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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Obama and Hollande Hold Joint News Conference; Obama Comments On Russian Plane Downing; French President: Broadening Strikes in Iraq and Syria; Obama Says Russia and Turkey Must Not Escalate Tension; French President Says Assad Must Leave "As Soon As Possible." Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 24, 2015 - 12:30   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 OF STATES: We got time for a few questions...

[12:30:02] FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): With Barack Obama to send across that message to the entire world, thank you.

OBAMA: We got time for a few questions. I'm going to start with Roberta Rampton of Reuters.

ROBERTA RAMPTON, REUTERS: Thank you.

This is a question for both of you. First, what is your reaction to Turkey shooting down Russian plane today? And does this draw NATO into confrontation with Russia? How do you keep this from spiraling out of control? And President Obama, what does this incident mean for the future prospects of the military coordination, more military coordination with Russia? And President Hollande ahead of your trip to Moscow on Thursday, what are the prospects for closer military coordination with Russia given what happened today?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, we're still getting the details of what happened. And I expect to be in communications potentially directly with President Erdogan some time over the next several days.

Turkey like every country has a right to defend its territory and its air space. I think it's very important right now for us to make sure that both the Russians and the Turks are talking to each other and find out exactly what happened. And take measures to discourage any kind of escalation.

I do think that this points to a ongoing problem with the Russian operations. In the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only Turkey, but a wide range of countries.

And if Russia is directing its energies towards Daesh and ISIL, some of those conflicts or potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur.

I also think this underscores the importance of us making sure that we move this political track forward as quickly as possible.

Like President Hollande, our view from the start has been that Russia is welcomed to be part of this broad-based coalition that we've set up. There's never been a point in time in which we said that we don't want Russia or other countries that may have differences with us on a whole host of other things to avoid working with us against ISIL.

The challenge has been Russia's focus on propping up Assad rather than focusing on ISIL. I had a conversation with President Putin in Turkey and I indicated to him at that time that to the extent that they make that strategic shift, focus on the Vienna process where they have been constructive to try to bring all the parties together, try to execute a political transition that all parties would agree to. And refocus attention on going after ISIL, then there's enormous capacity for us to cooperate.

Until that happens, it's very difficult. It is difficult, because if their priority is attacking the moderate opposition that might be future members of inclusive Syrian government, Russia is not going to be getting the support of us or a range of other members of the coalition.

But I do think that there is the possibility of cooperation. The sooner we agree to this political process the less likely that you have the kinds of events that took place apparently today.

HOLLANDE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The event that took place is a serious one, and we can only regret it.

Turkey is currently providing all of the information to NATO, so that we can find out what truly happened and whether Turkey's air space indeed was entered into. But we must prevent any escalation that would be extremely damageable. The only purpose is to fight against terrorism and Daesh.

[12:35:02] This is what we must do, all of us. We, Turkey, Russia and what just took place, like Barack said, means that we must find a solution to the Syrian crisis, because we can see what the risks are otherwise, the risks of escalation.

I therefore will be traveling to Russia this week because we have this resolution of the Security Council, and it does show that we must take action against Daesh, against terrorism. That resolution has been voted unanimously in the way that was the broadest possible coalition.

Then we'll ask President Putin, as I have done before when I have told to the Russian a number of times already that the strikes must be against Daesh, against terrorism.

And those who precisely are threatening us, they are threatening the Russians like us in Europe, like France that was targeted over the past few days. We must therefore coordinate ourselves, cooperate. But on that basis and make sure that we're all acting against Daesh, and that we are part of the political process.

One that must lead to the solution, and we all know what the parameters of the solution are or are not, we know that there is a bedrock today.

Lastly I mentioned is the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier which is in the eastern of Mediterranean now. And as a matter of fact, there are also some Russian forces, and therefore I agreed with President Putin that we must share our intelligence so that we can act in coordination, we must not contradict ourselves. And it's already the case, and we will continue to do so.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Mr. President, the Americans have some special forces in Syria, beyond the words and beyond what is happening, are you going to send some special forces as well to Syria? Are you considering some grand intervention there?

Mr. President, beyond the emotion that we can feel here, beyond these beautiful statements, for more than a year, we have heard all of you saying that Assad must go that a political transition is necessary in Syria. Mr. President, can you today here in front of us tell us a specific date, a deadline for Assad to go?

(OFF-MIC)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... but I can translate in English if you needed.

OBAMA: No, no I have the translation, I just -- you said president, we got two presidents.

HOLLANDE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I will not provide you with a date, because it must be as soon as possible.

That is one of the requirements most coalition to be found. But at the same time allow me to underline something. There is a new mind set now the crisis in Syria has been ongoing to four years, four years.

There are probably more than 300,000 dead. And this is not just relevant to the countries of the region which are hosting the refugees. It is relevant to Europe and the entire world now with that issue of refugees.

And those who believe that we could wait some more and that in any case it was far away, they now realize that we have an influx of refugees that the terrorists, the risk is everywhere due to Daesh, we therefore must act.

