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Wolf

Space Probe Lands On Comet; Probe May Yield Clues about Solar System; U.S. Sailors Attacked During Stop in Turkey; Russian Tanks and Troops Rolling Across Border; Russian Tanks Move into Ukraine; China Climate Deal

Aired November 12, 2014 - 13:00   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: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, also 1:00 p.m. in Havana, 8:00 p.m. in Kiev, 2:00 a.m. Thursday in Beijing. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

It's an amazing first in space exploration, a probe lands on a speeding comet as it hurtles through space earlier today. The Rosetta spacecraft released the Philae lander on its seven-hour descent to the surface of the comet. Cheers -- listen to this.

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CROWD: (Cheers).

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BLITZER: Cheers erupted at mission control when the touchdown was confirmed. And at any time now, we should be getting the first pictures from the lander. The data it collects could provide clues about the origins of the earth and our solar system.

Our Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is over at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany. Also joining us, the former U.S. astronaut, Ken Bowersox. He's joining us from Houston.

Fred, give us a sense of the jubilation over there at the European Space Agency. Why is this such an important moment for them?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, because they've been waiting, some of them, 20 years for this. And this thing, of course, has been traveling through the air or 10 years to make it to this point, Wolf. So, I have a replica here of the comet that it landed on. And this is a replica of the Philae lander. So, it's around about here on this comet.

And I do also have a guest with me right now. His name is Rainer Kresken, and he's a flights dynamics engineer for the European Space Agency. First of all, Rainer, I have to ask you, how excited are you?

RAINER KRESKEN, FLIGHTS DYNAMICS EXPERT, ESA: I am excited, elated. I'm happy. I had, actually, literally tears in my eyes. And I'm overwhelmed.

PLEITGEN: Tell me about the status of the lander right now, because it was supposed to fire off harpoons to pull itself onto the comet. Those didn't fire. What's the status now?

KRESKEN: We know that the lander is safely on the surface, three legs report contact to the surface and this is what we actually could only hope for. The harpoons were measured to prevent the lander from ricocheting back into space after landing because the gravity is so small at the -- at the surface of the comet. Obviously, the harpoons didn't fire but they -- obviously, they weren't need. So, it doesn't really matter at this point in -- at this moment in time.

PLEITGEN: What do we know about the surface that it's standing on? Is it soft? Is it hard? Is it dusty?

KRESKEN: From the reports of the lander engineers, I hear that the shock attenuators didn't -- weren't squeezed very much. So, that suggests that it landed on a very soft, snow-like surface.

PLEITGEN: So, very quickly now, I don't have much time, when is the first image going to come?

KRESKEN: In about half an hour.

PLEITGEN: Half an hour. OK. All right. So, we'll be looking forward to that. Wolf, I'm sure you will also as well. A lot of excitement here. A big day for the European Space Agency and for the entire scientific community around the world -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And they're hoping to learn a lot about our solar system as a result of this. Fred, stand by.

Let me bring back Ken -- let me bring in Ken, I should point out. Ken, you're an astronaut. So, explain to the average viewer out there here in the United States and around the world, best case scenario, what we're going to learn from this lander that's now on this comet that's zooming around space.

KEN BOWERSOX,FORMER ASTRONAUT, NASA: Well, we learned a lot just getting there. The complex series of orbital maneuvers that were required to get the probe to the comet, that knowledge is going to be really important in future exploration activities. But we're going to learn a lot about the history of the solar system that may answer some of the fundamental questions about how humans came about on the planet earth. But for me, as an astronaut, I can't help getting excited thinking about someday having a scientific outpost on a comet like that or, perhaps, turning that comet into rocket fuel for future exploration.

BLITZER: So, this comet is speeding along at incredible speeds. And this lander, what, it's basically the size of a dishwasher or a washing machine and it actually made it to the surface of this comet. It's a pretty amazing situation when you think about the complexity, 10 years in the making, right? BOWERSOX: Yes, to rendezvous with an object out in space, you have to

match its velocity exactly. And it's taken 10 years to do that with Rosetta and Philae.

