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Assad Regime Collapses As Rebels Take Syrian Capital; Source: Assad And Family In Moscow, Granted Asylum; NYPD Releases New Photos Of Suspect In CEO Shooting. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 08, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:55]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Alisyn Camerota in New York, along with my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

And we do begin with breaking news. In a major shift in power in the Middle East, the long, brutal regime of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad is over.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CAMEROTA: It was a stunning end to a violent regime started by Assad's father more than 50 years ago. A lightning fast assault by a coalition of rebel groups captured the capital of Damascus. A source tells CNN that Assad and his family have now arrived in Moscow and are being given asylum there.

Many Syrians spent their entire lives under Assad's violent rule. Today, they poured into the streets to celebrate. Syrians who had lived under the fist of Assad's power and corruption could be seen entering the presidential office after it was abandoned.

Syrians could now walk through the presidential palace, even into the kitchen of Assad's family, where specific instructions were still posted for the family's menu preferences.

The rebels also emptied out some of the regime's prisons, notorious places where people who were designated as enemies of Assad were detained and frequently tortured.

It was just a little more than a week ago when opposition forces met little resistance as they took the key city of Aleppo. They then swept south before surrounding Damascus and deposing Assad.

In the end, Russian fighter jets, which had been striking rebel forces in recent days, were nowhere to be found. Assad's troops dispersed and fled into the streets.

President Biden reacting to these stunning developments a short time ago, pledging US support for the Syrian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long suffering people of Syria, to build a better future for their proud country. It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty. As we all turn to the question of what comes next, the United States will work with our partners and the stakeholders in Syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: CNN's chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, was near Lebanon's border with Syria where celebrations erupted after Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are just now about 20 miles from the Syrian border, and you can see celebrations are breaking out everywhere.

This woman actually has just offered me some sweets --

(CLARISSA WARD speaking in foreign language.)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: This is the mood right now. It is festive. It is jubilant.

Take a look with me, you can see, people are waving the flag. The flag of the Syrian revolution. It has got three stars. You can see children and it is just an extraordinary moment. I think no one realized that this would ever actually happen after so many years of waiting, so many years, a lot of fireworks as well.

Let's keep moving.

(CLARISSA WARD speaking in foreign language.)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: So this man is from the city of Homs. He is obviously completely overcome with joy at what is happening here. We can see these little girls here as well.

(CLARISSA WARD speaking in foreign language.)

(UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN speaking in foreign language.)

[15:05:07]

WARD: They said they are very happy Bashar al-Assad has fallen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And just a short time ago, Clarissa spoke to us from inside the Syrian capital of Damascus. Here is some of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: It is a little bit eerie, certainly, and there is definitely a sense when you talk to people that they are delighted, but they're cautious. They are concerned what comes next.

Will there be chaos? Will there be lawlessness? Will we see more looting like we saw today?

But if you have that other clip pulled up, I just would love our viewers to be able to see the scene at that border crossing as we passed through it. Again, it was already dark, already past curfew, very, very quiet and just nothing like we've seen it before.

The only real evidence we saw, Wolf, of any struggle to finally take Damascus, to finally oust Bashar al-Assad was a tank in the road below a torn poster of president or I should say, former President Bashar al-Assad.

Take a look at that clip if you can.

So we are just crossing now into Syria. It is astonishing to see, it is absolutely empty.

The border, at times before there would have been soldiers, there would have been border guards. Now, there is absolutely nobody from the Syrian regime.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: I don't know. And honestly, the last time I came down this road was back in 2011. I was leaving Syria. I had been undercover in Damascus posing as a tourist. I went back into Lebanon, and I never imagined this moment would come when we would be driving through this border with no one from the regime to stop us.

And wolf, my cameraman, Scott McWhinnie, just found this on the ground, literally, as we were listening to that clip. This is the old flag of the Syrian regime, which has two green stars. The rebels' flag has three green stars, but this one has now been literally -- we just found it on the floor.

I guess, a real moment where you see how much things have changed just in the past 24 hours. In terms of the security situation on the streets, I would just add, we anticipated that we might see quite a lot of checkpoints as we came into the city. We didn't.

