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Ukraine Says Russian Troops Have Invaded; 1,000 Russian Troops Join Fight; Russia Moves Heavy Weapons Into Ukraine; ISIS Executes 250 Syrian Soldiers; Armed Group Detains 43 U.N. Peacekeepers; Obama and National Security Team Meet Today; Major Banks Hacked; New Data in MH370 Search

Aired August 28, 2014 - 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, Ukraine says Russia has launched a full-scale invasion. And U.S. intelligence confirms there are Russian troops with heavy weapons fighting in southern Ukraine.

Also right now, more claims of ISIS atrocities in Syria. And fighting is heating up in northern Iraq. All of these crises confronting President Obama as he gets ready to meet with his national security team.

And right now, new information about the flight path of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Australian officials now say the plane may have turned south a lot earlier than they originally thought. We're going to talk about what this means for the search effort.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting today from New York. In just about an hour from now, the United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine. The reason, today's escalation by Russian troops. Ukraine says they've been invaded. A U.S. official says as many as 1,000 Russian troops have now moved in with heavy weapons to fight on the side of separatists in southeastern Ukraine.

Our Diana Magnay has more now from her spot right near the border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are between the coastal city of Mariupol and the Russian border which is about 25 miles in that direction. And I've been speaking to a local -- or to a commander of one of the volunteer battalions down here who said that on Wednesday, his unit was routed from the town of Novoazovsk which very close to the Russian border, pushed out by a combination of pro-Russian rebels backed by Russian troops and Russian armor. He said it was noticeable, the Russian military vehicles, the tanks all have their number plates rubbed out. But he has absolutely no doubt that these are Russian troops who have taken over that town.

The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine has said that Russia is sending in its newest air defense systems including the SA-22, presumably to try and stop Ukraine from sending in air support. And this commander did say that he received no reinforcements at all to help his floundering battalion. There also seems to be intense fighting up near the crash site of MH- 17 between the border and Donetsk, a secondary very intense fighting. NATO says that it believes there are more than 1,000 Russian troops now actively engaged in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. And it has released satellite imagery of what it says are Russian artillery positions up in the Luhansk region. So, on Ukrainian soil. One of the rebel leaders says that the number of Russian troops involved in this is actually far higher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDER ZAKHARCHENKO, PRIME MINISTER, DONETSK PEIOPLE'S REPUBLIC (translator): I will be even more frank. Current military are also fighting with us. They prefer to spend their holiday not on the seaside but amongst us, amongst brothers who fight for their freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MAGNAY: Now, what are the rebels backed by Russia trying to achieve here? Well, it looks very much as though they're trying to open up a new front down here in the south to distract the Ukrainian army in its mission to retake Luhansk and Donetsk. And certainly, where I am now, this Ukrainian checkpoint behind me is the last presence, really, between here and the Russian border. The land beyond that open for the taking.

Diana Magnay, CNN, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Next week, President Obama heads to Estonia for security talks. Estonia, of course, another of the former Soviet Republics like Ukraine. Then, he'll meet with NATO leaders in Wales.

Let's bring in our Barbara Starr. She's over at the Pentagon. What are you hearing over there, Barbara, about this Russian incursion?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, U.S. military intelligence began watching this very precisely over the last 24 hours. And they say, indeed, about 1,000 Russian troops moved into this area in southern Ukraine. This is something they've been worried about, something they were warning about. There are 18,000 to 20,000 Russian troops on the border. They are so close it basically is a very short drive overnight for them to go on into Ukraine.

The satellite imagery that NATO is now showing is some different areas of Russian forces in Ukraine but it underscores it. Let's go back and take a look at one of these images. If you look very closely, you see that line of, essentially, what may appear to you to be black dots. That is a convoy of Russian artillery inside Ukraine in a separatist- held area. The U.S. says -- NATO says they are convinced it's Russian weapons, because the Ukraine military does not have access to this area of their own country.

