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American Charged With Supporting ISIS; Two Major Port Cities In Yemen Under Siege; CNN Visits Aden Military Hospital; Americans Fleeing Yemen; Seeking Help In Djibouti; Militant Forces On Edge Of Ramadi; Iraqis Flee Militant Advance Near Baghdad; U.S. Defense Secretary Holds First News Conference; Model Fights For ISIS; No-Fly Zone Scare; Due In Court After Capitol Stunt. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 16, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

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 Aden, Yemen. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We have breaking news here on CNN. Details of yet another American now charged formally, not yet formally indicted, actually he has been formally indicted, with trying to help ISIS and possibly commit terror acts here in the United States.

Let's get the details. Our Justice Reporter Evan Perez is joining us now. So, walk us through what we have just learned of it.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Wolf, his name is Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud. He's 23 years old. He lives in Columbus, Ohio. He was arrested in February, actually, by state authorities there in Ohio, and charged with terrorism and money laundering charges. The federal government now has added its own charges.

According to the Justice Department, he left the United States last year in April of 2014 to go join the Al Nusra front in Syria. And, according to this indictment from the Justice Department, he participated in training, got training in weapons and in explosives and was sent back to the United States to carry out an attack here in the United States.

Now, that's the first time we've seen something that U.S. officials have been warning us a lot about, Wolf, which is the fear that these people who are traveling over to Syria and Iraq would come back here and try to carry out an attack. This is a case in which, allegedly, this is what this young man was planning to do.

Now, his brother whose name -- went by the name Aden (ph) left the U.S. in May of 2013. He also joined Al Nusra. He died in 2013 while fighting (INAUDIBLE) there -- went over there. Talked to him online, according to the Justice Department, says he wanted to join you in the high ranks as a Mujahid which is part of what he -- why he went over there last year. Now, he became a U.S. citizen in February of 2014, Wolf. And just two months later, went over there to join the fight with Al Nusra. Again, this is something that he looked at all the different militant groups over there, which one to join, ISIS and so on, and decided Al Nusra was the one he was going to join.

BLITZER: And it was interesting because if you read the indictment that there's an interesting little nugget there. He actually bought a ticket to fly from the United States to Greece with a stopover in Istanbul, Turkey, then a connecting flight to Athens, Greece. He never took the Athens flight from Istanbul. He simply, instead, went across the border into Syria.

PEREZ: Well, yes, he had it very well planned. According to this document from the Justice Department, he had it very well planned. He knew exactly where he was going to go, who he was going to meet. It's a very fascinating map of how these people can get over there.

BLITZER: And if you believe the indictment, he pretended he wanted to go to Greece, but he really just wanted to go to Turkey to cross into Syria --

PEREZ: Exactly.

BLITZER: -- and join with the terror groups. All right, Evan, thanks very much.

Let's go to Yemen right now where two major port cities are under siege, Al Mukalla and Aden. CNN has confirmed Al Qaeda-linked fighters today overtook the airport in Al Mukalla. That's a major port city and capital of Yemen's largest province. Al Qaeda had overrun the city earlier this month and today overran troops protecting the airport.

And in the port city of Aden, rebels and military forces are clashing for control.

In a CNN exclusive, our Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir is joining us now live. She's on a boat off the coast of Aden. Nima, you just got back from a military hospital in Aden where you visited with wounded military personnel and civilians. What was it like? What did you see there?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was just extraordinarily desperate, Wolf. This was what was purely a military hospital but because of the way the front lines have crisscrossed Aden into no-go zones, it's now become the major hospital for civilians. And I spoke to one of the doctors and he said to me, we've lost count. We simply don't know how many dead, dying and wounded we've had to take in.

When we were there, a five-year-old boy had been brought in to be treated for shrapnel wounds to his stomach. He'd been hit inside his friend's home, Wolf. Another little girl, she actually just had a minor surgical operation. The shelling was so violent that it split her stitches. Her family said they hid in their homes for three days, unable to head to the hospital while she bled. Luckily she survived. But so many others haven't. Dozens of children, according to the U.N., have been killed. Caught in the crossfire.

And that's what so horrifying about the conflict in Aden. It is street by street. There are very few defying front lines. And we were lucky because we were able to go to one of the smaller ports. But past a few streets into that Dawahi district, you start coming across streets that are completely deserted because of snipers, streets that no one can go down because they don't know what's going to meet them on the other side of that.

