Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

ISIS Beheads Sotloff; Defense Department Briefing

Aired September 2, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN. And we have some breaking news to bring you at this moment.

According to an ISIS video released today, the terrorist group has beheaded another American, Steven Sotloff. In the video, which is entitled a second message to America, it appears to show the brutal execution of the 31-year-old journalist. Sotloff disappeared while reporting in Syria last year.

Just two weeks ago, ISIS threatened to kill Sotloff in a grim, chilling video showing the murder of another American journalist, James Foley, if President Barack Obama did not back off U.S. air strikes in Iraq. And in this video, in the final moments of Steven Sotloff's life, he spoke directly to the camera and he said this, quote, he said that is he is "paying the price for U.S. intervention."

Sotloff's mother made a desperate plea for her son's life just last week. In her video message, Sotloff's mother Shirley spoke directly to the leader of ISIS saying her son was not responsible for American actions in Iraq.

Let me bring in a number of people to watch and talk through exactly what we're learning here. And I should just also remind you, we are waiting for a Pentagon briefing to start and we will be dipping in to Christiane Amanpour. She is about to interview the deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, Brett McGurk.

So that said, I have Athena Jones standing by for me at the White House. I have national security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer. I have correspondent Anna Coran live in Irbil, Iraq. And in London, correspondent Karl Penhaul.

And, Karl, I just -- let me begin with you. You have seen the video. I have not. I've just seen some of the still images. Tell me, walk me through what you see.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just to set it out for you, Brooke, a video of about two minutes 45, very similar in style to the execution video of the other U.S. journalist James Foley a couple of weeks ago now. Also in the production of this, they appear to have used two cameras. Most significantly, of course, Steven Sotloff wearing a very similar uniform, the orange jumpsuit, the Guantanamo prisoner style uniform that he was shown wearing in the threat to kill him two weeks ago.

And also, quite importantly, the apparent executioner appears to be the same man as in the James Foley execution video. He seems to be around the same height, the same weight, the same build. He is waving a very similar combat knife in his left hand, as was the previous man. He's also wearing some kind of pistol or automatic weapon under his left armpit as the previous man was and is also clad from head to toe in black wearing a black ski mask. The only thing that changes that is the desert-American style desert combat boots. He also appeared to be wearing those same boots in the previous video.

It does not appear to have been filmed at the same time. This location is slightly different. This apparent execution seems to have taken place on a lower patch of ground, not from an elevated position like in the James Foley video. And also it appears to have been a much windier location. You can hear the wind battering across the top of the microphone. One of the conultimate (ph) scenes from that does also shows Steven's body with a severed head on top of that body, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, Karl, again, just so we're clear, because we do not know when this execution took place in conjunction with the previous one with James Foley, but again, it is that same masked man with the British accent, correct?

PENHAUL: Certainly appears to be the same masked man, from what we can tell, the sound that appears on the video is also -- has been recorded simultaneously. It hasn't been dubbed on top. Those are, of course, the things that we want to take a look at. But a very similar accent. An accent that linguistic experts have described to us from the previous James Foley video of sounding like a southern British, possibly London multicultural accent.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Karl, stand by for me.

Bob Baer, I just want to get straight to you. You know when we talked sadly over the execution of James Foley, and you can see in that orange jumpsuit that ISIS militant showing Steven Sotloff later in the video, you know, you sort of said to me on TV at the time, worrying two weeks ago then about the fate of Steven Sotloff.

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I -- exactly, Brooke. I think as we continue to strike ISIS, and I think we will, they'll come back at us any way they can. They have a whole bunch of hostages. They have the ability to buy more hostages in Syria. They have another American hostage, a female. As someone who's negotiated with these ISIS people holding the hostages told me, they're all Europeans. There wasn't a single Arab or anybody from Afghanistan. And as he described them, they're psychopaths and they are cold-blooded murders and they will continue on orders to execute hostages. I don't know why they haven't produced the American woman, but other than their idea of Islam.

