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THE BRIEF WITH BIANCA NOBILO

U.S. official: Turkish artillery fire hits near U.S. forces; U.S. - China trade negotiators reach preliminary agreement; Turkish offensive raises fears of ISIS resurgence. Aired 5-5:30p ET

Aired October 11, 2019 - 17:00   ET

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


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BIANCA NOBILO, HOST, CNN: Tonight on The Brief, the U.S. is pushing back on Turkey for its military offensive in Syria while the humanitarian crisis is

deepening. Plus new images show ISIS families trying to escape their camp. We'll look at the fight against the terror group.

Plus after months of bitter trade war, the U. S. has finally reached a preliminary deal with China. Live from London, I'm Bianca Nobilo. Welcome

to the show. We begin with breaking news. Turkish artillery fire has struck close to U. S. forces in Syria. That's according to U.S. official familiar

with the initial assessment.

This comes off of the U.S. is pressuring talking to stop its military offensive in northern Syria. The White House is now threatening

significance new sanctions against Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: These are very powerful sanctions. We hope we don't have to use them but we can shut down the Turkish economy

if we need to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The new sanctions have not been activated yet by the White House but it's not just economic tough talk. U. S. defense secretary also has a

warning for Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ESPER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We oppose and are greatly disappointed by Turkey's decision to launch a unilateral military incursion into

Northern Syria. This operation puts our STF partners in harm's way. It risks the security of ISIS prison camps and will further destabilize the

region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: None of this appears to have had any effect on Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking in Istanbul on Friday, Mr. Erdogan said that

Tukey will not back down and will continue its military offensive in Syria no matter what.

This video shows a convoy of Turkish troops heading towards Syria. Turkey claims it's targeting what it calls terrorists in the region but the United

Nations says an estimated 100,000 civilians have been displaced in Northern Syria since Turkey began its military offensive.

More now on that Turkish artillery that came dangerously close to U. S. Special Forces in Syria, Ryan Brown joins me now live from the Pentagon.

Ryan, U.S. defense official said to CNN that they gave Turkey information about where the U.S. assets are so how did this happen?

Ryan Brown: Well, that's absolutely right Bianca. In fact, the top American military officer General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

Staff said that they've given specific grid coordinates to Turkish military forces of where U.S. forces are located throughout Northern Syria in an

effort to avoid an incident like this.

Now Turkey has been firing a lot of artillery into Northern Syria targeting U.S. local Kurdish allies and so in this case, it appears that Turkey was

attempting to fire on Kurdish positions but the accuracy of that fire may lead to it falling within close proximity to a U. S. camp that is there in

northern Syria, sparking concern.

In fact, Turkey has issued a statement about this incident saying that the U.S. contacted them to ask them to stop firing but again U.S. very

concerned about the safety of its personnel, had attempted to stave off something like this by keeping close coordination with the Turkish military

but there are still risks, a very active battlefield. There's a lot of movement.

Turkey's been firing a lot of artillery, dropping a lot of bombs in the area and U.S. forces are often in close proximity to Kurdish forces. They

use - the Kurdish forces are often the protecting force around where U.S. bases are in Syria so they work side by side very much leading to

situations like this where you're going to have an instance where Turkey attempting to fight Kurdish forces almost hits U.S. troops in the region.

Bianca.

NOBILO: Ryan Brown in Washington, thank you very much. Earlier today CNN's Clarissa Ward tracked down a U.S. military base in Northern Syria and

attempted to speak to troops about how they feel about this American pull back. Here's her exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN International Correspondent: So even though U.S. forces have pulled back from the border area where Turkey is staging this military

operation, there are still U.S. military personnel deployed across parts of Northern Syria. We're here at one U.S. base, you can see in the distance

there, the American flag billowing.

And we want to try to get a sense from the Americans who were stationed here. How they feel about the U.S.'s decision to essentially allow

President Erdogan of Turkey to go ahead and launch this military operation against the Kurds. The Kurds of course have been the U.S.'s main ally on

the ground in the battle against ISIS.

What's interesting to see is that even though this is U.S. base, it's actually guarded and protected by Kurdish forces. You can imagine that

things must be a little bit tense between them right now.

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So unsurprisingly the Americans don't want to talk to us right now. Someone did come out to at least greet us. They were very polite but they said due

to the sensitive nature of their work here, they can't say a thing. Just outside the base you can see a poster to commemorate all the Kurdish

fighters who have died in the battle against ISIS.

