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CNN NEWSROOM

Arab Nations Join Fight Against ISIS; Partial Verdict in Oscar Pistorius Trial

Aired September 11, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: A coalition of Arab nations coming together to help President Obama in the plan he outlined last night, dismantle and defeat the terror group ISIS. Joining what's called a coordinated military campaign, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the list goes on, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

They have agreed to give stronger support to the new Iraqi government, help cut off money and foreign fighters following ISIS and help rebuild the cities and the towns devastated by ISIS' bloody rampage to form an Islamic state.

The landmark Arab support for President Obama's strategy is the culmination of Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to Saudi Arabia, where he talked with our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, about the president's strategy to take on ISIS.

Elise Labott joins on the phone now from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, fresh from that interview with the secretary of state.

Elise, if you can, give me some of the highlights.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Randi.

Well, it was a pretty wide -- it was a short discussion because he was meeting with King Abdullah right after -- of Saudi Arabia -- right after our interview. But it was a pretty ride-ranging discussion. I started by asking him whether the U.S. was at war with ISIS and he said that was the wrong terminology. But if you want to think about it as a war, I can't stop you.

But he said that there are a lot of things going on in this strategy, this counterterrorism strategy that people don't normally associate with war in terms of stopping the flow of finances and stopping the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.

And he also defended the administration's use of the 2001 authorization by Congress to go after al Qaeda. They're trying to use that as justification for this campaign now saying, Randi, that ISIS really used to be part of al Qaeda. It split off, but it says you may change your name, but he considers them still connected.

And so that's really interesting because a lot of people are questioning what the administration's legal justification is to launch this campaign. We also talked about Saudi Arabia because here we are in Saudi Arabia. Secretary Kerry really praising the Saudi government for its role in this coalition, but a lot of the flow of this financing of foreign fighters come from Saudi Arabia.

It's a little bit of an inconsistency there. And, lastly, if you remember last night, the president compared this campaign to -- that he's going to go after ISIS to what the U.S. is doing in Yemen and Somalia. Secretary Kerry I think took a little bit of issue with that, saying the two groups are totally different. The situation in Yemen and Somalia are completely different than the way that the U.S. is using this broad coalition to go after ISIS.

That might give him a little bit of headache in Washington. But from here, he goes onto Turkey and to Cairo to continue to draw up support for this coalition, Randi.

KAYE: Fascinating interview. Terrific detail. Elise Labott, thank you so much.

CNN military analyst Colonel Rick Francona is here now.

And, Colonel, you heard there -- we talked about the Arab support quite a bit there. How vital is that Arab support to the president's strategy to defeat ISIS?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's vital in two ways.

One thing, one, we want to see Arabs as part of this effort. We are not going to defeat ISIS unless the regional powers are on board to do that. Only then will the solution begin because they're the ones that really are threatened and they have to be part of the solution.

On the other hand, we're not seeing the kind of commitment we want. We see the words. We see they're going to have stronger commitment. They will cut off funds. They will stop moving the people. But you don't hear the words we're going to send troops to help you do this. That's what we need. We need nations that are willing to put people with boots on the ground is the phrase everybody is using. We're not seeing it.

KAYE: What about some of the wording? You didn't hear President Obama last night use the word war. John Kerry today saying war is the wrong terminology for this fight. It's a counterterrorism operation. I mean, is there a difference really here?

FRANCONA: I think that when you are dropping bombs on people and you said you're going to degrade and destroy and defeat them, you're probably at war with them. I think the terminology is really kind of meaningless. They're at war with us. I think that is what's important.

KAYE: What about his point comparing this to Somalia and Yemen and operations there? What do you make of that, that we shouldn't be comparing...

(CROSSTALK) FRANCONA: We shouldn't be comparing them. They're much different operations. Those are much more localized operations.

They present a threat to the region and to U.S. interests abroad. ISIS has the capability of presenting a threat to the homeland, maybe not today, but some time in the future. And if you read their literature, if you read what they're saying, it's very akin to what we saw in Afghanistan in 1996 as the Taliban set up this exact kind of state.