[13:05:08] All the while, there is essentially a siege going on. It is very, very difficult to get any kind of aid or medical surprise. We visited a bakery where people have been queuing (ph) around the clock. And it's running out. We went and saw the last reserves of flour and they looked at us and said, when this is gone, there is nothing else -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nima, I know the U.S. embassy was evacuated in Yemen, all U.S. military diplomats -- all U.S. military personnel, diplomats, every -- all the official U.S. contingent there, they've abandoned Yemen. But there are still hundreds, if not a few thousand, U.S. citizens stranded in Yemen, mostly duel citizens, Yemeni Americans. Many of them, hundreds are now trying to flee on foreign ships. We know the U.S. embassy nearby in Djibouti is trying to help as many as they can. What do you see as part of this story, Americans trying to flee Yemen right now?

ELBAGIR: Well, we have met a few and we met them down at the port and they said that they felt abandoned, that they have seen -- and these are their words, Wolf, that they have seen other circumstances in which they felt that the U.S. government went over and above to try and go in and get their citizens out. Why isn't it happening for them? And it is so difficult to get in or out. It took us 40 hours to chart a secure route from Djibouti by sea to Aden and they're not very far away from each other. But there are just so many security potholes that you can fall into along the way.

Can you imagine try --

BLITZER: Unfortunately, we just lost our connection with Nima Elbagir. She's just off the coast of Aden. She was in Yemen earlier. She's now just off the coast. One of our courageous journalists on the scene for us, bringing you that exclusive report. She was reporting on how American citizens still stranded in Yemen right now feel abandoned that the U.S. government has not been able to go in as other governments have been able to in and try to rescue them. They're trying to get out of that country as quickly and as desperately as they possibly can.

From Yemen, let's go to Iraq where air strikes may be the difference today. It's stopping ISIS from sweeping into a very sensitive area in the Anbar Province.

Residents under fire there in the Anbar capital, they're pleading for reinforcements, air support to fight the advance of ISIS in Ramadi and elsewhere.

Arwa Damon was there right in the middle of the chaos. She's not back in Baghdad joining us. Arwa, you were in that danger zone. I know you came under mortar attack. What's the latest that you're seeing and hearing because, as of yesterday, it looked like ISIS could take over that key city of Ramadi?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, overnight they did make significant advances from multiple fronts towards the city center, attempting to overtake the government complex there. Now, Iraqi security forces engaging in an hour's long gun battle did manage to prevent them from doing that.

But throughout the day, we were continuing to hear those desperate pleas for air strikes, for additional military assistance from a number of government officials still inside the city.

The air strikes did finally materialize, according to one official that we were speaking to, happening on the outskirts of Ramadi there in an attempt to try to target and cut off the ISIS logistical supply routes, their ability to bring in reinforcements to boost up their fighters that are already inside the city. Some strikes happening within Ramadi in and of itself as well, especially along those front lines that is ISIS trying to push through to get closer to the government complex.

What we're hearing right now that, at least for the time being, those air strikes have served to stop the ISIS advance. But they have gained significant territory inside the city of Ramadi and that, of course, makes eventually trying to push them out all that more difficult. We're talking about a very dense city, narrow alleyways, a lot of buildings that they can take shelter in. It will turn into the kind of street-to-street running gun battles that we have been seeing taking place in other parts of the country. And then, of course, with ISIS and these built up residential areas with civilians still trapped in some of these areas using those air strikes becomes all the more difficult.

The big question has been, why has it taken this long for these air strikes to materialize? We put that to the head of the media office for Iraq's ministry of defense. He said that the assault took them by surprise. ISIS had already taken over the north, then they move into the east. The Iraqi security forces in the east decided to withdraw, according to this defense ministry official, because they did not want to put more civilian lives in jeopardy. They wanted to allow the civilians to move out before they begin engaging ISIS. But, of course, this allowed ISIS to take over massive parts of that city. This most certainly, Wolf, by all accounts, no matter how you look at it, is going to be a very difficult, bloody and costly battle.

[13:10:20] BLITZER: Presumably, it's only going to get worse. And as you noted yesterday, 150,000 people have already fled that area. You see -- you see lines after lines, 10s of thousands of people simply trying to get out with their possessions. More refugees on the way.

