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President Obama's White House Summit; Economic Issues at Heart of Problem; Poverty Breeds Instability, Extremism; Nations Need to Stop Cycle of Conflict; Obama Lays Out Plan to Battle Growth of Extremism; Strategy Centers on Disaffected Youth; Forty People Burned Alive by ISIS; Jeb Bush's Team of Advisors; ISIS Close to Base Housing US Personnel

Aired February 19, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 9:00 p.m. in Baghdad. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We start with a rally and cry from President Obama at the White House summit on combatting extremism. The President spelled out the challenges in fighting a growing global problem and called on all nations, especially the wealthier ones, to do more. But here is what he listed as one of the most pressing problems right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When people, especially young people, feel entirely trapped in impoverished communities where there is no order and no path for advancement, where there are no educational opportunities, where there are no ways to support families and no escape from injustice and the humiliations of corruption, that feeds instability and disorder and makes those communities ripe for extremist recruitment. And we have seen that across the Middle East and we've seen it across North Africa.

So, if we're serious about countering violent extremism, we have to get serious about confronting these economic grievances. And as we go forward, let's commit to expanding education including for girls, expanding opportunity including for women. Nations will not succeed without the contributions of their women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president also spoke about ideology, misconceptions about Muslims and how the world perceives the United States' stance on Islam.

Let's go to our White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. Jim, we heard now from the president two straight days talking about ways to combat violent extremism. So, what's been the White House reaction, I guess, to what the president has been saying so far? Are they pleased with what they're heard -- they are hearing from domestic leaders and now world leaders? JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they

know that the president is getting pounded over this language that he's using where he's not using terms like Islamic extremism or Islamic terrorism. But I've been talking to various senior administration officials, White House officials, Wolf, who feel very strongly they are in lock step when it comes to this approach in talking about this struggle against ISIS and groups like Al Qaeda. The president made it very clear today in his speech that he sees this as a global challenge.

And, Wolf, this really harkens back, and you'll recall that speech the president gave at the United Nations general assembly of September of last year when he was talking about these root causes of extremism in Muslim communities around the world. And the president was talking about that again today, talking about the fact that many young Muslims feel disenfranchised because they don't have Democratic and human rights in their countries. They don't have economic opportunities. And so, the president was underlining that today.

But at one point, Wolf -- there were a couple of points during this speech, in fact, when the President was really calling out Muslim leaders and Muslim and Arab nations around the world to really fight against this narrative that exists in some impoverished communities where extremism is a potential to take root. And he said that those countries, those communities, they have to speak out against this narrative that somehow that there's a clash of civilizations and that the war between the west and Islam is on. The President wants those leaders to fight against that narrative -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. I want you to standby, Jim, because I want to play another part of the president's speech from earlier today. The part about the rise of ISIS and those who are shouldering the blame. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nations need to break the cycles of conflict, especially sectarian conflict that have become magnets for violent extremism. In Syria, Assad's war against his own people and deliberate stoking of sectarian tensions help to fuel the rise of ISIL. And in Iraq with the failure of the previous government to govern in an inclusive manner helped to pave the way for ISIL's gains there. The Syrian civil war will only end when there is an inclusive political transition and a government that serves Syrians of all ethnicities and religions. And across the region, the terror campaigns between Sunnis and Shia will only end when major powers address their differences through dialogue and not through proxy wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's talk about the President's carefully crafted speech. With us, Bobby Ghosh, he's a CNN Global Affairs Analyst, managing editor of "Quartz." Also with us, Bob Baer, CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst, and retired Colonel James Reese, our CNN Global Affairs Analyst.

Let me get the impressions of all of you to what we heard from the President today. Bobby, let me start with you.

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you put -- you put it quite rightly. This was very carefully crafted. He -- the message was, I think if you read between the lines, to the larger Arab world. He was talking to Arab regimes, Arab governments. He only sort of name checked two of them, Iraq and Syria. But the references to letting women have a bigger role in society, stamping down on radical ideology. If you -- that could be read to mean Saudi Arabia. It is to be hoped that in private discussion when the cameras are turned off that some harder language is being used with those governments that enable, fund, directly or indirectly, and finance the extremism that underlies ISIS, Al Qaeda and all these other terrorist groups.

But, in public, he chose not to, I think, mention them by name. And that's probably the smartest course, diplomatically speaking. But I think those audiences around the world will be look -- reading between the lines and it'll be quite clear who he's talking to.

BLITZER: Yes, it was obvious that when he was referring to the funding of some radical schools, madrasas as some of them are called, he was clearly referring to Saudi money, (INAUDIBLE) money. Although he didn't mention them, you're right, by name.

Bob Baer, what jumped out at you?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, exactly the same thing, Wolf. We have to say this movement, ISIS goes back to Saudi Arabia. They've been preaching this for years in Pakistan. They spread it there. And, I think, really talking about Democracy, at this point. We saw democracy in Egypt. It didn't work. They voted in the Muslim brotherhood and other Islamic radicals.

