tv CNNI Simulcast CNN September 22, 2014 11:00pm-12:01am PDT
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hello and welcome. to those of you watching in the u.s. and around the world, from cnn center, i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. we have breaking news coverage of the u.s. air strikes in syria. let's get to the latest. for that we'll turn to becky anderson. still a lot of questions to be answered about the biggest five arab nations involved in these strikes in syria, and we need to find out more about reaction across the region. >> reporter: absolutely. we're doing the digging on that, getting a little more information. it is 10:00 in the morning here,
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so we ought to be able to get more information in the coming hours. but listen, let's backtrack here. the u.s. heading up an alliance of arab nations and striking isis targets inside syria. that is what we know to date. at least 20 targets have been hit in raqqa. the operation we believe using tomahawk cruise missiles with bombers and fighter jets delivering air strikes. the focus is on raqqa, but other targets are being hit, as well. reuters sites the syrian observatory for human rights, reporting that tens of isis fighters have been killed of wounded. and a report that the u.s. did tell syria, they told the syrian u.n. representative about the operation in advance. that coming from syria and not from washington. for more details from
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washington, i spoke a little earlier with cnn's chief u.s. security correspondent jim sciutto. this is what he had to say. >> u.s. military officials tonight, saying the start of this strike meant to be a decisive blow going at key targets ofets of isis, targets category of command and control, resupply and training, hard targets, training facilities, maces were weapons were stored. where fighters and commanders might have been holed up at night. this starting at nighttime and is continuing until daybreak when we expect to get a further update on the nature of targets hit. as you mentioned, five arab partners taking part. the u.s. the only nonarab participant in the strikes tonight. that is something the obama administration was intent on building here, making this not
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yet another relatively lone american intervention in the middle east, but one that was joined by local partners. you have those local partners, saudi arabia, united arab emirates, jordan, qatar and bahrain. and to be clear, participation by at least three of those partners is in kinetic activities. that means dropping bombs, taking part in the air strikes. that is extremely significant. this is just the first fight. i'm told that this will continue, perhaps not at the same pace we've seen tonight and intensity. perhaps settling into more of the pace we've seen in the u.s.-led air campaign over iraq in recent days, which is now in its sixth week. but this is the first very decisive step, you might say, in what promises to be a long campaign. just one thing i might add as well, becky, i reached out to
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members of the syrian opposition and heard from the syrian opposition, very strong support. one official telling me, thank you, thank you, this is something we have been waiting for, for so long. remember, this is an administration that did not take the advice of even some of the president's own advisers to get involved in this conflict earlier, to arm some of the moderate syrian rebels. hillary clinton pushed for that, leon panetta pushed for that, the president refused. now you're arming rebels and striking isis from the air. >> all right. so we know what is going on in the air, and we're getting a little more flesh on the bones, as it were. jim has been told at least three of these arab partners are involved in kinetic activities, in air strikes. i spoke just moments ago to a jordanian minister who, when pressed, said that jordan was involved in air strikes. they say they'll release more details in the coming hours.
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it is, of course, morning time here in the middle east. we believe the uae is also involved in the air strikes. qatar, it seems they are also involved. we're not sure exactly how. then, of course, there's jordan, as i suggested. this is what is going on in the air. perhaps more importantly at this point is to find out what we believe is going on, on the ground. these are air strikes for a reason, to provide air cover for those who are operating on the ground. we know, and as jim alluded to, that saudi intent on training syrian moderates in jetta going forward. but this is early on that, so we know what's been going on of late. let's get to iraq on this. it's been the iraqi government forces, peshmerga in northern iraq and splinter groups in
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syria to the west who will be fighting this sunni muslim group that calls itself the islamic state. cnn's anna coren joins me from northern irbil. you've been on the ground for weeks, embedded with the peshmerga as they've operated on the ground. you are in a brilliant position to tell us just how difficult this ground operation has been in iraq, and how difficult it may be going forward in syria. your thoughts? >> reporter: becky, we have been on the ground ever since those u.s. air strikes began six weeks ago. certainly here in iraq. so we have seen the impact of what they are having on the battlefield. 190 u.s. air strikes to date, according to u.s. central command, as well as those few french air strikes we've seen over the weekend. look, becky, as we know, as they are stopping the advance of isis, at least here in iraq,
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they are not forcing them to retreat. i think this is what is coming as a surprise to many. you think jets and drones dropping bombs that would force the militants to scurry away. that is not happening. they are digging in, adapting on the battlefield. it's piecemeal, and i think that's what has been frustrating for officials in kurdistan. conce certainly they're welcoming the air strikes in syria. for week they've been saying they need to go after them there. just to focus them only in iraq is futile. syria is where they need to go after them. but certainly, becky, there's a feeling that there needs to be an intensification of the campaign here in iraq.
