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Americans Not Safer Than Before 9/11; Did Obama Convince Americans on Syria; Two Colorado Anti-Gun State Senators Lose Recall; Can Russia's Putin Be Trusted?

Aired September 11, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So here's a question: Are there more terror threats facing the United States today than actually before the 9/11 attacks 12 years ago? The New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly, says that may very well be the case. He's standing by live. We'll get his assessment when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: New Yorkers still aren't 100 percent sure who will be the Democratic candidate in their city's mayoral race. Preliminary results from yesterday's Democratic primary show the public advocate, Bill De Blasio, in first place. He won about 40 percent of the vote. That's the threshold needed to avoid a runoff with the second place challenger, William Thompson. But it's unclear if he's clinched it. The city council speaker, Christine Quinn, and the former congressman, Anthony Weiner, conceded defeat last night.

The election took place on this, the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, a very difficult day for the city, indeed, for the entire country. Somber ceremonies were held across the United States, including at Ground Zero in New York.

Joining us from New York right now is the police commissioner, Ray Kelly.

Commissioner, thanks very much for coming in on this very important day.

RAY KELLY, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: You recently said, Commissioner, that the threat of terrorism is, in your words, "as great if not greater today than it was before the 9/11 attacks." Explain what you mean about -- because that raised a lot of eyebrows. It raised a lot of concern when I heard you say that.

KELLY: Well, obviously, core al Qaeda has been diminished somewhat in Pakistan and in the Fatah, but we see the al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, woo he see al Qaeda (INAUDIBLE) in Magrib gaining strength. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has had several plots against the United States. We see al Qaeda in Iraq which was basically defunct in 2008. They have re-emerged. We have al Nusra, the al Nusra Front in Syria that is in many ways supplied by al Qaeda in Iraq. We have al Shabaab in Somalia, still in existence, still posing a threat to us.

Now, in the last 10 months, in New York City, we have had several threats against the city. We had an individual, five blocks away from where I stand, thought that he was exploding a bomb that was going to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank. Obviously, that was a sting well put together by the FBI. We had two other individuals who came here last November, the brothers who were plotting to have bombs go off at iconic locations in New York City. We just had a young man a few months ago based on some significant undercover work, he was arrested, going to Yemen to learn about terrorism and terrorism trade craft, and we're sure that he would have come back here. We had another plot where individuals were arrested and one of the things they were going to do was to attack a train going from New York City to Canada.

BLITZER: Well --

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: And we had the Boston bombers who were coming back here to New York.

So these are some things that are not necessarily in the public eye. I think they should be. But that's the life that we live here. We've had at least 16 plots directed at New York City since 9/11. So that doesn't look to me like a significant reduction of the threat.

BLITZER: Let me ask you this. Are these so-called lone-wolf individuals who are inspired by al Qaeda or are these terrorists ideologies, or are these coordinated plots by individuals from overseas who are using these people here in the United States, which was the case, of course, on 9/11?

KELLY: Well, we think it's both. Certainly, cases where individuals go back, go to Pakistan or go to other countries, learn and how to do bad things and come back to the United States. And we've seen that. The brothers we talked about certainly spent time in Pakistan. We were not 100 percent certainly exactly what they experienced when they were there. We saw the older Tsarnaev brother who conducted the Boston bombing. So I think it's a combination of both. Clearly, there are people who are inspired, motivated by the Internet. That's the world in which we live. So it's not only one singular threat that we face.

BLITZER: Commissioner, listen to this little line that the president delivered last night in his address to the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have to reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them. Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and use them to attack civilians. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That last line jumped out at me. I'm sure it did at you, as well. Here's the blunt question: Is New York City ready, prepared to deal potentially -- we hope it never happens -- with a sarin gas attack by terrorists?

KELLY: Well, when you say equipped, obviously, it would be a very traumatic event. We do have chemical agent detectors deployed in our city. Our police officers have mass rapid response masks to protect them, but the citizenry is exposed. So it would be a very, very terrible event to happen here on the streets of New York City. I think we are prepared as best we can as a locality. But you know, use of chemical agents in a built-up area is certainly of concern to us.

BLITZER: It would be a horrendous development. Let's hope it never happens.

Commissioner Kelly, thanks very much for joining us, especially on this 12th anniversary of 9/11. Thank you.

KELLY: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: President Obama makes his case for attacking Syria, but not necessarily right now. We're going to take a closer look at how well he delivered his message to some very skeptical Americans. Gloria Borger is standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The president explains to the nation why he thinks the United States should take military action against Syria. So here's a question: Was he effective? In a CNN/ORC instant poll taken immediately after the speech -- these are people who watched the speech, not the nation as a whole -- 61 percent said they favor the approach on Syria the president outlined. 37 percent say they are opposed. Speech watchers were split whether the president made a convincing case for military action. 47 percent said yes. 50 percent said no.

Let's bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

Gloria, once again, this is an instant poll, not the whole country but the only people who actually were watching the president. He seemed to have two messages, let diplomacy work but keep that threat alive.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. And I think what you see in the instant poll is the public seems as ambivalent as the messages, right? We have to pursue diplomacy, but keep the option of force there. And I think what you see is a public that's just as conflicted as the president seems to have been throughout this entire crisis, Wolf. You know, two and a half or three weeks ago, we seemed to be talking about the imminent use of force. Then he decided to go to Congress. Then he wasn't sure he'd get the votes through Congress. John Kerry has a slip of the tongue, or whatever it was, and now we're talking about the U.N. and Russia. So I think the public has a right to kind of be a little bit confused and ambivalent.

