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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD
Cease-Fire Ends With Loud Explosions in Gaza; U.S. Launches Air Strikes in Iraq Against ISIS; A Look at Refugees Fleeing ISIS; ISIS Described; U.S. Begins Airstrikes
Aired August 8, 2014 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Jake Tapper live from Jerusalem following developments in the other battle in the Middle East.
The violence between Israel and Hamas picked back up this morning, loud explosions rocking Gaza just hours ago after a three-day cease- fire came to an end after militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel.
Israel's air strikes now resuming after, they say, Hamas militants broke the peace.
CNN's Martin Savidge joining me live from Gaza City. Martin, what broke the cease-fire this time from your view?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, like always, it depends how much you speak to, but it would seem, of course, we're talking about rocket fire, then it came from Gaza, and it was right at the moment that the 72 hours expired just after 8:00 this morning when there was a barrage of rockets that went out heading in the direction of Israel.
And there's been a number of them since. We saw a rocket shoot off just a short time ago. And it was about three hours later that of course the Israelis decided that was enough and they began their retaliatory response.
And their response has been pretty steady and at times heavy throughout the day. Primarily, they've been using aircraft, but there's also reports of tank fire and artillery fire on both the eastern and northern borders with Israel.
We just had another air strike about five minutes before we came to air. And these are pretty hefty explosions, so that's a telltale sign it is aircraft being used here for the delivery system.
And they've been happening about every 20 minutes or so. You get a very loud thud or a crunch, some coming as close as maybe a mile or two from where we are right here. And it's continued that way for much of the day.
Many people wonder, is that the way it's going to be, sort of for the rest of this uncertain future here of this conflict. In other words that it's they fire rockets and then the Israelis respond in kind. TAPPER: And I guess the big question right now about Cairo and the fact that the Palestinians still have a delegation there where those cease-fire negotiations were, do you think from your sources on the ground there that there are any hopes of cease-fire talks starting back up?
SAVIDGE: There's a lot of hope. Whether it's a real hope is I think the question mark.
And the other big question here is how serious were those negotiations really in the first place. Admittedly, everyone was there, and it seemed like everyone went in with the idea that this would be a significant attempt, but they had 72 hours, and it was thought they would easily extend that to continue talking if there was any problem.
They couldn't agree to even extend. So I think that indicates that there's obviously wide differences between the two sides here. The Palestinians, and especially Hamas, are accusing the Israelis that they didn't really want to negotiate at all. And of course they don't meet directly.
TAPPER: All right, Martin Savidge in Gaza, thank you so much. Stay safe.
Now to our other big story, U.S. warplanes carrying out air strikes in Iraq, part of their mission, to try to save the lives of religious minorities, including Christians, who are fleeing their homes for fear of death at the hands of ISIS.
We'll talk you to one of the places where families are seeking safety. That's coming right up.
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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LEGAL VIEW. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
The president who thought he closed the book on the war in Iraq today began a whole new chapter.
As you know, if you've been watching CNN, U.S. warplanes today rushed to the defense of Iraqi Kurdish fighters whose territory, which includes a U.S. consulate, is right now under siege from Islamic militants known as ISIS, or simply known now, as they like, the Islamic State.
Here's how President Obama put it to the nation last night.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When the lives of American citizens are at risk, we will take action. That's my responsibility as commander in chief.
And when many thousands of innocent civilians are faced with the danger of being wiped out, and we have the capacity to do something about it, we will take action.
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BANFIELD: Those innocent civilians are Christians and other religious minorities who have fled the jihadi onslaught with just about only the clothes on their backs.
CNN's Ivan Watson is among them in Erbil and has this report.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They flee any way they can, packed in trucks and cars, some of them moving on foot, carrying their babies' cradles over their shoulders, thousands of Iraqi families seeking sanctuary in Kurdish north, fleeing Islamist militants.
"We're afraid of the Islamic state," says Taiba ali Hassein (ph). "They say they're Muslims but they don't act like Muslims. They attack everyone, Muslim, Christian, Shiites. Even our prophets' graves aren't safe."
Her family has been hurt by the is militants. "My brother was a simple man who had a grocery store selling vegetables," she says. "Two months ago, they came to his shop and killed him with three bullets.
The exodus to Erbil, sparked by an offensive by the militants, who captured towns from the Kurds, located only 35 miles away from Erbil.
The United Nations says some 200,000 civilians are on the run. So where will all these people go?