The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine also tweeting about this a few hours ago, saying Russian-supplied tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and multiple rocket launchers have been insufficient to defeat Ukraine's armed forces. So, now an increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in the fighting on Ukrainian territory. Call it in an invasion, call it an incursion, call it what you will. Troops from Moscow ordered in by the Russian government are now inside Ukraine fighting with Russian weapons -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It's a pretty alarming development, when you think about it. Is there any talk of the United States increasing materiel support for Ukrainian government troops?

STARR: Well, not at this time. The Ukrainians have asked -- they have a military that's just, by all accounts, exhausted by the fighting over the last several months. They have wanted U.S. help with weapons and other assistance. The U.S. not prepared to give the Ukrainian military weapons, providing nonlethal aid, field gear, uniforms, tents, that sort of thing. But this, as you say, comes at a very difficult time for President Obama. He goes next week to the NATO summit in Wales. The number one topic was already going to be Russia in Ukraine and what to do about it, and now the need is even more urgent to make a decision -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, the -- a lot of those eastern European, central European NATO allies pretty nervous right now, especially Estonia. And that's the president making a point of visiting Estonia, one of the Baltic States right before the NATO summit.

Barbara, thanks very much.

We're also getting word out of Syria right now about soldiers, Syrian soldiers, stripped of their uniforms and marched to their deaths. And the images are disturbing. Terrorists fighters with ISIS claim to have executed at least 250 Syrian soldiers at an air base in Ragga. This video, posted by ISIS, shows men marching at gunpoint, some with their hands up. Another video is more graphic. It was posted by a Syrian activist that appears to show dead bodies, presumably the soldiers lined up on the ground. We should point out that the people standing next to the bodies do not appear to be ISIS fighters, and the images were most likely shot after ISIS had left the scene.

We're also following another developing story in the Middle East. The United Nations now says an armed group has detained 43 of its U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights area. According to an Israeli military official with knowledge of the situation, the U.N. peacekeepers were taken by the Al Isra front, that's a Syrian rebel group with ties to Al Qaeda. As we reported, Syrian rebels captured the only border crossing between Syria and the Golan Heights yesterday.

President Obama is weighing military options to deal with the turmoil in Syria and the campaign of terror by ISIS. The Pentagon has given him a range of options that include taking the fight inside Syria to ISIS targets. The president meets with his national security advisers in just a few hours in Washington.

Our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger is joining us from Washington right now. Gloria, you've got the national security team meeting this afternoon --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BLITZER: -- with the president. He has repeatedly said any involvement, regarding ISIS, would be limited but the goals seem to be expanding. So, how important would it be for the president to speak directly to the American people right now about the U.S. strategy in that part of the world?

BORGER: I think it's very important for the president to speak to the American people, Wolf, but he has to come up with a strategy before he can do that. And that's why he's meeting with his national security team. Because, you know, originally, as you know very well, Wolf, this mission was defined as humanitarian and also to protect American personnel.

It has clearly broadened. You have the secretary of defense saying this -- that ISIS is beyond anything we have ever seen. So, if the president's going to go to the American people, if he's going to order more air strikes, he has to determine that it would be effective. He has to determine the scope of the emission. He has to determine the limits of the emission. And then, he has to tell the American people what he wants to do. And there's also another question, of course, Wolf, which is does he have to go to Congress to get permission for what he wants to do? I would argue that, in the end, he'll probably end up going to Congress for that.

BLITZER: As you remember, and a lot of our viewers will remember, a year ago, the president was in a similar position debating whether to intervene militarily in Syria because of a chemical weapons attack. He decided not to do so at that time. Here's the question. Why is this situation potentially different today?

BORGER: Well, I think the situation is different first of all because you had had an American journalist murdered. And, you know -- so, secondly, also, I think the president has a case to make, and he might make it, we don't know, that this is now a threat to the national security of the -- of the United States.

