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Dramatic Flood Rescue Unfolds; Crucial Syria Talks Begin Shortly; Obama Hopeful about Syria Talks; Syria Takes Legal Step Towards Disarming; Putin Takes Offense to Exceptional; Diplomacy Trumps Military Action; Colorado Flooding; Russian Peace Plan Halts Votes; Interview with Rep. Steny Hoyer

Aired September 12, 2013 - 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: Right now the United States is trying to determine if Syria is really serious about giving up its chemical weapons. Crucial talks on a plan to avoid U.S. military action about to get underway.

Also, the White House press secretary preparing for some tough questions on the Syria crisis and the president's policies. Today's White House briefing expected to start within this hour.

Also right now, emergency crews in Colorado are responding to dozens of calls from people trapped by raging floodwaters. You're going to see some dramatic rescue that played out on live TV just a little while ago.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We'll have a live report on the deadly flooding in Colorado in a few minutes.

But first, it's a very high stakes diplomatic effort to deal with the crisis and in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry is about to meet with his Russian counterpart in Geneva, Switzerland. We're hoping for opening statements to bring you live. The talks are aimed at getting rid of Syria's chemical weapons and avoiding a U.S. military strike. Kerry and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, they are meeting this hour. Today, President Bashar Al Assad said Syria would only turn over its weapons if the U.S. drops its threat of military action. Still, President Obama says he's getting ready to give diplomacy a chance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am hopeful that the discussions that senator -- Secretary Kerry had with Foreign Minister Lavrov as well as some of the other players in this can yield a concrete result. And I know that he is going to be working very hard over the next several days to see what the possibilities are there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Scuitto's traveling with the secretary in Geneva. But first, let's bring in our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He's over at the United Nations where there are important developments unfolding. Nick, tell our views are what you've learned.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, potentially, a very big deal here. The U.N. has confirmed to us that the Syrian mission here has sent to them a letter in which they ask to accede to join the chemical weapons convention of 1993. Now, the terms of that basically say a country has to get rid of all of its stockpiles of chemical weapons, anything used to create them as well within a period of 10 years. I've just been speaking to an expert who explained a little more how this works now. Now, he said that the act of actually joining this convention means you accept all of its terms, that you are agreeing to the destruction of all of these weapons and that within 30 days of joining, those provisions within that particular convention become binding. So, Syria's stuck with what it's agreed to hear within 30 days.

I should point out, of course, we've had a lot of caveats from Bashar Al Assad in interviews he's been giving. And we haven't seen the full text of the letter, but the U.N. is confirming this secession which potentially is quite a big game changer here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And then, also once again, within the past few days, the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad, they're finally acknowledging publicly that they do, in fact, have chemical weapons. Earlier, they wouldn't even confirm that. And U.S. officials, I can tell you and I tell all of our viewers, they think this is a big deal that the Syrians are at least telling the world, yes, Syria has chemical weapons stockpiles and, yes, Syria is now ready to destroy those chemical weapons under certain conditions. I assume at the United Nations, they're pleased by these developments?

WALSH: Well, certainly, if this ends up being what it says on being on the can, says on the tin, then, yes, it a big deal because it is Syria saying they will hand over these weapons. And it is, in many ways, that peaceful outcome all parties seem to have wanted. But, of course, as the practical application, how would you actually bring this through?

I should point out the parallel street going on here, too. I have spoken to a diplomat familiar with the resolution of France, America and Britain have put forwards and that's still continuing separately. That would give Syria 15 days to declare all of its stockpiles and it would still be under the part of the U.N. charter known as Chapter VII. Complicated here, but Chapter VII means you can use all necessary measures for humanitarian issues under a resolution like that. So, the pressure is still certainly up. But, Syria, if this letter of ascession proves to be, or even the U.N. itselves, say it actually is, making a substantial move here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It certainly is. All right. Thanks very much. Nick Paton Walsh at the United Nations.

Let's go to Geneva right now. Jim Scuitto is standing by. He's travelling with the secretary of state. We're told, Jim, the secretary and foreign minister, they will be making opening statements at the bottom of this hour. We'll have live coverage of that here on CNN. But set the scene for us. I know you flew over from Washington to Geneva with the secretary. What are they saying to you, he and his aides?

JIM SCUITTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were quizzing them on the flight to see how seriously they're taking this Russian proposal. Their answer is they wouldn't be here if they didn't think there was potential. That said, I think it's safe to say they're coming here with a healthy dose of skepticism. This is, in their view, a chance for the Russians and the Syrians to show their cards. One U.S. official said to me, this is a chance to see if the Russians mean what they're saying and the Syrians mean what they're saying.

