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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Airstrikes on ISIS in Syria; U.S. Launches Separate Strike on Another Target; Refugees Flood Turkey-Syria Border; Arab Nations Involved in Strikes; Iraq Reacting to Syrian Strike

Aired September 23, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A major story breaking at this hour. The U.S. and its Arab allies launching a significant attack from the air on ISIS in Syria.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. 31 minutes past the hour right now. We have big new developments. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

Military officials say the targets hit were mainly in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, but also three other Syrian cities. Most of the airstrikes were targeting buildings and other so-called hard targets. The aim -- to degrade ISIS command and control the resupply and the training.

Separately -- and this was surprising and fascinating -- the United States launch its own strikes with no coalition against a network of al Qaeda veterans called the Khorasan group. These are not affiliated with ISIS.

This video just in to CNN minutes ago showing an airstrike. The Khorasan group was in Syria, the United States says CentCom says, planning attacks on the United States and targets connected to the West.

Central Command says it conducted eight strikes against these Khorasan targets west of Aleppo. That's all the way on the other side of the country from the ISIS target hits overnight. The Khorasan targets include training camps, a bomb factory as well as other facilities.

Now back to ISIS. Those airstrikes represent a significant escalation in the battle against that terror group inside Syria. Previously it was just Iraq where the United States have been hitting targets for well over a month.

ROMANS: Yes. This marks a new phase and new turn here. These strikes begin with -- began with sea launched Tomahawk missiles followed up by bombers, fighter jets, drones.

The U.S. not alone in launching these airstrikes. American military officials say all the partner nations involved in the airstrikes are Arab countries. They include Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Keeping you up to date on continuing developments and complete coverage from around the world, I want to start with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.

And Joe, we've heard from CentCom. They have confirmed this big operation. What are they telling us?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, we now have the outlines of what is the beginning of this operation involving the United States and five Arab nations to take out the command and control of ISIS in Syria. We don't have a lot of things, we don't have a casualty count. But here's what we know. The latest information from CentCom.

This was a mix of fighter bomber, drone or remotely piloted aircraft, the Tomahawk, land attack missiles conducting 14 strikes against ISIS targets. The Pentagon says the strikes destroyed or damaged multiple targets in the area of Raqqa, Dayr az Zawr, Al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal. The targets including ISIS fighters, training compounds, headquarters and command control facilities, storage facilities, a finance center, supply trucks and armed vehicles.

They used 47 Tomahawk missiles launched from the USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Philippine Sea as well as fighter airplanes from the Air Force, Navy and Marines. Remotely piloted aircraft and bombers as well. The U.S. said the allies from Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE all participated in the airstrikes. All aircraft exited the strike area, CentCom said.

And CentCom also says the United States has taken action to disrupt the imminent attack, they called it, plotting against the United States and Western interests conducted by that network of seasoned al Qaeda veterans referred to as the Khorasan Group, they say, have established a safe haven in Syria to develop external attacks, build and test improvised explosive devices, and recruit Westerner to conduct operations.

These strikes were undertaken by U.S. assets only. U.S. officials have actually suggested the Khorasan Group may be just as dangerous as ISIS. The concern is about mixing advanced bomb making technology with Western fighters who have gone to Syria and could come back to the U.S. The U.S. says there were eight strikes against the Khorasan Group and that was west of Aleppo -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: And we know that there are master bomb makers who have been working with this group and there have been concerns among counterintelligence or intelligence folks, quite frankly, of what they were trying to plot in terms of airliners and the like to get the al Qaeda name back on the -- back on the map. So that's really an operation within an operation here.

JOHNS: Absolutely. And there are some signs that airline security at a number of airports around the country was actually tightened out of concerns about this group.

ROMANS: All right, Joe Johns. Thank you for that, Joe.

BERMAN: I want to move now to our reporters in the region. This morning we have a very vivid picture of the human toll that this conflict that ISIS has instigated. The human toll it has caused in that region.

I want to go now to the border between Turkey and Syria where tens of thousands of refugees have been pouring over the last few days from Syria into Turkey.

Our Arwa Damon is standing right there. And this morning, there's been this new flow -- this new flow of refugees.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Turkish authorities just opened the border crossing a few hours ago. Families have been coming across. You can see they are just carrying whatever they could bring with them. And this is such a heartbreaking journey because they have left their homes. They've left all their livelihood. They have left everything that they tried to build and put together for their families, fleeing this ISIS onslaught.

