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@THISHOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

U.S. Airstrikes to Continue as Needed; ISIS Financed By Rich, Oil; Obama to Speak on Ferguson Teen Shooting, Iraq; Patty Duke Talks Robins Williams, Depression

Aired August 14, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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


JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We learned some 15,000 are transiting through a refugee camp in Syria. Many have their lives turned upside down and nowhere to go.

Steve, there is one aspect I want to ask you about. One of the reasons they're saying now they don't need to mount this evacuation effort because of the success of U.S. airstrikes against is. It begs the obvious question, if the airstrikes have been successful there, couldn't they be more successful if employed elsewhere and with greater frequency?

STEVE BUCCI, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, yeah. The actions have had a positive effect. That's a good thing. We're happy that there are a lot fewer Yazidis up there than we thought. This has obviated the need for a much bigger and frankly more dangerous rescue operation.

But keep in mind, just plinking individual tanks and mortar positions aren't going to solve the problem. ISIS has gone into hiding. They're not just sitting out in open areas anymore. It's going to make the targeting much more difficult. I personally think we need to get some of our own special operators embedded with the Peshmerga, with the Iraqi military to control the air, to really have a much more beneficial effect than we've had thus far.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, speak to that. Colonel, you talk about this one situation scenario mostly being handled and OK now. It doesn't strike to the heart of the problem.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No.

PEREIRA: You've spoken about your concern about that for some time.

FRANCONA: I think we're -- I've said this over and over, we're treating the symptom and not the disease. We have to go after ISIS wherever they are. And, you know, Steve's point is very well taken. We need to have U.S. eyes on these targets down there. I think there are. I believe there are some Central Intelligence Agency operative agencies working there and maybe Special Forces. I hope they continue to do that. I call this the Afghan model. This worked well when we were supporting the northern alliance, a small cadre of CIA officers and Special Forces able to have eyes on target and make the strikes more effective. Otherwise, you're just dropping bombs on what you think there is. Even drones can't do it. You need U.S. eyeballs on target.

BERMAN: Lt. Col. Rick Francona and Steve Bucci, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

PEREIRA: Ahead @THISHOUR, we are waiting for President Obama to speak about Iraq and much more. Stay with us. Much more @THISHOUR right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BERMAN: That is just one of the latest propaganda videos from ISIS, the ISIS fighters waging war right now in Iraq and Syria with a great deal of brutality.

PEREIRA: ISIS already the richest terrorist organization in the world and the group is using an enormous money flow of Middle East oil to help finance this reign of terror. But by some estimates, generating some $3 million a day in black market oil.

Our chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is here.

I think that is astounding, $3 million a day.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is the business model for is, business model for terror. For a long time it was financed by wealthy individuals or fundraisers around the Middle East getting the money for them, giving them the money to help them their seed capital if you will. Now they want to become self- financing, taking controlling of oil fields and selling the oil and getting money from it. Then do things like pay your troops, you can give at a low cost, sell the oil to local communities, build goodwill with them so they can have small scale electricity generation, give it to smugglers, make money to finance your operation.

BERMAN: There's no ISIS gas station.

ROMANS: No.

BERMAN: How do you buy ISIS oil?

ROMANS: Kurdish smugglers, Iraqi traders, traders who are trading it, smugglers get it to the truck drivers, truck drivers get it into Turkey eventually. Some Turkish authorities according to these think tanks have found makeshift plastic pipes coming across the border where the ISIS controlled oil is getting into other countries. It's sold on the black market. It's sold within the countries of Syria and Iraq, to help build goodwill. Some of these places they don't have any energy. It's almost the Hamas model, if you will, that you start to self-finance, get ability to pay your troops, people --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Win over the hearts of the people.

ROMANS: Get the money into the communities and gain power.

PEREIRA: In terms -- if we know about this, obviously, you know, smarter minds than others now about it as well. What is the U.S. -- is there anything the U.S. can do or other coalition countries can do to stem the flow of this?

