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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Obama Speaks at CentCom in Tampa

Aired September 17, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

When it comes to the fight against ISIS, it seems everything is still up in the air. Will the United States send combat forces, boots on the ground, to the Middle East? Will the United States equip Syrian rebels to fight ISIS instead? President Obama and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, seems to have their wires somewhat crossed when it comes to sending U.S. troops to Iraq and Syria. Mr. Obama has been insisting for weeks that he's ruled out using American soldiers to tamp down the growing threat on the ground. But Dempsey told Congress Tuesday that boots on the ground, that option has not been ruled out in his opinion, or at least what he'd advise. The White House claims the general is only speaking hypothetically.

In the meantime, a big vote is looming in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers are expected to vote today whether to approve the president's plan to train and equip the moderate Syrian rebels in this war against ISIS. The Republicans, they plan to offer up a measure as part of a broader bill to keep the government funded into December, and it's expected to pass and then, of course, the Senate could approve it before the end of the week.

President Obama's about to speak live about this strategy to fight ISIS. He is at the United States Central Command in Tampa, Florida, where he has been meeting with military planners there. And as soon as he takes to the microphone, we are going to take you there live.

In the meantime, here's a stark reminder that the ISIS scourge isn't just a problem in the Middle East. A Rochester, New York, man has now been charged with providing support to ISIS. The grand jury indictment released Tuesday accused Mufid Elfgeeh, a naturalized United States citizen who was born in Yemen, of helping three men travel to Syria to join ISIS. Two of those men were informants working with the FBI. Elfgeeh also faces firearm charges related to a plot to kill U.S. service members who were returning from their tours of duty in Iraq. Elfgeeh has been in federal custody since his arrest in May.

I want to take you back live right now to MacDill Air Force Base.

Evan Perez, I'm going to get you to stand by if you would for a moment because the president - we were expecting him to be fairly late. It turns out he's not going to be quite as late as now we once thought. He's making his way through the crowd.

Just so you know, this is a trip to U.S. CENTCOM down in Tampa. This is, in effect, an effort to drum up some support for this fight, this United States fight against ISIS. He was also being briefed by some of the commanders there on the ground in Florida as to the battle strategy. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, MacDill! I want to thank General Austin for his introduction, Lloyd, for your exceptional leadership. Were you about to sneak off the stage?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

OBAMA: Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, I was.

OBAMA: The -- it's better when Lloyd's not standing next to me because I don't look small.

General Austin has done such extraordinary work both commanding our forces in Iraq today as the commander of CENTCOM. I want to thank somebody else for his own lifetime of service to America, first as a soldier who fought in Vietnam, now as our secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel. Give it up for Chuck.

Chuck was here a few weeks ago to welcome the new head of special operations command, General Joe Botell (ph). Give Joe a big round of applause.

For those of you who don't know, 13 years ago Joe led his team of Army Rangers as they jumped into Afghanistan to establish our first base there, by jumping out of the plane alongside them. So Joe is a tough guy. And he knows what he's doing and I can't think of somebody who's more qualified to head up our special forces. And so we want to thank Joe for accepting this assignment.

Your member of congress, Kathy Caster, is here. Give Kathy a big round of applause. There she is right there. Your wing commander, Colonel Dan Tuller (ph). Your senior enlisted leaders, Command Sergeant Major Chris Greka (ph), Command Sergeant Major Chris Ferris (ph), Chief Master Sergeant Matt Lussant (ph). And most of all, I want to salute all the spouses and military families on base because, let's be honest, they're the force behind the force.

I spent time with some of them last night. And it's clear why our military's the finest fighting force in the history of the world. And it's because our military families are serving right alongside you.

I know we've some Air Force in the house. It's great to be at the home of the Sixth Air Mobility Wing, 927 Air Refueling Wing, CENTCOM, SOCOM (ph). We've got some Army here. Navy. Marines. Coast Guard. We love our Coast Guard.

Now, I'm not here to give a long speech, but what I really wanted to do is come down and just shake some hands. I just received a briefing from General Austin and met with your commanders. Met with representatives from more than 40 nations. It is a true team effort here at MacDill. And I came here to say the same thing that I've been saying to troops on bases across this country, around the world and a few months ago in Bagram, and that is, thank you. On behalf of the American people, I want to thank all of you for your service. I want to thank all of you for your sacrifice. I want to thank you for your commitment to each other and your commitment to our country.

As your commander in chief, I could not be more proud of each and every one of you. For nearly 75 years, the men and women of MacDill have lived a commitment to airmen, mission and community. You've supported our troops through each generation of challenges. And as home to both central command and special operations command, you have shouldered some of the heaviest responsibilities in dealing with the challenges of this new century.