Many of them waiting overnight at the border crossing to be allowed inside. That's taking a very tough toll on the elderly and on the children. Many of the mothers telling us that the kids were up crying all night because they were hungry and thirsty. One of the first things they're receiving as they're coming across is bottles of water and watching these babies just gulping away at this water. The parents trying to figure out and cope with what is happening around and families are getting registered, children are getting vaccinated, and then they're being moved to transit areas.

From that point on, some being moved into these camps that are being very quickly built up. A lot of them, though, we are being told, moving in with extended families they do have in Turkey. It's a very difficult thing, though, for all of these people that they don't know if and when they're going to be able to go back home.

ISIS moved into these villages in the northern part of Syria so quickly that they had to flee very fast. Now they're hoping that with the U.S. airstrikes, the Kurdish fighting forces might be able to push ISIS fighters away.

But you can see yet another family coming by again carrying whatever they could on their backs. The conditions out here certainly very difficult and very grueling for all of these families that have already lost, suffered and seen so much.

BERMAN: Such an important picture to see families literally carrying their lives on their backs. All of their belongings, their children as they flee this crisis in Syria right now. A vivid picture, as we said, of the human toll of this crisis.

Our Arwa Damon on the border between Turkey and Syria.

We should mention Turkey not involved in these airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. ROMANS: Until just a couple of days ago, it was negotiating

frantically for the release of some 49 diplomats and their families who have been kidnapped by ISIS so that had been the concentration of Turkey's efforts. But Turkey right there. I mean, some of the oil smuggled from the black market that ISIS has stolen used to fund its operations being smuggled into Turkey. So it is -- it is central and will be interesting to see how Turkey responds.

BERMAN: Right. That map right there look at the coalition that was involved in these airstrikes overnight against ISIS targets in Syria.

Coming up, we're going to have much more of our breaking news coverage. We have new developments that we're going to tell you about. We're going to go live to the United Arab Emirates, one of these nations, part of this coalition now involved in the strikes against ISIS.

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ROMANS: Welcome back. Continuing now with the major breaking news story this morning.

The U.S. and at least five Arab nations carrying out airstrikes in Syria. This as the campaign against ISIS intensifies. These strikes focus on Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS' self-declared Islamic state. Also raining down on three other Syrian cities. Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea began the strikes against the Sunni extremists followed by bombers, followed by fighters.

The sites hit included building in the governor's compound, a post office, a recruitment center. No word yet on casualties here.

Becky Anderson following the very latest for us from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

That is one of the partners in the fight. And tell us about these five partners, including the UAE. These are Arab partners of the United States, launching airstrikes, flying alongside American aircraft against a Sunni extremist target.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And Sunni majority countries. So a very difficult decision by the governments here. But clearly, they see ISIS as such a scourge not just on the region of Iraq and Syria. But the wider region here as well.

And they already, in this region in the Gulf, have issues with the rise of political Islam so this kind of, you know, two-pronged attack, as it were, has very sort of brought a number of countries who were sort of at odds with each other to get on with ISIS, destroy ISIS hopefully, and then get on with the rise and problems that they see with the rise of political Islam.

Just interested to sort of step back a moment and note where some of these attacks may have come from today because what we've learned from CentCom, and the wording was this. Five nations participated in or supported operations for the Americans, all aircraft got home safely. So we're looking at these U.S. ships, one is seen from the Red Sea and in the Gulf, to the southwest and to the southeast where missiles would have been operated from.

And then you're looking at airstrikes or air cover. So who actually physically got involved and participated in airstrikes as opposed to those who may have supported or provided air cover for work on the ground.

Now, Jordan, the only one of these five nations named today, who've actually confirmed to us, to me here on CNN, that they were active in the air. Their aircraft were out over Syria this morning. And they are all back safely. They say they need to destroy and degrade ISIS because this is a group, they say, who has already infiltrated their borders. They will be incredibly important to the U.S.-led coalition so far as intelligence is concerned.

And then you have to consider how the other four nations play into this. Pretty clear that Qatar may not have actually used its aircraft in the air, although over Libya in 2011, it certainly did. Then there are bases in Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi from which the Americans could have launched attacks.

So, you know, it's very difficult to work out at this stage how people were involved. But quite clearly, they are involved and they are looking at this for the sort of short to medium term at least.

ROMANS: All right, Becky Anderson for us this morning in the UAE. Thank you so much, Becky.

BERMAN: A surprising coalition right now to battle ISIS.