This is where the first wave of fleeing civilians is coming to, unfinished buildings, part of the construction boom that Iraq's Kurdistan region has been enjoying, now serving as a temporary shelter for hundreds, thousands of families that really don't have a plan of where to go. I mean, look at this little child here.
Six-month-old Kathem (ph) is far to young to know what's happening here. His mother Nour (ph) tells me her family fled after fighting and what appear to have been Iraqi air strikes damaged houses near her home on Wednesday night.
These families showed up with little more than the clothes on their backs.
You guys, no water, no food?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No water, no foot. Nothing.
WATSON: Nothing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing, anything.
WATSON: Around sunset, some Kurds arrive, distributing some food and water for these desperate people. This help appreciated but also ad hoc. This new wave of homeless people will clearly need much, much more in the days ahead.
The Kurds may be far too busy defending their homeland from the Islamist militants who are knocking at their gates.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
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BANFIELD: Ivan and his team have been doing incredible work in that now perilous area, and, as he mentioned, thousands of people in Iraq are being forced to run for their lives.
The United States is launching air strikes on ISIS, but just how did this situation in Iraq come to this in the first place?
Ahead, we're going to take a closer look at exactly how ISIS has gained so much ground in Iraq, what its ultimate mission is going to be, and what the strategy the United States might use to halt the advance.
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BANFIELD: Welcome back. We're keeping a live eye on the White House press briefing room where the press secretary, Josh Earnest, is expected to address reporters in just moments.
We're expecting that he will take a lot of questions regarding these recent air strikes that have been conducted in Iraq against ISIS artillery positions, particularly close to Erbil, where Americans have personnel stationed at a consulate.
So we're going to watch for this, and we'll bring it to you as soon as he takes to the microphone and begins addressing the press.
You probably know by now there were two air strikes that happened inside Iraq today, one by the American military that took out the artillery used by the extremist group ISIS, and another air strike by the Iraqi military.
And the Iraqis say they killed 45 militants in a place where ISIS is forcing Christians to run from their homes, afraid for their lives.
We've got a whole lot more detail about today's U.S. airstrikes in Iraq from our military analyst in just a moment, but first, this is ISIS, their agenda and their brutal methods, from our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Islamic state's advance is big. They're destroying anything, even mosques, that don't conform with their puritanical brand of Islam. Forcing everyone, Muslims, Christians, they conquer, to convert to radicalism or die.
What makes this advancing army different to others? They are brazenly documenting their own war crimes. Not just brutality that beggers (ph) belief, but a staggering statement, they don't ever expect to be held to account.
ROBERTSON (on camera): In January, they consolidated their grip in the west of Iraq, reaching Fallujah, barely half an hour's drive from the capital, Baghdad. In June from bases in Syria, they swept into the north of Iraq, taking the city of Mosul and Talloloafar (ph). And then pushing further south, contesting the oil-rich town of Baiji and further towards Baghdad.
In the past week, they've begun what appears to be a massive consolidation, a new land grab in the north, forcing 200,000 minority Yazidis from their home in Sinjar here, and contesting this strategic dam in the north providing electricity to Mosul and other areas. As well, in the past few days, of uprooting about 100,000 Christians from their ancient hometown here, forcing them towards Erbil.
What is particularly worrying, the Islamic state's gains over the past week have not been over the week an ill disciplined Iraqi army that fled their advance earlier this year, but against the respected and strong Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The Islamic state, and its own propaganda pictures, can be seen raising its flag over former Kurdish HQ. It has the international community worried.
CHARLIE COOPER, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION: Not only have ISIS fighters become better experienced, more battle-hardened, ideologically more passionate about the cause that they're fighting for, they've also been picking up huge caches of weaponry.
ROBERTSON: The same pictures show the Islamic state advancing in a ray of expensive new land cruisers, deploying rocket and mortar teams to back up the frontline fighters, just like a regular army. And although we cannot verify the pictures, they match what Kurdish officials are describing to CNN. Their agenda clear, exploit, then consolidate.
ROBERT MCFADDEN, FORMER SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NCIS: Once it takes over areas, first and foremost, weapons caches, storage, ammunition and depots. Then other sources of natural resources and power, whether it's oil fields, or as I said before, dams.
