Return to Transcripts main page

WOLF

Trump Touts Gulf Nations' Break with Qatar; Thousands Desperate to Escape Fighting in Mosul; Sean Spicer Returns to Give White House Press Briefing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 6, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:34:17] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're waiting for the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to come out and start taking questions from reporters. We'll have live coverage. That's coming up.

In the meantime, President Trump is applauding a major decision by several gulf Arab nations to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. The president even appears to be taking credit for that decision. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and the Maldives have all broken relations with Qatar. It's a move that could disrupt efforts to fight ISIS since Qatar is a host to a major U.S. military presence outside of its capital of Doha.

Let's bring in retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, a CNN military and diplomatic analyst, former State Department and Pentagon spokesman.

John, this is a very significant move. You spent a lot of time studying it. How significant is this break in relations with Qatar?

[13:35:10] JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY & DIPLOMATIC ANALLYST: It could be very significant. Breaking diplomatic relations is not a small move. But, ironically, I think it goes against the president's ultimate goal there. He wanted to Riyadh, he went to unify the Sunni states to fight terrorism. This is not unifying. This is dividing. To be clear, Qatar funds some pretty bad groups, no question. The concerns about their support for various terrorist groups is legitimate. But the way to get this in a better place is to try to unify them for all of them to stop supporting terrorism.

BLITZER: The president is clearly on the side of the Saudis and Emiratis, Bahrainis. He tweeted this morning, "During my recent trip to the Middle East, I stated there could be no longer -- that there can no longer be funding of radical ideology, leaders pointed to Qatar. Look." Then he tweeted an hour later, "So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the king and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps that had been the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism."

KIRBY: I think that's overstated. Qatar is not the only Sunni Arab state that supports terrorist groups. It's the extreme view of the Muslim faith Wahhabism that started in Saudi Arabia. Most of hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. Saudis have work to do as well.

I think that, again, this isn't necessarily going to move them in the right direction. It is good that pressure be put on countries like Qatar. But it really is better, going back to his Riyadh message, that every work together to try to stamp this out.

BLITZER: As you know, the U.S. has a major ground and air force presence outside of Doha at the air base, which is outside of Doha. A camp there, thousands of military personnel are there.

A Pentagon spokesman says the U.S. is clearly watching the situation carefully to see what the reaction from the government of Qatar will be to the president's tweets. This is a statement from Jeff Davis, over at the Pentagon, "There has been no impact on our operations either in Qatar or with regard to air space missions around it and we don't anticipate there will be. We hope for a quick resolution. We have no intention of altering our current operations."

But there could be some angry reaction from the government of Qatar.

KIRBY: That's right. So far, I think they've been pretty measured in their reaction to the president's tweets. I think that's encouraging. I hope that stays the case. Qatar is an important ally in the fight. An important logistics base there in the fight. You yourself have gone through there, as you've covered our conflicts in the Middle East. We have like 11,000 troop there is just alone. It's a major resistance hub. So I think it would behoove everybody to be able to calm this down. And I think Secretary Tillerson had it right yesterday when he urged those governments to work together to try to restore diplomatic relations and to approach this in a unified fashion rather than simply cutting off diplomatic relations with one of the countries.

BLITZER: I've been to the air base and there are a lot of American military personnel. If the Qatari government were to shut down that, relocating those troops and facilities elsewhere would be a big problem for the U.S. military.

KIRBY: To be sure, the military could accommodate for that. They would find alternatives, as we always do. That's what the military does best but it would be a blow and it would hurt. It is still a logistics hub. It's still a forward headquarters for Central Command. We still have flights that are going to support the fight in Afghanistan as well against ISIS in Iraq and Syria all coming out of there.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. John Kirby with his analysis.

We have some live pictures coming in from the White House briefing room. Once again, the Press Secretary Sean Spicer expected to give the daily press briefing very soon. We'll have live coverage of that of course.

It's ISIS's last territory in Iraq. Families risking their lives to escape the horrors in Mosul. We have a CNN exclusive, heart-wrenching stories from the front line. Our Arwa Damon has an extraordinary report you will see when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:43:07] BLITZER: Looking at live pictures from inside the White House briefing room. The Press Secretary Sean Spicer expected to come out now fairly soon, start taking questions from reporters, and there are many questions. We'll have live coverage.

