Girls Kidnapped in Nigeria; Boko Haram's Goal
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Islamic militants who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls could be at it again. Suspected Boko Haram gunman storming a Nigerian village, stealing even more girls away from their families. Also this hour, a car tumbled off a Colorado mountainside, landing upside down at the bottom of a ravine, leaving Kristin Hopkins badly injured and trapped for five long days. Her story of survival will amaze you. And, she's back. Monica Lewinsky says it is time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress. The ex-White House intern breaking years of silence, revealing her shame, even her suicidal thoughts, and her newfound desire to leave her past behind. A preview of her "Vanity Fair" tell all just ahead. Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It is Tuesday, May the 6th. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW. Barely a day after the Islamic terror group Boko Haram not only admitted to kidnapping but vowed to sell off more than 200 teenage schoolgirls from that school in northern Nigeria, reports have emerged that those heavily armed seemingly fearless attackers may have struck again. A villager in Borneo state, where the first kidnappings took place 22 days ago, tells CNN that gunman raided several homes late Sunday, making off with money, livestock and eight girls who were aged between 12 and 15 years. My CNN colleague Isha Sesay is following all of these late breaking developments from the Nigerian capital Abuja. Isha, what's the latest on the fate of these late eight girls who have been taken?</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, good to talk to you. We have no word on what is going on right now in attempts to find these eight girls. It is almost too much to bear, to think that having seen that video just a couple of hours ago, the video of the Boko Haram leader talking about what he intended to do to the previous batch of girls he took some three weeks ago, that Boko Haram has struck again, taking eight girls. These all younger than the previous group. These girls, we're told, between the ages of 12 and 15. As you said, those Boko Haram militants storming this village of Warabe in northeastern Nigeria, making off with these girls late Sunday into Monday. And one can only imagine the sheer fear, the terror, the heart break that these new families are now enduring. And also with the very fact that the government in Nigeria has already admitted that when it comes to the 200-plus girls that went missing some weeks ago, they have no idea where they are. So to have this happen off the back of that, Ashleigh, I mean one's almost loss for words. It is truly heartbreaking, truly horrifying. We're working on getting more details to see what is happening in response to this new outrage. Ashleigh.</s>BANFIELD: Well, and that is my next question, the response. You know it took weeks before the president even really publicly acknowledged what happened to the 200-plus girls. But what about this most latest development? The whole world is watching. The pressure is mounting. Is the government doing something faster now to react to this?</s>SESAY: Well, you know, the government says that when it comes to the 200-plus girls, they are doing all they can. They are following up on every lead. They talk about using helicopters and aircraft. But we have been speaking to people that are in the local area, the area where the girls, the 200-plus girls were taken, and they said really up until quite recently there had been little movement on the ground. They also said that forested area where we believe the 200-plus girls were taken in the immediate aftermath, that the soldiers never went in there. So, you know, all of this undermines the credibility of the Nigerian government and raises questions about capability and commitment. So when it comes to these latest eight girls, we are all waiting and watching to see how they all respond, if they will respond differently because to date the feeling here on the ground and for many around the world is that their response has been underwhelming and inadequate. Ashleigh.</s>BANFIELD: That's so distressing. Isha Sesay reporting for us live. Thank you for that. Boko Haram is effectively hell-bent on overthrowing Nigeria's government and installing what can only be considered a radical Islamic state really akin to Taliban rule in Afghanistan. CNN's Carol Costello looks at their methods.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video shows the leader of Boko Haram making an outrageous and repugnant announcement, vowing to sell 223 girls abducted last month from a school in northeastern Nigeria. This isn't the first time the Islamic extremist group has taken responsibility for a horrific deed. According to Amnesty International, in just the first three months of this year, more than 1,500 people have died in violence related to Boko Haram. The group dates back more than 10 years, but became increasingly violent in 2009 after widespread clashes in northeast Nigeria with the military. In the aftermath, hundreds of Boko Haram members were killed. Among them, the groups then leader, Muhammad Yusef. Since then, Boko Haram has carried out audacious attacks on churches, mosques and markets. Entire villages have been razed to the ground. Residents killed in firebomb attacks, shot and some victims have been even hacked to death.</s>TISEKE KASAMBALA, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, SOUTHERN AFRICA: What we've seen is increasingly vicious attacks by Boko Haram in remote villages, schools and businesses.</s>COSTELLO: Last November, the State Department designated Boko Haram as a terrorist organization and they estimate the membership ranges in the hundreds to a few thousand. So what motivates this diabolical group? Boko Haram translates to "western education is a sin." The group aims to establish a fully Islamic state in Nigeria and implement Sharia law. A 2013 congressional report on homeland security called Boko Haram "a sophisticated ally of al Qaeda." As for Abubakar Shekau, the current leader, he's been on the radar of U.S. officials since he came to power in 2009. Last June, the U.S. put a bounty on him, offering a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his location. Carol Costello, CNN, New York.</s>BANFIELD: I want to bring in CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, who's standing by live in London. Christiane, I know you just heard these reports coming in about an additional eight girls who have now been taken. I want you to give me some scope on what Boko Haram is capable of doing, what they can do in the future, how big they've become, and given the fact that it's been a year since they announced this was their new strategy, are they now being considered more serious and more successful and really a force to be reckoned with?