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this is where they have ground forces. this is where the iraqi security forces are. there are question marks of what they can bring to the table. you look at syria and syria doesn't have anybody. yes, there are militias fighting around kobani this minute against isis militants. but as for that military, that free syrian opposition that the united states and saudi arabia is going to train up, that's not for months. so we know the u.s.-led air campaign here and in syria is not going to destroy isis. it's going to take a lot more than that. >> all right. so the question is, who has friendly boots on the ground in syria, and what is their ability. that is going to be crucial going forward in the hours, days and weeks ahead. anna, stand by. i have rodney curry on the line for me, from beirut.
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this is a man who knows his stuff. thank you for joining us on what is a breaking news day. you're in beirut, i'm here in the gulf and what we are seeing is the opening salvos, as it were, from a u.s.-led coalition over syria, which includes, we are told and getting confirmation, that five arab nations are involved. as many as three in what is known as kinetic activities. that would mean air strikes. does that surprise you? >> a little bit. it's surprising that it happened so dramatically with four or five arab countries working together, but not surprising in the sense that in the last two or three years, we've seen the saudis and those from qatar using their weapons and air force in libya, for instance, and supporting the rebels in syria and other places around the region. so this dramatic joining the
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u.s. in air attacks is quite a significant development. it really unleashes the power of the gulf air forces, especially what it means is all the stops have been ruled -- this is now an open warfare in the region. this has to be seen in the context of two other important developments. one is yemen is going to be reconfigured politically. and the second one is the iranian airan i -- iranian and saudi foreign ministers meeting on sunday in new york. so we have some really historic developments starting to take place. you'll see elements in lebanon, as well. the head of hezbollah is going to give a talk tonight, so we should hear some interesting things there. so the gulf attacks on syria with the u.s. should be seen as
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part of a major historical development. where that development is leading, it's hard to tell. but the fact is, the traditional way of doing things has changed very dramatically now. >> stay with me. i want to bring in one of jordan's state ministers, who was with me a little earlier on this show for discussion, as well. so when we spoke half hour or so ago, you said you could confirm air strikes by jordanians in syria. what more can you tell us at this point on the details? >> becky, our armed forces just issued -- our airplanes have came back and have conducted strikes against positions of the terrorist organization isis. and they're back and we are confirming that we will not
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hesitate to take any further action in order to target and to destroy the positions of this terrorist organization. in light of the continuous attempts to infiltrate into our boarders and undermine our security and stability. >> can you confirm those air strikes were over syria or over iraq at this stage or both? >> they were over syria actually. >> okay. and so what do you expect next? are you saying you're confirming that you will not hesitate as a country to continue any action on this terrorist organization, an organization you say that you're aware has infiltrated your boarders. so what happens next?