And they say, one of the key tests -- because I asked them, I said, the participant who is not here in Geneva is Syria and, of course, this depends on Bashar Al Assad's cooperation. I said, how will you know that he is a willing and responsible participant? And this is -- and they said the first step is how forthcoming he is with all of the details about Syria's chemical weapons sites. And that will be a first step to move this from the 30,000-foot level to nitty-gritty of how you collect those weapons, catalog them and destroy them.

BLITZER: Did you get a sense that they were encouraged, upbeat, still skeptical that this diplomatic arrangement might bear some serious fruit? Give us a little flavor behind the scenes.

SCUITTO: I wouldn't say upbeat. I mean, you look at this team, and we saw Secretary Kerry on the flight as well, in the last 10 days, really, he was giving a speech last Friday, a week ago Friday, preparing for an imminent military strike, then he was spending a week on the Hill pushing Congress to give authorization for force. Now we're on plan C, in effect, which is this peaceful diplomatic solution to it. So, they're in a show-me mood, a show me the money mood. They want to see immediate proof, immediate indications that the Russians are serious and the Syrians are serious.

BLITZER: Jim Scuitto, we'll be checking back with you. Once again, the secretary of state, John Kerry, the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, they will be making opening statements in a few minutes right at the bottom of the hour. We'll have live coverage here on the CNN NEWSROOM. That's coming up.

If you happen to be going through "The New York Times" today, you may have noticed a rather interesting op-ed. It was written by none other than the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, explaining to the American people Russia's involvement and goals in the Syria peace plan it's put forward.

Here is part of what the Russian president said. From the outset, Russia advocated peaceful dialogue, enabling Syrians to develop a compromised plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government but international law. The law is still the law. And we must follow it whether we like it or not. Forces permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable.

That's a direct quote from the article. Putin also seemed to take exception with this comment from President Obama's address to the nation the other night. Here is what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America is not the world's policeman. Terrible things happen across the globe and it is beyond our means to right every wrong. But when with modest effort and risk we can stop children from being gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act. That's what makes America different. That's what makes us exceptional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Exceptional, key word. Here is Putin's rebuttal in "The New York Times." I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional. It is extremely dangerous, Putin writes to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional whatever the motivation.

So, what was the reaction to this supposed slam? A White House official said, I'm quoting, "Now, that's all irrelevant." They want to see diplomacy clearly work.

Let's bring in CNN's Fareed Zakaria. He is the host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" which airs Sundays here on CNN. Fareed, this op-ed on Syria, it's pretty extraordinary when you think about it that Putin is directly anxious to speak to the American people. What's your take on what's going on?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIS GPS": We've always known that Putin has wanted to set himself up in some way in opposition to the idea of a kind of benign American leadership of the world. He's always viewed that as being part of his role to revive and restore Russia to its position of power but also as a kind of another poll. I'm not sure he'd -- you know, it's not the opposite poll because Russia is not powerful enough to be the other super power, but he wants it to be another voice and another center of power in the world. And this is very much in keeping with that. You see it's very smart. It's well-argued. But it is relentless in its opposition to the -- to, you know, the United States. And that part you picked up on, the dig about American exceptionalism, was just one part of it.

BLITZER: Could this be the best path, at least from his perspective, Bashar Al Assad, to saying, you know what? I'm going to give up my chemical weapons, acknowledge I have chemical weapons, let the U.N. come in, destroy those chemical weapons. Assuming he's thinking maybe this is the only way I remain in power in Damascus? Do you think he's thinking along those lines?

ZAKARIA: You know, for Assad, clearly, it is some kind of an exit strategy that might allow him to stay in power. I wouldn't say it's the best case for him, of course, because he built up this enormous chemical weapons arsenal and it's a huge arsenal, largely because it was aware of threatening people, scaring people, of keeping people -- you know, people in line. It's also -- in part, it was always meant to be a deterrent against Israel. The feeling was Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel has a much stronger military force. The Syrians always wanted to have something that they thought the Israelis would be scared of.

So, he's giving up all of that. But, you're right, it seems to be a way of somehow getting the international community to view him as a negotiating partner because, after all, he would have to guarantee the safety of inspectors. He would have to be the guarantor of these agreements and as such he becomes more clearly recognized as the sovereign authority in Syria.

BLITZER: You know, there may have been some zigs and zags, some sloppy diplomacy, some sloppy statements over the past couple of weeks, but you're ready to give the president some credit now for where the situation stands right now, is that right, Fareed?

