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At Least 78 People Killed In ISIS attacks In Syria; U.S. Airstrikes Hit 21 Targets In Fallujah In Last Six Days; U.S. Advisers Train Fighters At Secret Location; U.S. Secret Mission In Syria Reviews ISIS Fight; White House Confirms Taliban Leader Killed In Airstrike; Why They Hate Us Airs Tonight; Officer Edward Nero Acquitted In Freddie Gray Case; Trump Rallies Republicans; Sanders Wages War; Trump Meets With Sen. Bob Corker; Interview with RNC's Sean Spicer. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 23, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Fallujah, Iraq, 9:30 p.m. in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with important developments from three of the world's terror hot spots. In Syria, coordinated terror bombings that have targeted government strongholds and ISIS is claiming responsibility. One series of explosions at a bus station in Tartous, then in another in a residential neighborhood of Jabla, a coastal area that's relatively calm. At least 78 people were killed.

In Fallujah, Iraq, new exclusive video of the all-out battle between ISIS fighters and Iraqi security forces. Iraq's prime minister, Haider Al Abadi, announcing today that the operation to liberate Fallujah is underway. Thousands of civilians reportedly trapped inside the city.

And to the east, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, new information about the death of the Taliban leader, Mohamed Mansour. The White House confirming that he was killed in an airstrike over the weekend. And we're now hearing the insurgent group is meeting in Pakistan to choose a new top commander.

We've got full coverage of all those stories from Correspondents. Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Star with exclusive reporting in Amman, Jordan. Jim Sciutto is covering the national security angle from here in Washington. And our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is standing by live in Beirut.

Let's begin with Jim Sciutto here in Washington. Jim, this operation to liberate Fallujah right now, it's in a decisive stage.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question. And you could see how difficult it is, even as we're getting those first images there. They're very clearly on the outskirts of the city. This is a big city. And as they move inside, this is going to -- where it's going to be difficult because, one, you have a number of civilians there. And, of course, they're going to be limiting civilian deaths.

But also, we know that ISIS has had time to prepare for this. This is going to be a city littered with improvised explosive devices. It can be a very dangerous battle as we saw in Ramadi which is not far away.

The other thing I would add is we know the U.S. is now involved in this, 21 airstrikes from fighters and drones over the course of the past six days to soften up the defensives -- the defenses there of ISIS as Iraqi forces take the lead on the ground.

BLITZER: But will U.S. forces also -- I know they're involved in airstrikes but will U.S. forces also go in on the ground?

SCIUTTO: To our knowledge, no, they will not be on the ground. Is it possible you will have forward deployed U.S. advisors? That is certainly possible.

BLITZER: You've been to Falluja. I was there back in 2005 with the then U.S. military central commander, General John Abizaid. It was shortly after it was freed, in effect, and it was a pretty upbeat place. But they -- the whole area of Anbar Province has simply collapsed.

SCIUTTO: No question. And it's a structural issue there. This is a Sunni-dominated province. And one of the struggles is that you have some support among the Sunni population, in part, because they don't feel they're being served by the Shia-dominated government there.

And just another thing for Americans, a lot of, as you know, American soldiers, particularly Marines, died in operations in Fallujah, going back to 2004, 2005, as ISIS swept in there more than two years ago, it's particularly difficult for those service men and women to watch as it was back in the hands of ISIS.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a heartbreaking situation for all those families who have lost loved ones in Fallujah back in 2004, 2005 and those operations were very, very dangerous.

All right, thanks very much, Jim Sciutto.

I want to bring in Barbara Starr, our Pentagon Correspondent. Barbara, you went inside Iraq in a CNN exclusive with the head of the U.S. military's central command, the new commander, General Joseph Votel. He was on a secret visit inside the country, not every day that a four-star U.S. general goes inside Syria. What are you learning today about these latest attacks in Syria?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, these attacks in Syria are something that Joe Votel is watching very carefully. They came just hours after we left Syria and arrived here in Amman. General Votel, a long standing member of special operations, he knows what it takes. He was determined to go inside Syria and visit his troops. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): These are the first images ever shown publicly from a U.S. Special operations training camp in northern Syria. From here and other secret nearby locations, the U.S. military is racing time to train enough local Syrian forces so they can push south towards Raqqa, ISIS' declared capital.

