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Analysis of Possibility of ISIS Attack in Europe and USA; Man in ISIS Video Identified by the British; Surviving Iraqi Soldier's Witness of Being Abandoned by the Commandment; U.S. Attorney General Stepping Down

Aired September 25, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Anderson Cooper. This is CNN's special live coverage of two developing stories. We just heard from the FBI who say they believe they have identified the masked man with the British accent seen in the gruesome beheading video of American James Foley. We'll have more on that in a moment, but first let's get to reports of a terror plot by ISIS militants to attack subway systems in the U.S. and in Paris. The news first came from the mouth of Iraq's new prime minister who told journalists gathered outside of the U.N. about his apparent intelligence on this "imminent attack." The U.S. is scrambling all departments, the White House and New York Police Department, saying they have seen the reports by the prime minister, but they cannot confirm if there's any truth to it. Seemingly pushing back on the legitimacy of his claims. Let's go straight to Evan Perez, CNN justice reporting in Washington. So, a lot of back and forth about this. The U.S. really downplaying this. So, what's the latest?

EVAN PEREZ, JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Anderson, you know, it's very confusing situation. Certainly I have talked to about a dozen people this afternoon and they know of no such plot, they know of no such information that's come from the Iraqis so they are as you might imagine are scrambling to try to figure out what the Prime Minister Abadi was talking about. It's kind of a casual conversation he seemed to have with reporters on the sidelines there at the U.N. And he mentioned that there was information that his government had that there were perhaps a plot in Iraq by Americans and perhaps Frenchmen to attack the subways in Paris and the United States. Now, we have reached out to the FBI, Homeland Security, the intelligence agencies. They are all talking to each other. They say they know of no such thing. The White House itself is now also saying that they know of no such information within the U.S. government, so we're all sort of puzzled. Obviously, Anderson, the subways especially those in New York are always a big concern. There's heavy security this week for the U.N. and, you know, officials say that they know that this is one of the top targets and so they are always looking for that information and they just don't have it.

COOPER: All right. Evan, I appreciate that. I want to talk about this also with Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst. Also, Elise Labott, global affairs correspondent. Elise, first of all, does it make any sense to you? I mean first of all, the Iraqis - the idea that they have intelligence, capabilities. I mean they seem to have no capabilities on the ground at all inside Iraq. They can't even defend their own territory or take back any territory. Why should we believe anything this guy says?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the United States was very happy that Prime Minister Abadi was put in to try to build up this Iraqi government and those apparatus, but right now, you know, yesterday, Anderson, you had Prime Minister Abadi meeting with Secretary Kerry and President Obama. You would think if there was this kind of plot that they would have mentioned it.

COOPER: But he gave a long in-depth sit down interview with Christiane Amanpour. Do you think he might have mentioned that?

LABOTT: Well, the State - he didn't talk to Christiane, obviously, and the State Department says that it didn't come up in any of those meetings. So, listen, you know, if you look at what's happening right now, there was a lot of attention on ISIS targets in Iraq. The U.S. was pummeling those ISIS targets. In the last few days, attention is focused to Syria. And so, clearly, the Iraqis have an interest on making sure that everybody remembers that ISIS still poses a threat to U.S. homeland in Iraq but the U.S. government has said that they don't believe that at this point ISIS is planning any attacks on the U.S. homeland and has any capability. You've heard President Obama say that. The head of the U.S. intelligence apparatus James Clapper say that right now ISIS threats to the homeland is very minimal.

COOPER: OK, the fact that the Iraqi - the new prime minister of Iraq who our entire operation is really based on his abilities to reach out to Sunnis and stuff may just be making stuff up, that's certainly not a good sign. Peter Bergen, what do you make of this? I mean do you see any legitimacy to this idea of a terror plot?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the dimension by which the Iraqi prime minister referred to possible attack in France seems a lot more plausible. We've had 700 French citizens travel to Syria. It's actually the largest cohort of any Western country and we've already seen a French citizen conduct a terror attack, a veteran of the Syrian conflict. He killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, and he was affiliated with ISIS. So, that dimension of it is a lot more plausible. I mean I think we have all poured a huge amount of cold water on the American dimension but that doesn't necessarily alleviate the idea that there's a threat to France here.

