Return to Transcripts main page

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Iraqi Base Overrun by ISIS; Obama Addresses UN on Ebola; Iraqi Prime Minister Claims Plot has been Uncovered to Attack Subways

Aired September 25, 2014 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This is definitely not the breaking news that the American government wants to hear after launching a concerted effort of air strikes with a coalition of Arab neighbors and friends to try to halt the onslaught of is forces not only in Syria, but in Iraq.

Now comes the news ISIS has overrun yet another Iraqi base. This one apparently just west of Baghdad, an Iraqi base just west of Baghdad. This comes only within a matter of days of ISIS forces overrunning another base apparently not far from Fallujah, and we're now getting some details on what happened in that base.

You may have remembered that story after it was reported nearly 300 Iraqi soldiers were executed after that base was overrun. There are a handful of survivors who have actually made it back and were able to actually tell an account -- was it two days ago? I'm just double checking on a fact.

Two to three -- about three days ago, this other base was attacked, and the survivors are saying they had been under siege for a week, that they had been calling the Iraqi government for help, and they are now accusing the Iraqi government of failing to respond.

They say that they had run out of ammunition and that they -- here's a quote from one of the survivors. "I called the commander for support, but no one responded."

We're also hearing that the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an investigation into what happened.

And now there's some talk whether this is the base, this is the actual base, that has been overrun west of Baghdad, that there is not a second base. Originally we thought there might be two. It is a single base that was overrun, I believe Monday, where it had been reported about 300 Iraqi soldiers were executed as ISIS fighters overran the base near Fallujah west of Baghdad in the al-Anbar Province, which you've heard so much of, especially when we talked about the surge years ago.

The prime minister again has now said he's ordering an investigation and wants to know why those soldiers were left to fend for themselves, especially now that this handful of survivors is now saying that they asked for help and they got no response, and ultimately many of them executed.

Colonel Peter Mansoor, CNN analyst and retired former aide to General Petraeus, joins me now.

Colonel, this is the kind of thing that these air strikes were supposed to prevent. This is the kind of thing, exactly, that the American government said had been working, that the air strikes had actually stopped the onslaught of ISIS, and perhaps they all came at around the same time if we're talking Monday, but this is Iraq not Syria. And Iraq's air strikes have been going on longer than Monday.

COLONEL PETER MANSOOR, U.S. ARMY (RET): This shows the limitation of the president's strategy. If you don't have advisers embedded in these units, then you're relying on the Iraqi government and military to give you targets.

And here we have an example of a completely incompetent military chain of command that didn't support a unit in combat. If that was an American unit, you can better every aircraft in the skies over Iraq would have been focused on relieving the siege of that base.

But because we don't have American forces on the ground, no boots on the ground, according to the president, then this sort of things happens, and it will continue to happen until we decide that we want to put advisers into these combat units and have them face the enemy along with the Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

BANFIELD: Colonel, it was my assumption that there were advisers alongside some of these combat units, that they were in the advisory role, but they weren't holed up in the walls of Baghdad. They were out there in the field.

Do you assume then that there were no American advisers and that there are no deaths, there are no American deaths at this point if that base so close to Baghdad was overrun.

MANSOOR: Highly unlikely that there were American advisers inside that base. I find it incredible to believe they wouldn't have called for backup support from overhead.

So my guess is that there were no American advisers in that base. The Iraqis were left to their own designs, and unfortunately, given the rotten edifice of their chain of command right now and the incompetent leaders that they have in many of these organizations, they let these thousand soldiers wither on the vine and eventually get overrun.

BANFIELD: This after a decade of working alongside Americans with countless millions of dollars in training and ammunitions and assistance.

Colonel, thank you for that. Stand by if you would. We've got a lot of breaking news today.

The United Nations is in New York today. The president has been speaking as well, and there's a whole other war that's being waged right now, and a lot of people are dying, and it is a medical one. We'll talk about that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Switching his focus away from ISIS just temporarily, President Obama addressing the growing Ebola crisis before the United Nations, this happening just a short time ago, and all of this as the World Health Organization is reporting that 6,200 cases of the killer virus in West Africa have occurred with more than 2,900 deaths.

And CDC officials are painting a bleak picture, saying Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone alone could rise to between 550,000 and 1.4 million by this January. That's if no efforts to contain the disease are stepped up.

