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Possible Terror Plot Disrupted; Coalition Airstrikes Target ISIS in Northern Iraq; Turkish Fighters Struggle to Defend Kobani; More Cases Diagnosed in Ebola Epidemic; Tightening Airport Screening; V.A. Firing Officials; Panetta Attacks Obama

Aired October 7, 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. in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Damascus, 1:00 a.m. in Hong Kong. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with a possible terror plot now disrupted. Police in London say they have arrested four men suspecting of plotting terror attacks. Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is joining us now live from London. What can you tell us, Nic, about these arrests, the possible terror plot?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, the police are saying these are Islamist-related terrorism offenses, they say that these four men were suspected of being involved in commissioning or preparing or instigating an act of terrorism. They're not giving more details away from that.

But what we know, counterterrorism police conducted the arrests this morning. And they also used, on at least one of those arrests, armed police. That is unusual for the U.K. So, it does give an indication that the police were concerned about the men that they were arresting, how they might respond. One of the men, a 21-year-old, we understand, was tasered by the police. The police say that no one was actually injured.

These are all young men. Two of them are 20. Two of them are 21. They're being questioned by police at different police stations in the center of London. And investigations continue in locations in the west and center of London as well as investigations of some vehicles that the police have also taken into their custody -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I know the British prime minister, a few weeks ago, announced that Britain was raising its terror threat level because of concern. I assume this -- these arrests may be part of that increased terror threat level. Is that what you're hearing?

ROBERTSON: It certainly -- you certainly get that impression, Wolf, although the police aren't saying that specifically. The fear has been, now that the threat level's been raised to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, that this plot may be one of those that was feared, if it turns out to be an active plot. But we have heard, on the radio this afternoon, the head of the metropolitan police here saying they have to take a more interventionist police.

Now, in the U.K., traditionally, the police and security services will monitor a terror group for quite some time and wait until they go operational, generally, before making arrests because that's the way they get convictions.

If, however, and we saw terror arrest about a week and a half ago, if the police chief -- or as the police chief in London now says, taking a more interventionist approach to potential terror targets or potential terror suspects, maybe they got in early with this group before they got to an actual operational stage -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I'm sure more information will be coming out shortly. Nic, thanks very much.

Let's move on now to the battle raging for the key town of Kobani, that's right along the Syrian-Turkish border. The U.S. now confirming there were five coalition air strikes on ISIS targets around Kobani overnight. One anti-is fighter telling CNN, and I'm quoting now, "finally, they are hitting the right places." But just in the last few minutes, the Turkish prime minister has said that he believes Kobani is, quote, "about to fall and the casualties there are clearly mounting." Humanitarian groups telling CNN more than 400 people have been killed on both sides since the battle began in mid-September.

The fear now is that an ISIS takeover could lead to a slaughter within the -- this predominantly Kurdish city. ISIS wants the city, because it would give them a clear path between the Turkish border and their self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Coalition forces also conducted, by the way, several other air strikes overnight as well as today. They were targeting ISIS positions in other parts of Syria as well as in northern Iraq.

Phil Black has been following the fighting along the border. He reports now on the fighting he's seeing firsthand -- Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as I speak to you, I can hear the sound of a fast-moving aircraft in the air. And on the horizon behind me, the hill to the south of Kobani, you can see a smoke cloud. It is this combination that we've been hearing and seeing, in pretty quick succession, over the course of the day. Aircraft overhead, big explosions on the periphery of Kobani in almost each direction. The people, the fighters inside Kobani are pretty confident that these are coalition airstrikes and they believe that they are hitting key ISIS targets around that perimeter of the city. They're pretty happy about it. They believe it's making a difference.

But inside the city, the fight is increasingly desperate. ISIS is advancing. It is intense street fighting as the Kurdish fighters go out of their way to resist them. We are told that there are heavy casualties on both sides. But those Kurdish fighters believe that they are still outnumbered and outgunned with ISIS having more powerful and more advanced weaponry and equipment including, for example, night-vision equipment as well. So, an increasingly desperate fight.

Those Kurdish fighters, they say they're not without optimism. They believe they can hold on for a while longer, longer than they think ISIS believes they can. It's their territory, their streets. They know it well. They believe that gives them a tactical advantage but they believe they can't hold on indefinitely, unless they get more of the sort of the support we've been seeing around the city today. They want more coalition air strikes. They believe that is pretty much the only thing that could potentially delay, perhaps even prevent the inevitable, ISIS taking control of the city. What they say would be then a massacre of the thousands of fighters and the few civilians who are still waiting behind -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Phil, thank you. Phil Black reporting from the scene, a very dangerous scene indeed.

So, what do we expect to happen next in Kobani? Let me bring in CNN's Military Analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He's retired commander general of the U.S. Army that led the U.S. task force in northern Iraq back in the late 2000s.

General, the Kurdish fighters inside Kobani, they're working hard. They're trying to save their city. It doesn't look, I think, by all accounts, very promising. What, if anything, can be done to save those people in Kobani?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think what you're seeing, Wolf, all indicators are that the ISIS fighters are reinforcing all forces from the east, south and west of the city of Kobani. They're trying to pour as much combat effort into that as possible.

