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ISIS Leader Killed in U.S. Special Forces Raid; Cleric Blames Iraqi Militia for Drone Strike; Putin Speaks before Heading to Beijing; Biden Says U.S. Has "Unique Capability", Confirms Death of ISIS Leader; Chinese President Xi Jinping Promises "Safe and Wonderful" Olympic Games. Aired 10- 10:40a ET

Aired February 03, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello, I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD, live from Dubai Expo.

Breaking news: we're awaiting a statement from U.S. President Joe Biden after he announced ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed

during a U.S. special forces raid in northwest Syria.

This video emerging on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Syria's White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group, says 13 people were killed in clashes that broke out during and after that

raid. That includes six children.

The target, according to witnesses, was this house, in the Syrian Turkish border area. Multiple Biden administration officials acknowledge there were

civilian casualties but they blame the deaths on a bomb exploded by the target of the mission.

The U.S. president called the raid successful. This is the same area where the American military has repeatedly targeted suspected jihadists.

With me now is Mark Kimmitt, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for political/military affairs under President George W. Bush; also a retired

brigadier general with the U.S. Army.

Fawaz Gerges is a regular guest on this show, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and author of "ISIS: A

History."

First to our CNN White House reporter, Natasha Bertrand, live for us this hour.

As I mentioned, multiple Biden administration officials acknowledged there were civilian casualties but did not directly blame special forces for

those.

What do we know of the detail of this event?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So what administration officials are telling us is that the target of this

operation, the terrorist target of this operation, actually exploded a bomb inside of that house that U.S. forces were targeting.

And that bomb in turn resulted in those civilian casualties. What they tell us is that this was actually the target's family members, women and

children, who were in that building. And ultimately he did detonate that suicide bomb that killed those civilians.

We're also told that U.S. forces, when they went toward the building, they announced their presence and they called on the people inside the building

to release women and children and civilians. And some children did come out, we're told.

But of course, this is going to raise many questions for the U.S. military, for the Pentagon, especially after that botched, errant U.S. drone strike

in Kabul last August that killed about 10 civilians.

So clearly the Pentagon is still assessing the situation; they're going to do an after action review to ensure that protocol was followed and whether

or not things could have been handled differently there.

What we're told now is these civilian casualties did not result from the U.S. military being -- making a mistake but that it was actually the target

of the operation that detonated that bomb.

ANDERSON: Witnesses and rescue workers telling CNN what they witnessed on the ground.

What are we hearing from them?

BERTRAND: Well, we're hearing that about 13 civilians were killed in this operation; that includes women and children. They say that the site of the

operation obviously was very chaotic, that, when Special Operations Forces did arrive there, they were calling out and they were telling people to

leave the area, because this operation was going to be carried out.

And, of course, that building there in the photos that we saw is pretty destroyed. But the situation there obviously very, very chaotic; the

aftermath of this operation very messy; people are still trying to assess the civilian casualties, the damage, who was injured.

But right now the administration is saying that its mission was successful, that these forces in Syria that have been helping the Syrian Democratic

Forces fight ISIS, they did successfully take down the leader of ISIS there, the leader, of course, that has taken over power since al-Baghdadi

was killed by the Trump administration.

So we don't expect any shift in the administration's posture in Syria. They're considering this a victory.

ANDERSON: We'll bring in Mark at this point.

Mark, it was just over two years ago that we saw ISIS leader al-Baghdadi killed, only to be replaced by someone else.

[10:05:00]

ANDERSON: I just wonder how you read the significance of what we have seen here.

MARK KIMMITT, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL/MILITARY AFFAIRS: I think you got it right, Becky. We have seen

repeatedly time after time that these organizations, when they lose a leader, will regenerate a leader.

The question is, is the next leader better or worse than his predecessor?

Clearly al-Qurashi was not as strong as al-Baghdadi, particularly in his ability to attract recruits. So I think we're going to watch carefully who

replaces him. If you look at the Soleimani parallel, Soleimani was taken off the battlefield. Ghaani is now in charge of the Iranian Revolutionary

Guard Corps and he is clearly weaker than his predecessor.

