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Wolf
Obama Appeals to World to Fight Terrorism, Islamic Extremism; Over 1 Million Flee Syria into Turkey; Interview with NATO Secretary- General Rasmussen about NATO's Role in War Against ISIS; Obama Delivers Message to Americans as Well as ISIS, Russia.
Aired September 24, 2014 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from the United Nations here in New York. We're resuming our special coverage.
President Obama making an appeal to the world to join the fight against terrorism and Islamic extremism. The president addressed the United Nations General Assembly earlier today. He called on countries around the world to stand together against the terror group known as ISIS, to do so in Iraq and Syria.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Already over 40 nations have offered to join this coalition. Today, I ask the world to join in this effort. Those who have joined ISIL should leave the battlefield while they can. Those who continue to fight for a hateful cause will find they're increasingly alone. For we will not succumb to threats, and we will demonstrate that the future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy.
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BLITZER: But the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations says the U.S. needs reliable partners in the fight against ISIL.
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BASHAR JAAFARI, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: They don't need Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey because these regimes are the ones who funded terrorism in Syria and Iraq and all over the area. These regimes are the ones who spread terrorism, religious terrorism in the area such as ISIS, ISIL, Jihadi Muslim and other terrorist groups in the area. So you cannot be a terrorist while fighting terrorists.
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BLITZER: The president's speech followed a second day of U.S.-led air strikes against ISIS. The U.S. military's Central Command says strikes were carried out against five more targets, one in Syria and four in Iraq.
A video posted online today appears to show the beheading of a French citizen kidnapped in Algeria over the weekend. In the video, armed men claiming to belong to an Islamic militant group in Algeria, pledged their allegiance to the leader of ISIS. And just a little while ago the French foreign minister confirmed the authenticity of the video. That, according to an RTL radio reporter.
Three and a half years of civil war, the brutality of ISIS and now the threat of a prolonged coalition round of air strikes, that's the reality for innocent Syrian civilians. Over a million already have fled into Turkey since the civil war began and about 150,000 just within the last week.
CNN's Arwa Damon is along the border in Turkey with Syria.
Arwa, before we talk about the flood of refugees, didn't you talk to at least one eyewitness from yesterday's air strike? What did he tell you?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was very interesting, Wolf, because he said that right after those initial air strikes took place and they took place, remember, at around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. local time. So at around 8:00 a.m., he says he saw a large convoy of 20 to 25 vehicles packed with ISIS fighters. He believed perhaps some members of the senior leadership because he says of the heavy security that was surrounding them departing the city of Raqqa itself. And he says that for the entire duration of the day they didn't see the heavy ISIS presence that people had been living under, being occupied by this horrifying entity. But then at night, a lot of the fighters returned, not in the same number that they used to be patrolling the streets. But they were out there, setting up checkpoints. They were randomly detaining individuals.
He said that there are residents of Raqqa, there were a lot of conflicting emotions. They were very happy that the air strikes were taking place, that finally someone was coming to do something about the horrors that they were living under. But they were also very concerned. Because some 15 to 20 days ago, Wolf, well in advance of these air strikes, the ISIS militants living inside Raqqa had vacated the various buildings they used to occupy, the various headquarters they had and began embedding themselves amongst the civilian population. So he said people were very afraid of what he called the Afghanistan effect and the potential collateral damage that could be caused by ongoing air strikes -- Wolf?
BLITZER: With so many refugees, Syrian refugees flooding into Turkey where you are right now along the border, Arwa, how bad are the conditions over there?
DAMON: It's incredibly difficult for these people. As it has been for all of the refugees that have fled not just to Turkey but Syria's neighboring countries. These particular refugees, this massive influx that we're seeing, Syrian Kurds from the predominantly Kurdish-Syrian north where on Friday ISIS launched a massive offensive, dozens of villages fell to it causing this influx across the border. The conditions phenomenally difficult, almost unbearable. There are sandstorms, there are torrential rains. People have had to walk for days just to get to the border and then wait on the other side for the Turks to allow them in. Once they do reach safety, again, life is very difficult. They have left everything they know, everything they love, everything they've worked for behind and are now either living with extended families or in the various shelters in refugee camps -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Arwa Damon along the border between Turkey and Syria. Arwa, thanks very much.