COOPER: But in terms of Iraq's capabilities or intelligence capabilities to know what ISIS is planning, do you have much confidence in that given the nature of their security forces? I mean what are their intelligence forces like?

BERGEN: I mean, I don't. It's a very puzzling kind of claim since at least one part of it is being shot down by everybody involved and the other part we just don't know.

COOPER: All right. Elise, now, we have also heard that the FBI may have identified the masked killer in the James Foley video. LABOTT: That's right. Well, they're going to be putting out some

information I think shortly. I mean we've known for several weeks that they were getting closer to putting out this gentleman's name. But they haven't done so yet. We believe it's this British rapper that we have been talking about the last several weeks. But I mean clearly this person is of great interest. The Brits have kind of narrowed down and no one wanted to say anything yet because clearly they wanted to have their eyes on him and where he would be. I think if they were putting out his name, they may have an idea of where he is.

COOPER: It does seem, though, that there's more than one person involved in this murder. I mean it's very unlikely that he was the only person. He was the person talking, but then the video cuts and it's not even clear the knife he's holding would be the knife that was actually used. So, there is probably other people involved.

LABOTT: Other people involved and who made the video. I mean if you look at over the last several weeks, we've been talking about this incredible media apparatus that ISIS has. Who shot the video? Who made the video? Who brought James Foley, Steve Sotloff, David Haines and all these others to the table? I mean clearly, this was a very sophisticated operation, this media operation. Many people involved. There could have been not only many people behind the camera too.

COOPER: It's also interesting, Peter Bergen, there's no doubt that there must be a dozen or more people who know this individual who are still in England. His family members, friends of his, who can identify his voice.

BERGEN: Sure. And I mean, look, I think the British identified this guy a long time ago. In fact, we reported that on CNN that they knew who he was. And, you know, a voice analysis, everybody has a distinctive voice print, just like everybody has a distinctive fingerprint. This is not, you know, Sherlock Holmes type investigation. The reason they haven't released this guy according to British officials I have spoken to is for operational reasons and the only operational reasons that really make sense are basically, one, the possibility of some kind of a rescue operation, which always remains a possibility and, two, the fact that you want to talk to as many of his friends and family as possible without tipping them off. By my guess at this point that's very moot since he's been out there publicly for quite some time. And at least mentioned, it's the possibility of this British rapper. He's - we'll see if that's the case. But certainly they have identified him I think a long time ago.

COOPER: All right. Peter Bergen and Elise Labott, I appreciate it. Thanks. We have more breaking news coming up. Getting word ISIS terrorists have overrun an Iraqi army base killing up to 300 soldiers. You're about to hear from the survivor. Plus, one senator just walked out of a briefing on the airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. I'll speak with him live about this alleged plot and how many targets the U.S. has actually hit. This is CNN's special live coverage continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: Three days of strikes in Syria now, and the Pentagon suggesting the attacks are slowing ISIS a short time ago. The chief Pentagon spokesman said that ISIS movements appeared to have stalled since the strikes began late Monday. Again, he's talking about in Syria. Hold everything, though, because we're now getting details of what appears to be another big victory by ISIS in Iraq and yet another show of ineptitude by Iraq's armed forces. Iraqi officials say that ISIS killed at least 113 Iraqi soldiers during fighting for base in Fallujah, before the base fell Monday to ISIS. They also say the number of dead could rise to up to 300. In an interview obtained by CNN, a soldier who survives says his unit's command structure broke down.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): From 2:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m., no one came to help us. I've been calling the commander since 2:00 a.m. at night for support, but no one responded and they sent us nothing. I stayed injured for nine hours waiting for them until they airlifted me here.

COOPER: The soldier also said that promised airstrikes never materialized. This again raises the question whether Iraq's army either can or will fight even with the help of airstrikes. With us now from Washington, Douglas Ollivant, former director for Iraq in the National Security Council in the Bush 2 and Obama's administrations. Douglas Ollivant, I appreciate you being with us. I mean again, this just - hearing from that soldier who really is blaming the officer corps, the general corps, and we have heard this time and again, where generals have basically abandoned their troops.

DOUGLAS OLLIVANT, SR. NATIONAL SECURITY FELLOW, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: I've been on the phone with Baghdad trying to figure out what happened out here in Anbar, you know, why didn't the Iraqis stop it or for that matter, why didn't we use U.S. airpower to keep this base from falling? It appears that the United States didn't understand the threat that this base was under and it's not clear that even the Iraqis fully understood the danger. I'm hearing stories of what really made this base fall at the end was a decoy rescue convoy of ISIS captured humvees that drove up and then detonated inside.