But we could actually get a stronger leader running ISIS going forward. We'll just have to wait and see who emerges.

ANDERSON: Yes, Fawaz, you have done an awful lot of work on this terror group.

Is this raid, to your mind, going to have any long-term effect on ISIS' infrastructure, its future in the Middle East?

FAWAZ GERGES, DIR. MIDDLE EAST CENTER, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: I doubt it very much. I doubt that the killing -- his name by the way, his actual

name is Abdul Qardash.

And Abdul Qardash was one of the first founders' generation of Al Qaeda in Iraq. He was very close to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

established Al Qaeda in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of the country in 2003.

So he was really part of the early generation of Al Qaeda in Iraq and also very close to Abu Baker al-Baghdadi long before ISIS was founded in 2013-

2014. He served as the justice minister during ISIS' reign in Iraq and Syria, very close, very important role theologically.

But at the end of the day, what has happened in the past three years, after the dismantling of the physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria, ISIS now is

more of a sprawling insurgency. It's a very potent, resilient insurgency.

And the attacks in Hasakah last week, it was a major, major -- a massive attack by ISIS on the prisons, on the prison that are controlled by the

Kurds and with the support of the United States.

Battles raged for almost more than a week and hundreds of people were killed on both sides.

But at the end of the day, what we need to take into account, that the killing of a top leader, when there is an insurgency now in Iraq and Syria

and Libya and Afghanistan and North Africa, will not really have any strategic impact on the ability of the insurgency to go on for months and

years and even a decade.

ANDERSON: I just wonder, Mark, whether it is clear at this point what Washington's strategy is with regard to Iraq and indeed ISIS; not just

there but as Fawaz points out, this is now sort of a ranging insurgency.

So what is the White House strategy with regard ISIS in its entirety at this point?

KIMMITT: Well, I think two things. Continue to advise, train and assist local forces to take on this responsibility, which has been generally

successful inside of Iraq. I think you use the term that the Israelis use, you've got to continue mowing the grass.

Like Fawaz said, there will be more that come; this will not be over anytime soon. The grass will continue to grow and you will just have to

continue to mow it.

One thing I would disagree with is I think that leadership does matter in a strategic sense; insofar as it is able to basically increase the size of

the organization through three very, very clever recruiting packets.

And I think the loss here will not be substantial simply because this guy has not seemed to be able to recruit corners (ph) to come in. So we'll have

to see who the next leader is, how charismatic he is before we can really judge if this is going to have any kind of effect on the local and the

international organization.

ANDERSON: I want to thank you all very much indeed. We're waiting to hear from President Joe Biden. He will make a statement on this raid. Just as

soon as we get Joe Biden in front of the microphone, we'll get our viewers to that. Thank you.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, broadcasting from Dubai at Expo 2020. And there are tensions across this region.

[10:10:00]

ANDERSON: Specifically here as well, an Iraqi cleric is blaming a militia from Iraq for the latest attack on this, the UAE.

The UAE defense ministry says it shot down three drones in its territory on Wednesday. The cleric said, and I quote, "Terrorists are trying to drag

Iraq into a dangerous regional war."

This is the latest in a series of strikes on the Emirates since mid- January. Yemen's backed Houthi rebels claim the ottowans (ph). Jomana Karadsheh is in Abu Dhabi for you tonight with the latest, including new

allegations about who is behind the attack from this leading Iraqi politician.

What do we know at this point?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you mentioned, the UAE ministry of defense releasing that statement, saying they intercepted and

destroyed these three armed drones that had entered the UAE's airspace at dawn on Wednesday, that this interception and destruction happened outside

of population centers.

Now again, this is the fourth attack or attempted attack to target the UAE in three weeks. All previous attacks have been claimed by the Iranian-

backed, Yemen-based Houthi rebels.

But this, for the first time, we're getting a claim that was posted online, a statement by a group calling itself Awliyat al-Waad al-Haq, an Iraqi

group that, you know, frankly, up until today, myself (sic) and others who have covered Iraq extensively, hadn't heard of this group.

