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Wolf

Australian Family Grieves for Son Killed Fighting for ISIS: Fight in Iraq Takes New Turn; Hillary Clinton's Family Tree; Bernie Sanders Talks Hillary Clinton, Presidential Race; Senate May Be Close to Loretta Lynch Confirmation. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 16, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:31:52] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

The grieving family in Australia shocked by the news that their son was killed in Syria, equally surprised that their son was fighting for ISIS.

Our Amy LaPorte has more on the aspiring model who has become the latest example of the militant group's expanding lure of young people around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHARKY JAMA, FOUGHT AND DIED 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)

BLITZER: Up next, a closer look at the fight against is in Iraq and whether the new Iraqi government is a proper partner for the United States. Stay with us.

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[13:37:27] BLITZER: The fight against ISIS in Iraq is taking a new turn with new air strikes. Coalition strikes are targeting advancing ISIS fighters near Ramadi as those militant forces move closer and closer to capturing that key city.

Joining us now from Phoenix, Arizona, retired Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, a CNN global affairs analyst and former Delta Force commander; and from Irvine, California, Bob Baer, a CNN intelligence and security analyst, former CIA operative.

Thanks for joining us.

You heard Arwa Damon, who is back in Baghdad now, saying despite those air strikes, it still looks very grim for the people of Anbar Province. Maybe 150 civilians have been forced to flee their homes and they're trying to get out of there. And the Iraqi military says they can't get the job done until the area is free of civilians because they're afraid of casualties.

Colonel Reese, you spent a month there in Iraq. Does that make any sense to you that the Iraqi military can't take on these ISIS fighters in Ramadi?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Wolf, what it does is it just makes it harder because you have the possibility of collateral damage when the civilians are there. You know, in Anbar Province, for the last six months, it's been an economy of force operation for the Iraqis just trying to keep everything in place until they could finish Tikrit and now they've switched that main effort out to the west, and ISIS knows this and the Iraqis know it and, unfortunately, the civilian population of the Iraqis are caught in the middle of this aspect. Especially with is who really has from Fallujah and east Ramadi and the Iraqis who are out to the West with the U.S. military and with where the Iraqi military is, you kind of got this island in the middle of no where with the Iraqi civilians. And it's a humanitarian issue right now.

BLITZER: Do you think, Bob Baer, it makes sense for the U.S. right now, the Obama administration with the support of Congress to go ahead and provide hundreds of millions of dollars in additional economic and military assistance to this Iraqi government right now, including some work military equipment, Apache helicopters, armored vehicles, stuff like that?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, the problem with Iraq, we're getting drawn into a quagmire. Yes, we could put billions of dollars more into it and we could train the army, but the problem is it's a country so divided that we don't have a political solution for it. We don't understand it well enough. Even the Iraqis don't. The Sunnis in al Anbar Province keep telling me they're not coming back. They're not going to let it into an Anbar. And if they have to, at one point, they will fight alongside the Islamic State. Not that they like it, but they simply don't trust the government in Baghdad and they don't believe that Abadi is the true prime minister. They still see Maliki behind every corner. So without a political solution, I don't see how we can come easily to a military solution. Pouring more money into Iraq isn't going to do it.

[13:40:00] BLITZER: You know, Colonel, further complicating all this the latest statements by the visiting Iraqi prime minister, who is here in Washington for meetings, and really going after the Saudis saying the Saudi air strikes in Yemen could spark a larger war, raising the possibility the Saudis may actually invade Iraq. The Saudi ambassador here in Washington really responded sharply to Haider al Abadi. These two so-called U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Iraq, one Sunni led, the Saudis, and one Shiite led, the Iraqis, who have a lot of backing from the Iranians who are supporting, obviously, the Shiite in Yemen. Looks like they're getting into a little fight of their own. This is very disturbing, isn't it?

REESE: Yeah, Wolf, it is. I mean, here's my perspective. If I'm the Iraqi prime minister right now, I'm worried about Iraq and not really worried about what is going on in the Iranian peninsula because I have enough of my own issues of my own with ISIS, and all the possibilities are going on because my country could be, you know, on the edge of collapse. And so I really want to focus on this. The Saudis have their issues down there.

And I would tell you, though, from an American perspective, I think and I believe it's good that we finally have all these different major countries that are starting to talk, and even if they're bickering between each other, at least we're not the ones in the middle trying to do this. We can sit back and watch where this goes. So I like to see, though, these, you know, these Arab countries getting involved and stepping up to the plate and take care of their own backyard.

BLITZER: Colonel Reese, thanks very much.

Bob Baer, thanks to you, as well.

Obviously, a very dangerous, complicated situation.