COOPER: We are now getting reports that the French have just targeted ISIS in Fallujah for a round of airstrikes. I mean that's the city where this slaughter of Iraqi soldiers took place over the weekend into Monday. How worrisome is it to you that ISIS has this major stronghold so close to Baghdad?

OLLIVANT: Well, it's very worrisome. Fallujah is only a 30-minute drive or so from Baghdad. It's very close. There are places that are even closer to Baghdad, Abu Ghraib, Karmah, that are also have either held by ISIS or serious ISIS cadres or cells inside them. But Baghdad has been threatened from the west for a long time. They've understood this. This is a threat that they've lived with in one form or another really since 2003 and '04.

COOPER: But I mean in terms of the quality of generals that are in the Iraqi military, I mean, under Nouri al Maliki, I'm told, you know, a number of generals were able to basically buy general - general chefs, you know, buy appointment to military positions, which were very lucrative for them because of corruption. How long is that process of actually getting a new officer corps and getting generals who actually have some military experience who actually are interested in leading their troops in battle?

OLLIVANT: You've given us the bad news. The bad news is the senior layer of generals. They are at least a significant minority, if not a majority of them who are political generals and aren't really qualified to hold their offices. The good news is that when we push down to the one-star generals, the two-star generals there's a class right below them who have significant combat experience who've paid their dues who are trusted by their soldiers who can be brought up very quickly, I think, to fill these higher ranks.

COOPER: That's certainly good news. Douglas Ollivant, appreciate you being on. Up next, I'm going to speak live with one senator who just walked out of a briefing on the escalating situation in Iraq and Syria, plus, one of the radical Muslim clerics arrested today accused of association to a terror. He just appeared on CNN. Here the contentious interview next.

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COOPER: We are just getting reports of an earthquake in Alaska this hour. We want to go to Jennifer Gray in Atlanta for the latest. What is going on, Jennifer?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anderson, about half hour ago, 6.2 magnitude earthquake. This is about 80 miles northwest of Anchorage. Pretty far away. This is in a very rural area. So, we have reports of light to moderate shaking in Anchorage. We don't have any reports of damage as of now. Not expecting too much. Maybe minor damage if any. Other thing to know, there most likely will not be any tsunami warnings with this either. So, again, 6.2 magnitude quake, about 80 miles northwest of Anchorage in Alaska. Anderson.

COOPER: All right, we'll continue follow that, Jennifer. Thanks.

For the latest on the American airstrikes in Syria, I want to go now to Senator Bill Nelson in Tampa. Senator, you were just briefed at CENTCOM. I appreciate you being with us. What did you learn about the strikes thus far?

SEN. BILL NELSON, D-FLORIDA: General Austin and his staff have a plan. They are executing it well. But don't be fooled. This is going to take a long, long time. The success against ISIS is going to depend on coalition partners and just as in your previous segment, the Iraqi army has got to step up. They can't turn and - turn tail and run.

COOPER: And we've just seen - I mean as you mentioned, ISIS overran an Iraqi base in western Anbar province around Fallujah. Up to 300 soldiers were killed there. Reports their calls for help were ignored by their senior leadership. I mean that just - it's got to raise all sorts of concerns for you about how effective the Iraqi military can be even down the road. I mean it's not -- I can't imagine it's that easy to turn around an army this size and actually get them battle ready given all the amount of time, all the amount of money and equipment that the United States has given them thus far.

NELSON: Well, the clue was what your previous guest said underneath those political patronage generals are a corps of professional officers. If they will elevate them, we have to depend on going after ISIS on the Iraqi army plus the Peshmerga up in the Kurdish area. And if you're going to root ISIS out, we can do all of the strikes from here until kingdom come in the air but you have got to have them rooting them out on the ground. General Austin, by the way, has the coalition going and I think last night's strikes are quite symbolic of that. There were more coalition aircraft than there were U.S. aircraft and lo and behold the coalition aircraft were led by a female pilot from the UAE. She was the lead pilot.