Now they did not release any evidence supporting this claim but they said that they launched four drones targeting Abu Dhabi's vital installations

and saying that this is because of the UAE's involvement in the war in Yemen.

Now the UAE government hasn't confirmed that this attack was launched from Iraq. Some reports, Becky, suggest that this group is an offshoot or a link

to one of the main Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq, which again raises the question here of Iran's involvement in all of this, what role Iran may

have played in these attacks, carried out by its proxies targeting the UAE, coming at a time when the -- when Iran is involved, engaged in these

diplomatic talks with the UAE, with Saudi Arabia, with the West, for a new nuclear deal.

All this going on at the same time where we're seeing these attacks, raising the questions, as you mentioned; also a lot of concern in Iraq

right now, a lot of alarm about Iraq basically being dragged into another conflict, another regional conflict, something a lot of Iraqis really worry

about.

And as you mentioned, the statement from Shia cleric there, one of the top figures in the country.

ANDERSON: Sure. These terror attacks, and that is what they are, attacks meant to terrorize civilians, at least, in the case of the Houthis, suggest

an advancement in the militia's technology.

UAE air defenses are being tested. And Abu Dhabi is discussing a range of security needs with Washington. This is what the UAE ambassador to the

United States told me just recently. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANA NUSSEIBEH, UAE AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: I think we carry a large burden for the regional security environment. And we're happy to carry that

burden but, of course, we need the support of our partners at the same time.

What does that support look like today?

As you rightly pointed out, our defensive capabilities, our abilities to intercept and deflect these attacks is world class. And it is -- it is

internationally world class. Now at the same time, there can always be upgrades, there can always be improvements, there can always be additional

intelligence cooperation.

I think these are the fields that we are looking at with our partners in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And, Washington has responded, how?

KARADSHEH: Well, on Tuesday, Becky, as you know, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a phone call with the Abu Dhabi crown prince

Sheikh Zayed, in which he announced that the U.S. is going to be deploying fifth generation fighters, they say, to support the UAE in facing this

Houthi threat.

He also said they're going to be sending the U.S. Navy's guided missile destroyer, the U.S.S. Cole to partner with the UAE's navy before making a

port call here in Abu Dhabi. This is in addition to early warning intelligence sharing and also cooperation when it comes to air defenses.

But, of course, as you know very well, we have heard from UAE officials; what they really want to see from the U.S. is the redesignation of the

Houthis as a terror group.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely.

[10:15:00]

ANDERSON: And the message from Washington, I was told, by one senior UAE official, is solidarity and common defense against regional threats.

Jomana, thank you.

The foreign ministers of Iran and the UAE spoke on Wednesday about the situation in Yemen. According to Iranian state media, during their phone

call, they also discussed the importance of improving bilateral relations. And Iran called Israel's ties to Gulf countries like the UAE a threat to

regional security.

Well, China gets ready to step into the Olympic spotlight. What the Chinese president is promising, as his country hosts the world in the midst of the

coronavirus pandemic.

Plus, sending a message, as tensions between NATO and Russia heat up. A U.S. warship carries out exercises off Italy.

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ANDERSON: As we wait to hear from the U.S. President Joe Biden on the raid today that killed the ISIS leader, we are also keeping an eye on diplomatic

efforts, of course, to defuse the crisis along the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Russian president Vladimir Putin speaking for the second time this week after accusing NATO and the U.S. of ignoring Russian security concerns.

He's been hosting the Argentine president in Moscow today.

Later, he'll talk with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for a third time within a week. That's before heading off to Beijing for the Olympics

and a meeting on Friday with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

Turkey's president, himself engaged in regional diplomacy, meeting his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv today. Ahead of the visit, Recep Tayyip

Erdogan calling on all parties involved to, quote, "moderate and engage in dialogue."

We got Sam Kiley watching developments in Ukraine for you, Nic Robertson is in Moscow.