ZAKARIA: I think he salvaged the situation. Look, the -- you know, the whole year has been much too much ad hoc improvisation. There's been a lot of muddling. But what he has said, what he has done in the last few days, I think, has been smart where he has taken the Russian proposal seriously and he has clarified what exactly it is he wants to do in Syria. It's never been entirely clear. And he now, in that speech, made clear, we want to deal with chemical weapons. We want to deter their further use. We're not going for regime change. We're not trying to solve this problem.

And if you focus in on that, he has already achieved some success, right? You already have international public opinion mobilized on this issue. He's raised awareness on it. And, as you pointed out, the Syrian government is now saying it will sign the chemical weapons treaty. The Russians are encouraging them to do so. That requires that they do a full accounting of all their chemical weapons. It requires that they show inspectors where they are.

So, they may not do all of it, but you are already much further than you would have been even with strikes. Remember, air strikes don't destroy chemical weapons. You never try to hit the chemical weapon sites because that would release toxins in the atmosphere. So, the air strikes are purely punitive. This strategy has the possibility within it of actually getting rid of the weapons.

BLITZER: Yes, it's one thing to deter the Syrians from using chemical weapons. It's one thing to degrade their capability to use chemical weapons. But it's a totally different thing to completely eliminate and destroy all of their chemical weapons. You make a good point there, Fareed. Thanks very, very much.

Remember, we're standing by to hear from the secretary of state, John Kerry, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. They're both in Geneva getting ready to begin their critically important discussions. They are both getting ready to make statements to the news media. We'll have live coverage in a few minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM so don't go too far away. Much more on the crisis in Syria coming up.

But there's another story we're following right now. An extremely frightening situation unfolding in northern Colorado. Torrential downpours have triggered deadly flash flooding in Boulder County. The raging waters are washing away homes, setting off rock and mudslides that are closing roads. At least three people have been killed. Rescue crews have been getting calls all day from people trapped in water and under debris. One of those amazing rescues was captured on videotape. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What an amazing rescue. Ana Cabrera is joining us live in Boulder. Ana, it just great to see that they rescued this individual. How many of those dramatic rescues, as far as we know, have been carried out today alone?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know of at least a few but certainly there are likely countless others. And there are still dozens of people who need to be rescued that officials that are there trying to get to them just can't get access just yet.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And there are still dozens of people who need to be rescued that officials that are there trying to get to them just can't get access just yet. We heard in one case, the National Weather Service reporting a 20-foot wall of water coming down trapping a firefighter in a tree.

So the water you see rushing over the roadway behind me here inside the city of Boulder is about six inches deep. Again, this is mild. Really not anything compared to the stories that we're hearing.

We're hearing of water six to eight feet deep in some places. Debris walls up to 10 feet high. The National Guard is now on its way. We have new information about their numbers. Sixty-five National Guard troops are now on their way to the Boulder area to assist in some of these emergency rescue efforts. There are entire communities isolated, cut off, from anybody coming and going because of the dangerous and deep floodwaters. In fact, one town without water, without electricity, and there are actually emergency crews that are also stranded in those towns.

There are other places where they have lost homes. We know of several house collapsing. However, they couldn't even give us numbers. We asked about how many there might be, how many people may be trapped, and they said right now they're still trying to wrap around - wrap their heads around the scope of this disaster and the number of people who need help. They've been getting inundated by calls from people saying help me, help me, and they describe their response as frustrating because rescue crews say they're frustrated, they can't get to the people who need help. It's just as dangerous for them to get into those areas as it is for the residents who are trapped in those particular zones.

So this is a disaster that is likely to continue to play out and we continue to learn more and get new pictures that we'll be sharing with you right here on CNN. So stay with us throughout the day and even into tomorrow or the next day as the rain continues to fall and these flash floodwaters continue to ripple through the city and county of Boulder and across Colorado.

Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Ana, be careful over there. Ana Cabrera reporting from the scene, dramatic video indeed.

Coming up, is Congress now out of the equation when it comes to Syria? The Democratic -- the minority whip of the House of Representatives, Congressman Steny Hoyer, he's standing by live. We'll talk about that. I'll also ask him about the impending domestic agenda, what moves to the front burner right now?

There's a lot going on. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: All right, that's a live picture coming in from Geneva, Switzerland. The secretary of state, John Kerry, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, they're getting ready to meet, they're getting ready to discuss this Russian peace proposal designed to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. Certainly discuss dominating the discussions on Syria right now, dominating those discussions from the Kremlin to Capitol Hill here in Washington.