COOPER: The other kind of piece in all this is trying to peel away some of these Sunni tribes who are now supporting ISIS who back in 2006-2007, the U.S. was successful in getting them to step away from supporting al Qaeda in Iraq. Do you see that as something the U.S. is actually going to have a role in doing in terms of U.S. advisers meeting with these tribes or is that something that's going to be left up to the Iraqis, left up to Saudi Arabia and other of our coalition partners?

NELSON: To be determined. The hope is that the new prime minister in Iraq is going to be able to have an inclusive government that will ultimately bring the Sunni tribal leaders back into the fold to realize that they have more to fear from ISIS than they do from the sectarian Shiites in the Iraqi government. You go into Syria and you have a different thing but we've got to take care of business in Iraq before we can start cleaning ISIS out in Syria although we've started it very successfully I might add going after their oil refining capabilities, so going after their money, that's been successful in Syria.

COOPER: How confident are you in this new Iraqi prime minister because so far he's been publicly saying all of the right things, but just today he claims that there's an ISIS plot targeting American subways which multiple officials from the White House, administration, and law enforcement tell CNN they know of no such plot against the subways. What do you make of that?

NELSON: Well, he's not only the best hope we have, he's the only hope we have for the Iraqi military to get its house in order for their government as well. So, again, the answer to your question, Anderson, to be determined.

COOPER: All right. Senator Bill Nelson, I appreciate your coming on. Thank you so much.

NELSON: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Surprising news this afternoon from the Obama administration. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is stepping down. Take a look at why now and who could take his place, plus there's been another shooting of an unarmed African-American man by a white police officer. In this case, a South Carolina state trooper. The trooper is facing charges. We'll take a closer look at the case next.

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COOPER: Welcome back. We learned today Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning. President Obama set to make the formal announcement a couple of hours from now. Holder has been the top man of the Justice Department for nearly six years. He's one of the last three original members of President Obama's cabinet. An Obama administration official tells CNN that Holder has been talking with the president about his future over the past couple of months. The official says that Holder finalized his plans after an hour-long talk with the president over Labor Day weekend at the White House residence. CNN political analyst John Avalon is here. I mean it sounds like it's been coming for a while.

JOHN AVALON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It has. In fact, in February actually, Attorney General Holder told ?Jeffrey Toobin that he would leave the post before the end of the year, but with no time specified. But now, with the elections looming and Democrats still controlling the Senate, he seems to be getting out. Although the announcement was unexpected today.

COOPER: Not - not unopposed by Republicans. I mean there's been no love loss by a number of Republicans and certainly they've been reacting favorably.

AVALON: Even today hitting Twitter just jabbing at the attorney general. I mean, it really is - it's a sign of the times how polarized this figure has been. I mean the attorney general inherently is a post that straddles law and politics and investigations, but this is the first cabinet member in American history to be held in contempt of Congress. I mean so this is somebody who really has been attacked by Republicans and that continues on his way out the door today.

COOPER: Let's talk about potential replacements. I mean do we know first of all - will the White House be announcing who is replacing him today at 4:30? There's supposed to be an announcement.

AVALON: We do not know conclusively. Attorney General Holder has said that he will stay in the position until a successor is confirmed. Some of the names often mentioned include Solicitor General Don Verrilli, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Janet Napolitano, former Homeland Security, and I would argue U.S. attorney Preet Bharara is a really interesting figure as well. So, it's an open list. But no indication given by the White House at this point if a successor will be announced today at 4:30.

COOPER: A lot of people have talked about Deval Patrick.

AVALON: Yeah. That's right. Well, Massachusetts governor, African- American former - the head of the civil rights division, the Justice Department. Seen as someone the president might nominate for the Supreme Court at some point. He's on the back end last year of an eight-year term. Although, just a few hours ago Deval Patrick said to reporters in Boston that he wasn't heading down to D.C. any time soon. So, he didn't see it in his future.

COOPER: All right, we'll see at 4:30 if anything is mentioned.

AVALON: We will.

COOPER: John Avalon, thanks very much. Hidden camera video capturing what life is like under ISIS control. It's really remarkable video. This is somebody who risked their life to do it. It was shot by a woman in the streets that have become the main target for U.S. airstrikes. Plus, a very disturbing video of a trooper shooting an unarmed man who is reaching for his driver's license. That trooper is out of a job right now. See what happened, next.

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