[Keilar:] As ISIS terrorists leave a trail of blood in Iraq, there are new concerns that they will team up with another deadly al Qaeda offshoot. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has the details on this. He is live from Beirut Mohammed.
[Mohammed Jamjoom, Cnn Correspondent:] Brianna, I've learned exclusive today from Yemeni officials just how fearful the Yemeni government is that an alliance is possibly being forged now between ISIS in Iraq and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen. The Yemeni officials I've spoken with say they are very worried about what that means not just for the region but how much of a threat that will pose to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
[Jamjoom:] Yemeni officials call it a nightmare scenario, the possibility that al Qaeda's most fearsome branch, Yemen's al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, could join ISIS in Iraq. They point to this audio message, posted on YouTube earlier this week. In it, a man purported to Mahmoud Hafan, a top AQAP commander from Yemen, repeatedly congratulates ISIS and its leadership on its victories in Iraq. Yemeni government sources tell CNN that members of AQAP are fighting alongside ISIS in Iraq. A U.S. defense official says there is no indication that AQAP has joined with ISIS in Iraq, but the official did say that there are foreign fighters and Sunni militants who are with ISIS there. Hafan, who has more than 40,000 followers on Twitter, posts others' messages of support for ISIS, like this video from jihadists in Indonesia, singing the praises of ISIS. Analysts warn any alliance between the two groups could prove extremely dangerous.
[Jonah Blank, Rand Corporation:] Each group's weaknesses could be filled by the other group. Say one group is very good at bomb making and another group is very good at propaganda. If you put the right bomb in the right place for the right propaganda effect, that can be far more important than either of these things on their own.
[Jamjoom:] Yemen is currently on the frontline of a war on terror with al Qaeda. The U.S. embassy there has been shut down for almost two months. Despite a massive American-backed counterterror offensive that began in April, AQAP has proven resilient and resurgent. Since 2011, AQAP has even been able to take over areas of Yemen. ISIS is making similar gains in Iraq. And analysts say the more territory taken by ISIS and the more the group works with AQAP, the worse it will get.
[Blank:] If they carve out an area of safe haven and that's their intent, this could be a launching point for attacks on America, on the west, really attacks globally.
[Jamjoom:] Brianna, my sources in Yemen also telling me a small number of ISIS fighters have now made their way to Yemen where they are supporting AQAP in their fight there. And Brianna, also apologies for all noise. There's a street party just outside our bureau here in Beirut.
[Keilar:] All right. Thanks for explaining that, Mohammed Jamjoom. Stay with us, though. Joining us from Turkey is former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, who's now a fellow at the Washington Institute. And with me here in studio, Doug Ollivant is the of the New America Foundation. He's a retired Army officer. He served in Iraq. Also served on the National Security Council in both the Bush and the Obama administrations. He's also a managing partner with the Mantid International with Mantid International, I should say, which has clients in security aerospace and defense. Ambassador Jeffrey, to you first. We're talking about a group, ISIS here, that al Qaeda said was too extreme. How dangerous is this group? It sounds obviously like it's very dangerous and the idea that they could be teaming up should be extremely alarming. Ambassador Jeffrey, to you first. We're talking about a group ISIS here that al Qaeda said was too extreme. How dangerous is this group? It sounds obviously like it's very dangerous and the idea that they could be teaming up should be extremely alarming.
[James Jeffrey, Former U.s. Ambassador To Iraq:] Well, they are dangerous to us as the president said today because of the threat to the homeland. But they're more specifically dangerous to the region because they're purveying a form of Salafist-Sunni Islamic terrorism that's aimed at the Shia minority throughout the whole region. And their goal is to spark a total religious war between Sunnis and Shias throughout the region and that's really something worrisome.