For more than a decade, ever since that awful September morning 13 years ago, ever since Joe and his rangers took that jump a month later, you and all our men and women in uniform have borne the burden of war. Some of you are quiet professionals. Our special forces were among the first to go. When the decision was made to go into Iraq, you were there. When we refocused the fight back to Afghanistan, you were there. You have served with skill and honor and commitment and professionalism.

And some of you carry the wounds of these wars. I know some of you lost friends. Today we remember all who have given their lives in these wars. And we stand with their families who have given more than most Americans can ever imagine. And we honor those sacrifices forever.

But here's what I want every single one of you to know. Because of you, this 9/11 generation of heroes has done everything asked of you and met every mission tasked to you. We are doing what we set out to do. Because of you, Osama bin Laden is no more. Because of you, the core al Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been decimated. Because of you, Afghans are reclaiming their communities. Afghan forces have taken the lead for their country's security. In three months, because of you, our combat mission will be over in Afghanistan and our war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end. That's because of you. You and our counterterrorism professionals have prevented terrorist attacks. You've saved American lives. You've made our homeland more secure.

But we've always known that the end of the war in Afghanistan didn't mean the end of threats or challenges to America. Here at MacDill, you knew this and have known this as well as anybody. You played a central role in our combat in counterterrorism operations. You make sure our troops and pilots get what they need in order to get the job done. You train forces around the world so countries can take responsibility for their own security. The Sixth Air Mobility Wing is continuously deployed, supporting our humanitarian and combat operations around the world. Ready to defend. And your work is as vital as ever. Because in an uncertain world full of breathtaking change, the one constant is American leadership. In a world where technology provides a small group of killers with the ability to do terrible harm, it is America that has the capacity and the will to mobilize the world against terrorists, including the group in Syria and Iraq known as ISIL. Our intelligence community, as I said last week, has not yet detected

specific plots from these terrorists against America. But its leaders have repeatedly threatened America and our allies. And right now, these terrorists pose a threat to the people of Iraq, the people of Syria, the broader Middle East, including our personnel, our embassies, our consulates, our facilities there. And if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat to the United States.

So last month, I gave the order for our military to begin taking targeted action against ISIL. And since then, our brave pilot and crews, with your help, have conducted more than 160 air strikes against these terrorists. Because of your efforts, we've been able to protect our personnel in our facilities and kill ISIL fighters and given space for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim key territory. They've helped our partners on the ground break ISIL sieges, helped rescue civilians cornered on a mountain, helped save the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children. That's what you've done.

Now going forward, as I announced last week, we're going to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. And whether in Iraq or in Syria, these terrorists will learn the same thing that the leaders of al Qaeda already know. We mean what we say. Our reach is long. If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven. We will find you eventually.

But, and this is something I what to emphasize, this is not and will not be America's fight alone. One of the things we've learned over this last decade is, America can make a decisive difference. But I want to be clear, the American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. They will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists. As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq. After a decade of massive ground deployments, it is more effective to use our unique capabilities in support of partners on the ground so they can secure their own countries' futures. And that's the only solution that will succeed over the long term.

We'll use our airpower. We will train and equip our partners. We will advise them and we will assist them. We will lead a broad coalition of countries who have a stake in this fight because this is not simply America versus ISIL. This is the people of the region fighting against ISIL. It is the world rejecting the brutality of ISIL in favor of a better future for our children and our children's children, all of them.

But we're not going to do this alone. And the one thing we have learned is that when we do things alone and the countries -- the people of those countries aren't doing it for themselves, as soon as we leave, we start getting into the same problems. So we've got to do things differently.

Now, this is why we've spent the past several weeks building a coalition to aid in these efforts. And because we're leading in the right way, more nations are joining us. Overall, more than 40 countries so far have offered assistance to the broad campaign against ISIL. Some nations will assist from the air. And already France and the United Kingdom are flying with us over Iraq with others committed to join this effort.

Some nations will help us support the forces fighting these terrorists on the ground, and already Saudi Arabia has agreed to host our efforts to train and equip Syrian opposition forces.

Australia and Canada will send military advisers to Iraq. German paratroopers will offer training. Other nations have helped resupply arms and equipment to forces in Iraq, including the Kurdish Peshmerga.

Arab nations have agreed to strengthen their support for Iraq's new government and to do their part in all the aspects of the fight against ISIL.

And our partners will help to cut off ISIL funding and gather intelligence and stem the flow of foreign fighters into an out of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, nearly 30 nations have helped with humanitarian relief to help with civilians driven from their homes, whether Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Yazidis or any other religious minority.