BLITZER: It really is amazing when you think about what's going on. All right, well, let's hope for the best. And the fact that the anchors, if you will, they didn't connect to hold this lander on the surface. We heard the German scientist suggest, well, maybe that's not necessarily such a big deal. What do you think?

BOWERSOX: Well, the comet has a little bit of gravity to pull the probe down towards it. I think he said that the ice screws may have worked to actually mount it to the surface. I guess we'll hear more about that later. It's disappointing that the harpoons didn't work. But it will be interesting to see what data they'll be able to get anyway.

BLITZER: Let's hope it stays there on the surface of this comet --

BOWERSOX: Yes.

BLITZER: -- for at least a year and passes along incredibly important information to guys like you and to a whole bunch of other people.

All right, I want you to stand by because later this hour, we might be getting the first pictures from the comet, and we'll, of course, share it with our viewers as soon as we get those pictures.

Ken Bowersox, thanks very much. Fred Pleitgen, thanks to you as well.

Let's move on to other important news we're following today. The United States Navy now investigating an attack on three of its sailors during a stop in Istanbul, Turkey. The sailors from the "USS Ross" were wearing civilian clothes when members of a Turkish youth group approached them. They attacked the sailors. They put bags over their heads and the incident was all captured on video. Watch this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.) Go home. Yankee, go home. Yankee, go home. Yankee, go home. Yankee, go home. Yankee, go --

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BLITZER: And you can see them putting the bags over these sailors' heads. This on the streets over there in Turkey. They're shouting, Yankees, go home.

Let's bring in our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, first of all, any of these American sailors -- were any of them injured?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No, Wolf, the Navy is able to say all three of them, while traumatized by the event, made it back to the ship, none of them requiring medical attention. The Navy saying they're really very pleased that the sailors kept essentially their cool, putting their hands up, not resisting, not provoking further violence against them. And that after a while, they were able to get away and basically run away. It could have been so much more serious. So, the Navy is happy it wasn't. But they're very unhappy that this happened. You look at that video, Wolf, there's about 20 men that swarm these three U.S. Navy sailors and no one comes to their help.

BLITZER: And it's pretty shocking when you look at this picture, remembering, of course, that Turkey is a NATO ally. Now, this group, supposedly behind this attack on these three U.S. sailors, this group called the Turkish Youth Union. What do we know about them?

STARR: Well, it is said that they are left wing anti-government sort of neo-nationalists, if you will, against the Turkish government but also very much against the western and U.S. presence in the Middle East. They shout anti-American slogans. They talk about these three men, maybe -- they don't realize their sailors. They talk about them as being soldiers, U.S. soldiers, about what they perceive, the murderous presence, if you will, of the U.S. military to be in the Middle East. And they named several countries.

But, look, Turkey is a NATO ally. It -- there is a very close relationship the Turks -- it should be said, overwhelmingly have welcomed the involvement of the U.S. and the U.S. military presence there to support them. Turkey obviously under, you know, some sensitivity, at the moment, with Syria and Iraq being next door and ISIS on the march. This group doesn't have anything to do with ISIS, as far as anybody can tell. But, clearly, a very anti-American sentiment on that street this morning in Istanbul -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And they were wearing civilian clothes, these three sailors from the "USS Ross." I take it all U.S. military personnel who now spend some time in Turkey, even though it's a NATO ally, they're told, don't wear your uniforms when you're walking around the streets of Istanbul or anyplace else, just wear civilian clothes?

STARR: Yes. And, you know, I have to tell you, for some time, that has pretty much been the rule of thumb for U.S. military personnel overseas, especially in countries where there may be some unrest. And especially for U.S. sailors, generally, when they leave the ship for a day of shore leave like these three did, they would strictly be in civilian clothes. What we don't know, how did they know these guys were military? Were these militants watching the pier? Did they watch young sailors come down the pier side off the Navy ship and were they able to identify them that way? How did they know that they were basically approaching U.S. military personnel? All of that under investigation. The U.S. embassy in Turkey now working very closely, we are told, with Turkish authorities to try and figure all of this out -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Barbara, when you get more information on this very disturbing story, you'll let us know. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

Still ahead, tensions escalating right now in Ukraine. NATO says the Russian military is moving in and they could be bringing in what they describe as a potential nuclear threat as well.