CNN was the only television network with General Joseph Votel on this secret day long trip to Syria. Votel oversees the war against ISIS.

GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTCOM (on camera): My principle purpose was to meet with some of the Syrian (INAUDIBLE) Democratic force and leadership in multiple locations and also to meet with our advisor teams.

[13:05:10] STARR (on camera): General Votel has come to northern Syria under extraordinary security conditions. In fact, we've been asked not to reveal a number of details on how we all got here.

But Votel considers this part of the war a top priority. He is here to meet with the U.S. military advisors that are helping some of these local troops that you see work to defeat ISIS.

(voice-over): Votel went to multiple locations, we've been asked not to disclose, meeting with key local leaders in the Syrian Democratic forces. An umbrella organization overseeing many of these young Arab fighters the U.S. is training.

A spokesman for the forces being trained here is critical of U.S. efforts. He says his group urgently needs more ammunition and weapons, beyond the few ammunition supplies he says the U.S. has delivered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We've been given a limited number of old rifles.

STARR: Due to security concerns, we are not allowed to show details of the base. Our cameras are restricted. Security is so high here, the U.S. advisors want their faces shielded. But they do want to talk about the training.

(on camera): You're a military advisor here. What do you guys do here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here training the Syrian Democratic forces. And when I say training, generally that's consisting of basic level weapons training, shooting A.K.-47s and shooting larger machine guns.

(voice-over): Their four-star general taking an extraordinary step to see it all firsthand.

VOTEL: I have responsibility for this mission. I have responsibility for the people that we've put here. So, it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with, to share the risks that they are -- they are absorbing on a day-to-day basis. STARR: Even as the Arab fighters here patrol the surrounding fields

and stand watch getting ready for whatever their future holds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(live): Now, the security forces that protected General Votel, and the rest of us who went in and out of Syria with him, are from some of the most elite, most secretive units in the U.S. military. We simply are not permitted to identify them or anything about them. This posed a real challenge, because of these restrictions, in bringing this story to everyone.

I want to acknowledge our incredible CNN photojournalist, Khalil Abdullah. He worked with them all day and all night long to bring everyone this amazing story -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, he's a great photo journalist, Khalil.

Let's talk a little bit about these Syrian rebels that the U.S. is helping to train. Are they motivated to go after Bashar Al Assad's regime in Damascus or are they motivated to go after the ISIS fighters because there have been some conflicts in the past?

STARR: You know, through translators, of course, we asked that question of several along the way. They see, in this part of Syria, of northern Syria, to be very committed to going after ISIS. They have seen ISIS roll through their villages, especially the Kurds and the Arabs who are in this portion of northern Syria. They know about Assad. They know what he's doing. They know the violence there. They're very aware of the Russian presence.

But in their particular area of northern Syria, and that's really all we're allowed to identify here, they are -- they appear to be very motivated to get the U.S. training to go after ISIS.

But this is going to be very slow going. These are, you know, multiple dozens of recruits that come here at a time. They go to other sites across norther Syria. Thousands are going to be needed. This is not going to happen anytime soon -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And very quickly, Barbara, are these Kurdish fighters or are they Arab fighters?

STARR: This is the Syrian Democratic forces. And so, that's an umbrella organization which includes Kurds, Arabs and other groups in this region of northern Syria.

You know, and we talk about their goal is to push their forward line south towards Raqqa, ISIS' capital. One of the reasons that the U.S. is working so hard to bring the Arabs along into this fight is they believe those Arab fighters, because of the ethnic diversity in the area, will be much more motivated to push south, to go to Raqqa. That is somewhat of their Arab territory.

