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White House Announces US Special Forces to Syria. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 30, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


JOSH EARNEST, U.S. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY (live): -- the United States and our interests. So, we know that we need a political transition inside of Syria in order to address the root causes -- the root cause of so many of the problems that we've seen in Syria. And that those problems range from hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have lost their lives in the civil war in that country, millions of Syrians who have had to flee their homes to escape violence. Some of those Syrians have, unfortunately, died trying to flee their country.

And it's a -- it's a tragedy, both in terms of the human toll that it's had on the Syrian people, and it's also significant, in terms of the destabilizing impact it's had throughout the broader region. Countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are bearing a significant burden in trying to meet the basic humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands or -- if not millions of Syrians who have sought refuge in each of their countries.

So, this is a significant problem, and we can take some military action to provide safety for the safety and security of the American people. But the root cause off all of these problems will only be addressed through the kind of political transition that the United States believes is long overdue.

Julia (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Josh, I just wanted to flush out some details here. We've heard that the president has authorized fewer than 50 Special Operations' forces. How many exactly -- if this is has already been (inaudible), can you tell us the exact number of forces who will be joining in northern Syria?

EARNEST: The less than 50 number is accurate. I cannot be more specific than that, primarily for reasons related to operational security. There are a number of details about this decision that I've -- I'm not in a position to discuss in this public setting, primarily to ensure that our special operators can do their work as safely as possible, acknowledging that this is a very dangerous region of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And you mentioned the call between the president and prime minister of Badhai (ph) talking about --

EARNEST: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- intensifying U.S. support in Iraq to fight the Islamic state there. Will that include even in the future of more special operations' forces? Is there any talk of sending or intensifying that support through U.S. troops?

EARNEST: Well, there are -- I don't have any announcements along those lines to make from here today. But we have already found that pairing some U.S. forces, including special operations personnel, with Iraqi security forces in a strictly train, advise and assist role has been effective in enhancing the capacity of those Iraqi security forces to make progress against ISIL. So, I don't have anything to announce along those lines today. But I certainly wouldn't rule out that something like that could be a possibility if it continues to be an element of our strategy that shows some promise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a reason why the president is not publicly speaking about this move today? Is it because it's seen as a relatively small maneuver, a small in attacks (ph) is part of the larger strategy, but why aren't we hearing from him today?

EARNEST: Well, I think I can answer that question in a couple of ways. The first is you've heard the president on many occasions discuss our strategy in Syria. And the fact is our strategy in Syria hasn't changed. The core of our military strategy inside of Syria is to build up the capacity of local forces to take the fight of ISIL on the ground in their own country. There are a variety of ways that the United States and the coalition partners can offer our support to those local forces, whether it's resupplying them or conducting air strikes in support of their operations on the ground.

And the president did make a decision to intensify that support by offering a small number of U.S. special operations' military personnel to offer them some advice and assistance on the ground as they take the fight to ISIL. So, this is an intensification of a strategy that the president announced more than a year ago and he has discussed it with you on many occasions. And I suspect he'll discuss it with all of you again in the future.

OK, Justin (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to see if you could maybe define what the difference between -- or what the limits of advise and assist versus combat are?

EARNEST: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I ask that for two reasons. One is, you know, the president has laid down the ground mark that we would not send combat troops into Syria. So, I'm wondering why this doesn't qualify under that definition? And I'm also wondering if you could flush out what exactly that they are doing so we kind of have a marker to judge the president's words on.

[13:05:00] EARNEST: On -- the last question is going to be hard for me to offer you many specifics about what precisely they are going to be doing, primarily because there's some operational security that needs to be protected. And there may be more details that the Department of Defense could offer you. But, from here, I can't be more specific than to say that those special operation forces will be in Syria, and they will be offering some training, some advice and some assistance to moderate opposition forces that are fighting ISIL in northern Syria right now.

As it relates to their mission, this is an important thing for the American people to understand, these forces do not have a combat mission. In 2003, President Bush ordered a large-scale long-term combat operation in Iraq. That is something that Barack Obama, then a state senator from Illinois, spoke out against. He disagreed with that decision. And he didn't, at that point, believe that it would serve the interest of the country to try to impose a military solution on the problems inside of Iraq. And President Barack Obama has that same view. He does not believe that that military operation was in our best interest. And he does not believe that that's something that we should do again.

So, that is why our special operations' personnel inside of Syria have a very different mission. It is not -- that mission is to build the capacity of local forces so that they can be even more effective than they've already been in taking the fight to ISIL on the ground inside of Syria.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess I just want to go back on the question one more time, because the president didn't say that there wouldn't be a long-scale ground mission. He said that there would not be a ground operation in Syria.