BALDWIN: When you look at this video, I mean, Bob, is this - I know its audience is multipronged, right? I mean, obviously, this militant, this masked man is speaking directly to President Obama. This is the second time that we've seen this in these two beheading videos. But at the same time, is this not again another example of propaganda, perhaps a message to other jihadis, perhaps a message for recruitment?

BAER: It's absolute propaganda. It's - they're putting down a stake, their determination, how bloody-minded they are. They're going back to medieval times. But it's not just westerners they kill. They killed a Lebanese military officer a couple of days ago. They've killed Kurds. They've executed them (ph) and Christians and so forth.

This is the most bloody-minded group I've ever encountered in my 40 years in the Middle East. It's amazing. And what's also amazing is that their - by propaganda like this, they are attracting followers from Afghanistan. There are a bunch of arrests in Saudi Arabia. And even the Shabaab in Somalia is starting to talk ISIS. They are trying to unify jihadi Islam. And this will serve their purposes.

BALDWIN: And the fact, Bob -- and Athena, I'm going to ask you the same question - but, Bob, the fact that he is addressing, speaking directly to the camera, addressing President Barack Obama, essentially saying back off, leave us alone, alluding to those air strikes in Iraq, no air strikes in Syria yet, what do you make of that direct, bold message to the president?

BAER: Frankly, I can guess that they only welcome these strikes in the sense that they're very limited. It has not defeated them as an organization and they can characterize themselves as the replacement for al Qaeda. It gives them status, legitimization, all sorts of things, and these people are very cunning. They may be psychopaths, but they know what they're doing.

BALDWIN: Let me pause. I'm just getting some more from our control room. So as were -- this is a fluid situation, we're getting new information about this video. We now have the audio for you from this masked man holding this knife. I don't know if it's before or after the beheading of Steven Sotloff, but let's go ahead and all take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of your insistence in continuing your bombings (INAUDIBLE) despite our serious warnings, you, Obama, have yet again, through your actions, taken (ph) another American citizens. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The necks of your people. Karl Penhaul, let me bring you back in because I know you've seen the video. You've probably watched it several times trying to understand and hear exactly what this British accented man was saying. What did we just hear? What was the message there?

PENHAUL: Well, the message was there was that he was quite clearly or not quite clearly but in a fairly thick accent talking about the bombings of the town of Amalee (ph), a town in northern Iraq that had been besieged by ISIS fighters and that the U.S. air strikes had bombed some ISIS positions around that town to break the siege. He was also talking about the bombing of the Mosul Dam.

Now, the bombing -- his mention of the bombing of Amalee was quite key because that does enable us to determine -

BALDWIN: Forgive me, Karl. We have a lot that we're juggling. We'll come back to you. Here is Rear Admiral John Kirby speaking at the Pentagon presumably addressing this beheading of Steven Sotloff. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS - BEGIN LIVE PRESSER COVERAGE)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Number two, I know that you've all been tracking events in Somalia last night. So if you'll just bear with me, I'm going to walk you through what I can right now. Yesterday, at approximately 11:20 Eastern Time, working from actionable intelligence, U.S. special operations forces using manned and unmanned aircraft destroyed an encampment and a vehicle using several Hellfire missiles and laser- guided munitions.

This operation was a direct strike against the Al-Shabaab network, specifically the group's leader, Ahmed Abdi al-Muhammad, also known Ahmed Godane. We are still assessing the results of the operation, and we'll provide additional information when and if appropriate. And I'm not going to be able to provide specifics about the unit or the intelligence itself, and certainly not anything regarded to tactics, techniques and procedures.

KIRBY: The operation occurred south of Mogadishu, located in south- central Somalia, and it did result in the destruction of that vehicle. I think it's important to remind everybody that in September 2013, Godane publicly claimed Al-Shabaab was responsible for the Westgate Mall attack, which killed and injured dozens in Nairobi.

Under the leadership of Godane, Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for many bombings, including suicide attacks in Mogadishu and in central and northern Somalia, typically targeting officials and perceived allies of the federal government of Somalia, as well as the former transitional federal government of Somali.

A militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts, Al- Shabaab has occupied most of southern Somalia since 2006 and claimed responsibility for the deaths of numerous government officials, aid workers, peace activists, and journalists. Named a foreign terrorist organization by the Department of State in February 2008, Al-Shabaab has conducted terrorist activities in the region that have resulted in the loss of much innocent life.

They've also continued to plan plots targeting Westerners, including U.S. personnel in East Africa. In recent months, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Djibouti that killed a Turkish national and wounded several Western soldiers, as well as a car bomb at the Mogadishu Airport that targeted and killed members of the United Nations convoy. So the operation that we've conducted, we believe, is an example of

the U.S. government and our allies' and partners' commitment to the people and government of Somalia to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat violent extremists who threaten progress in the region, as well as to threaten -- as well as threaten to conduct terrorist attacks against innocent people around the world. And we're going to continue to use all the tools at our disposal -- financial, diplomacy, intelligence, and of course, the military -- to dismantle Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups who threaten U.S. interests, as well as the interests of our allies and our partner nations.

And then one final comment I'd like to make on Iraq. As you know, over the weekend, at the request of the Iraqi government, the United States military air-dropped humanitarian aid to the town of Amerli, home to thousands of Shia Turkmen who have been cut off -- or had been cut off from receiving food, water, and medical supplies for two months by ISIL.

The U.S. Air Force delivered this aid alongside aircraft from Australia, France, and the United Kingdom, who also dropped much- needed supplies. In conjunction with this air drop, U.S. aircraft conducted coordinated airstrikes against nearby ISIL terrorists in order to support this humanitarian assistance operation and thereby helped facilitate the actual delivery of the aid.

While we continue to monitor the situation in Amerli, at this time we assess that Iraqi and Kurdish forces are in control of the township and are providing for the security needs of the citizens there. So further strikes remain a possibility, of course, but we believe that the township is under the control of Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

And as we've said before, one of our core military objectives in Iraq is to join with international partners to address humanitarian crises. And when and where we have the ability to do that, we're going to do it.

With that, I'll take questions.

QUESTION: Admiral, on the Somalia issue, would you describe the target as a single target encampment and a single vehicle? Or were there two strikes or two targets? Was there just one vehicle?

KIRBY: There was one vehicle and an encampment. So the way I would describe it is kind of the way I laid it out in the opening. The strike was taken at an encampment and a vehicle. That was at the encampment.

QUESTION: So one strike? Single?

KIRBY: What do you mean by strike? One missile? No. As I said, several Hellfire missiles, as well as precision-guided munitions, so there were -- there was plural, in terms of munitions, dropped, but they were dropped on one target, an encampment where a vehicle was -- was nearby.

QUESTION: Sorry. KIRBY: Go ahead.

QUESTION: And was there any evidence afterwards that anyone survived?

KIRBY: Well, we're assessing the results right now, Bob, and that's -- that's where I'm just not going to be able to go right now. I'm not going to get into trying to assess the effectiveness. We certainly believe that we hit what we were aiming at. And based on intelligence that, as I said, we believe was actionable, in other words, strong enough, we -- we took this strike, but I wouldn't get into assessing the effectiveness right now.

QUESTION: So you're confident Godane was there?

KIRBY: I'm just not going to get into assessments right now, Bob. I think I'd like to leave it kind of where I did right now. When -- you know, if and when -- as I said earlier, and I said last night -- if and when, you know, we have more information that we can share, we certainly will.

Yeah?

QUESTION: You said that there were laser-guided munitions. Does that mean that there were U.S. forces on the ground to lase the targets?

KIRBY: There were no U.S. forces on the ground.

QUESTION: No U.S. forces, either before or after the strikes?

KIRBY: No U.S. strikes on the ground, before or after the strikes.

QUESTION: Was there somebody else on the ground that was lasing the targets?

KIRBY: Well, all I would tell you is that, you know, we continue to work with partners in that -- in Somalia and in the region, but I won't get any more specific than that.

QUESTION: Admiral, did the U.S. inform the Somali government or the AMISOM mission there about the mission before -- before it took place?