And, Nic, the Kremlin responding to the U.S. announcement that it will deploy another 2,000 troops to Europe, redeploy another 1,000 troops within

Europe.

What has been their response?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They say they're worried. They say that this is the United States pumping up the tensions in

the region. This is something they said before, when it was being considered whether or not the United States should send 8,500 troops to

support NATO.

They were put on a higher state of readiness. And what we heard from the Kremlin then is what we're hearing now, that it is the United States

ramping up the tensions in the region rather than Russia's buildup of military forces in the region, which they -- the NATO secretary-general

said, in terms of Belarus, just to the north of Ukraine, this was the biggest buildup of Russian forces, 30,000 deployed there, with the biggest

buildup since the Cold War.

[10:20:00]

ROBERTSON: So this is very much being taken by the -- by the Kremlin as an opportunity to turn this again around. Their usual narrative here, to turn

it around, that it is the United States at fault, it is the United States that doesn't understand the security environment, that it is them

destabilizing the region, not Russia -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ukraine's presidential spokesman, Sam, notably lauding a U.S. decision to ramp down its urgency on when a Russian attack might happen.

This happening at the same time that we hear President Putin suggesting that the U.S. is stoking tensions. Explain just what is going on at this

point.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was a controversial -- almost squabble -- between the United States and their

ally, Ukraine, an ally that is dependent in large part on the United States for large amounts of military weapons, albeit relatively light weapons,

being delivered almost as we speak.

Over the imminence or otherwise of a Russian attack, they here in Ukraine, they're very upset by that, said it was destabilizing the economy, causing

panic. And now we have seen both the presidential spokesman and others in the U.S. administration say that they're going to no longer use the term

"imminent" when assessing the threat to Ukraine, notwithstanding the fact that actually the threat assessment from NATO has gone up.

Now with confirmation from NATO, previous American claims that they expected to see 30,000 Russian troops joining up exercises in Belarus. Of

course, I'm just about two hours' drive from the border from Belarus.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: All right, Sam, I want to stop you there. Joe Biden is just approaching the microphone. So let's listen in.

Joe Biden speaking about the raid earlier today by the U.S. on an ISIS leader in Syria.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- the global leader of ISIS, known as Haji Abdullah. He took over as leader of ISIS in 2019, after

the United States' counterterrorism operation killed al-Baghdadi.

Since then, ISIS has directed terrorist operations targeting Americans, our allies and our partners and countless civilians in the Middle East, Africa

and in South Asia.

Haji Abdullah oversaw the spread of ISIS affiliated terrorist groups around the world, after savaging communities and murdering innocents. He was

responsible for the recent brutal attack on a prison in northeast Syria holding ISIS fighters, which was swiftly addressed by our brave partners in

the Syrian Democratic Forces.

He was the driving force behind the genocide of the Yazidi people in northwestern Iraq in 2014. We all remember the gut-wrenching stories, mass

slaughters that wiped out entire villages, thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery, rape used as a weapon of war.

And thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is no more. Our forces carried out the operation with their signature

preparation and precision. And I directed the Department of Defense to take every precaution possible to minimize civilian casualties.

Knowing that this terrorist had chosen to surround himself with families, including children, we made a choice to pursue a special forces raid at a

much greater risk to our own people rather than targeting him with an airstrike.

We made this choice to minimize civilian casualties. Our team is still compiling the report.

But we do know that, as our troops approached to capture the terrorist, in a final act of desperate cowardice, he, with no regard to the lives of his

own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up, not just with a vest but to blow up that third floor, rather than face justice for

the crimes he has committed, taking several members of his family with him, just as his predecessor did.

I'm grateful for the immense courage and skill and determination of our U.S. forces, who skillfully executed this incredibly challenging mission.

The members of our military are the solid steel backbone of this nation, ready to fly into danger at a moment's notice to keep our country and the

American people safe as well as our allies.

And I'm also grateful to the families of our service members. You served right alongside yours, these soldiers and sailors, Marines, special forces,

the loved ones, giving them the strength and support they need to do what they do.