Up next, the role of NATO and the NATO partners in this new war against ISIS. I'll talk to NATO's secretary-general. He's here with me at the United Nations.
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BLITZER: Britain may soon be joining the group of coalition nations that began striking ISIS targets in Syria this week. The British Prime Minister David Cameron expected to lay out his position later today at the United Nations General Assembly. Cameron just announced he's recalling the British parliament on Friday to debate whether to approve air strikes. The United States boasts a coalition of more than 40 countries as part of this anti-ISIS effort.
And joining us now, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, at least for a few more days.
You're wrapping up five years as the NATO secretary-general. We'll talk about that in a few moments.
But, Secretary-General, what role is NATO as an organization playing in destroying ISIS?
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: We have made clear that if the Iraqi government requests our assistance, we stand ready to help the Iraqi security forces build a better capacity. In 2011, we had a training mission in Iraq. One possibility would be to resume those activities.
BLITZER: So far, the Iraqi government has not asked NATO for any help?
RASMUSSEN: No, there hasn't been any request for NATO involvement.
BLITZER: Would NATO get involved in helping the U.S. and five other Arab countries bomb ISIS targets in Syria? Does NATO have a role there?
RASMUSSEN: No, I think this goes beyond NATO because it's of utmost importance to include partners from the region. And I welcome that a number of countries from the region have joined the U.S.-led military operation.
BLITZER: But you say -- you've said that ISIS represents one of the greatest threats to peace and liberty for Europe itself. Shouldn't NATO as an organization be involved in trying to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS? RASMUSSEN: As I said, I think this goes beyond NATO. It's important
to include partners from the region. What NATO can do would be also to help coordinate contributions from individual allies.
BLITZER: But as an organization, all the members of NATO have not yet agreed, there's not a consensus what, if anything, militarily NATO should do?
RASMUSSEN: No. We have not discussed it because there hasn't been any request. What we have discussed, however, is how to counter the threat from foreign fighters returning to our home countries. And we have decided to strengthen cooperation on exchange of intelligence and information.
BLITZER: There's been great disappointment, as you know, one NATO ally right on border with Syria, that would be Turkey, so far is not even allowing the U.S. to use Incirlik, a NATO air base, to launch strikes against ISIS targets in Syria or Iraq. Are you disappointed that this NATO ally, Turkey, has not yet decided to cooperate militarily with the U.S.?
RASMUSSEN: Well, actually, I have seen recent indications that Turkey might reconsider its position.
BLITZER: Like, what kind of indications, private indications, public statements?
RASMUSSEN: I think we will see Turkey, as always, step up to the plate and demonstrate solidarity.
BLITZER: Let's talk about Ukraine because NATO has a major role in Europe, obviously, as we all know. The president, he was lecturing Vladimir Putin today at the United Nations, "We will impose a cost on Russia for aggression and counter falsehoods with the truth." Has Russia invaded Ukraine?
RASMUSSEN: In my opinion, yes, that's clear. I mean, Russia has illegally annexed Crimea into the Russian Federation. How could you describe that in any other terms than on invasion?
BLITZER: How worried should some of those NATO allies in the Baltics, like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, or Poland for that matter, be about Russian aggression?
RASMUSSEN: They are very much concerned and for very understandable reasons. Russia has a doctrine, according to which they preserve their rights to intervene in other countries in order to, what they call, protect the interests of Russian-speaking communities. And as we know, there are Russian-speaking communities, in particular in Estonia and Latvia. So of course, they are very much concerned.
BLITZER: But there's treaty -- Article 5, that commits all the NATO allies to come to the defense of a fellow NATO ally. Don't you think that enough of a deterrence to Russia?