Just ahead, a potential rival sizes up Hillary Clinton's effort to connect with everyday Americans. I'll speak live with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders about Hillary Clinton's campaign and I'll ask him when will he get into this presidential contest?

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[11:46:14] BLITZER: They say to get your family tree done the fastest, run for political office. Case in point, presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, during a conversation on immigration reform on Wednesday, the former secretary of state said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All my grandparents came over here. And my grandfather went to work in a lace mill in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and worked there until he retired at 65. He started when he was a teenager and just kept going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: After a check of public census and other records, the reality is only one of Secretary Clinton's grandparents immigrated. Her paternal grandfather was born in England. The Clinton camp issued a response. Let me read it to you: "Her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and as a result she and her grandfather was an immigrant. As has been correctly pointed out, while her grandfather was an immigrant, it appears Hillary's grandmother was important shortly after her parents and siblings arrived in the United States in the early 1880s."

Certainly sounded like an announcement that he is running for president. In an interview on CNN's "New Day," the former Senate, former Rhode Island governor, Lincoln Chafee, said the words, quote, "I'm running." He was responding to a question about his criticism of Hillary Clinton over the war in Iraq. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDE CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You were criticizing her saying a vote she took in the Senate when you were in the Senate was disqualifying for the Democratic nomination.

LINCOLN CHAFEE, (R), FORMER SENATOR & FORMER RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR: That's why I'm running, because I feel strongly about where we're going as a country. Not only that vote, but also her actions as secretary of state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: But a spokeswoman for Chafee later said he did not declare himself as a candidate. She says we're still in the exploratory committee phase.

Another name on the list is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He has also been one of Hillary Clinton's vocal critics, at least on certain issues.

The Senator is here with us in our studio right now.

Thanks very much for joining us.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT: Don't ask me about my immigrant parents.

BLITZER: Or grandparents.

SANDERS: Or grandparents.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: We won't get into that. Let's talk about your presidential ambitions. You would like to be president of the United States, right?

SANDERS: Look, Wolf, we have a situation where our country today has more serious problems than since the Great Depression. The reality is the middle class is disappearing and horrendous income in wealth and the top 0.1 percent. 99 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent. Do you think this is an issue we should deal with? I do.

BLITZER: Do you think Hillary Clinton is dealing with it?

SANDERS: I happen to like Hillary Clinton very much. I happened to know her for many, many years. Let's be clear about that. But what we need in this country, and I mean this sincerely, is a political revolution by which millions of people come together, working people say enough is enough, you know. This country belongs to all of us, not the Koch brothers and not other billionaires. And we need a government that works for us. What does that mean?

BLITZER: Can she lead that revolution?

SANDERS: That's a good question. That's something for the American people to decide.

BLITZER: What do you think?

SANDERS: As I said, she's far preferable to the Republican candidates. But the challenge now is the rally millions of Americans to stand up and people will have to determine whether or past record puts her in that position.

BLITZER: You're seriously thinking of running for president.

SANDERS: Very seriously. I'll tell you given the problems facing this country, given the record that I have in my life as mayor of Burlington, Senator from the state of Vermont. I think we have a proven track record. The issue that I have to deal with is not just for Bernie Sanders. In today's campaign finance climate where billionaires supporting huge sums of money into politics where they will take $2 billion to become president of the United States. Can a candidate who does not have that kind of support who represents working families run a strong and credible campaign?

[13:50:09] BLITZER: You know, there's no you know there's no way, fundraising-wise, you can compete with Hillary Clinton?

SANDERS: That's the point.

BLITZER: You can't even come close to that.

SANDERS: That's correct.

BLITZER: Does that mean you're not going to run?

SANDERS: It has to be a credible campaign, not just for my ego, but because all of the issues we're talking about, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, dealing with climate change, dealing with Citizens United, not having us in a perpetual war in the Middle East. All of those issues millions of people believe in, I have to carry that banner.

BLITZER: So when are you going to decide?

SANDERS: Very shortly.

BLITZER: What does that mean?

SANDERS: In a couple weeks.

BLITZER: Within two weeks?

SANDERS: Within a couple weeks. Don't pin me down on the day.

BLITZER: Well, couple weeks. Those were your words. Couple is two, right?

SANDERS: Yeah.

BLITZER: So by the end of this month, we should know whether Bernie Sanders will seek the Democratic presidential nomination. You're an Independent.

SANDERS: I am very proudly. Thanks to the people of the state of Vermont, I'm the longest serving member Independent in the history of the United States Congress. I'm very proud of that.

BLITZER: Let's go through your potential challengers. What do you think of Lincoln Chafee? He's a name.

