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U.S. Jets And Drones Fight ISIS, Artillery Units And Convoys Advance On Kurdish Regional Capital of Erbil; Cease-Fire Between Israel And Hamas Expires

Aired August 9, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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


JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The three-day cease-fire, well, that now feels like ancient history. Much more on this dangerous situation in a moment.

But first, there is no indication as to how long the new American military action in Iraq will last.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to give a particular time table because as I have said from the start wherever and whenever U.S. personnel and facilities are threatened it's my obligation, my responsibility as commander in chief to make sure that they are protected. We feel confident that we can prevent ISIL from going up a mountain and slaughtering the people who are there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was President Obama this morning on the south lawn before heading off to Martha's Vineyard for a two-week vacation, one day after U.S. fighter jets and drones began raining down bombs on ISIS, artillery units and convoys advancing on the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.

ISIS, the brutal barbaric Islamic extremist cutting a swath of terror through Syria and Iraq slaughtering thousands including innocent children and taking command of the territory.

Late today, officials in the nearby city of Mosul, said the U.S. air strikes killed at least 16 ISIS terrorists who were shelling Kurdish checkpoints. Hundreds of thousands of civilians, of course, are still in hiding from the threat. They are on a mountain range in the north. Those civilians finally now getting some desperately needed help in the form of air drop supplies. Two U.S. military cargo planes dropped thousands of gallons of water in mills on to Mt. Sinjar where children reportedly had been dying from dehydration.

All right, of this coming to ahead, fewer than three years after the President Obama pulled U.S. combat troops out of Iraq.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has some new details now about the new round of air strikes this afternoon. She joins us now on the phone.

Barbara, what are you hearing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Jake, good evening. The U.S. military took a significant step forward today. There had been four air strikes very different from what we have seen over the last several hours beginning yesterday. Today, four air strikes by the U.S. specifically to defend those

Yazidi civilians, the Iraqi minority, tens of thousands of people trapped on that mountain top. The U.S. conducted four separate air strikes against ISIL targets particularly against armor personnel carriers that were firing on the Yazidis as well as armor trucks.

In four rounds of air strikes the U.S. took a really significant step forward doing exactly what President Obama said he was going to do which was to try to work to prevent a potential genocide of the people. The initial battle damage assessment is that the strike they were successful in the destroying their intended target, those ISIS armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles. There are reports that some of the Yazidi people have been able to get out. The Kurds had helped try to establish a safe corridor. But this is an ongoing crisis. There are so many people up on those mountains. The concern is that ISIS is on the march towards them as well as, of course, towards Erbil where U.S. personnel diplomatic and the military personnel are located. And we have already seen that air strikes to protect Erbil.

Today now, the step forward to see the air strikes to protect those civilians up in the mountains.

TAPPER: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, thank you so much.

So is this campaigning going to work? Will air strikes be enough to wipe out the ISIS threat? And just what is the end game here if there is one?

Joining me via Skype is CNN military analyst Colonel Peter Mansoor, former executive officer to General David Petraeus during the surge in Iraq.

Colonel, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Do you have confidence that this air strikes, this campaign can work?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it can work given the limited goals the president has set out for it to protect the Kurdish region, prevent an ISIS advance on Erbil and drop humanitarian supplies to the Yazidi people trapped on Sinjar mountain.

But beyond that getting the Yazidi people maybe 40,000 of them off that mountain through ISIS controlled territory to some sort of safe haven, that is going to require more than air strikes. And then beyond that if you want to destroy ISIS, the true face of evil in this world, that is going to require some sort of ground force whether Iraqi or Kurdish or United States or some other ground force. And it is going to require much, much more than just air strikes.

TAPPER: You mentioned the limited goal of this campaign and how it falls short of eliminating the threat of ISIS in general. Does it seem odd to you that President Obama's pursuing something of a middle course that would stop ISIS from advancing but allows ISIS to keep control of northern and western Iraq as well as eastern Syria?

MANSOOR: Well, a couple of points here. I think the president is being consistent with how he handled Libya. He intervened once there was a humanitarian crisis at hand and that's what he has done here in Iraq. But beyond that I think that the president would like to give more military aid and support to Iraq but he can't do it with Nouri al-Maliki in control of the country.

This is a prime minister who is high sectarian and whose divisive government policies have created the situation in the first place. So there has to be a government in Baghdad that has broader legitimacy in which more Iraqis can support and then the president and the United States can take more actions to roll back ISIS.

TAPPER: Colonel, beyond the humanitarian principles at stake here with ISIS slaughtering so many innocent people throughout Syria and Iraq, I would think that there are real concerns about destabilizing the Middle East even more than it is not the most exactly stable part of the world. Where is the Arab league? Where is Qatar and Jordan? Why aren't they lending a hand to eliminate the threat that is a direct threat to Arab and Muslim people and to the direct threat of the stability of their own governments?

