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Pentagon Announces 50 Special Forces Troops Already in Syria; Sanders, Clinton Battle Over Being "Progressive"; GOP Candidates Look Forward. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired February 03, 2016 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN NEWSROOM, HOST: The United States looking for ways to intensify its military campaign against ISIS. The Pentagon has already announced that some 50 Special Forces troops are operating in Syria. And recently, published satellite images show an airstrip being extended in Kurdish controlled territory in Northern Syria.
The Pentagon only says that, "U.S. Forces in Syria are consistently looking for ways to increase efficiency".
CNN Senior International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is the first journalist to visit that air field amid this deepening relationship between the U.S. and its Kurdish allies.
Clarissa, nice to see you. Walk me through exactly what you saw.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, nice to see you, too, Brooke.
Essentially, what we saw is that as the U.S. is ratcheting up its presence on the ground in Syria, you mentioned at least 50 U.S. Special Forces troops, they're really looking to enhance the alliance that they have with Kurdish YPG Fighters. But they also appear to be exploring new ways of fighting ISIS that go beyond the air strikes that they have already been launching. And we got to see a little bit of what that might entail. Take a look.
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WARD: This place doesn't exist, according to the U.S. Defense Department. But behind that berm of freshly dug earth, a small agricultural airstrip is being turned into something very different, a military air field just 100 miles from ISIS positions.
[15:35:08] Satellite photos show the work that has been done here in recent months.
So you can see behind me, they're working to extend the runway so that larger planes could land here. And the advantage of this site is that it's well secured inside Kurdish territory, so it could be used to supply U.S. Special Forces deployed here in Syria.
He's coming now.
We were escorted away from the air field as soon as we were spotted. Told it was a military zone.
It's another example of the U.S.'s growing military footprint in this remote corner of Northern Syria. And it's deepening relationship with Syrian Kurdish fighters known as the YPG.
In an abandoned apartment building closer to the front line, we were given access to the YPG's joint operations room. It is a modest setup.
21-year-old Daham Hassaki and his colleagues talk to their men on the battlefield. Using newly provided tablets, they pass on enemy locations to a coalition command center from where air strikes can be launched.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WARD: Right now, this is the front line of Hasakah, he says. Our comrades there have seen the movements of two enemy fighters, and so we sent this message along with their coordinates to the general command room.
When there are heavy clashes, the operations room moves to the front lines.
Immediately after the strikes, Hassaki and his men rushing to make sure that the right targets have been hit.
Who taught you how to use this?
He tells us a group of foreigners and Americans trained his commanders, who in turn trained him and his comrades.
In the skies and on the ground in Syria, the U.S. is deepening its commitment to the battle against ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WARD: And it's not just the U.S., Brooke. Less than 50 miles from that airstrip, there are reports that the Russians are also bolstering their military presence. Clearly, it appears that Northern Syria is becoming a rather crowded neighborhood. Brooke.
BALDWIN: Phenomenal access and reporting as always, Clarissa Ward. Thank you.
Coming up next, as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton get ready to face off tonight during a CNN town hall, a back and forth erupting right now over their progressive records. But will Hillary Clinton's past words be used against her? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:42:14] BALDWIN: And we're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
In just a couple of hours, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will face New Hampshire voters during a live CNN town hall.
And today, really, the story is this. These two are sparring over the word progressive. Hillary Clinton trying to appeal to liberal voters in New Hampshire, she has been wearing that label proudly, especially recently. Senator Sanders tells CNN his rival is only progressive when she wants to be.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You could be a moderate, that's fine. You could be a progressive, but you can't be a moderate and a progressive.
Second point, Wolf, is, most progressives that I know really do not raise millions of dollars from Wall Street. Most progressives that I know are firm from day one in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP agreement. They didn't have to think about it a whole lot.
They were opposed to the keystone pipeline from day one. Didn't have to vacillate on that issue. Most progressives, historically, were against the war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Let me bring in CNN Political Commentator, Pulitzer Prize- Winning Journalist, Carl Bernstein, and also author of A Woman in Charge, The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Nice to see you, Carl.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.
BALDWIN: So, you know, we heard from Senator Sanders who was talking to Wolf Blitzer. The next hour I had Brian Fallon on my show, Hillary for America Press Secretary. And I asked him to respond what we just heard from Senator Sanders, and in addition to that, I played for him sound from Hillary Clinton just last fall. Here it was.
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HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I get accused of being kind of moderate and center. I plead guilty. I think sometimes, it's important when you're in the elected arena, you try to figure out how do you bring people together to get something done instead of just standing on the opposite sides yelling at each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So Carl, I asked Brian. I said, "All right, so moderate, center, or progressive, which is it?" And he said, "Hillary is a progressive who wants to get things done."
My question to you is, can you be both?
BERNSTEIN: Oh, perhaps. But the party is moving to the left and moving away from the center. And she's getting clobbered by Bernie Sanders among young people, particularly young women. She has to find a way to get these young women back, by telling her story, by saying, "Look, I was fighting for women and girls before you were born."
She's also got this huge server problem that is hanging over everything. And that goes also above ideology. And I think she is going to have to make a huge apology and say, "Look, I made a terrible misjudgment." Or otherwise, this could become her Lewinsky. It's not going away.
[15:45:05] BALDWIN: Wow.
BERNSTEIN: And, Sanders is exploiting it very effectively by referring to it kind of through the side, and questioning her judgment. This is all about her judgment. And she has to find a way to say, "My judgment is good and sound and has been with a record of over 40 years on progressive issues. And I'll stack it up against anybody", and she can.
