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Putin Likens U.S. Strike to Iraq War; Russia Calls for Chemical Weapons Investigation; Putin Says Rebels May Have Used Chemicals; Russia Covering Up. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 11, 2017 - 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 Moscow. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Breaking news we're following right now. As we keep an eye on the White House, the press secretary, Sean Spicer, he's preparing to brief the press. We'll take you there live once that briefing gets started.

Spicer will face plenty of questions about Syria, but what will certainly dominate the briefing is reaction to what we heard this morning from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Here's President Putin's take on the U.S. air strikes in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA: This reminds me very much of the situation in 2003 and the war in Iraq. First of all, there was a campaign launched in Iraq and it finished with the destruction of the country, the growth of the terrorist threat, and the emergence of ISIS on the international arena. No more, no less than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance is joining us live from Moscow. Our White House Correspondent Sara Murray, she's out there on the north lawn of the White House right now, while we wait for Sean Spicer's press briefing.

Matthew, President Putin also said he expects more chemical weapons' attacks in Syria. Tell our viewers precisely what he's saying.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is President Putin pushing what's been the Russian version of events since this terrible attack took place last Tuesday, basically saying this was a provocation. That this was something that was a normal Syrian air strike, a regular conventional Syrian air strike on a weapons factory that was run by the rebels to manufacture land mines that they were stuffing with chemicals to use against the Syrian military.

And he's saying that the Syrian military, the Syrian government, unfairly was blamed for causing that horrific loss of life. Take a listen to what he had to say about the future of possible chemical attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN (translator): We have information from various sources that this kind of provocation, and they can't call it anything other than provocation, is being prepared for in other regions of Syria, too. Including the southern suburbs of Damascus where they're preparing to drop similar chemicals and then accuse the Syrian government of it.

But we believe that any manifestation of the kind should be carefully investigated and we intend to apply to the relevant U.N. bodies in the hague (ph) and towards the international community to investigate these matters very carefully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: So, Putin is saying that he's got intelligence, essentially, that there may be more, sort of, of these chemical attacks that will, perhaps, encourage the United States -- meant to encourage the United States to carry out further attacks, further missile strikes against Syrian targets -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What is he specifically saying, Matthew, about a possible investigation of the chemical attack in Syria last week that killed so many civilians, including a lot of children?

CHANCE: Well, the defense ministry here in Russia issued a statement saying that they're ready to provide security for chemical weapons inspectors to go into Syria and to investigate at least the air base that was struck by the U.S. missile strikes at the Shayrat Air Base from where the strikes were launched by the Syrian airplanes. To have a thorough investigation there to try and determine whether there were any chemical weapons at that air base.

The Syrian government, according to the Russian defense ministry, has said that they'd be willing to, you know, consider that possibility as well.

The big problem, of course, is that the attack took place in Khan Shaykhun, in southern Idlib. And because that's in rebel territory, it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for weapons' inspectors, under the current circumstances, to get there.

So, an investigation may leave the various parties in the international community none the wiser as to what actually happened.

BLITZER: Sara, we're now hearing from a White House official who's responding to some of Russia's claims. What's the latest? What are you hearing?

SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We were briefed by senior administration officials this morning who were hitting back against this Russian narrative. They're saying, of course, they do believe that this was a sarin gas attack and that it was carried out by the Syrian regime. That they do not have evidence that this was something done by the rebels or something done by a terrorist group.

They also called out Russia, essentially saying that they have waged a campaign of disinformation to try to cover up the culpability of the Syrian regime.

Now, it's worth noting, Wolf, that we have been told by senior administration officials, from yesterday to today, that there is still no consensus in the U.S. intelligence community that Russia had any kind of heads up, had any kind of foreign knowledge about these grizzly chemical weapon attacks.

But we did hear some senior administration officials lean a little bit further into this today, asking the question of how Russian forces, if they were co-mingled with these Syrian forces who planned, who executed the chemical attack, how could they not have knowledge ahead of time?

[13:05:05] Now, again, still saying, insisting there is no consensus from the intelligence community on this. But I think we're beginning to see some of these administration officials put a little more pressure on Russia.

Obviously, this comes at a time when our secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is in Moscow at the moment. He, of course, has spoken very critically about Russia and any potential role they may have had in this. So far, we have not heard that from President Trump, himself -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Sara, thanks so much. Sara Murray at the White House. Matthew Chance with the latest from Moscow.

I want to bring in CNN's Clarissa Ward. She's, right now, along the Syria-Turkey border for us. Clarissa, President Trump asked General Mattis, the secretary of defense, for an update on the impact of last week's missile strikes.

Mattis has said that 20 percent of the operational Syrian air force was either destroyed or severely damaged. Are we getting a clearer sense of just how much damage was done to this Syrian air base?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it's really difficult to get a sense of just how much damage was done, because obviously each side has its own narrative.

