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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Obama Speaks on ISIS and Ukraine at NATO Meeting in Wales; Remarks on President Obama's Speech

Aired September 05, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: With respect to the rapid response forces and the readiness action plan that we've put forward, in Warsaw I announced $1 billion in our initiative. A sizable portion of that will be devoted to implementing various aspects of this -- this readiness action plan.

We've already increased, obviously, rotations of personnel in the Baltic states, for example. We have the air policing, we have the activities that are taking place in the Baltic and the Black Sea.

But this allows us to supplement it. It allows us to coordinate it and integrate it further with additional contributions from other partners. And what it signifies is NATO's recognition that in light of recent Russian actions as well as rhetoric, we want to make it crystal clear: we mean what we say when we're talking about our Article V commitments, and increased presence serves as the most effective deterrent to any additional Russian aggression that we might see.

Angela King, Bloomberg.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

What are your specific expectations for what regional actors like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Jordan can legitimately provide to a coalition against Islamic State? Is there a role there for Iran as well?

As you know, Secretary Kerry today said that he expects the allied countries to coalesce around a specific plan by the end of September. Do you agree with the timeline that he set out? And what concrete commitments, if any, are you leaving this summit with from the other nations that were here?

OBAMA: Let me start with a general point. There was unanimity over the last two days that ISIL poses a significant threat to NATO members. And there was a recognition that we have to take action. I did not get any resistance or pushback to the basic notion that we have a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organization that is causing so much chaos in the region and is harming so many people and poses a long-term threat to the safety and security of NATO members.

So, there's great conviction that we have to act as part of the international community to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL. And that was extremely encouraging.

Beyond that, what we have already seen is significant support from a variety of member states for specific actions that we've been taking in Iraq. Keep in mind, we've taken already 100 strikes in Iraq that have had a significant impact on degrading their capabilities and making sure that we're protecting U.S. citizens, critical infrastructure, providing the space for the Iraqi government to form. Our hope is that the Iraqi government is actually formed and finalized next week. That then allows us to work with them on a broader strategy.

And you know, some of the assistance has been in the form of airlift or humanitarian assistance. Much of it has been providing additional arms to the Peshmerga and the Iraqi security forces. There's been logistical support, intelligence, and surveillance, and reconnaissance support. And so, a variety of folks with different capabilities have already made a contribution. I'm confident that we're going to be able to build on that strong foundation, and the clear commitment and have the kinda coalition that will be required for the sustained effort we need to push ISIL back.

Now, John Kerry is going to be traveling the region to have further consultations with the regional actors, the regional players.

And I think it is absolutely critical that we have Arab states and specifically Sunni majority states that are rejecting the kind of extremist nihilism that we're seeing out of ISIL, that say "That is not what Islam is about," and are prepared to join us actively in the fight.

And, you know, my expectation is is that we will see friends and allies and partners of ours in the region prepared to take action as well as part of a coalition.

One of our tasks, though, is also gonna be to build capability. What we've learned in Iraq -- is -- yes, ISIL has significant capabilities. And they combine terrorist tactics with traditional military tactics at significant effect.

But part of the problem also is, is that we haven't seen as effective a fighting force on the part of the Iraqi security forces as we need. And we're gonna have to focus on the capable units that are already there, bolster them, bolster the work that the peshmerga has done. We can support them from the air, but ultimately, we're gonna need a strong ground game. And we're also gonna need the Sunni tribes in many of these areas to recognize that their future is not with the kind of fanaticism that ISIL represents, so that they start taking the fight to ISIL as well. And that's gonna require the sort of regional partnerships that we are talking about.

In terms of timetable, we are working deliberately. If you look at what we've done over the last several months, we've taken this in stages.

The first stage is to make sure that we were encouraging Iraqi government formation. Second stage was making sure that, building on the intelligence assessments that we have done, that we were in a position to conduct limited airstrikes to protect their personnel, critical infrastructure and engage in humanitarian activities. The third phase will allow us to take the fight to ISIL, broaden the effort.

And our goal is to act with urgency, but also to make sure we're doing it right. That we have the right targets. That there's support on the ground if we take an airstrike. That we have a strong political coalition, diplomatic effort that is matching it, a strong strategic communications effort so that we are discouraging people from thinking somehow that ISIL represents a state, much less a caliphate.