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>> we're saying that syria has not been able to stop these attempts from coming into our boarders, and we are saying that this terrorist organization is moving around and there are no efforts to crack down on them. so we cannot just sit here and continue with these attacks on our boarders that undermine the security of our country. so we are pre-empting and trying to destroy these organizations and the positions of this organization in its place before it intensifies its attacks on our boarders. this is what we are saying -- >> the jordanian minister is speaking to me this morning and confirming your strikes. thank you, sir. i'm just repeating for our viewers that you are confirming
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air strikes over syria by jordanian aircraft who you say are back and safe. you will not hesitate to conduct more action against this terrorist organization. so one last question. the complexity of this region, and the importance of the arab nations getting together with this u.s.-led coalition and these are sunni majority countries getting together with this u.s.-led coalition, given a couple of very important regional moments over the past 24, 48 hours. important that the hutis in yemen and a shia-led group are gaining some significant ground down in yemen. and then the overarching story out of iran, will they, won't they get involved covertly or overtly?
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are they already involved on the ground? should they be as far as jordan is concerned, should iran be allowed into the fold to help combat what is this scourge they call isis? i'm not sure that we still have the jordanian minister. okay. we've lost him for the time being. these were your two points and very well made, just as we have these sunni led brethren going after a group that fight in the name of sunni islam. so you have these shia movements, not the least out of yemen, a proxy war many people say between iran and syria. iran itself making moves on the ground, arming militarily shia groups in iraq. and then, for example, hezbollah ready to talk this afternoon and
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make a statement. your thoughts? >> well, this is really a fascinating moment. there are no more clear, traditional patterns of idealogical rivalries or political alliances. everything is turned upside down. so the u.s. notified the syrian government, which the u.s. wants to overthrow, has been trying to overthrow for thee years, the u.s. notified the syrian government it was going to attack isis in northern syria. the iranians are the big supporter of the syrian government and the u.s. wants to overthrow it by arming and training the rebels, so there's just a real mumbled situation of people who have no clear
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idealogical linkages to one another. the fear of isis by everybody in the region, americans, iranians, syrians is so great that everybody is forgetting traditional rivalries for the moment to fight this common enemy. but the consequences of this war in syria and iraq is going to be enormous, because it's going to unleash all kinds of new forces in the region, and we don't know what those -- for instance, the opposition in syria, when they get armed, the iranians get more involved, will the kurdish groups in northern iraq work together? this huge issues that will be impacted by the fighting in the north and the critical point is, what will isis do in response? they've tried to create this islamic emirate.
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will they now adopt an al qaeda strategy which is attacking american targets anywhere in the world? they've already told supporters to kill french people. they said yesterday, isis put out a statement saying that american foreigners should be attacked anywhere in the world with a knife, a stick, a gun, with anything. so there's a real fear that many supporters of isis around the region may be mobilized in response to this attack. that's why the saudis and iranians understand that this region is becoming extremely dangerous and it's unraveling in many ways. therefore they want to try to contain that. you have positive elements like the agreement in yemen and iraq, so there's some positive elements, but there's a lot of
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negative ones with huge uncertainties. >> you make a lot of sense. the consequences of this, what is it, counterterrorism effort or perhaps we should just call it a war, will be absolutely huge. what of turkey, what of egypt, what of iran? those are questions we will be continuing to debate as the hours go on. stay with us. this the breaking news. i'm becky anderson in the gulf, where it is clear that the u.s. strikes over syria have begun. [ female announcer ] you change your style. why not your eye color? new air optix® colors prescription contact lenses enhance your eye color for a naturally beautiful look with consistent comfort. find your perfect color and get a free trial offer at airoptixcolors.com.