Kurdish fighters have been telling us about the Americans. They feel that they've been sold out and at the U. S. is not going to do anything to help

them in this fight against Turkey. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Northern Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The U.S. and China are calling for a truce of sorts after reaching a partial trade agreement. It's not a comprehensive deal. The U.S.

President Donald Trump says it's just phase one. He hints that maybe one or two other phase is left and that he would meet Chinese President Xi

Jinping, next month.

Here's what he said from the Oval Office after meeting with China's Vice Premier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've come to a deal pretty much subject to getting it written. It'll take probably 3 weeks, 4

weeks or 5 weeks as you know where we're going to be in Chile together for the big summit.

And maybe it'll be then or maybe it'll be sometime around then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods was supposed to increase next week. Clare Sebastian from CNN business is in

New York right now. Claire, lovely to see you. So what's actually being agreed here between the two parties.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, so this as you say Bianca, phase one, they're calling it, he's branding it a substantial deal. What

apparently they've agreed to is that China is going to buy more U. S. agriculture but as the President says $40 billion to $50 billion, he

repeated over and over again what a good deal this was for U.S. farmers.

China is also going to tackle some intellectual property issues, currency issues, financial services. This is in return the U.S. is going to hold off

on increasing the rate of tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports to the U.S.

That was supposed to come into force next week so that is a big plus for U.S. businesses but what it doesn't do Bianca, is it doesn't tackle the

issue of the tariffs that are set to come into force in December. That would be another about $156 billion worth, that will hit consumer product

at like smartphones, laptops, the likes of apple will be impacted and it doesn't really get to the core issue at the heart of this now almost two

year old trade dispute.

The issues of China's industrial subsidies you know, the fair access to their market for foreign companies. The real reasons why the U.S. got into

this in the fast place. So look, this is good news. It's a de-escalation suddenly the markets welcome this coming after months and months ratcheting

up tensions. But it's clear, there's still a lot of work to be done on those core issues.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian in New York, thank you. Now to dramatic revelation on Capitol Hill and what could be some very damaging testimony from the

former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. We now know that the White House trying to block Marie Yovanovitch from testifying but when House Democrats heard

about it, they issued a subpoena.

That freed up Yovanovitch, a current government employee to speak about her abrupt removal as Ambassador. According to The Washington Post and New York

Times, she says President Trump has been pressuring the state department to oust since last summer, saying that was a `concerted campaign against me."

A senior adviser to the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo resigned Thursday and CNN has now learned that was partly because he was concerned that no

one in the department's top ranks was defending Yovanovitch.

Former Ambassador Yovanovitch delivered a warning to lawmakers Friday saying that the state department is quite being attacked and hollowed it

out from within. Let's bring in congressional reporter Lauren Fox. Lauren, could you remind us how Marie Yovanovitch is an important figure in all

this because it does sound like her testimony potentially very damaging for the White House.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, that's right and Democrats this afternoon and this morning were hoping to ask her specifically about

her time in Ukraine because remember she was the former U. S. Ambassador to that country and she spent a long time there and one of the questions that

they had for her was why was she let go.

And what was she told about the fact that she was being reassigned back to the United States. What she told them in that opening statements obtained

by The Washington Post and The New York Times was that she was told she had done nothing wrong but that the President had lost confidence in her and of

course that's a very significant development.

She also warned that she had concerns about the fact that there were those within the Trump administration that were potentially connecting with

people in Ukraine and spreading misinformation about her and that that was what was used to convince the President not to support her moving forward.

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So she said she was very concerned about that. She also said in that opening testimony that she had concerns with the state department being

hollowed out, as you noted earlier. I think that that's a significant development but I will tell you, the Democrats don't have a lot to say,

coming out of this meeting and in part that's because of house rules because this is a deposition, because she was subpoenaed last minute.

There's not very much that Democrats are willing to say openly as they're coming out of this meeting so we're going to be trying and talking to

sources following this deposition but so far, besides that opening statement not much we can say about what she has told Democrats in nearly

seven hours of testimony. Bianca.

NOBILO: Lauren Fox, thank you very much for joining us. Turning back to the Middle East where two stories are now unfolding. The Pentagon has announced

plans to send 1,500 trips to Saudi Arabia to boost the country's defenses. It's an effort to deter potential aggression from Iran. This comes on the

same date that Iran is investigating damage to one of its oil tankers that it says may have come from a possible missile strike. It happened about 96

kilometers from the Saudi port of Jeddah on the Red Sea. CNN Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins me now live in Saudi

Arabia.

