Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

U.S. Strikes Terrorists in Somalia; Obama Heading to NATO Summit; Obama and NATO to Confront Russia and ISIS; U.K. May Seize ISIS Supporters' Passports; Issues and Expectations Loom Over Obama Trip; No Strategy for ISIS: ISIS Beheads American

Aired September 02, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, U.S. military operation against the terror group responsible for last year's deadly attack on a shopping mall in Kenya. Questions this hour about whether the group's top leaders were killed.

Right now, President Obama heads to Europe as the rhetoric and the tension escalate over Ukraine. His first stop, no coincidence, Russia's next door neighbor.

And CNN speaks to three Americans being held in North Korea. We're going to get the back story on how those interviews happened and North Korea's possible message to the United States.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington. We start with an anti -- with an American anti-terror operation in Somalia, the missile strike aimed at the leadership of the Al Shabaab terror group in a coastal town south of the capital, Mogadishu. Here's what the State Department's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said about the group earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, SPOKESWOMAN, STATE DEPARTMENT: Al Shabaab is, of course, a terrorist organization. We've designated them in 2008. They've claimed credit from everything from the Westgate Mall attack to a range of attacks across northern Africa. And they're one of Al Qaeda's biggest affiliates in northern Africa. So, certainly, we take into account and we do everything we can also to take on this threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott is here with me right now. So, what do we know about exactly what happened? Because they're sort of tight-lipped on whether or not the leadership of Al Shabaab supposedly in a meeting at the site of this drone attack were killed or not killed.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Well, the Pentagon is only saying that it undertook the operations. It's not even saying who the target was. But Somali officials are talking about this meeting where the leader of Al Shabaab, Ahmed Godane, was meeting with a bunch of his top commanders and supposedly this is where the U.S. was going after them. But the U.S. won't even confirm anything about the operation. I think they want to get some DNA results, find out who actually was killed before they find anything further.

BLITZER: It was a drone strike and it were -- there were four missiles or rockets --

LABOTT: Hellfire missiles.

BLITZER: -- hellfire missiles that were launched at this target. We don't know the end result yet. This isn't the first time the United States has gone after Al Shabaab targets in Somalia.

LABOTT: That's right. In January, earlier this year, the U.S. launched a series of drone strikes against this group. And while it did kill a top commander in the intelligence unit, it was unable to get Godane. So, I think they want to be specifically firm this time and confirm this.

BLITZER: Here's a question, and I'm going to post it later to -- we have some top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee coming in. The U.S. can launch drone strikes against targets in Somalia, terror targets, against, obviously, in Iraq, which has been going on against ISIS targets, in Pakistan, Al Qaeda-related targets. Why not in Syria? Why not launch drone strikes in Syria against ISIS targets, right? And when you ask a question like that of the State Department, what do they say?

LABOTT: Well, the answer is always shifting, right? But, right now, what they're saying is it's much more difficult to know who to hit in Syria because a lot of the rebel groups, ISIS, the regime, they're all kind of glommed together. And how do you know exactly who to hit? But the criticism of this administration is that it was much easier to go after these terrorists a long time ago. And that the problem that we're facing, particularly in Iraq right now and that also is kind of one border between Iraq and Syria, is that they don't know because they didn't go after the group when it was relatively easy to do.

And what officials are saying, Wolf, is, listen, we can chew gum and walk at the same time. Al Shabaab continues to be a big threat. And what they said is what's different is there was a target of opportunity here. You had this meeting of this group of senior leadership. Those targets of opportunities don't come along every so often. And so, the U.S. is always looking, at perhaps in Syria, and we have to hope that they're looking for that opportunity where they can go after some of that senior ISIS leadership.

BLITZER: There's a political decision they have to make to go and authorize --

LABOTT: Absolutely.

BLITZER: -- air strikes --

LABOTT: Absolutely. BLITZER: -- against ISIS targets in Syria. In Iraq, we know that they've been going on. We know that these strikes against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen have been going on and elsewhere. So, it's something that we're going to ponder as we continue our coverage.

LABOTT: You also have the Somalis, apparently, looked for help from the United States in Syria to launch an air strike. You don't really have the cooperation of the Syrian regime. And the question now is is the U.S. going to look to the Syrian regime for some kind of cooperation?

BLITZER: No, I don't think that's going to happen but they are getting cooperation from the free Syrian army, the moderate opposition, and we'll see how far that goes. Elise, thanks very, very much.

We could hear some more about this operation, other operations at the top of the hour. The Pentagon is holding a briefing. We'll have coverage, of course, of that.

Meanwhile, Russian aggression global security and a brutal terrorist group on the march. Those are some of the challenges President Obama faces as he gets ready to head overseas. The president leaves later this afternoon for Estonia. It's the first leg of a trip that will take him to the NATO summit in Wales.

