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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Battle Against ISIS; North Carolina Muslim Students Killed: FBI Looking Into Case As Possible Hate Crime

Aired February 13, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS terrorists wearing Iraqi army uniforms infiltrating a military base with American soldiers.

I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.

The world lead, ISIS blazing a trail of terror across Iraq. Now the terrorists have taken a town and are trying to push into an air base where there are hundreds of U.S. troops. How vulnerable are these Americans?

The buried lead. They could literally freeze to death, 26 people marooned in the Antarctic Circle, their fishing boat stuck in the ice 900 miles away from land. We will talk to a commander on the Coast Guard cutter in the middle of a rescue attempt to save them.

Plus the politics lead. Bogie and Bacall they are not, but two Supreme Court justices that agree on virtually nothing when it comes to the U.S. Constitution are chums, even going on exotic vacations together.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We have some breaking news in the politics lead today. Just in the last few minutes, a Democratic governor has resigned after members of his own party said he needed to go. We will tell you much more about this story and how it came to this later this hour.

But, first, we are going to begin today with our world lead,ISIS bearing down on a key Iraqi base with 300 U.S. troops stationed inside. Today, around the time of the noon call to prayer in the region, ISIS terrorists rushed the gates of the Ayn al-Asad Air Base, eight would-be suicide bombers trying to destroy the perimeter to make a path for more ISIS terrorists. Iraqi and American officials say all of the would-be suicide bombers were killed by Iraqi security forces, but according to the Pentagon, most if not all of them were wearing Iraqi military uniforms.

Now, the preamble to this attack came just after sunrise today a little less than 10 miles away when ISIS militants took control of the town of al-Baghdadi. Sleeper cells apparently woke up inside the town, seizing control of house after house. An Iraqi official now saying the terrorists control 90 percent of that town, the base well within range, we should point out, of mortars and Katyusha rockets fired by ISIS.

Let's get right to Phil Black. He's in Northern Iraq.

Phil, Iraqi security forces called for Iraqi reinforcements earlier today. What is happening on the ground there right now? Did they get those reinforcements?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If they did arrive, Jake, it didn't really change events on the ground. The fighting continued through the day. And come nightfall it is still very much ISIS that is in control of al-Baghdadi, certainly the majority of it, around 90 percent, as you say there.

That gives them a very firm foothold upon which to launch more attacks against that air base, not that far away, and the Pentagon expects that they will do just that. This is just the latest really in the many land grabs that ISIS has launched successfully through that Western Anbar province of Iraq. It is a region of Iraq where ISIS has stayed on the offensive, on the front foot and the efforts of the Iraqi army and local tribes have not been able to slow them down -- Jake.

TAPPER: Phil, Iraqi officials tell CNN that ISIS terrorists are already trying to cut off any escape routes from the Al Asad Air Base. They are laying mines and IEDs. It sounds like the start of a prolonged siege, yes?

BLACK: Well, it's straight from the ISIS playbook really. We have seen this in a number of places. It's standard, very quickly, when ISIS is unable to physically occupy a space themselves. They simply don't have the fighters. Perhaps they are retreating. They very quickly, very efficiently rig explosives across all the buildings in the area set to detonate for when people return.

They do the same with roadside bombs and so forth. We have seen huge piles of bombs that have been cleared from areas that were occupied from ISIS. We have also seen whole villages flattened because the forces opposing ISIS don't always have the time, the energy to go through and de-rig them carefully. Sometimes, they just blow them safely. But that, of course, has a serious and devastating effect on the area.

And, of course, they are very effective at taking the enemies' lives as well. ISIS has claimed many lives through using these sorts of devices. It would come as no surprise that they would be doing so around this facility as well, Jake.

TAPPER: Phil Black in Northern Iraq, thank you, sir. Stay safe.

I want to bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

Jim, you talked with the spokesman for the Pentagon, Rear Admiral John Kirby. He made it sound as if this attack was not a perimeter breach and did not immediately threaten U.S. troops, but that it could get very, very bad very quickly potentially.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the threat is ongoing because you have that ISIS presence so close.

And, undoubtedly, he expects and we expect them to continue to attempt to attack this base. The fact is, in today's attack, U.S. forces were, the Pentagon says, kilometers away of where it took place, so picture at least a mile away. The base itself as big as Boulder, Colorado, so it's a big base.

But the fact is, what's to stop ISIS from not attacking on another side of the base next time? And looking ahead as U.S. forces are more forward deployed around Iraq outside of the population centers of Baghdad and Irbil, they may not be combat troops, but they are closer to combat and we got a taste of that today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Coalition warplanes flying over the Western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, this after ISIS militants seized the town and launched a separate assault on an Iraqi base housing U.S. military personnel.