Matthew, we see sort of bifurcated areas of foreign policy here but what do these two developments tell us about the tensions between Iran and Saudi

Arabia?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all Bianca, we've had a slight update on the number of troops that are being

deployed from United States to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They've raised that to 1800 according to our last bit of information. But that brings to

3000, the number of extra U.S. troops that are being deployed here from the U. S. over the past month alone

And so that in itself is a sign of how seriously the United States takes the security situation and that deteriorating situation between Saudi

Arabia, Iran and its proxies in this Persian gulf region. The fact that they're bolstering this kingdom security with so many of their own forces.

And just to underline that, we saw this incident this morning off the coast of Saudi Arabia, off the port of Jeddah, you said about 60 miles or so off

the coast in the Red Sea. That was an Iranian oil tanker that was struck by two missiles. It received some damage. Apparently there was an oil spill.

Nobody was injured on board and the tanker soon made its way on its journey to get out of the area.

But initially the Iranian tanker company has said that this was struck by missiles and they pointed the finger of blame towards Saudi Arabia. After

that though the Iranian authorities clawed back on that sort of statements mindful, I expect of the fact that this would represent a major escalation

in tensions in the region and basically have refused to point the finger of blame anybody at this stage.

Merely saying that it was dangerous adventurism but clearly, that the security situation in this region particularly to Saudi Arabia and Iran is

deteriorating fast. Bianca.

NOBILO: Matthew Chance, thank you very much for the update. Another possible deal on the horizon. This time for Brexit. There have been little

hands in the past few days pointing towards that, most recently this morning from the EU's chief negotiator after meeting with his British

counterpart.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that he also has a good feeling about the Irish border issue which has been holding the negotiations up but

he's still cautious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think both of us can see a pathway to a deal but that doesn't mean it's a done deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The pound has been surging on hopes that the E. U. and the U. K. will finally agree on something. Police say that the stabbing rampage in

Manchester England could be an active terror. A suspect was arrested shortly after it happened at a shopping mall in the city center.

At least, four people were hurt in the brutal attack. The counter terrorism force is leading the investigation but police say they're keeping an open

mind about the possible motive.

In the United States now, a fast moving wildfire, forcing more than 100,000 Southern California residents from their homes overnight. Wind gusts of up

to 100 kilometers an hour push flames across at least three major highways.

Our Nick Watt shows us just how quickly conditions can turn dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We drove up this road just 5 minutes ago. We had to turn around. There were flames on either side and there were embers

flying through the air, bouncing along the road. Here we could see the spot fires igniting. It's also Jason the producer, I'm working with, he saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to go.

WATT: We have to go. We have to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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NOBILO: Here's an aerial view of a neighborhood just North West of Los Angeles. Fire officials pleaded with residents to get out as soon as they

were ordered to evacuate, to keep themselves and first responders safe.

Typhoon Hagibis is barreling towards Japan. Across the country people are lined up to get tops and other supplies to prepare for the heavy winds and

rains. The typhoon is also disrupting major sporting events scheduled for Saturday. Some Rugby World Cup matches have canceled as well as Formula One

race activity.

Coming up next on The Brief, the Turkish offensive is raising fears of an ISIS resurgence. What today's events could mean for the worst of those

fears.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Let's get back to the situation in Northern Syria and video which shows ISIS family members attempting to escape the Al-Hawl camp for

displaced people. It's a complicated strand in the chaos that's currently engulfing the region. U.S. officials say there are around 11,000 to 12,000

ISIS fighters in prisons in Syria.

2000 of them are foreigners, not from Syria or Iraq. Now that the Kurds who were guarding those prisoners are busy fighting off the Turkish offensive,

it's raising fears that the terror group could metastasize.

And to underscore that point, ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb in Syria today that killed 4 people. The U.S. seems to have grasped the

potential problem. U.S. President Donald Trump tweeting that the so called Beetles members of the British ISIS cell had been moved to Iraq.

But then Mr Trump dismissed the overrule threat. He says because they wouldn't want to go back to Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, they're going to be escaping to Europe. That's where they want to go. They want to go back to their homes but Europe didn't want them from

us. We could have given it to them. They could have had trials. They could have done whatever they wanted but as usual, it's not reciprocal.

You know my favorite word reciprocal, that's all I want. I don't want an edge. I just want reciprocal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The Brief was told and I spoke to Hassan Hassan. He's the Director of the Non-State Actors Program at the Center for Global Policy. He's also the co-

author of ISIS inside the army of terror. I began by asking him whether recent actions by the United States would lead to a resurgence of ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN HASSAN, Director, Non-State Actors Program, Center for Global Policy: I think this is an opportunity, an opening for ISIS. This could

have been the alternative to the Turkish invasion would have been you know doubling down on the efforts to keep the pressure on ISIS and weaken its

ability to return.