The Syrian regime almost immediately started flying planes out of the air base. Obviously, an attempt to try to show that they were uncowed by these actions. That their planes could still fly from this air base.

At the same time, that does not gel at all with what we heard yesterday from General Mattis, as you brought -- as the secretary of defense, Mattis, as you mentioned. He said that 20 percent of the Syrian air forces fixed wing aircraft had been either severely damaged or destroyed. That is a huge amount, if indeed it is 20 percent. That would mean they have roughly 100 fixed wing aircraft.

We've looked into some defense analysts who have said that before the civil war, they had an estimated 300 fixed wing aircraft. Given all the wear and tear and issues of finding parts and repairing, it does seem feasible that they would now, after six long years of war, have about a hundred. So, it does sound like a feasible number. But, of course, it's very difficult to confirm that.

We also heard from Sean Spicer saying this was a P.R. stunt. This attempt to show that they're still flying planes out of there. The refueling capability is gone. The radar capability is gone. So, that's what you're hearing from the U.S. government on the one hand.

On the other hand, we are see are air strikes continuing across Syria day in and day out. This is nothing new. None of them have been particularly noticeable. They have been your, sort of, typical daily Syrian air strikes.

So, difficult to know exactly how much damage has been done just yet -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Are you getting any reaction out there, Clarissa, to the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer's, comments about the use of barrel bombs potentially representing yet another red line for the United States?

WARD: Well, I think everybody who follows Syria very closely, who was watching yesterday's press briefing, had a moment of jaw dropping on the ground when they first heard Sean Spicer say that potentially barrel bombs would constitute another red line. He went on to reiterate that.

And there was a kind of moment where people were furiously talking about particularly, of course, on the ground inside Syria, people who support the opposition, if this would constitute a red line for the U.S., that would be a huge escalation. Because, of course, barrel bombs are a very crude weapon that are being used on an almost daily basis.

We've since heard the White House apparently try to walk back that a little bit. So, I think now, there's an understanding that perhaps it would only refer to barrel bombs that had been packed with chlorine gas. This has also been used quite regularly. But, frankly, we have not heard any real clarity from the White House. Perhaps we'll hear some in this press conference we're waiting on now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're standing by the Sean Spicer daily briefing. Clarissa Ward, thanks very much. She's along the Turkey-Syria border.

Meanwhile, North Korea, amidst all of this, is issuing another warning to the United States. North Korean state media saying a nuclear strike is possible if provoked by what it calls U.S. aggression.

President Trump had some tough talk of his own today on Twitter, tweeting this. North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them. USA.

The U.S., meanwhile, is sending a Navy strike group to the waters off the Korean Peninsula, led by the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson.

I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley. He's joining us now live from Pyongyang in North Korea.

Will, with a big national holiday coming up later in the week, where you are in North Korea, are we expecting tensions to escalate even further?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems that way, Wolf, as this country does prepare for the day of the sun. It's most important holiday of the year and a holiday when North Korea has, in the past, attempted very dramatic displays of power.

It was five years ago, in 2012, when they tried to launch a satellite into orbit just two days before this major holiday. And it ended up being a failed launch that it succeeded later that year, in December of that year.

[13:10:09] But what this shows is that this is a time when North Korean's leader, Kim Jong-Un, who appeared just a short time ago in some brand new video presiding over an important political gathering also happening here in Pyongyang today. It is a time when he is -- has been known to project strength and power, not only to his own people here in North Korea, but also to show defiance to the rest of the world.

And officials in the United States and South Korea who've been analyzing satellite data do believe, Wolf, that, really, Kim could put the button on the country's sixth nuclear test at any time, which certainly would be a very defiant message to President Trump, in light not only these tweets, but also of the deployment of the carrier strike group which could arrive in the waters off the Korean Peninsula in just a matter of days, we're learning.

BLITZER: Will Ripley in Pyongyang for us with the very latest. A very tense time indeed. Will, thanks very much for that reporting.

Let's get back to Russia now and those harsh words from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, aimed at the United States.

Also today, Russia's foreign ministry releasing a statement saying U.S.-Russia relations are at their most difficult point since the cold war.

Joining us now, Stephen Sestanovich, the senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a former ambassador at large for Russia and the former Soviet states.

Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us.

STEPHEN SESTANOVICH, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: A pleasure.

BLITZER: Do you agree that U.S.-Russian relations right now are at their worst level since the cold war?

SESTANOVICH: There's a lot of friction. Nothing much that the two sides agree on. And many points of contention. You know, as the Russian prime minister said last week, they're not too far from military confrontation in Syria. There were Russian people at the -- Russian military personnel at the base that the United States struck. That's, you know, very tense, dicey situation for two sides to be in.