To our service members and their families, we're forever grateful for the - - what you do for us and we owe you a debt. Thank you.

We're also aided by the essential partnership of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

[10:25:00]

BIDEN: I want to commend our dedicated intelligence community, the Department of Defense and members of our national security team throughout

the government, whose meticulous and tireless work over the course of many months ensured that this mission succeeded.

This operation is testament to America's reach and capability to take out terrorist threats, no matter where they try to hide anywhere in the world.

I'm determined to protect the American people from terrorist threats.

And I'll take the decisive action to protect this country and will continue working with our close allies and partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces,

the Iraqi security forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga and more than 80 members of the global coalition to keep pressure on ISIS, to protect our

homeland.

We remain vigilant, we remain prepared. Last night's operation took a major terrorist leader off the battlefield and sent a strong message to

terrorists around the world: we will come after you and find you.

Once again, today, we continue our unceasing effort to keep the American people safe and the strength and security of our allies and partners around

the world.

I want to thank you all. And may God bless you and may God protect our troops. I'm heading off to New York right now. I'm late. And I thank you

for your time. Appreciate it.

QUESTION: Mr. President -- how many U.S. troops --

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And there you heard the president addressing the nation there, giving more details in that overnight raid that killed

the leader of ISIS, al-Qurashi also, as the president said his name, Haji Abdullah, also referenced by that name as well, the president said he was a

horrible terrorist leader and he is no more.

He also went on into more detail as to what we had been reporting earlier, that he himself, the terrorist himself, chose to blow up that third floor

and thus killing some of his family members and children in the process there.

The president going on to say, we will remain vigilant; a major terrorist leader has been taken off the battlefield and said, that should be a

message sent to terrorists around the world, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: He also, some news in there, he says the U.S. considered a bomb strike and

chose not to go that path, used what is a riskier operation, a ground operation, to attempt to avoid civilian casualties.

As Barbara Starr reported a few moments ago, there was also an attempt to encourage, via megaphone, family members to come out of the building before

the operation went in.

But in the end, the president saying the finding is al-Qurashi himself blew up his own family.

Our panel is back with us now as we analyze the comments here. Kaitlan Collins, Barbara Starr, Col. Cedric Leighton, Peter Bergen.

Peter, if I can begin with you here, big picture, this is a test, to some degree, of the strategy in Syria, to be distinguished from past strategies

in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not a big footprint; several hundred U.S. Special Forces Operators, with a local force, in this case, the Syrian Democratic Forces, largely Kurdish

fighters, carrying out pinpoint operations like this as opposed to a big ground presence.

Is this an indication that that strategy can work to help at least with operations like this one?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, yes, this operation worked. I thought another piece of news was the fact that this has been

developed for many months.

And as you said, that, you know, they dismissed the air operation. It's the same basic calculus they used in the bin Laden operation. They thought

about dropping B52 bombs on the site. That would have caused massive civilian casualties.

They went with a ground operation, which is always much riskier. As I mentioned, President Biden, then Vice President Biden opposed the bin Laden

operation. Here, he's much more comfortable with carrying out this kind of operation, which still had civilian casualties, very similar to the Abu

Bakr al-Baghdadi operation, the former leader of ISIS, who blew himself up and killed three children.

So a lot of similarities between these two operations, two very different presidents, Trump and Biden, basically making the same call and clearly

having a relatively successful result.

But I mean, there will be somebody else ISIS will announce within the next few days, I'm pretty sure, will claim descendant from the Prophet Muhammad

and it will carry on. I mean, I think it's obviously useful to have an operation that takes out somebody who, if, as the president says, was

responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Yazidis and planning other terrorist operations.

That's great but ISIS is still around in Afghanistan, you know, it's -- has a lot of freedom of movement and it continues to be an issue in Iraq and

Syria.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And, Kaitlan, as we become familiar with these types of operations, with different administrations, we see and hear more details

about what was transpiring in the Situation Room.