We did see a group of men, they did not appear to be armed, but they asked us what we were doing, where we were going, and now that we are sort of ensconced in our place where we are staying for the night, we have seen a couple of patrols. I saw two men armed and I went up to them and asked them where they were from, they told me they were from Idlib, which is in the northern part of the country.

And we saw a man on the street go up and wanted to pose for a photograph of them, which I think sort of speaks to the moment. There is obviously jubilation, elation, but also this sense of you can't compute. It was so fast, so breathtaking. It is astonishing.

And I think people are taking some time to try to process the magnitude.

Keep in mind, Wolf, we're talking about 53 years of Assad rule, 53 years of a brutal police state. And I can't tell you how many Syrians have said to me, Wolf, that, you know we understand that there are concerns about the rebels and the makeup of the rebels and the fact that some of them are Islamists and some of them are even jihadists or have been affiliated with al-Qaeda, or proscribed organizations.

But, let us have this moment, let us celebrate the fact that this brutal dictator who has ruthlessly killed hundreds of thousands of people, who has gassed children with lethal nerve agents, who has locked people in prisons and tortured and beaten them to death, that he is finally gone and that whatever may come and whatever the anxiety, this is a new chapter for Syria -- Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Clarissa Ward now reporting from Damascus, thank you very, very much.

I want to bring in our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson right now.

Nic, what do we know about a transition of power in Syria?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, clearly there is a massive amount of work for the rebels to do. I mean, we saw Clarissa there coming through the border checkpoint, you'd normally expect there to be Border officials, Customs -- all of that sort of thing, passport control, none of that. They have to fill those positions.

And this is, I think, what we are beginning to see emerging, the picture that emerges both from the rebels saying that they'll put in place this curfew until they sort of get more physical control of the security situation, but also keeping on the prime minister in an interim capacity.

[15:10:32]

And the former prime minister himself saying that he is going to work with the rebels in this sort of transitional capacity to try to make sure that governance in the country, on a day to day basis again, thinking about those pictures we saw earlier in the day at the airport in Damascus, where people arrived at the airport, there were no Customs officials there. There was nobody running the place.

All of these institutions that keep the country going, the rebels now have to fill them and part of the way, they appear intent to do that is by encouraging those who worked in those sorts of positions, more lower positions, if you will in the previous government to come back and get back to work.

So there is that part, there is the day-to-day part, then there is the security. I think we are going to see the rebels increasingly fan out and try to clear pockets of where they have yet to clear, to make sure there is no sort of Assad or other resistance there, but the plan, as I understand both the way that the rebels have articulated and other political leaders in Syria, opposition political leaders have articulated it to me, is that once the main cities are secure, the rebels pull out of the cities and allow a group of sort of power sharing group of the different sectarian, if you will, ethnic religious interests to run the country, use civilian police in the capital for a limited period, six to nine months is what they're saying.

And then at the end of that, the aspiration would be to hold elections and to some degree, the draft work for all of that has been put in place previously, peace negotiations, a decade or so ago talked about new Constitutions, new governments, a lot of that governance, a lot of that has been drafted up and that was actually something that President Biden spoke about for Syria's future.

BLITZER: Indeed he did.

Nic Robertson, thank you very much, and as you correctly point out, the images of those Syrian people tearing down the statues of Bashar al-Assad, his father, the former leader, the late leader, as well as his son, so powerful, so dramatic indeed; something none of us I assume, just a few weeks ago expected to see, but we are seeing it right now.

Nic, thank you very, very much.

We are also learning right now some new details on where Bashar al- Assad has fled.

An official source in Russia telling CNN that Assad and his family have actually arrived in Moscow and have been granted asylum in Russia.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is joining us from Moscow right now.

Fred, what more are you learning about Bashar al-Assad's arrival in Russia.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Wolf.

Syrian source or I should say a Russian source, official Russian source telling CNN that Bashar al-Assad and members of his family have landed here, touched down here in Moscow and are being granted asylum they say on humanitarian grounds.

So the Russians obviously taking in Bashar al-Assad, taking in members of his family. And this really came after a day where the whereabouts of the former Syrian leader were very much unknown and very much in doubt. It was actually the Russians themselves, Wolf, who first confirmed that Bashar al-Assad had left Syria. They said that Bashar al-Assad had decided to tell his deputies, to tell the members of his government to put in place a transition of power in Syria and that he then left the country, and it was unclear where exactly he had gone.

