Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Palestinian Man Stabs Bus Driver and Passengers; Netanyahu to Address Congress on Iran; Power Struggle in Yemen; Rebels Take over Yemen Palace; Interview with Reince Priebus; Obama Threatens GOP

Aired January 21, 2015 - 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: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 9:00 p.m. in Moscow. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with a brazen and brutal terror attack in Israel. Police say a Palestinian man stabbed nine people including the driver and passengers on a bus in Tel Aviv. Four of them were seriously injured.

Video obtained by our affiliate Channel 10 shows the attacker stabbing a woman. A warning, this video is disturbing. You can see the man running up behind the woman in the blue coat who's trying to get away. He stabs her, and she falls to the ground. Police later shot the attacker in the leg. He's under arrest and is being questioned right now.

Our Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott is in Israel. She's joining us from Jerusalem. Elise, what's been the response to this attack, both from the Israeli government and from the Palestinian authority?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Israeli authorities, really, captured this man right after the attack happened and they were interrogating him trying to see if he was working with anybody. It doesn't seem that he was. It seems that it was more of one of these so-called lone wolf attacks.

But what the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that it's Palestinian incitement against the Israelis, anti-Semitism that we've seen not just in Israel but around the world, in Paris last week for instance, that inspires Palestinians to make attacks against Palestinians. And that was after Hamas praised the attacks. There's no implication at all that Hamas was involved, Wolf. But, certainly, Hamas praising the attack and saying that the Israelis deserved it because of their treatment of the Palestinians.

BLITZER: Has there been any official reaction, yet, from the Palestinian authority leadership?

LABOTT: No, there hasn't, Wolf. Now, this 23-year-old Palestinian from the west bank city of Tulkarem was shot in the leg, as we said. He's in police custody in the hospital. We understand his mother was also called to the -- to the Israeli authorities to talk to them. We're not really sure what the status of her is.

But right now, there's no indication that this is any kind of larger plot or anything like that.

BLITZER: All right. I know you'll stay on top of this story.

Another developing story unfolding, right now, is the invitation by the House speaker, John Boehner, to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to come to Washington, address the joint session of Congress on the issue of Iran. How's that playing over there? I know the prime minister has accepted this invitation. It comes in the midst the president of the United States warning Congress, don't pass any additional sanctions against Iran right now in the midst of these negotiations to deal with Iran's nuclear program that could undermine these negotiations. What's going on?

LABOTT: Well, that's right. That story broken by our own Dana Bash on the Hill. The Israelis aren't saying anything right now. I tried to reach out to Prime Minister Netanyahu's office. They said, we have nothing to say, at this point. Not confirming the visit. And why is that, Wolf? Presumably, because the White House might not be so happy about that. As you said, this comes right after the president laid down the gauntlet last night at the State of the Union, saying he would veto any legislation with new sanctions against Iran. That he feels that that would really tie his negotiators' hands in those Iranian nuclear negotiations.

But, you know, House speaker, Boehner, the rest of the Congress feels very differently. They're really trying to send a message to this White House that they think that the president is going on the wrong course of Iran and certainly that's a sympathetic argument that you find here in Israel. The Israelis not supportive of these negotiations, not supportive of his deal.

So, what they're trying to do is bringing the Israeli prime minister over to the Congress is to send a message, a real poke in the eye to this administration on its course with Iran.

BLITZER: All right. Elise Labott in Jerusalem for us. Thanks, Elise, very much.

Let's get some more insight into both of these developments, the attack in Israel, the larger Middle East conflict, what's going on. Ambassador Mark Ginsberg is joining us. He's the former U.S. ambassador to Morocco. He's the CEO of PeaceWorks Foundation and the OneVoice movement that dedicated to trying to forge a two-state solution in the Middle East, Israel living alongside Palestine.

Ambassador, first of all, these stabbings in Tel Aviv, that's only going to further anger Israelis and certainly undermine any efforts, including any efforts that are underway, right now, to try to revive the two-state solution negotiations.

MARC GINSBERG, FORMER AMBASSADOR, MOROCCO: Well, there's no doubt, Wolf. And the fact is that these lone wolf attacks have been occurring, largely in Jerusalem, during the last few months as the escalation and hostilities between the Palestinians and Israelis as a result of the recent war between Israel and Hamas. And as you know, Wolf, this attack in Tel Aviv is -- represents one of the largest terrorist attacks that have been committed in Tel Aviv in years. And so, it clearly is going to weigh heavily on the conscience of Israelis, particularly going into the election campaign.