[10:30:00]

GOLODRYGA: And the moments before and leading up to that raid, can you talk about what you're hearing and what White House sources are telling you

transpired last night?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So this is something that was months in the making. It is a very delicate and complicated

situation at times. White House officials, administration officials said, especially in this situation, given where Haji Abdullah was living, in this

residential building, something the president was referencing there, the concern.

You talked about what Barbara was reporting, about the calls to get the people out of the house before the operation went down and the concern he

would self-detonate, which the White House says did happen.

This is something months in the making. They were waiting to get intelligence to say, yes, he was residing in this building, somewhere,

where officials said he rarely left and was basically conducting ISIS via couriers, instructing people what to do.

He rarely left this building himself. It is not like they had an opportunity to target him outside of the building. And so President Biden

himself was first briefed in depth on the details of the potential options here for this operation about a month ago.

They brought in a tabletop model of where Haji Abdullah was living, to go over this with the president himself. And officials said the president

wanted to make sure they could minimize any of the civilian casualties.

We know according to reports there were civilian casualties, that the Pentagon confirmed; none of those are from the U.S. side. That is something

that was of concern to the president.

We're told that he got that indepth briefing a month ago and, on Tuesday in the Situation Room, where we noticed he was meeting with the Defense

Secretary who was at the White House for about three hours, that's when President Biden gave the final go-ahead to conduct this mission.

So he watched it last night. You see the picture released by the White House, where it is President Biden, the vice president, the deputy national

security adviser, other officials, around the table, watching and waiting to make sure this mission was conducted successfully.

Officials said afterward, President Biden said, "God bless our troops." He left the Situation Room, once the team was wheels up and then he was

updated throughout the night by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

But these are always very tense situations for any kind of White House, because, of course, you never know if things can go wrong; you plan and you

plan down to the minute. But there are always a big -- there is a big risk factor in this.

Certainly that is what officials described last night. But just to give you one last detail into the detail of the planning for this, they believed

that Haji Abdullah was on the third floor of this building and they wanted to make sure, if he did self-detonate, that it would not cause the building

to collapse and therefore put the lives of the other people in the building at risk.

And they said that the military engineers had tested that beforehand. They were confident that the third floor would not collapse if he did that. They

said he may have not known that even himself.

He did end up doing that last night but, of course, the people on the first floor were able to get out safely, according to the White House.

SCIUTTO: Barbara Starr, the president said, thanks to the bravery of our troops, this horrible terrorist leader is with us no more. You know better

than anyone the risk involved in an operation like this but also the preparation, as he noted months in advance.

Can you describe briefly the level of intel, the number of forces involved, the difficulty of that and the risk in a calculation like this?

The president did have an option to drop a bomb; much easier to do it far away, didn't do that here. And that was a riskier choice.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Right. And you see the size of the force. That's something that I think is worth considering. So what we

know is a number of Special Operations Forces came in on the ground via helicopter.

That's essentially the part we see if you will. But whenever those kinds of forces move, there are aircraft overhead, who are constantly surveying,

collecting intelligence, eavesdropping on cell phone conversations, collecting every bit of imagery they can.

So you would have had aircraft overhead. You also, just like in the bin Laden raid would have had a quick reaction force on standby at some point

in -- not too far away, perhaps just over the Turkish border. These quick reaction forces are always on standby during these missions in case U.S.

troops get into trouble and they need to go in and get them out of there.

So this would have been a considerable force that would have been devoted to this. What we know is the administration, like past administrations for

some time, continues to basically maintain a list, if you will, of the terrorist leaders it wants to go after.

And they constantly try and collect intelligence on them and wait for that moment when they essentially get the aha moment. It may be a cell phone

that suddenly activates; it may be a visual sighting, something that tells them the person is there at that location.

And then they can begin to watch it and develop the fine-tuned intelligence so they know when to go in. They want to know as much as possible about

every single thing.

[10:35:00]

STARR: And to Kaitlan's point, the fact they had a military engineer consider whether the building would collapse, that tells us that somehow

they had an assessment of the construction of that building, perhaps whether there was rebar steel in it or what.