MANSOOR: I think those nations are waiting for the same thing that the United States is waiting for, a new government in Baghdad, one that apparently is not a pawn of Iraq. And I find it unusual for the Arab league especially any sort of Saudi-led effort to support a government in Baghdad that is perceived to be somehow a pawn of Persia in their view.

And so they will wait for a new government. And if it is one they can support they will wait for leadership. I think that is possible. (INAUDIBLE).

TAPPER: OK. We are losing the audio from Colonel Mansoor. Well, we will bring him back at the break. Stay right there. There is a lot more to talk about after this quick commercial break.

Coming up, picture a wall of water 65-feet high rolling towards a city in the desert. That's a threat now, now that ISIS has controlled of the biggest dam in Iraq.

We will also have, of course, the very latest on the violence between Israeli and Palestinians forces and the reported ultimatum by the Palestinian that could turn truce talks to ash.

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TAPPER: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper and I'm live in Jerusalem. We will have much more on the continuing violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces including reports that Palestinian negotiators in Cairo are threatening to leave those Cairo talks as soon as tomorrow. More on that in a second. But let's go back to our top story Iraq, the dangerous example of the

chaos gripping the region. ISIS, an Al Qaeda offshoots that are creating an Islamic Caliphate who have prove themselves willing to kill anyone sanding in their way -- women, children, it doesn't matter. They now raise their black flag over the Mosul dam on the Tigris River. That's the biggest dam in Iraq. The consequences could be enormous.

I am again joined via Skype by CNN military analyst Colonel Perter Mansoor, former executive officer to general David Petraeus.

Colonel, in 2007, your former boss, General Petraeus laid out a nightmare scenario if this dam were to fail, saying could eventually cause a wave of water, quote "65-feet deep at the city of Mosul which would result in a significant loss of life and property. Mosul alone estimated to be home of 1.5 million people." How dangerous is it that this dam is in the hands of this horrific terrorist group, ISIS?

MANSOOR: It's very dangerous. I think in the near term as long as they control Mosul and they control the dam, there is no danger because they need the hydro electric power from the dam to run the electricity in the city. But if they were to lose control or threaten to lose control of either the dam or Mosul, they could very well blow it as an act of retaliation and wipe out hundreds of thousands of people in Mosul and then downstream. It is a significant issue.

TAPPER: What's it like having served in Iraq, having lost so many brave men and women not just American troops but also Iraqi troops and other coalition troops to now watch jihadists driving American tanks that they captured from Iraqi troops that surrendered or retreated, watching them drive American tanks across Iraq unchecked? What are the emotions that you are feeling?

MANSOOR: Well, it actually fills me with anger and an angst that leads to some words that are unprintable. It is deeply, deeply frustrating for anyone who fought there and who saw the manifest accomplishments of the troops during the surge and how far Iraq came from the civil war of 2006 to see it all spiral downhill now given the dysfunction of the Iraqi government and the gains of ISIS. I certainly hope that the United States and its allies along with our Kurdish and Iraqi partners can right the ship here and roll ISIS back. Because like I said ISIS is the true face of evil in this world.

TAPPER: Colonel Peter Mansoor, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Lives are on the line. But Palestinian negotiators are now reportedly threatening to walk out of peace talks in Cairo if their demands are not met. The latest on the volatile situation coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jake Tapper an I'm live in Jerusalem.

Hours after Palestinian militants in Gaza broke the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. That cease-fire expired anyway because Hamas would not agree to extend it without Israel lifting the blockade on Gaza. Then came more rockets from Gaza then more IDF air strikes and that cycle continued today.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

TAPPER: This is what is left of a mosque in central Gaza, the target of an Israeli air strike earlier today. Three people were killed. Israel's military saying they struck at least 70 targets in the hour since the cease-fire ended targeting areas where militants had stored weapons. Militants fired 24 rockets with five rockets misfiring and landing in Gaza itself.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in Gaza city right now. Martin, people there say that they have been hearing war planes overhead all day. Is the IDF still conducting air strikes at this hour?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It appears they are. There was about an hour ago we heard some explosions. You can see some tell tale plashes on the horizon. And it also seems that the navy is not getting in the active because twice now, we heard bursts of automatic canon fire if you look out the windows towards the beach you can see red tracers. These are heavy rounds coming in. These are not like say a 0.50 cal machine gun. And you hear the tum, tum, tum. And it appears they may be aiming at what some have describe as a Hamas training camp along the water front there.

So it continued by day. We saw many explosions. We saw even several strikes ourselves come very close. And then it has continued into the night. That, of course, is in response to the, I believe, it is 30 rockets that have been launched out of here. But you know, as you would know, Jake, this is not the level of intensity that we saw prior to the cease-fire. So it is a low-grade conflict but still claims lives and it still threatens Israelis.

TAPPER: Martin Savidge in Gaza City. Stay safe, my friend.

