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Wolf

Does Obama's Message to ISIS Fall Flat; ISIS Beheading Videos Used as Recruitment Tool; Libya Started Russia/West Tension; Anderson Cooper Interviews Nancy Writebol

Aired September 03, 2014 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

President Obama offered a new warning for ISIS, saying justice will be served for the murder of the American Steven Sotloff. The White House announced 350 more U.S. troops would be heading over to Baghdad.

Let's discuss what's going on with Paul Cruickshank and Will McCants. Both of these know about this subject. Paul is our CNN terrorism analyst. Will McCants is with the Brookings Institution here in Washington, a former State Department advisor on countering violent extremism, or what we like to call terrorism.

Sending more troops to Iraq right now to serve -- protecting really, that's what the excuse is -- the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. What message does that send to ISIS in Iraq?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I don't think that sends much of a message to ISIS. That's all about protecting U.S. diplomatic facilities in Baghdad. When Obama said we're going to "degrade and destroy" ISIS, I think ISIS leadership will have heard that, they may have seen that as a declaration of war. So far, this group has not escalated beyond these horrible beheadings we're now seeing. They may think the United States are coming after them heavily. There's worry this group could retaliate in places like Jordan where there are U.S. interests.

BLITZER: You agree with that, Will?

WILL MCCANTS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: I think the beheadings were a significant escalation in ISIS's campaign against the United States, which as Paul said, has been pretty nascent to this point, but those acts are very provocative. They're designed to do what the 9/11 attacks were designed to do, which is make the United States go all in with ground troops or completely leave the theater. ISIS is pushing for either outcome?

BLITZER: Do they really think, ISIS, al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, these other guys, they can confront the United States of America?

MCCANTS: They do. They look back to the narrative of the Soviets in Afghanistan and they believe that the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan were able to defeat the Soviets. They look at recent American experience in Afghanistan. They believe they can do the same thing to the United States and Iraq by waging a guerrilla campaign.

BLITZER: So what does the U.S. need to do right now in terms of dealing with this? It's one thing to have a crisis in Iraq and Syria. But it's another thing if these guys are going to be motivated to launch their battle against the United States in the United States.

CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely, and there needs to be a much tougher approach when it comes to Syria. ISIS has strongholds there. Most of the leadership are in Syria. Most of their financing is in Syria. So the Obama administration really needs to come up with an approach, a much more concerted action in Syria. They'll have to look carefully at the following question: Do they do some sort of impasse with the Assad regime? The Assad regime are the only people with ground forces right now that can take on ISIS in Syria.

BLITZER: We know ISIS has hundreds of millions of dollars that they've stolen in Mosul and elsewhere. They've got sophisticated weapons they've stolen from the Iraqi military, mostly U.S. weapons. But do they really, Will, have the ability to threaten the United States homeland?

MCCANTS: Not in terms of technological capabilities. But they do have the personnel now. They have reportedly up to 100 people that are fighting for them from the United States. They've got several hundred from European nations that are fighting under their banner. A lot of those people are from visa-waiver countries that could easily get into the United States. It would be very difficult for them to pull off anything in this country because of the security measures the administration has put in place since 9/11, but that doesn't mean they won't try. And the fact that the United States is carrying out repeated strikes against them means they will probably try something against the United States, either in the Middle East or here.

BLITZER: I spoke yesterday with the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Mike McCaul, he said -- I asked him, should the U.S. be worried whether ISIS or some other al Qaeda-related group could launch some sort of attack coming up in a few days on the anniversary of 9/11, and he said yes.

CRUICKSHANK: There's obvious concern about that. But what ISIS has done is they've never had any terrorist plots against the West. That includes the Iraqi insurgency days, when there were a lot of American strikes when it was then known as al Qaeda in Iraq. So it's not clear what this group is going to do next. But if it does launch an attack against the United States, you can be certain there will be an overwhelming response. That could jeopardize what they're trying to build in Iraq and Syria.

BLITZER: I've heard from terrorism experts -- Will, you know more about this than I do -- that as bad as ISIS is, there are other al Qaeda-related groups, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in the Maghreb, or al Qaeda led by Ayman al Zawahiri, they still have the capability to do something dramatic on the anniversary of 9/11. MCCANTS: That's true. They have the technological capability. But

remember, ISIS is appealing to a lot of these groups to join up with their organization. If they're able to peel off capable bomb makers, like the one that belongs to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, they could represent a significant threat.

BLITZER: There's one report an element of the Taliban may be anxious to team up with ISIS. Have you heard about that report?