The Kurds, fighting much more along that northern line along the border with Turkey, that presents a whole other problem to the U.S. because the Turks, just across the border, very concerned about U.S. support for the Kurds, very concerned that this could all result in the Kurds declaring an independent territory right on Turkey's southern border.

[13:10:06] BLITZER: Yes. All right, Barbara, thanks very much for that excellent reporting.

We also have some new developments in Afghanistan today, and our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is following that story for us from Beirut. Nick, what are you learning about the death of the Taliban commander, Mohammad Mansour?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is now being clearly confirmed by Barack Obama, himself, after a period in which, it seems, U.S. officials are trying to gather some sort of solid, perhaps, DNA evidence from the site of the drone strike inside Pakistan, we understand, which hit Mullah Mansour's vehicle where he was traveling with another man thought to be a driver.

Now, the key issue here is, of course, this sparks some sort of succession battling, you might say, within the Taliban. It was already a fraught succession contest when Mullah Mansour took the helm after the death Mullah Omar, the long-term Taliban leader. We have a sort of short list of potential candidates.

But I have to say, Wolf, the White House have been framing the death of Mullah Mansour as sort of a win for peace, so to speak. That they see him as an obstacle for peace talks that the U.S. and Afghani government want to pursue the Taliban. They think that's the best way of stopping the fighting in Afghanistan. But, frankly, those potential successes to Mullah Mansour are all so quite likely to not seek negotiation with either side, at this point.

Now, we know that Srah Jakani (ph), who the U.S. consider to be the chief facilitator of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, is one of those potential successors as is the son, and even brother, perhaps, of Mullah Omar, that long-term Taliban leader.

It is unlikely that those leaders, in the same way Mular Mansour found himself when they come to the role of leading the Taliban, will seek anything other than to gain more territory. They've been seen to be a successful military leader to kind of garner support amongst different fractures, parts that are now the Taliban in Afghanistan.

We may see temporary disarray, perhaps. And it was true that in that meeting yesterday, in Qatar in Pakistan, where senior Taliban, we understand discussed who might succeed Mular Mansour. They didn't find an immediate successor so there are a lot of tensions in them. We may see that causing disarray amongst the Afghan insurgencies' ranks.

But it isn't going to bring peace overnight and you may, in fact, see an uptick as different groups rival each other, potentially, for supremacy or different leaders try and prove they're the man for the job -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. All right, thanks very much. Nick Paton Walsh reporting for us.

By the way, later tonight, right here on CNN, Fareed Zakaria investigates why radical Muslims hate America and the west. The special documentary entitled "Why They Hate Us" airs tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

Coming up, an officer in the Freddie Gray death case in Baltimore is found not guilty on all counts. What the verdict could mean for other officers facing charges in this case. We're going to bring you that live.

Plus this, the Democrats seemingly at war with one another while polls show Donald Trump closing the gap dramatically with Hillary Clinton. We have details. A lot more coming up.

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[13:16:57] BLITZER: The race for the White House. Donald Trump is trying to rally Republicans, while Bernie Sanders is waging war against the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton is caught between the ongoing primary fight in the general election battle that's up coming. Out on the campaign trail, Clinton is trying to shore up labor union support today. She's in Detroit, where she's getting ready to address the Service Employee's International Union this hour. You're looking at live pictures. Bernie Sanders is campaigning in California later this afternoon.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, he's been meeting with the Tennessee -- he's set to meet later today with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. He's the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Here's the question. Is Donald Trump trying to burnish his own foreign policy credentials? Is he considering Corker as a possible vice presidential running mate? Only moments ago, Corker emerged up on Capitol Hill and said this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: be a part of a very big picture when it comes to foreign policy. He's banning an entire religion of people.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: You know, we talked more about China, Russia. You know, I will tell you, what's -- what's interesting, my -- I met my counterpart just last week from China. Or the week before last. I see a lot of (INAUDIBLE) in China. I see it in Munich. I've seen it in the U.S. I will say that, you know, the fact that he's challenging some of the status quo, if you will, it is causing these countries to think a little bit differently about U.S. -- the U.S. And I say that in a positive way.