President Obama's speech this morning called on all U.N. member nations to provide the urgent help that is desperately need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough.

Right now, everybody has the best of intentions, but people are not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stop to this epidemic. There's still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be.

We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude has to be fast and it has to be sustained. It's a marathon, but you have to run it like a sprint, and that's only possible if everybody chips in, if every nation and every organization takes this seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Perhaps the biggest contributor to the spread of Ebola is the inadequate health care in West Africa, and our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has gone to the scene and she reports live from the front lines right there.

What's the latest update from where you are, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest update here, Ashleigh, is Liberians are waiting for more beds, more isolation beds.

It is so important. They only have 315 in this country and they need 2,000 more. You can't stop the spread of the disease if people with Ebola are out in the community.

Eastbound, they are so grateful for the aid coming from the United States but they want to see the hospital units being built.

BANFIELD: What about the notion that the Americans have now actually appointed someone in a statesman like role, like a "secretary of state of Ebola," to try to rally countries to do the right thing, take this seriously, and put in working systems to try to stop this spread?

Does that sound like it's going to work where you are, where communications aren't quite the way we would expect them to be and where it's almost like toothpaste out of the tube by this point?

COHEN: Right. I mean the infrastructure here was in terrible shape before Ebola. Now the health care here is nonexistent.

In answer to your question, you can put in to use a technical term a gazillion dollars and have the smartest people in charge but if you don't have implementation with follow-up it's not going to work.

There was a clinic that opened here over the weekend that increased the number of beds in this country by 50 percent. It was a big, big deal, they opened it with great fanfare, a big ceremony and ambulances arrived and there was no one to take in the patients when we were there.

So these patients arrived too weak to walk, they tried get out of the ambulance and they fell out of the ambulances and laid on the ground and they were left there.

So you can start these hospitals, you can build them, have ceremonies, but if you don't have good management and good implementation it doesn't really matter.

BANFIELD: All right. Elizabeth, thank you for that. Elizabeth Cohen doing terrific work from the front lines keeping us updated, thanks.

We want to get to something very important. You may have been seeing reports that the Iraqi prime minister told the Associated Press that an imminent plot has been uncovered to attack subways in Paris and in the United States. Pretty strong statements. So CNN's Evan Perez is looking into it and hearing a very different story.

So, Evan, get me up to speed on what the Iraqi prime minister said, why he said it, and what you've been able to uncover in your digging into it.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Ashleigh, to set the scene, the Iraqi prime minister is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and he was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting today. And in that meeting with reporters, he basically said that they had uncovered networks within Iraq, perhaps Frenchmen or Americans, who were plotting attacks against subways in Paris and in the United States.

Now, U.S. officials are scrambling all over the place trying to figure out what he's talking about. The FBI, Homeland Security, the intelligence agencies are all trying to figure out where this information is coming from, what information he's talking about, because they know of no plots against subways, especially in the United States.

Now, of course, they know that the transit systems, the aviation systems in this country are always on top target and New York in particular is a top target of terrorists. So, obviously, they take these types of things very seriously. They just don't know what he might be referring to and they certainly know of no plots that are underway and they're checking it out. They're trying to get with the Iraqi authorities to try to figure out if there's any information they can provide on this, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, Evan Perez, thank you for that, our justice correspondent in Washington, D.C.

I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

And joining me live now via telephone is Congressman Peter King, who's a member of the Homeland Security Committee, as well as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

Congressman King, obviously this is very unsettling when anyone hears this kind of a report, especially coming from someone of the level that the prime minister of Iraq is. But what are you hearing about this?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK (via telephone): Yes, I actually agree with Evan. I had been briefed on a number of possibilities over the last several weeks, concerns with ISIS, mostly involving foreign countries. I'm not aware of any plot directly affecting the United States. Certainly no subway plot. And if there had been, even an indication of this, the FBI, Homeland Security would have known about it. And, for instance, New York would always be a main target when it comes to a subway attack and the NYPD, as far as I know, has been told nothing about it. I certainly haven't been told about it. And this is the type of thing, especially with the U.N. in New York, we would have seen an all-out security alert and a dramatic increase in security. And that's not there. So I agree with the - I understand the FBI is saying that they're not aware of it.