Now, it is clear that he is here in Moscow, in Russia. Of course, this is also a big blow to the Russians as well. They have for a long time been the biggest backers or one of the biggest backers of the Assad regime, especially as far as military is concerned.

But I am actually in a pretty interesting place here as well, Wolf. This is, by all intents and purposes the former embassy of the former Syrian Arab Republic. As you can see, this is the building here. If we pan up, you can see there is that flagpole where until this morning, apparently the Syrian -- the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic had hung. Now, that flag has already been taken down.

If we pan here to the entrance, you can see that at the door there is no longer a plaque of the Syrian Arab Republic. One thing that we are seeing, though, if we look over there, we pan over there. We can see there is still the bust of Hafez al-Assad, of course, the father of Bashar al-Assad.

Again, the Assad dynasty, the Assad family ruling Syria, as Clarissa was saying for 53 years. Not a single light on in here. It is unclear whether or not any of the staff are actually still working or intend to come back, but as you can see, that transition that is going on inside Syria is definitely something that the Russians have also recognized being the biggest backers of Bashar al-Assad and his government for such a very long period of time.

[15:15:19]

The Russians are now saying that they are talking to all of the armed groups on the ground as well, because of course, the Russians are very concerned about their military assets that they have inside Syria. Those, of course, are substantial.

Russia's only Mediterranean port is in the port town of Tartus. Just last week, there was a big naval exercise that the Russians conducted. Also firing nuclear capable missiles in that exercise as well. And then, of course there is the airbase at Khmeimim, which is near Latakia, where the Russians have already said that for now, the safety of their military assets have been guaranteed by the armed groups.

But they are also saying that their forces on the ground in Syria are also on high alert and of course, one of the things right now is that the status of those bases, the future of those very much in doubt -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And clearly, Russia has been preoccupied with its war against Ukraine, and that is why its military capabilities in the Middle East especially in Syria have been reduced. One of the reasons why this rebel group was able to succeed until recently. The Russian government was very much aligned with the Bashar al-Assad regime. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us. Thank you very, very much.

At the same time, the US is conducting strikes on ISIS targets in parts of Syria after rebels took control of the country. We have details on those operations and what this power shift in Syria means for the United States.

A lot more coming up after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:26]

BLITZER: All right, back now to our breaking news. President Biden calling the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria a fundamental act of justice, but also saying it is a moment of risk and uncertainty.

The president, addressing the situation in Syria earlier this afternoon from the White House. CNN's Kayla Tausche is over at the White House. She has got the latest developments, and our national security correspondent, Natasha Bertrand is joining us from the Pentagon right now.

Kayla, let me start with you.

What else did the president have to say?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the president acknowledged the historic nature of this coup and suggested that after 14 years of Civil War, that it was the conditions brought about by US policy that worked to weaken those in the region, those countries that had previously been enabling the Assad regime.

He also talked about the need to protect the American military troops that are stationed there, as well as American citizens who live in Syria, and then he mentioned Austin Tice, the journalist who has been held captive in Syria for 12 years and whose family just met with President Biden last week, a frustrating meeting for that family. But Biden says they remain committed to bringing Tice home, but they still need to figure out where he is.

As for the future of the country of Syria, the US is making no assumptions about who exactly is in power right now. The US has designated HTS a terrorist organization alongside the United Nations since 2018, which complicates its ability to reach out to the group and to potentially endorse its rule there, especially because the US has real concerns about whether a leadership vacuum would create conditions for ISIS, al-Qaeda or some of those other ideologies to resurge there.

Biden endorsed a UN-led transition process and a senior administration official says that the US has been in touch with many opposition groups across Syria and various regions as they have been for the last decade to understand exactly where they are and what they are thinking right now. And the president, in no uncertain terms encouraging some of those opposition groups to speak out. Certainly, it is a situation that is evolving quickly. The senior administration official says that there are also priorities to make sure that those chemical and biological weapons that are inside Syria never get used, and that there are various structures in place to try to shore up relationships with partners in the region -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Let me get Natasha's thoughts as well.