At 7:20 in the morning, a small group of ISIS fighters dressed in stolen Iraqi military uniforms attacked the Al Asad Air Base, where more than 300 American military personnel are training Iraqi forces.

Iraqi troops fought back, killing eight suspected suicide bombers with the help of American surveillance.

(on camera): Did the attackers at any time breach the base security?

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We are still looking at this, and it's hard to say whether they breached the perimeter or not, but they certainly got to the perimeter level, at the very least. And they were immediately engaged, I think it's important to note, by Iraqi security forces right away.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): U.S. forces stationed at the base were, the Pentagon says, kilometers away from the assault and under no threat. But they were clearly closer to combat.

(on camera): Isn't it fair to say that these military personnel, particularly in Anbar, are in combat, if not combat troops, considering the threat that's around them?

KIRBY: There's no question that they are close to danger. There's no question about that. But there's not going to be a return to a combat mission on the ground. And these individuals are not in a combat mission on the ground. Now, again, as I said, they have the right to defend themselves and should they ever feel under threat, they certainly have the right, the responsibility, the obligation to shoot back.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): But Rear Admiral John Kirby told us the U.S. does have contingency plans to evacuate U.S. military personnel if necessary.

ISIS is also on the offensive in the north. Here, the terror group parading what it claims are Kurdish forces in cages after capturing them in battle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: U.S. military personnel are now positioned in four bases outside of Baghdad around Iraq and Irbil, in Taji, at the Al Asad Base and also in Besmaya again closer to where ISIS has positions and going forward, Jake, frankly puts them closer to where danger is. And Admiral Kirby acknowledged that.

TAPPER: Kind of.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Jim Sciutto, thank you so much.

I want to bring in Janine Davidson. She's a senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and also with us, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General George Joulwan.

Both of you, thank you for being with us.

General, I want to start with you. How serious a threat is this to U.S. forces on the base? Could they -- could ISIS fighters overrun the base?

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Any time you put U.S. troops in a place like Iraq, there is always potential for casualties, for combat, and we need to recognize that.

I get it isn't boots on the ground. I think all options should be on the table and what you pick out of that and prepare for depends on the situation. But they are in harm's way and they are susceptible to casualties.

TAPPER: Janine, obviously, the information is just coming in, but what do you make of these reports that the would-be suicide bombers from ISIS were wearing Iraqi army uniforms? Do you think this is a green-on-blue incident or do you think they just stole some Iraqi army uniforms and put them on? I know we don't know for sure. But what would fit ISIS' past behavior?

JANINE DAVIDSON, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Sure. It's possible they just found them and put them on, but it's probably less probable.

We do know that what has facilitated ISIS' advance over the whole last year has been that they have people interact that are sympathetic to them. As long as you have the Sunni/Shia bloody conflict that's going on, you are going to continue to have that.

TAPPER: General, shed some light on this for me. Why are U.S. forces not firing back when their base is attacked? You heard Admiral Kirby say they have the right to, but at the same time, he was also saying but U.S. forces were kilometers away. I would think the 300 people on that base most qualified to defend

that base are probably the American troops.

JOULWAN: I have been through this several times.

You have to get clarity here in terms of rules of engagement. You have to be able to have what I call hostile intent and hostile act. You don't have to wait until someone shoots at you in order to fire back. That's what needs to be done here. They need to be able to be proactive in what they're doing. They are targets.

And they need to understand that, we need to understand that, and they need to have the rules of engagement that can engage early with small arms, with artillery, et cetera.

TAPPER: If ISIS were able to take this base or at least give it a fight, is there a larger strategic importance to it beyond the fact that there are 300 American soldiers there?

DAVIDSON: Well, I think being able to take any sort of a facility where we have been operating, there is probably all kinds of military equipment they will be able to seize, there is airfield they can use, not that they have lots of air equipment.

But it actually more limits or behavior if they are able to -- it limits our options if they are able to take that location, especially right there in Anbar.

TAPPER: It sounds like you want to..

JOULWAN: Why do we have to wait until we take casualties in order to act?

TAPPER: That's what I'm wondering. You know soldiers better than I do. But the soldiers I know, I bet that they're ready, they want to get in the fight.

JOULWAN: They should be able to. We should have the rules of engagement. And the idea that somehow we are hunkered down inside of a base somewhere without being proactive in trying to try to set the right conditions for success for us doesn't make any sense to me.

And I'm surprised our commanders are living with that. They should be doing more.

TAPPER: Janine Davidson, General Joulwan, thank you so much. Appreciate your insights, as always.

