Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20150128 : vimarsana

CNNW The Situation Room January 28, 2015

Breaking now, a deal may be in the works for a prisoner swap with isis. The terror group has demanded that jordan release a jailed female bomber and jordan says its willing to do so if if isis frees a jordanian Fighter Pilot captured in syria. The demand came in a video message from a japanese isis hostage whose comrade has already been beheaded. His own fate is unknown. At the same time hair trigger tensions along israels northern border area. Two Israeli Soldiers are dead in a hezbollah missile attack. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns those behind it will pay a price. Israel has retaliated with heavy shelling and a u. N. Peace keeper died in the crossborder violence. We have full coverage of both breaking stories and a whole lot more. Our correspondents and analysts are standing by along with jordans foreign minister and state department spokeswoman, jen psaki. Lets begin with our chief National Security correspondent, jim sciutto. He has the very latest. This would be the complicated and difficult deal a convicted terrorist for in exchange for jordanian, possibly as well as japanese journalist. A government source tells me today the exchange is not imminent. The key obstacle is that isis has not presented proof of life evidence that that jordanian pilot is still alive. Without that jordanian Officials Say there will be no Prisoner Exchange. At the turkey syria border today, an anxious wait for a Prisoner Exchange that so far hasnt happened. Today, jordan made a bold public offer to release this woman, Sajida Al Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber from a devastating attack on oman hotels in 2005 that killed dozens. Her release, in exchange for the jordanian pilot, lieutenant muadh sak yusuf al kasasibah captured when he went down in syria last month and it is hoped captured japanese journalist kenji goto. On tuesday, isis released a video of mr. Goto handcuffed holding a picture of what seems to be lieutenant al kasasibah, warning that without al rishawis freedom, they would both be killed within 24 hours, a deadline that has passed. The Deputy Foreign minister is in jordan now on what he says is a nonstop effort to save his fellow citizen. We will never give up until our japanese hostage, mr. Goto is safely coming back to our nation. Reporter the proposed exchange remains uncertain. Jordan says isis has yet to show evidence the pilot is still alive, placing already difficult negotiations in an agonizing limbo. Not sure that jordan can go ahead without an assurance that they are going to get their pilot back. The war effort is controversial in jordan. This puts the king of jordan in a very difficult position. Reporter tense talks come as isis demonstrated its growing reach far beyond syria and iraq. Isis has now claimed responsibility for the deadly siege on the Corinthia Hotel in libya that killed ten, including American Security contractor david berry. Showcasing images of men isis claims to be the attackers. Weve got people in libya, they like watching what isis is doing, they are extremis jihadists themselves and they want to carry the banner of isis. Reporter expanding in libya but pushed back in syria. Kurdish forces are celebrating the retaking of the town of kobani though only after a relentless air campaign of u. S. Led strikes, some 700 over four months. The latest strikes coming just last night. Isis 24 hour deadline included in its latest hostage video expired this morning but you will remember a previous 72 hour deadline for killing the two japanese hostages passed last friday with evidence since then that at least one of them kenji goto is still alive. Of course one of the difficulties in any exchange like this any negotiation with terrorists is deep deep uncertainty, lack of trust and thats a real obstacle. They do need that proof of life to show that jet Fighter Pilot, the f16 pilot is still alive. No question. Thats a basic thing. Jordanian officials, the foreign minister echoed there will be no exchange until they have that proof. Jim sciutto, thanks very much. Lets go to the pentagon right now. Our correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by. Barbara, you have been speaking to sources about all of this. What are you hearing . Reporter well look wolf King Abdullah of jordan now in one of the most sensitive situations potentially of his reign over that country. The u. S. Well aware of what jordan is going through right now. Big question are they even talking to the right people who can possibly deliver them the pilot and the japanese hostage. The u. S. Is aware that jordan right now is sensitive to any notion it is negotiating with isis terrorists. What the jordanians are saying is they are engaging in a Prisoner Exchange. They are going to point out, i think you will see that the u. S. Did this with bergdahl the Army Sergeant that the u. S. Got back after exchanging him for five taliban prisoners, also pointing out israel often exchanges palestinian prisoners to get its military personnel back. The jordanians making the case in their view that this is standard procedure in war zones for prisoners to be exchanged. Right now, with no proof of life as everyone is saying nothing is going to happen. But the key question why would the jordanians be willing to give up this woman who was convicted in this Devastating Hotel attack that still resonates through