KAYE: So, why would the president then be comparing it? Because you heard Elise Labott the secretary of state saying, no, that's the wrong way to describe it. Now she says that could be a problem for him in going against what the president said.

FRANCONA: The president regards those as successful operations, although they were different operations.

I think he was referring to the kind of tactics and strategies we're going to use. But to say they are equal I think is a misnomer.

KAYE: As you mentioned the boots on the ground, the president said that we can -- he's determined to defeat this group, but without the boots on the ground, not possible, you don't think.

FRANCONA: I think it's very difficult to win this without putting some boots on the ground. And I don't see any allies stepping up to the plate here. The Western Europeans may send maybe some small special operations units.

But if the United States is unwilling to do this, many other nations are going to follow suit and say why should we put young men and women at risk if you're not willing to put your troops at risk? In the end, if this is truly a risk and a threat to the United States, be it now or in the future, I don't it's wise that we should plan on outsourcing the defense of our country.

We saw how that failed in the initial stages of Afghanistan. I think we have to take a real hard look at this. I know it's politically dangerous to say American troops back to Iraq, but if the threat demands it, we may have to rise to the occasion.

KAYE: Lieutenant Colonel, nice to see you. Thank you.

Even some of the president's most outspoken Republican critics are calling his strategy a good first step. But they say success will depend on implementing the plan, specifically the tricky and highly contentious prospect of arming Syrian rebels.

This is what House Speaker John Boehner said about that just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: An F-16 is not a strategy. And airstrikes alone will not accomplish what we're trying to accomplish. And the president has made clear that he doesn't want U.S. boots on the ground.

Somebody's boots have to be on the ground. So I do believe that what the president has asked for as the commander in chief has this authority to train these Syrian rebels, and, frankly, we ought to give the president what he's asking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: You heard him say it right there. Somebody's boots have to be on the ground. For now at least, the president did not outline any specific plan for Americans to enter Syria, but the question some are asking, how long before that changes?

Coming up next, Ray Rice's team will take the field in just a few hours. It's first time, first game since video surfaced of him inside an elevator hitting his then fiancee. So what are Baltimore Ravens fans saying about this? We're live outside of the stadium. We will take you there.

Plus, deliberations in the murder case against the man known as the Blade Runner. The judge issues a partial verdict in the Oscar Pistorius trial. What did she rule and what is next? We will explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Now to the video of a knockout punch that ultimately took down an NFL player's career. The investigation of Ray Rice may be over, but one of the NFL is just beginning. The league itself is launching it.

It's enlisting former FBI Director Robert Mueller to do a -- quote -- "independent investigation" into how the NFL handled the video showing the ex-Baltimore Raven hitting the woman who went on to become his wife. Goodell insisted to CBS that he never saw Rice strike her before handing down the much criticized two-game suspension. Goodell said Wednesday that -- he was initially told did not match that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE COMMISSIONER: The description of what happened was not consistent with what the videotape was. And when you see that, that was clear. And that's why we took the action that we did. It was completely unacceptable. It was graphic. It was violent. And it was something that we felt we had to take an immediate reaction to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And Goodell maintains no one in the NFL saw the knockout footage before Monday when TMZ released it.

That brings us to a possible cover-up because the Associated Press is reporting this, that a law enforcement official without being asked provided a copy of the video to the NFL five months ago. The AP says a woman left a message acknowledging its receipt saying -- quote -- "You're right. It's terrible."

The NFL says it's now looking into that, while Rice's boss, the Ravens owner, says he is taking a hard look at himself for messing up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BISCIOTTI, BALTIMORE RAVENS OWNER: We have a tendency to hear what we want to hear and see what we want to see. I was picturing -- I was picturing her wailing on him and him smacking her and maybe her head was this far from the wall and, with her inebriation, dropped.

So, why did I conclude all that? Because I wanted to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: How are Baltimore fans reacting?

CNN Sports' Andy Scholes is live in Baltimore.

But, first, let me go to Rachel Nichols, host of CNN's "UNGUARDED."

Nice to see you, Rachel, too.

Let me ask you about this, this independent investigation. Roger Mueller's law firm has ties to the NFL. How independent is this, really?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ties is an understatement.