So, all those things are gonna have to be combined. And, as I said, it's not gonna happen overnight. But we are steadily moving in the right direction. And we are gonna achieve our goal. We are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, the same way that we have gone after Al Qaida, the same way we have gone after the Al Qaida affiliate in Somalia, where we released today the fact that we have killed the leader of al-Shabaab in Somalia and have consistently worked to degrade their operations.

You know, we have been very systematic and methodical in going after these kinds of organizations that may threaten U.S. personnel and the homeland. And that deliberation allows us to do it right. But, have no doubt, we will continue and I will continue to do what is necessary to protect the American people.

And ISIL poses a real threat. And I'm encouraged by the fact that our friends and allies recognize that same threat.

Julie Davis?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

I want to follow up on what you were saying about ISIL and ask if you think that the objective here is to destroy and degrade them, are those the same thing in your mind? Is the goal to ultimately -- Secretary Kerry said that there's no containing them, so is the goal to ultimately annihilate them?

And, also, you talked about the importance of expertise on the ground and building up the capacity on the ground. Do you think, since airstrikes are not going to do it here, if ultimately action is needed in Syria, can you realistically expect the Free Syrian Army to do what's needed on the ground to really destroy, not just push back, ISIL?

OBAMA: You can't contain an organization that is running roughshod through that much territory, causing that much havoc, displacing that many people, killing that many innocents, enslaving that many women. The goal has to be to dismantle them.

And, you know, if you look at what happened with Al Qaida in the FATA, where their primary base was, you initially pushed them back. You systematically degrade their capabilities. You narrow their scope of action. You slowly shrink the space, the territory that they may control. You take out their leadership. And over time, they are not able to conduct the same types of terrorist attacks as they once could.

As I said, I think, in my last press conference, given the nature of these organizations, are there potentially remnants of an organization that are still running around and hiding and still potentially plotting? Absolutely. And we will continue to hunt them down the same way we're doing with remnants of Al Qaida in the FATA or elements of Al Shabaab in Somalia or terrorists who operate anywhere around the world.

But what we can accomplish is to dismantle this network, this force, that has claimed to control this much territory, so that they can't do us harm. And -- and that's gonna our objective.

And, as I said before, I'm pleased to see there's unanimity among our friends and allies that that is a worthy goal, and they are prepared to work with us in accomplishing that goal.

With respect to the situation on the ground in Syria, we will not be placing U.S. ground troops to try to control the areas that are part of the conflict inside of Syria. I don't think that's necessary for us to accomplish our goal.

We are going to have to find effective partners on the ground to push back against ISIL. And the moderate coalition there is one that we can work with. We have experience working with many of them. They have been, to some degree, outgunned and outmanned. And that's why it's important for us to work with our friends and allies to support them more effectively.

But keep in mind that when you have U.S. forces, other advanced nations going after ISIL and putting them on the defensive and putting them on the run, it's pretty remarkable what then ground forces can do, even if initially they were on the defensive against ISIL.

So that is a developing strategy that we are going to be consulting with our friends, our allies, our regional partners. But the bottom line is, we will do what is necessary in order to make sure that ISIL does not threaten the United States or our friends and partners. OK? One last question. Colleen. Colleen Nelson, "Wall Street Journal"?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Some Senate Democrats who are facing tough races in November have asked you to delay action on immigration. Have the concerns of other Democrats influenced your thinking? And do you see any downside at this point to delaying until after the election?

OBAMA: I have to tell you that this week I've been pretty busy, focused on Ukraine, and focused on ISIL, and focused on making sure that NATO is -- is boosting its commitments and following through on what's necessary to meet 21st-century challenges.

Jeh Johnson and Eric Holder have begun to provide me some of their proposals and recommendations. I'll be reviewing them. And, you know, my expectation is that fairly soon, I'll be considering what the next steps are.

What I'm unequivocal about is that we need immigration reform, that my overriding preference is to see Congress act. We had bipartisan action in the Senate. The House Republicans have sat on it for over a year. That has damaged the economy. It has held America back. It is a mistake.