oman to this day since 2005. Officials are telling me she was not directly responsible for any of the killing, devastating as the attack was, her suicide vest malfunctioned so they think they can agree to release her. That is what the jordanian government is saying. But as the hours tick by make no mistake, concern growing about how all of this will be resolved. Wolf . Its a sensitive, sensitive, very delicate moment right now. Barbara, thanks very much. The United States government obviously watching all of these developments very closely and its own swap of taliban prisoners, five of them at Guantanamo Bay for the captured u. S. Army sergeant bo bergdahl may give jordan cover to go forward with its own swap. Lets talk about all of this and more with a state department spokeswoman, jen psaki. Thanks very much for joining us. Great to be here. If the jordanians go ahead and release this female terrorist, convicted terrorist, in exchange for their pilot, captured by isis and maybe throw in the japanese journalist who hopefully is still alive, that would be okay with the u. S. Government right . Well let me first say, wolf that jordan is a partner country. They are a friend an ally. We work with them on a range of issues around the world. They are going through an incredibly difficult situation that unfortunately, we can relate to given our own history with isil hostages here. This hasnt happened yet. As you mentioned in your reporting and through your reporters, there are a lot of different scenarios and details. We are in touch with a range of parties but we are going to wait to see what happens and how this plays out before we make a judgment. But on principle, a swap like this similar to what the u. S. Did in exchange for bo bergdahl releasing five prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, taliban prisoners, that was all done through the negotiations intermediaries of qatar, you would understand and presumably support a jordanian decision to free this convicted terrorist . Well wolf obviously lets see what happens. We certainly support, jordan is a sovereign country. They are again, a country we work very very closely with. The situation with bergdahl as you know he was a prisoner. He was in combat he was taken and we dont leave men and women who have served our country behind. That was the situation where there has been ample precedent in the past and we decided to make a swap. There are many different scenarios at play here but again, we are in touch with a range of countries. We are watching this closely and we share the heartache and anguish of the jordanian and frankly, the japanese people. Whats your message to the government of jordan and the government of japan . Well one both the government of jordan and the government of japan and their people are friends, they are our partners. We work with them on a range of issues and their heartache is our heartache. We unfortunately relate to what they are going through. We have a range of our own policies as you know as a United States government and we dont make concessions to terrorists terrorists. That includes ransoms, that includes swaps, and we have those policies in place to keep american citizens as safe as they can. But we understand the need and the desire to protect and do what is necessary to bring citizens home. We take steps on our own to do that with our american citizens. Is it your understanding, i know this is sensitive, delicate diplomatic negotiations that are under way, but is it your understanding that jordans demand is their Fighter Pilot, that f16 Fighter Pilot, be freed in exchange for this convicted female terrorist, or are they also demanding that the japanese journalist be part of this deal . Well, wolf, there are a lot of different reports out there. Thats exactly why youre asking that question. I know the government of jordan has spoken a bit to this. The government of japan has a bit. We have had conversations. But given how sensitive it is and just in the interest of being as supportive as possible im just not going to outline those more publicly at this point in time. Lets talk a little about this most recent video that isis released. Its a video that shows the japanese, the two japanese hostages and it was apparently shot indoors. They had some fake background or whatever instead of outdoors. You understand why they would do this . I dont have any analysis for you. Obviously there are experts in the Intel Community who look at that. They pose no question to the authenticity of the video. I know the government of japan has also spoken to that as well. Our focus is really at this point on being as supportive as we can of the government of japan and their people at this point in time. So as far as you know and we hope that jordanian f16 Fighter Pilot and that japanese journalist they are still alive. Well we dont have any more details or information on that wolf. Obviously the jordanians have also spoken to that. But there are a lot of Unanswered Questions and obviously this is an incredibly sensitive and fluid situation. Speaking of sensitive and fluid situations, its pretty sensitive and fluid right now, potentially deadly along the israeli northern border with syria and with lebanon. I want you to stand by. We will have a full report on whats going on. Its a delicate moment a deadly moment already. 