And then, he also talked about, you know, families and women and the Internet. We're not there, Wolf. I mean, it's -- we're way past there. This is 1933. If this disease moves into the Gulf, it's going to look like World War III. This is very serious and he was very diplomatic and I understand why. But -- you know, and he's talking about the sectarian problems. He's absolutely right. And he talked about the political vacuums. And that's what's going to make this spread, whether it's Syria or Iraq or whatever. And he offered no obvious solutions because there are none.

BLITZER: You, obviously, listened closely, Colonel Reese, to the President's remarks. Very little emphasis on the military role, the actual military operations, to try to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, Al Qaeda. That was sort of not a major part of this speech was it?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: No, Wolf, it wasn't. But we know, historically, that even in the military across different nations through thousands of years have been in this region, the military just kind of sustains things for a while and never gets to the root causes of what's really out there in the secularism, the -- you know, people trying to get money from either side. So, that's the big thing. The piece that I saw was -- is, you know, no one ever had to tell me or use an adjective to tell me who my enemy was. But the other thing I'd like to stop seeing us do is make this a western issue and collaborate more with our partners in the region and make this more of a collaborative discussion instead of our western discussion.

BLITZER: Yes. And I think it's fair to say that some of those Arab partners, they are beginning to step up to the plate, militarily, right now in the aftermath of the brutal killings of some of their own people. Whether Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian's President Sisi, they're beginning to use their military power together with the United States, other members of this coalition, in trying to destroy ISIS. The President was not the only speaker. He was the keynote speaker at this summit that's been going on in Washington. But there were others who had powerful messages at the same time. They spoke about important challenges. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Terror is their obsession. It's what they do. And if we let them, their singleness of purpose could actually wind up giving them a comparative advantage. But with the images of recent outbreaks fresh in our minds, everybody here knows we simply can't let that happen. We have to match their commitment. And we have to leave them with no advantage at all.

BEN KI-MOON, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: These extremists are delivering a deliberate strategy of shock and awful beheadings, burnings, and (INAUDIBLE) designed to polarize and terrorize and provoke and divide us. The victims are as diverse as the human kind itself. But let us recognize that the vast majority of the victims are Muslims.

NASSAR JUDEH, FOREIGN MINISTER, JORDAN: Associate economic conditions that provide the fertile ground for the spread of this ideology, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy. The youth, ladies and gentlemen, are the most vulnerable and the most targeted by violent extremism. Jordan will utilize its membership in the Security Council and its upcoming presidency to highlight youth as a vehicle for peace building and prosperity. In this regard, I would like to say, it is all about education, education, education, opportunity, opportunity, opportunity, empowerment, empowerment, empowerment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That's Nassar Judeh, the Foreign Minister of Jordan who's here in Washington for this summit as well.

Bobby Ghosh, yes, there are disadvantaged youth who are attracted to these terror groups. But a lot of the leaders, they're not -- they don't come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many of them are highly educated and they actually come from pretty wealthy backgrounds.

GHOSH: Indeed. And the circumstances that Nassar Judeh was describing there, poverty, the lack of opportunity, there are large parts of the world where vast numbers of people suffer those same conditions but do not take to this form of extremism, Latin American, (INAUDIBLE), Africa, Asia.

What I think -- what often gets missed in all of this is the role that is played by catalysts. Catalysts like wealthy Saudi princes who give money to extremist preachers who take this message of violence around the world to well-appointed mosques in poor parts of Pakistan, where they can provide food and money but also pass on this sort of radical ideology. That is what often gets missed. And it is something that one hopes that now that these 60 nations have gathered together that that is coming up for discussion. I understand that that discussion cannot happen in public. The president of the United States or the secretary of state cannot name and shame people like that. But I really do hope behind closed doors that's the conversation that's being had.

BLITZER: When all is said and done though, and I think, Bob Baer, you'll agree that, yes, air power, education all of these other initiatives are going to be really important. But what's most important is defeating them militarily. And you can't do that simply with air power. You need troops on the ground. Bob Baer.

BAER: I think so. I mean, I think -- you know, I used to say leave this alone. It'll go away. It'll collapse. It won't anymore. You see Turkey still allowing jihadists to cross the border. They've had prisoner exchange with ISIS. They deal with them every day. You have the current king of Saudi Arabia as one of the big funders of Islamic fundamentalism. You know, until you get to these people and put troops on the ground and really, truly crush this, we do risk it spreading. And you do need a military solution as well as the political. You can't do it by one alone.

BLITZER: Yes, we'll see if the Arab countries in the region are willing to step up. I want all of you to stand by. We have much more to discuss. We're about to go live to Iraq for the very latest on reports of yet more atrocities carried out by ISIS fighters.