You also asked me what we were going to do, what more. We will intensify the strikes. We will have some more specific target to make sure that Daesh resources, their means are cut off, including their command centers, the Turks carrying oil, the training centers where they prepare the terror attacks. We will continue, and we will intensify our strikes at the heart of the cities which are currently in the hands of Daesh. [12:40:20] France will not intervene militarily on the ground. It is for the local forces the do so. We've been supporting them for a number of months, we will continue to do so, and they will do the job on the ground after we -- after our strikes that will enable them to do so. But France will take its responsibilities regarding that support which is absolutely necessary.

OBAMA: Let me just make a couple of broader comments about the operations against ISIL.

As was already indicated, we have taken thousands of strikes, and taken thousands of ISIL fighters, including the top commanders and the leaders off the battlefield.

We have squeezed their supply lines. We have empowered and armed local groups that are pushing against them including most recently in Sinjar. And we're providing training and assistance to the Iraqi government as they prepared to retake places like Ramadi that had been overrun.

We've seen some success, but the question now is how can we accelerate it. And the fact even before the tragedy in Paris, I had gathered together my national security forces, it had been a year to review where we had made progress, what worked, what did not, and had put together a plan to accelerate in advance the pressure that we can place on ISIL.

And we intend to execute on those plans, but we also think as Francois said, that there maybe new openness on the part of other coalition members to help resource and provide additional assistance both to the coalition as a whole, and to the local forces on the ground.

With respect to Mr. Assad, I think we got to let the Vienna process play itself out. It is our best opportunity.

And so, yeah, the notion that there would be an immediate date in advance of us getting a broad agreement on that political process and the details, I think, it doesn't make sense. As soon as we have a framework for political transition, potentially a new constitution, elections, I think it's in that context that we can start looking at Mr. Assad choosing not the run and potentially seeing a new Syria emerge.

But it's going to be hard. And we should not be under any illusions. Syria has broken down. It began to break down the moment that Mr. Assad started killing in discriminantly his own people.

ISIL was able to move into the Raqqah in part because of a thorough rejection on the part of many Syrians of the Assad regime, and the power vacuum emerged.

And it is going to be a difficult, long, methodical process to bring back together various factions within Syria to maintain a Syrian state, and institutions, and to create the kind of stability that allows people to start coming back in and rebuilding their lives. But it's possible. And the urgency that we've seen even before Paris out of countries like Russia indicate that they recognize they can't be there too long and ultimately winning military battle successfully.

Olivia Knox.

OLIVIA KNOX: Thank you, Mr. President.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KNOX: Mr. President, could you tell us whether the Russian plane did in fact breech Turkish air space, and given the fury of the Russian response on economic, diplomatic and rhetorical fronts, how concerned are you that there might also be a military component if not in Turkey and perhaps with expanded action against coalition interest inside Syria.

[12:45:02] KNOX, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): And Mr. President, regarding measures, if none today when it comes to strengthening the cooperation on military intelligence and all of this, have they been taking a month or weeks ago. Do you think they would have prevented the terror attacks that two places in Paris or well enable us to prevent some further terror attacks?

OBAMA: We don't have all of the information yet. So I don't want to comment on the specifics. We will be gathering the information, we expect the Turks to providing information, I'm Russians will have some information, and we will be able to confirm what happened in part through our own intelligence and our own tracking of that border area.

As Francois indicated, my top priority is going to be to ensure that this does not escalate. And hopefully, this is a moment in which all parties can step back and make a determination as to how their interests are best served. The Russians had several hundred people of their own killed by ISIL. And the flow of foreign fighters out of Russian areas into Syria poses an enormous long-term threat to Russian territory.

So there is a potential convergence of interests between the various parties. It requires us working with them to make the kind of strategic shift that's necessary, and then frankly I've talked to Putin about for five years now. It requires a recognition that the existing structure cannot gain the legitimacy to stop the war and until you stop the war, you are going to have a vacuum in which these kinds of terrorist organizations can operate more effectively.

Let me say one last thing, because I have tracked the question that you posed to President Hollande about what could or could not have been prevented. All of our intelligence personnel here in the United States, across the Atlantic, work tirelessly as I said earlier to disrupt plots and prevent a terrorist attack.

The vast majority of their successes and disrupting plots are not advertised. You never hear about them. But weren't for the dedication of those intelligence and the law enforcement, and the military professionals, this would be a much more dangerous world. So you have to be careful about speculating about what if and could have and would have in a situation like this, because it's hard. You eight individuals with light weapons, and that is a hard thing to track. What is true though is that we can do a better job, and I think coordinating between the countries.

And I've been talking to our European partners for quite some time now about the need for better intelligence sharing, passenger name records, working to ensure that when people enter into Europe, particularly now, that the information across various borders is shared on a timely basis, and you have biometric information and other technologies that can make it more accurate. It does not mean it is going to be 100 percent foolproof, but we can do better on those fronts.

And you know, one of the challenges has been frankly in the past several years that we have different legal traditions, concerns about privacy and civil liberties, all of which are entirely legitimate. I don't think those cannot be ignored now, because the -- those are part of the values that we, that make us who we are, and that we have to adhere to, but I do think that, you know, this is a reminder that this is a dangerous world.