Robert Mueller, his law firm -- the president of the Ravens, let's just start there, since the Ravens are one of the main players in all this, the president of the team worked for that same law firm for 31 years. The president of the Cleveland Browns used to work for that law firm. The number two guy in the NFL's legal office used to work for that law firm and in fact the law firm has done a ton of direct work for the NFL their broadcasts and rights fees.

So they have taken money, direct commissions, from the NFL quite recently. Now, Director Mueller has a good reputation. This is not to say he will definitely be biased in his investigation. We, of course, couldn't say that.

But the appearance of impropriety here is a little bit strong considering this whole investigation is supposed to be about the NFL's credibility and whether they have been truthful or not. It seems like maybe they could have done a better job getting somebody who doesn't have all these ties to the league.

KAYE: Right.

NICHOLS: And, by the way, when they released the statement last night, the NFL said that the independent investigation would be overseen by two NFL owners, the owner of the Giants and the owner of the Steelers.

KAYE: Doesn't make any sense. NICHOLS: Is that independent? It's just confusing.

And it would be great if the NFL could be a little more transparent on this, but then again it would have been great if the NFL could have been more transparent all the way through.

KAYE: Yes, certainly.

Let me ask you about this, though, because ABC is reporting that the New Jersey attorney general has said that it would have actually been illegal for them to actually release the Ray Rice video to the NFL, so is the NFL getting maybe an unfair rap here in terms of that?

NICHOLS: I think that's a bit of a cop-out.

Look, it's possible the New Jersey A.G. couldn't have released their copy. And let's be clear. That's what it was, their copy of the video to the NFL and that's what Roger Goodell kept saying. Hey, we asked law enforcement and they said it would have been illegal. There's a lot of ways to get video documentation and the NFL knows that because they regularly do it all the time investigating draft picks.

Atlanta Falcons receiver Roddy White tweeted out last night. He goes: "I got say, the NFL has good investigators. When I got drafted, they knew everything about my family's history. It scared me."

We know the NFL has a long arm when they want to. We also know that the NFL was aware that Ray Rice's lawyer had this video or at least the Ravens were. The casino has said that they did get a direct request for the video and that instead of giving it to the league or to the Ravens, they said, we gave it to Ray Rice's lawyer. Get it from him.

Certainly, when they were disciplining Ray Rice and they had a hearing in the NFL office, you could have said bring all of the evidence. Otherwise, we're not going to let you back on the field and, of course, it would have been Rice and Rice's lawyer to say, no, we're not going to give you the video. But then NFL has a lot of power there. They could said, well, then you're not playing again. There's a lot of ways the NFL could have gone about this that they just didn't.

KAYE: All important points.

Let me bring in Andy.

Andy, the Ravens play in just a few hours. You talked to some of the team's fans. What are they saying about all this?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: A lot of fans are just disappointed. Some fans are disappointed that Ray Rice is no longer a vital part of their team, a team that won the Super Bowl just a couple years ago.

One fan I talked to said they were really disappointed because they had to explain to their kids why Ray Rice was released by the Ravens. Rice's jersey is one of the most popular jerseys you will see at M&T Bank Stadium during games. I talked to one fan who has a Ray Rice jersey. He of course said he's no longer going to wear it. He's actually trading it in, in one of the trades that is being offered all around the city.

He will get a $10 bar tab for his Ray Rice jersey. Another hot topic that was talked to -- that I talked to with fans was the suspension. That's the big topic. With two games, everyone was outraged about it. A year long seems like it's more than Roger Goodell said it was be, the six games.

Some people think the year-long suspension is right or indefinite suspension I should say, but some fans actually think that was harsh. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIP RILEY, BALTIMORE: I would have liked to have seen a six-game suspension and maybe not necessarily release him. I think everybody is doing -- I come from the fire service. We're reactive. And I think that's what, unfortunately, a lot of things have happened here, instead of being proactive.

RICK BOWLUS, BALTIMORE: The media is definitely overblowing these things. We have as many players that have done just as many things if not worse and I think we're getting a poster child made example out of Ray Rice right now.