BLITZER: Do you believe the Russians were complicit in that chemical weapons' attack against those civilians at Idlib in Syria?

SESTANOVICH: And I don't think we have any real way of confirming that. My guess is we won't. Some of the information that's been used is very circumstantial. There was a Russian drone over the Syrian hospital so they must have known. This is the sort of thing that'll be argued back and forth without much real resolution.

BLITZER: As you know, the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, he's in Moscow now. He's going to meet with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. No word yet that President Putin is going to invite him to a meeting, but do you expect that meeting to take place?

SESTANOVICH: Well, Russian officials are telling Russian journalists today that there will be a meeting. And that makes sense. Putin is somebody who worries about looking weak. He wants to show his disapproval of what the United States has done. But he also wants to hear from Tillerson what the United States is doing.

He -- you know, I think probably Secretary Tillerson heard those comments today about the rebels being responsible for the gas attack, as an example of Putin leading with his chin. He's going to go into that meeting in a prickly mood. And he's going to -- he's going to give Secretary Tillerson a hard time.

BLITZER: Secretary Tillerson, though, is basically going to say, according to U.S. officials, look, Russia, you got -- you can either go with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad and the Iranians or forget about them. You come work with us. You'll be better off if you do. That's the choice he's going to offer to the Russians. How do you suspect the Russians will respond?

SESTANOVICH: Well, Rex Tillerson is not the first secretary of state to go to Moscow with that message, saying, you know, it could be so much better if you worked with us instead of those nasty people, the Iranians and President Assad.

But, actually, the Russians have done fine working with the Iranians and President Assad.

BLITZER: But their economy is not that good right now.

SESTANOVICH: The economy is not great. It's picking up a little bit. But what Putin has done in Syria, his intervention in Syria, is one of his most significant foreign policy successes. And he's not going to be talked out of it by the mere claim that, you know, it could -- it would be nicer if you worked with us.

The real question for an American secretary of state who goes to Moscow and says, you should work with us. You should promote a political solution. Tillerson, himself, said, you know, the Assad regime is coming to an end.

The real question that the Russians will have for him is, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do if we say no?

BLITZER: So, where do you see this U.S.-Russian relationship, in the short term, heading?

SESTANOVICH: In the short term, the Russians have to decide whether they actually want to pivot in their Syria policy. But the chances are that they won't. They are going to try to drag this out.

The point of Putin's remarks today was to say, you know, that the rebels were responsible here. Let's have an investigation. This was their line last week in the U.N. Security Council. It's -- that's their story and they're sticking to it.

For Putin to believe that he needs to pivot, he's got to believe that the United States is going to take a significantly different approach than it has in the past few years. And one military strike probably isn't going to do it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we'll see if there's some more military strikes coming up, because that's the threat on the table right now.

Ambassador Sestanovich, thanks so much for joining us.

SESTANOVICH: Thanks.

BLITZER: So, what do all these new developments mean for the U.S./Russian relationship, as well as Russia's growing role in the Middle East? Congressman Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is standing by to join us live. You're looking at live pictures coming in right now.

Mr. Chairman, stand by.

We also are only moments away from the White House press briefing. Multiple officials forced to clarify comments made by the press secretary, Sean Spicer, yesterday regarding the president's positions on taking action in Syria. Will he set the record straight today? We'll have live coverage of that and a lot more. That's all coming up.

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[13:20:27] BLITZER: We're waiting for the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, to come out, start taking questions from reporters. He'll likely be asked lots of questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments this morning that compared the U.S. strikes on the Syrian air base to the start of the Iraq War back in 2003. We're going to bring you his news conference, the briefing, live as soon as it starts.

In the meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he's in Moscow right now for talks about the U.S./Russian relationship and the future of Syria.

Joining us now from Santa Ana, California, is the Republican Congressman Ed Royce. He's the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Chairman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. ED ROYCE (R), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let me get your immediate reaction, first of all, to the comments - very stark comments - from President Putin saying what the U.S. is doing, in effect, is misleading the world, that the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad did not launch a chemical weapons attack those civilians last week. Your reaction?

ROYCE: Well, I think that's Russian spin because Putin is and should be embarrassed by exactly what was done here by Assad. And I say that with assurance because a day after Assad's forces launched that attack, I was given the information which is clear cut. We monitored the flight of that air wing as that plane took off and flew over the target and dropped a chemical weapon on that target. Assad was caught here red handed on something that Putin had given us assurances that Assad, as part of this deal, would give up his chemical weapons. That's what this is about and that's why two days later our air force, or at least our strikes of our tomahawk missiles took out 23 of those planes, Assad's planes.

