fighters retreated in the direction of Kirkuk and the province of Nineveh.

Two security officials in Samarra told CNN that Iraqi soldiers stopped the militants' advance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tikrit.

Russian jets arrive

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints.

The advance of the al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes," he said.

Mass graves reported

Human Rights Watch has reported the discovery in Tikrit of two mass graves believed to contain the bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS and its militant allies.

In addition to the alleged executions in Tikrit, reports continue to emerge of atrocities committed by both sides.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Fallah al Araiby is glad his son, 25-year-old Ali, will be fighting Sunni insurgents
With three days of training, Ali was given a helmet, a rifle and sent to the front line
An Iraqi colonel says some 23,000 volunteers have signed up for the security forces
The big question: Are they enough to take on seasoned ISIS fighters?