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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Ebola Crisis; ISIS Targeting U.S.?; NYC Officials Speak on Reported Subway Plot; Obama Announces Holder Resignation

Aired September 25, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: The president of Iraq drops a bombshell that ISIS is targeting the New York City subway system, so why no heads-up?

I'm Jim Sciutto and this is THE LEAD.

The world. The U.S., from local police right up to the White House, now scrambling after the Iraqi prime minister's warning that ISIS wants to hit the U.S. homeland. But if it's true, why didn't he tell the president when they sat down just 24 hours ago?

Also, in world news, we're watching for signs of any new airstrikes as coalition jets bomb oil refineries under ISIS control, because the only other thing ISIS does better than killing is stealing.

And President Obama addressing another war, one that isn't only spreading like a virus. It's a virus and one of the cruelest ways to die, as new projections suggest a health catastrophe if Ebola is not stopped.

Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jim Sciutto, filling in today for Jake Tapper.

And we begin today with the world lead. He is the man that the U.S. put a ton of faith into in bringing Iraq together and to take on ISIS terrorists. But today, Iraq's brand-new prime minister casually dropped this bombshell on the U.S., that his government uncovered a plot by ISIS foreign fighters to attack subways in New York City and in Paris.

Sounds like a nugget the U.S. government might have wanted to digest first before reporters at the U.N. were told, but a senior White House source tells us that the prime minister didn't even bring it up in meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and with President Obama.

We're keeping our eyes now on a news conference scheduled by the mayor of New York. That's set to begin in a few moments. You're seeing live pictures there.

First, though, I want to bring in CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown. She just got out of a meeting with the FBI director, James Comey.

Pam, this plot certainly a bombshell. What did the FBI director say? Because I have spoken to intelligence officials who said they have heard nothing about this. Had he heard about it? Does he treat it with credibility.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly what James Comey said, Jim, that essentially he hadn't heard anything about it.

In fact, he was reading news reports on what the prime minister had said right before this meeting and he said that his intelligence folks hadn't heard anything about it. Obviously, this would be something that would be front and center on his radar.

So with that said, though, officials say they are assessing the validity of this threat, but really across the board, Jim, the White House, intelligence officials are saying, look, this is the first we're hearing about this. This was not mentioned in the meeting between the prime minister of Iraq and the president and Secretary Kerry. Of course, we're going to assess this, but, so far, there's been nothing to lend credence to this threat -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: It's quite a way to get it out there. I'm from New York and I'm hearing questions from family and friends that are truly worried about it.

I know that the FBI director also commented on Khorasan. This is the al Qaeda-tied group that U.S. airstrikes targeted very heavily on that first night of attacks, and that they may be bent on attacking U.S. airliners. What did he say about whether and how much U.S. airstrikes have, if at all, disrupted these plots under way?

BROWN: I asked him that question. I asked him what his level of confidence is that U.S. disrupted the plotting taking place by Khorasan. And he said he's not confident at all.

He thinks that the group could still be intact, and that they could still be plotting. He says it's still top of his list until he hears otherwise. Important to note, though ,he's not received the final assessment of the strike. So there have only been preliminary assessments. But he says, as far as he's concerned, this group Khorasan could very well still be plotting to attack the West.

As we learned from sources, Jim, from intelligent sources, the group had apparently acquired materials and was in an advanced stage of plotting to attack the West. And James Comey acknowledged that they are in an intelligence black hole essentially in Syria. It's a black hole. And so given the limited visibility they had, they were concerned that this group could launch an attack tomorrow, next week or months from now.

They felt like they had to act fast. But, Jim, you know this just as well as anyone, that these are seasoned al Qaeda leaders in this Khorasan group and they probably knew the U.S. was after them, and so they have a reasonable -- U.S. officials have a reasonable assumption that leaders, some of the leaders could have dispersed from the buildings that the U.S. targeted.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I think for our viewers' sake -- and you know this well, too, Pamela -- we always imagine that intelligence is this exact science. But they're trying to connect the dots as best they can here.

Well, thanks very much to Pamela Brown. She's down at the FBI.

I want to get more on this with CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Paul, thanks for joining us.

Based on what you know about ISIS in Iraq, its capabilities and intelligence we have heard so far, when you heard that warning from the Iraqi prime minister, did it sound credible to you and sources you speak with, do intelligent sources, do they consider it credible?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Jim, this comes from Iraqi interrogations of ISIS fighters they captured on the battlefield in Iraq. And, as you know, these kind of interrogations are notorious for providing unreliable information.