And later, we're going to turn to politics. Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush now says he's his own man but the advisers he's hired to help him on national security issues, they're all, at least most of them, have worked for either his brother or his father. What does that mean, if anything? Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Pentagon here in Washington is now looking into the latest accounts of savage acts by ISIS. An Iraqi official says at least 40 people were burned alive by the terror group. CNN has not independently confirmed the report, but the atrocity is believed to have taken place when ISIS seized the town of al Baghdadi in Iraq's Anbar province. The town is not far from a base housing hundreds of U.S. military personnel. Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is joining us now live from Irbil, in northern Iraq.

What can you tell us about what the Iraqis are saying happened in the Anbar province?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've heard from a police chief in Anbar province, as well as the head of the Anbar provincial council, who said that indeed these people were - these are members of the security forces and tribesmen -- were burnt to death. But it's very unclear at this point. Initially we heard the spokesman for the Pentagon saying that there was - the U.S. officials were looking at video of the incident. Then he said they're looking at stills. And now our Barbara Starr is hearing that there is, in fact, no video, no images of this incident. And the only thing they heard about it was from the Iraqis themselves. So it's not all to clear -- altogether clear what happened, if anything happened.

Now, I know from reporting months back in Anbar that there is a tendency of the officials in that province, who are largely Sunni, to be worried about the fact that the central government in Baghdad, which is dominated by the Shia, is not particularly sympathetic to them. So they're constantly, Wolf, ringing alarm bells to try to get more support from the Iraqi army to that province. And this may be simply their way of trying to bring more attention to the admittedly dire situation in Anbar province.

Wolf.

BLITZER: And what's -- what's the latest you're hearing? Because the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, he went before the Security Council and he accused the ISIS fighters in Mosul, the second largest city in northern Iraq up there, not far from where you are, harvesting organs of people that they have killed in order to raise money for the terrorists. What's the latest you're hearing from Iraqis there about this allegation?

WEDEMAN: Well, we've spoken to people in Mosul. We've spoken to also people in Baghdad. Some give it credence. Some say there are indications that not only are organs being harvest, but also blood is being -- people are basically being forced to donate blood by ISIS. But because of the very foggy situation, we have to be very careful with these reports before we sort of accept them as the truth. Obviously, it's impossible for us to be on the ground in Mosul and we have yet to speak to anybody who has seen or knows for certain that this is taking place. In this situation, Wolf, caution is very important.

BLITZER: It certainly is. Ben Wedeman, thanks very much. Be careful over there in Irbil.

ISIS inching closer and closer, as we've been reporting, to an air base. A critically important air base in Iraq. Currently hundreds of U.S. military personnel are based there. How close is ISIS to the base? Is there a plan to evacuate Americans if necessary? We have new information. Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: ISIS coming within striking distance of a major Iraqi base housing hundreds of U.S. military personnel. The al Assad air base is just nine miles from the town of al Baghdadi, which has been taken over by ISIS fighters. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is joining us right now. I guess the question a lot of Americans are worried about right now are those American military personnel, a lot of Marines for example, are they in any serious danger at that al Assad air base?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, some 400 coalition forces there, 300 of them American.

Let's put them on the map just to see where we are. So we're west of Baghdad. This is in Anbar province. A good percentage of which is under the control of ISIS already. And we saw that just in the last couple of weeks as ISIS moved into the town of al Baghdadi. That very close to the al Assad air base. As Wolf was saying earlier, just nine miles in between them. And at the end of last week, we saw ISIS fighters from al Baghdadi come out and assault the entrance to the air base, some eight or nine suicide bombers, they were stopped and neutralized by Iraqi forces on the ground.

Clearly a danger to the 400 some odd coalition forces that you have here. But we're told, Wolf, by U.S. officials that they were never in immediate dangers. And one reason for that is, when you look at al Assad, that base is the size of Boulder, Colorado. So you could be over here and still be a couple of miles away from an attack over here. But since you still have ISIS fighters up here in al Baghdadi, nothing's going to stop them from trying to carry out further attacks on the base.

BLITZER: Is it too early, or are there evacuation plans, contingency plans, if it obviously gets worse to evacuate the Americans, the other coalition forces who are based there?

SCIUTTO: This is what I'm told. There are contingency plans in place to evacuate those forces if necessary. But at no time so far have they been in immediate danger where those action plans were called into or prepared to be acted upon.

But, listen, this is a problem that the U.S. faces around the country. It's not just at al Assad because you now have forces in Irbil, where they've been for some time, in Baghdad. They're here in al Assad. They're also at another base up here and also to the south and west of the capital, which brings them, particularly in these bases as you get to the north and the west, close to where ISIS has strongholds and ISIS has been carrying out attacks.

BLITZER: Jim's going to have a lot more on this story that's developing in "The Situation Room" later today. Jim, thanks very much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BLITZER: Despite the U.S.-led air campaign and international efforts to destroy ISIS, the terror group is growing and they're spreading at an alarming rate. What will it take to stop them? We'll discuss. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)