KIRBY: I don't have a tick-tock on the notification process, but this is very much in keeping with the kinds of operations that we conduct throughout the region and in partnership with the -- you know, with the leadership there.

QUESTION: And do you know the Somalia government announced last month this new mission, Operation Indian Ocean, about combatting Al- Shabaab and particularly targeting their access to ports, to seize off their sources of revenue. Was this strike in conjunction with that operation?

KIRBY: Not to my knowledge.

Phil? QUESTION: You speak of it as if Godane was killed, but I know you won't speak to that specific question right now. But if he were to be killed, what do you think it would say about the group's -- what would it mean for the group going forward? How important would that be?

KIRBY: Well, again, without speculating about whether he was, in fact, killed or not, I mean, he is the recognized, appointed leader of the Al-Shabaab network in Somalia. So if he was killed, this is a very significant blow to their network, to their organization, and, we believe, to their ability to continue to conduct terrorist attacks.

Now, mind you, it's a network, and we understand that. And we're mindful that there are -- there remain other leaders of the organization at large. But he's the recognized leader. And if we killed him, a significant blow to their organization and to their abilities.

Yep, Justin?

QUESTION: Thank you, Admiral. More broadly, can you answer the critics who are saying that the administration does not have a strategy, does not have a counterterror strategy, a Mideast strategy, one that's good enough? Is there a strategy? Can you articulate that strategy for us and answer those critics?

KIRBY: Absolutely there's a strategy for our approach to the Middle East. Now, I can only speak from a military perspective and for the Pentagon, but we have been consistently going after the terrorist threat in that part of the world, and not just that part of the world, as I just -- as I just read to you.

And inside Iraq, the mission is very clear. We are there to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces as they take the fight to ISIL. We are there to provide humanitarian assistance where and when we can. I just -- we just talked about that over the weekend. And we are certainly there to help defend and protect U.S. personnel and facilities.

So the mission set inside Iraq is very, very clear. The strategy, with respect -- the military strategy, with respect to the Middle East, also has been very clear, and it's not just something that -- you know, that we just started doing. I mean, we've been -- we've been going after terrorist networks in that part of the world for more than a decade, with -- with very good success. Doesn't mean it's been eliminated, but we certainly have been very active and very energetic, and the objectives have been very, very clear.

QUESTION: Do you feel that you've gone after ISIS as soon as you possibly could? The question is, how good and how early was the intelligence that was being briefed to the White House about the ISIS threat? And could more have been done sooner, I guess?

KIRBY: Well, I'm not going to speak about intelligence matters, and I'm certainly not going to speak for intelligence issues that were raised to the White House. That's a question better directed to the intelligence community and to them. But wait a minute. But to your larger issue here, we've talked about ISIL for many months now. And as I've said before, we were very closely monitoring and tracking their progress, their growth, their development, well before they rolled in to Mosul. So this is not an organization that we haven't been watching.

The speed with which they took control of the north in Iraq definitely got a lot of people's attention. And I've said that publicly, too. Nobody expected that four divisions of the Iraqi army were just going to fold the way they did. So there was a speed there that certainly was -- did not go unnoticed.

But this is an organization we've been long watching, and I think it's helpful to go back and just look at the last couple of months. I mean, we're all fixated right now on targeted air strikes, which we are conducting with very good tactical effect, but long before that started, we upped our presence in the Persian Gulf, we added more security assistance personnel in and around Baghdad. We stood up two joint operations centers, which are active and helping right now, as we speak, in terms of advising and assisting and sharing information with Iraqi and Kurdish forces. And then we have done numerous air drops in two different operations to alleviate suffering. So the military has been very active here.

The other thing that we've said, Justin -- and is this not a small point -- is there's not going to be just a military solution here. Ultimately, the long-term answer has to be inclusive, responsible, responsive, good governance inside Iraq to alleviate, to help take away those conditions that folks like ISIL can exploit for their own purposes.

