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Wolf

Is There a Political Solution for Iraq; Fuad Hussein Talks Iraqis Fleeing ISIS Terror; Statement from NYT on Helicopter Crash; Trojan horse Convoy from Russia to Ukraine Separatists

Aired August 12, 2014 - 13:30   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: Welcome back to our viewers in the United Stats and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

Let's get back to our top story. The U.S. military this morning conducting what it's calling a successful air strike against ISIS fighters in northern Iraq. These kinds of air strikes are helping Kurdish fighters and Iraqi forces battle the extremist group and get some much need aid to very desperate people. Thousands of Yazidis, Christians and many others, minorities, they're still trapped, many of them on Mt. Sinjar in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Fuad Hussein is the chief of staff to Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional authority. And Fuad Hussein is joining us from Erbil.

Mr. Hussein, thanks very much for joining us.

I want you to update us, first of all, on this Iraqi military crash. The pilot was killed trying to bring badly needed supplies to the religious minorities who are stranded. We know Alissa Rubin, a correspondent for "The New York Times," she was seriously injured, a concussion, broken wrists. A Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament was on that helicopter. What happened? What can you tell our viewers?

FUAD HUSSEIN, CHIEF OF STAFF TO KURDISH PRESIDENT MASOUD BARZANI: Yes, we have got three Iraqi helicopters and these helicopters bring people to the mountain of Sinjar, some journalists and other members of parliament or government, to see the situation on the ground. This helicopter was there on the ground and, while moving, it hit a rock there, and then the pilot passed away, unfortunately. The others, the other people who were in the helicopter, some of them, they were slightly injured. The journalist from "The New York Times" is in good shape. She is in hospital. But she has been treated already. And I think within a short time she will be in Turkey.

BLITZER: She'll be recuperating in Turkey. We're talking about Alissa Rubin. The photographer from "The New York Times," Adam Ferguson, I take it, he is OK. What about the Yazidi member of parliament who was on board that helicopter, what do we know about her condition? HUSSEIN: No, no, all of them, they are OK. They have been slightly

injured, but they have been treated by our doctors and hospitals. So they are back.

BLITZER: How does a pilot of a helicopter die if the helicopter hits a rock, let's say, because are you sure there was no hostile fire or anything like that, it was simply a technical problem?

HUSSEIN: No, no, I'm sure, because I talked to people there, and they told me while they were watching the helicopter. I'm sure about that. It seems it was a mistake from the pilot. It hit the rock and he didn't see that and that led to the damage of the helicopter while on the ground.

BLITZER: Mr. Hussein, are you getting enough U.S. support, military hardware, equipment, to fight ISIS?

HUSSEIN: Yes, we are receiving military equipment from United States and we are grateful for that.

BLITZER: What are they giving you?

HUSSEIN: To start, just a few days ago, so it is the beginning, we received some ammunition. And we hope that we will get more because ISIS has got sophisticated weapons. They've got all kinds of weapons which the Iraqi army had. Unfortunately, these weapons, they were American originally. But ISIS has now got them and they are fighting with these weapons, so we need either the same kinds of weapons or more sophisticated weapons so we can beat ISIS.

BLITZER: So far, I'm told they've given you some ammunition basically, but ISIS, they have armored personnel carriers, tanks, very high-tech U.S. military equipment. You really, unless the United States steps up and provides you with that kind of military hardware, you're not going to be able to compete with ISIS.

HUSSEIN: That's why my president and the Kurdish leaders, all of them, they're asking the United States and other European countries to help the Kurds with weapons and to continue striking air strikes. It helps us also. But we need weapons so that our Peshmerga, our fighters, can continue the fight against those terrorist groups.

BLITZER: Will they give you those weapons, the armored personnel carriers, the tanks, the artillery? Are you going to get that kind of weaponry, attack helicopters, for example, from the United States?

HUSSEIN: Not yet, but they started. I hope they will continue. I hope we will get such kinds of weapons which can destroy the weapons that ISIS has. ISIS has got armored vehicles such as Humvee and, of course, we don't have that. They have got tanks. We don't have tanks. They have got various kinds of artilleries and we have got shortages on that, as well as munitions. So we need all kinds of equipment so that we can continue our fight against those terrorists.

BLITZER: We know the Peshmerga Kurdish fighters are very courageous, very brave, but it's hard to compete with that kind of weaponry that the ISIS forces stole from the Iraqi military after the Iraqi military simply ran away and abandoned their bases, their warehouses and simply ran away.

One final question, Mr. Hussein, before I let you go, Nouri al Maliki, will he go quietly into the night or will he fight this new government?

HUSSEIN: I don't know what Nouri Maliki is going to do but he is trying again to get back to the power. He hijacked the political process. One of the reasons why we have got all these crises have to do with his policy. Maliki must go. Few hours ago, on behalf of my president, I talked to Haider al Abadi and we are supporting him and we want to cooperate with him so we can have a new government in Baghdad and starting the fight against the state of terror ISIS groups, against the terrorist groups.

BLITZER: Fuad Hussein is the chief of staff to the Kurdish president.

Mr. Hussein, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the people of Kurdistan.

HUSSEIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: Kurdistan has been a very great friend to the United States and deserves a lot of support in this fight against ISIS. We appreciate you joining us, Fuad Hussein.

The situation in Iraq, one of the many foreign crises the U.S., the Obama administration has to deal with right now. So many questions are out there, including one awkward moment: The president's on vacation right now in Martha's Vineyard. We'll discuss the political ramifications of what's going on. That's coming up.