SANDERS: Don't know Lincoln very well.

BLITZER: Haven't studied his record?

SANDERS: No.

BLITZER: What about Governor O'Malley, former governor of Maryland?

SANDERS: Met him once. Jim Webb, I do know. I served with him.

BLITZER: Jim Webb was in the Senate from Virginia.

SANDERS: I like Jim and I like him very, very much.

BLITZER: You like him more -- you like any of these people more than Hillary Clinton?

SANDERS: It's not a question of liking them. It's not liking. We got to get away from personalities.

BLITZER: Substantive policy issues. What's your biggest concern about Hillary Clinton? All the polls show her overwhelming --

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: We're doing pretty good in New Hampshire. Watch those polls in New Hampshire.

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: There's one major issue. And the major issue is how do we create a situation where we take on the billionaire class? Let me give you an example. The Republicans on the behalf of the billionaire class just repealed the estate tax, which means a $200 million tax break over 10 years for the wealthiest two-tenths of 1 percent of Americans. At the same time, they're raising taxes for lower-income and working-class Americans. Does anybody think that makes sense? It doesn't. It only makes sense because the big-money interests fund those campaigns. How do we take on the billionaire class, who has control over media, in all due respect, enormous power over Wall Street? How do we do that? And that's -- people have to judge --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Do you have concerns Hillary Clinton is not up to the job?

SANDERS: It's not a question of being up to the job. This is tough stuff. I don't know who is up to the job. But that's what the challenge is, and I think we need a president who's prepared to do that.

BLITZER: Lincoln Chafee goes after her because she supported back in 2002, 2003, the authorization to go to war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. You never liked that war to begin with. Is that an issue that should disqualify her?

SANDERS: Not disqualifying. I helped lead the effort of going to war in Iraq. I think history will prove that I was right. The war in Iraq is probably the most disastrous foreign policy blunder in the modern history of America, leading to what we're seeing today. And I am very worried that I have a number of Republican colleagues who seem to be itching for another war in the Middle East, maybe in Syria, maybe in Iran. I think that would be a disaster.

By the way, I strongly support what the president is trying to do and that is to make sure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and we do it through negotiations, not through war.

BLITZER: One final question, a social issue. Same-sex marriage, where do you stand?

SANDERS: The state of Vermont has led the nation on that. I voted against the so-called DOMA thing way back in the '90s. Obviously. I'm strongly supportive of people being able to get married regardless of sexual preference.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton has not come around in the last couple of days and she totally supports it as well. SANDERS: It's the right point of view. It's something we've held for

many years.

BLITZER: Bernie Sanders, within two weeks, you said it here, a couple of weeks, we'll know.

SANDERS: As long as you don't check my immigrants.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: We won't talk about your immigrant grandparents or great grandparents or stuff like that.

Thanks very much for joining us.

SANDERS: My pleasure.

BLITZER: Coming up, the Senate is FINALLY moving toward a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as the next United States attorney general. Or is the Senate doing that? The talks could potentially resolve her long-stalled nomination. She was nominated six months ago, still hasn't had a vote. We'll give you the latest information. Stay with us.

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[13:58:00] BLITZER: We're following an important developing story up on Capitol Hill. After months and months of delay, the Senate finally may be close to an agreement that would allow a vote on confirming Loretta Lynch as the nation's first African-American female attorney general.

Let's get to our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

What's the latest, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is first of all to keep in mind what has been holding up Loretta Lynch. It's not because she lacks the votes. By our count, she has the 51 votes needed to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. But still, she has been delayed as the White House repeats over and over again, longer than any attorney general nominee since the Reagan years, about three decades ago, and even twice as long as any other nominee I think since the past seven between her committee approval, which was done, and the Senate floor vote. So the question is, so what's the hold up? It's actually on something completely unrelated. A human trafficking bill, which also has very broad bipartisan support, that has been mired in differences over abortion language, restrictions on abortion and federal money being used for that. So that is why -- the whole reason why Loretta Lynch has been held up. The majority leader won't let her nomination go before human trafficking is agreed to. Today we're told by Democratic and Republican sources they're closing in on a deal to get human trafficking done. So once that gets done, then you could actually see a vote on the attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, which again has been held up for a very long time -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Let's see what happens.

Thanks very much, Dana, for that.

We leave you with this note. Israelis pause today as sirens pierced the air this morning marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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(SIRENS)

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[13:59:50] BLITZER: Drivers stopped, stepped out of their cars. They and others bowed their heads as the nation came to a two-minute standstill to remember the six billion Jews killed during the Holocaust and the end of World War II.

That's it for me. Thanks for watching. The news continues next on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.