Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20140830 : vimarsan

CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 August 30, 2014

Not to raise the u. S. Terror threat level even though the uk raised their s. Is there a difference between the threat the uk faces versus the kind of threat the u. S. Does . Jake, it appears it does right now. The British Government sees a very direct threat to the safety of the british people. They say 500 or so britains traveled to this conflict zone, may have come back. Britain sees it as much more direct europe, much closer, transportation in and out of europe, much closer to people with jihad intent can move around very easily. There are some restrictions in place, of course, but the worry is its not enough, so they are taking these steps. The u. S. , officials will tell you they do not see a direct threat to the homeland at this point. They dont think. Thats what isis has on its mind. They do have concerns that there is the loan wolf scenario out there. There are about 100 americans that traveled to syria and iraq to fight there with militant groups, maybe a dozen or so that joined up with isis being tracked closely by u. S. Law enforcement. A lot of concern they could return home, that they could conduct loan wolf attacks here. Right now, no specific information, were told. Thats right. Isis is an organization but islamic extremism is an ideology. Were going into a travel weekend, do officials have more heightened concerns than normal . Its interesting. Labor day weekend and very rapidly this country comes up on the 9 11 anniversary. This is a time of year when Law Enforcement and count terrorism says there is a heightened state of concern and alert because of these two events. So Many Americans on the move traveling by air, by road across the country visiting family, visiting friends, going on the last summer vacation. There is a lot of awareness. As we stand here tonight, Officials Say again, they have no specific information about any plot for a homeland attack, jake . Have a great weekend, thank you. Sure. Cnn International Correspondent joins me from london on the ramped up threat level there in the jk. Carl, good to see you. The uk threat level is raised to severe which is defined as quote an attack is highly likely. Is there intelligence that there is a specific threat against the uk . Well, jake, this is the highest threat level there has been in britain for more than three years. When we talked to david cameron, we asked that. He said he had no specific intelligence to suggest any attack was imminent. Hes basing raising the threat level with his security agencies on the basis that more than 500 britains may now be fighting with isis and jihad groups in syria and iraq and any of those could return to britain at any time to create havoc. That of course, isnt a new threat. Weve long known of britains in syria and iraq and before that out in afghanistan and then when mr. Cameron went on to describe how he would combat this ideology he said it could be a generational battle, a wabattle that could take years or decades. Thats curious he chose this moment this raise the level. It was stressed people should continue to go about our lives in the normal way. Did he give any details about what steps he plans to initiate to mitigate this threat . There are several things that he wants to do here on the home front in britain. He says hes considering withdrawing passports from britains that tried to travel or coming back from conflict zones where they may have fought alongside jihad groups. Hes considering travel bans for those to try and stop them before they get into trouble. That he says is going to put to Parliament Next Week and something your average britain will notice is from tomorrow the police said they will step up patrols at airports, rail way stations and also on the streets we might see armed Police Patrolling with guns. Were not really used to that on the streets of britain, jake. Thank you so much. Joining me, our cnn nargs nrksn security analyst and former u. S. Ambassador, director for international college. What is it that has Prime Minister so fearful, the isis fighter on the james foley video . Something specific . They are worried about foreign fighters that have come back. Another thing they are worried about is sympathizers within the uk who might want to act up because there is so much in the press right now about isis and they may want to show they can act, too, and that they are getting off their fences and really taking charge and then finally, you know, its just the fact that this is really a consuming issue at the moment and they are probably worried that all that focus on the foley execution caused a lot of stir among people with radical sympathies. Bob, Something Like 500 br british citizens have fought with isis. Do you think the threat is greater with the uk or is it equally as concerning here in the u. S. Even though there is no apparent plan to bump up the United States level . Its much worse in britain because you do have a large south asian community. They are alienated much more. They are a class system in britain which excludes them and, you know, they are forced into ghettos, the ghettos around east. They are more likely to respond because they are not integrated and if there is an attack, we will see something of it in london. Daniel, how worried should americans be about an isis attack in the homeland, in the United States itself . Is that a primary goal how it was for al qaeda . No, i dont think so, jake. I think there is a certain amount of hyper ventilation at the moment. The longterm threat is serious. When you have a safe haven like syria and iraq, you have a real problem that has to be dealt with over the long term. This is a group that has no track record of plotting terrorist attacks outside of its own area. We may again see sympathizers here in the u. S. Who want to act up and carry out an attack and there may also be a returning foreign fighter, although, we have pretty good intelligence on travelers and i think that thats a threat that we can manage pretty well. Lets talk about how good our intelligence is when it comes to travelers. Bob, when you think about the american jihad from florida, he