Also, we're following new developments in Syria right now where U.S.- backed forces are launching a major new offensive to drive ISIS out of its de facto capitol in Raqqa. ISIS has been in full control of the city now for more than three years.

But as that fight gears up, the battle rages on to recapture the city of western Mosul in northern Iraq. The United Nations says there are some three quarters of a million people who have now been caught in the crossfire.

In a story you will see only here on CNN, our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, went to the front lines, met families so desperate to escape the devastation.

Just a word of caution. This report contains some very graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They stumble towards the Iraqi troops. They're breathless. Their voices are shaking from fear and shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: They use single sentences that seem to hardly encompass the scope of what it is that they've actually just been through.

(EXPLOSION)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(CROSSTALK)

[13:45:04] DAMON: And as ISIS is squeezed into even smaller territory, the civilians they're holding hostage are running out of food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: It was only enough to feed the children, to try to keep them from crying out. She and her husband, they went hungry.

On the front line helping the Iraqi army is Dave Eubanks, he's American ex Special Forces, with his team of Free Burma Rangers, volunteer medics.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: Days earlier, ISIS massacred dozens of people who were just trying to make a run for it. And Dave was called to the scene.

DAVE EUBANKS, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL FORCES & VOLUNTEER MEDIC HELPING IRAQI ARMY: We saw 13 bodies and we saw movement. Look at that wall.

DAMON: A man alive and a I little girl who creeps out from under her dead mother hijab, where she'd been hiding for two days hugging her mother's corpse.

(GUNFIRE)

DAMON: They use the tank for cover to move out, dragging those they just saved past the corpses of those who perished.

(SHOUTING)

DAMON: The little girl has not yet spoken. Not a single word. No one even knows her name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: The next morning, they spotted even more movement.

EUBANKS: We ran, got across the road, went through rubble like this, and ISIS was on three sides of us. We could hear them talking. Crawl throw, find a street where ISIS is shooting. They threw a line to her. She tied herself. Three days, no sleep, no water, wounded.

(CROSSTALK)

(GUNFIRE)

DAMON: Much of western Mosul is already apocalyptic. And the fight for the last square kilometers is going to be so much worse than anything we've seen before.

There's no past blueprint for this kind of warfare. No one has fought an enemy like ISIS holding civilians hostage in a dense urban battle field.

We go to a clinic that's further back from the front line. There's an old man who can't speak from the shock.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: And a little girl. Her name is Maria. She's 10. And there with her older sister. They say a mortar hit their house just as they were trying to make a run for it. One sister they know is dead. They saw her lifeless body.

(CROSSTALK)

DAMON: The others are buried under the rubble of their home. But ISIS still controls the area.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: The reality of what she's just said perhaps not quite sinking in. Or maybe she's just looking for any distraction from a loss that she cannot yet fully comprehend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Arwa is joining us now live from Irbil in northern Iraq, not very far away from Mosul.

Arwa, amazing, amazing reporting.

What can you tell us about the effort being made to try now to get more civilians away from the front lines in Mosul?

DAMON: Well, Wolf, that's really the crux of the problem. There's really nothing that can be done given, as you saw in that report, there the fact that ISIS does not allow civilians to leave. And this means that the Iraqi security forces, despite the fact that they have been trying to tell civilians to stay away from areas that the fighters are gathering in, that's impossible because the fighters are using civilian homes to fight the Iraqi security forces as they push forward. Every single explosion that we hear and see, you can be fairly certain that it's happening either next to or directly targeting some sort of a building, and the vast majority of them, especially in this last chunk of territory that ISIS controls, they have families hiding in them.

The United Nations is estimating they believe around 100,000 children are still living in very dangerous circumstances in the area that ISIS controls, but also other liberated parts of the city, because ISIS, for example, flying drones and dropping explosive not just targeting the Iraqi security forces, but deliberately going after gatherings of civilians.

And, Wolf, we're only really beginning to right now understand the depth of the trauma that the population of Mosul, especially its children, have been going through.