Does that answer your question?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) yeah, just a quick follow-up on Justin's question. As you may know, the majority of the foreign fighters who are joining ISIL are going to Syria through Turkey. My question is, how do you evaluate Turkey's role in countering ISIS?

KIRBY: Well, it's not for me to evaluate Turkey's role...

QUESTION: Based on -- based on your information, do you think Turkey is cooperating?

KIRBY: We have a strong relationship with...

(CROSSTALK)

KIRBY: No, I know that. I'm not going to -- I'm not going to -- you know, I'm not going to answer a question that should be asked of the Turkish government. What I'm telling you is, Turkey has a stake here. We understand that. It's an important partner in the region, a NATO ally. The Turkish government has concerns about foreign fighters, and right they should, and we're going there next week, and I think -- I have no doubt that this will be a topic of discussion between Secretary Hagel and his counterpart.

QUESTION: Do you think they're doing a -- a helpful...

KIRBY: Do I think what?

QUESTION: Do you think they are doing a helpful role?

KIRBY: A helpful role. Well, we believe that Turkey, because they have concerns just like other partners in the region, are -- are expending their effort and their energy in trying to address this as best they can. I'm not going to into more detail than that.

QUESTION: Question. Could you give us a clear picture of the situation on the ground at the Mosul dam? Why the United States keeps launching airstrikes at that location?

KIRBY: Because ISIL keeps trying to take it back. As I said last week, as long as they continue to pose a threat to the facility, we're going to continue to hit them. And we are.

Phil?

QUESTION: Admiral, on the subject of the secretary's trip, Secretary Kerry wrote in the New York Times over the weekend that he and Secretary Hagel will be asking NATO allies and other nations for help in this potential campaign against ISIS in Syria. How much more can you tell us about how many nations they're going to approach, which ones, and what they'll ask for specifically in building that coalition?

KIRBY: I think we're still sort of putting together an agenda here, Phil, for -- on the sidelines of the NATO summit. But you're right. Secretary Hagel and Secretary Kerry do want to get together with some of these partner nations. Many of them are NATO allies, of course. And I don't have a list right now.

I think this is going to be more of an informal arrangement, again, on the sidelines of the already very full agenda in Wales, wherein there we'll try to get together and talk about the contributions that have been made by these other nations, and certainly to encourage others who haven't contributed yet to look at contributing, as well. But, I mean, I don't -- I don't have a date certain on the calendar or a time when they're going to do that, but we're looking for those opportunities.

And it could be more than one. It could be that, you know, they -- that they have these discussions in more than one setting with smaller numbers of these nations at a time.

QUESTION: Can you give us a high-level sense about what they'll ask for? Do they want partners for airstrikes? Do they want humanitarian aid like you described earlier, somewhere in between? What will they ask for?

KIRBY: We want partner nations to contribute what they are able and willing to contribute in whatever fashion they're willing to contribute it. And understanding, of course, that they have domestic concerns, as well, and their own legislative bodies to work through on this, and populations who have, you know, different views on assisting against the ISIL threat. We respect that.

So it's not about going there with demands or a laundry list. It's about going there to thank them for what they've been doing, encourage them to continue to assist in whatever way they deem fit.

Yeah?

QUESTION: Thank you. If I can go back to Somalia, you had mentioned that you were mindful of some of other leaders that were in the area, and I was wondering -- because we have officials in Somalia saying that it was a senior Al-Shabaab meeting. Do you know of any other targets -- without saying whether or not they were hit, were there any other targets that were at that encampment?

KIRBY: We're still assessing the results. What I would tell you is the principal target was Mr. Godane. And we're still assessing the results. And, again, if we have more information about others who may have been killed in that attack, we'll certainly share it as best we can.

QUESTION: And you said -- just a quick follow-up -- you said that there was an unmanned and a manned attack. Was the actual hit, was it by a drone? Or was it by the manned aircraft?

KIRBY: What I said was manned and unmanned aircraft participated in the strike. I didn't actually say what type of aircraft launched these -- these missiles and precision-guided munitions, and I won't get into detailing the platforms here today.