RASMUSSEN: Yes, that is really the reason why I don't see an imminent threat against NATO allies. But in order to make that deterrence credible we have -- or even more credible, we have taken steps already to enhance our collective defense, including more air policing, more troops on the ground doing exercises, more navy vessels to the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and at the NATO summit, we decided to establish a very rapid reaction force, a spearhead force that can be deployed within a few days.
BLITZER: You're wrapping up five years as the NATO secretary-general. What kind of organization are you leaving?
RASMUSSEN: A much stronger organization. I think we have the strongest armed forces in the history of our alliance due to our operations, notably in Afghanistan. Our armed forces are stronger, more combat-ready, more tightly connected than ever in the history of NATO. And on top of that, we have decided to build new capacities to address emerging challenges, such as missile threats, cyber threats, through missile defense systems and enhanced cyber security. So I leave NATO much stronger than I received it.
BLITZER: Secretary-General, thanks very much.
RASMUSSEN: You're welcome.
BLITZER: And good luck.
RASMUSSEN: Thank you very much. Thank you.
BLITZER: President Obama steps on the world stage but he also delivers a special message to the folks at home. Gloria Borger standing by. We'll discuss, get her take on the president's address to the U.N.
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BLITZER: President Obama steps on the world stage to rally nation against terror. But his speech before the U.N. General Assembly speech was also geared toward a domestic audience as well. The president took aim at both ISIS and Russia.
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OBAMA: Russian aggression in Europe recalls the days when large nations trampled small ones in pursuit of territorial ambition. The brutality of terrorists in Syria and Iraq forces us to look into the heart of darkness.
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BLITZER: Chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is joining us now from Washington.
Gloria, what was his message, what was the message that the president was trying to deliver to the folks here at home?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think this was a president who wanted to be crystal clear. He's been accused, as you know, of being ambiguous and ambivalent about the use of force in American foreign policy, and what he did today was lay down some very clear markers from which, I would argue, there's no turning back. He said that Russia is a bully. And on ISIS, he said we need to expose, confront, refute. That means destroy. So I think this is a president we've watched since last year when he decided not to use air strikes in Syria over chemical weapons, we've seen his evolution -- a word we use a lot in politics -- and we've seen it, and this moment today at the United Nations is a very, very important moment in the definition of what Barack Obama has become and his legacy.
BLITZER: Is there a risk, Gloria, to the president taking on Russia and really blasting Russia as firmly as he did today?
BORGER: Yeah. Of course, there is. I mean, when you look at the situation with Iran nukes, players there, and the situation in Syria, obviously, they're players there. He has a bad relationship with Putin. I bet the feeling inside the White House is, well, this is not a secret, this is how we feel. This is something the president said clearly to embarrass them in front of the world community, which I think he did. And so, yeah, there's a risk there. The greater risk would be to whitewash it and to say nothing about what Russia has done in Ukraine and Crimea.
BLITZER: At the end of the speech, the president mentioned the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, citing that as an example that the U.S. still struggles with its own issues. What did you make of that?
BORGER: I thought that was very important in a way because I think what the president was trying to do was to sort of say, OK, we understand we have our own problems. I mean, he had given a speech about his solutions to the problems of the world and how the United States has to lead and how we can't stand this evil in the world, and then I think he took a step back and said, OK, before you accuse us of being the arrogant United States here, let me say to you first, wait a minute, we understand we have our own problems. You saw what happened in Ferguson, Missouri. But we welcome your scrutiny. We're not going to run from your scrutiny because we're trying to scrutinize ourselves, and that's exactly what you should do, particularly with younger generations who are dealing with these kinds of issues in the Muslim world. You need to deal with it yourself and face it the way we do.
BLITZER: Gloria Borger, thanks very, very much.
That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern, another two-hour edition of "The Situation Room," right here from the United Nations.
"NEWSROOM," a special edition with Anderson Cooper starts right after a quick break.
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