</s>CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, firstly, the kidnap of the eight girl has been confirmed. And we're still waiting to hear, as we heard from Isha, to figure out details. But in terms of Boko Haram and what their aims are, they're playing them out. What they need is help. The government needs help in surveillance, in figuring out an actual strategy because even the U.S., over the last few years, even special representatives from the State Department have said, while we stand ready to help our ally Nigeria fight this threat, what happens is that the Nigerian government, according to the United States and according to so many people on the ground, are fanning the flames, if you like, in the way they go after them. It's a scorched earth policy when they do actually go after them. There have been, you know, homes that have been burned, land that has been burned, victims who have been raped, civilians who have been attacked and that is what many people say is turning the people against the government's actions and fanning the flames and the support for Boko Haram. So that is a really very difficult situation. In addition to that, despite coming out and saying that they're devoted to doing everything they can to find these more than 200 girls who have been now abducted for the last nearly four weeks, it took a long time before the president even came out in public and addressed the nation, as if it really were a national crisis, such as it is, and it took - taking them ages to even start the hunt, to the point that the parents of these girls said, we saw them, we ran after these people. We saw them with their guns and we followed them as far as we could. For the first 11 days, they were within shouting distance and within capturing distance but the government didn't do anything about it. And now nobody quite knows where they are. So it's a pretty bad situation, compounded by government inefficiency.</s>BANFIELD: At the very least. And even the first lady apparently calling some of the mothers together for a meeting to suggest that they, in effect, be quiet, that they're bringing shame and embarrassment to Nigeria. And then they - you know, our Richard Quest was able to get an interview with the finance minister who has said perhaps they've had a problem in their communication issues. Christiane, is this government capable, at all, if working alone, of finding these girls and saving them?</s>AMANPOUR: No. No, it's not capable. Nobody thinks that it is and nobody thinks that it actually understands that this is an existential threat. I interviewed President Goodluck Jonathan several times and I asked him many times about this very situation, do you believe that Boko Haram is an existential threat to your country? And he said to me, yes. And, of course, the girls being kidnapped is massive and huge and it has managed to spark international outrage. Unlike the fact that so many of these girls, in smaller batches, have been abducted over the years and there was there - you know, almost no peep from the international community. Plus, the incredible campaign of bombing in Abuja and elsewhere. And this has been going on for a long time. It's great now that the focus is on the situation and perhaps somebody can, you know, try to help move it along. But the government also does, in fact, need a communications strategy because it was in denial. It hid under a rock. It didn't even address this situation. Thus turning the country against the government and you can't fight this kind of thing unless you convince the people that we're all in it together, that we have to go and fight it, and we have to do what it takes and we have to go out and --</s>BANFIELD: Can I ask you --</s>AMANPOUR: And also do it in a way that doesn't violate basic human rights and cause a massive backlash, which is what the government's been doing.</s>BANFIELD: Looking at the video that these terrorists released, I can't help but think that the leader, who's speaking, looks like he's drug addled. He sounds as though he's somewhat affected in this way. Just watch his body language. At the same time, there is no honor among thieves. And when there's a $7 million bounty that's been announced on that man's head, does that somehow perhaps speak louder than whatever the Nigerian government can do?</s>AMANPOUR: Well, do you know what, Ashleigh, I'm not sure that that's the case. You know, Joseph Kony's had a bounty for years and years. I covered Joseph Kony's first abduction, you know, in 1997 and before and even with the, you know, stop Kony video that went viral, nothing has happened to get Joseph Kony, even though it's about the only thing in Africa that the United States has committed some forces and some intelligence to helping try to find him and bolstering their allies in that region. Osama bin Laden was not given up because of the $25 million bounty. And who knows whether this will be the case. You're right, in this case, they say they want to sell these girls. Maybe there is some way to haul them in with money, unclear. And certainly unclear as to whether the government has even tried that. We are going to be talking to the information minister on my program not so long from now. But I must say, it's been almost impossible to get government officials to actually talk about this. They have been hiding under a cover. They've been in denial. They don't want to talk about it. And guess what, we tried to get the interior minister, the guy who's actually meant to be in charge of this kind of security, and he said, sure, I'd love to talk to you but I'm busy today with -- and I thought he was going to say with chasing after this Boko Haram group and finding those kids - but, no, they're busy because the World Economic Forum is taking place in Africa in Nigeria right now -</s>BANFIELD: Well.</s>AMANPOUR: And they've got to, you know, protect obviously a lot of dignitaries that are coming. But, you know, the army also has intrinsic problems. So do the police. They're barely paid. The country's riddled with corruption. And even though it's now a democratic state, there's so many fundamental systemic problems that it just simply does not know how to go after this existential threat to the nation.</s>BANFIELD: I dare say that the shame and embarrassment that the first lady was suggesting the mothers were bringing on Nigeria is perhaps instead being brought on Nigeria by the first lady, her husband and perhaps the leaders of that country in this debacle. Christiane Amanpour, always good to talk to you. Thank you for your time.</s>AMANPOUR: Thanks, Ashleigh.</s>BANFIELD: In some other late-breaking news and big news too, a very famous name from what some might say a long time ago back in the spotlight today. Monica Lewinsky. She is writing for the first time about her affair with President Clinton and what she says about it and her life since then in the decade-plus of silence.