BLITZER: But it sounds like -- if you heard what Elise's report was, it sounds like this guy was just some lone wolf. He may have been inspired. He may have been motivated. But it doesn't look like a formal Hamas attack or an attack by Hezbollah or any other -- any other terror group out there. It looks like some individual that just went on a bus and started stabbing people.

GINSBERG: Well, there's no doubt. And I'm sure the Israeli investigators may wind up determining whether or not he had a relative who had been imprisoned or otherwise arrested or killed by the Israelis. He may or may not have some ties to Hamas. He may have had some gripe that required -- that radicalized him. He could very well have been any number of reasons why this man decided to go on this rampage. I think we'll have to wait to see exactly why this happened.

BLITZER: I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

On this other development, all of a sudden today, the speaker of the House, John Boehner, invites the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to come to Washington next month to address Congress on the issue of Iran, presumably the negotiations underway right now between the U.S. and others to try to end Iran's nuclear program. What do -- what do you make of this development?

GINSBERG: Well, it really is interesting, Wolf. Largely because, first of all, the invitation falls exactly on the 36th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, so I'm sure there was no coincidence about the timing of the invitation. Number two, apparently, the White House was not aware that this invitation was going to be extended by Speaker Boehner. And number three, Wolf, the fact of the matter is that Israel's right smack in the middle of a very heated election campaign. And I'm quite confident that the Israeli opposition leadership will find this invitation and effort by the United States Congress, particularly the Republican side of the Congress, to interfere directly in the Israeli election.

BLITZER: Yes, it's awkward because it comes, what, a month or so before the scheduled Israeli elections, I think March 17th or whenever. And I'm already hearing that Israeli opposition leaders, who think they were moving ahead, had a chance to defeat Netanyahu. They're upset because they think this will only elevate Netanyahu and they think it's inappropriate, right now, for the Republican leadership in Congress to, what they claim -- Isaac Hertzog, I don't think he's made any public statements, the leader of the labor party or others. But they see this as some sort of political interference a month before the Israeli elections. You understand the sensitivities there?

GINSBERG: Well, of course. And the fact is that in a very closely contested Israeli election, which the polls in Israel indicate right now, where the labor party, at least on the last polls, has a slight lead over Prime Minister Netanyahu's party. The fact is giving this type of forum to Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the issue that is seminal in his reelection campaign that is, contesting Iran's nuclear negotiations with the United States. And, by the way, coinciding with the United States' efforts to try to close a deal in February with the Iranians. This is, shall we say, all too coincidental given all the events occurring in February.

BLITZER: All right. Marc Ginsberg is the former U.S. ambassador to Morocco. He's working hard to try to establish a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine. Good luck with that. Let's hope you succeed, Ambassador Ginsberg.

GINSBERG: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Appreciate it very much.

Coming up, insurgents continuing their push to take control of Yemen's capital, including the presidential palace. Could the fighting there strengthen one of Al Qaeda's most dangerous branches? A lot of Americans are in Yemen right now and there are contingency plans to evacuate them before it's too late.

Plus, a Russian spy ship arrives in Havana just ahead of historic talks between U.S. and Cuban diplomats.

And the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, he's standing by to join me live. We'll get his reaction to the president's State of the Union address.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: France a preparing to launch a major intelligence offensive as investigators dig deeper in the M.O. of the terrorists who carried out that deadly Paris attack. Here's what we know right now. The latest developments, new surveillance video, obtained by CNN, shows gunman Amedy Coulibaly and his partner, Hayat Boumeddiene, outside a Jewish institution in Paris several months before Coulibaly's attack on that kosher supermarket. A source close to the investigation says the video makes it clear the couple was planning to carry out surveillance of other possible targets.

Meantime, France's prime minister has announced what he calls exceptional measures to respond to this new terror threat. His plan includes putting about 3,000 people with jihadi ties under surveillance, along with creating more than 1,000 new intelligence jobs. And allocating, by the way, nearly $500 million to fight extremism in France.

Now to the situation in Yemen. A very dangerous situation. It's the home to one of the deadliest branches of Al Qaeda right now. And there are concerns AQAP, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, will take advantage of all the chaos in the capital of Sana'a. There are -- some of -- these are the latest pictures we're getting in from Sana'a right away. The situation there -- the situation there very much in flux, extremely dangerous. The Houthi takeover of the -- of Sana'a raising questions over who's in power. It also raises concerns about the safety of the United States embassy and the hundreds of Americans who are in Yemen right now.

We have extensive coverage of what's going on. The stakes are enormous. Our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is the only western journalist in Yemen. Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us and our CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst, the former CIA operative, Bob Baer us joining us as well.

