Obama Administration Considering U.S. Air Strikes in Iraq
BALDWIN: We heard from the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, just a little while ago, speaking on what he called the near catastrophic humanitarian situation that is happening there. A lot of religious minority groups, thousands of them. It is hard to precise on the number of fleeing the northern part of Iraq. And many of whom are stuck on top of a mountain, because of the militant organization called ISIS. Jim Sciutto, our chief national security correspondent, let me bring you in. Because I was just talking to Jim Acosta from the White House, and he was really trying to press Josh Earnest on, you know, White House also talking about weighing possible military options, but was not specific. Would not, you know, put air strikes on the table. You have some information on this. Go ahead.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we can now report that the Obama administration is considering U.S. air strikes in Iraq. This is from the U.S. official. This U.S. official also tells me that strikes are something the administration had been considering for some time. In the latest developments in Iraq, might now meet that threshold. So not decided yet, but something that is very much on the table. What are those latest developments that have changed the calculus here? One, you reference, Brooke, the situation of this religious minority, the Yazidis, tens of thousands of them, stuck on a hilltop in Iraq, under threat of a massacre. This is one. But also ISIS' advance and holding of territory in Iraq. We learned today that ISIS has again taken over the key Mosul dam that supplies electricity to the city of Mosul, which has become the capital of its Islamic caliphate in Iraq. Because of that advance, because of the threats to the Yazidis, that now has the administration considering these air strikes on Iraq now, Brooke. And I can also tell you this, that the administration is considering a number of options, one of them is the air drop of humanitarian aid to the Yazidis, because as they are under threat of a massacre from Isis forces, they are now surrounding them in northern Iraq. They're also starving to death. They don't have any water. They are considering an aid drop. And Brooke, they are also considering the possibility of how they would open up a humanitarian corridor, in effect, to get the Yazidis from this one oasis of safety they found to safer ground Kurdish control areas in the north of Iraq. So, you have a lot of steps the administration is taking. But this is a measurable step forward here, Brooke, for the administration to be considering now U.S. air strikes in Iraq, something as you know, the president said he would not do a few months ago.</s>BALDWIN: Yes. And Josh Earnest at the White House, just a little while, it is very clear saying, you know, listen, this problem, these Iraqi problems, they are problems the reaction need to solve. These are not problems the Americans would solve. It seems that this new information just eking out, thanks to you and your sources. I'm going to guess that we have no idea as far as a timetable, be it the humanitarian air drops or possible air strikes?</s>SCIUTTO: We don't. I would say humanitarian air drops more immediate. There is an immediate need there. And they're looking at steps to establish this humanitarian corridor. There is no time frame on air strikes. So on U.S. air strikes if the president decides to exercise this option. And that's what it is now, an option. But I will tell you, you know, the developments are moving very quickly on the ground in Iraq. It is one ISIS has advanced. They have taken over this power plant, this dam, this key dam near Mosul. But in addition, you have, you know, thousands of Yazidis under threat of death now. And Brooke, you and I have talked about this before. We have seen what ISIS can do when it is left to its own devices. It slaughters innocents. It does not hesitate at all, and it's that urgency that may have put air strikes to pass this threshold, in effect, for ordering air strikes.</s>BALDWIN: Let's stay in close contact. You keep that phone close by. And as soon as you get new information, this is fast moving, just hop back on TV and we'll get you on the show. We just want to make sure we get the freshest information out there. Jim, thank you.</s>SCIUTTO: Will do.</s>BALDWIN: Let's talk now the breaking news out of Eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian government counterterrorism official says pro-Russian militants have shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet. According to preliminary reports, that indicates it was downed using a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system. So let's get straight to CNN's senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, in Donetsk, Ukraine. And Nick, tell me more.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is supposed to have happened near a town called</s>BALDWIN: So that was the news that happened today. We saw him being interviewed when Chris Cuomo was over there. Now, he is out. I guess my follow-up to you, because, you know, we have been talking so long with investigators trying to get into the crash site area and you said so many times they can't, because there is a war going on and we know that Ukraine ended the cease-fire right around that MH-17 crash site. What was the jet part of this renewed attack on the rebels in that area?</s>WALSH: Well, they have been using jets for quite some time. We don't know what it was doing in the sky. But we know that, really, the chance of investigators getting into the site for weeks possibly ahead is almost zero. The Dutch have gone home. It seems or pulled back away from the site itself and even the monitors who are helping them get there, they're coming down in number too, and changing the focus their mission away from access the crash site back to monitoring this conflict here. People feel, I think, particularly, given the political announcement here in Donetsk, we're entering a new phase, either it is the end of the separatist militants or is that final fight they are trying to hold on to territory. All eyes still on Moscow, though, what its next call is going to be. It's got 20,000 troops, just on the other side of the border. The U.S. very worried. They're mobile enough to intervene. No one is quite sure what Putin's real idea or ambition is here. But we're into a very complex few days ahead, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: All eyes on Moscow, wondering what Vladimir Putin is up to behind the scenes. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for your reporting there, for the many recent weeks in Ukraine. More on our breaking news as the U.S. is considering air strikes in Iraq, as just reported by Jim Sciutto, as these ISIS militants are terrorizing religious minorities. But also right now, the head of the CDC testing there in Washington on Capitol Hill, about the deadly Ebola outbreak. And this comes as the crisis has sparked the highest alert. There is a lot going on, on this Thursday. Stay right with me. More on breaking news on CNN.