In fact over the past few months, what we've seen is improvements by with the - with the help from the U.S. of local forces and their ability to

detect and go after and remove a sleeper cells for ISIS. What's this doing is remove that pressure from ISIS and create gaps to emerge.

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So it will precipitate the return of ISIS, the ability of ISIS to launch an insurgency, an underground insurgency in those errors but also even expands

beyond that Eastern part of Syria into the rest of Syria as well as in Iraq.

NOBILO: How are different countries handling the return of ISIS fighters or ISIS supporters differently? And what do you think is the most effective

way to deal with that?

HASSAN: The fundamental question that needs to be asked first and foremost is that everyone has to share burden of those fighters on the ground and

we've been warning about this for years and now see what's happened. The Turkey sweeps in, there's a danger of these foreign fighters disappearing

nature. We don't know if some - if like a new you know, new forces coming into these errors.

ISIS might be able to exploit this you know, this change of hands from one force to another to pay bribes and leaving soon. So the other question is

what to do with these - with these forces? I think once different countries take in these firefighters and try to do deal with them with their legal

system, then it becomes a question of how to make sure that they don't go back and become a danger.

But they are currently, as the situation currently stands, they are a danger. They're a big threat for not just here Syria and Iraq but the whole

world.

NOBILO: How do you see ISIS's strategy changing? They're always looking for ways to optimize their success and adjust to the new circumstances. So what

would you be most concerned about now watching what's happening in Syria unfold?

HASSAN: Well see, ISIS is probably the organization that we know the most about because there are precedents. There's a long history of ISIS

operating in Iraq. There was a longer history of ISIS being defeated several times over the - you know, since 2003, since the war in the Iraq.

So we know how they come back. We know that they're always constantly - constantly waiting for the you know space, for an opportunity, for a chance

to emerge and establish themselves and start themselves locally so they can wage this underground campaign against their enemies.

And once these attacks, the local attacks become steady and durable what then happens is the population start to think twice before they start co-

operating with say, the United States or local governments and that by extension makes it easy for ISIS to expand and return to those- to those

areas.

NOBILO: Hassan, your home is Syria and you still have family there now. You wrote in an article that five years on, even though ISIS's grip has been

dramatically weakened and they've mutated in their existence that you feel concerned that perhaps Syria is now more susceptible to radicalization now

even though ISIS is weaker than it was before.

HASSAN: Absolutely and I think this moment tests that theory, that thesis because what we saw is that over the past two years, the situations here

start to - you know different pieces start to fall into place where you see countries like the United States and Turkey and Russia ascertain themselves

in different zones and these zones become more and more stable in their own different ways.

And that stability looked fragile but something happens and then the whole situation unravels and I do think Syria, especially under the service is a

fairly fragile situation. There's a fragile precarious situation where anything can go wrong any minute and then you'll see forces even - not just

ISIS but also the Al-Qaeda, all the jihadi organizations, other foreign fighters backed by Iran and so on so forth to exploits any change of the

dynamics and to rise again.

I do think Syria will continue for the foreseeable future to be this kind of lingering problem that the world has to deal with and not forget just

because there's a quiet, there is a relative quiet and equilibrium taking place in Syria as we've seen over the past two years.

Once something happens, there is a domino effect. They will start to see a different problems emerging and you know, testing that kind of sense of

calm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: When the Brief returns, he's been at the job just one year, he's already won a Nobel Peace Prize. We'll tell you more about Abiy Ahmed.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: We end the week with a politician whose decision to seek peace changed the world for many in East Africa. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy

Ahmed has been given the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the country's 20 year old war with neighbors Eritrea. The Prime Minister who's

only been in the job for a year has been seen as a reformer.

In his first few months, he release the country's political prisoners, denouncing their torture and also freed jailed journalists. But the Nobel

Committee has had to defend the claims that they gave the award too early.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENT REISS-ANDERSEN, CHAIR, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE: No doubt some people will think this year's prize is being awarded too early. The Norwegian

Nobel committee believes it is now that Abiy Ahmed efforts deserve recognition and need encouragement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Mr. Abiy's office said that he's made peace, forgiveness and reconciliation key policy components of his administration. Now with the

Nobel Peace Prize to his name, they are traits he will need to continue to uphold. That's The Brief. I'm Bianca Nobilo. World Sports is up next. Have

a good week.

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