And so, -- a ground combat operation in Syria. And so, I'm trying to figure out how can we measure that point? What are soldiers in combat doing that these train, advise and assist soldiers aren't doing? Because it looks and smells and sounds like a combat mission. And soldiers are dying. The Pentagon has described some of these --

EARNEST: Well, let me say this. What I'm trying to do is to be as specific as possible with you about the specific responsibilities that these special operations' personnel have. This is not, in any way, an attempt to diminish the risk that they will face or the bravery that they will need to summon to carry out these operations.

This is a dangerous place on the globe. And they are at risk. And there's no denying that. And that is, you know, once again, a reason for us to remember the significant sacrifices that our men and women of the military make for our safety and security. And nobody is more keenly aware of that than the commander in chief.

At the same time, the responsibilities that they have there are different. You know, first of all, I think if we were envisioning a combat operation, we probably would be contemplating more than 50 troops on the ground. But because the responsibility that they have is not to lead the charge to take a hill but rather to offered advice and assistance to those local forces about the best way they can organize their efforts to take the fight to ISIL or to take the hill inside of Syria. That is the role that they will be playing.

Again, it still means that they are in a dangerous situation. It still means that they will have all of the equipment that they need to protect themselves, if necessary. I'm confident that the Department of Defense has contingency plans in place to try to make it as safe as possible for those forces to operate there.

But, again, I don't want to diminish the significant of the risk that they are taking in pursuit of this objective that the president has identified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to -- I just (INAUDIBLE) apology that this is a non-Syria for (INAUDIBLE.) But on the budget, now that we've got a broad budget deal in place, I'm wondering what's going on with the appropriations process? It needs to happen by December 11th. Are you guys in negotiations with Congress on that how confident are you about that it will get done and that it won't include any of the sort of riders that you have (INAUDIBLE.)

EARNEST: Yes. Well, when --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to continue to monitor this briefing. Josh Earnest, the White House Press Secretary, making significant news, formerly confirming what our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has been reporting now for the past few hours.

There has been a significant change in U.S. strategy. For the first time, the Obama administration now confirming that U.S. special operations' forces will, in fact, go into northern Syria, work with Kurdish and other rebel forces there against the regime of Bashar Al Assad, against the ISIS forces there, the terrorists operating in northern Syria. This represents a significant shift in the public U.S. posture as to what's going on.

[13:10:01] We want to, once again, welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.

Our correspondents and analysts are standing by. Barbara Starr is over at the Pentagon. Nick Paton Walsh is joining us from the border over there in -- with Turkey. And from London, our CNN Senior International Correspondent Clarissa Ward. She's just back from norther Iraq and Syria. She's in London right now.

All right, Barbara, walk us through this development right now because it's a significant development even though less than 50 U.S. troops will be deployed to northern Syria, it does represent a shift.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It does, Wolf. The White House press secretary just saying, make no mistake, this is going to be dangerous. U.S. troops will be at risk. But also using those words that the White House needs to use, that this is not a combat mission.

So, what are these special operations' forces going to do? They're going to go into northern Syria, right into the heartland of where ISIS fights. They're going to try and help Kurdish and Arab fighters in the north move against ISIS. They will provide them onsite training, assistance, advice, mission planning, help them figure out how to get moving further south to push against the ISIS front lines. Clarissa has just seen it for herself, obviously. A lot of these troops short of ammunition, short of supplies. The U.S. wants to help them there.

But a very key thing here. When you have U.S. special operations' forces on the ground, they are also intelligence gatherers on their own. They will be talking to these fighters. They will be learning the lay of the land. They will be learning more about exactly where ISIS is. And they will be able to help overhead fighter jets, U.S. F- 15s, U.S. A-10 fighter jets pick out ISIS targets more readily. They will be able to provide that kind of information.

One of the key issues is, of course, because of the danger, if they get into trouble, will the U.S. have the capability to move in with helicopters and get them very quickly out of trouble. That would be the ultimate danger. That's what the Pentagon has to plan against -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And just to be precise, Barbara, in this escalating U.S. military involvement on the ground in Syria, these U.S. special operations' forces will work with Kurdish fighters as well as rebel fighters, oppose fighting ISIS and also oppose to the Bashar Al Assad regime or just the Kurdish fighters?

STARR: Well, they're -- this is a very unique area of Syria along the northern border with Turkey. What you have up there is a number of Kurdish groups that they will work with that the U.S. feels they know well and understands who these people are. But also, Syrian Arab fighters. You'll hear a phrase, the Syrian Arab coalition. That's the phrase the Pentagon uses. About 5,000 fighters, militias, tribes, various Arab groups that are also fighting ISIS. That the U.S. says that it understands who these people are and that they can work with them.