Now turning to other world news and a place where the rocket shells and bullets are supposed to stop, supposed to be stopping, Ukraine. Ukraine and Russian separatists had agreed to put down their guns, but that cease-fire does not start technically until Sunday, leaving all too much time for tragedy and in the case of one terribly unlucky family, for violence to steal the lives of their three children.

Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk, Ukraine, right now. He has the details of this just agonizing story.

Nick, tell us what happened.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jake, the real fear about the cease-fire that is supposed to kick in, in 25 hours is whether there is enough angry emotion out there to make it hard to really stick.

You can hear behind me shells still impacting around the city of Donetsk. But we met one family today whose story, tragic as it is, really epitomizes how much anger there is between the lines here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): It was here Thursday night when the Kanopiovi (ph) family got their first running water for a week and quickly made the kids a bath; two-and-a-half-year-old Fiosa (ph), Nastia (ph), age 14, Basha (ph) 7, their godmother explains.

Then the first shell hit, direct here on the bath itself. All three were killed, but their parents were both in the front bedroom, whose windows didn't even shatter. This civilian area is still being shelled here 34 hours before a cease-fire. The family is now a shell, numb, in mourning, the tiny coffins ready for tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I went to get them a towel in the other room. The lights went out. Everything flew into the house. What cease-fire? I curse every day those who killed my children and all those of the country. People who want to live peacefully, we lived, grew up, took our children to school. These are not people.

WALSH: The father, Dennis (ph), is alone talking to himself, peeling vegetables for the wake.

"Grandchildren were killed," she says, "innocent. Mr. Poroshenko, your cease-fire, I welcome."

Any quiet the cease-fire may bring will ring hollow, numb, and mere hours too late here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: The key question really in the days and hours ahead is a town called Debaltseve. Ukraine still has thousands of troops in it. The separatists claim it's already there because they have encircled it.

They say they are firing leaflets and shells over it telling Ukrainian troops to surrender. Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, has already said that a town called Artemivsk was attacked today, and that is cause to doubt the cease-fire. We are already looking at a very precarious potential truce, and we aren't even there yet, Jake.

TAPPER: Just a horrible story. Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine, thank you so much. Appreciate it. In our national lead today, the FBI now looking into the killing of

three Muslim students, considering whether the murders should be classified as a hate crime, this as new video comes to light of one of the victims, saying she was blessed to be an American. Have police been too quick to label this a parking dispute? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

In our national lead today: the FBI is now looking into whether the murders of three innocent Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was a hate crime.

The case has become something of an international cause. People across this country have held vigils such as this one just a few hours ago outside the White House. Crowds honoring the lives of Deah Barakat, who was 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha who was 21, and her sister, Razan, age 19. All were shot Tuesday at a condo complex.

The suspected killer, Craig Hicks, had a history of being confrontational. His neighbors describe him as constantly angry and a Facebook page believed to have been created by Hicks was full of posts that assail religion and people of faith.

As of now, local law enforcement has not classified this as a hate crime. But should that change or is the evidence simply not there?

CNN's Jean Casarez is following this story from Chapel Hill. She joins me now.

Jean, there's even international calls now to reclassify this case.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is gaining very much internationally. In fact, today the Jordanian ambassador flew right here to North Carolina to meet with the families of the victims, Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor and her sister Razan. She, the ambassador gave her condolences to the family, said King Abdullah gives his condolences to the family and also said something very interesting, that the embassy is keeping a close watch on this investigation.

Now, it is true that the two sisters had dual citizenship, Jordanian and the United States.

Now, the president of Turkey came out this morning with a very harsh statement saying the leaders of the United States need to step forward to give a statement on this atrocity, that there needs to be a full- fledged investigation on this.

Later, the White House did have a prayer vigil for the victims and President Obama in the last two hours released a statement saying no one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like or how they worship.

Now, the day started out today with 150 civil rights organizations, faith-based organizations, writing a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder saying we are asking you for an aggressive investigation on whether the hate crimes of this country have been violated. They even asked him to step forward with a press conference and they want him to demonstrate to them that the United States and the attorney general's office cares about all parties involved.

But you know, Jake, what it really comes down to is what happened here. And sources close to CNN say that this defendant saw a car, it was in the wrong parking place, he believed, he went to the apartment of the victims with a gun and shot them to death in their apartment -- Jake.

TAPPER: Horrifying. Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

A heartbreaking segment on national public radio this morning. StoryCorps happened to have featured Yusor Abu-Salha, one of the Chapel Hill victims, in a story last May talking about her heritage and her love for the United States.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSOR ABU-SALHA: Growing up in America has been such a blessing and you know, although in some ways I do stand out, such as the hijab I wear on my head, the head covering, there are still so many ways that I feel so imbedded in the fabric that is, you know, our culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Yusor was married to Deah Barakat, the 23-year-old dental student who was also killed Tuesday.

