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Congressman: It's Like Open Season for Black Men; Australian Model, Deejay Dies Fighting for ISIS: Defense Secretary Ash Carter Press Conference. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 16, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

REP. HANK JOHNSON, (D), GEORGIA: And we've just simply had too many episodes where people are quick to pull the trigger and ask questions later. That's the problem that we have in this country, and it always seems to be the black male who is, according to statistics, four times more likely to die in police custody than any other demographic.

[14:30:22] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Why do you think, though -- I mean, you're from the south. You have probably lived discrimination at some point in time. I'm just wondering if is the reason why you say this open season, we're seeing more of this, is simply because people are more armed with cameras and dash cams and body cams.

JOHNSON: Well, you know, I said it feels like it's open season, and said that because I know this kind of misconduct has been occurring as long as anyone can remember. The problem is, or the issue is, we're now seeing it live or seeing it on video now. It is causing more people to come forward with their experiences, and it is causing more news outlets to cover critically these claims that police always make, which is that the suspect tried to reach for my weapon, I was placed in fear of imminent bodily harm, so I fired in self-defense or in defense of others. Then you turn and you really look at it --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I hear you, Congressman. I don't entirely disagree, but it's tough. I know a lot of wonderful members of law enforcement. And to paint this in broad strokes --

JOHNSON: Well, and I'm not --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- that police then would be doing the hunting just isn't fair.

JOHNSON: And I don't want to impugn the professionalism of every police officer out there, but I will say that there's a culture in law enforcement that you can see a police officer engage in some misconduct and then you don't tell anybody about it. And you cover it up. So those are the kinds of things we need to root out of the system. All police officers are not bad. I have a lot of friends who are in law enforcement, and it hurts me to have to say that, yes, law enforcement is a problem, and there's a problem that law enforcement as a whole has caused, and law enforcement needs to be a part of the process of cleaning it up.

BALDWIN: OK.

JOHNSON: So if the shoe fits, you got to wear it.

BALDWIN: Congressman Hank Johnson, Democratic Congressman from Georgia, appreciate it very much. Thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Got to move on because big news happening here just down the street in the Pentagon. I've got our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, he's standing by.

We're watching and waiting, Jim, for the defense secretary, for Ash Carter's very first news conference. Jim, let me talk to you, as you can help tee up this whole thing. This is huge. He'll be sitting with Joint Chiefs' Martin Dempsey, talking presumably ISIS, Iran, Yemen, Russia. What are you expecting?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The list starts there, Brooke. This is a busy time. It's a busy day for the Pentagon. Today you have an airfield in southeastern Yemen falling to AQAP. Yemen a continuing problem. You have the city of Ramadi in western Iraq, the largest city in Anbar Province, in danger of falling. And a day when you look at Ukraine, the Russian president denying there are Russian troops on the ground in eastern Ukraine more than a year after Russia took the territory of Crimea, which we barely hear about anymore, as Russian troops continue to advance on eastern Ukraine. These are the daily elements on the agenda of the U.S. defense secretary. That's just a sample of questions he'll be facing today. But those are the crises the Defense Department, the Obama administration face today.

BALDWIN: I know as we watch and wait -- stay with me, Jim. I know just yesterday, Defense Secretary Carter met with the Iraqi defense minister at the Pentagon. Can you tell me what they discussed?

SCIUTTO: Well, first of all, the Iraqi prime minister wants more help. You're seeing that on the ground, even in Ramadi right now. We're hearing from Iraqi officials inside the city who have been calling for more air strikes, more reinforcements from the Iraqi army, which has been unable to give the help the units inside the city need. This is a consistent problem. A big question for the defense secretary is, what does this tell us about the capabilities of Iraqi security forces nearly a year after ISIS swept into the country to take back territory from ISIS. To this point, the achievement has been in general holding back more territory from being gained by ISIS, although we may see that change in Ramadi. They had the victory in Tikrit just a couple weeks ago. But what does it say about their capability that they can still be losing ground in places. This is a major issue. Iraqis asking for more help. Of course, from the U.S. side, the U.S. asking, really demanding, that Iraq make this a more integrated force, particularly in Anbar. This is the Sunni-dominated part of the country. They bristle when you have Shiite-led militias doing the bulk of the heavy lifting. That drives those Sunni tribes on to the side of ISIS. These are the continuing challenges there. So you have "asks" in both directions. That's another issue the secretary is going to have to face tough questions on today.

[14:35:24] BALDWIN: You mentioned Ramadi. We're going to be talking to Arwa Damon, as well, who's going to be listening to Secretary Carter. She was seeing people fleeing Ramadi, all these kids and their parents terrified, obviously, of these terrorists taking over their town.

Jim, stay with me.