ROMANS: That's a good question. At this point, what the U.S. government can do what the Treasury Department in particular can do, they can do the first part of this financing, which is the fundraisers, the wealthy individuals. Sometimes not so wealthy individuals raising this money and getting it back to ISIS. That means freezing the assets of these people in the U.S. and around the world. The United States Treasury has been doing that. Several individuals have had their own wealth targeted. You're trying to shut down the fundraisers if you will. That's why the self-financing part is so terrifying. Like an oil mafia there, where you have extortion, kidnappings and ransom and protection money. This has been going on since before Mosul fell where you have is taking protection money from businesses and the oil packs, so maybe they're not selling the oil sometimes on the open market, but they are paying to continue to operate and that money goes and they're paying their troops with it. Not nosily buying armaments because they've stolen those.

BERMAN: U.S. arms they took over from the Iraqi Army.

ROMANS: They need money to be a viable business and that's what they're trying to do.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, chief business correspondent and CNN anchor of a show called "Early Start."

PEREIRA: I'm familiar with that.

BERMAN: Thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

We are waiting for President Obama, he will speak at about 12:15 on the situation in Iraq, but also, the situation in Ferguson, Missouri. A lot of people waiting to find out what he has to say about that. Important to hear from him. More coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. This just in, President Obama set to make a statement in Martha's Vineyard in about 30 minutes from now.

PEREIRA: We're expecting to hear from the president about not only the situation ongoing in Ferguson, Missouri, an 18-year-old unarmed black teen was shot to death by police, and the city has erupted five nights now of chaos --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Go ahead.

BERMAN: I was going to say the president has been on vacation in Martha's Vineyard but rapid developments in both of these stories over the last several days. Five days now since the shooting occurred in if Ferguson. The president released a statement on paper but a lot of people saying he needs to say something out loud, particularly because this violence is showing no signs of abating.

PEREIRA: We've been watching the situation if Iraq as well, where it looked as though there might be a rescue mission deep into the mountain, Mount Sinjar where the refugees had taken refuge for a number of days, fleeing is militants, at one point said to be 10,000 to 20,000 of them, many of those people have been able to flee that area and get to some sort of safety, temporary as it is. But the concern is, as the president is sending in more military advisors, how many boots on the ground or can you call them boots on the ground in a humanitarian role?

BERMAN: Jim Acosta is with the president right now and joins us by phone.

Jim, as we've been saying a lot of pressure on the president to speak at more length, specifically about Ferguson, but also over the last 12, to 20 hours, many developments in Iraq?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's right, guys. And just so you understand why I'm on the phone here, because there's a bit of a scramble right now to get the president's statement out live here. The Secret Service is sweeping the news media. We've been move out of our filing center so we can't punch out the live shot as you might imagine that's why I'm coming by phone. The president en route to our location to deliver the statement. We expect to be on both the situations in Iraq and Ferguson, Missouri.

Last night, the president was given a briefing on the situation in Ferguson by the Attorney General Eric Holder and by a senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett.

You're right, there is a lot of pressure for the president to comment on that situation, not only because of the police investigation that is ongoing into the death of Michael Brown, but also because of the treatment that we've seen in the last 24 hours to the news media, trying to cover that situation there and the unrest in that community, all of that building pressure on the president to say something. And I can tell you that in the last 12 hours, we've seen the White House see that pressure on social media when Eric Schultz, the White House spokesman with the president, tweeted last night the president was at this party on Martha's Vineyard with the Clintons, a lot of the responses to Eric Schultz on Twitter were basically saying why isn't the president talking about Ferguson, why is he parties on Martha's Vineyard with so much going on. This is the nature of the presidency even when on vacation, you're not truly on vacation. We're seeing that.

As for Iraq, John and Michaela, you're right, this is also an unfolding situation that the president is keeping a close eye. He's been getting regular briefings throughout the day. But it is this situation at Mount Sinjar we'll hear the president talk about. As you heard from John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary earlier today, they feel like if they haven't exactly broken the siege at Mount Sinjar they've made major, major advances in terms of weakening those ISIS forces surrounding those refugees and that many of those refugees have gotten off the mountain. There's a lot of speculation as to whether or not the U.S. will launch some sort of rescue mission that would put troops in harm's way. That appears to be not the case at this point and we'll be getting an update from the president on that as well.