Let's bring in Deah's sister, Suzanne Barakat.

Suzanne, first of all, obviously, our deepest condolences to you and your family for this senseless and brutal act. I hope that you and your family are at least finding comfort in the interest and support in this case from all over the world.

SUZANNE BARAKAT, DEAH BARAKAT'S SISTER: Thank you for having me, Jake.

It has been tremendously heartwarming to see the outpouring of love and support. The way it started, I would say the day of the murders, an assemblywoman from the state I live in used the hashtag, #standupagainstIslam, and it's currently an open season, a time where it's an open season against Islam, Muslims in Washington, Muslims in the general media dehumanizing Muslims in movies like "American Sniper," it's incredibly inspiring right now to see that Deah and Yusor and Razan's love for their country is being reciprocated.

TAPPER: The death of your brother, his wife and her little sister is getting international attention. As Jean reported earlier, Turkey's president said that President Obama and other leaders of the Obama administration should personally say something. President Obama did say something in a statement. Has the White House or anyone in the Obama administration reached out

in any way?

BARAKAT: Not yet, but I hear they intend to and we very much appreciate it.

TAPPER: Do you -- you and your family members say that the victims here, your brother and his wife and her sister, complained about Craig Hicks, the alleged killer. Your sister-in-law told her father I think he hates us for who we are. Are there other reasons beyond that statement that make you convinced, and his statements against religion in general, that makes you believe this was anti-Muslim as opposed to just a senseless and horrific act on its own?

BARAKAT: There have been more than one instances in which he has approached Deah, Yusor, Yusor's mom and, you know, I don't know in hindsight if they should have done things differently, but they were trying to, you know, the advice that Yusor's mom gave was be kind to him because that's what we're taught in Islam is be kind to your neighbors and maybe with kindness, he can turn around.

But, of course, none of us ever imagined that this would be the result of those kinds of threats.

TAPPER: What kinds of things did he say to your family?

BARAKAT: So, occasionally, feel free to reference a previous interview where I elaborated a little more on the parking situation, but suffice it to say that on the day of the murders, the parking spot that was, quote/unquote, "disputed" had no parking -- no car in it. I wondered maybe was it Razan who was visiting her sister to keep her company had maybe parked in that spot and that triggered it.

No. They all knew not to park in this disputed visitors' parking spot. And by disputed, I mean the one that the neighbor claimed belonged to his wife and had been cleared by the apartment complex agency as open and free to all.

And despite that, they did not use it. So, this was not a parking dispute. I would like to highlight, Jake, that had roles been reversed, and no one is talking about this, but had roles been reversed and the man was Muslim, was of Arab descent, was of South Asian descent, this would have immediately been labeled an act of terror.

I haven't heard anyone use the term terrorist here, but why the double standard? He has terrorized our families. He has terrorized our lives. He has terrorized our community, locally, nationally and internationally, and it's time that people call it for what it is.

TAPPER: This man was very hostile towards organized religion. Lots of things on his Facebook page demonstrating his hostility towards religion, not just Islam but Christianity as well. Did he ever say anything that you know of that was anti-Muslim to your family members?

BARAKAT: Considering that three of them are now deceased and I can't ask them that question, and I live 3,000 miles away from them, all I know is that they have been -- I'm sorry.

TAPPER: Take your time.

BARAKAT: There are other people who I think are more appropriate to ask this question to, to make sure that all the facts are straight, but there are friends. There's the former roommate who had been harassed. And I personally have not had this experience with him so I cannot speak to that but it did exist. Yes.

TAPPER: What do you want, what does the family want? Obviously -- obviously, nothing will bring back these three young people who seem amazing and this is such a horrific event, but what does justice look like to you and your family?

BARAKAT: Justice means making sure that this never happens again, making sure that Muslims are respected, are protected, are cared for and are not left to live in fear.

I was speaking with my husband and wondering how are we going to raise children in this country if we are afraid for their safety and for their lives because of the ignorance and because of the bias -- we want to make sure that what comes out of this is awareness, is a spread of love.

We are not seeking to -- punishment is not the goal here. It is absolutely not the goal. We want everyone in solidarity globally to make sure that we all unite as humanity. Honor their lives and their legacy. We want to further the things that they were passionate about through dedication to service, their dedication to the homeless populations, to refugees abroad.

These are the things we want to focus on and we want to gather all of this energy and momentum right now and make sure that we are serving that purpose.

TAPPER: Suzanna Barakat, there is nothing I can say. I feel silly even saying our deepest condolences because it just pales to the pain that you and your family are going through right now.

But thank you for coming on and talking to us and talking about the kind of world that you want us to now live in.

We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

BARAKAT: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)