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The mother of the japanese hostage, kenji goto is begging her government in tokyo to save his life. The government says it wont give up that fight. Will is joining us live from tokyo. Will ripley what is the latest you are getting . Reporter well theres a lot of tension here right now because its been more than seven hours since we have gotten an official word from the japanese government an official update and that last update was that they had no news to report. So what tokyo needs to know right now is confirmation of one of two things. That a successful prisoner swap has occurred which we do not believe to be the case because had that happened once all parties were safe we would have known about it. So the second thing that we need to find out in tokyo is has isis agreed to delay this execution deadline and are negotiations still ongoing. We are getting word that perhaps there may be some indirect talks but until we hear directly from isis that in fact and isis is willing to show proof that these two prisoners, kenji goto and muadh sak yusuf al kasasibah are still alive, there will be sad prospects for japan. Lets say hypothetically that jordan gets its pilot back from isis they release this convicted woman who is convicted of terrorism but the japanese journalist remains captive. I assume the japanese government would be severely disappointed that they couldnt get a threeperson swap. Reporter absolutely. That would be a horrible outcome for the government here in tokyo. They do have some leverage in the fact that they have pledged a significant amount 200 million of humanitarian aid to help a lot of the syrian and iraqi refugees in that region including in jordan. So japan also through Oil Diplomacy has good relationships with a lot of middle Eastern Countries and they are certainly trying to cash in on that Political Capital to see what kind of a deal can be worked out. But yes, it would be very disappointed and then it really comes down to this, wolf. Does kenji goto has he been able to develop some sort of rapport with his captors. They clearly kept him alive for a reason. They have now used him in two different propaganda videos. Does he have some sort of connection that can help him stay alive until isis decides to either release him or the other scenario which people dont want to talk about but is on everyones minds here. Thanks very much for that, will ripley in tokyo. We are following all the information thats breaking tonight. Jordans willingness or unwillingness to swap if you will its clear they are ready to exchange this convicted woman terrorist for their pilot. Lets go back to the state department spokeswoman, jen psaki. Whats it like jen, i know you are familiar with all of this this dialogue that apparently is under way between the jordanian and japanese government, is the u. S. Involved in helping to coordinate those talks . Well again, i really refer you to the government of japan and the government of jordan. These are their hostages. Certainly we support and we can relate to what theyre going through and these challenges that theyre going through, but this isnt a u. S. Effort. Lets leave that for a moment and go to whats going on in northern israel along the border with lebanon and syria right now. As you know there was another incident today, a deadly incident two Israeli Soldiers were killed about seven or eight were injured, some of them severely. The Prime Minister of israel Benjamin Netanyahu, warning there will be israeli reaction. Has the secretary of state been in touch with secretary netanyahu . He does speak with him regularly every couple days. The secretary just got back this morning and had a range of meetings on his schedule. I know he hopes to talk with him in the next 24 hours about this situation as well as a range of issues we discuss with israel. How concerned are you of a possible escalation . I suspect that neither hezbollah nor the israelis want an escalation but you know that part of the world, one miscalculation could trigger allout war. Certainly we dont want an escalation either. I think we need to remember here this was hezbollah attacking israel attacking an idf and israel has the right to defend itself. Certainly they do broadly but this is a case where they were attacked. Now, as you noted, there has long been a un. Security Council Resolution that kind of monitors peace along the line the blue line there. Thats certainly something, reducing the tension, reducing the back and forth, having peace in that area is certainly something we would support and we hope for. As you know iran is a major supporter of hezbollah. Whats its role in all of this . I dont have more details on that at this point. Youre right, theres a long history there, they have been supporters of hezbollah but in terms of this specific attack i dont have any details on that. Jen psaki, thanks very much for joining us. Coming up there is new deaths rising tensions. We will have much more on these growing fears of war along one of israels most dangerous boundaries. We are going live to israels northern border with lebanon and syria. Then the spokesman for israels military is standing by live. He is in jerusalem. Weve got a bunch of questions for him on this very very deadly situation. Stt vo introducing the starbucks flat white. Crafted with two ristretto shots for bolder caramelly espresso. Whole milk. Steamed to a sweet velvety microfoam delicately poured, so the espresso rises to the top. The Perfect Union of bold and sweet. Simplicity is its own artistry. 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