Arwa, be careful. Arwa is one of our courageous journalists, as well. Up in the next hour, by the way, the U.S. defense secretary, Ash

Carter, will be holding his first formal news conference since taking over at the Pentagon. He's certain to face serious questions about what is going on in Ramadi, the U.S. role in Iraq. That's scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Eastern for our North American viewers. CNN will have live coverage for you.

Coming up, a male model with a promising career on the horizon trades it all for a machine gun, an ISIS flag and, eventually in the end, a coffin.

Plus, the pilot who caused panic at the U.S. capitol gets ready to face a judge. How was he allowed to get so far in restricted air space especially when he made his plans known ahead of time?

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BLITZER: This hour, a Florida postman is due in federal court after a bizarre stunt that triggered a lockdown at the U.S. capitol. Doug Hughes says he was protesting the influence of big money in politics when he flew unchallenged into highly restricted air space and landed his gyrocopter on the capitol lawn yesterday.

[13:15:00] With him on board, letters urging every member of the U.S. Congress to reform campaign finance reform -- campaign finance laws. But no matter the intentions, the flight is raising serious security questions.

Joining us now is Andre Guillerm. He's the former U.S. Capitol police officer, currently the intelligence analyst at the Central California Intelligence Center.

Andre, you spent eight years here in Washington with the U.S. Capitol police, were you surprised something like this could happen?

ANDRE GUILLERM, FORMER U.S. CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: I was more surprised that a gyrocopter made it that far in, but in eight years at the U.S. Capitol, you come to expect the unexpected. We had ricin attacks and we had the infamous anthrax letters and recently at the White House, a drone land on the White House lawn. Capitol police have to be prepared for everything that you don't get trained for in the police academy.

BLITZER: Was there a possibility that the pilot of this little gyrocopter, a 61-year-old mailman, some have described as a flying bicycle, as he was coming in, U.S. Capitol police could have just shot him because they didn't know what he had on board?

GUILLERM: That's a tough call to make. The use of force continuum is based on threats to yourself and those around you. And it really doesn't prepare you for the approach of a gyrocopter. The police officers did a great job. They know that they're accountable for every shot that comes out of their weapon. They made an assessment. They also know that depending on where the approach was, those rounds could have hit any number of parks. It could have hit the mall. It could have hit the Congressional House office buildings. So, they were prudent in not taking that shot. You have to consider --

BLITZER: Certainly with hindsight they were prudent because we know this guy was trying to make a political statement. But as he was coming in over the Capitol, flying over this really restricted airspace, over the White House, up the mall, up to the U.S. Capitol, you don't know what he's got. You don't know if he has a machine gun, you don't know if he has a missile, you don't know if he has explosives, if he has anthrax, you don't know what he has, do you?

GUILLERM: Absolutely. They were forced to make a quick assessment and I think they took a look at -- the closer he got, the better of a view they had. I think they were prudent in their actions.

BLITZER: Better to -- well, certainly with hindsight, what we know now, they were prudent. What do they need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?

GUILLERM: That's difficult. Without putting a net over the city, it's tough. Law enforcement has been focused so much on drone issues and the kind of havoc they can wreak. Not even for nefarious purposes, just as a nuisance. Now we have a gyrocopter problem. I don't see that as being continuos, but this could have been prevented. There were people that knew ahead of time and I don't think there was a timely notification that was made to either U.S. Secret Service or the intelligence arm for the capital police.

BLITZER: Andre Guillerm, thanks very much for joining us. I know that they're investigating -- a major investigation is underway right now. We'll see what happens, What lessons are learned. Appreciate it very much.

Still ahead, that gyrocopter landing near the Capitol is raising serious, serious questions. We're going to get some answers from the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Senator Ron Johnson standing by live.

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[13:22:04] BLITZER: Let's get back to the breaking news here on CNN. Details of yet another American charged with trying to help terror groups in Syria. This from the Justice Department here in Washington. A naturalized U.S. citizen, an individual, 23 years old named Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud from Columbus, Ohio, arrested actually in February, we've only learned about it now with a formal indictment. He's reportedly traveled to Syria and went through terror training with Jabhat al-Nusra, a terror organization. Was ordered to return to the -- was ordered to return to the United States by that terror organization and to carry out an act of terror in the U.S. Federal officials announced the indictment just a little while ago.

Let's bring in my next guest, Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin. He's the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. Like you, we're just learning more about this, but this seems to be happening now almost every week. An American citizen, this particular case, a naturalized U.S. citizen, arrested on these terror charges. It looks like this problem is intensifying, but I'm anxious to get your analysis.