I think the comments about hearing bombs dropping, those are hitting the reinforcing soldiers as they're gathering to come into Kobani. But there's still going to be the street fights in the city itself. And, again, as you know, this is a city of about 40,000 people. It's a key border crossing post. ISIS wants this post, because it will allow them to bring jihadists in from Turkey and also to export oil on the black market outside.

So, it's a critical point just like they've looked at all the ports. There will be a lot of house-to-house, street-to-street fighting as the report said. The Kurds know this area better than ISIS does and they'll be able to hold off. But they don't have the combat power to do that. The battlefield geometry is just not in the Kurds' favor right now. But their will and their desire to win is helping them out in the short term.

BLITZER: As you know, General, the town right along the border with Turkey which is, after all, a key NATO ally, taking Kobani could clear that path, as we said, all the way to the -- their stronghold in Raqqa. So, why aren't the Turks getting more aggressively involved in preventing a slaughter, preventing ISIS from taking over this key town? HERTLING: Well, it -- truthfully, Wolf, this is extremely

disappointing to me, as a former commander of U.S. Army in Europe, to see the Turks standing by with a massive amount of firepower and not doing anything.

As we said the other night, this is going to be a decision on Turkey's part. Are they going to support the Kurds, someone they don't like, in an area that has been expanding lately or are they going to support an extremist terrorist group to their southern border? They've got to make that call. They are caught between a rock and a hard place on this. But, unfortunately, that's the call they have to make. And I would hope they would go in support of the Kurds in this particular area. If not, reinforcing the town, at least allow continued Kurdish escape into the Turkish -- across the Turkish border.

BLITZER: Because you know the criticism that's being leveled at the Turks that -- I mean, as you point out, no great love between the Turks and the Kurds. The Turks never liked the Kurds to begin with, whether in Turkey itself or in Syria or Iraq or anyplace else. And there's one argument, and it's an allegation, that the Turks are sort of willing to stay on the sidelines and let these Kurds suffer in the hands of ISIS. Do you think that's a fair criticism of Turkey?

HERTLING: I'm not sure it's a completely fair criticism, Wolf. I know there have been some refugee camps established, as Arwa Damon has reported and as Nic has reported, but it's just not enough. But I think Turk -- the Turkish government would certainly rely on Article Five to ask other NATO nations to join them if ISIS crosses into their border. And it just concerns me, right now, that this is the same kind of humanitarian issue that we saw in the Sinjar Mountain with the Yazidis. And you would think the Turks would contribute to assisting the Kurds. But they are distrustful of the Kurds. There is no getting around that fact. They've had problems with Kurdish terrorists. But unfortunately, that's not what we're seeing in this city. We're seeing a good group of Kurdish citizens who are just trying to be saved.

BLITZER: General HErtling, thanks very much. It's an awful situation. And we're going to watch Kobani very closely because the signs aren't very encouraging and a lot of people could be dead, as a result of what's going on there right now. Thanks very much, General Hurtling. We'll watch this situation closely.

Also, we're watching the reaction to a new book written by the former defense secretary, Leon Panetta. That book is being called by a "Washington Post" columnist, and I'm quoting that columnist, Dana Milbank, right now. "A stunning level of disloyalty to President Obama." We're going to tell you why. Our own Gloria Borger just spent some time with Secretary Panetta.

Also, Ebola and air travel. The Obama administration is working on ways to tighten airport screenings. We'll have details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: We're following several major developments in the Ebola epidemic. A Norwegian national, working for Doctors Without Borders, has now been diagnosed with Ebola. The staff member had been working in Sierra Leone, was placed into isolation Sunday after developing a fever.

Also, a nurse's assistant in Spain is the first person known to have contracted the disease outside of Africa. She's being treated now at a hospital in Madrid. She previously helped care for a Spanish priest and a Spanish missionary who contracted Ebola in West Africa. Both of them died. Hospital officials say they're monitoring three other potential Ebola cases, including the nurse assistant's husband.

Here in the United States, President Obama says he considers Ebola a top national security priority. But he says the chances of an outbreak in the United States, in his words, are extremely low. The president says the White House is developing procedures for enhanced screenings at airports. Some people have even called for banning flights from countries affected by Ebola.

We'll take a closer look now at the Obama administration's latest response to this Ebola crisis and what enhanced airport screenings might involve. Our aviation correspondent, Rene Marsh, is here with us in our studio today.

What are you hearing about what the administration potentially wants to do?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: So we know that the president, Wolf, has met with CDC, Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and, in his own words, he truly looks at this as a national security threat. He said there are economic implications. There's political implications.

So what we heard from the president and the administration yesterday was essentially they are looking at a plan to strengthen screening. There has been a lot of criticism from both passengers, even lawmakers, saying that the approach right now when people arrive from these Ebola hot spots, it's just too passive. So we do know that the enhanced measures could, at the very least, include two things. Take a listen to what we heard from the CDC earlier this morning.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATL. INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: What the president was talking about was considering the possibility of giving an extra layer of entry screening upon arrival in the United States. What that would look like is under discussion. But likely retaking the temperature and asking some additional questions so that you have screening both at the exit and at the entry end. That's the thing that's on the table right now.