Yesterday at the White House, I met be an outstanding marine leader, retired general John Allen who worked with Iraqi tribal leaders as they fought to reclaim their own communities from terrorists. He's going to help build and coordinate this incredible coalition.

I've called on Congress to make sure you've got all the authorities and resources you need to get the job done, but the point is we cannot do for the Iraqis what they must do for themselves. We can't take the place of our partners in securing their own region and a better future for their own people.

We can't do it for them, but this is an effort that calls on America's unique abilities and responsibilities to lead. In a world that's more crowded and more connected, it is America that has the unique capability to mobilize against an organization like ISIL.

In a world full of broader social challenges, it is America that has the unique capability and know-how to contain and combat a threat like Ebola, the epidemic in Africa.

And yesterday on top of all we're doing to help, I announced a major boost to our response. We're establishing a military command center in Liberia at the request of their government to support civilian efforts across the region. Commander of our army forces in Africa arrived yesterday. He's on the ground.

And our armed forces will bring their unique, unrivaled expertise in command and control and logistics and engineering to get medical supplies into west Africa faster. And in all our efforts, the safety of our personnel will remain a top priority.

In the nation of Liberia, one person who heard this news yesterday was reported to say, we have been praying to get the disease wiped out of our country. So if the coming of U.S. troops will help us get that done, we will be happy.

And that's the story across the board. If there's a hurricane, if there's a typhoon, if there's some sort of crisis, an earthquake, a need for a rescue mission, when the world is threatened, when the world needs help, it calls on America.

Even the countries that complain about America, when they need help, who do they call? They call us. And then America calls on you. To all the servicemen and women here and around the world, we ask a lot of you, and any mission involves risk, and any mission separates you from your families.

Sending our service members into harm's way is not a decision I ever take lightly. It is the hardest decision I make as president. Nothing else comes close. I do it only when I know the mission is vital to the security of this country that we love. I do it only because I know that you're the best there is at what you do.

And frankly there just aren't a lot of other folks who can perform in the same ways. In fact, there are none. And there are some things only we can do. There are some capabilities only we have. That's because of you, your dedication, your skill, your work, your families supporting you, your training, your command structure.

Our armed forces are unparalleled and unique, so when we've got a big problem somewhere around the world, it falls on our shoulders. And sometimes that's tough. But that's what sets us apart. That's why we're America. That's what the stars and stripes are all about.

And between war and recession, this has been a challenging start to this new century. We've been busy. This has not been an easy 14 years. And many of you came of age in these years.

But I want you to know as I stand here with you today, I'm as confident as I have ever been that this century, just like the last century, will be led by America. It will be and is an American century.

At home, we're bouncing back, better positioning ourselves to win the future than any nation on earth. Overseas, we're moving forward, answering the call to lead.

And even when it seems like our politics is just dividing us, I want you to remember that when it comes to supporting you and your families, the American people stand united. We support you. We are proud of you. We are in awe of your skill and your service.

Only one percent of Americans may wear the uniform and shoulder the weight and special responsibilities that you do, but 100 percent of Americans need to support you and your families, 100 percent.

This is a moment of American leadership, and thanks to you, it is a moment that we are going to meet and I'll keep standing up for your interests and for our security and for the human rights and dignity of people wherever they live.

And we're going to keep on working with our allies and partners to take out the terrorists who threaten us, wherever they hide, because in stark contrast to those who only know how to kill and maim and tear down, we keep on building up and offering a future of progress and hope.

And like the generations before us, we're willing to defend this country we love. We're willing to help others on this planet that we share. We're protected by patriots like you.

And for all those reasons, the United States of America will remain the greatest force for freedom that the world has ever known.

Thank you very much, everybody. I'm proud of you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

BANFIELD: Very patriotic speech at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, the president meeting the troops down there but maybe more importantly also meeting commanders

As the president said, he's had a chance to shake a few hands, but he's also spoken with some of the leadership on the air force base as well.

I want to bring in CNN's Jim Acosta from the White House and Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent, along with the national correspondent for TheWeek.com, Ryan Cooper.

First to you, Jim Acosta, why the need for this trip when so much of what he said has already been said? It just seems to be in a different location.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This was an important week for the president. He wanted to get down to the CDC to show that he's on top of this Ebola outbreak in west Africa

And he wanted to go to CentCom to talk to the commanders because they're orchestrating this fight against ISIS right now. He wanted to emphasize this coalition that the U.S. is putting together to take the fight to that terrorist group.