We're going to try to sneak a quick break in as we're waiting for the first news conference from the Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Back in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Live pictures from the Pentagon. Still see some empty seats. We'll watch and wait for the first news conference from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter momentarily.

First, the fight against ISIS goes from the sunny beaches of Australia to the battlefields of Syria. We have just learned a talented Australian model and deejay has been killed while fighting you should the black flag of ISIS.

CNN's Amy Laporte has more on the story of this young man who's become the latest example of the militant group's expanding lure of young people around the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARKY JAMA, FORMER MODEL, DEEJAY DIED FIGHTING FOR ISIS: I like to play sports. I'm very active.

AMY LAPORTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His future looked bright but somewhere along the way, 25-year old Sharky Jama chose the life on the battlefield instead of life on the cat walk. The former model and DEEJAY for Melbourne is the latest Australian believed to have been killed fighting alongside ISIS militants. His parents, learning of their son's death via a text message and a phone call. They told Australian media he left his home last year telling his parents he was going camping when he traveled to Fallujah, Iraq where he served with ISIS. A far cry from the life he lived in Australia as a popular deejay/model.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was part of a plan and all thrown off track when he had joined is and had to part ways. A tearful and heart wrenching moment for everyone involved.

LAPORTE: The Australian government said it can't confirm Jama's death but used it as a warning for would-be jihadists.

TONY ABBOTT, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: I have a very simple message to anyone who might be thinking to go overseas to join these terrorist groups. Don't. Don't. They are death cults. It is just as likely to be your death.

LAPORTE: Since the bloody rise of ISIS, Jama joined some 20 other Australians who have been killed in the conflict. But the faith of some 90 more Australians still out there on the battlefield remains unclear.

Amy LaPorte, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:44:48] BALDWIN: All right, Amy, thank you.

Again, waiting from this first news conference from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

Meantime, as investigators figure out how this mailman landed this gyrocopter yards from the capitol yesterday, we'll take you live to an airfield and a pilot will show us the capabilities of this manned aircraft. Plus, the pilot who landed near the capitol is right now in court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we go to the Pentagon.

ASHTON CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My first priority is to help the president make the best possible national security decisions and then to implement those decisions. My second priority is to ensure the strength and health of our wonderful personnel around the world. And my third is about the future of our force, our people and our technology, and as I say, to think outside our five-sided box here.

To achieve those priorities, I've traveled to Afghanistan and Kuwait to meet with American personnel working on two important missions there, worked with Congress to secure the resources we need to protect the country and continue to build the force of the future and get stability in the defense budget. I've spoken with our partners in the State Department and other agencies about working together in new ways and on new endeavors and visited with allies and partners, both here in Washington and just last week in the Asia Pacific. I met with our men and women in uniform around the country and abroad to say thank you and to make sure that all of our people past, present and future are treated with dignity and respect.

The work continued this week. For example, we had productive discussions with the Iraqi prime minister and the Iraqi defense minister about our partnership and the real progress we're making in the campaign against ISIL. I was up front in our meetings about how a lasting victory over ISIL requires inclusive governance in Baghdad and respect for local populations in all areas liberated from ISIL control.

And it'll continue next week. On Wednesday, I'm going to speak with ROTC cadets and midshipmen in Washington about sexual assault prevention and response. Then I'm going to meet with battalion and brigade-level first responders to get their perspective on preventing sexual assault and on combating retaliation. Next week, I'll travel to California to Silicon Valley, deliver a lecture at Stanford University on the future of technology, innovation and cyber security. And then I'll meet with some technology executives out there to discuss how we can work together better.

There's much more to say, but I'm open to questions on any topics whatsoever that you may have.

Before I do that, let me just tell you how much I appreciate what you do every day, the role you play in our society and the role you play in this building. I've worked in the Pentagon for many years, and we all really count on you to explain to our citizens and the world what we're doing to defend our country. On occasion, I understand, to hold us to account. But I know that it's all with the best of intentions. And I thank you.

With that, let me turn things over to Marty, and we'll answer your questions.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

I'll add a point of two of emphasis coming out of our meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Abadi. The government of Iraq has made gains and trends are moving in the right direction. There remains a lot of hard work in integrating their militias under state command and control as Iraq continues to prepare its forces to sustain momentum against ISIL. The efforts of Prime Minister Abadi during the Tikrit offensive are a good step. We'll continue to consult with Iraq's leadership as they plan and conduct their operations.

I'm encouraged by the commitment of the coalition. You may know that there's been an addition of 300 Australian troops and 100 New Zealand troops to the training mission, and that will certainly contribute to the outcomes we all seek. They join a notable list of international partners who are building partnership capacity mission, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy, and of course the United States.

Around the globe, I can tell you our men and women in uniform are focused and doing what the nation needs them to do.