actually flew back from syria. He was in florida. Then he returned to the battle field and then he died in a suicide bombing. Why are people like him or at least why did he, why was he able to go undetected . Well, it depends whether on social networking. They will come up and be flagged at the fbi. Lets dont forget the boston bombing. We were told by the russians that these two were a problem and they in turn fell through the cracks. This could happen again. The fbi is not a political police. They cant catch everything and yes, they can track people leaving the country and when they come back but you cant track them when they cross the boarder into iraq or syria, cant do it. Some could go to turkey for six months. If you stay off social networking, you could probably fly under the radar and get away with this. You know, its a chance alone, wolf, coming out of nowhere, a chance of someone going to syria and getting combat trained and never come up on the radar, absolutely. Stay with us, next, i want to get your take on this, its being called the laptop of doom. Journalists get their hands on secret files from an isis laptop, documents basically a manuel on how to destroy the world. How journalists got it and what they found coming up next. If you dont think seize the trip when you think aarp, then you dont know aarp. Get inspired with aarp travel. Plan and book your trip online and get hot travel tips from the pros. Find more real possibilities at aarp. Org possibilities. For over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. Were helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. Transamerica. You know your dunlike natural teeth. Try new fixodent plus true feel. The smooth formula helps keep dentures in place. Its free of flavors and colorants. For a closer feeling to natural teeth. Fixodent. And forget it. Its the trusted resource. And now, kbb. Com has a whole new way to help you decide on your next new car by showing you what really matters. Use 5year cost to own to compare the long term cost of maintenance, insurance and gas. Read reviews. Woman gas milage is awesome. From actual owners and Kelley Blue Book experts. And get the full picture on what its like to own the cars youre considering kbb. Com welcome back. Its an indication what isis may be plotting. Its called the terror laptop of doom and with good reason. On it was a treasure trove of documents, tens of thousands of hidden files detailing everything from how to make bombs and rockets to how to weaponize the plague. Joining me is our guest. Is a threat specifically to the homeland, the plague is possibly in the arsenal is stunning and according to files on the laptop, i would like to know how would they create and launch such a weapon . Difficult to say. They have a manuel for it. We found it on the laptop. What i think is important is three elements. We have basically a national, chemistry student who traveled to syria, joined isis and who carries this manuel of biological weapons on his laptop who has an interest in trying to develop it. These three factors make it very worriso worrisome, how far they are . We dont know. Maybe the guy, owner, is dead. We dont know. There is a certain interest among isis people with a science background into developing these kind of terrible diseases. The laptop includes an islamic ruling from a radical saudi justifying the use of the plague or weapons. What more can you tell us about that . This explains if you cannot beat the unbelievers in some kind of way, you eventually can use weapons of mass destruction against them. Have they developed it . I dont know. Are they currently developing it inside syria . I dont know. How specifically can you come into possession of such a treasure trove of files on isis on this laptop . We found it through a rebel commander who commands moderate syrian rebels. They fight against the asod regime but radicals of isis. They attacked an isis safe house. Eventually, we convinced the commander to give the laptop to us or better he allowed us to make a copy of it on an external hard drive and we got 146 gigabyte of material and thousands of documents, 35 thousand documents and, you know, some were really worrisome. Is there more you have yet to read or have you gone through all of the documents pretty much . Weve gone through more or less all of the documents. There are other documents in like how to steal cars, they are all kind of related to jihad. So its like how to steal cars, how to make rockets, how to make bombs, basically how to destroy the world in short. Also, we found documents of how to get fake passports, how to travel from one jihad hot spot to another without being called by the authorities. So yes, for sure very interesting laptop that we got. How to destroy the world, a chilling summery. Thank you so much for your time. Youre welcome. Back with me now our Cnn National Security analyst and officer bob bear and former u. S. Ambassador at large daniel benjamin. So bob, let me start with you, this isis fighter, a trained chemist is looking how to prepare a biological weapon. How concerned are you by this news . Jake, today when i heard the news of the plague sounded a bit strange to me and i called up an expert that works for the pentagon and he said forget bubonic plague. Its fleas spreading this is very remote. What they are looking at today is ebola, you know. You simply put somebody, a victim in a center fugue, get the liquid, atomize it and spread it around in a transportation system. Thats what has them scared. Its very easy to do and something they are aware of. Its extremely alarming and its very unlikely to happen but its a possibility. Dan, its one thing to research this kind of thing, al qaeda has been trying to stage an attack like this for 20 years but quite another to actually put a plan into action and succeed, right . Oh, it really is. There are a lot of different points at which a plot like this can break down and also, you know, the terrorists groups, i think understand after all these years of experimentation that to do this right is going to require a great deal of investment, resources, and management by senior leaders. That is something that discouraged al qaeda. So isis has to think about how much it wants