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welcome back, everyone. let's update you now on breaking news. the first air strikes by the u.s. and arab partners against isis in syria. here's what we know. the u.s. began launching tomahawk missiles from the sea early tuesday, primarily targeting isis in their strong hold of raqqa. but we understand they've also hit a number of other targets at this hour. fighter jets and bombers followed up with attacks of their own. jordan has said its planes have returned safely after carrying out some of those strikes. >> more than 20 targets have been hit in the raqqa area. u.s. officials say saudi arabia, the united arab emirates and
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bahrain are also participating. diplomatic sources say qatar is also involved but at this point its role is unclear. syrian state media says the u.s. informed the syrian representative for the u.n. in advance about the strikes. isis tweeted this out, showing a communications tower damaged by the air strikes in raqqa. >> continuing to connect with our correspondents all over the world. we want to get reaction from europe. atika scubert joins us live. the uk has an interesting perspective in this story, as it was a uk aid worker, david hanes, executed by isis recently. the uk prime minister david cameron saying they would take the fight to isis. and the uk is in a number of things to contain the threat, but it's notably absent from
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this current air campaign. >> reporter: that's right. so far it seems the uk is not involved on these strikes in syria. we haven't had an official response from the prime minister's office yet, and we haven't heard from many down trips in europe yet so far this morning. most of the leaders are in new york for the u.n. general assembly. what we do know about britain's position it is an essential part of the coalition against isis. it is providing aid to kurdish peshmerga fighters and surveillance flights. these are the ways that britain is helping. it is not participating militarily. one thing to remember here is that just last year, members of parliament voted against air strikes in syria. that is key, because it means it makes it much more difficult for the prime minister's office now to find a way around that, to see whether or not strikes in
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syria are an option. having said that, the prime minister's office has said it's not off the table, but for now, the uk is not involved in these strikes. >> one thing we should note is that in a way, with u.s. air strikes and other western nations taking on isis, it does may into the sunni militant's propaganda of suggesting that it's them versus the west, essentially. so we'll wait and see if it's purposeful to have the u.s. only with arab allies. but separately, atika, you know, the u.n. general assembly is taking place this week in the u.s. david cameron and the u.s. president among all of the other world leaders will be there. what can we expect will be the message sent at the u.n. now that we've seen these air strikes get under way with arab support? >> reporter: there's two messages britain will be sending
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at the u.n.g.a. we're talking about supporting that coalition against isis, supporting those strikes on the ground there in syria and iraq. but also, and this has been a critical part of prime minister cameron's message, is countering extremism at home. remember, britain is in the position of having british hostages by isis, but it appears a british militant is the one executing them. so britain has been trying to hammer home the message it's not just about the fight going on in syria and iraq, but countering that threat here at home. not just in the uk but across europe and the u.s. it's not just uk that has the problem of militants going from britain to syria to fight. france has hundreds that have gone, all across europe and quite a few from the united states. so the problem isn't just in
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some far away country. but now even more than ever, the problem may be we start to see some of these fighters coming back home to carry out attacks. >> that, of course, a major concern in the uk and many other nations. that's the threat isis has made in to many of its horrific videos. atika scubert live for us in london. thank you very much. stay with us here on cnn. we'll continue to bring you the latest information on this after this break. a live report from washington, d.c. it's approaching 2:30 in the morning there. a lot of developments still coming in to us here at cnn. stay with us.
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welcome back. to those of you watching near the u.s. and all around the globe, i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. thanks for sticking with us as we continue our breaking coverage of the air strikes in syria. the u.s. and five arab nations are participating in the air offensive against isis in syria. jordan says its warplanes have already returned from the mission, focusing on the isis strong hold in raqqa. >> and a senior u.s. official tells cnn the goal here is to destroy the terror group's ability to command and control its fighters throughout the region. this map highlights some of their strong holds in syria and northern iraq. the pentagon says this operation
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includes tomahawk cruise missiles being filed. this is file footage from that for you. syria's official news agency reported a short time ago that the u.s. did tell syria's u.n. representative about this operation in advance. >> meanwhile, isis has tweeted this photo, claiming it shows a communications tower damaged by the air strikes in raqqa. all right. let's get the latest now on this story from the u.s. capital. let's bring in correspondent joe johns and need to make the point it is 2:32 in the morning. but joe, you were certainly getting reaction from politicians from both sides of the aisle here. what all have they been saying to you? >> we were looking for reaction. we've gotten a bit of it. but rosemary, let me say that your reporting just a bit ago an't the fact that some of the