What will it take for Israel to go back to the negotiating table? Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev will join me next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Turning to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel says it is ready to move forward with serious discussion s but not until the violence ends.

And joining me now is the spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev.

Mark, thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it. So there is a report that Palestinians are talking about leaving Cairo, leaving the cease-fire talks if the Israeli government cannot offer anything. Is there really anything the Israeli government can offer in terms of opening up the border crossing or allowing more fishing, nothing at all just so the cease-fire process doesn't come undone. MARK REGEV, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: The Egyptian process was

supposed to be based on a cease-fire and serious discussions. When discussions are difficult they can't break the cease-fire and shoot rockets and they can't, the whole time say we are going to leave the table. If this is going -- problems are going to be solved, what we need to stick by the Egyptian initiative which means cease-fire and serious discussions.

TAPPER: Is this just the future now? Is this just the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations? They launched some rockets, you retaliate, the IDF retaliates with strikes killing some militants, killing some terrorists, killing some civilians? This evening news out of Rafah that a 13-year-old girl was killed by an IDF strike. Is this just the new normal?

REGEV: First of all, we don't want to see any civilian killed. And I say that again, we don't want to see a single civilian caught up in the cross fire. That there shouldn't be bombs today. And we were ready to extend the cease-fire.

TAPPER: But those rockets didn't land anywhere to hurt Israelis.

REGEV: Hamas is the one, is the group that refused to extend the cease-fire. We were willing to do so. So Hamas is responsible for all of it.

TAPPER: You know that Hamas has long range missiles that could hit here in Jerusalem and could hit Tel Aviv. And they are not firing them. So something is going on. I'm not saying any missiles are good missiles. Any rocket are good rockets. But something is going where they are holding their fire of legal bit. Couldn't Israel offer something so that this doesn't just become a (INAUDIBLE) for the immediate future?

REGEV: We have had more than 100 rockets since the cease-fire ended on Israel. Now, you are right. Most of them have been on communities in the south. But rockets have also reached this far north of (INAUDIBLE) and It is unacceptable. There should be no rockets on Israel whatsoever. There is no reason for this. They should stop indiscriminately shooting at our civilians.

TAPPER: I'm not disagreeing. But if they are convinced that their lot (ph) won't improve and this is it, this is all they have to do, this is the only way to get the attention of the Israeli government, of the world, if their lives don't improve can't Israel just empirically looking at the suffering in Gaza and knowing that most of the people there are not firing rockets into Israel, can't Israel do something to alleviate the suffering? We saw protests all over the world today. South Africa, London, France, people who want Palestinians to have a better life.

REGEV: And Israel wants people of Gaza to have a better life too. And the key to moving forward is nonviolence. The minute there is an end to the rocket fire, the minute there is an end to the terrorist attacks from Gaza to Israel, we can start to normalize the relationship. We are ready to move forward in serious discussion--. TAPPER: They don't believe you, though. In 2012 they agreed to a

cease-fire and there are a lot didn't improve.

REGEV: Because they didn't keep their part of the bargain which was non-violence. I assure you if we get a sustain period of nonviolence and you will see the immediate easing of restrictions.

TAPPER: President Obama gave an interview to the "New York Times" Tom Friedman that he had comments about Israel. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because Israel is so capable militarily, I don't worry about Israel's survival. Others can cause Israel pain. It's a really bad neighborhood and they can inflict casualties and destruction in parts of Israel. But Israel is going to survive. That is not the issue. I think the question really is how does Israel survival.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And then the president expands on it. How does Israel survive? Does Israel maintain is democratic and civic traditions, how can you preserve a Jewish state that's also reflected of the best values of those who found in Israel. And he ties this to the Palestinians. It sounds like President Obama is worried that Israel is headed down the wrong path when it comes to democratic and civic values.

REGEV: And democracy is strong.

TAPPER: Not in the West bank.

REGEV: We are ready for a historic compromise of two states, but two people, my Prime Minister was elected on that (INAUDIBLE). We are ready for Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state with security arrangements to make sure that peace can be protected. The question is do we have a Palestinian partner. And a lot of the frustration is so-called moderate Palestinians justify Hamas, refuse to condemn the rockets. To murder the Iraqis justify ISIS. The moderate Lebanese justify Hezbollah. The moderate Nigerians justify Boka Haram. I think it is time for Palestinian moderates to step up to the plate say Hamas does not recognize us. We condemn their terrorism. We condemn their extremism. Then we know we got a path and we want a partner. We want to move ahead.

TAPPER: Mark Regev, spokesman for prime minister Netanyahu. Thanks so much for being with us tonight.

REGEV: My pleasure.

TAPPER: And that's it for this special edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

Make sure to follow me on twitter @jaketapper. And check out my show "the LEAD" weekdays at 4:00 p.m. eastern and online at CNN.com/thelead. "CNN Spotlight: Charles Manson" begins right after this.

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