Natasha, as you know, the president outlined some of the US' key priorities right now in Syria, including protecting US military personnel, and correct me if I am wrong, but I think there are currently about 900 American troops based in Syria.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There are, Wolf. There are about 900 troops that are currently in Syria, and according to officials that we've spoken to, as well as comments made by President Biden earlier today, there does not appear to be any plan at this moment to pull them out. The US believes that this core anti- ISIS mission that they have been fulfilling over the last several years in coordination with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, is really, really important, especially now, because this power vacuum inside Syria could create that kind of vacuum that ISIS then seeks to exploit.

And interestingly, one senior official did tell my colleague Jim Sciutto that the US is concerned that a number of HTS affiliates have still deep ties to ISIS. And so according to another senior administration official who spoke to reporters a short time ago, ISIS is really trying to resurge here. They want to reconstitute and the US is really intent on not allowing that to happen.

[15:25:01]

To that end, the US actually carried out dozens of airstrikes just today on Central Syria against more than 75 targets, including ISIS personnel, ISIS camps, that was a direct message according to officials, to ISIS leadership, to ISIS members there, that the US is not going to allow them to reconstitute, that despite the events over the last ten days that we have seen inside Syria, the US intends to stay there.

The question, of course though, what kind of protection if any, can those rebel groups afford to the US? Is the US confident that they can maintain force protection there? That is the big question at this point -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon; Kayla Tausche over at the White House. To both of you, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, incredible images from the ground in Damascus as the Bashar al-Assad regime falls to rebel forces after more than 50 years in power. What this change means for the millions of people in Syria. We will have details, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:26]

CAMEROTA: It has been a breathtaking 24 hours in Syria for the millions who had lived under the brutal Assad regime, a wave of elation and relief erupted when the news broke of him being ousted.

Here is what it looked like and sounded like when the rebels rolled into key cities including the capital of Damascus.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CAMEROTA: I'm joined now by Danny Makki. He is a Syrian journalist and analyst who has covered the conflict for the Middle East Institute.

Danny, thanks so much for joining us.

You're in Damascus right now. What have these past 24 hours been like?

DANNY MAKKI, SYRIAN JOURNALIST AND ANALYST WHO HAS COVERED THE CONFLICT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, they have been historic. For the perspective of anyone who has --

CAMEROTA: Danny, I think freezing.

MAKKI: -- has actually viewed what's happened over the previous period and for from my perspective, being in Syria and actually watching what is happening is super -- it is historic because what we've seen for a country that's been through so much war and pain, to actually come together and remove this regime, which has been here for over 60 years, is something quite significant.

And against all odds, because the whole world has kind of come together just to destroy the hopes and dreams of the Syrian people, and now, what we are seeing is a country reunited again in a different mode. Now, where everyone is coming together. There are so many different challenges which the Syrian people together can face, and Assad is out of the picture. He is no longer in the country.

CAMEROTA: And before we talk about that different mode and what is ahead for Syria, did anyone in Syria have any sense that the Assad regime would crumble this quickly?

MAKKI: Well, no one envisaged this. This was something completely unique. It was something that not one analyst or pundit would have even thought that was possible of happening because Assad was really in a lead position.

He was in Idlib. He was literally closing in on Idlib. You know, he was going to finish the military side of the conflict. But, you know, wars are just not about winning battles and you have to win the peace. You have to win hearts and minds. And in a country where you haven't found a solution to a root cause problem, you really need to make sure that you're not complacent, and Assad got complacent.

You know, he put too much faith in his allies, in the Iranians, in the Russians, in Hezbollah. Hezbollah was absolutely damaged by the Israelis. The Iranians have just constantly been keeping just losses in the region in every single way.

The Russians have their own quagmire in Ukraine, so all of Assad's allies are facing huge, you know, major problems to their own security. So none of them were able to actually step in and help him. So what that did was put extra pressure on the Syrian Army, an army which is based on conscription and Assad in the last two years issued a number of different rules which actually made sure that many of the conscripts were new.

So Assad was sending new fighters to the frontlines against groups such HTS, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which were seasoned and experienced fighters, and they were just getting smashed in Aleppo and that is what triggered this collapse.

CAMEROTA: That is a really interesting insight.