Among the tough issues he and other leaders are dealing with, the crisis in Ukraine, the future of NATO's military readiness and the advance by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The president's foreign policy is under lots of fire right now from critics here at home. Even one Democratic senator is questioning whether he is too cautious.

Our White House Correspondent Michelle Kosinski takes a closer look at what's ahead during the president's trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORREPSONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, the last NATO summit was in 2012 in Chicago. Does anybody remember that one? Maybe not. And remember, just less than a year ago, we were all talking about this sort of identity crisis of NATO.

Well, look at things now as the west confronts threats from Russia, from ISIS. Now, the talk is about expanding membership, boosting funding and creating an emergency response military force.

(voice-over): How is President Obama ending up in the sleepy Baltic capital of Estonia this afternoon? Just take a look at its neighbor and Russia's unceasing actions down the road in Ukraine. And, suddenly, this added-on meeting with leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania hits at the heart of what the NATO alliance is for. As the White House put it, to reaffirm our iron-clad commitment to collective defense.

Now, once again, just as we commemorate the start of World War II, NATO matters. Ukraine is looking to join. NATO's secretary-general is proposing creating a rapid response military force ready for emergency defense in 48 hours, something the White House supports. This summit now will also look at what to do next about Russia as Europe draws up new sanctions.

Yet another crisis looms to be discussed by the west and that is ISIS. With thousands of foreign fighters with western passports currently fighting in Syria, Britain's prime minister now with Europe has vowed to act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: A firm security response with a military action to go after terrorists, international cooperation on intelligence or uncompromising action against terrorists at home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: President Obama at home, while air strikes on ISIS in Iraq continue, had a bit a rough long weekend in the press, following those words on Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't have a strategy yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: With some head-turning reaction from both parties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), ARMED SERVICE COMMITTEE: The Russian bear is encountering the Obama kitty cat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTIN (D), CHAIRWOMAN, SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE: He's very cautious. Maybe in this instance, too cautious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: The president has made clear he is loath to use military force unless it is well thought out and will work, has repeatedly emphasized the need for a strong international coalition on both Russia and ISIS. Now, this NATO summit has plenty on the table.

(on camera): Well, we all know a big meeting doesn't necessarily immediately generate big decisions or big news, but I think it's pretty likely we'll see something more or sanctions against Russia here. And now, the goal for these nations is to assess the effectiveness of the international response to both Russia and ISIS and see if there's anything more to be done -- Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Michelle, thanks very much. Michelle Kosinski at the White House.

In Iraq today, relatives of Iraqi soldiers attacked by ISIS stormed the parliament in Baghdad. They're demanding answers about the fate of soldiers ISIS claims to have massacred. That happened when the terrorists overran a military base near Tikrit in June.

Britain, meanwhile, is looking for ways to target citizens suspected of trying to joining ISIS. The prime minister, David Cameron, wants to give police the power to seize their passports and other measures aimed at preventing foreign fighters from returning to the U.K.

No doubt the president of the United States has a laundry list of issues to address on his trip overseas but can he make the most of his opportunity on the international stage? We're going to discuss that. That's coming up next.

Also, it's a single computer that reportedly contained ISIS' plans to use biological weapons on thousands of civilians. We'll take a closer look at what's being called the laptop of doom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A lot of focus and attention on President Obama this week as he meets with the world leaders in Estonia and later in Wales. Plenty of issues on the table, no lack of pressure both from allies and folks here at home to get something tangible accomplished.

I want to bring in CNN's Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. I guess when you think about it, ISIS and Ukraine and now Al Shabaab, all -- there's a lot of stuff that the president's got to worry about right now as heads first to Estonia, a symbolic visit, a doorstep of Russia, but then he goes to Wales to deal with all the NATO leaders.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question NATO has a lot on its plate. And his first stop in Estonia, a couple things about that. One, it's his physical presence in Estonia. It's a NATO member right on Russia's frontier. They are the most nervous of American allies with Russia's advances in eastern Ukraine. A physical presence there makes a difference.

You'll hear him repeating the message that you've heard from the White House for some time, just recommitting itself to NATO, specifically the Article Five, the Mutual Defense Treaty, that applies to NATO allies, of course, not to Ukraine. But I think it's interesting that that message will be not just for the Estonians but also for the Russians. They're going to be speaking to two audiences when they're on the ground there. We stand with you, Estonians, and Russia, make sure you know that we stand together against you, in effect.

BLITZER: And he's got -- the president's got a tough mission ahead of him. He's got to convince the allies, the NATO allies, that, yes, there is this Article Five, the NATO treaty. If one NATO ally, whether Estonia or Poland or any other country near Russia are being attacked, all the NATO allies have to come to their defense. But these NATO allies, they're pretty nervous right now.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, they are nervous. But that -- you know, he's got a lot of jobs to do, Wolf. He's got to convince the NATO allies, overall, that he can actually lead, right?