And that's a pretty -- that's a pretty interesting tidbit, that they would have some understanding of that.

SCIUTTO: Bianna, think of all that goes into these raids in advance. If you look back at the bin Laden raid, they were using satellites to attempt

to measure the height of the person they suspected to be Osama bin Laden, to make sure he was the target.

But Barbara's point there shows that these things, they aren't done lightly; they require a lot in advance.

GOLODRYGA: Months of planning here.

And, Colonel, interestingly enough, there are still Russian forces, special forces there on the ground in Syria. At times they themselves are fighting

with ISIS.

I'm just curious, given the conflict now in Ukraine and the increased rhetoric between Russia and the United States, is this a situation where

perhaps the U.S. military and some of the Russian counterparts had either some conversations leading up to this or, most likely, coming out of it?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, that's a really good question because, of course, we all know that the Russians are active

in Syria. Russian special forces as well as our special Forces sometimes meet intentionally or unintentionally in Syria or over Syria in some cases.

And this kind of mission often requires some degree of deconfliction. They probably asked the Russians for some airspace or something like that; maybe

they didn't. But certainly, on the way out, like you mentioned, they would have requested the Russians not do anything.

And that is something that I think we almost have to look out for, because the Russians could have easily been tipped off or could have tipped off

others that this was going on. And, of course, they chose not to act.

So this is a possibility where a degree of cooperation, if it happened, in Syria, to take care of this raid, may be a harbinger of other methods of

cooperation, other avenues of cooperation between our two militaries.

SCIUTTO: Maybe. And there has been the case in Syria, remember, a number of years ago, where there was a deadly clash actually between U.S. and

Russian forces in Syria, certainly with those deconfliction lines, they want to do everything they can to avoid it.

GOLODRYGA: Kaitlan Collins, Barbara Starr, Col. Cedric Leighton, Peter Bergen, thank you so much. We'll continue to follow this developing story.

Meantime, supply chain issues, inflation, gas, high prices, all of this still walloping the wallets of families and small business owners. Up next,

I'll speak with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about that and also ask her about the hope for future investments in our country's manufacturing

industry.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson. Tonight in Dubai, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is promising the world a safe and wonderful Olympics, despite what is the ongoing COVID pandemic. Mr. Xi will be

hosting leaders and dignitaries from around the world, including Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Putin looking ahead to the meeting, said in an interview, the two men are good friends with, quote, "similar views" on addressing the world's

problems.

On the sports field, some of the competitions are already underway. That's as dozens of Olympic personnel tested positive for COVID on Wednesday.

Selina Wang watching all of this for you today. She is live from the Olympic bubble, the closed loop in Beijing. Selina.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. Everybody is awaiting this much awaited meeting on Friday between Putin and Xi. This will be Xi Jinping's

first face to face meeting since the pandemic began.

And it sends a strong message to the West, one of deepening ties between Russia and China. They are expected to have a bilateral meeting followed by

a one on one lunch and then attending the opening ceremony together.

This is as they're not just deepening economic ties, these are key trading partners but also increasing ties on the diplomatic front, with China

showing sympathy to Russia as there are increasing concerns of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, with China telling the U.S. to take Russia's security

concerns seriously.

Now there are going to be notable absentees at this opening ceremony as well. Putin will be there, along with other autocratic leaders. But the

U.S., U.K., Australia and other democratic nations are staging a diplomatic boycott of these games as a statement against allegations of genocide in

China's Xinjiang region.

It is a far cry, Becky, from what we saw in 2008, when the key image was then president George W. Bush, sitting in the stands, shoulder to shoulder

with Chinese officials. This time around, the image to remember, Putin and Xi sitting next to each other, shoulder to shoulder -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right.

Well, CNN your source for Winter Olympics coverage from the measures athletes are taking to avoid getting COVID-19 to the most memorable Winter

Olympic moments and now how geopolitical issues are being handled at the games.

The IOC says politics should not be part of what is going on in Beijing but, as we know, it is. Head to cnn.com for indepth coverage.

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