CRUICKSHANK: Yes, the man affiliated with the Taliban in Afghanistan. There is concern that other groups may be positioning themselves to team up with ISIS. Concern about Boka Haram. A few weeks ago, the leader of Boko Haram suggested that his group may become more close to ISIS. There's been criticism of ISIS in the global jihadist movement for their brutality, creating a caliphate. But now the United States is attacking them in Iraq, there's a rally around the flag effect when it comes to ISIS. That's very worrying. Any time you have a unified global jihadist movement, they pose a bigger threat -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Do you agree?

MCCANTS: I do agree. The idea of a caliphate, which ISIS announced itself as, is intoxicating for the jihadi movement and they're gathering all sorts of militants to their banner and bleeding away support from al Qaeda.

BLITZER: Will McCants, Paul Cruickshank, guys, thanks very much. We'll be watching in the days to come.

When we return, ISIS delivers a message to the United States and videos showing the beheadings of Steven Sotloff and James Foley. But the group is also hoping to target another audience. We'll explain when we come back.

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BLITZER: ISIS's decision to videotape of the beheadings of two Americans is a strategy to spread terror around the world. But the videos are also intended to lure would-be jihadists into the terror group.

Brian Todd is covering this part of the story.

They're using these videos as a recruitment tool.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As hard as that seems, Wolf, that's what they're doing. Experts are telling us, as horrific as these videos are, they actually serve to inspire and energize the base of the support that ISIS has all over the world. Even people with kind of this extremist ideology, they have are energized by these videos and may take them as some kind of inspiration to come and join the fight.

Also on the propaganda front, you just had Paul Cruickshank on. I talked about this with him yesterday. These videos have this propaganda value for them. It gives them a kind of boost around the world because they're very calculated in the way they release these videos. This was a calculation to release it right after the Labor Day holiday. Americans are coming back from the holiday. They're more kind of focused on watching the news, et cetera. This was a calculation by ISIS to get this all over the American media right after a big holiday weekend. They seem to play these things fairly adroitly in the world media.

BLITZER: The British ambassador to the United States, a week or so ago, said that they were "close," in his words, close to identifying the killer, the executioner who killed James Foley. A lot of assumption it's the same person who killed Steven Sotloff. What are they looking for? How much more evidence do they need?

TODD: Well, they're looking at everything from this man's eyes, because you can see his eyes in the video, you can't see much else, to his voice. And most experts tell us it's very likely the same person in both these videos. They're looking at his posture, his movements, the way he holds the knife, the way he waves the knife around, all of that. His build is similar to the first video. They're examining forensically all of that material, as well as the background, the areas this filming took place. All of that is being combed through piece by piece, almost frame by frame by forensic experts in Great Britain.

As for the timetable, you're right, they said a week and a half ago, hey, we're close to being able to name this guy. I talked to British officials today and said, well, you said that a week and a half ago, how close are you. They wouldn't go there. They would just say we're working on this. We're making good progress. That's all they're saying about it.

BLITZER: Assuming he's from England. And the accent seems to be somewhere from the southern part of England.

TODD: Yes.

BLITZER: Someone there must recognize that voice. Someone there must be able to go to local authorities and say, I believe it's X or Y or whatever.

TODD: That's right.

BLITZER: But do you know if anyone's come forward and said, excuse me, I recognize that voice, it's --

TODD: That's what we don't know. We're asking British officials, and we're asking U.S. intelligence officials, what are you getting from the British on this, because these are Americans who were killed. A British man ostensibly in the video possibly doing the killing. So there's a lot of cooperation here you can assume. We don't know if anyone's come forward and said, I recognize this man. You can bet they're combing the neighbors where they believe this accent comes from. And experts have told us they can narrow it down to a certain neighborhood of London possibly, that people would be coming forward. They're combing those neighborhoods to ask people, hey, do you know this voice? Someone probably does. BLITZER: They've got a lot of high-definition video --

(CROSSTALK)

TODD: Absolutely.

BLITZER: So they've got a lot of clues. They could take a close look at those eyes and determine same person, not same person. We assume it's the same person but we'll soon find out.

TODD: Right.

BLITZER: Brian, thanks very much.

President Obama calls Russian's actions in Ukraine a brazen assault, but where did the growing rift from Russian and the West really begin? Some believe it may have been the start of the revolution in Libya. We'll explain what's going on.

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BLITZER: That was a Libyan air force fighter jet that crashed yesterday into a residential area, the city Tobruk. The pilot and possibly people on the ground killed. It happened during a ceremony as part of a memorial service for another pilot who died when his jet crashed last week. Authorities say mechanical failure caused the crash.