But what the president learned from the experience a year ago is that he's not going to draw red lines anymore because when he did that and then he seemed to pull back, it made him look weak. And as a result, what they're doing right now is they're not rushing into drawing any lines, at this particular point, because the president wants to get all the intelligence information before he makes decisions and comes out to speak to the American people. I think what they learned from a year ago is that, perhaps, they got out over their skis, as the president himself might say.

BLITZER: There's, obviously, this other big crisis now --

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- that's unfolding with -- involving Ukraine and Russia, Russian troops moving into Ukraine. He's about to head out, as we reported, to Estonia, -- BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- a NATO ally, a former Soviet Republic, have a big NATO summit in Wales. How much pressure is he going to be under and the NATO allies, for that matter, to deliver a forceful response to Russia?

BORGER: Yes, I think, in this particular case, the president will be forcing the NATO allies. I mean, you already have Angela Merkel coming out talking about the possibility of more sanctions. I think the president, in this particular case, has actually led the European allies on strengthening sanctions. And I think you'll see him continue to do that. The question, as Barbara pointed out earlier, is is anybody willing to go beyond humanitarian assistance in Ukraine as far as arms goes? And I don't think they're at that position yet. But I do believe that, particularly when the president travels to Estonia, it's an opportunity for him to talk directly to Putin in his own backyard.

BLITZER: Yes, he's got a lot of international crises --

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: -- on his agenda right now, --

BORGER: One would think, yes.

BLITZER: -- Iraq, Syria, Israel and Gaza. You've got Ukraine, a real situation developing there. All right, Gloria, thanks very, very much.

BORGER: Sure.

BLITZER: We'll monitor the president's meeting later today. He's going to be meeting with his national security team at the White House.

Up next, major U.S. banks hit by hackers. Could Russia be behind this attack? We're taking a closer look.

And later, sexism and the Senate. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York writes about being called chubby and fat by her male Senate colleagues. Two of my female colleagues will weigh in on the situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Right now the FBI is investigating hacking attacks on several American financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase. And it's possible that Russian hackers could be responsible for the bank attacks. Our Justice reporter, Evan Perez, is joining us from Washington right now.

Evan, tell us about this hacking attack, the investigation, what do we know? EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, I'm told that

investigators consider this one of the most serious hacking attacks against U.S. financial institutions that they've seen in a long, long time. We believe that up to seven banks might have been hit in this round of cyber attacks. JP Morgan is the one name we know right now that's acknowledging that this has happened.

They were using malware to get into these secure, very highly secure systems, including at JP Morgan. And it appears they had the capability to do some damage, to steal data and so on about customer accounts. So the problem is, is how bad the problem is, right? And that's one of the things that the investigators are working with the banks to try to determine how much damage was done and how to fix it.

BLITZER: What's the link to Russian hackers?

PEREZ: Well, you know, whenever there are these types of attacks, the first place that the FBI and others look to is Russia and eastern Europe because, frankly, that's where a lot of these criminal gangs that target financial institutions are based, Wolf. And so right now they don't know that -- exactly who did this, but that's the first place they're looking. And, obviously, there's also the timing. The U.S. has -- and western countries have brought sanctions against Russia in recent months over the crisis in the Ukraine. And so there is some view that they were expecting this, some kinds of attacks coming from these countries.

BLITZER: So is the purpose to steal sensitive information about people's accounts or corporate accounts or whatever or to actually drain accounts and steal money?

PEREZ: Well, these guys, you know, especially the criminal gangs, Wolf, they specialize in stealing money. And so that's what they try to do. They're trying to get customer data to try to figure out how they can perhaps replicate cards -- credit cards and then use it to steal on a grand scale. They're very successful. They take millions and millions of dollars out of the U.S. economy every year. They're very good at this. And so this is just the beginning of this story, Wolf.

BLITZER: So a worrisome development indeed. All right, thanks very much, Evan Perez, reporting for us.