Nick, you're there. You're in Sana'a right now. It looks like these Shiite opposition, these rebels, these Houthi rebels, they are effectively in control of the presidential palace and other key installations, right?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they have the presidential palace. We saw that as we drove around and the Republican Guard who were in (INAUDIBLE) yesterday before the (INAUDIBLE) and they moved in. They have since pulled back. Interestingly, too, outside the presidential residence inside which President Hadi is still saying he is the president of Yemen. And, I have to point out, the Houthis haven't openly asked for him to step down. (INAUDIBLE.)

Around his residence are young Houthi militiamen, some a bit dazed, frankly, about how fast things seem to be moving. One group in possession of a tank, they would not let us anywhere near. At the same time, it's said by one Yemeni official, they're, in fact, providing part of the protection for the president in there because part of his protection detail ran away during the fighting yesterday and they've all kind of got together in remembrance (ph) of this security detail to keep him safe in there. He's not held captive I'm told by somebody who spoke to him this afternoon.

So it appears as though he's in talks with the Houthis to define what his political future is, what the Houthis want in terms of their grasp on power in the country. It's obvious they're the dominant influence on the streets here. No one's really opposing them militarily at this stage. The question is, do they want Hadi gone, do they want their candidate there or they want (INAUDIBLE) sort of a neutered Hadi with their candidates in key positions, keeping him in check? He's still there. The question is, is he running the country?

Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Barbara, there are hundreds of Americans, if not more, in Yemen right now, mostly military, obviously some diplomats, some civilians, some intelligence operatives and others. The fear is the longer the U.S. waits to evacuate them, the more endangered they will be and the more endangered U.S. special operations forces and other troops will be, will have to go in from the USS Fort McHenry or the Iwo Jima, those warships off the coast of Yemen right now, the more difficult that operation will be. So this is a delicate moment right now. At what point does the U.S. government order the evacuation of Americans?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) moments to say the least, Wolf. This will be a decision by the State Department. Do they want to shut the embassy down? Today, as we stand here, all indications are the State Department thinks they can ride it out and they want to. Their interest is in keeping the embassy open as a diplomatic outpost. It's very important to them to be there to interact. But what government do they have to interact with, that's really the question now. Is the government there so fragile, is it overtaken by the Houthis? Will the U.S. recognize any kind of Houthi regime?

This embassy in Sanaa is really the listening post and the intelligence post for so much of the U.S. counterterrorism effort against al Qaeda in Yemen. So it's important. They want to stay. But it is that fine line. If it's safe enough for them to stay, will they wind up waiting too long if the violence gets worse?

Wolf.

BLITZER: Is a third battleship on the way there or already there getting ready for a possible evacuation, Barbara?

STARR: There is a third U.S. Navy amphibious warship in the Red Sea today. This is a really interesting question. It is transiting the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on its way to a routine deployment with other orders in hand. The Navy, the Pentagon has to decide, do they want to keep it there just in case they need it? But I have to tell you, in the last several hours, the word we are getting is it does appear for now the State Department thinks they can sit tight and ride it out. But there are two Navy warships who will stay offshore and be ready to go if it comes to that, Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob, I don't know if you saw Senator Angus King. He's a member of the Intelligence Committee. He was on CNN's "New Day" earlier this morning. He's very worried about all those Americans in Yemen right now, especially the possibility they could be taken hostage, maybe by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is taking advantage of all this chaos over there to get even stronger. That's a real fear, isn't it?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, there's also the fear the Army hasn't really intervened up until this point. What side are they going to take? I mean a lot of people in the army are sympathetic to the tribes in the mountains, in effect al Qaeda, or at least Sunni fundamentalists. And what if they got in the fight? I mean this is a hard decision for the White House. If we were forced to close down in Sanaa, the embassy there, this would be a major foreign policy defeat. And as Barbara was saying, we need a government in that country to crack down on al Qaeda. There's -- you cannot do this from the air or the National Security Agency can't intercept - just intercept intelligence isn't good enough. So we need a strong central government, whether it's a Houthi-backed one or an independent one. And I can see why this decision to evacuate is -- has been delayed.

BLITZER: Yes, we know the U.S. already has evacuated the U.S. embassies in Somalia, in Libya, obviously in Syria. We'll see what happens in Yemen next. Guys, thanks very much. Up next, we'll take a closer look at President Obama's State of the

Union Address. We're going to get Republican reaction. The chairman of the Republicans National Committee, Reince Priebus, he's standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The economy and jobs were a major theme for President Obama's next-to-last State of the Union Address last night and he challenged the Republican-controlled House and Senate on a number of key issues. Let's start with the economy. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the verdict is clear, middle class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work as long as politics don't get in the way. We can't slow down businesses or put our economy at risk with government shutdowns or fiscal showdowns. We can't put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street or refighting past battles on immigration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, joining us now to get the Republican response is the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus.