So as you know, Assad was ousted by this coalition of rebel groups, some of them linked historically to al-Qaeda and the rebel leader at the moment appears to be Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. He talked exclusively to CNN's Jomana Karadsheh about his goal now for Syria. So, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Once an al-Qaeda leader, your group has had affiliations with al-Qaeda, with ISIS, and now you are projecting this image of a moderate leader in a moderate group. What is HTS right now?

ABU MOHAMMAD AL-JOLANI (through translator): Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is one of the factions in the region, just like all the others. Now, we're talking about a larger project. 0We're talking about building Syria.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is merely one detail of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time. It's not an end in itself, but a means to perform a task confronting this regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So Danny, when you hear that, do you have confidence that this group won't just usher in a new era of violence or some different type of authoritarian rule?

MAKKI: Well typically you'd say that -- it is going to the end of the day, but what we've seen, especially in locations such as Aleppo, is the decline of these radical sentiments where, you know, you have a lot of minorities in Aleppo. It is an area which has a lot of -- it is far more diverse than other places in Syria.

And Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has been in Aleppo, had been very positive with the minorities, and they have (AUDIO GAP) massacres or, you know taking out minorities, so what we can definitely say is that there is a behavioral change, even if -- even if it might be minimal. But in Damascus Hama, Homs, we haven't seen this from other minorities. The city of Salamiyah is an Ismaili city. It is in the eastern side of Hama and it is an area which fought ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra for a number of years. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham didn't even go near Salamiyah. They reached some sort of agreement with the notables of the area.

These citizens have actually led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

CAMEROTA: Danny, we are having obviously some technical issues because you're in Damascus, but thank you for the insight that has been so interesting to get your perspective on the ground there and we will talk again. Thank you so much.

We have much more ahead on the breaking news out of Syria. What this means for Syria's neighbors and the entire region, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:28]

CAMEROTA: We will get back to the breaking news out of Syria in a moment. But first, an update on the manhunt in the US.

The suspect, the getaway bike, and the weapon -- those are still the key missing pieces of evidence that police are looking for in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.

Authorities believe the suspect left New York City right after Wednesday's shooting, but he left behind a backpack they think he may have worn during the crime. Officials say it contained a jacket and monopoly money, but no weapon.

I want to bring in now former senior FBI profiler and special agent, Mary Ellen O'Toole for her insights.

Mary Ellen, what do you see in this case? Monopoly money? What's this all about?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT PROFILER: Yes, that's certainly very bizarre, and if in fact that's true, what I would say is there is a good likelihood that this is what we would refer to as game playing. So that means that this shooter actually would have wanted that backpack ultimately found and in it, the Monopoly money. There is no reason for him to have walked around New York with Monopoly money. It had no use and the assumption is that he came there only to New York, only with the things that he needed.

But there is an element of game playing with this. There is an element of playing cat and mouse with the police department and we saw it with the casings that had words written on them, casings and bullets that he really wanted the police to find to imply that there was a specific motive to the case.

So this could be kind of the same thing implying that there is money -- that this is money and that he has either trumped the police or he is taunting the police, but it could be an extension of this game playing.

CAMEROTA: That is really interesting to hear, and the words that you're talking about were something like "delay," "denied," "depose" referring, it seems to -- I mean, we are making assumptions, how he was treated, how a family member was treated, how he thinks the health insurance industry treats Americans. I mean, that is all speculation, but that's some of what authorities have tried to piece together.

And so do you think that this is -- I mean, I've heard lots of different speculation. Is this an amateur or a professional person?

O'TOOLE: Well, I'd break it down to is this somebody that is practiced or experienced and experience means you've committed another crime like this in the past. So you what you're doing and you know what to expect.

[15:45:03]

If you've practiced the crime, but you've never committed an assassination before, you're going to make mistakes because you're practicing as a result of video games or books or movies, so that experience versus practice makes a big difference.

There are a number of mistakes that the shooter made to include leaving forensic evidence behind, the DNA, all the videos, taking off his mask and that is not something a professional assassin would do. So that to me suggests this is someone who has practiced it before, but he has never had the experience of carrying out an assassination, and that's why we see the mistakes.