So, you will have to -- you will look for special operations' commandos from the U.S. to pair up with all of these groups. This is a good deal away, a fair distance away, from where the Russians, the Iranians, Lebanon, Hezbollah is fighting in western Syria. But this battlefield, as of today, Wolf, getting only more complex.

BLITZER: It certainly is. All Right, Barbara, stand by.

Our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is joining us now from Turkey, not far from the border with Syria over there. How is this likely to play, first of all in Turkey and elsewhere in the region, this U.S. decision to deploy under 50 U.S. special operations' forces in northern Syria?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the number is marginal, in terms of the impact that it'll have on Turkey. They already have, potentially given this (ph) assistance to allow A- 10s to use in areas in Enchlik (ph) to assist whatever's happening on the ground here. There's a big thing people aren't really talking about, the timing of this announcement. It's happening slap in the middle of these supposed peace talks in Vienna. And I think you can't really ignore the fact this is a message to the Russians, saying quite clearly, you have your military moves. Well, we can talk when it's able (ph) about peace but we aren't going to simply stop our ISIS campaign in our tracks. And then, interestingly, they had put this statement out. Wolf, you heard Josh Earnest there, no one seems to go into details. It's all claiming the need for secrecy for these special operators.

Well, you can't have it both ways. You can't release a statement and then say, we're not going to discuss the details about what constitutes a combat mission. Who are they going to work with there, Wolf? That is fundamentally a massive question we have to answer here because the Kurds long-time allies in their particular area where rumors of Special Forces assisting them in the fight to clear ISIS out of Kobani. The Syria-Arab coalition, well, they're not really a group we're particularly familiar with. You know, there's something being latched upon as a potential future of the Syrian moderate opposition here.

When the U.S. just accepted their half billion dollar trade and equip program, run by the Pentagon, had to close because they barely got 54 people together to be in that program. Suddenly, now, this group is acceptable to embed (ph) Special Forces with them. So, the slight touch, I think, of maybe the U.S. making it up as they go along, to some degree. I'm sure there's been a lot of planning before inserting these Special Forces in there months ahead.

[13:15:12] But a real sense here, I think, of it could be months until we see real effective movement on the ground, Wolf.

BLITZER: And presumably these 50 U.S. special operations forces will be - will be endangered as they go into a very - a very dangerous part of Syria.

Clarissa Ward is our senior international correspondent. She's just back from northern Syria, northern Iraq as well. She met with these Kurdish fighters over there.

You're back in London right now, Clarissa. So what's your assessment, your analysis of this decision by the Obama administration to escalate U.S. special operations involvement in northern Syria?

WARD: Well, it's so interesting, Wolf, because, as you say, we were basically embedded with the YPG for several days, touring around their front lines, and there seemed to be a little bit of a disparity between what we were hearing in the U.S., that there was going to be an offensive imminently on Raqqa, and what we were seeing on the ground with the YPG fighters, which were that they were exhausted after months of fighting, that they were ill equipped, that they were lightly armed, most of them fighting with old AK-47s, some of them fighting in the sneakers and their sandals, manning a huge front line, Wolf. We're talking a more than 400-mile long front line with minimal equipment, no body armor, no armored vehicles.

And I thought it was very interesting listening into that White House briefing. We hear a lot of talk about assistance and assistance, but we didn't hear specifics because the number one question here now will be, if this is about trying to facilitate a push on Raqqa, how can that be done without supplying these YPG fighters with heavier weapon, armor piercing weapons. They are going to be going up against ISIS, which, as we know, has very heavy weapon, most of them American weapons, in fact, that they've confiscated from the Iraqi Army.

So this is a concern of many of the YPG fighters on the ground. The victories that they've enjoyed up to this point on the battlefield have really been a result of air support, coalition air support, and the air strikes undoubtedly have been a real game-change for these Kurdish fighters on the ground. But if they want to take this to the next level, if they want to push into Raqqa, which is an ISIS stronghold and an Arab stronghold, Wolf, not a Kurdish stronghold, then ultimately the fighters that we spent time with are going to be looking for heavier weapon, too.

BLITZER: They'll be looking for more assistance. YPG, of course, being the Kurdish fighters who are battling these ISIS forces in the Raqqa area, elsewhere in northern Syria, where U.S. troops, 50 of them - under 50 according to the White House, will be deployed, special operations forces. They will have their combat boots on. They will be on the ground. Although the White House insisting they will not be engaged directly in combat.

