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Reports Indicate Ukraine and Russia Agree to Framework to End Hostilities; President's Policy on ISIS Reviewed; Interview with Rear Admiral John Kirby; Interview with Admiral James Stavridis

Aired September 3, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome back to NEW DAY. We are following major breaking news on two fronts this morning. First, President Obama speaking out after ISIS beheads another American. He is vowing that the terror group will pay. The government confirmed overnight that the video of Steven Sotloff's murder is authentic. The president says the killers will feel the long reach of the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Overnight our government determined that tragically Steven was taken from us in a horrific act of violence. Whatever these murderers think they will achieve by killing innocent Americans like Steven, they have already failed. They failed because, like people around the world, Americans are repulsed by their barbarism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The question is what will he and the U.S. and the west do about it? We have full coverage on these breaking developments starting with Jim Acosta. He is traveling with the president in Estonia. Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Chris, President Obama offered his first words on the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff at a news conference here in Estonia. The president said that the United States would not be intimidated by what he called a horrific act of violence. And he was also asked about a comment that he made last week that the U.S. does not have a strategy for dealing with ISIS in Syria. The president at that point said it is his goal to destroy ISIS. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The bottom line is this. Our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so it's no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region, and to the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now the president is here in Estonia to reassure the Baltic states and other NATO allies that the United States would come to their defense if they're attacked by Russia. Obviously people here in eastern Europe are seeing what's happening in Ukraine and are worried that they might be next.

As for what's going on right now between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, tweeted out earlier this morning that he had reached a ceasefire agreement with Russia. The Russians are telling CNN that, no, that is not the case, that they are not a part of a ceasefire agreement because they are not militarily involved in Ukraine right now. So the president and White House officials are sort of holding back comment as to whether or not that ceasefire will hold. The president is expected to have more comments on the situation in Ukraine in a speech here in the Baltics later on today. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you very much, traveling with the president in Estonia. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Staying just on that topic of Ukraine, we're following break news out of Ukraine. There are conflicting -- those conflicting reports about a possible ceasefire there. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's office said a deal was reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but then Putin's spokesman rejected that claim. Speaking in Estonia, President Obama made it clear it is the Russians who will decide when there will be piece.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If, in fact, Russia is prepared to stop financing, arming, training, and in many cases joining with Russian troops activities in Ukraine and is serious about a political settlement, that is something we all hope for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Reza Sayah is live this morning in Kiev, Ukraine, with the very latest. So Reza, President Obama seeming skeptical, to say the very least, of the announcement of a ceasefire. What more are you learning?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have to be cautious in reporting this agreement because we're still sorting through and confirming some of the details, and there hasn't been any kind of formal announcement. But still, this is the best indication that perhaps we're on the verge of a breakthrough or maybe even a ceasefire has already been established.

Let's explain to you what we know. Earlier this morning the Russian Interfax news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, and in that phone call the two leaders agreed on a framework with which they would end this conflict in southeastern Ukraine.

Obviously we needed to hear confirmation from Ukrainian officials here in Kiev, and a short time later we got that conversation from the office of President Poroshenko. They confirmed that a phone call indeed had taken place and. In fact, they took it a step further, indeed saying that a ceasefire had been established. The word "ceasefire" was not in a statement from Moscow, so we went back to Moscow to ask about that, and that's when Mr. Putin's spokesperson said that Mr. Putin could not authorize a ceasefire because he's not a party to this conflict. However, they reiterated out of Moscow that they supported the framework for an agreement.

We're also hearing from the pro-Russian rebels fighting in southeastern Ukraine. They are aware of this report, but they are doubtful that a ceasefire can hold until these Ukrainian forces pull out of southeastern Ukraine. That hasn't happened yet.