Reince, thanks very much for joining us.

The president was very, very confident, some would say defiant. You might not have necessarily known the Democrats suffered a huge setback in the midterm elections only a couple of months or so ago. But he clearly seemed to be resonating with a lot of folks on the middle class right now. So what's your reaction to his various proposals to help the middle class and maybe make the extremely wealthy pay a little bit more in taxes or make the banks, the big financial institutions pay a little bit more? They were bailed out by American taxpayers six years ago, as you know. What's wrong with that?

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, I mean, my initial reaction is I thought the entire speech was sort of just strangely aloof to the world around him, whether it be foreign policy or domestic policy. So it seemed like he was detached from reality.

Now, as to the rhetoric on the middle class, I think the rhetoric is obviously political. But really isn't truthful either because what you've seen in the economy is that the jobs that have been added are jobs at the top and jobs at the very bottom. And it's actually the middle class that's hemorrhaging. And as to the middle class, there are fewer people today waking up in the morning and going to work than we've seen since Jimmy Carter's been president. So we -- he just has fundamental problems with relaying the truth. And so that's the first thing.

The second thing is -- BLITZER: But he's -- hold on a second -

PRIEBUS: I thought it was two different speeches. He had -

BLITZER: Hold on, Reince, (INAUDIBLE). Hold on one second because he says maybe he appreciates that, maybe he knows that the middle class is suffering. That's why he was reaching out and trying to help the middle class with these new tax breaks, these new tax credits, to go ahead and get the middle class a little bit more special treatment.

PRIEBUS: Understood. But the problem is, is that that statement that he made that what we're doing is working just isn't true because if he wants to tackle the middle class, he's not getting the job done because the middle class has never been more worse off since, you know, 30, 40 years ago. And so let me just get to the second point.

The second point is he talks about bipartisanship. And in reality, he talked about on one hand bipartisanship in the first part of the speech. In the second part of the speech he talked about vetoing everything that we've been talking about on the republican side that actually created this wave that we had in November. So, again, two different worlds that he's living in.

I think that we can get some things done, though, Wolf. And here's where I think the upside is. The upside is, I know that people like Paul Ryan want to work with the president on tax loopholes and some of the things that there's mutual agreement on, that some companies and some entities out there shouldn't be getting away with some of the things that they are. And I think Paul Ryan wants to deal with that. But on the same hand, he has to work with the Republicans on trying to create a, you know, a lower, flatter tax that's fairer to people across the country.

BLITZER: Yes. I think there -

PRIEBUS: So if he's willing to give and take, I think he's got an audience.

BLITZER: I think there are some opportunities in eliminating some tax loopholes. I think Republicans want to work with the president on infrastructure, building bridges and ports, sewage treatment facilities and all that.

I want to play you another clip, what the president said, referring to the Keystone pipeline. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year and make this country stronger for decades to come. Let's do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So what do you think? He wants to do a lot more - he doesn't necessarily like the Keystone pipeline, although he says he hasn't firmly made up his mind. He's waiting for the State Department to come up with a recommendation. But he does want to go ahead with a lot of infrastructure development. You do as well, right?

PRIEBUS: Well, I think there's interest in that in our party. But back to the Keystone pipeline, you know, there are a lot of Democrats that support the Keystone pipeline, as you know and you've reported. And the president's promised to veto the Keystone pipeline. In the later part of the speech, he talked about all the energy production that's taking place in America. Well, he forgot to say that it was all on private property and that because of his policies we're not getting the production out of other property, public property, government property, that we could be reaping the rewards from.

The last thing is, just as a matter of foreign policy, clearly he's not living in today's news of what's happening in Yemen, what happened yesterday between Russia and Iran, what's happening in the atrocities across the globe. I think we're in a pretty dangerous world. And I just, for one, would say, and I mean this genuinely, we want our president to shine overseas and abroad. We want him to be strong. We do not want President Obama to be weak. He has to start leading across the globe. And I think Republicans and Democrats alike really weren't buying what he was selling last night in regard to foreign policy.

BLITZER: All right, a lot of people will agree with you on that. Strong on domestic economic issues, maybe not so strong on national security issues. He's been coming under a lot of criticism in that area as well. We'll see what happens down the road.

Reince Priebus is the chairman of the Republican National Committee. You've got your hands full over there. Thanks very much, Reince, for joining us.

PRIEBUS: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, Reince Priebus joining us from Washington.

Up next, the president's push on Cuba and normalizing relations with the Castro regime. We're going to hear from the first Cuban-American elected to Congress and get her take on the president's plan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)