SCIUTTO: That's right.

BORGER: I mean, he's got to do that. In this country, you have a new PEW Poll out that says that 54 percent of Americans believe that the president is not tough enough when it comes to foreign policy. Just last week, he said that he didn't have a strategy when it comes to Syria. That's because we see his cabinet is divided. We see his own ambivalence about the use of force. He hasn't told us yet whether ISIS is a direct threat to our own national security. So, you know, not only do the NATO allies have to hear from him, but I would argue that the American people still have to hear from him.

He is being cautious. And everybody would agree that's a good thing. Nobody in this country wants boots on the ground or to go to war. But even Democrats are now saying, like Dianne Feinstein over the weekend, that maybe he's a little too cautious.

SCIUTTO: Cautious to a fault.

BORGER: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And, you know, it's interesting, in terms of rallying NATO allies, the progress so far on economic sanctions, short of military steps, right -

BORGER: Right.

SCIUTTO: You now have this talk of a 48-hour reaction force to threats to NATO allies, that's a military sense.

BORGER: Right.

SCIUTTO: But so far the leadership, the coalition building on economic measures against Russia has not been encouraging. They've been very slow in coming and very piecemeal.

BORGER: But we've been leading on that.

SCIUTTO: Right.

BORGER: I mean, you know, interestingly enough, we've been the ones who have been very strong on the economic sanctions. And Europe has been a little bit more recalcitrant on that because they have more to lose, right? But when it comes to ISIS and Syria, I mean, we've heard very strong words from David Cameron, but we haven't heard, yet, have we, whether he would, in fact, join in any kind of air strikes or anything like that. SCIUTTO: Right. Right.

BORGER: In fact, we've heard just the -- hints of just the opposite.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Because the comments the president made, what was it, last Thursday, still are having a negative ripple effect -

SCIUTTO: Last week.

BORGER: Exactly.

BLITZER: When he - when he said, I don't have a strategy. And he specifically said, in terms of dealing with ISIS in Syria.

SCIUTTO: In Syria.

BLITZER: And that's caused a little heartburn (ph) down there (ph).

SCIUTTO: It has. And, of course, the White House pushback was, well, we have a strategy for Iraq, but we're still working on the strategy for Syria. The trouble is, and I speak to a number of defense officials and others, is that, you know, ISIS has a presence in both Iraq and Syria.

BORGER: Right.

SCIUTTO: You can't really have a strategy for ISIS in one country and not in the other country because it's a regional threat. In fact, not just Iraq and Syria, it's threatening the borders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey. It's a regional threat. It can't be dealt with piecemeal. That's the criticism now.

BLITZER: All right, guys, don't go too far away. We've got more to discuss. Lots more news coming up, including more on the president's foreign policy battles. The chairman and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, they're standing by to join us live. We'll talk about Russia, NATO, North Korea and the threat that ISIS poses to the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we told you earlier, the U.S. has launched an operation in Somalia targeting the al Shabaab terror network. That operation comes as President Obama faces increasing criticism at home for his supposed lack of a strategy as far as dealing with ISIS in Syria is concerned. Joining us now from Jerusalem are the two top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the chairman, California Republican, the Congressman Ed Royce, and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Eliot Engel from New York.

Congressmen, to both of you, thanks very much for joining us.

And let me get right to the issue that a lot of folks are talking about, a lack of supposedly strategy that the president has in dealing with ISIS in Syria. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Royce, how concerned are you about that, what the president said?

REP. ED ROYCE (R), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CMTE.: We're concerned. I'm not the only one concerned. I can share with you that many countries in this region are very concerned about the brutality of ISIS and they feel there needs to be an international coalition here. But that's going to require leadership on the part of the United States. That's going to require not only coordination, but a will to go after, from the air, using air power, these targets that ISIS presents, and do it before they dig in the way Hamas dug in. Right now they're vulnerable, but they've got momentum. So the time to stop them is now.

BLITZER: You agree, Congressman Engel, that the president is being perhaps too cautious? Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said maybe he's being too cautious right now in dealing with ISIS in Syria. What say you?

REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), RANKING MEMBER, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CMTE: Well, I think the president is trying to build an international coalition. Obviously, he doesn't want to repeat the mistakes where the United States does everything alone. So I think we have to look for an international coalition. But I think the president agrees that ISIS is a terrible threat. ISIS is a terrible threat to our homeland. And I think it's analogous to Afghanistan when the Russians were finally thrown out of Afghanistan, we just didn't fill any kind of a vacuum, and al Qaeda was able to have -- to get its act together in a no- man's-land and we got September 11th.