BLITZER: Well, the Russians maintain the U.S. was wrong in 2003 leading up to the war in Iraq about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stockpiles. They're wrong now. They want an international investigation. Your reaction to that?

ROYCE: We had an international investigation. The Russians were part of that, Wolf, if you'll recall. And we had an attestation to these vast amounts of chemical weapons that had been created by Assad. He turned over some of them, but not all of them. That was always a sticking point is that if apparently he did not turn them all over. And now he's been using them. Now, in the last I'd say week, or couple weeks, he's had three attacks. And in this last one, he was just plain caught red handed. And so this is the current situation. That's a great embarrassment to Russia.

BLITZER: Is - was Russia complicit in this Syrian gas attack, the sarin gas attack against the civilians in one way or another? What's the latest information you're getting?

ROYCE: Well, from my standpoint, I'll just give you my view of this. The man who ordered the attack was Assad. And the one we're holding responsible for it is Assad because he continues to do it. And I think for that reason the international community has sort of come to the conclusion, and this is why our secretary of state is there meeting with Putin today in Moscow, to try to reason with the Russians and explain, look, this - the judgment of an individual who has killed 480,000 of his own people and driven 14 million people out of their homes, many of these DPs are stretched across Syria, but many of them are across the entire Middle East and now in Europe. Someone with that inability to govern his country, someone with that streak of cruelty in him is not going to bring order out of the chaos that he's helped create. So I think at this point that discussion, that political discussion, has to happen in terms of the downsides to everyone if - if this continues.

BLITZER: You've seen the reports that the Russians were involved in some sort of effort to cover up the Syrian use of the chemical weapons by launching another separate strike against the hospital to remove evidence. Have you been briefed on that?

[13:25:06] ROYCE: Yes. No, I've not been briefed on that particular attack. But it makes sense to me that the Russians are embarrassed by this, as everybody has been embarrassed by Assad. His own Alawite - some of his cabinet officials who have defected have said, look, find another Alawite leader, but let's get rid of this guy because of what he's done to his own country and his own people. And when his own tribe is saying that, it is really time for the Russians to open a political discussion here of a negotiation on how to get this guy out of the process, have him go to Russia, have him go wherever, but let's see a negotiated agreement here that will get rid of ISIS, which is in Russia's interest and ours, because Assad won't fight ISIS, and at the same time, allow some kind of way forward here for Sunni, Shia, Alawite to all at least begin to put back the building blocks of stability in that region. Radicalization is not in Russia's interest and further blowback in radicalization is not in Europe or our interest either.

BLITZER: We're just getting word from our senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. He had a briefing over at the White House. Senior administration official telling him, and I'm quoting this official now, "I think it's clear the Russians are trying to cover up what happened there. We do think that it is a question worth asking the Russians, how is it possible that their forces were located with the Syrian forces that planned, prepared and carried out this chemical weapons attack at the same installation and did not have fore knowledge."

I take it there's also been a formal report from the administration to Congress with more detail. So, Mr. Chairman, where does the U.S. go from here as far as drawing additional red lines if there's another chemical weapons attack or if there are more barrel bomb attacks that, you know, these brutal attacks that kill a lot of civilians. Should the U.S. be prepared to step up its military involvement in Syria?

ROYCE: I think what - what the administration is looking at is a response to the gas attacks and there's bipartisan support for a measured, appropriate response to a given attack using gas, either through a barely bomb or some other type of ordinance, anything that drops chlorine, anything that drops sarin. Poison gas is not to be used and that's been an international agreement since the end of the First World War. The only exception - the real exception to it that was Hitler's use of gas, but that was in secret really. The world didn't find out about it until after the war was over against his own people. And there's - against the Jewish population and others. And there has been this agreement since that gas will not be allowed to be used. That's in the vital interest of the United States.

Now, if this goes out more than 60 days, of course, there needs to be an authorization of use of military force in order to take out any other gas attack. And secondarily, Wolf, there needs to be a strategy put forward, a political strategy, of how to negotiate with Russia and others for an end to this problem.

BLITZER: Well, I've - we've got to take a quick break. But very quickly, what you're saying is -

ROYCE: Yes.

BLITZER: If there are more strikes coming up within the next 60 days or after 60 days, formal legislation, AUMF authorization for the use of military force, legislation in the House and Senate will be required? Is that what you're saying?

ROYCE: In my book -

BLITZER: That the president does not have the authority to continue military strikes without that kinds of legislation?

ROYCE: My read of it is, if it goes on beyond 60 days, you need an AUMF.

BLITZER: All right. Well, that's it. That's a precise statement from the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Chairman, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

ROYCE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up, White House officials tell CNN, they are confident the Syrian government was behind the deadly attack and they're now accusing Russia of trying to shift blame. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, expected to speak in the next few minutes. We'll have live coverage of his daily briefing. That's coming up.

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