Wildfires Burn Homes, Force Evacuations In Los Angeles Area; Airstrike And Shelling Intensify In Northeast Syria; U.S. Officials Worried About Turkey's Growing Ambitions In Syria; Poll: Majority Of Americans Support Trump Impeachment, Removal
PAUL: So, 25 minutes past the hour right now, and recent poll show support growing for President Trump's impeachment and removal from office but that same vulnerability doesn't seem to be as clear with his base. Are they sticking with him as they have during past scandals? Well, CNN's Martin Savidge asked voters in Florida, which is a key swing state, whether the ongoing impeachment inquiry has any real effect on their opinion.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Orlando, Florida, not the land of make-belief, but where people live and vote. And we're talking to Trump voters about impeachment.</s>RICHARD DOMZALSKI, TRUMP VOTER: I don't think he's getting a fair deal out -- I think it's very political.</s>SAVIDGE: Nearly three weeks into the formal congressional inquiry, polling shows a noticeable shift in the public's attitude towards impeachment. A Fox News poll released this week found 51 percent of registered voters supported President Trump's impeachment and remove from office. We wanted to see if shifting polls suggest Trump vulnerability among his base in the swing region of a key state. For most, the short answer is no. Does it change your opinion of this president?</s>BRIAN BAINES, TRUMP VOTER: In this case, no, no.</s>SAVIDGE: And you don't believe he's done anything wrong or broken any sort of oath of office?</s>BAINES: In this case, no.</s>SAVIDGE: On camera, no Trump voter tells us the president should be impeached. Do you believe this president has used his office for political gain?</s>DOMZALSKI: In this particular case?</s>SAVIDGE: Yes.</s>DOMZALSKI: I don't think so.</s>SAVIDGE: Most Trump voters we spoke with called the impeachment inquiry a sham put on by Democrats full of unsubstantiated claims to downplay the president's phone call with the president of Ukraine that seems to seek dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. You've seen the transcript of the phone call; I'd like you to do us a favor.</s>DOMZALSKI: I've seen the transcript. I haven't read the whole thing.</s>SAVIDGE: But off camera, we did find Trump voters troubled by the president's actions. In fact, two admitted it was wrong, but stopped short of calling for the president's removal. At a Latinos for Trump rally outside Orlando, we found something that should concern the Trump administration. Though these Trump voters say they've heard nothing so far in the impeachment inquiry to change their support -- Has any of this caused you to question or second-guess your vote in '16?</s>NANCY ACEVEDO, TRUMP VOTER: Never, ever. We need to elect Trump for four more years to make sure that, you know, his agenda is completed.</s>SAVIDGE: All we spoke with did say the inquiry should continue. Do you want the process to at least go forward?</s>SERGIO ORTIZ, TRUMP VOTER: I want the process to go through the whole shebang.</s>SAVIDGE: Even as they work for Trump's re-election, these Trump voters say they reserve the right to change their mind. Is it something that could come to light that would change your feelings?</s>MARIA SOTOLONGO, TRUMP VOTER: Maybe. It depends what it is, what is truth.</s>SAVIDGE: There's no question that the impeachment inquiry has raised a level of political tension in this country to a whole new realm. We've been talking to Trump voters for years now on all kinds of topics in all different places, but never have we had as much difficulty engaging or getting people to talk on camera with us on a subject more so than this one, impeachment. People are either so angry or so over it, they simply just don't want to talk. Martin Savidge, CNN, Orlando.</s>PAUL: Martin, thank you. And there is growing concern this morning that Turkey is looking to gain more control in Syria. A U.S. official tells CNN, Turkey could be trying to push further into an area mainly occupied by Kurds.</s>BLACKWELL: That official says Friday's strikes which landed near U.S. troops is evidence of their move. The Pentagon confirmed U.S. forces came under fire from Turkish artillery. They say no one was injured. CNN Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon is following the latest from the Turkish/Syrian border. Arwa, what are you learning this morning?</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Turkey has made its intentions from the beginning quite clear, starting with the map that President Erdogan showed at the U.N. general assembly that depicted a push by Turkey -- some 18 miles into Syria and extending along hundreds of miles along the border that would encompass the area where the strike took places that was quite close to where U.S. forces are located. One of the areas where they are located near the town of Kobane. And of course, all along this area that is right now behind us where the smoke is rising, that is Syrian territory. And as this offensive has gone forward, hundreds of thousands of civilians on the Syrian side, Syrian Kurds, most of them have had to flee this fighting. On the Turkish side, there has as is to be expected a reaction. And we have had some artillery strikes happening also mostly in civilian areas here. And because of the way the population is split and what the demographics here are, a fair number of those strikes have, in fact, killed Kurdish civilians inside Turkish territory, people who live here. And we went to the funeral for six of them earlier this morning which was quite devastating, especially when it comes to the fact that they're not just burying their loved ones, their friends, their relatives, but because of the fact that they are pained by all of this in ways that are very difficult for many of them to describe because many of the Kurds who live here in Turkey have historic ties to those who live in Syria. They are relatives -- their extended families are over there. One of Turkey's aims, President Erdogan has said is too then once they've secured the safe zone, as they're calling it, to move some of the millions of refugees who live inside Turkey into this area -- upwards of two million mostly Syrian-Arab refugees. Turkey is saying could potentially be resettled in this area, problem is that's not where they're from, and it is potentially going to significantly change the demographic along this border. It's also highly unlikely that this fighting will remain -- will remain neatly contained into this border zone. And so, there are some foreseen consequences of this that we're hearing many warning about like the resurgence of ISIS, and the loss of the gains being made about ISIS. And then, there are, of course, unforeseen ones as well.