It's not clear whether they have cross-checked this information. Perhaps the ISIS fighters were making it up. Perhaps they were saying this under duress, so not at all clear that this information actually checks out.

But there is concern that ISIS could, in the future, prioritize launching attacks on Western targets. They have up to 1,000 Westerners in their ranks, tens of millions of dollars of cash reserves. They have training facilities as well. They have all of this capability in Syria.

There's a kind of window of vulnerability because the United States has only just started airstrikes in Syria. The concern is that they could actually launch attacks from there in the future. In three to six months, we could see some plots from this group, Jim.

SCIUTTO: That's news that you're saying there that you believe that this intelligence was sourced from a captured foreign fighter from an interrogation? Is that right?

CRUICKSHANK: Yes. I believe that's what the Iraqis are now putting out, Jim.

SCIUTTO: OK.

We're also joined now by Robert McFadden. He's the senior vice president with The Soufan Group. He's a terror interrogation specialist.

If, indeed, Paul, is the source of this particular warning, and we know that, as Paul noted, things that come out of interrogations not necessarily reliable because of the simple fact that people will say anything in an interrogation, especially if forceful methods are used.

But does that fact, does that sourcing give you any questions about the believability of this particular threat?

ROBERT MCFADDEN, FORMER MILITARY INVESTIGATOR: I couldn't agree with Paul anymore.

And, in fact, from my experience, highly unlikely that from battlefield interviews and interrogations that, say, foot soldiers, if that turns out to be case, would have that kind of information. Now, if -- on the other hand, if the prime minister had said that they captured high-ranking members of the ISIS or ISIL shura council, that might be a different thing.

But, yes, I don't think that's much of a plausible scenario at all, although we keep in mind that, after aviation targets, subways and rail systems are probably the second most biggest exploited category to instill fear, if not target.

SCIUTTO: No question. We know that's a group that al Qaeda certainly has attempted in New York specifically. There was a disrupted plot there a few years ago.

Paul, I wonder if I can ask you, there's been a lot of concern that when you start dropping bombs on these groups, whether it's ISIS or Al Khorasan, that that shakes the hornet's nest, so to speak, and that gets them to want to strike back as quickly as they can, one to demonstrate their strength, but also to take revenge.

Is that something that intelligence officials are treating seriously now as a concern?

CRUICKSHANK: Oh, Jake, very, very seriously indeed.

The ISIS spokesman, Abu Mohammed Al-Adnani, in the message, the audiotape that he put out on Sunday basically declared war against the United States, said they would eventually launch raids, by which he meant attacks on the U.S. homeland. I think there's a great deal of concern that ISIS are going to leverage their very significant capabilities to launch attacks both in Europe and the United States.

They have not had specific programs to train Westerners in the kind of bombs that you can make in the West yet, but the concern is that they now will initiate crash programs to do that, just like al Qaeda did in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region in the years after 9/11.

SCIUTTO: These groups are not relevant unless they are in the news, sadly.

Robert, I wonder if I can ask you, because the FBI director, James Comey, telling our Pamela Brown early when asked, did he think that the airstrikes on Al Khorasan group, those heavy airstrikes in that first night of these attacks inside Syria, disrupted the imminent plots that we're told to us was the justification was the spark for those strikes, and he said he's not confident at all that the airstrikes did that.

Does this get at the point that airstrikes, and we're watching them play right now out on our screen, as devastating as they seem, how much do they actually do to disrupt small, cagey terrorist groups from carrying out attacks? MCFADDEN: Well, as been consistently stated, our programs here, as

well as from administration officials, those kinds of attacks are really never designed to completely destroy by themselves a group and especially a small cell, an al Qaeda cell like what we're calling the Khorasan group.

I find of greater interest though that the director of FBI said that because that would tend to indicate that the intelligence so far, there's no indication as to the degree or depth that the cell was disrupted, killed, injured, that sort of thing. So it remains a concern, but also keeping in mind that al Qaeda, in its diminished form, goal has always been and continues to be to foment revolution, if you will, through worldwide big terrorism events.

Al Qaeda is still there, and even more important, the philosophy of al Qaeda-ism. So, that's something to be considered.

SCIUTTO: No question. It is a nervous time, for sure.

Robert McFadden, Paul Cruickshank, thanks very much for joining us.

It's now prime time for fresh airstrikes as the U.S. and allies continue their campaign to degrade and destroy the terror group ISIS, as well as Al Khorasan.