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planes have now returned after finishing their air strikes, we were told throughout the evening here in washington that we would not get a lot of information until those planes started returning to base. so as that occurs, perhaps we'll know more about the targets they hit, the success, and any other information these various governments want to share with us. as far as reaction here in washington goes, that's been quite a bit of it from republican members of congress, the chairman of the various committees over on the house side in mar, who have been supportive of this notion of air strikes, phrasing the troops, praising the operation and hoping for the safe return of the individuals who are carrying out these operations. the administration did just about everything it could to try to gin up support on capitol hill. the vice president of the united states joe biden calling around, as well as the national security adviser susan rice making calls
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to members of congress. at the end of the day, the question is how all of this will be received not just by the united states but the world. the question, one of the questions certainly being whether these air strikes with the various partners, particularly the arab partners, will be seen as a real buy-in from these countries or cover for the united states to go after isis. probably a critical question, rosemary. >> joe, the significant point to this too, we've got the u.s. leading this. but along with them, five arab nations, mostly sunni nations. that was really a lot of critics said had to happen. i would be interested to get reaction on that, if people have been talking about that there in washington. last hour we spoke about the element of surprise being removed from this. isis well aware that this was the plan, that the united
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states, along with some type of coalition was going to strike, and therefore, in that sense, were able to remove some of their also sets. so talk to us about those two points. >> certainly. it was pretty clear from talking to people here in washington, d.c. that both the signals intelligence, as well as the human intelligence on the ground indicated that isis was able to move certain assets, given the fact that they did know the united states was going to strike. the only real question was when. as to your other point, i think it is important to say that here in washington, d.c., there has been a lot of concern about going after isis inside of syria, and the question being whether any air strikes against isis would actually be to the benefit of the bashar al assad regime, which is something the united states has said it doesn't want to cooperate with that regime and wants it out of
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power. all around the world, what will be the effect and will it, in fact, make bashar al assad stronger? we'll see what the administration has to say about that. hopefully later today. >> indeed. and many thanks to joe johns, bringing us reaction at 2:36 in the morning there in washington. many thanks again. over to you. >> we want to cross over live to the united arab emirates where becky anderson joins us now. she's been helping us bring in all the latest developments. one thing to discuss now is the participation of the uae in this air strike over syria. recently during the arab spring, there were reports that the uae and the local governments wouldn't confirm it. i was in the uae for a while. officials will be very careful
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to confirm or deny exactly what they did and how they helped in this latest campaign. >> yeah, they will be, and we're keeping an eye on the ministry of foreign affairs site. when they are prepared to talk, they will talk. look, it's mid morning here. this has all been ongoing overnight. the more we can get, the more we can pick apart what is going on. we've been speaking to the jordanians, as you've been alluding to. they sate their aircraft are back from active strikes over syria. they say they will continue this activity until isis is destroyed. so five arab nations involved in this activity, confirming their planes have been out and are back and are safe. but will continue this activity going forward. the important thing to work out
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here is what's been hit and who's hitting it? we know that these strikes are concentrated on raqqa, where we know isis are head quartered for all intents and purposes. that's on the syrian side of what they would call the islamic state. we know that the u.s. has been conducting over 200 air strikes in iraq. so the question then is, what else is being done in the air and on the ground and by whom? we know jordan have been out. we know here in the uae, not very far away from me here that there is an australian base. the uae are hosting the australians with an intent for the australians to get out in the theater of war. qatar as well. unclear as to what they're doing, but the fact that they're on board, given there's been a
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real rift between the uae and saudi on one hand and qatar on the other, they've been hosting members of the muslim brotherhood, seen here as a real concern. we know they are now on board. we are very unclear, and this will be very interesting going forward. but the role going forward of iran and the other two big players in this region, turkey and egypt. you alluded to egypt and its potential of action over libya. nobody can confirm that. it is being denied. but certainly they have the equipment and air power to conduct strikes over any country if they chose to do so. turkey is a real yet interesting one here. the new president of the country talked about a sort of syria