Also, CNN caught this on tape back in May. We're going to tell you how this piece of video may have changed the outcome of an investigation into the death of west bank teenagers. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: A disturbing picture we're getting. Take a look at this. This is from the one World Trade Center in New York City. And the fire department of New York is now confirming they have units on the scene over there at One World Trade Center. And scaffolding, this is scaffolding, is hanging near the 50th floor of this new building. It's pretty -- we don't know -- FDNY, the Fire Department of New York, will not confirm if anyone is on that scaffolding as this scene is developing. But that's a very disturbing picture. These are pictures that we're just getting in. We're trying to connect with the fire department in New York, a public affairs person, to get us some more information. Hopefully no one is on that scaffolding and they're going to deal with it. It's just hanging there on the 50th floor. It's a pretty disturbing scene though. And the One World Trade Center, obviously, a very, very historic sight. We'll get some more information. And as soon as we do, we'll update you. But there you see the image. A very disturbing image right there. Let's hope no one is on that scaffolding. We're going to get more information shortly.

In the meantime, we'll move on to some other news, specifically Ukraine, where NATO now says Russian tanks and Russian troops are rolling across the border. Russia denies it. But now there's an ominous warning from Ukraine's defense minister talking about the Russian military moves and I'm quoting now, "expect unexpected actions on their part. I think the main task is to prepare for fighting." That's from the Ukrainian defense minister.

Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is working this story for us.

This is pretty alarming, what's going on over there right now.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No question. I've spoken with Ukrainian officials in Kiev today. There's tremendous alarm and I think you can say outrage at these Russian moves. Because you'll remember yesterday there was another one of these humanitarian convoys that went across without inspection and both Ukrainian and western officials say, you know, these need to be inspected before you go in. Now, today, you have the Russians brazenly, openly sending in arms. And we're talking about artillery, tanks and NATO believes Russian forces. I spoke to an official in the Ukrainian foreign ministry who says that it's the belief of the foreign ministry that Russia's preparing for a major offense by the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

BLITZER: I want you to listen to the NATO supreme allied commander, General Philip Breedlove. He said this just a little while ago. Listen to this.

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GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE, NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: We see forces that are capable of being nuclear that are being moved to Crimea. Whether they are or not, we do not know. But they do have the kind of equipment there that could support that mission if required.

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BLITZER: Crimea, they basically annexed. It's now part of Russia.

SCIUTTO: Right.

BLITZER: But if they're moving nuclear military equipment or military equipment capable of using nuclear material, that would be an ominous new development right there.

SCIUTTO: No question, on a whole bunch of levels, you can imagine. This is based, we're told, on Russia moving in both Mig fighter aircraft, as well as Tupolev bombers into Crimea, which, as you say, they annexed illegally. It is not known that they have nuclear weapons on board. Haven't been observed by U.S. satellites. But we know that they're nuclear capable.

And this has always been the issue with the U.S. in terms of monitoring these Russian moves. They don't know what Russia intends to do. Now, they know what they're capable of doing, but they don't know if they have the intent to actually deploy nuclear weapons there.

Again, speaking with Ukrainian foreign ministry officials, this is what they believe is happening. The conventional forces going across the border into eastern Ukraine to prepare for a new offensive by pro- Russian separatists, these forces in Crimea meant to be something of a flanking move, to tell the Ukrainians, we've got you, in effect, on two sides, from the east and from the south.

And, you know, when you think in those terms, Wolf, there's no other word you can call this but a war, right?

BLITZER: Yes.

SCIUTTO: There's been talk of military action or escalation, et cetera. But there's really this - there's a war going on in eastern Ukraine right now.