The fighting between rival militias in Libya has led to chaos and violence, and the deteriorating situation can be traced back to the former leader, Moammar Gadhafi. But that also was the catalyst apparently for another deteriorating situation today, the worsening relationship between Russia and the West.

CNN's Becky Anderson explains.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The most talked-about country at this week's NATO summit won't be among those doing the talking. When the 28-member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization convene in Wales on Thursday, Russia is set to dominate.

(GUNFIRE)

ANDERSON: More than two decades after the end of the Cold War, there is a new rift growing between Moscow and the West. Russia's annexation of Crimea and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine are right now front and center.

(GUNFIRE)

ANDERSON: But the supply of weapons to Syria hasn't helped either.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ANDERSON: But if you ask Vladimir Putin to put his finger on the moment the cracks started to form, he'll cite another crisis country, and that is Libya.

The Russian president insists that when the Kremlin agreed to a no- fly-zone over the volatile nation in 2011, it did so on purely humanitarian grounds. He says the subsequent operation to oust the Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, was not part of the agreed plan and was carried out in Western interests.

Then-Russia president, Dmitry Medvedev, made his feelings known at the time in support of Gadhafi.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV, FORMER PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translation): Libya is a very complicated country with various tribes and clans. Moammar Gadhafi has been balancing the benefit of all parties in keeping Libya developing as a unified country.

ANDERSON: While Libya descends into renewed chaos with militia battling for control and other nations in the region prepared to fight for their own interests, Mr. Putin may be hoping to have the last laugh. Sanctions on Russia have squeezed oil and gas supply to the West. And the Kremlin knows that ongoing turmoil elsewhere could limit Europe's options. This year, the G-8 became the G-7 when Russia's membership was suspended. And NATO may be sending equally chilly vibes in Russia's direction. But the Libyan incursion has taught the West that Putin will not tolerate feeling betrayed.

(GUNFIRE)

ANDERSON: And where Syria and Ukraine are concerned, he doesn't appear to be tolerating what he perceives as double standards.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

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BLITZER: An American missionary who contracted Ebola and survived opens up to our own Anderson Cooper. That's next.

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BLITZER: We now know the identity of the latest American to contract Ebola. Dr. Rick Socklove tested positive for the deadly disease. He delivered babies at a Liberian hospital.

One of the first Americans to come down with Ebola and recover spoke to Anderson Cooper, told him about the terrifying moments when she first realized she could have the disease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, A.C. 360: At what point did you start to feel something?

NANCY WRITEBOL, EBOLA PATIENT: I had gone to the isolation unit on the 22nd of July. I went home and I called one of our doctors and said you know what, I'm not really feeling very good, I think I have malaria. On Saturday, the doctors came in, they said, Nancy, we know you don't have Ebola, but we're going to just run the test anyway. You're not feeling better, you still have a fever, and we just want to make sure. We want to set everybody's mind at ease.

COOPER: Until -- until that moment, had you thought it could possibly be Ebola?

WRITEBOL: No. I didn't -- it didn't worry me at all.

COOPER: Even though you were working in a unit of Ebola patients?

WRITEBOL: Yeah. And I mean, even now I look back and I don't really know how I got it.

COOPER: So they said you know what, look, we're going to test you for Ebola.

WRITEBOL: So I said, OK. And so they drew the blood, of course. And David came home pretty quickly. And he came into the room and he said, "Nancy, I need to tell you some things." I said, "OK." And he said "Kent has Ebola." And I was just sick.

COOPER: Dr. Brantly.

WRITEBOL: Yeah, when David told me. And then after I kind of regrouped from that, he said, and "Nancy, you do too." And I remember I could hear people at the front door. And I remember getting up and I remember that David wanted to put his arms around me. And, of course, I had fever. And I just said "Don't. Don't. I don't want you to touch me, because, you know, touching -- who knows?" And so I said --

COOPER: That must have been so hard.

WRITEBOL: It was. And so I said, "But David, it's going to be OK. It's going to be OK."

COOPER: Even though, as you said, you had seen people die. You knew -- I mean, it's not a -- as you say, it is a horrific death. People bleed out. It's -- you had no doubt you would survive?

WRITEBOL: No, I didn't have any idea if I would survive. I didn't have a clue.

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BLITZER: You can see Anderson's full interview with Nancy Writebol in its entirety. Once again, tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, "A.C. 360." That's it for me. I'm Wolf Blitzer, in Washington.

NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.