[13:50:11] BLITZER: And even if they do eventually liberate Mosul, the eastern part of the city, I take it, pretty much liberated, the western part under contention, this could take some time, right?

DAMON: It's going to take a fair amount of time to root out the city of Mosul. The streets are incredibly narrow and it's densely packed, and they still have around three more neighborhoods to go before they have the actually whole city surrounded. And then you're going to have to deal with the various different pockets of resistance that exist out there.

And let's not forget, ISIS is very capable of regrouping and going after the Iraqi security forces, but what is much more their status quo, soft targets. So people are very anxious and worried about the potential for car bombs and the likes of going after the civilian population. And then you look at the city and swaths have been completely destroyed.

This is a multifaceted challenge that is going to be facing this country when they do manage to root ISIS out. And once again, the sheer psychological impact of everything that the population has been through, everything that they have lost and suffered and endured.

BLITZER: I was there years ago in Mosul. It was the second largest city in Iraq. It was thriving. And look at it now.

Arwa Damon, thanks so much for your very courageous reporting. Arwa joining us from Irbil in northern Iraq, not very far away.

Coming up, we're standing by for the White House press briefing. The return of Sean Spicer to the lectern after a series of questions about his whereabouts yesterday. We'll discuss that and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:13] BLITZER: Looking at live pictures from the White House, the press briefing set to begin minutes from now. The Press Secretary Sean Spicer will be back at the lectern after, for some reason, he was missing yesterday, even though he was at the White House, which led to awkward questions for the Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where is Sean?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's here today.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why didn't he come out?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: This is part of my job as well. Did you all ever ask any of the deputy press secretaries when they --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDEERS: I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is he in a new position now are you just --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I mean, he is taking on a little bit of extra duty at this point, so I think it's --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has his position changed, then?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: It's probably upgraded at this point, given that we don't have a communications director.

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I did not say that at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now, our CNN Politics reporter, editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza.

Is he now taking over as communications director because the communications director the other day resigned?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: If so, it's a strange way to announce it. Sarah Huckabee Sanders backing into it after a question from April Ryan. The reason for that is probably because they don't know the answer.

Look, what Sarah Sanders is trying to say is, yes, deputy secretaries fill in all the time, and you and I both know that. But they usually fill in like when Sean was on Naval Reserve duty. They fill in because the principle press secretary is out for some reason, sick, on vacation. This, Sean is just there, but not there doing what is principally his main job. I think it's strange. I think the context matters here. We know Donald Trump has not been terribly happy with Sean Spicer for quite some time. We've had predictions he would never return to the podium. He did. He was very contentious. He seemed unwilling to say anything about almost anything.

He'll be back today. I've said with this presidency, today is not predictive. Tomorrow, yesterday, doesn't tell us much about today. Back today but tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, who knows.

BLITZER: He was busy tweeting once again this morning, a series of tweets. One of them, "The fake mainstream media is working so hard trying to get me not to use social media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out."

CILLIZZA: OK. On that one, look, you don't have to like the media, but you should -- no one in the media is telling Donald Trump to tweet less. We are about access, and we're about trying to get into the mind of the president, whoever it is. Him, tweeting, is a massive bonus for us. We've never had a president like this. There is literally not one reporter on earth who wants Donald Trump to tweet less.

What he's talking about there is, if you sub MSM, his words for mainstream media, if you sub MSM for people on my staff, you have a more accurate reading. The mainstream media has no interest in Donald Trump tweeting less. I want him to tweet more.

BLITZER: What happened to the war room? They were supposed to establish on Thursday a big hearing from the fired FBI director.

CILLIZZA: They are still struggling to put it together. This is the story of the Trump administration. What happened with the staff changes that we thought were coming, right? There is all of this talk and not much action. That's true on the legislative front, too.

BLITZER: True. It's going to go on and on and on. Some are already calling the Thursday testimony the Super Bowl.

CILLIZZA: Look, I think it's the biggest testimony potentially since Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. This is a huge moment in Washington and in the nation.

BLITZER: We'll have live coverage starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern Thursday morning.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: We'll be watching every second.

Chris, thank you.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

The White House press briefing is about to get under way.

In the meantime, the news continues right now.

[14:00:12] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for --