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buffer zone. he has real problems about fighters leaving his country and refugees going over a very porous border. to date, he said he's not getting involved, in even lending aircraft for the u.s. to use in turkey. it's going to be fascinating going forward. so we're doing the digging from this end. rosemary, back to you. >> becky anderson, thank you very much. i'm joined by cnn military analyst rick francona, a retired u.s. air force lieutenant colonel. thanks for talking with us again. as the hours progress, we eastern getting a little more information. we're able to piece a little bit more together. what are you making of this? now we're hearing the possibility of 20 targets being hit. we know from jordan confirmation
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that their aircraft have returned back. what is your reading of all of this? what is your reading of the strategy, what is your reading of the roles of these five arab nations, mostly sunni, which is very significant in this, what do you think going forward? >> well, if they hit 20 targets and you had five nations involved, that means that they put a lot of ordinance into 20 separate targets. that would mean that they thought there was a lot of high value assets in these targets. we know that they were going to go after command and control communications facilities in the areas that we knew they were storing military equipment. anywhere they were storing fuel, anywhere they were storing military equipment. that's a given. we know that isis has been dispurdi disbursing that as best they can. so you go after that. hopefully they were able to put
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enough ordnance on these 20 targets to do the required amount of damage. i think it was very useful that we had five arab nations involved. i think that's very important going forward, because it does show that it's a region al buy-in. and i think it will be telling, just as we heard from the jordanians that their aircraft returned home safely, as the other countries, if they announce it for one. and two, what is the reaction on what we're calling the arab street? it's one thing for the governments to be -- to buy into committing to support the u.s.-led coalition. it's another if the people pie into it. so some of these governments have taken quite a brave stand to do this. so we'll see tomorrow or the next few days how the popular
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arab reaction is. i think that's going to be very important. and if it's -- if they support their government, i think that sends a real message to isis that they're not gaining popular support from this broad muslim audience they're trying to appeal to. >> certainly a very valid point. at this point, how long do you think this phase of the air strikes is likely to last? of course, maybe that's a signal with the jordanian aircraft returning pack to base. at what point do you think the ground troops need to take effect here and who is going to supply those ground troops? this has been the big question all along. >> i this that's the question. they start off with a strategic campaign going off command and control, logistics, things that are not movable. so you don't need people on the ground to do that. you don't need people with
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lasers to designate. when you move into the ground phase of this, when you have troops on the ground or you've got isis mingling in with the civilian population, then you need people on the ground to call in these air strikes. otherwise, you run the risk of a large amount of collateral damage, civilian casualties. something we want to try to avoid. so the question is, who is going to supply the ground troops? we don't know. i know the administration is hoping to train up some of the free syrian army, what they're calling the syrian moderates to do this. i think the training time is much, much too long. they're talking months before they get as little as 5,000 trained to go against isis with 30,000 fighters? i don't think we have that kind of time. even with the air strikes going in there, they're going to have to get some boots on the ground if they're going to continue this. if they're going to carry out the president's orders to go in and destroy and degrade and destroy isis, then they're going
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to come up with somebody to do this. i don't know who it is. i know it's politically dangerous for anyone in the united states to even mention american boots on the ground. so big question, i don't know the answer. if they're relying on the free syrian army, i don't think it's going to work. >> all right. many thanks to cnn military analyst rick francona joining us there. appreciate it. >> and our breaking coverage will continue after this short break. a new level of engagement now by the u.s. and arab allies in their fight against isis in syria. the newest information on this breaking story after this. ucing a pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until the am. new aleve pm the only one with a safe sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. live in the same communities that we serve.
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welcome back to cnn's continuing coverage of this breaking news. the u.s. defense department has now released a statement on the air strikes in syria. >> from rear admiral john kirby, the pentagon spokesman, i'm quoting directly here. "i can confirm that u.s. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against isil terrorists in syria, using a mix of fighter, bomber and tomahawk missiles. we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time. the decision to conduct these strikes was made earlier today
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by the u.s. central command commander under authorization granted him by the commander in chief. we will provide more details later as operationally inappropriate." >> this is a story that has global implications. france's foreign minister confirms that militants linked to isis are holding a french citizen captive in algeria. they have vowed to kill the hostage if france continues its air strikes against the islamic state. the foreign minister says french air strikes in iraq will continue despite the militant's threat. listen to this. >> translator: france's attitude remains the same. we intend to do the maximum needed to free the hostages and more specifically, this hostage. but one terrorist group cannot influence france's position.