And routing out small bands of terrorist groups who maintain good operational security and are using modern technologies and ways that are hard to track, that's a tough job. And we're all going to have to pull our resources together much more effectively together than we have in the past.

[12:50:02] And I think when Francois goes back to Europe, his leadership, the leadership of other Presidents and Prime Ministers around this issue is going to be as important as anything that we do.

HOLLANDE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Allow me to go back to what Daesh truly is. It is somehow an organization, a terrorist group occupying a territory in Iraq and Syria killing. And they want to install rules that dishonor humanity. This is what Daesh is doing there. And this is what they are trying to do in other countries everywhere chaos stands.

And then we have to deal with the number of networks more or less organized in a number of countries that are being used to lead terror attacks. Like was the case precisely in Paris. We know that they send dreadful plan was prepared in Syria and then organized in a number of countries and they were also some accomplices in France given that some of the terrorists are French.

Those who committed these acts of war. So if we want to tackle terrorism, we must act not only to destroy Daesh where they are in Syria, in Iraq, but we must also dismantle and destroy these networks. How can we proceed? Well, first of all, militarily by intensifying our strikes, by taking back these territories, and thanks to the local forces on the ground which we seen support by finding a political solution in Syria by making sure that the territorial integrity of Iraq is restored.

This is what we can do. Then when it comes to the protection measures to protect our territory and our people, this is what I announced in France and this is what we have to do to eradicate these networks and all of these accomplices and those who are present.

Some of them just arrived. Others have been there for a long time, and they are not necessarily identified as a threat. It is therefore necessary that we strengthen yet further our cooperation in terms of the intelligence. The Paris attacks generated a lot of emotion, but it is not enough. Compassion and solidarity, and I take note of it. But we must act and for a number of days now, I have been trying to convince all of the countries that can act to do so.

I met with David Cameron yesterday. He announced that he would take a number of measures to his parliament, that is important. Today, I'm here with Barack, so that we can act with greater intensity and coherence as well. Tomorrow, I will be hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel so that European countries, including Germany, can face up to their responsibilities and including in terms of military intelligence and police cooperation and maybe more.

I will also travel to Moscow so that Russia act can take action against Daesh, on the against Daesh. And then, I will receive Matteo Renzi. The head of the Italian government. I will also have an opportunity to talk to all of the European leaders given that to a European council together with Turkey will be held on Sunday.

So it is all of that, that must get together, and enable us to implement coordination, cooperation in our actions so that we can act on the source Daesh and the networks that they can use.

[12:55:11] It is that strength that will enable us to succeed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Questions from the BFM T.V.

Both of you today have talked about coordination and cooperation against Daesh, and does it mean that the single coalition which you mentioned last week, President Hollande is gone that it is conceivable to have the Russians and the Americans to work together under a single command, and then Bashar al-Assad and you said you could not put a date on his departure. Does it mean that his is not preamble or prerequisite from the future or Syria?

HOLLANDE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Regarding the coalition of the international community, I believe that the resolution approved by all of the Security Council enabled us to say that now the entire world is committed to fighting against Daesh. Then, and this is what I will check when I travel to Moscow, we need one single goal, and that is to tackle terrorism and fight against Daesh militarily, and I believe that we can have some further cooperation and coordination militarily to do move at the same time we have to be clear when it comes to the political solution.

The one that we will be able to find not come for Syria, And in this respect like we have said, and we can repeat. Bashar al-Assad cannot be the future of Syria.

In Vienna, we are already working with all of the countries, even though they do not necessarily have the same stance the as Turkey, and Iran and the gulf countries, the United States and France and of course all of those who are meant to find a solution. But we must work on that transition. A transition where Bashar al-Assad plays a role, because he's been the problem so he cannot be the solution.

OBAMA: Just a comment very quickly. We've a coalition of 65 countries who have been active and pushing back against ISIL for quite some time. France has been a central part of the coalition as have European Countries, Arab countries, countries as far -flung as Australia and countries in Southeast Asia are part of that coalition. Russia right now is a coalition of two. Iran and Russia supporting Assad.

Given Russia's military capabilities and given the influence they have on the Assad regime, them cooperating would be enormously helpful in bringing about resolution of the civil war in Syria and allow us all to refocus our attention on ISIL.

But I think that it is important to remember that you've got a global coalition organized, and Russia is the outlier. We hope that they refocus their attention on what is the most substantial threat, and that they serve as a constructive partner. And if and when they do, it will make it easier for us to go after ISIL and Daesh. Although, I think it's also important to recognize that the kinds of air strikes that they are carrying out, just like the kind of air strikes that we are carrying out in and of themselves are not sufficient.

And the work that we do to bolster local fighting forces, the cutting off of supply lines, financing, oil, reducing the flow of foreign fighters, the intelligence work that needs to be done, all of that is something that we are doing now and that they can supplement, but that is going to be a process that involves hard methodical work.

[13:00:00] It's not going to be something that happens just because suddenly we take a few more air strikes. And that's the kind of hard work that I know. Frances prepared to do, the United States is prepared to do, and perhaps, in the future, Russia will be as well. OK. Thank you very much, everybody.