So, anyway, we had a -- we had a good conversation about those types of things. Other foreign policy issues. And, again, how the campaign will go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, would you -- senator would you -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) --

CORKER: We did. And I -- my guess is, they are, you know, I don't know this, but my guess is they're a way -- a way from, you know, a way -- a way from those kind of conversations right now. We really talked really more of policy kind of a meeting, and a get to know you kind of a meeting. And I found it very enjoyable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From what I understand, you're the highest ranking Republican leader to actually visit Donald Trump on his home turf --

CORKER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since he became the presumptive nominee.

CORKER: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perhaps this entire campaign. It's certainly setting off some vice presidential rumors. It's also setting off cabinet rumors.

CORKER: Yes, again, I don't -- I don't think that --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would you make the trip here if it was just for a, hi, hello?

CORKER: Yes. You know, I was up here -- I was up here last Monday meeting with Henry Kissinger. And, you know, I'm in New York a good deal and, you know, I think it's certainly worthwhile to sit down and get to know the nominee in a little bit different way. And we did that today.

But let me, again, I -- I said this when this all came up a couple of weeks ago. I have no reason whatsoever to believe that I'm being considered for a position like that. You know, I'll say that until I'm blue in my face. It's just -- again, this was a meeting between two people who didn't know each other except over phone calls. Getting to know each other and that's it. And I would guess that -- I would guess the campaign, I mean those kind of things take a while and I have no reason to believe that -- that I'm being considered.

[13:20:21] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you be open to it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, would you consider a role in a future Trump administration?

CORKER: You know, I think every -- as I've said before, look, I -- I'm in -- I'm doing what I'm doing because I care deeply about policy. I want to see our country succeed. I want to see it solve the new (ph) problems that we have as a nation. And I think those types of questions, you know, obviously, you want to know what the circumstances were, what the relationship is. But, again, to even to offer --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a maybe? CORKER: Even to offer conjecture around something that I have no reason to believe is even being considered is just not even a responsible thing for me to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't ruled it out. Some candidates have ruled it out and they haven't been asked.

CORKER: I -- I have no reason to believe I'm being considered for that kind of thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a very standard line though?

CORKER: Well, (INAUDIBLE) because it's true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When are the (INAUDIBLE) going to stop?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, senator, did you (INAUDIBLE) support of foreign policy --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so that's Bob Corker, the Republican senator from Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's in New York. He just emerged from a meeting with Donald Trump over at Trump Tower in New York. And you heard what he said, they -- Trump primarily spoke about policy and other issues. He said he has no reason to believe, at least for now, that he's being considered as a possible vice presidential running mate, or for a cabinet position for that matter, but that's what a lot of politicians at this stage say.

Let's bring in Sean Spicer. He's the chief strategist, communications director for the Republican National Committee.

Sean, thanks very much for joining us.

SEAN SPICER, CHIEF STRATEGIST & COMMUNICATIONS DIR., RNC: Good afternoon, Wolf. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: So you think this was simply a get to know each other session between Senator Corker and Donald Trump or you think there's more there as far as a potential running mate slot for Senator Corker?

SPICER: Well, I take him at his word. I do think Mr. Trump's new at politics. I think for a lot of these individuals who have been in Washington leading different areas of policy within our party, this is an opportunity for them to get to know and talk to Mr. Trump about the policy direction that he wants to take this country, about the solutions he has for the country.

And, again, this is, you know, as you and viewers will recall, we, up until a couple of weeks ago, envisioned this race going well into June 7th. And so this is -- this -- him wrapping this up earlier has allowed for those conversations to start taking place with a lot of individuals who are influential in the policy decisions of our party.

BLITZER: He seems to be going through, you know, checking the boxes, as some people are saying, talking to establishment Republicans, whether Henry Kissinger or James Baker, both former secretary of states. Senator Corker, for that matter. Going to the National Rifle Association event the other day. He's trying -- I guess his main goal right now is to unite the Republican Party. How's he doing?