DANA FRANKLIN, BALTIMORE: I think there has to be consequences for things like that. But I think, in the beginning, they should have taken it more seriously. And I think that is what people are more upset about. They are upset that the first thing that they did wasn't as serious as it should have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, Ray Rice is of course on everyone's mind out here, but the prevailing theme was that a lot of them told me they are most concerned about tonight's game against their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers and not falling to 0-2 on the season.

KAYE: Yes, absolutely. Let's get back to football. Right?

Andy Scholes, Rachel Nichols, thank you both very much.

Coming next, it's the case that drew international attention, the man known as Blade Runner charged with killing his model girlfriend. Today, a judge issued a partial verdict in the Oscar Pistorius trial. We will tell you what she decided and what charge is still on the table.

Plus, in a national prime-time speech, President Obama laid out his plan to destroy the terror group ISIS. So we assembled a group of Iraq veterans to react to his remarks. Are they in favor of airstrikes in Syria? What about boots on the ground? Their unique perspective coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is not guilty of murder.

That was the partial verdict delivered inside a South African court where the double amputee known as the Blade Runner is standing trial. Pistorius is accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He shot her to death on Valentine's Day last year inside his Pretoria home.

He said he mistook her for an intruder. Pistorius broke down profusely at times before a packed courtroom. During the court's reading, the judge said Pistorius had acted unlawfully when he fired through the door, but she said he did not intend to kill Steenkamp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOKOZILE MASIPA, JUDGE: The accused therefore cannot be found guilty of murder dolus eventualis. That, however, is not the end of the matter, as culpable homicide is a competent verdict. I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force. In the circumstances, it is clear that his conduct was negligent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Now, we still don't know the final verdict. The judge recessed, saving that part for tomorrow.

CNN's Robyn Curnow is in Pretoria.

And, Robyn Curnow, the most serious charges against Pistorius gone, but the judge was very critical of him. She called him evasive and a poor witness. What made her decide not to find him guilty of murder?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think there was one moment in court today which was quite telling. She said even though he had been evasive and a poor witness, quite damning about his conduct, particularly under cross-examination, she didn't give him any excuses, even though the psychologist and psychiatrist had said in that initial psych report that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, he was vulnerable an, he's anxious.

She said, no, she was fine during the heads of argument, but he really didn't stand up very well to cross-examination. The fact remains is still she found him not guilty because overall in the entirety of the evidence that she read, she felt that at its core, his story was correct. She made a very telling comment that even if she felt that the witness was telling untruths, it didn't mean that he was guilty.

She gave a very liberal judgment in that sense. But at the same time, she still was harsh on his conduct and, of course, the implications of that judgment, her assessment of how he performed on the stand might have implications for sentencing and, of course, she again gave those signposts, the indication that she's going to find him guilty of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter. KAYE: Yes. That charge is certainly still hanging over him, this

culpable homicide. What technically does that mean there and what kind of sentence could that mean?

CURNOW: You know, in South Africa and in the States as well, murder is about intention. She ruled he didn't intend to kill Reeva Steenkamp, that he couldn't have possibly foreseen that she was in that bathroom.

However, she did categorically say that she felt not only was he unreasonable in his behavior, but that he was negligent. That's basically legally saying he's guilty of culpable homicide. The implications for him, difficult to judge. You speak to different legal analysts and the issue of sentencing is discretionary. The judge decides case by case how she's going to sentence somebody convicted of culpable homicide.

It could be from as minimum as community service to eight years. A recent judgment found that a man who had killed a whole lot of schoolchildren by driving recklessly, negligently, got eight years. He could have a suspended sentence. She could be tough.

It really depends on how she assesses this case. Just remember, the whole sentencing issue still another whole mini-trial. This could take place in weeks or months ahead. It's not over yet.

KAYE: No, certainly not. Robyn, thank you very much for the update.

You can see, by the way, all the twists and turns of this trial. Watch "CNN SPOTLIGHT: Oscar Pistorius." That's tomorrow night here on CNN at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Coming up next, Iraq war veterans respond to President Obama's plan to destroy ISIS. Do they think that sending advisers to the region is mission creep? Are they in favor of boots on the ground? Their unique take -- next.

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