Just ahead, we're also getting new details that have emerged just a little while ago that may help searchers locate Malaysia Flight 370. Five months after it disappeared in midflight, there's new information coming in. We want to update you on what we know right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's check in to see how things are going on Wall Street. Not a lot of movement today. On the big board, the Dow right now down about 36 points, off of yesterday's close of 17,122.

The loss of two passenger jets this year has cost Malaysia Airlines more than $1 million a day and left it in dire financial straits. Passengers have been tweeting images of flying in mostly empty Malaysia planes, including this one of a recent flight from Australia to Malaysia. Look at that. The company acknowledges it lost a lot of business after March when Flight 370 disappeared on a routine flight to Beijing. As it struggled to recover, Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July. The airline's parent company is now preparing a major restructuring that will likely involve thousands of layoffs.

Malaysia Airlines was already struggling financially when MH370 disappeared. Australian officials now think they have a better idea of the plane's flight path. New data suggests the plane turned south sooner than originally thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN TRUSS, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Some work is being done in endeavoring to map the position of the aircraft when a filed satellite telephone conversation was attempted between Malaysian Airlines on the ground and the aircraft. And that has suggested to us that the aircraft may have turned south a little earlier than we had previously expected. But the search area remains the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN aviation correspondent Rene Marsh is covering all of this for us.

Rene, it's hard to believe that Malaysia Flight 370 has been missing now for five months. They still haven't found one single even tiny little piece of the plane. The Australian officials suggest they are narrowing the search, though. Are they?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the big news today is officials now believe that after the plane flew north through the Straits of Malacca, you just heard him say it, the plane turned south a little bit earlier than originally thought. But as we just heard, the search area remains the same. So what does that mean? They still believe that the plane is someplace along the so-called seventh arc, that it the final line you're looking at on that graph in the South Indian Ocean. But because of that failed satellite phone call that they've been studying, when the search does resume, they are going to sharply focus further south on that arc. Again, that's all based on this new refined data that they've been looking at, Wolf.

BLITZER: Searchers have spent the past few months mapping the ocean floor. Have they found anything at all?

MARSH: Yes, they've been mapping since March - since May, I should say. Because what we know about this area, it's really unexplored. So it's really critical for them to understand what is down there on the ocean floor before the deep sea search begins. What you don't want is to put equipment down into the ocean and you have any of it either crash or perhaps it's lost because of the depth of the water.

Today we learned that they've discovered some very dramatic features under water, including a couple of volcanos. They also said that there is an area within the water in which the depth is about 600 meters, and then just a short distance away, it drops down to a distance of 6,600 meters. So it just shows you how complicated it is. And this is critical information that they want to know before they start that search next month.

Wolf.

BLITZER: So what's next?

MARSH: So next we know that the search, the Malaysian search vessel, will begin the underwater search in about three weeks. We also know that Australia will be sending a vessel to assist in the search. We know it will take about a year. It's going to cost roughly $48 million. But they made it very clear that they have to find debris. Without debris, this investigation is essentially stalled. They need the black boxes. They need other parts of the plane to help unravel this mystery and tell the story of exactly what happened to this plane, as well as the people on board, Wolf.

BLITZER: So the fact that the plane turned south a little bit earlier than they originally thought, but they're still looking in the general area, although they've tweaked it a little bit? Is that basically the news we're getting?

MARSH: Right. So in a nutshell, the search area has not changed, but their focus is going to be -- remember that arc that we talked about, it's a pretty long arc there. So now that we have this data, this refined data, they will be focusing on the southern part of that arc. I know you're looking at several white lines there. So we should be focusing on the final white line that you're looking at on your screen. That was the last moment that the plane made a satellite connection. And the focus now, based on this new information from this failed phone call to the aircraft, they have now determined, they want to focus at the very south there. So the bottom of your screen of that final seventh arc.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Rene Marsh reporting for us, thanks very much.

Still ahead, terrorists are using propaganda videos to get new recruits from around the world. We're going to tell you why Minnesota is one of their major targets. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)