BALDWIN: All the more reason to watch the town hall tonight here on CNN.
Let's flip, though, to the Republicans. Donald Trump, second place finish at Iowa. You know, since then, he has leveled some serious accusations against Ted Cruz for, one, accusing him a fraud. Dr. Carson referred to it as dirty tricks, the fact that these Cruz surrogates were telling caucus-goers that Carson was out when that wasn't the case.
You know, Ted Cruz apologized. He's now taken the Twitter calling this a Trumper tantrum.
Carl Bernstein, what do you make of all of this?
BERNSTEIN: One, they were dirty tricks. Second, I watched Trump yesterday talk for about 40 minutes. He is all over the damn place. He needs a real organization on the ground if he is going to keep his campaign going and he is going to win. And he's got to come up with some consistent message that appeals to more than simply angry people.
He has got now people on the center right in the Republican Party coming after him with great, great fuselage of combined rhetoric and real worry that he's got to be stopped. He needs more than he showed those last days in New Hampshire and more of the same could undercut him.
BALDWIN: OK. I see your ear piece, I'm not quite sure if you can hear me, Carl. So ...
BERNSTEIN: I hear you.
BALDWIN: ... you hear me, OK, OK good. OK, good. Shame on that ear piece.
Let me just end with this, wondering about Jeb Bush because it's also the jump ball for the governors. And the night, there's a debate coming up before the New Hampshire primary and then Jeb Bush's nemesis, Donald Trump will presumably be back on that stage.
So, how does Jeb Bush create his opening?
BERNSTEIN: I'm not sure that he can. There are forces that don't want dynasties in the Republican Party. He had been the favorite of the Republican establishment. They are turning on him. He's raised all this money but he doesn't have traction. I'm not sure that bringing his mom into New Hampshire, even though she lives in Maine, part of the time up the road is going to help him.
Christie has got a message that might move past Bush. He's reaching people that Bush can't. Bush has got to save himself. And I'm not sure there's any way to do it. And particularly because of the war and how his brother is associated with it and all that baggage, he's got an uphill road, tough fight.
BALDWIN: OK. Carl Bernstein, as always, wonderful talking to you. Thank you.
Again, I mentioned that town hall as we were talking about the dims. The live town hall here on CNN between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, that question is directly from voters tonight at 9:00 here on CNN.
Coming up next, Cruz, Trump, Rubio all come out on top in Iowa. What is next for them on the political map? Let's break down these three key states for each candidate if they are going to get that nomination.
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[15:52:36] BALDWIN: The first votes have been cast but Iowa is hardly a predictor of what will happen over the course of the next couple of months. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, all need to look past even Tuesday's New Hampshire primary if they want to carve out a permanent place at the top of the leader board.
To Tom Foreman that we go now, with a look at the map, the path to victory, Tom, what states would spell opportunity for these three candidates?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: For Ted Cruz, it will be states that can prove his victory with evangelicals and conservatives in Iowa were not a fluke. For example, he wants to do well in South Carolina, because there are southern conservatives there. He'd like to get that boost now because it's coming up soon. But then when you sweep into more of the southern states, gosh, he'd love to do well in Louisiana because, again, it would solidify the idea that these conservatives out there not only will vote for him above the other Republican candidates, but can be energized.
And of course, he wants to do well in his home state of Texas because 155 delegates, everybody wants to do well there.
Donald Trump wants to prove that Iowa was a fluke because of the polls. Remember, he was ahead there in many ways at different times, very close, but ended up underperforming so now he's ahead in New Hampshire. He really wants to prove that the polls are right. Ahead in South Carolina, he wants to prove that the polls are right there. And, he wants to do well in his home state too, because again, a lot of delegates and it's always good to do well in your home state. So, he's got to prove that.
And Marco Rubio, the states that he may be looking at are critical and because not only that they have a lot of delegates involved, but also look at the date here, we're getting into March, deep into March. This is when he has more of the moderate vote, people who may be little conservative, little moderate, but who helped him out in Iowa and he needs to get them in there to prove the number one thing that came out of the Iowa vote for Marco Rubio, and that is that more Republican voters believe he can win the general election.
So Brooke, he wants to do well in all these battleground states, including his home state to reinforce that idea. He's got to wait a while, though. He may be getting through some tough contests before them, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yeah, got to hang in there, we're going to talk so much more about the significance of each of these states as we move forward.
For now, Tom Foreman, thank you very much in front of the big map there in Washington.
Coming up, Donald Trump calling for a new election in Iowa, accusing Ted Cruz a fraud. Moments ago, Ted Cruz responding to that, we'll hear from him, ahead.
[15:55:02]
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BALDWIN: Just now, some pictures you have to see here, frightening moments onboard this commercial airliner as an explosion blows a hole in the side of this aircraft. So they're 12,000 feet above Somalia, and you're about to see this large hole there in the fuselage, remarkably, the pilot was able to land the plane. Only two people were hurt and authorities later discovered a body near Mogadishu that they believe was either blown or ejected from that plane.
Pictures from the ground, here you go, look at this, show a hole in one side of the airliner just above the wing, slightly smaller than one of the doors. A source tells CNN the damage tested positive for explosive residue, but officials are not saying that this was a bomb. No group has taken responsibility for this. But just stunning, stunning photos.
Thank you so much for being with me here, of course, on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
[16:00:00] Definitely stay tuned to the town hall later this evening, meantime "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Thanks, Brooke.