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BLITZER: Just getting a statement in from the executive editor of "The New York Times" on this Iraqi military helicopter that crashed and Alissa Rubin, one of the correspondents for "The New York Times," was on board, together with a photographer from "The New York Times." "Today, Alissa J. Rubin, and Adam Ferguson, were injured when an Iraqi military helicopter carrying aid to stranded refugees crashed in northern Iraq. They were airlifted to receive medical care. She is a close friend, an esteemed journalist."

That statement just coming in from "The New York Times." We wish then and everyone else only the best. The pilot of that helicopter, from the Kurdish adviser to the president, was killed in that crash. Apparently, no hostile fire, technical problem. The helicopter went into a rock and that's what happened. We'll get more information, share it with you.

The amount of these foreign crises the U.S. is dealing with now, not dealing with in some cases, seems to be growing. So many are questioning the president's decision to go to Martha's Vineyard for vacation right now after he updated Americans on the U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq. Let's bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

Gloria, you wrote a recent column talking about how the president's dealing with all these crises. It is awkward though, you got to admit, everybody admits. The president is playing golf, enjoying a few days off. But the timing right now seems to be awkward.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, it does. I'm not sure there's ever a good time for presidential vacations. I believe that a president is entitled to have some time off. I think the optics of what you were just showing, Wolf, is not terrific for the president. But he cape out and he gave a statement yesterday about Iraq. I'm sure he'll continue to do that. He's coming back to Washington soon for a weekend.

Look, I think his larger question here, Wolf, is really, the American people understand what the president is not willing to do, right, they understand he doesn't want boots on the ground. And he's also told us that this is a humanitarian mission, this is a mission to protect U.S. personnel. But also in the last few days that mission seems to have broadened. He said he also wants to cripple ISIS. So what he has to do -- and I don't care where he does it from or how he does it particularly -- I think he has to tell the American people how he's going to do that without mission creep. How you can cripple ISIS without mission creep, how long it will take? I mean, he told us other the weekend this isn't going to be a matter of days or weeks. And so how he can achieve his goals if he has a very limited way of going at it? And I think those are the questions that are now being raised by the American people that he ought to answer.

BLITZER: The president and the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, they're going to be in a little reception tonight Vernon Jordan's house on Martha's Vineyard. Vernon, an adviser to several U.S. presidents. How awkward would that be, given her criticism in that "Atlantic" interview the other day with Jeffrey Goldberg of the president's foreign policy when it comes to ISIS in Syria and Iraq?

BORGER: I think it's a little awkward. I think that may be one the reasons they're all there, to show their unity. As you know, also, Wolf, David Axelrod, former chief aide to Barack Obama, tweeted something about, you know, Hillary today, saying, you know, there it is, just to clarify, don't do stupid stuff, which is what she referred to. Means stuff like occupying Iraq in the first place, which was a tragically bad decision.

Now, don't forget -- and I'm sure David didn't forget -- that Hillary Clinton voted to go to war in Iraq, so there's a little bit of a ribbing there. And he's probably able to say things in a tweet that people in the White House who continue to be in government cannot say about Hillary Clinton. So I think, you know, Barack Obama has, so I think Barack Obama has her loyalists and Hillary Clinton has her loyalists and that subterranean war will continue to exist.

BLITZER: And it will give us an opportunity to discuss all these issues in the days and weeks --

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BORGER: You bet. You bet.

BLITZER: Gloria, thanks very much.

Coming up next, aid delivery. Is it a white horse or a Trojan horse? It depends on who you ask? The controversy over a convoy is headed to Ukraine. Stand by.

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BLITZER: The Ukrainians caught in a crossfire situated between pro- Russian rebels. They're in desperate need of food and supplies. So a Russian convoy of 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aide left Moscow today. But there's one big problem. The Ukrainian government has serious concerns about the content of those trucks.

Will Ripley is joining us live from Kiev.

Will, why is the convoy supposedly not going to be allowed to enter Ukraine.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are very serious concerns in Kiev that this convoy is a Russian Trojan horse. Some Ukrainians are even accusing the Russians of painting their military trucks white, claiming to bring in supplies to people who badly need them in battle- scared eastern Ukraine. But instead there are significant fears that inside those trucks could be a nasty surprise, possibly in the form of weapons to help those rebels. The pro-Russian rebels, who are currently surrounded by 50,000 Ukrainian troops and engaged really in what appears to be a losing battle as the troops move in to their key strong holds of Donetsk and Luhansk -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Speaking of Luhansk, a particular concern, it has been cut off from the outside world for more than a week. Has the government made any provisions to get some aid there?

RIPLEY: There have been discussions for days about how to get them the help they need. I want to show you some new video from the region so you can see what these more than 200,000 people are going through right now.

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RIPLEY: Imagine, Wolf, sitting in your home with no electricity, no running water, no communication, even your cell phone doesn't work and you hear this artillery firing, explosions all around you. Meanwhile, you're running out of food and medical supplies. That's what the families in eastern Ukraine are going through, especially in Luhansk where we're told many only have bread to eat because only the bakeries are open and that's all the food they have available. So no one here disputes that humanitarian aid is badly needed. The question, though, is how to safely get the real legitimate supplies from the families who need them.

BLITZER: It's an awful, awful situation. We'll stay on top of it.

Will Ripley is there in Kiev. We'll check back with you, Will. Thanks for that report.

That's it for me for this hour. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern, a special two-hour edition of "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next.

For our viewers in North America, NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin will be start right after a very quick break.

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