</s>PAUL: Arwa Damon, good description for us. Thank you so much.</s>BLACKWELL: Well, the Pentagon is deploying extra troops to Saudi Arabia. Multiple U.S. officials tell CNN, the leading commander in the Middle East requested the extra troops and the U.S. Navy needs help to turn potential Iranian aggression.</s>PAUL: President Trump says they're being sent because Saudi Arabia is a "good ally". And the move comes as the president is facing bipartisan criticism for pulling troops out of northeastern Syria. In the last month, the U.S. has deployed an additional 3,000 forces to the area sending a clear signal that the security of Saudi Arabia is a top priority for the</s>U.S. BLACKWELL: With us now is Colonel Cedric Leighton, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst. Colonel, welcome back.</s>COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks so much, Victor. Good to be with you.</s>BLACKWELL: Let's start at the Turkish-Syrian border and then moved to Saudi Arabia. Officials tell CNN that there's a growing concern with the scope of this -- of Turkeys operation even the artillery that was the strikes near Kobane, near where U.S. troops were that's outside of the zone. According to this official, the Turkey said that they would operate. Can Turkey be pushed back restricted now?</s>LEIGHTON: Only diplomatically. So, what you're looking at is, in essence, as Arwa was reporting, a move forward into an area that goes beyond the 18 miles that Turkey said that it would take as part of their Operation Peace Spring, which is this operation that's going on right now. So, what the Turks will probably do is move a little bit beyond that, at least, initially in order to secure their forces. They'll, at least, try to do that but they're going to meet some resistance from Turkey -- from, excuse me, from Kurdish forces. And those Kurdish forces could very well make it a little bit more difficult for the Turks to realize those goals.</s>BLACKWELL: So, the president suggested on social media and his rallies this week that mediating a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds that that's possible. What's your degree of confident that that's plausible and why would the Kurds now trust the U.S. again after working with U.S. military for so long, and now the military is leaving?</s>LEIGHTON: Well, the factor of trust among the Kurds for the United States has hit really an all-time low. So, to have us play the role of mediator in a situation like this, I would be great -- except I don't find it to be very realistic. I think it would be highly unlikely they'd probably turned to another player such as Russia or even Iran before they turn to the U.S. And that's a real danger for U.S. foreign policy going forward especially in this region.</s>BLACKWELL: And Moscow is saying that they're going to try to get a deal. So, that is on the table as well. I want you to listen to President Trump here. This is at one of his rallies this week talking about his decision to pull U.S. forces out of northern Syria.</s>TRUMP: We don't have any soldiers there because we've left, we won, we left, take a victory United States. We left, take a victory. Take victory.</s>BLACKWELL: Well, there are still U.S. troops elsewhere in the country but SDF, the Syrian Defense Forces reported that five ISIS militants have escaped prison. ISIS called or claimed response SDF the Syrian Defense Forces reported that five ISIS militants have escaped prison Isis called or claimed responsibility for a car bomb. I want you to reconcile what you heard from the president there and what still has to be done in Syria?</s>LEIGHTON: Well, what the president said is actually factually incorrect. You know, we -- yes, we defeated ISIS in terms of their Caliphate, their physical Caliphate, the actual territory that they controlled. But this is not about territory; this is about hearts and minds. And it's really irreconcilable with the reality on the ground. The ISIS fighters, the ones you mentioned that escaped, as well as, those that are hiding in sleeper cells throughout this region, I can very well be activated very quickly. And the minute that you take the pressure off of them, they can become very real, real fast, and they can do some very bad things not only to the Turkish troops that are coming in, but also to the Kurds and to American forces if they -- if they encounter them.</s>BLACKWELL: Saudi Arabia now -- and I want you to listen to the president, this is in Minnesota on Thursday.</s>TRUMP: And all of the blood and treasure we sacrificed made the Middle East left -- it's really -- it's less safe, it's less stable, and it's less secure. And I say it all the time, the single greatest mistake our country made in its history was going into the quicksand of the Middle East.</s>BLACKWELL: OK. So, he says the single greatest mistake was going to the quicksand of the Middle East. Department of Defense says 3,000 troops Saudi deployment have been authorized or extended in the last month. Across the region, the U.S. has increased forces into about 14,000 since May. Now, some of the Saudi deployment is because of mechanical issues, but this seems to contradict the president's rhetoric against what he calls the policing. But is this in the best interest of the U.S. -- this additional deployment to Saudi Arabia??</s>LEIGHTON: So, yes, you can definitely make the argument that it is in the best interest of the U.S. And if I were advising the president, I would say this is the right thing to do. The rhetoric on the other hand from his rally in Minnesota presents a false picture of what's really going on here. What we're dealing with is the need to defend certain areas in the Middle East. And you see the issue, you know, you take some troops off the table, the 50 or so that left northeastern Syria. But you put about 3,000 as you mentioned back into another part of the Middle East to different missions, different types of weapon systems that these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines use. But, still, you're putting more forces in there, and they're serving basically a traditional function of a tripwire against anybody who wants to attack Saudi Arabia. So, it's a very traditional role for the United States to play in the region. And it's not very much different from things that we've seen before, even before the first Gulf War.</s>BLACKWELL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you, sir.</s>LEIGHTON: You bet, Victor, anytime.</s>PAUL: Well, the White House is stonewalling the impeachment inquiry and Democrats say the administration's failure to comply is "further evidence of obstruction". Our next guest says, he doesn't believe any president should be impeached in their first term.