In the past 24 hours, coalition jets took aim at a new target, oil assets stolen by these militants who have used mob tactics, including murder and palm greasing and robbery and extortion, to become a self- sustaining monster on their rampage now across two Middle Eastern countries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: This is just the beginning.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Just the beginning of a campaign the Pentagon now says may take years. Airstrikes overnight killed 14 ISIS militants in Syria, according to a human rights group, with the U.S. and France striking more vehicles and warehouses inside Iraq.

And now the international coalition fighting ISIS is growing. ISIS, in its propaganda at least, remains uncowed, one video showing the stronghold of Raqqa appearing unharmed, with ISIS fighters relaxing, even singing.

But, according to the Pentagon, the terrorists' song was drowned out by this, 41 precision-guided bombs dropped last night by 16 fighter aircraft, six from the U.S., 10 from coalition forces, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the target, these oil refineries in Eastern Syria, profitable assets that ISIS uses to finance its operation, to the tune of $2 million a day. They are assets that U.S. forces are hoping to simultaneously disable and preserve.

KIRBY: We want to keep some infrastructure available, in the hopes that it can be -- these refineries can be used again one day by the moderate opposition.

SCIUTTO: The shocking beheadings by ISIS were the spark for this campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are an Islamic army.

SCIUTTO: CNN has learned that U.S. intelligence agencies have determined the identity of the man speaking in these ISIS execution videos of Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British citizen David Haines.

And this is one face of the pilots now targeting ISIS, the United Arab Emirates' first female pilot and strike team commander, Major Mariam Al Mansouri, flying in the face of a group known amongst its many acts of violence for its brutality towards women.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Coming up, ISIS still taunting the U.S., despite more airstrikes. So what has the U.S.-led coalition actually accomplished when it comes to stopping this terror group? We will take a closer look at the reality on the ground.

Plus, a dire prediction that the number of Ebola cases could rise to 1.4 million in just a few months. Now President Obama calling on the world to step up its response, but will that be enough?

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SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

You're seeing live pictures there from New York City, where we're waiting on a press conference with the Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as his police commissioner, Bill Bratton. This in reaction to this bombshell from the Iraqi prime minister, talking about the possibility of a plot by ISIS to attack subways in New York City as well as in Paris. We're going to go live to that press conference once it begins in a few moments.

But continuing now with our world lead -- the Pentagon's tally from the latest aerial assault on ISIS is 14 militants dead. Warehouses and weapons caches reduced to rubble, making the message clear, if you threaten to wage war against the U.S., the bombs almost certainly will follow. But are the fighter jets delivering a precision-guided bullet straight to the heart of the ISIS leadership?

Here to tell us more about where exactly the bombs are dropping, what they have hit and if any innocent Syrians as well has gotten caught up in the country's newest war, is our own Tom Foreman. He's over at the magic wall.

Tom, what have we found?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's difficult to tell really if they're striking at the heart here. Look at the frequency of the bombings, because this matters. If you watch it from late July, early August, where you move on, absolutely, the two most robust days have come within the past three days right there. And if we look at the map of what they hit, this was the first of those three days, broad spread bombings in various places, including the other terror group over in here. A lot of targets hit.

The next day, far fewer, down in here. And then we have the last big burst of things. Now, we only got a few indicators here, but that's because all the strikes from this area targeting the oil areas.

What did they get for all of this though? Well, in that first day, what you saw was a lot of this sort of video being released --

SCIUTTO: Tom, one quick interruption. We are going to come back to this, but I want to bring our viewers now to a live picture of New York where Mayor de Blasio to speak about the threat.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: We have the finest police force in the world focused on this issue every day. They are ever vigilant regarding any security threats to our city.

As everyone knows, we pride ourselves in close cooperation with our federal partners. Commissioner Bratton and I met earlier with the assistant director of the FBI, George Venizelos, who is here with us today. We are in close contact, close coordination with the federal government in all we are doing, and NYPD intelligence bureau, which everyone knows has outposts all over the world, and is the leader in terms of this work and local law enforcement all over the country has assessed the statements of the Iraqi prime minister. And at this point, finds no specific, credible threat.

This city operates on a basis of heightened vigilance and security on a regular basis. That was true going into the U.N. General Assembly week. That's true every week. We're going to always be mindful of any new information that we she receive. We're going to act accordingly.

But New Yorkers can rest assure, high state of vigilance and readiness is normal for all of us in New York City government. It's normal for the NYPD. It will continue.

The commissioner will talk about some of the specific actions being taken to ensure that our resources are in place and that are vigilance is intense.