The security environment remains as dynamic as it's ever been. We remain focused on ensuring our troops have the leadership, the training, and the resources to accomplish the tasks we ask of them.

With that, I, too, am happy to answer your questions.

CARTER: I'll call on reporters. We'll start with Bob.

[14:45:30] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, question for each of you. On Yemen, al Qaeda forces have captured a major airport, a sea port, and an oil terminal today. I'm wondering if you think the focus on the Houthi rebels has had the unintended consequence of presenting new opportunities for al Qaeda in Yemen. Does that give you any pause about the wisdom of the Saudi air campaign and the U.S. Support for that?

CARTER: Well, I've --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Also, a question for General Dempsey as well, if you don't mind.

General Dempsey, you were talking about Iraq. Today, there's been reports that the ISIL forces have made important advances on Ramadi, having already captured apparently some smaller places around Ramadi. I'm wondering whether you feel that Ramadi is in danger of falling, and what does it say about the way ahead, the difficulty of the way ahead for the Iraqi forces?

CARTER: Thanks, Bob. So Yemen first. I've seen reports to that effect also. What that suggests is that, yes, AQAP provides opportunity in the environment created by the turmoil in Yemen. AQAP, just to remind you, is a branch of al Qaeda that's shown a particular determination to attack us on our homeland and is therefore of serious concern to us. We continue to watch them and take action against AQAP. It's obvious it's easier to do our counterterrorism operations against AQAP when there's a settled government in Yemen. There's not that now. We, for that reason and other reasons, hope there will be and are trying to work with others in that direction, but in the meantime, we need to and do through other means protect ourselves against AQAP because they are dangerous and there are other things we can do to act against them and we are.

DEMPSEY: On Iraq, let me make a distinction between the military offensive that's going up north of Baghdad, up and into Tikrit and eventually up to Kirkuk in Anbar Province. So the offensive north of Baghdad has been deliberate, measured, steady progress. Anbar has always been kind of pockets of ISF, Iraqi security force, and pockets of ISIL. So it's been a much more dynamic back and forth. This latest attack on Ramadi is yet another indication that what the government of Iraq really needs to do is connect these ink blots, if you will, of their legitimate security forces so that there isn't this constant back and forth. That was the topic of our conversation with Prime Minister Abadi yesterday. It is his intent to focus now on Anbar Province.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is that why they need additional U.S. help, weapons?

DEMPSEY: It's part of the reason. We didn't talk about specifying any particular kind of support to the Anbar offensive but rather the concept of an Anbar offensive while maintaining pressure north of Baghdad as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question to Jim Sciutto of CNN.

SCIUTTO: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. I'd like to say welcome back. Just a brief follow on Yemen, and I want to ask you about Ukraine. But in light of the fact AQAP consistently described by U.S. counter-terror officials as the principal, most severe threat, or one of the two most severe threats, of course, in route to the U.S. homeland, with U.S. military assets out of there, the withdrawal of diplomats, a great number of U.S. intelligence resources, I wonder if you could articulate for the American people how much greater is the AQAP threat to Americans today due to AQAP's advance, gaining territory there, and due to the loss of American assets on the ground there, target them, track them, et cetera.

(CROSSTALK)

CARTER: As I said, our efforts have to change their character but remain steady in their intensity. This is a group that, as you indicated, and as I indicated earlier, does show determination to not only fight on the ground in Yemen, which is what you referred to, but also strike at the United States. It's easier for us to operate against a group like that if we have the cooperation of a stable government, as was the case in the past. But if we don't have a stable government, as is the case in the current circumstance, we have to use other means to protect ourselves, and that's what we're doing.

[14:50:34] SCIUTTO: But how do those other means compensate without putting U.S. Special Forces on the ground, listening posts in the capital of Sanaa, cooperation with the existing government. It's hard, I imagine, for people at home to imagine that there's the same control and response.

(CROSSTALK)

CARTER: It's easier if there's a government with which we can cooperate in existence in that country. We're not going to find that all the time in all places in the world. That's why we have counterterrorism capabilities that don't depend on that, and we resort to them and need them and use them in a circumstance like this where we need to protect ourselves anyway.

SCIUTTO: If I could just follow on Ukraine. It's more than a year since Russia took Crimea, and of course, you have the action following in eastern Ukraine and fighting flaring up despite the attempt of the cease-fire. I took note today that the Russian President Vladimir Putin again claimed there are no Russian troops on the ground in eastern Ukraine, when the intelligence is to the contrary. I just wonder how you can move the ball forward when the adversary in this case won't even grant the facts on the ground. I just wonder, as you come into this job, what evidence you have seen that the administration policy of gradually raising the economic costs on Russia is having any affect whatsoever on the ground in Ukraine.