So I think what has to happen now is the world has to, and with the United States leading, has to make sure that ISIS isn't allowed to plot and plan attacks against our homeland. And frankly our NATO allies, our European friends, need to be involved too because the proximity of where the terrorists are is much closer to Europe than they are to the United States.

BLITZER: Congressman Royce, so you heard in the last 24 hours the U.S. launched hellfire drone strikes against al Shabaab targets in Somalia. As you know, the U.S. does similar strikes in Pakistan, in Yemen. Obviously, in recent weeks, in Iraq. Why not launch similar kinds of strikes against ISIS targets in Syria?

ROYCE: Precisely, because it's the same phenomenon. These are all militant organizations. In the case of ISIS certainly the most militant, the most brutal, the most dangerous. And because this strategy has proved effective in terms of suppressing terrorists, we need to deploy it here. In addition, we've got another aspect of this problem, and that is that the training done by Chechens in ISIS are training a new generation of fighters, and we could hit that training base, we should.

ENGEL: Look, we should have been --

BLITZER: All right, I want to ask both of you, congressmen, please stand by for a moment. We're getting some very depressing, sad news coming in to CNN right now. We can now report that the American journalist, Steven Sotloff, 31-

year-old freelancer, has been executed by ISIS. They've just released a videotape, ISIS, showing the execution of Stephen Sotloff. ISIS released the video. And, once again, a brutal execution. A beheading of this journalist, this American journalist. Karl Penhaul is joining us from London right now.

We know that they've posted still photos, Karl, on Twitter and elsewhere, is that right? This is coming from ISIS?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in fact, a video has also been posted online. We're showing you right now the stills. Again, that is part of our editorial policy not to show and reflect the ISIS propaganda videos that are going out and also to try and remember these people in life rather than in death. But, yes, this ISIS video, a little over two minutes in length. Once against, we are seeing a man with an apparent British accent dressed from head to toe in black, apart from sand-colored desert combat boots. He has a knife in his left hand. And the opening words there from Steven Sotloff saying that, "you know who I am by now and you know why I am here." That is the prelude, really, to what then comes. And later on in this video, we see, once again, that apparently British accented executioner then pointing his knife into the camera once again, as he did with that brutal execution video of James Foley, saying, "Obama, I am back," indicating that this is possibly the same man that took that action against James Foley, and then proceeds to pass a combat knife across Steven Foley's throat before that video fades to black.

Once it does fade to black, once again, we see a gruesome picture after that, a blood soaked body, again dressed in the orange uniform, similar to the uniforms that the Guantanamo prisoners were held in, and what appears to be a severed head on top of that body. And at the end of this video, like the last video, we see another hostage there. Apparently an indication there that he may be the next man. We're working hard to identify him, give you some more details about him.

In this video, the executioner, or apparent executioner, as he waves his knife, he says, "Obama, back off and just leave us alone." Again, brutal propaganda video once again and it seems that the worst has happened with fellow journalist freelance Steven Sotloff, 31 years old, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, the masked -- the masked ISIS figure with the British accent -- we don't know if it's the same individual, but we suspect it was who beheaded James Foley -- also says in this video, and I'm just look - coming -- just coming in, quote, he's directly addressing the president of the United States, "just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." A very blunt statement.

Karl, have you had a chance to actually hear the voice of this individual who beheaded Steven Sotloff? And can we make an initial determination whether or not it is the same individual who also beheaded James Foley?

PENHAUL: Yes, I have looked and listened to that video, Wolf, and as tough as it is, sometimes we do have to look through these things to look for clues, even though we don't show them on our air. There are a number of similarities between this video and the last video, of course, as Steven, dressed once again in that orange Guantanamo-style prison uniform. The executioner, or apparent executioner, once again dressed from head to toe in a very similar black uniform to the one that was seen in the James Foley execution video.

Once again, this person, who seems to be of similar build, stature and height to the man who appeared in the James Foley execution video, is also wearing a black ski mask-type mask over his face. He appears, once against, to be left handed. He's certainly holding that combat knife in his left-hand. He has some kind of a weapon. Difficult to tell on a quick analysis whether that's a pistol or sub machine gun strapped into a holster under his left arm. That is the same position that the executioner was holding a weapon in the previous video.

Same kind of boots as well, American-style desert combat boots and a very similar accent. Something at first blush you would say it does appears to be a southern British accent, a London accent, if you like. And certainly those words out of his mouth saying, "Obama, I am back," an indication that he certainly wants us to think that he is the very same man that appeared on that brutal James Foley execution video as well, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we remember it was only last week that Steven Sotloff's mother, Shirley Sotloff, had this extraordinary statement that you made on the al Arabiya television network appealing to al Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, to spare her son. But now we know that those words were not heed.