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MARSH: And that's really what we're hearing, Wolf, those two key things -- getting the temperature taken here in the United States once they arrive and getting that detailed health questionnaire. Two things that are not happening as I speak to you right now. But we know the process is at this moment is, if you're arriving from an Ebola- impacted country, CBP officers, Customs and Border Protection officers, they simply look at you. If you look OK, you're free to go. They may ask you some additional questions about the contact that you've had, but they're not doctors. They're not there to diagnose. So they really want to step this up a bit. But, again, speaking to two sources, nothing has changed so far. But we know the focus is going to be there.

BLITZER: Because I saw the interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci on "New Day" this morning here on CNN and he made a valid point. And here's the point. Somebody leaves Monrovia, Liberia, or Guinea or Sierra Leone showing no symptoms whatsoever, flies to Brussels, that could be an eight, nine-hour flight, has a three or four hour layover in Brussels, then flies eight or nine hours to Washington Dulles International Airport. During, let's say, those 20 hours or so, those symptoms could develop, a fever could develop.

MARSH: Yes.

BLITZER: And it sort of makes sense that once they arrive at Washington Dulles Airport, they check the temperature of all the individuals coming from West Africa, for example, the most impacted so-called hot zone. And then they have to figure out, if somebody does have a temperature, what do they do at Washington Dulles Airport?

MARSH: Well, you're absolutely right. And in taking the temperature once they get here on U.S. soil, the thinking is that this can close that gap. I mean if you're taking a flight like that, it could be more than a 24-hour trip. You may not have the symptoms when you are departing, but you could develop them during this very long trip. So they're trying to close that gap between the time when you look perfectly fine and then all of a sudden things change.

But it is worth noting, nothing is foolproof because we know the incubation period is 21 days. So even if they have the best screening, they all are very transparent in saying it is quite possible we will see someone else arriving on U.S. soil who may have Ebola and just at the time they were at the airport did not show any symptoms.

BLITZER: What I'm hearing is, they're going to start screening people at international airports coming in from -- passengers coming in from West Africa.

MARSH: Yes.

BLITZER: They're going to want to make sure that they didn't develop the symptoms on that 20 or 24-hour flight coming over to the United States.

All right, thanks very much for that, Rene.

Still ahead, harsh criticism from one of the biggest players in President Obama's cabinet. The former defense secretary of the United States, Leon Panetta, he speaks to our own Gloria Borger about his new book. It's releasing today. He's got some sharp words for the president. Why is he speaking out so candidly? We'll tell you.

And the Veteran Administration's huge wait list scandal. It's a story that was broken right here on CNN. Now it appears the V.A. is cracking down on some serious wrongdoing.

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BLITZER: Could be the beginning of major changes at the troubled Veterans Administration here in the United States. Four top-level officials are now being dismissed and it all comes in the wake of that huge wait list scandal, a story that was broken right here on CNN. Our investigative reporter Drew Griffin is joining us with details.

Drew, who's getting fired?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the V.A. has started the firing process for four officials, all accused of wrongdoing in their jobs, including a top procurement officer for the V.A. in Washington, D.C. The other three all head up V.A. health facilities and are related to poor treatment of veterans. The heads of V.A.s in central Alabama, Dublin, Georgia and Pittsburgh all in the process of being removed.

Want to talk about that Pittsburgh case. It's two years in the making, Wolf. We reported back in 2012 about a legionella outbreak at that hospital that was covered up. Five veterans died. Only now is that administrator being let go, even though she's been on paid leave since June.

BLITZER: That's pretty shocking stuff, Drew. What about the hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, the leadership there? Is the V.A. taking action there? Because you did a lot of reporting on what was going on in Phoenix.

GRIFFIN: Yes, that was kind of the epicenter of the scandal when it broke, the secret wait list. Sharon Helman (ph) was the director. She's been removed. She's been on leave almost since the time we reported about that secret waiting list. They're trying to remove her. But like all these other cases, it's a lengthy process. As far as we can tell, Helman is still getting paid. Two other officials there placed on leave, also as far as we can tell, still getting paid. These bad administrators, many of whom oversaw these wait lists, Wolf, allowing vets to be placed on hold for their medical care, they're literally on a sort of a V.A. firing wait list now that the V.A. is just now trying to process.

BLITZER: So, big picture, drew, does it appear that the V.A., the Veterans Administration, is now starting to try to clean house?

GRIFFIN: Yes, I think this is a big change of direction for the V.A. The new V.A. secretary, Bob McDonald, going at it, trying to weed out this bureaucracy that allowed this systemic meltdown within the V.A., but it does take a lot of time to remove them. But I would sense we're going to see dozens and dozens more of these administrators basically kicked out, forced to retire or just let go from the V.A.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Drew, thanks very much. Drew Griffin reporting for us. Major changes happening over at the V.A.

Coming up, he's part of a growing number now of former Obama administration officials criticizing the president of the United States and his policies. Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary, the former CIA director talks to our own Gloria Borger about the problems with President Obama's decision-making.

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