And one of the big things that somebody in his situation will encounter is if you've only practiced it, you had no idea what the response of the NYPD would be. None.

And so to manage that is not going -- it is not going to be very good. He is going to start to become paranoid. He is going to lose his ability to think critically, thinking that everybody is coming after him and that is when he starts to deteriorate in his behavior and that is a time when he is likely to be apprehended and it is also a time if he feels trapped that suicide could be an option.

CAMEROTA: Well, obviously the days ahead will be critical here. Mary Ellen O'Toole, thanks for your expertise. Great to talk to you.

O'TOOLE: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: We have much more ahead on the breaking news out of Syria right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:15]

BLITZER: More now on the breaking news out of Syria. Rebel fighters liberating the capital of Damascus and abruptly ending the long and brutal rule of President Bashar al-Assad. I'm joined now by Firas Maksad, senior fellow and director of Strategic Outreach for the Middle East Institute here in Washington.

Youve closely followed this 13-year-old conflict over the years where Assad chemically gassed his own people, imprisoned and tortured those who opposed him, and bombed women and children. The war also spurred a refugee crisis, where thousands of Syrians died trying to simply cross the Mediterranean Sea to safety.

It took an enormous toll on Syria's children, and like all of us, you'll remember this moment of that shell-shocked little boy in Aleppo that became a symbol of the war. Watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BLITZER: Firas, talk to us a little bit about the enormity of this current moment for the Syrian people.

FIRAS MAKSAD, SENIOR FELLOW AND DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC OUTREACH FOR THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Yes, Wolf, thank you for having me on your show.

This is a moment for the Middle East and for many Arabs that is akin to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in Europe, in that it ushers in a whole new era, not only for Syrians, but for people across the region because Syria sits right there in the middle of the Middle East and because Syria, for so long projected power and influence and had impact on nearby countries like Lebanon for example, or even Iraq.

And so this is a new world, a new moment for Syria and the people around it, a promising moment, but also potentially a perilous moment for what might still unfold in Syria in terms of the instability that one might expect.

BLITZER: Well, I am anxious to get your thoughts. What do you expect for us will happen next inside Syria, as its people begin the project of a new post-Assad government?

MAKSAD: Well, this is largely a joyous moment for many in Syria and across the Middle East. We are witnessing the Iran sponsored access from Iraq to Syria and in Lebanon and Hezbollah on the Mediterranean. We are witnessing that access crumble, but there is a fear that what comes next in Syria might be closer to what happened in Libya than anything else where state collapse follows and militia warfare carries the day.

Syria is a multi-communal country. It is a multi-religious country. But then there are also Arabs and Kurds and it is a country where all the other regional players are involved in its business, so this could very quickly devolve into the war of others on Syrian land and also, a devastating Civil War.

Syrians are hoping to avert that and the rebels are making all the right noises about wanting to invest in state institutions and have a more inclusive governance in the future, but words is one thing, action is a whole different story. BLITZER: Firas, I know you're now in Doha, Qatar, where key regional players have been discussing the issues in Syria right now. What is your sense of how countries -- neighboring countries in the region like Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia are preparing for Syria's future?

MAKSAD: Yes, all very key, Wolf. And in fact, part of the reason why I am here is because the foreign ministers of most of these countries that you've just named, we are meeting in Doha.

[15:55:07]

A good chunk of their discussion, as you can imagine, is what to do about the future of Syria and how to manage that transition.

The challenge is that first, these countries have competing interests and very clearly, Turkey here, that is the main sponsor of these Islamist rebel forces is going to emerge the big winner. Iran and Russia, the big losers. But then there is also the question of what happens when potentially the United States withdraws from Syria. We have some 900 troops on the ground there, mostly to combat ISIS.

And President Trump in his previous presidency had said that he wanted to withdraw. His impulse is to leave Syria. He said, there is nothing there but death and sand and if the US is in fact to withdraw, we have to worry about the resurgence of ISIS and we have to worry about competition between Turkey, the Kurds and many of the other regional powers on Syrian land.

BLITZER: You make very strong points, Firas Maksad. Thank you so much for joining us from Doha.

And we will be right back with more news. We have much more on all the breaking news coming out of Syria, and we will do that right after a quick break.

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