We're going to get reaction to what's going on. Clarissa, stand by. Nick Paton Walsh, Barbara Starr, stand by as well.

We're continuing to follow the breaking news. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, he's a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, there you see him, he's up on Capitol Hill. He's getting briefed on what's going on. He's an Iraq War veteran. We'll discuss with him when we come back.

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[13:22:28] BLITZER: We're continuing to follow the break news. Breaking news out of the White House., the Pentagon. The U.S. now, the Obama administration announcing that the U.S. will deploy special operations troops to northern Syria. They're putting the number, the initial number, at fewer than 50 troops.

Joining us now is the Arkansas Republican senator, Tom Cotton. He's joining us from Capitol Hill. He's a member of the Armed Services Committee, the Intelligence Committee.

Senator Cotton, you served in Iraq. You're a veteran of the Iraq War. What's your reaction to this decision today, the announcement by the White House?

SEN. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: Good afternoon, Wolf. It's good to be on with you.

I did hear President Obama's spokesman in that clip talking about combat troops versus noncombat operations. I'd have to say, I'm mystified. It sounds like he's describing something out of a George Orwell novel. We clearly have troops on the ground who are fighting in close quarters with our enemy, the Islamic State. Just last week we lost a very brave and highly decorated soldier, Master Sergeant Josh Wheeler. I think we should all recognize that any time troops are in close combat with our adversary, they're engaged in combat.

More broadly, this is probably something that's long overdue in Syria. Now, the White House is apparently trying to play down the number, saying it's going to be less than 50. I don't want to comment on troop levels or deployments because of the sensitivity of operational security, but in the end, part of the strategy is matching means to your goals. The president has the right goal, and he has since he's finally realized last year that the Islamic state was not the JV team, but he's consistently not given the means necessary to achieve the goal, destroying the Islamic States. There hasn't been enough troops on the ground to advise and assist the Iraqis and the Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq. There haven't been enough aircraft conducting enough bombing raids. Authorities to conduct those attacks have been too limited. If we want to defeat the Islamic State, we have to match our resources to that goal.

BLITZER: So what I hear you saying, senator, is what the president is authorizing today is a step in the right direction, albeit from your perspective, a limited step. You want a whole lot more. You want more combat troops on the ground in Syria, helping the Kurdish fighters, helping the moderate Syrian rebels get the job done against ISIS?

COTTON: Well, Wolf, in the end, conditions dictate the numbers. The president has a bad habit of dictating a specific number for troops, whether it's in Iraq or Afghanistan, now in Syria as well, absent the conditions on the ground. What we should do is give our commanders the tools that they need, whether that's personnel, aircraft, legal authorities or so forth. A lot of these troops, remember, are not going to be front line trigger pullers and door kickers. They're going to be helping the Iraqi Army develop the kind of professional abilities that our military has. To make sure that they get bullets from warehouses to the front lines so their own soldiers aren't running out of ammunition, to make sure that they have the proper understanding of how to call for close air support from our coalition aircraft. But it's the conditions on the ground that ultimately dictate the resources that we need to put towards our goal of defeating the Islamic state. I don't think the president gets that yet.

[13:25:20] BLITZER: How worried are you that, albeit a small number of U.S. troops will now be on the ground in northern Syria, given the much larger number of Iranian troops on the ground in Syria, the much larger number of Russian troops on the ground in Syria, let alone Bashar al Assad's regular army and all the other competing militias that are fighting over there, these American troops will go in on the ground, could be in danger.

COTTON: Well, Wolf, any time we send troops into harm's way, I always am concerned about their safety. That said, I'm also very confident that our military chain of command has fully accessed the situation and wouldn't be sending these troops in unless they thought they could accomplish their mission with an acceptable level of risk. And, remember, some - these are some of our most highly trained and decorated soldiers over the last 15 years. I'm fully confident that they can perform their mission.

But we have to recognize that there is risk. That's what it means whenever you send troops down range in the possibility that they may face close quarters combat. We shouldn't be engaged in word games here in Washington, D.C. about what is and is not combat.

But you also raise another important point. In the end, we can't defeat the Islamic State unless we also remove Bashar al Assad from power. Assad is to the Islamic State what oxygen is to fire. He helped give them their reason to exist. And because President Obama has consistently appeased and conciliated with Iran and now Russia, we are undermining the very goal that he set for himself in defeating the Islamic state.

BLITZER: Senator Cotton, thanks very much for joining us.

COTTON: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Up next, more fallout from Wednesday's Republican presidential debate as the RNC, the Republican National Committee, now responds to criticism over moderator's questions, and pulls the plug on one network's involvement in a future Republican presidential debate. We're getting more breaking news. Stay with us.

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