But everyone should know, the most important fact right now is, we are convinced that New Yorkers are safe. We are convinced people should go about their normal routine. Terrorists want us to live in fear. We refuse to live in fear. And we, at the same time, will be watching 24/7 for any indication of a problem that we have to address in a specific manner.

I've said many times, I want to say it again, that the people of this city have an important role to play. The phrase "when you see something, say something" is not an empty phrase. It's real. The law enforcement depends on every day events to alert us of any potential threat.

So, while the NYPD and the FBI and the other agencies are out there doing their job with great professionalism and vigilance, it's important that every day New Yorkers act as their partners. And if you see something, please, say something immediately.

With that, I would like to pass the microphone to Commissioner Bratton and commend him, commend the NYPD, commend the almost 1,000 officers that we devout to counterterror operations for their extraordinary work and for all they do to keep us safe every day.

Commissioner Bratton?

BILL BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Thank you, sir.

I'll echo the mayor's comment that at the moment, that we do not have any confirmed threat directed against New York City or its subway system. A lot of the current concern is based, apparently, on a press report this morning of comments made by the prime minister for the country of Iraq. We were first notified of that "A.P." report while we were attending a funeral for a police officer, Michael Williams, who was killed in a traffic accident this past Sunday.

But immediately, based on that initial "A.P." report, we were already on a very high state of alert here in New York City due to the United Nations General Assembly, due to the fact that for the last several days, the president of the United States and many other world leaders were here and many are still here in New York City.

In addition to what we already had in place that we also put contingency plans far in advance to significantly increase our activities, particularly in the subways with the initial information seemed to focus on the subways.

Subsequent reporting or clarification of the prime minister's remarks clarified that it was not specifically focused on subways, but we err always on the side of caution and preparation. So, we have put throughout five boroughs of the city, 450 subway stations significantly increased resources. Every precinct was notified immediately and began having their sector cars (ph) checked precinct stations throughout their chores of duty throughout the city.

Additionally, we brought in all of our emergency service officers that allowed us to increase our normal complement of Hercules teams that you see in the city, so that we now have Hercules teams, also the heavy-armed officers with the Kevlar helmets and the dogs in all five boroughs. Additionally, transit has a number of their operations where they will be checking bags at several stations to detect if any explosives might be coming into the system.

We have also notified our 13,000 security partners, the directors of security for most of the major companies throughout New York about the initial information and what we are doing in response to it. Additionally, Lower Manhattan security initiative, the 7,000 cameras that we've operated, that is also been enhanced with additional observation. We have held over a number of our officers from the day tour going into the evening hours until we get a complete clarification that the prime minister's remarks in fact did not have any credible information, that U.S. and New York City intelligence services were not aware of.

At this time, the people of this city should feel very comfortable and secure moving through the subways. We want to train loaded with a lot of Yankees' fans heading up to Yankee Stadium to celebrate the retirement of --

SCIUTTO: You heard it there, both the New York City mayor and the police commissioner Bill Bratton saying there is no credible threat to the New York City subway systems despite the comments earlier in the day from the Iraqi Prime Minister Al Abadi. The mayor saying that city remains ever vigilant and that New Yorkers go today should go about their daily lives. The police commissioner going on to say that as those initial reports of the attack -- of the threat rather came out, that they did put contingency plans in place in the subway system as a precaution.

I want to bring back our terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank there.

So, Paul, an incredible turn of events. You have almost a panic earlier today when we first heard that threat from the Iraqi prime minister, and now, both the mayor and police commissioner knocked it down. That's an incredible turn in just a short span of time.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It is pouring a lot of cold water over this threat. They seem to believe it's not specific, that it's not particularly credible. But, of course, we know that terrorists do want to attack New York, that's pretty much their top target. And they do want to attack New York subway system. We've seen plots in the past from al Qaeda. They think that could make a very, very big economic impact on the United States.

Obviously, anybody who lives in New York realizes that the subways are absolutely crucial to this city getting around.

SCIUTTO: Well, that is -- we've witnessed over the course of that the worst way possible to get information intelligence out there, unconfirmed and now had people worried but we had both De Blasio and Bratton saying that Americans should feel very comfortable, in their words today and that is certainly a relief.

Thanks very much to Paul Cruickshank. Coming up next, a country completely overwhelmed at how rapidly the killer Ebola epidemic is spreading. So, what does the Liberian foreign minister need now from the international community? He's here in the U.S. right now, he's going to join me next.

Plus, President Obama expected to speak on Eric Holder's resignation. That's any minute as critics fire off complaints about the attorney general. We're going to go live to the president. That's just ahead as well.

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