So a lot of details to work through, but perhaps the best indication yet that in this conflict we're close to a breakthrough, Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, a lot of moving parts this morning. Reza on top of it for us in Kiev, Ukraine. Reza, thank you so much. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Kate, let's get back to the situation in Iraq, Syria that's been driven by ISIS, because the president said this morning it's now time to act. Let's figure out what that means. We have Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. Admiral, great to have to, as always. The president says they are going to feel the reach of U.S. and justice, that's what they said about the killers. The question is, what does that mean to you? Have you been told what to do to react to is?

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: ISIL is already feeling the reach of the United States military inside Iraq, Chris. And we've been hitting them pretty hard, more than 110 strikes in all since we started flying air strikes, as well as trying to disrupt their activities on a humanitarian front. So we are very much engaged against ISIL.

We are still working, as you know, we're still working on options for the president to consider for potential military options and air strikes inside Syria. No decision has been made on that. There's some work to be done. But believe me, ISIL is feeling the heat from the United States military and from the ISF, the Iraqi Security Forces, as well as Kurdish forces.

CUOMO: Now, we all know that nobody fights like the U.S. on the ground or in the air. The question is when are you told to fight and how? Has the U.S. military been told to take down is to its roots yet? Is that your mission?

KIRBY: Our mission inside Iraq is really threefold. One is to help the Iraqi Security Forces take the fight to ISIL, and that's an important point, Chris. This is their fight to fight, and we have to remember that. We're also there to help with humanitarian missions, and, of course, we're there to protect our U.S. personnel and facilities. The president said it just very recently that he wants to disrupt their capability to operate inside Iraq, and we believe that on tactical level we're having that effect.

CUOMO: Obviously the concern of the American citizen will be mission creep for our service men and women, that now there are 350, the news this morning, 350 new sets of boots on the ground in Iraq, but they are not going to be fighting. That's hard to accept. It's hard to understand. If you're on the ground, isn't it just a matter of time before Americans are swapping bullets and swapping blood with the enemy?

KIRBY: Not really, Chris. Mission creep means that the mission itself, the objectives change over time, they expand. It doesn't refer to intensity of operation. It doesn't refer to the number of troops. These extra personnel are going to go in to provide additional security assistance in and around Baghdad, particularly around our embassy facilities, and that's all they are going to be doing. It's going to be security and defensive work just to help protect our diplomats and our civilians that are working there in Baghdad.

CUOMO: So to be clear, from the military perspective, you believe you've been given clear direction, you know what you're supposed to do, and you believe it will be effective in taking out ISIS?

KIRBY: There has been nothing but a critical clear understanding here in the Pentagon of the mission and the objectives inside Iraq. They are the three that I stated for you. Everything that we've done, every air strike we've taken has been within the authorities that we've been granted inside Iraq.

CUOMO: We have seen that the U.S. military goes in and cuts down the bad guys only to see them grow back again, whether you call them the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS, al-Shabaab, new names, same game. Do you believe from the military perspective that it is not enough anymore to just go in and beat somebody down, it's about what happens after?

KIRBY: Actually, you're right. It is what happens after, but it's also what happens during as well. We've long said and long maintained that there's not going to be a U.S. military solution to the situation inside Iraq or frankly inside Syria. ISIL has to be defeated only through the defeat of their ideology, and the only way you're going to do that is good governance. Good governance in Iraq, a unity government standing up, that's promising. Good governance in Syria where obviously things are not so well with the Assad regime, but that's the long term answer, political, economic, diplomatic. It's providing a future for young men and for young women so that they don't have to turn to terrorism.

That's not going to be solved through air strikes, and we know that. There's a military component, and we're very good at executing that component, but it's not going to be enough.

CUOMO: What happens next? Has anything been added to the mission, added to the resources based on these horrible beheadings that we're seeing? Is there a change?

KIRBY: There hasn't been a specific change with respect to the tragic murder of Mr. Sotloff yesterday, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, of course. But there's been no change. The only change recently, and you've mentioned this, was the addition of the 350 or so additional security force personnel. Again, would I like to remind you that the missions are clear, the

objectives are set. We're executing them every day, and we're being joined more and more by international partners. You saw over the weekend when we did airdrops in a little town that we were joined by the British, the French, the Australians. And so there's international awareness and contributions coming in every day as well.