Yeah, Maggie? Maggie?

QUESTION: OK. Do you consider the operation at Amerli to be a success? And if so, how is the Defense Department defining success when it comes to those organizations which target the Islamic State? At Mount Sinjar, there was a potential rescue operation that the U.S. military was looking at and decided not to do. And the intelligence indicated there were 2,000 people on the mountain that wanted off. And then you just said the Islamic State was trying to retake Mosul dam. So I'd just like some clarity on what success looks like for this campaign.

KIRBY: I don't know that I would call it a campaign. But leaving that aside, we do believe that the operations in Amerli have been successful. I mean, obviously, as I said, Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces are now in -- are in control of the township. We're watching that. We're monitoring that. We're not taking that for granted.

Just like to Joe's question on the Mosul dam, if we need to continue to take strikes in and around Amerli to disrupt ISIL, we'll do that. But so far, we believe the mission has succeeded and, by and large, because we're able to get needed provisions to the -- to the people there. And we know that it got into the right hands and that they've been able to sustain themselves with the food and water that's been provided.

And I should remind you that it wasn't just us doing this. As I said, there were other countries involved in that, and we're grateful for that support.

The president also has been very, very clear about -- from an anti- ISIL perspective -- what we're trying to do there, and it's to disrupt their ability to continue to put U.S. personnel and facilities at risk or to further spur more humanitarian crises.

But ultimately -- and we've also said -- so this is to your question about success -- that the real measure of success is that their ideology is ultimately defeated, and the only way that's going to be done is through good governance. And we've said that time and again, but I think it's worth repeating. There's not going to be a military solution to this. We're not the answer to ISIL inside Iraq, not the U.S. military. The answer is the ideology gets rejected because there's good governance, responsive government, inclusive government in Iraq and, frankly, in Syria, as well.

Did that answer your question? Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: Is there any -- before this video was released today of Steven Sotloff's murder, was there any indication or suspicion that he was killed at the same time as James Foley?

KIRBY: I don't know that anybody had definitive knowledge one way or the other. And as I would say -- and I'd remind you that we still can't confirm the press reporting about this next video and this potential new murder. So I -- I wouldn't be able to characterize it one way or another that we knew. We're trying to -- just like you, we're trying to find out ground truth here.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) on the Shabaab operation, was there any intelligence that they were plotting an imminent terrorist attack? Was that one of the reasons why this action was taken when it was?

KIRBY: I think I laid it out in my opening. This action was taken because of the history of terrorist attacks and violence that this organization is responsible for and continues to be responsible for. But, again -- and I will just tell you, actionable intelligence led us to that site where we believe he was. But I wouldn't talk about the specifics of exactly what that intelligence was composed of.

Yeah?

QUESTION: Admiral, I was wondering if you might be able to bring us up to speed on your latest understanding of the size and scope of Russian troop levels, both on the border with Ukraine and inside Ukraine? And separately, has the secretary had any chance to talk to his Russian counterpart in the last couple days about the escalating situation there?

KIRBY: Sure. He's not spoken to Minister Shoygu since the last team I read it out to you, which was, I think, more than a week ago. We continue to assess that Russian forces aggregate along the border with Ukraine. I'm loathe, as I typically am, to get into a hard number, but it's certainly north of 10,000, remains north of 10,000.

More important than the numbers are, as I said, the capability. These are battalion tactical groups that are highly capable, very ready, very close to the border, closer than we saw in the spring, and could move literally on a moment's notice.

In addition to that, we continue to see support for separatists and we continue to see Russian forces, conventional and special forces, inside Ukraine, in the -- again, without getting into a specific number, I'd say in the thousands is safe. And nothing has changed about our position, that that activity needs to stop, those troops need to leave, the support for the separatists needs to stop, and we want those troops pulled away from the border with Ukraine.

So we -- again, we continue to see action by Moscow that does nothing but increase tensions inside Ukraine and spur additional violence.

QUESTION: Can I follow on that?

KIRBY: Sure.

(END OF LIVE PRESSER COVERAGE)