But, Ashleigh, I think this speech was very important in that this lays to rest or at least the president hopes this lays to rest some of the questions raised yesterday by the joint chiefs chairman, Martin Dempsey, when the president said during that speech to the troop that are gathered at the MacDill Air Force Base, "I will not commit you to fighting another ground war in Iraq. U.S. troops do not and will not have a combat mission in Iraq." And at one point saying, "We cannot do for the Iraqis what they must do for themselves."

You could almost see in his text the underling and the italics and in the boldface what he was trying to get across here. While the chairman of the joint chiefs was saying on Capitol Hill yesterday, that combat ground forces remain as an option on his table, it's not on the president's table, Ashleigh, and that's the message he wanted to get across today.

BANFIELD: So, Barbara Starr, one of the questions I have when it comes to the president making a big trip like this down to MacDill Air Force Base to be briefed by the commander there, I often thought that the commanders come to the president. The president doesn't go to them.

Am I wrong here, or is this really about the optics of being with the troops and supporting them?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it is partially the optics, Ashleigh.

The president clearly wanted to address military troops and military families and allay whatever concerns they had that they are facing potentially another ground war in Iraq, years of deployments, years of family separations.

He knows that the U.S. military's been exhausted by the last 14 years of war and basically doesn't want to do it all over again, so that was an important message, and it was important -- you typically do see the commander in chief, whoever he may be, going to see the troops, talking to them directly, knowing that that visual will go out to all of America, sending that message.

But I also want to go back on one point. Even as he got this operational update about what's been happening in Iraq, what the plans may be for further action on the Syrian side of the border and the issue yesterday about ground troops, again, we're back to the semantics.

General Dempsey was talking essentially about putting advisers on the ground in Iraq, nothing in Syria, advisers on the ground in Iraq to help the Iraqis on the frontline, maybe some forward air controllers to help call in air strikes on the Iraq side of the border.

You know, that is combat maybe, maybe not. Dempsey sees that as an advisory role. We'll see where it all sorts out.

The president, though, had one very clear message -- no combat troops. You're not going to see tank formations. You're not going to see our U.S. artillery. You're not going to see U.S. troops on the ground, battling face to face with ISIS forces.

That just simply is not going to happen. That's the message the president wanted to get out today to the troops that he's talking to.

Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Although I will just add that at least a few of the committee members asked if an American aircraft ends up shot down and there's a pilot in Syria, would that mean that there would be American boots on the ground to retrieve that pilot, and the answer was a definitive yes.

Let me ask you this, Ryan Cooper. The Congress is convening today to vote about the money that it takes for the plan the president is talking about that will involve probably some of these troops you're seeing on your screen.

And it's not a vote for authority. It is a vote just for money. And I know that you've been very outspoken about the notion that there are a lot of Chicken Littles in Congress screaming to go to war and yet they run when it comes to having to put their stamp on actual authority for war. Explain that.

RYAN COOPER, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THEWEEK.COM: Yeah. Well, a new effort against ISIS is clearly illegal without a new authorization to use military force.

The administration thinks that it can use the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs to go to war, but almost nobody outside the administration accepts that as reasonable. As Senators Tim Kaine and Angus King explained at the hearing yesterday, that's stretching it beyond the breaking point.

ISIS has broken with al Qaeda, didn't even exist before 9/11, so if we're going to go to war, Congress has to approve it.

And that's what we haven't heard from the president is how to square this with the constitutional order, not just do what Richard Nixon says, which is if the president does it, that means it's not illegal.

BANFIELD: So you do have to admit, though, that the semantics of what is war is what's tricky here because if you have advisers on the ground who are training, equipping and then protecting the American interests that are already in Iraq, that isn't necessarily the kind of action that would require an authorization for use of military force, don't you agree?

COOPER: Well, no, and I think the reason why they set up the Constitution like this was because they didn't want to have a democratic society sort of slide into war without having a hard debate about how far we wanted to go and what we were willing to commit.

Just like in Vietnam, it started with advisers and it ended up with troops on the ground who were fighting in an unwinnable morass, so what needs to happen, especially with regards to Syria, I believe, is a detailed discussion of who we're going to be arming and clear reassurance that those arms aren't going to end up either in the hand of Assad or al Qaeda or ISIS itself.

And I simply have not seen anything remotely convincing on that point.

BANFIELD: And one of the things you wrote is just so true. It is without question a mess, especially the Syrian side of it all.

Ryan Cooper, good of you to join us. Thank you so much. And also our thanks to Jim Acosta and Barbara Starr as well.

ISIS has come out with another brand-new propaganda video. This time, it is aimed squarely at the United States, and it really looks like a trailer for a Hollywood movie.

Going to show you part of it, coming up, and talk a little bit more about how on Earth that's working. Or is it? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)