BLITZER: And to hear the NATO supreme allied commander raise that possibility that they might even be bringing in equipment that could use nuclear weapons, that's an ominous new development.

SCIUTTO: No question and it would violate half a dozen treaties as well.

BLITZER: Yes. Yes. Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in order to get its independence, if you will, and they moved all those nuclear weapons out.

SCIUTTO: Exactly. BLITZER: The Russians promised at the time they would never undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. And how's that working out?

SCIUTTO: Well, exactly. A lot of broken promises we're seeing here.

BLITZER: Right. All right, thanks very much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Other news we're following.

Obama administration officials now setting the bar relatively low for the president's trip overseas. But to the surprise of many, he walked away with not one but two major victories. That story coming up.

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BLITZER: Take a look at this. This is scaffolding, 50th floor of One World Trade Center in New York. We have now learned that there are, in fact, two workers on that scaffolding. It's hanging there outside of One World Trade Center. The fire department of New York is on the scene. They're trying to get this thing resolved. But that is a very, very scary picture. We're told those two workers are not injured, but they are trapped in that scaffolding just outside the 50th floor of One World Trade Center in New York City. That building just recently opened. And, obviously, we're all hoping for the best with these two workers who are trapped on that scaffolding right there. We're going to stay on top of this story.

We're about to connect, we think, with a public affairs officer from the fire department of New York or somebody from the One World Trade Center and we'll get the latest. But we have now confirmed that there are two workers inside that scaffolding there on that scaffolding outside the One World Trade Center and they're hanging there, hoping to get saved, obviously, very, very soon. Let's hope that happens very quickly. We'll stay on top of this story and update you as soon as we get more information.

Meanwhile, President Obama, he's in Myanmar right now. This is his second visit to the country, opening relations with the reclusive nation back in 2012. It was touted as one of President Obama's foreign policy achievements. Now the president confronts a nation that has failed to uphold its promises of economic and political reform.

But as our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta points out, President Obama did wrap up his earlier visit to China with surprises on two major fronts, a major climate change deal, as well as a rare joint news conference with the Chinese leader.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a deal forged by the world's two largest economies and its biggest polluters to combat climate change, President Obama and Chinese President Xi unveiled an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gases.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal.

ACOSTA: Under the agreement, the U.S. would cut nearly one third of its carbon emissions levels set in 2005 by the year 2025. China would have until 2030 to level off its emissions. The climate accord may be the boldest sign yet of the president's determination to bolster U.S. ties with China at a time when he's butting heads with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

OBAMA: The United States welcomes the continuing rise of china that is peaceful, prosperous and stable.

ACOSTA: Then, Mr. Obama and Xi went on to take questions, one from an American journalist, a rare occurrence on Chinese soil. In a moment of high drama, the Chinese president initially appeared to ignore the question from "New York Times" reporter Mark Landler on press access in China, leaving Mr. Obama looking astonished. But then Xi conceded his country's human rights record was not perfect. "China has made enormous progress in its human rights, and that is a fact," Xi said. "On the question of China's human rights, we should never consider our work to be mission accomplished."

Xi eventually answered Landler's question, blaming "The New York Times" for its own access problems in China. "The party that has created the problem," Xi said, "should be the one to resolve it."

White House officials breathed a sigh of relief after working for weeks to convince skeptical Chinese officials to hold a news conference. It was a diplomatic victory. Before leaving Beijing, Mr. Obama toasted Xi for China's efforts to help fight Ebola in West Africa. Xi offered some praise of his own, saying the U.S./China relationship had reached a new starting point.

ACOSTA (on camera): Republicans are already attacking the president's climate change plan. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling it unrealistic and a plan the president would be leaving to his successor. Now the president heads off to Burma to check on democratic efforts there and then on to the G-20 Summit in Australia where he'll have one more chance to run into Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Beijing.

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BLITZER: Up next, American sailors assaulted on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey. So, who did it? Will it change relations between the U.S. and Turkey? We'll take a much closer look.

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