BLITZER: Let's listen to Elijah Cummings. I interviewed him right after the president's speech last night. He's a liberal Democrat from Baltimore, Maryland. A strong supporter of the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D), MARYLAND: I've got to get past, Wolf, the idea that it might much room into something else. That's the uncertainty.

BLITZER: In other words, there would be unintended consequences.

CUMMINGS: That's right.

BLITZER: And there could be an escalation of this war and, once again, U.S. troops would be on the ground.

CUMMINGS: 11 years, trillion dollars, people killed. That's what our folks are worried about. And I think that's the worry, whether it's a Republican district or a Democratic district. Frankly, in within my district, I've only talked to maybe three or four people out of 2,000 or 3,000 who said they're for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, what does that tell you if even and Elijah Cummings is not yet on board with the president?

BORGER: Look, it tells you this as a war-weary country, that nobody wants to go to war. The president is saying he doesn't want to do it. By the way, he's also saying this wouldn't be a war, that it would be what John Kerry calls unbelievably small. But there's a lot of the reluctance there. It also tells you why the president decided to ask for this pause here in Congress because he didn't want to vote because, Wolf, if you were taking a vote, he would lose. And that would be a huge humiliation for him, just as it was for David Cameron in Great Britain.

So this diplomatic initiative right now tosses a lifeline, not only to the White House, to a certain degree so they can regroup, but also to members of Congress who by the way, would prefer not to vote on this at all.

BLITZER: Gloria Borger, see you later in "The Situation Room." Thanks very much.

Still ahead, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season now gaining some strength. We're going to tell you where it's headed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The potential for a diplomatic solution in Syria certainly comes as a relief on Wall Street. Pushing stocks higher right now. Take a look. Up about 110 points right now. It's been up yesterday, the day before. People are relieved at least there's a possibility there could be some sort of diplomatic solution. Take a look at this. We're getting the first look at the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. Humberto is a category one with 80- mile-per-hour winds right now. It's churning in the Atlantic Ocean just west of the Cape Verde Islands. Humberto is expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours but it's not expected to threaten land.

Turning to the contentious debate over gun control that cost these two Colorado lawmakers their jobs. State Senate President Jon Moore and State Senator Angela Gearrin were booted out of office in a recall. The Democrats both backed the state's new gun control laws, which set off the recall fueled by angry gun rights supporters.

Moore says he doesn't regret a thing. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE SEN. JON MOORE, (D-CO), STATE SENATE PRESIDENT: If passing gun safety legislation in Colorado cost me my political career, that's such a small price to pay because the families of gun violence victims pay a huge price every single day. And so the least I can do is stand up and do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The new tighter gun laws in Colorado were passed by Colorado's Democratically controlled legislature after last year's deadly shooting at the Aurora theater.

Vladimir Putin putting together a deal potentially when it comes to Syria's chemical weapons, but can the Russia Bear be trusted? He's a former KGB official. His military has strong ties to Syria. We're taking a strong look at the Russian president, his powers of persuasion. Brian Todd is standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A lot of analysts suggest we could harken back to the Cold War for lessons on how to deal with the current Russia. At that time, the Soviet Union gave the United States fits by backing many of America's opponents. Now Vladimir Putin is fresh off his hosting gig at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. He's looking like, at least on this one issue of Syria's chemical weapons, potentially a peace maker.

Brian Todd is taking a closer look at this Russian leader.

What are you seeing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the more we look at his efforts to make peace, the more you're hearing skepticism among top U.S. Senators and their constituents on whether Vladimir Putin will be an honest broker. His KGB code name was the "Great Cardinal." Can he be trusted, Wolf?

John Cornyn, of the Armed Services Committee, just on the Senate floor this morning, just a short time ago, ticked off several reasons why he said we don't think they could be a diplomatic partner. Number one, he and his country have very often have vetoed U.N. resolutions on Syria. They have sent advanced weaponry to the Syrian regime over several years, more than $11 billion in 2000 alone. That's how much they're in bed with the Syrians for weapons and Russia getting money from that.

They're the top supplier of weapons to Syria, including some attack helicopters, Wolf, that Hillary Clinton warned last year would escalate this conflict dramatically. Russia has a naval base in Syria on the Mediterranean. Russia has not been forthcoming with its own compliance with the Chemical Weapons Commission. So why should the United States trust him?

These are doubts raised on this side of the Atlantic over whether Russia is going to be the honest broker.

And just this morning, a Russian newspaper reported about their business dealings with Iran -- another reason that U.S. leaders don't trust Vladimir Putin here. Saying Russia is going to offer to supply Iran an s-300 air defense air systems when Putin meets with the Iranian president on Friday, as well as they will offer to build a second reactor at the nuclear power plant on Friday.

Doing business with Iran, doing business with Syria, top reasons why John McCain, John Cornyn, and others are very skeptical over whether or not Putin will be an honest broker.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. Tomorrow, a crucial meeting on this.

Thanks very much, Brian Todd.

TODD: Thank you.

BLITZER: That meeting taking place in Geneva. It potentially could be a game changer, the U.S. and Russia working together for a common goal. Can it work? I'll give you my take when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Kerry-Lavrov meeting in Geneva tomorrow will be critical. Top U.S. officials say they believe if the United States and Russia could work out a deal, it would have a solid chance of being implemented. They believe the Russians have enormous leverage over Bashar al Assad, given the enormous military and political support Moscow provides. They insist the threat of strikes has forced the Russians and Syrians to at least consider some sort of deal, and if implemented -- a huge if -- it would not only deter and degrade Syria's chemical weapons but actually destroy them. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

That's it for me. Thanks for watching. NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.