KIRBY: And we are getting information fresh today that there are advances being made against ISIS, or ISIL, or the caliphate, or whatever you want to call them, the bad guys, and that small progress is still progress nonetheless.

Let me ask you one other thing admiral, because we're playing politics here this morning trying to understand. The president said we had no plan. Oh, I only meant that in terms what our military is. But now it seems like there is a military plan. How can you help clarify this issue for us? Does the military know what it's supposed to do? What is this "no plan" referring to?

KIRBY: We certainly know what we're doing inside Iraq. The strategy is very, very clear, as I've outlined for you. What the president is referring is the options that he is considering with respect to Syria. And there is, as I said, a potential military component to sealing with ISIL inside Syria.

But it can't just be about the military, and so I think there's a consideration of sort of the whole picture. We've got to look at this from a regional perspective, not just inside Iraq, and military options have to be on table. And that's what we're referring, the fact that the Pentagon is still working through options that need to be presented to the president, and that's -- that part of the regional strategy is -- still remains to be completed.

CUOMO: That's a big reason why it will be interesting to see when Jordan, when Saudi Arabia, when they start to speak up and what they do to help control the situation in their region.

Let me ask you about one other region while I have you, admiral. Somalia, you threw us a curveball. There was a quick attack there, maybe it was just drones, maybe there was a ground component. Did you get your targets?

KIRBY: We don't know yet, Chris. Great question, and we're trying to assess the results of that operation right now. In fact, we've been assessing it since it got executed. As I said yesterday, it was done with manned and unmanned aircraft. There were no U.S. boots on the ground going after this particular target, Mr. Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab. We certainly hope we were successful, and if and when we have some news on that we'll certainly report it out.

CUOMO: Who figures it out whether you got him or not? Are you leaving that up to the Somalis or are you working with them on an intel level as well?

KIRBY: Without getting too much into intelligence issues, Chris, there will be a myriad of sources that we'll try exploit to figure out if we got what we were aiming at.

CUOMO: Admiral John Kirby, thank you very much. As always, good to hear from you from the Pentagon.

KIRBY: Thanks, good to be with you.

CUOMO: Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of other headlines to get to, so here we go. Another American has been infected with the Ebola virus. The missionary group SIM USA announced Tuesday that one of its doctors in Liberia had tested positive for the virus. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden who just returned back from a visit to the region warned Tuesday right here on NEW DAY that the outbreak is gaining momentum and becoming harder to stop every day. Human testing of an experimental Ebola vaccine began in Maryland this week. A group of three healthy volunteers are the first to receive that vaccine.

A senior Israeli military intelligence official says Hamas suffered a huge dramatic hit during their violent 50-day conflict. The official told the "New York Times" senior Hamas commanders were killed, thousands of operatives were likely wounded, and major damage was done to the group's military infrastructure. He also acknowledged that only several hundred Hamas operatives out of the total he put at 16,000 were killed.

At his sentencing today, Theodore Wafer plans to apologize to the parents of 19-year-old are a Renisha McBride. That's the teenager he fatally shot on his front porch last fall. A Michigan jury convicted Wafer of second-degree murder and manslaughter. He says he thought McBride was trying to break into his home when he shot her through a locked screen door. We'll be watching that here on CNN obviously.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thanks so much, Michaela.

As President Obama heads to the NATO summit all eyes will be on what the group will do about ISIS and, of course, about the crisis in Ukraine. We're going to speak with the former supreme allied commander of NATO about what we can expect.

CUOMO: And the president obviously under pressure, so what about his words this morning? What will it mean to his critics? We have John King giving us the latest on "INSIDE POLITICS."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Following breaking news this morning out of Ukraine and those conflicting reports about a potential ceasefire. Ukraine's president now backing away from a statement made earlier when he had said that he and Russian president Vladimir Putin had reached a deal for a complete ceasefire to end the conflict there. A spokesman for Vladimir Putin had denied that claim.