And in the absence of congressional action, I intend to take action to make sure that we're putting more resources on the border, that we're upgrading how we process these cases, and that we find a way to encourage legal immigration and give people some path, so that they can start paying taxes, and then pay a fine and learn English and be able to not look over their shoulder but be legal, since they've been living here for quite some time.

So, you know, I suspect that on my flight back, this'll be part of my reading, taking a look at some of the specifics that we've looked at. And I'll be making an announcement soon.

But I want to be very clear: My intention is, in the absence of -- in the absence of action by Congress, I'm going to do what I can do within the legal constraints of my office, because it's the right thing to do for the country.

All right?

Thank you very much people of Wales. I had a wonderful time.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": So there he is, the president of the United States, wrapping up a news conference, answering reporters questions, once again promising to destroy, defeat, dismantle, degrade -- he used all those words -- when it comes to ISIS, the terror group that now holds big chunks of land in Syria, as well as Iraq.

The president saying the United States and the coalition partners, NATO allies, others in the region, they need to act, he says, with urgency, but they need to do it right.

Christiane Amanpour, the president made it clear the U.S. will not engage with troops on the ground whether in Syria or Iraq. He said there are others who can do that in Syria and Iraq. He promises ISIS, or as he calls it, ISIL, will be destroyed.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, and everyone was saying the president of the United States had to be the commander in chief of the superpower at this NATO summit, because so much criticism of the president, and in fact of all the alliance, of not having the strategy to combat ISIS, which now has been declared an existential threat, not just to the region but to the West and to the United States.

Now they're saying in no uncertain terms this is not something to be contained; it is something to be defeated.

And you're absolutely right -- no U.S. boots on the ground -- but trying to get a coalition that can do all the necessary components. And he did also go into the very vital political component. Not only of course does there have to be an inclusive Iraqi government, but he essentially described what was the awakening of 2007/2008.

Get Sunni tribes on board. Peel them away from the ISIS militants. Make sure they're included in the political process. Get them to turn away from this aberration under Islam. Make people understand this is not about any kind of acceptable behavior under any religion anywhere any time.

So all of that has been done before. And so we know that it can be done again. This threat has been faced before, and it has been faced down before. And, in fact, the president said, our objective is clear. Our goal is clear. We will meet our goal, that is to defeat ISIS as we did al-Qaeda.

So there seems to be, now, a real sense that the time is right, the political will is apparently now there, and they're going to come up with a strategy to do this.

He talked about deliberations going on and perhaps being resolved by the end of September. He said this is not something you can do overnight, but the process is in motion.

So that's for that. And then he also talked about Ukraine as well and the rapid reaction force.

BLITZER: Christiane, I know you've got to run, but we're going to obviously continue these discussions throughout the day. Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much.

I want to bring in Nic Robertson. He's in Newport, Wales. He's been watching what's going on as well.

I was intrigued, Nic, and I assume you were as well. When the president was talking about the strategy that's unfolding, he recalled that to defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan in the Fatah region of Pakistan, you have to take out their leadership.

He then mentioned, at one point, that in recent days the U.S. has killed the al-Shabaab leader in Somalia with an air strike, Ahmed Abdi Godane, and it seems to me the president was strongly hinting that the United States now, through air strikes, whether Hellfire missiles launched from drones or other, from warplanes, is going to try to assassinate, to kill, ISIS commanders, al-Baghdadi and others.

Did you get that impression?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That definitely appears to be or would be, it seems to be one of the key tactics here, because it has been successful elsewhere. That's what he was saying, shrink the area they can move in, that they can operation in. Force them into hiding. Put surveillance on that area. One of the things we've heard talked about is trying to increase intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing, with friendly nations, with the nations who will be part of this coalition here to try to tackle ISIS.

That will be a very key way to location those leaders and to be able to target them. It provides a weakness. Even though they'll be replaced, people who are seen as organizationally capable, as charismatic, as leader figures, they perhaps won't be replaced by somebody that capable. You just shrink that area of operation.

For me, what President Obama was saying about the tribes really resonates. The awakening that we saw in Iraq where the Iraqi tribes in the west of country, the Sunni tribes there, helped the U.S. Marines defeat al Qaeda in that area.