ROBERTSON: The test is going to be if and for how long Kurdish Peshmerga forces can hold out, protecting not just their own region but Iraq's minorities, Christians among them.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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BANFIELD: And as Nic's report was just coming in, information coming to us courtesy of France officially condemning the brutal actions of ISIS and saying that they are ready to take their part in this issue that has now become so globally catastrophic in, it seem, 48 hours, calling for the European Union, at this time, to take an active role very quickly. We're going to continue to follow that as well. And our CNN military
analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, is here.
I just wanted to ask you about the logistics of pulling this off, these airstrikes that happened in the last 24 hours. How do the Americans launch these? Because those neighbors, Turkey and Jordan, where we have assets to launch these kinds of airstrikes, I cannot imagine they want anything to do with ISIS, considering they could be next.
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: And that's why these came off the carrier. The carrier, sovereign U.S. territory in the Persian Gulf, flying over Iraqi airspace, it eliminates all of these political issues that you have to go through. They've been planning these airstrikes for eight weeks at least since we - since we had the fall of Mosul. So they've been identifying targets. There have been a flurry of intelligence assets over that country night and day, identifying targets, keeping track of who's there, what's there, where should they hit. So when the authorization was given, and they saw these artillery position in a position to threaten Erbil, it met the requirement, and they had assets ready to go, bombs ready to go, and they just launched the fighters.
BANFIELD: So the issue of the dam that is so close to Mosul being under control, just in the last 40 minutes we reported, that the ISIS fighters now have control over that dam. A couple of things come to mind. Number one, control the water, you control so much. Number two, destroy the dam and kill everyone in its path. But you have some pretty specific thoughts. And we're just taking a look at that dam, a picture of it.
FRANCONA: Yes. You know, the -- this is not the only dam they've gone after. They went for the Haditha Dam, which is also in the Tigris Valley. They're also going for the Ducan (ph) Dam, which is in the Dialah (ph) Valley. They know that these are important infrastructure targets.
Now, ISIS is not trying to destroy the area. They're trying to control it. They want to own it. And if they're going to own it and manage it and set it up as their de facto country, their caliphate, they need power. And they want to control it, so I don't think they're going to destroy the dam, they want to keep it, run it, manage it, and exploit it.
BANFIELD: And don't expect to see it being blown up. Apparently the statistic is that there's about a half million people who could be taken out down the Tigris Valley if they decide to do that.
FRANCONA: But they're Sunnis.
BANFIELD: Many of them Sunnis.
FRANCONA: Many of them Sunnis -
BANFIELD: Which they do not (ph) want to.
FRANCONA: Because you've got to get from Mosul to Baghdad, and that is the heart of the Sunni area --
BANFIELD: Let me interrupt you only for a moment because the White House briefing is getting underway and Josh Earnest is taking to the - I beg your pardon. I thought that they were, but we're going to watch for it because we've been given a warning that it's coming up very soon.
So, Colonel Francona, I'm just going to pause for a moment and get a quick break in. I did wanted to ask you about the Kurds and whether they're outgunned, but maybe we can try to do that after this break. When we come back, hopefully right live into the White House Pressing Briefing Room.
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BANFIELD: Still waiting on that live White House press briefing. They're about 10 minutes late. And we're going to continue to keep our live eye on it, bring it to you just as soon as it gets underway with the White House press secretary taking to the podium shortly.
In the meantime, Colonel Rick Francona is still with me.
The question I had for you before the break is about the Kurds. This area that has now undergone the airstrikes by the Americans up until now had thought to have been pretty safe, a consulate there, because the Kurds were strong, protected by the Peshmerga. Are they now officially outgunned and is it a wise idea to arm anybody anymore in this part of the world?
FRANCONA: Well, you always run the risk of things falling into the wrong hands. Of course the Kurds are now outgunned because ISIS has gotten its hands on all of that U.S. military equipment in the Mosul area. They've taken it over, integrated it into their armed forces. Very well effect - you know, very effectively, by the way. And they've been able to move that equipment into Syria. They've used it in Syria. They've moved it back to Iraq. Now they're using M-1 tanks. And this is state of the art stuff. Up-armored Humvees, which the Kurds really have no protection against. That's - when you ask the Kurds, why did you fall back, and they said, we can't defeat the armor on the Humvee.
BANFIELD: Effectively the American armor.
FRANCONA: The Americans.
BANFIELD: The pilfered American armor.
There's so much more to get to, but we're flat out of time. Colonel Francona, thank you for your insight.
We're continuing to watch this story out of the White House as well. In the meantime, thanks for watching LEGAL VIEW. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. My colleague, Wolf, starts right after this quick break.
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