This all comes ahead of the NATO summit starting tomorrow where President Obama is headed. He spoke from Estonia this morning, sending a message to Russia, that their aggression won't be tolerated in the region.

Let's discuss this and more with Admiral James Stavridis; he's the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and he's also the dean now of the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Admiral, thank you so much for coming in.

ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS, FMR. SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, NATO: Hi, Kate. Good morning.

BOLDUAN: Good morning. And such an important day to be speaking with you. You also described this NATO summit as the most important one since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why?

STAVRIDIS: I think four big topics on the agenda, Kate. First and foremost is Ukraine. We see the news bouncing around this morning. The use by Russia of force to erase boarders in Europe. We haven't seen that since the 1930s, so that will be topic number one.

Number two, of course, is Syria. We're following this horrible act of violence yesterday, but it's this larger picture on the border of Turkey, 600-mile border that abuts both Iraq and Syria, so this is big for the alliance as well.

Third is Afghanistan, which we don't talk a lot about at the moment, but NATO is trying to put the final imprimatur on its post-combat mission. And then, fourth, really not talking about it, but a big deal is cyber and how the alliance deals with cyber. So it's a big agenda; a lot of topics and a lot to cover for 28 heads of state and government.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely right. Well, let's focus on a couple of them, at least.

STAVRIDIS: Sure.

BOLDUAN: On Ukraine, what do you make of the back and forth this morning, the talk of a deal, backing away from the idea of a ceasefire, going on between Ukraine and Russia. What do you make of it?

STAVRIDIS: Unfortunately, I'm skeptical. If we look at the behavior of Russia thus far in this crisis, it's been one of frankly obfuscation, of downright lying at times. There are a lot of Russian troops in Ukraine at the moment. I don't think it will be solved simply by a quick phone call between the president of Ukraine and President Putin. I think this one's got a ways to go.

BOLDUAN: I also wanted to get your take. I mean, President Obama spent quite a bit of time talking about this situation in Ukraine during his press conference from Estonia this morning. Do you think the president, President Obama, do you think he made a strong enough statement that he -- or he struck a strong enough tone against Russia today?

STAVRIDIS: I felt he did, and I think the temperature is rising in NATO. I think you'll see significant additional sanctions come out, and really economic pressure on Russia may be the most potent tool that the alliance, the West and the United States have in this situation.

Secondly, I think you'll see a lot of reassurance for the eastern nations in the alliance. You'll see additional air policing over NATO countries. You'll see ships going into the Black Sea and the Baltic. You'll see rotational forces forward. Above all, you'll see a rapid deployment force anointed by the alliance. And then, third and finally, I think the alliance --

BOLDUAN: Do you think that rapid deployment force is going to be effective? Do you think that has real teeth to it, the rapid deployment force?

STAVRIDIS: I do. When you look at the long border of the alliance with Russia, it's clear that simply putting garrisons everywhere and trying to build up troops won't work. You have to be able to move quickly to points of intrusion and points of attack, so a rapid force that can move, get in position, is the way to go.

BOLDUAN: Especially when you look at it from a perspective of NATO, I want to get your take on the fight against ISIS. President Obama talked a lot about it this morning. He said, once again, that he -- he stressed once again the need for a regional strategy in taking on is. From your perspective, what do you think that means?

STAVRIDIS: I think it means, first, getting NATO behind this. Let's remember that NATO has been the centerpiece in Afghanistan. NATO was engaged in Iraq with a training mission previously. NATO has deep experience in this region at this point, so I think it's NATO.

I think it's also the Arab League and in particular the Sunni states who can choke off the money supply that's going to ISIL. And then, thirdly, there's a global component to this. I think the whole world is revolted by I.S. Bringing that to bear, all of that together, Kate, I think is the regional strategy.