Joining us now is the House minority whip, Steny Hoyer, the Democrat from Maryland.

Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

REP. STENY HOYER (D), MINORITY WHIP: Glad to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's talk about this Russian plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. I assume you think this is all positive, that potentially it could bear fruit, is that right?

HOYER: Well certainly I think it's a very positive possibility. And if it bears fruit, it's going to be a very good resolution of this issue. As you said earlier, talking to Fareed, not just the deterring, but the removal of chemical weapons and the inability to use them at all. That's a very positive prospect. Let's hope it's real. And that's what, of course, Secretary Kerry is now trying to determine.

The Syrians have sent a letter to the United Nations saying that they're going to sign the convention on chemical weapons. That is very great progress. In my view, all made because the president was willing to use force, use military force, to dissuade and to degrade the ability of the Syrians to use their chemical weapons.

So, yes, I think this is a positive possibility, but it's only a possibility. We'll see whether or not it's real. As Reagan said, you've got to trust but verify and we're in the process of verifying at this point in time.

BLITZER: We should get some clues in the next few hours as how this meeting goes between Kerry and Lavrov in Geneva. And we're getting ready to hear what they have to say at start of those negotiations. They're going to presumably come up with some compromise language that could be brought before the United Nations Security Council.

HOYER: Wolf --

BLITZER: I want to move on to some domestic issues. But very quickly, congressman, if you would have had to vote on a resolution authorizing the use of force in Syria, you would have voted yea, is that right?

HOYER: That's correct. I believe that it was necessary to give the president the authority to act. First of all, I think it was warranted because of the use of these weapons which, for a century now, had been weapons which the international community said must not be used because of their terrible, terrible aspects and indiscriminate impact on people and children and families unrelated to any kind of warfare. As a result, I think the president took the right action and I am pleased to see that it's had a very positive result so far. Clearly the Russians would never, never have interceded in this way, the Syrians would never have responded with respect to the chemical convention on warfare but for the president's willingness to act.

BLITZER: You know, at the end of this month, the federal government runs out of money. You've got to pass what's called this continuing resolution to keep the government running, otherwise there's going to be a government shutdown. We all remember in the '90s what happened twice on those occasions. A lot of Republicans in the House they say they're ready to authorize, to completely fund the government, but they don't want to fund Obamacare, the law - the health care law. In order to keep the government running and have no government shutdown, are you ready to accept that condition?

HOYER: No. You know, this obsessive focus on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and using -- taking that hostage for -- to fiscal responsibility is simply unacceptable. The president has no intention of doing that. And, very frankly, all of the reasonable Republicans that I've talked to know that it's a nonstarter. John Boehner and Eric Cantor know it's a nonstarter. They talk about it, but they try to set up a procedure where they would make their point for the 41st time that they want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed and then go on with a CR, with a continuing resolution, which would, in fact, be supportable by the United States Senate. I have issues with it, but, that aside, it is this obsession with saying, either do what I want you to do or I am going to act in a fiscally irresponsible way.

BLITZER: What about delaying its implementation for a year? Because the president - even the president has delayed some parts of its implementation for a year. What about that compromise? HOYER: Well, I don't think that's a compromise. The Affordable Care Act was given three, four years to be implemented. It's now about to be implemented October 1, where the marketplace will be open, people will be able to choose health care and will give affordable quality health care to at least 30 million more people than have availability to it now. We think that's very important. It's been a tough fight. Very frankly, we need to see how it works, correct it where it doesn't, and make sure it works properly to do what we want it to do and that is provide affordable, quality health care to our people.

BLITZER: So even - just to be - just to be precise because we've got to leave it here, congressman. In order to keep the government running and not see a government shutdown, to fund the government for another year, this is a nonstarter as far as you're concerned. You'd rather see the government shutdown than delay implementation of Obamacare for a year?

HOYER: Nobody wants to see the government shut down, Wolf, and nobody ought to put it in that context. We had an election in 2012, just a few months ago, and in that election the Affordable Health Care Act was a major issue. The American people re-elected Barack Obama as the president. That was his - one of his major programs. To now the losers of that presidential elections to come in and say, unless you do what we want you to do, that we lost at the ballot box, unless you do that, we're going to shut down government. That is not an acceptable alternative.

BLITZER: Steny Hoyer is the minority whip in the House of Representatives. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

HOYER: You bet. Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: We're standing by to hear from the secretary of state, John Kerry. Also the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. There they are, not yet, but they'll be walking into that room in Geneva, Switzerland, making statement at the start of their negotiations on eliminating, destroying Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. Our live coverage continues right after this.

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