[Whitfield:] All right, it was a visit that caught a lot of people off guard and has new video to show it, America's top military leader, General Martin Dempsey, making a surprise visit to Baghdad. This comes as the U.S. prepares to expand its assistance to Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting ISIS on the ground. Arwa Damon, CNN's senior international correspondent, joining me now from Turkey. So Arwa, do we know what the agenda is for the general?
[Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, he's already met with the Iraqi prime minister. His office putting out a statement that they spoke about the progress Iraqi Security Forces had made and that they also spoke about what needed to be done to try to ultimately defeat ISIS. He's also met with the American commanders that are currently on the ground. General Dempsey's mission is quite vital at this stage. The U.S., in the past, had grossly underestimated the capabilities of ISIS, hence their speedy advance throughout northern Iraq over the summer that took everyone by surprise. The U.S. had also overestimated, perhaps, the capacities of the Iraqi Security Forces and their cohesiveness, prior to the full U.S. troop withdrawal. General Dempsey is a man who knows Iraq very well. Initially, as the commander of the first armored division in the early years of the war, and then he, himself, headed up, [inaudible], the multi-national transitional forces Iraq unit that effectively was in charge of training and equipping the Iraqi Security Forces. So he knows the country pretty well. He knows the players pretty well. And the U.S., at this point, cannot afford to see the mistakes of the past be repeated, hence his need to be in Iraq to make that initial assessment firsthand.
[Whitfield:] And Arwa, this is what General Dempsey told CNN before his visit and on the other side, we'll talk about it.
[General Martin Dempsey, Joint Chiefs Chairman:] We need to develop a ground campaign. We've got an air campaign that's ongoing. We need to integrate into that a ground campaign. We need to be able to put pressure on ISIL from multiple directions simultaneously. We need to continue to restore the capability, training and equipping of the Iraqi Security Forces and the Peshmerga. We need to keep pressure on ISIL in its safe haven inside Syria. We need to build up a Syrian opposition to confront that. And we need a bit of patience.
[Whitfield:] So, Arwa, do we know what the interpretation there in Iraq I know you're in Turkey, but what the interpretation in Iraq might be when the general says, you know, stepping up of this ground campaign.
[Damon:] Well, look, the main focus here, as far as anyone understands, is to try to get the Iraqi Security Forces to actually do the job that they were trained to do. And that is to be able to effectively push ISIS out of its stronghold and then for them to be able to hold and secure the territory. The sense in Iraq, though, is that all of this will be something of a moot point if those political pillars are not put into place. And by that, I mean, the real need for the Shia-led government in Baghdad to reach out to those Sunni tribes. General Dempsey's assessment of what needs to be done is, of course, spot-on, but how that translates and what other steps are needed in parallel, that's going to be something that is really going to lie in the political spectrum. This is not something that can be accomplished militarily. Dempsey, of course, given his history in Iraq is very well aware of that. The question is whether or not the U.S. can put the needed pressure on the Iraqi government in Baghdad and whether or not the government in Baghdad can genuinely reach out to those Sunni tribes. Look, they've made pretty significant moves so far. The government has begun arming the Sunni tribes, something that they have been asking for, for quite some time now. Remember, it was the Sunni tribes that rose up against what was al Qaeda back in 2007, 2008. That then allowed for the tides to be turned back then. So there is this realization that it's going to have to be a multi- tiered effort before even beginning to talk about defeating an entity like ISIS Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] All right, Arwa Damon, thanks you so much, on the border there in Turkey. Meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin getting a very chilly reception at the meeting of the G20 Summit. Leaders of the world's most powerful nations in Brisbane, Australia, for the summit have been blasting Putin over Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Jim Acosta is traveling with the president Jim.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Fred, this headline in this newspaper here in Australia really says it all. It says, ice cold war, and it shows the Russian bear duking it out with the Australian kangaroo. You know, it's really been the G19 plus one, very isolated Vladimir Putin at this G20 Summit. The Russian president has gotten the cold shoulder from many of the leaders here in Brisbane. The summit's host, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott sent only low-level officials to greet Putin at the airport. Aides to Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper, say he told Putin, "I guess, I'll shake your hand, but you need to get out of Ukraine, and we did see President Obama walking into dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, deep in conversation. And in the video, you can hear the words cease-fire, and the president piled on Putin earlier in the day, mentioning the downing of Malaysian Flight 17 and vowing that the U.S. will continue to take on a lead role in standing up to Russia. Here's what the president had to say.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] We're leading and dealing with Ebola in West Africa and in opposing Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which is a threat to the world, as we saw in the appalling shoot down of MH-17, a tragedy that took so many innocent lives, among them your fellow citizens. As your ally and friend, America shares the grief of these Australian families, and we share the determination of your nation for justice and accountability.
[Acosta:] Russia created a stir at this summit by positioning some naval ships off of the Australian coast. Moscow said they were in the area for Putin's security, but Australia responded by sending its own warships to keep an eye on the Russians. Besides Putin, there are other big topics at this summit, such as Ebola, with the G20 leaders, releasing a joint statement encouraging nations who haven't joined the fight against the deadly virus to start doing so. And the battle against ISIS is also a top priority. Something President Obama will be discussing with leaders from Australia and Japan tomorrow. The president will end this trip with a news conference before heading back to Washington Fred.
[Whitfield:] All right, thank you so much, Jim Acosta. All right, the cold war may have ended a quarter of a century ago, but tensions are indeed high between western powers and Vladimir Putin's Russia, and plans for Russian bombers to patrol near U.S. coastlines, it's raising those tensions. Plus, the man who says he killed Osama Bin Laden sits down with CNN's Jake Tapper. That's straight ahead.