BOLDUAN: And Admiral, I mean, you've definitely heard it. President Obama has kind of come under considerable criticism for being more cautious, or, more specifically, I guess he took it on today for not laying out a clear strategy in how the United States plans to take on ISIS, to degrade ISIS, to destroy ISIS, whatever the goal is. Do you think the president has lacked a clear, coherent strategy in how to take on ISIS?

STAVRIDIS: I think it's time for us to put together a very serious package of international effort, U.S. engagement, including special forces, attacks, support to the Peshmerga in the north, support to Iraq in the south. If we do that, we present I.S. with a two-front war between the Peshmerga and the Iraqis in the south. We bomb them in Syria. I think it's time to move out on all of that now.

BOLDUAN: Do you think the additional troops that have been put on the ground, even though they are said to not be troops on the ground, to not be combat forces, do you think they will be effective? Do you think they will essentially become combat forces? STAVRIDIS: I think that all troops in an area like this are

potentially engaged in combat, let's be realistic. This force, however, is designed to protect embassy Baghdad and also to get out and do advising, mentoring, and training with the Iraqi security forces. They won't be front line combat troops

BOLDUAN: Admiral James Stavridis, thank you so much. Thank you so much for being in this morning, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Appreciate the time.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Of course. A lot going on this morning, including this. The intelligence community is going over, poring over the Steven Sotloff beheading video frame by frame, looking for any clues. What will the tape reveal about his killer?

And the political fallout for the president over his response to ISIS. We're going to look at how it's playing out in the 2014 election cycle. That's part of INSIDE POLITICS with John King coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY on this Wednesday. Here's a look at your headlines.

President Obama authorizing 350 more troops be deployed to Iraq to protect American diplomatic facilities and personnel from the threat of ISIS. These troops, the White House says, will not serve in combat roles, bringing a number of troops there up to over 1,000 since June. All this as the U.S. military keeps pounding is in Iraq. An air strike near the Mosul dam destroyed or damaged 16 of ISIS's armed vehicles.

A federal appeals court now hearing arguments on a legal challenge to the NSA's bulk collection of American phone records. The ACLU filed suit after the secret surveillance program was revealed through a leak by Edward Snowden. Government officials defend the process, saying it's designed to detect and disrupt possible terrorist plots. The case may eventually end up before the Supreme Court.

A new study suggests that double mastectomies will not improve survival odds for patients battling cancer in one breast. A study of almost 200,000 women showed nearly identical ten-year survival rates for women who chose removal of the tumor and radiation instead. The number who chose double mastectomies had been on the rise, especially among younger women. The research was published in this week's "Journal of the American Medical Association".

This morning, seven teenagers who escaped from a Tennessee detention center, they are still at large. In all, 32 teens escaped from the juvenile facility near Nashville on Monday. The majority there turned themselves in; some were turned in by family members or were captured nearby. Authorities are still searching for the other teens who authorities say could be desperate and dangerous. Clearly they want to get a hold of these kids and get them back where they need to be. CUOMO: We've been following that one.

PEREIRA: And we will continue to.

CUOMO: See where it leads. Absolutely, thank you very much, Mick.

A lot going on in politics this morning, so let's get to the man himself, John King. INSIDE POLITICS on NEW DAY. John?

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Chris, Kate, Michaela, good morning to you. We're going to spend our time this morning analyzing the president's response to this barbaric killing of Steven Sotloff and the political debate about what to do with the ISIS threat.

With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Politico's Manu Raju, CNN's Peter Hamby.

Let's start with the president. He was traveling as this happened, heading to Estonia for some meetings then to the NATO summit. The timing seems to be not a coincidence, released as the president is on the global stage. The barbaric act, the ISIS killer of Steven Sotloff, taunting the President of the United States, saying he's responsible for this because of the military actions in Iraq against ISIS targets.

Listen this morning as the president responds in Estonia, saying justice will be served.