to dedicate to the effort when again, its really been very much focused on the insurgency. There is no question the whyend threat, the biological weapons, radio device, chemical weapons, these are what worry people in washington the most and thats what they are most worried about. The chemical attack in tokyo in the 9 90s, they devoted a lot money to get that right, money that even would be hard for isis to scrape together. Bob, the one thing so many policy makers here in washington find truly concerning is isis does have serious money and they are spread out across the world and cities, not isolated in remote areas like afghanistan and pakistan. Is this why so many counterterrorism officials and people like hagel seem so alarmed and concerned . Well, they are alarmed on a couple levels. One is isis is much bigger than the 10 to 15,000 people we keep hearing. They are supported by the tribes and Eastern Syria by the tribes, not all of them, some of them and by the sunni middle class. Were seeing a sunni rising. They are going to use them until they dont need them anymore. Additionally, they have seized gold. They have got the old fields. They have got wheat production. They are part of a tigerous river. They are selfsustaining. If we think isis will go away in six months, i think were badly mistaken. If we have to go in and destroy them, which is possible, our military can do it, will they take revenge against the United States and i think its almost certain, although they dont have a track record so far of international terrorism. Thank you so much. Just ahead, did president obama misfire with his messages when he said he doesnt have a strategy for going after isis in syria. The white house still trying to set the record straight today putting the blame on reporters. At the lexus golden opportunity sales event, youll discover what happens when we cut corners. The corners of test tracks. Where we engineered our most tracktested line of Performance Vehicles ever. The result our Gold Standard of performance. And the only place youll find it is at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. Now through september 2nd. This is the pursuit of perfection. From the experts in feminine protection. Introducing danceallyouwant bladder leak protection new always discreet underwear for sensitive bladders. Only always discreet underwear has soft dual leakguard barriers to help stop leaks where they happen most. Plus a discreet fit that hugs your curves. You barely feel it. New always discreet. Now bladder leaks can feel like no big deal. Because hey, pee happens. Visit alwaysdiscreet. Com for coupons and your free sample. Britains decision to raise the Terror Threat level because of the growing threat from isis comes less than 24 hours after president bush said he doesnt have a strategy for going after isis in syria. Here is what he said exactly in case you missed it. Well continue to consult with congress and i think it will be important for congress to weigh in and that our consultations with congress continue to develop so that the American People are part of the debate, but i dont want to put the cart before the horse. We dont have a strategy yet. Now, shortly after president obama said that, the white house made it appoint that clarified the choice of words saying that he wasnt talking about his overall strategy for responding to isis, just the part of the equation dealing with going after isis targets in syria. Still, to a lot of people that suggests the commander in chief may have misfired with his messaging. Today when the spokesperson revisited the issue, jim accoos pressed him on the point. He was asked a specific question whether or not the president would seek congressional authorization before ordering military action in syria. And the point the president made is thats putting the cart before the horse. The president hasnt yet laid out a specific plan for military action in syria. And the reason for that is simply that the pentagon is still developing the plan and hes still reviewing them. I dont mean to belabor it, but the fact you came out so quickly and tried to explain what the president had to say suggests that what he said was not what he intended to say, or are you saying that just the rest of us took it the wrong way . The reaction that we had at the white house yesterday was not in response to the comments but in response to the way it was being reported. They didnt like the way it was reibeing reported. This evening president obama mentioned the crisis in the middle east and said if you watch the nightly news, it feels like the world is falling apart. The world has always been messy, were just noticing now in part because of social media. Joining me now is david and gloria berger. The white house is basically still doing damage control on the comments from yesterday and the president saying look, its not as bad as it looks, its just social media makes us see this up close. So its twitterers fault or the medias fault. Of course, thats the world in which we live, jake. Thats the world in which the white house lives because when it serves their interest to tweet or blog or the president going to the podium as he did yesterday to spread the word, then they will say its okay. In this particular instance, hes saying calm down. I would say its not the medium, its the message or lack of a message. David, as far as his comments yesterday on syria, forgetting even, if you want, the question about the strategy, the comments he made about the strategy, a lot of people wondered why did he go out there and speak when ultimately whether or not the strategy comment was a gaffe, there was no plan whether it came to isis or ukraine. Not clear. What is clear over the last two days including the comments from tonight, the report, jake, the president seems to be off his game. I think the white house needs to be rattled. Any Time White House aids rush to the phones and ive been there and done it, ive participated in this, you call out to reporters, here is what the president meant to say. We paid a mistake, its not a big deal, what the really big deal is we dont have a frat stra strategy. Thats what we ought to be talking about because there seems to be disagreement withi

© 2025 Vimarsana