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>> i want to turn to russia now, where the kremlin has expressed new concerns about isis and is taking action. it's estimated that hundreds of russian nationals are fighting for isis. matthew chance has that story. >> reporter: these are fighters from isis showing off a russian made warplane captured on the battlefields of syria. this group clearly enjoys publicizing its gains and making threats. "this is a message to you, vladamir putin. these are your jets that you sent to bashar al assad. now i will send them back." it's just bravado, but the kremlin is deeply concerned that russian citizens who joined isis may soon return home, well
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trained and radicalized. concerned enough for the russian foreign ministry to grant us access. >> there are hundreds of russian nationalists traveling abroad and participating in the fighting in different areas. >> you say hundreds. can you be specific? >> this are some 800 russian nationalists fighting in iraq for isis. >> reporter: that conservative estimate makes russians major contributors to isis ranks. even the military leader of isis in syria say russian officials goes by the name omar the chechen, who is believed to be a georgian national. it's the threat posed by isis and other groups that russia
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says is a main, if not primary reason for support of assad in syria. moscow has close ties with the regime and says western backing for anti-assad rebels created this crisis. >> some of our partners tend to differentiate the terrorists as bad and not so bad. and perhaps not so bad are those who contribute to destabilizing political regimes that are not allied to washington, for example, and that was the case with isis in syria, and that was a major reason, as we see it, of the emergence of the threat of such a scale. >> reporter: in the face of the threat, russia says it will cooperate to fight isis. but rules out supporting air
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strikes in syria without approval from its ally in damascus. what should be a common battle with the islamic state may once again divide russia and the west. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. we want to turn to some breaking news not related to the air strikes in syria. this just in to cnn. israel's military says one palestinian man was killed and another wounded after exchanging fire with israeli forces. the two men are suspected of murdering three israeli teenagers this past june. israel says its security forces responded after the men opened fire on them. the abduction and killing of the teens who were hitchhiking in the best bank touched off a series of reprisals from both sides, which escalated into the most recent round of fighting in gaza. more than 2,000 palestinians and 67 israelis were killed over
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seven weeks. coming up, more on our breaking and developing news as air strikes continue to hit isis targets in syria. a refugee crisis is under folding across the border in turk turkey. more on this after the break. anncr: now you can merge the physical freedom of the car, with the virtual freedom of wi-fi.
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chevrolet, the first and only car company to bring built-in 4g lte wi-fi to cars, trucks and crossovers. hi mom. you made it! anncr: it's the new independence. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern.
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♪ here's a good one seattle... what did geico say to the mariner? we could save you a boatload! ♪ foghorn sounds loudly ♪ what's seattle's favorite noise? the puget sound! ♪ foghorn sounds loudly ♪ all right, never mind doesn't matter. this is a classic. what does an alien seamstress sew with? a space needle! ♪ foghorn sounds loudly continuously ♪ oh come off it captain! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. welcome back, everyone. the first u.s.-led air strikes against isis targets in syria
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have now taken place with the help of several arab nations. a short while ago, the syrian observatory for human rights reported the strikes have hit these 20 targets in raqqa and surrounding areas. you see on the top heft portion of your screen, and that there were fatalities. it is still too soon to know how many. >> i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. stay with us as we continue our breaking news coverage of the u.s.-led strikes on isis in syria. ] you can change your style to express your unique personality. so why can't you do the same with your eye color? ♪ we at alcon believe you can. introducing new air optix® colors prescription contact lenses. its unique 3-in-1 color technology blends with your own eye color for a naturally beautiful look with comfort all month long. ♪ virtually try on your perfect color and get a free trial offer at airoptixcolors.com.
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