Want to take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY."

Chris Cuomo, no doubt, the news of the airstrikes overnight the focus today.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Yes, absolutely. And I think what we were just hearing Becky talked about points to why we have to continue our coverage on this. A lot is unknown. We do know that airstrikes have been launched. John and Christine have been telling you that very well this morning. The question is where.

It's still ongoing right now. A very fluid situation. It will be going on for days and weeks if not longer here so it becomes about why certain points are being picked right now. What the objectives are and most importantly what the success rate is of these objectives. So we're going to try and get into that with a real great group of military experts. Men who actually have done these missions in the past to give us some real perspective on this.

As well as what we've been talking about with this coalition because politically, that is as important as the airstrikes themselves, guys. We have to know who is doing what. And who's going to come in. We're talking about airstrikes. Really we have to figure out what the Saudis are doing. They probably have the strongest air capabilities of this early group of people participating.

So we'll be taking the ball from you -- come at the end of your hour here and try and start filling in some of these missing gaps of what's going on in the situation.

ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: They could be bombing as we speak.

ROMANS: And we're going to start getting video actually because we're expecting video to start coming in.

BERMAN: That's right.

ROMANS: That the government is going to show us what some of these airstrikes look like, some of these Tomahawk launches off that ship.

And also talking more about the refugee crisis because before this you have these towns that are absolutely emptying out of people as they're leaving ahead of the advancing ISIS troops. So it is a multilayered story. No question for us.

BERMAN: Stay with us, stay with "NEW DAY" all morning after this.

ROMANS: All right. Coming up, we're going to stay on these airstrikes against ISIS. We're going to talk to CNN's Anna Coren in Iraq where U.S. airstrikes have been concentrated until last night.

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ROMANS: Until now, airstrikes against ISIS have been confined to Iraq. That all changed overnight.

I want to go to CNN's Anna Coren. She's been covering those attacks, some 190 plus airstrikes. She is live now for us in Irbil.

And Anna, now that we know we're in this next phase where you've got six countries, the U.S. and five Arab nations, together bombing multiple sites within Syria, what's the reaction from where you are?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly there's a feeling of about time. You know, Kurdish forces up here in northern Iraq have been calling for the Americans to go after ISIS in Syria. That is their safe haven. That is their sanctuary. The line out of Kurdistan has been, you know, this is a futile exercise unless you hit ISIS in Syria.

So now that this is happening, it is welcome news by the Kurdish regional government as well as the Iraqis. They're very pleased also that there was an Arab coalition involved in these airstrikes. They feel that's very encouraging.

They do however stress that they hope there is an intensification of the air campaign here in Iraq. We've been on the ground now for six weeks. The entire time that this U.S. air campaign has been underway. And as you mentioned 190 U.S. airstrikes to date, plus those several French airstrikes over the weekend making a difference, having a big impact on the ground.

But, Christine, as we know, ISIS is not retreating. They still occupy a third of this country. And whilst those strikes are taking out those enemy positions, those armored vehicles, you know, the artillery pieces, you're not seeing ISIS scurry away back to their strongholds. They are staying in there, digging in, they are fighting.

So it is hoped certainly by officials here that the United States will step up its campaign. The global coalition as well. We know that there are Australian fighter jets stationed in the UAE, ready to go. They're hoping that they also get involved because they don't want this piecemeal approach. Obviously, it provides that air cover, it allows the ground forces to move in. The Peshmerga up here in northern Iraq.

Obviously the Iraqi Security Forces further to the south, but definitely that they want to see a more sustained campaign as they have had in Syria. You know, in the last few hours, you're talking about 50 airstrikes. I think the Iraqis would like to see something similar.

ROMANS: Anna Coren in Irbil. And again, we've been showing you these pictures. Thank you for that so much, Anna, for all your reporting this morning. It's been a really -- a really big night.

And we're showing you some pictures that the U.S. Navy has given us this -- some video that we'll be showing you this morning, the guided missiles destroyer, USS Arleigh Burke, launching these Tomahawk land attack missiles against ISIS. You're seeing that there.

And also we've seen there were fighter jets, there were bombers, drone strikes. An attack on Aleppo, that was an al Qaeda target. Just the U.S. involved in that. But several other cities in Syria. The U.S. and five Arab partners attacking ISIS -- ISIL as the U.S. government calls it there.

Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Our breaking news coverage of these first U.S. airstrikes in Syria continue with "NEW DAY" right after the break.

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