And again, the reason I'm fairly confident that this is not a valid threat, you know, at least this particular one, is that this is being monitored so carefully, so closely, especially after what Prime Minister Cameron said several weeks ago about he was concerned about a threat against his country. Our intelligence agencies and all the international intelligence agencies are working around the clock to find any hint of an imminent ISIS attack and certainly something of this magnitude would have been known to the FBI and Homeland Security, NYPD, you know, (INAUDIBLE). So this is - I just -- as of now, would have to agree with, you know, the federal sources you've been in contact with and also Evan Perez, that this is -- as of now there's no evidence of this plot.

BANFIELD: OK. And as you're speaking, Congressman King, I've just been handed a comment from the National Security Council spokesperson, Caitlin Hayden, with regard to Prime Minister Abadi's reported comments of a suspected plot that he says has been uncovered in his country for subway systems in Paris and in the United States. And I'm going to read it verbatim.

Again, this is the NSC spokesperson, Caitlin Hayden, say, "we've seen the reports of Prime Minister Abadi's comments. We have not confirmed such a plot and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations. We take any threats seriously and always work to corroborate information we receive from our partners. We are obviously very focused on the issue of foreign fighters, as you saw evidenced yesterday at the Security Council session the president chaired.

I want to bring in Elise Labott, who is our global affairs correspondent.

Elise, this happening at the U.N., the prime minister of Iraq sort of tossing those kinds of comments out to a gaggle of reporters in a sideline kind of meeting. This is your area. This is your arena. What do you make of this?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, isn't it, Ashleigh? And the president saw Prime Minister Abadi several times in various meetings over the last several days and you would think, if there was such a plot, they would have been talking about that. And State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki just said moments ago that that has not come up in the meetings with the Iraqis.

And I think you have to look at the bigger picture here, Ashleigh. You know, in the last few weeks, there's been theses U.S. strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq. Now over the last few days, you've seen the U.S. turn it's attention a little bit more to Syria and focusing on ISIS targets there. So there is an interest by the Iraqis in trying to play up the threat that ISIS in Iraq poses to the U.S. homeland. But you've heard President Obama, the DNI, James Clapper, the head of intelligence, saying that right now there is no evidence that ISIS has the capability to plan and execute attacks in the United States. So I think that there is a little bit of fear mongering going on here. Clearly the U.S. will be reaching out to the Iraqis to see what they have.

BANFIELD: So the Associated Press is reporting that when al Abadi was asked about this, he said, had the attack been thwarted? His answer was no, but that the United States had been alerted.

I want to quickly read for you a statement from the New York Police Department courtesy of John Miller, who's their deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. "We are aware of the Iraqi prime minister's statements and we are in close contact with the FBI and other federal partners as we assess this particular threat stream. New York City normally operates at a heightened level of security and we adjust that posture daily based on our evaluation of information as we received it."

Congressman King, I just want to bring you back into this conversation. When there is a suggestion that the Americans have been alerted by a prime minister of Iraq who happens to be walking out of a meeting, to journalists who are assembled there, what do you - I mean, not suggesting for a moment you could possibly predict why the prime minister would say something like this, but what would be the standard chain of informing so-called American officials about this? KING: Again, these things are usually handled in such a top secret

way. To casually mention it in almost like an over the shoulder type conversation, again, makes me question, you know, the validity of it. I mean any time there's even a hint of a threat of like this, this is handled through the most secret channels. You know, the last person - no offense - the last people you'd be announcing it to is the press at a news conference or -- this would be so tightly held. So, gain, if it was a serious threat, I don't think it would be put out that way.

The one thing I would disagree with though, I think ISIS is capable of carrying out an attack now. I don't think there's one planned at this moment, but they could carry out attacks in this country, I believe. But again, that's not part of this debate. I just thought I'd put that on the record though that I - I think we should be concerned about the possibility of an attack, but no evidence of this one and there's no evidence that anything is imminent right now.

BANFIELD: Congressman King, do you -- can you shed any more light on the federal memos that went out to law enforcement communities all around the United States to be on the lookout, you know, post-air strikes beginning in Syria and in Iraq, to be on the lookout for changes in behavior of people that they are already monitoring, as well as any other kind of heightened state of alertness? Is there anything more that you can add to that? Anything more you know about it?