We don't think he's going to take questions, but something that we see in recent weeks we've been given guidance he doesn't take questions he decides to take questions.

Guys, thank you.

BERMAN: This will be very interesting. In the second term, the president has I think wanted to speak more directly in some cases about race and racial issues than he did in his campaign and first four years of his presidency. Five days into this crisis interesting to --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We've heard the president make personal remarks himself, a young black child at one point, raising two of his own, so he speaks from a parental point of view as well. So we'll wait and see.

We should point out coming up next hour on "Legal View" with Ashleigh Banfield, Governor Nixon, the governor from the state of Missouri, will be on live on CNN. We cannot wait to hear what he has to say. His state in crisis, one community within its state. We'll wait to hear what he has to say.

We'll take a short break and be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Robin Williams passed away when he lost his battle with depression.

PEREIRA: Actress Patty Duke is someone who knows that pain all too well. She felt rage when she heard the news because more hadn't been done to save Robin Williams.

Joining us is Broadway television and movie legend, Patty Duke, who prefers to be known by her real name, Anna Pierce.

What a delight to have you here.

PATTY DUKE, ACTRESS: I'm usually sitting in my bed with my second cup of coffee watching you both.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: A delight for us to have you in front of the camera. We'll let you have your coffee afterwards. I know you took this news very hard. But to you, it was very personal this tragedy, wasn't it? DUKE: Very. I only met Robin for a split second once, and it was a

split second of thrill. To tell you the truth, I screamed, no, no, no because that soul cannot be repeated on this earth, and I want to pass along my family's condolences to his family on the loss of their spirit. What he's done, though, even in his death is given us a challenge. We must redouble our efforts, triple our efforts in the field of mental illness. And that means those of us who are mentally ill and those who live with us, also our Congress. I'm going to get a little more political in my thrust these days. Our Congress must recognize that funding will help our nation have people back in the workforce and paying taxes. It there is help. I was diagnosed at the age of 35. My diagnosis was bipolar. I was treated with medication because it's a chemical imbalance of the brain and with therapy. There is hope. I promise you.

Last night on CNN you gave out a number. Suicide lifeline. 800-273- talk or 800-273-8225. That's a first step. Take it, please.

BERMAN: Anna, you can help us understand I think something that people have a lot of questions about. How can someone like Robin Williams, to us in the outside world, we think he's so funny, he's so happy, things are going so well, he has such a great life, how can that be everyone sees yet there be so much inner pain?

DUKE: Well, I'm sure there are a number of answers to that. Most of them I don't know. Except that he was a performer, and he put on the performer's persona. I wish I had known that he was suffering. I don't know that I could have helped him in any way, but I would have tried.

PEREIRA: Anna, I know that you were among the first people in the spotlight to come forward with such an admission and to speak your truth about your own mental health. I know that was when you were 35. You're just a little over that now.

DUKE: Just a little.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Do you think we have come far? I know we have so far to go in this country in terms of mental health.

DUKE: We have so far to go. But we have -- thanks to people like you and CNN and opportunities like this, people do talk about it more now. Now the issues to get to our -- people can't afford to go for help so insurance needs to be talked about and arranged by our Congress.

BERMAN: This has been something that you have struggled with for many, many, many years. Are there ever --

(CROSSTALK)

DUKE: It was 35 years.

BERMAN: Do you ever feel like you have it under control or is it always a battling with. DUKE: It's under control ever since my diagnosis and treatment began.

It was about three weeks to a month before I leveled off. But I have lived a balanced life for these 32 years. Do the math.

(LAUGHTER)

The age of 67, I am no longer afraid of death. I don't function from that place anymore. My husband and I travel this country now by car, 10,000 miles we have put on in this spring and summer so that I can reach out to people in person and they can see a functioning human being.

PEREIRA: We're so glad you do. Please keep up the work. Double and triple our efforts. There's a lot of folks that need the help. Thank you for reminding us of the hotline number.

Anna, Patty, thank you for your voice.

DUKE: I love you too. You keep up the good work, too.

PEREIRA: We'll do our best.

BERMAN: We'll be right back here tomorrow.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts after a quick break.

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