SEN. RON JOHNSON, (R) WISCONSIN: It is, well it's very concerning. We had a man in Madison -- in Wisconsin that was just arrested, as well, trying to travel over to the Middle East to join ISIS. This is very concerning and it's one of the reasons I have been talking about the fact that we have got to actually accomplish what President Obama laid out as a goal: degrade and defeat ISIS. Because as long as ISIS remains, as long as they're not defeated and as long as they're perceived as not losing, they're going to continue to inspire individuals like that to go join the jihad, get trained, come back and pose a threat to Western -- to America.

BLITZER: Unfortunately, it's not just ISIS here. Nusra, this other terror group in Syria, could be - Al-Shabaab, could be a core al Qaeda, could be al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP. There are a lot of these groups that are spreading and for some bizarre reason, attracting not only Europeans, but Americans, as well. Right?

JOHNSON: Wolf, we have to face reality. My concern, this administration, you know, dating way back, but, I mean, let's talk about when President Obama referred to ISIS as a JV team. I don't know if you're listening to what Lieutenant General Flynn has been talking about, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, basically talking about how we pretty well shut down the analysis of the treasure-trove of intelligence that we obtained in the Osama bin Laden raid. Willful ignorance is the charge he leveled (ph) against this administration, basing a strategy on willful ignorance. Just a denial of reality. We've got to face these harsh realities, we need an effective intelligence gathering capability with robust monitoring and oversight by Congress, no doubt about it. But intelligence gathering is our best line of defense and, fortunately, in a couple of these instances is working and we're catching these people, but how many people are slipping through? How many people are here? How many people are plotting against America? It is a real concern.

[13:25:04] BLITZER: What I hear you saying, you're concerned the U.S. intelligence community is not up to the job right now?

JOHNSON: I'm concerned that this administration is not up to the job. I'm concerned this administration is not willing to face reality that they're diluting themselves, at the same time, diluting the American public. They are not facing the threats as seriously and in as robust fashion showing the kind of strength that we really need to actually defeat this type of threat.

BLITZER: Senator, let me shift gears. Let's talk about that man who flew this gyrocopter through highly restricted airspace here in the nation's capital, actually landed on the lawn of U.S. Capitol, not very far from where you are right now. There are a lot of security questions. You would think an incident like this couldn't happen in Washington. Since 9/11, there have been antiaircraft missile systems all around this city, as you know. What does this say about U.S. ability to counter - Fortunately, this guy wanted to just make a political statement about campaign fundraising, but if he had been a terrorist, it could have been a disaster.

JOHNSON: Let's face it, there are vulnerabilities. I'm certainly launching at least a preliminary investigation talking to the agencies, I want to understand the protocols, I want to understand the decisions that were made, meaning hindsight, we're talking about hindsight. I'm glad we didn't take this gyrocopter out of the air. Because in the end, all is well that ends well. But we need to prosecute this individual and I need to find out exactly, like you said, what those protocols are and what those decisions were and we've got to do what we can to try and strengthen our defenses.

BLITZER: He was literally, we're told, flying underneath, below the radar -- the radar capability of what is going on. Arguably, the most restricted airspace in the United States between the White House, the mall and Capitol Hill. I guess they're going to have to come up with some new technology, right?

JOHNSON: Again, what I don't want to talk about is what our exact capabilities are. We don't want people to fully know that. I am concerned about, you know, a stunt like this inspiring other type of action. But this is very concerning. There is no doubt about it. That's why I'm starting to talk to these agencies and do my own preliminary investigation. I'm not sure we can hold hearings on this because, again, in the end I don't want to reveal everything that we are doing around the Capitol. In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't take this guy out because what we need to do is prosecute him, set a very strong example. We don't want anymore strong stunts like this, so that when we do take action, we are only taking action against people who are really trying to do us real harm.

BLITZER: Yeah, I agree. This guy is lucky to be alive right now. U.S. Capitol police could have easily shot him. They didn't know he had a box full of letters to be delivered to members of Congress. He could have had explosives, he could have had weapons or whatever. He is, obviously, very lucky man right now to be alive.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us.

JOHNSON: Have a great day.

BLITZER: Thank you. Ron Johnson is the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the Senate.

Up next, the lure of ISIS. We have a story of a promising male model and deejay who threw it all away, threw those prospects away in sunny Australia for the Syrian battlefield to join up with ISIS. We'll tell you what happened. Stay with us.

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