KING: That is just really good, safe, procedures by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. Any time there's an event such as 9/11, a national anniversary such as the Fourth of July, something such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's always advisories to be more alert, certainly with, in effect, a war starting, it's to be alerted - (INAUDIBLE) first of all, it could be loan wolves. I could be people in the communities that are being monitored who could be acting differently. If you have sources in the community, the police would be reaching out to them. I mean this is something the NYPD does on a regular basis. But especially intended to make sure the police departments at the state and local level realize that the possibility of an attack goes up. Even though there's no direct evidence of it, you have to assume that at times like this, either you can have an organized attack orchestrated from overseas or you could have just lone wolves in this country who get mobilized over the Internet, who just want to attack on their own or it can even be, you know, being directed from overseas.

So, no, this is the time when we have to totally be on our guard. That doesn't mean that there's an actual threat that's there. It's just that - because, remember, many of the threats that -- or the attacks that come, there is no warning. So the idea is to be extra alert, extra careful during times like this because that's when the enemy's most prone to strike.

BANFIELD: And, Congressman King, for viewers who are just joining us, certainly here in the United States and around the world, this all coming as a result of some offhanded comments made at the United Nations meetings today here in New York City by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi where he had suggested that intelligence in Iraq had suggested that there were potential plans for attacks on subways in Paris and in the United States and Americans apparently, according to the prime minister, had been briefed on this. Americans who are being questioned arduously by reporting staff here in the United States and elsewhere are saying there is no indication there's any information like this. There's no indication of a subway plot that they have heard of. The National Security Council weighing in. The New York Police Department weighing in on this as well.

So, Congressman King, I want to ask you this question specifically because of your roles on these two different committees, the Homeland Security Committee and also as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterror and Intelligence. The United States, as Elise Labott has pointed out, very clearly and cleverly has put a lot of faith in this new Iraqi prime minister, that this is what it's all about on the political side of battling the threat of ISIS, putting a government head by someone like this who can handle these kinds of problems. And this by all accounts could appear to be a major gaffe. Is it or is it a hiccup or what do you see, in your opinion, as these comments from the prime minister that are being really tamed down here?

KING: Well, certainly at this level, it's (INAUDIBLE) start. It's -- if you're going to be in prime time, you have to realize a certain way to conduct yourself. And I can tell you that if this threat, for instance, became known to our government, even at the highest levels, the president, it would be discussed in a secure setting with a handful of people with no possibility of it being overheard or listened to and it would be run to ground before anyone was notified at all and then it would be very closely held. And, again, the last thing you do is announce it at a news conference because, first of all, if you do know it's coming, you don't want to be alerting your enemy you know about it. You want to get ready. You want to get in place. You have to get everything - you know, the whole chain of command has to be working together. So, no.

Listen, if he's going to be involved in the middle of this main struggle - this terrible struggle we're going to have over the next several years, it's really important, I believe, that the - in fact I know that this prime minister has to be made -- Abadi has to be made aware that he can't conduct himself like this. He has to -- he has to do this in a professional way and a way that it's not going to put security at risk because, quite frankly, if there is a real threat, if there is something (INAUDIBLE) serious, and we tell it to him, and then he goes and announces it to the world, it can undercut any type of operations that we have in place. So, world leaders have to know that this has to be so tightly held that they can't be just casually announcing it, especially in this case it turns out what appears to be totally unfounded.

BANFIELD: Yes. Well, and if it is, in fact, unfounded, if he didn't know that before this, my thought is that he's going to know it now.

Congressman Peter King, thank you so much for your time. And certainly we will be checking in with you periodically.

Just to re-set this headline for you, the prime minister of Iraq, the newly installed prime minister of Iraq, Haider al Abadi, at the United Nation's meeting, which is the site on your screen and this is the man in question, made some offhanded comments to some journalists. The Associated Press reporting he just casually threw out that his country has, in fact, uncovered a plot to attack subways, an ISIS plot to attack subway systems in Paris and in the United States. He said that his country has informed the Americans. But, of course, with a headline like that, the questions were fast and furious to the American authorities. They are being denied. There is no confirmation of any subway plot. That according to the NYPD, that according to the National Security Council, the White House relying on that National Security Council comment saying absolutely not. Not to our knowledge.

Thank you, everyone, for watching. I'm going to pass over the baton to Brianna Keilar, who's in for Wolf, after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

.