CARTER: OK. Well, you're right, or as you suggest, the principal point of pressure the United States has been applying to Russia for some time now in account of the fact that Russia is, and we know is participating in fomenting trouble in eastern Ukraine is the economic pressure. Of course, that's not just ours, Jim. In particular, I guess it's important to note it's not especially ours. It's especially European sanctions because they have the most economic leverage over Russia. I'm not an economist, but I understand that those sanctions are having an effect on Russia, along with plummeting oil prices. Those are the two factors. So the first line of pressure for us is economic and political. And we're doing that.

With respect to the question of Russia's role in there, I think we have abundant evidence of that. The international community has abundant evidence of that. The Europeans have evidence that convinces them to take the strong economic steps that they have. And my understanding is, and my observation is, that this is having a real effect on the Russian economy and, at some point, the Russian people are going to ask themselves whether these kinds of adventures are worth the price.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Jim.

We'll try Jamie.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, good to see you again. It's been a few years. I noted at your ceremonial swearing in a while back that former Secretary Perry noted your joint efforts in attempting to denuclearize, as you termed it, North Korea and that those efforts failed. My question to you is, what lessons from that experience do you think would apply to the current situation with Iran?

And, Mr. Chairman, if I may follow on this tradition of asking each of you a question, I'm just also curious with Iran apparently now in line to get these advanced air defense systems from Russia, does that effectively take the military option off the table at some point in the future or at the very least make it enormously more complicated?

CARTER: With respect to the nuclear weapons situation in Iran, a couple of things, Jamie. First, those negotiations that are being conducted by us and our P5+1 partners with the Iranians have the objective of arresting the Iranian nuclear program, and obviously that process isn't complete yet. As the president has indicated, he's looking for a good deal, and there's no deal yet sewn up. So it's going to take some time for Secretary Kerry and the others who are negotiating that to see what kind of agreement they're able to reach with the Iranians. But we've made it clear what is necessary to satisfy us, that the agreement is a good agreement from our point of view.

For me here, our role is not to conduct those negotiations but two other things. The first is to make sure that we have, as the president says, other options on the table. That's something we take very seriously here and we do have other options on the table. And the second thing is to continue to play a stabilizing role in the region as a whole with all of our friends and allies, of which we have many there and continue to strengthen their capabilities and their confidence. So those are our two jobs here in the Department of Defense. I'm very attentive to then, as is Chairman Dempsey and everybody else.

[14:56:23] DEMPSEY: And to your question about the introduction of the S-300, the derivative they export, the air defense system, we've known about the potential for that system to be sold to Iran for several years and have accounted for it in all of our planning.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Wouldn't it present a military obstacle if there was a need in the future to conduct a strike?

DEMPSEY: The military option that I owe the president to both encourage the diplomatic solution and if the diplomacy fails to ensure that Iran doesn't achieve a nuclear weapon is intact.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. For both of you, first, with General Dempsey, I wanted to ask you about Yemen. There's wide agreement that the Houthies are backed financially by Iran, but the Saudis seem to take it further and say that the Houthies are not only supported by Iran but are controlled by Iran, sort of like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Do you agree with that, that the Houthies are a proxy or a tool of Iranian power? And also, so far, the Houthies and al Qaeda both seem to be gaining territory during the Saudi air strikes. Do the Saudis have anyone on the ground on their side in Yemen to fight as their proxy?

And for Secretary Carter, post-Tikrit, what role do you expect the Shia militias to play in Iraq, in the U.S.-supported Iraqi offensive?

DEMPSEY: So to the question about the degree of control that Iran exerts over the Houthies, if you look back at the history of their relationship, they have not exerted control in the same way that they exert control over Lebanese Hezbollah, for example. But they are a source of resources for the Houthies. And the Houthi leader himself is -- you know, considers himself to be one of the heirs of the prophet. And the sect of Shia Islam from which the Houthies draw their inspiration has an aspiration to restore that empire which existed centuries ago that included all of Yemen and parts of southern Saudi Arabia. So I don't see them as having the same kind of relationship as Lebanese Hezbollah has with Iran, but they clearly have a relationship with them. To that extent, the Saudis are right to be concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And on the second question?

DEMPSEY: Yeah, I forget what it was.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do the Saudis have anybody on the ground to fight as their proxy?

DEMPSEY: Yeah, I won't speak to who's on the ground doing what from any of the coalition partners, but I will tell you that General Lloyd Austin, our Central Command commander was in Riyad today for a day- long consultation with the Saudi leadership on their campaign plan.

CARTER: So with respect to Shiite militias in Iraq, which was your question to me, this is a subject that we discussed with the prime minister and the defense minister of Iraq, who are here this week. And the -- to go back to the important point there with which they agreed, it's important that all forces acting against ISIS in Iraq be under the control of the central Iraqi government.