SPICER: Well, I think if you look at all the polls that are out there and the comments that are coming from leading Republicans, he's doing excellent. We are in a much better place than I think the other party when you look at the fracture and the divide that's existing over there. More and more Republican leaders, those, in fact, who actually debated Donald Trump for the nomination, have come on board, called for the party to unite, get behind the recent polling that came out over this weekend strongly suggests it's the Republican Party that is uniting. In fact, not just -- which is good for the party, but overall you're seeing that tread line for Donald Trump surge ahead of Hillary Clinton in the overall head to head.

On the flip side, you're seeing Bernie Sanders and his team call for the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. You're seeing the -- a -- one of the leading candidates for their party come out and endorse her primary opponent, who just today announced that he raised half -- excuse me, a quarter of a million dollars over the weekend on Sanders support. Those are real divisions that exist in that party, converse to our party, that I think we're heading in a much better direction as we head to our convention and to victory in November.

BLITZER: How worried are you about the third party bid? The Libertarian Party. They're probably going to have two former Republican governors, Gary Johnson of New Mexico, William Weld as a vice presidential running mate, former Republican governor of Massachusetts. If they run this time around, how worried are you they will take away votes from the Republican nominee?

SPICER: None. Zero. I mean, they have -- just to put it into perspective, Debbie Wasserman Schultz's primary opponent raised more money this weekend than they've raised total. I mean so I -- I get it. It's a talking point. But each week, we continue to have this iteration of, what's wrong with the Republican Party, and yet more and more we're seeing the -- the uniting of the party and the ability for us to move ahead and defeat Hillary Clinton.

I think the media, frankly, wants a third party. They want a fight. They're not going to get it. There is no support for Governor Johnson or for Weld. They are basically -- neither one of them, frankly, except -- I mean in terms of Bill Weld, he's not even a libertarian. I think he just wants to be on the ballot.

[13:25:12] But we're very united as a party. We're bringing in a lot of independents. And, frankly, if you look at the latest polling, 17 percent of those Bernie Sanders supporters say that they'd vote for Mr. Trump. So while I -- I appreciate the intrigue about the Republican Party, I think the Democrats have a much, much more substantial problem that's really bearing out in the polls.

BLITZER: Yes, I raise the question, Sean, because I remember back in 2000, you remember the state of Florida, Al Gore, George W. Bush. George W. Bush won by 500 plus votes in Florida. As a result, he eventually became president of the United States. But a third party candidate, Ralph Nader, he had 90,000 votes in Florida, which a lot of experts believe a lot of those votes came from the Democrat, that would be Al Gore, and he caused the Republican, in effect, to become president. So that's why a third party candidate, libertarian candidates, Gary Johnson, William Weld, even if they don't get a lot of votes, they could be decisive in some key battle -- battleground states. You've got to be worried potentially about that.

SPICER: Well, I would if I thought that they had any sense of structure or organization. They don't. I think on the flip side, to your point about Nader, if the Sanders folks don't come together, which it looks like they're not, there's a lot of distrust and concern, not just for Hillary Clinton, but about how Bernie Sanders has been treated by the Democratic National Committee throughout this process. I would be more concerned if I were a Democrat about a wing of the progressive party or green party or whatever on the left kind of evolving and either sitting at home or putting someone like a Ralph Nader out on the ballot to -- as a protest vote.

So I'm very confident where we are as a party and where we're going to go moving forward. I think any Republican, any true conservative understands that the way to keep Hillary Clinton out of office is to stay united as a party, which we're seeing as all the polls are showing that it's coming together for us and not for them.

So, again, I don't spend any time thinking about this. I think we're pretty -- we're pretty happy with how the party is moving forward and the poll results speak for themselves.

BLITZER: Sean Spicer of the RNC, thanks very much.

SPICER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, Trump and Clinton in a statistical dead heat. That according to two polls. In fact, in one of those polls, Trump even surpasses Hillary Clinton. We have the details.

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