[Keilar:] So it's not just Iraq we're talking about. We're talking about the entire region. Doug, you look you worked in both the Obama and the Bush administrations. The idea that will AQAP and ISIS could can be teaming up, what do you make of that? Or maybe they're not joined but we heard in the
[Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant, U.s. Army:] Right. So a formal alliance probably not. But working loosely together, as he said exchanging techniques and tactics, having some advance trainers swap back and forth, all kinds of jihadist groups do this. And we shouldn't be surprised that these two franchises former franchise in one case, and AQAP, the most capable al Qaeda franchise, are talking to each other and helping each other out.
[Keilar:] And Mohammed, Yemen obviously very concerned about this. Is the concern there the regional the possibility for regional destabilization?
[Mohammed Jamjoom, Cnn International Correspondent:] Very much so. We've seen AQAP, which is arguably the most dangerous wing of the al Qaeda network be able launch attacks not just within Yemen but to be able to plot attacks against other targets in the region, many times over the course of the past several years. One of the targets they've consistently tried to attack has been Saudi Arabia. That's the largest oil producer. They share a border with Yemen. They tried AQAP to assassinate the interior minister in Saudi Arabia just a few years ago. They came very close to doing so. So if AQAP is now, as some Yemeni officials fear, possibly joining forces with ISIS, the fear is that much more of the region is going to be at stake and these two very strong groups will be able to plot a lot more attacks against targets here in the region and create a lot more regional instability at a time when sectarian divisions are as deep as they've ever been in this region Brianna.
[Keilar:] And, Ambassador, we're looking obviously at the acute problem of dealing with the violence in Iraq. But you there needs to be a political solution moving forward to having more inclusive country. And right now the U.S. isn't officially saying that Nouri al Maliki needs to go. You've met with him. It sounds like U.S. officials at this point are very dissatisfied with him. Do you think that he might kind of take that hint and step aside?
[Jeffrey:] Well, he has dictatorial instincts but in addition he's a terrible commander-in-chief as we saw in Mosul. I don't think he's going to take the hint and step aside. The question is, if his support is in the Shia religious community, in the Shia population generally, and to some degree even in Iran are willing to go for a unified Iraq. There can be no unified Iraq with the sort of policies that he has followed for the last several years. And everybody wants a unified Iraq. So I think that there's got to be a change of one or another sort, either in him or in the government.
[Keilar:] Douglas, talk about some of the semantics here. We heard President Obama today. He said the U.S. will be deploying 300 advisers.
[Ollivant:] Right.
[Keilar:] That's something when he's talking about advisors that are prepared to take targeted action, but they're not in combat. It sort of begs the question of how would they not be in combat if they're taking targeted action.
[Ollivant:] Well, they made it clear that these advisors will only be at brigade level and higher. So they'll be sitting in offices not unlike where you and I are, not out on the frontlines, and they'll be looking at the maps in these headquarters and using that to push data back to U.S. missiles or aircraft if the time comes when the president decides we have to do that.
[Keilar:] So they're sort of holed up, giving advice. Why is it so necessary to be right there on ground?
[Ollivant:] Well, it's the closer you can get the better. And I think the president has made the right decision here. This strikes me as the right balance between getting people out there so they're able to see and taking too much risk. We don't want them really out on the frontlines where there's a risk of someone actually being captured by
[Isis. Keilar:] So Americans shouldn't be, Ambassador, do you think should they be concerned about the possibility of mission creep?
[Jeffrey:] Absolutely not. Not with this president and almost never in the last 70 years have we seen mission creep once in Vietnam. And we're not going to make that mistake again. The president is pursuing a prudent strategy, as Mr. Ollivant mentioned. And he is ready to act if these ISIS people push forward, thus on an emergency basis, but he's not going to become Maliki's air force until he sees a more inclusive political as well as military solution to taking back these areas that ISIS controlled in the Sunni Arab region. And that's a wise way to go forward.
[Keilar:] All right. Ambassador Jeffrey, thank you so much. Mohammed Jamjoom in Beirut, thank to you, as well. And Doug Ollivant, thank you so much for being here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Now still ahead, caught on tape again. Donald Sterling allegedly intimidating witnesses. We have the obscenity laced recordings.
[Donald Sterling, L.a. Dodgers Team Owner:] I'm not incompetent. You're