I was talking in June this year with a Iraqi tribal leader who was part of that coalition, is part of the coalition fighting with ISIS right now. He told me he wanted the United States to reach out to him and his tribe, because he didn't want to go down this path with ISIS, but because the Iraqi government was so intransigent in trampling on Sunni aspirations, he was forced to.

As President Obama says, within a week or so time there will be a new Iraqi government. This is what Sunni tribes are waiting for. If the Iraqi government responds to the aspirations of Sunnis, then this will help enable bringing those Sunni tribal members across.

And it is -- we clearly saw in that vast and rapid move across the north of Iraq by is, they were able to do it because they had the support of the tribes. They are, if you will, the water within which these ISIS fighters swim.

If the tribes turn against ISIS, that will cut them down and curtail them, and will also help provide the intelligence that will help bring about the killings of the leaders. That's what happened with al Qaeda in Iraq, the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader at that time, killed in a U.S. air strike because of intelligence provided because people on the ground, the tribes there, were against him. Some of them were.

This is the same technique, to go after the leaders this way.

BLITZER: Cut the heads off, as they say. The other day the president used that phrase, direct action, which is sort of code word for assassination, for targeted killings of these leaders.

Nic, thanks very much.

Barbara Starr is over at the Pentagon. Barbara, do Pentagon officials believe -- I know they have respect for the Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters in Iraq, but do they believe there are elements that are really capable of the Iraqi military to largely train, finance, armed by the United States, that the Iraqi military is ready to fight ISIS the way it needs to?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, not across the board, Wolf. Neither the Iraqi military or the Peshmerga.

For the Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters in the north, they are starting to rearm them, refit them, get them more weapons, more ammunition. They're a very sturdy bunch, and they have been fighting against ISIS around the clock.

A number of Iraqi units collapsed when ISIS made its march earlier this year across northern Iraq. The idea of course is to get them back into the fight.

I think what you're looking at is sort of this jigsaw puzzle. No one element, according to the administration, is going to really work. It all has to come together. You have to have all of it.

And, to follow on what Nic is saying, right now, ISIS controls vast areas of western, northern Iraq, vast areas of Syria. So, if you can put all these pieces together and begin chipping away at their control, at the areas where they are just in total control and engaging in all of these atrocities to keep the people in check there, if you can chip away at that, eventually, can you get to that tipping point where their hold becomes shaky in a number of areas, and then finally the people rise up against them in a number of areas, and then this shrinking of their area of control happens and you get to that tipping point where you can then really make a substantive difference in what they are able to do?

But no one thing -- not the Iraqis, not the Kurds, none of it. It all really has to come together, Wolf.

BLITZER: It certainly does. Barbara, stand by.

We're going to continue our special coverage on CNN, the president of the United States saying the U.S. strategy in dealing with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, in his words, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terror group.

Our special coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We haven't seen as effective a fighting force on behalf of the Iraqi security forces as we need.

And we're going to have to focus on the capable units that are already there, bolster them, bolster the work that the Peshmerga's done.

We can support them from the air, but, ultimately, we're going to need a strong ground game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president of the United States in his news conference wrapping up two-day NATO summit in Wales just moments ago. Welcome back to our special coverage. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're joined now by a panel of experts -- the former presidential adviser David Gergen; the Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley; and Nile Gardiner of The Heritage Foundation here in Washington.

David, it was intriguing. The president repeatedly said the U.S. is not only going to degrade ISIS but used words like, going to dismantle ISIS, it's going to destroy ISIS, it's going to defeat ISIS.

He laid out -- began to lay out a specific strategy involving not U.S. ground forces but various Iraqi ground forces, maybe rebel, moderate, opposition ground forces in Syria. Is this what you wanted to hear?

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I think it went a long way toward doing what the president need to do, Wolf. And it was a significant statement. He's now firmly committed to the world to destroy ISIS. History will judge him by whether he destroys ISIS.

And he also -- we now see the emergence of a strategy. It's not -- not all the pieces are in place yet, but we know the pieces that are coming together.

In one of the answers to a journalist, you know, the -- he laid out this point, I think you were absolutely right, take out the leadership. He intends to do that, the ISIS leadership. That does mean assassinations.

He intends to shrink the territory, shrink their capabilities. He laid all that out.