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Record Rain Kills 3, Sweeps 350 Homes Away; Iraqis Showing No Will to Fight?; Police Detonate Pressure Cooker on Capitol Hill; Officer Acquitted in Deaths of Two People. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 25, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:01] CAMEROTA: We're seeing multi-generations come to honor those who have gone.

PEREIRA: And we want to invite those of you at home to share your photos, memories and stories of the veterans you've lost. You can go to CNN.com/memorialday.

And with that we turn to Carol Costello for "NEWSROOM."

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh. Stop, stop, stop. He needs to get out.

COSTELLO: Record rain sweeps away cars, trees, even homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never did we in our wildest imagination think about the wall of water that would come down and do the destruction.

COSTELLO: Lives lost and the relentless downpours and tornadoes. Even a first responder is killed. And it's not over yet.

Also --

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight.

COSTELLO: Are Iraqi forces willing to fight ISIS and defend themselves? Defense Secretary Ash Carter has his doubts. As the brutal terror group murders hundreds of women and children.

Plus, President Obama enjoying an ice cream cone. LBJ chowing down on Texas barbecue. These pictures from the Democrats' official Twitter feed. But this isn't what Memorial Day is about.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

After more than a decade of war and an endless debate mired in politics, a nation pauses to honor the sacrifices of those who have served.

Right now in Washington, a day of remembrance and reflection begins to unfold. This is a live picture of observances at the World War II Memorial. President Obama honors the war dead later this morning. Over the next couple of hours we'll check in on Memorial Day events around the country.

But first, we have to talk about the weather because, boy, it is brutal. Thousands fleeing for higher ground, as deadly flash flooding ravages parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Three people have died. Several others still missing. And the threat is not over yet.

SUVs tumbling like toys in the powerful rapids. This driver escaping to safety just before the plunge. Bridges completely washed out. The current consuming everything in its path. Raging waters knocking this home right off its foundation. Other homes simply swept away. The now saturated ground could see several more inches of rain triggering fears of more dangerous flash flooding. We're awaiting a police press conference that's expected at the top of the next hour.

CNN's Alina Machado is in one of the hardest-hit areas, Wimberley, Texas.

Good morning, Alina.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, if you walk through this hard-hit area you get a sense of just how bad the devastation is. Look at this debris field. There is just debris scattered all over this place. There's downed power lines, furniture, and this house, tipped on its side. Knocked over by the force of the floodwaters, all the product of this historic flood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

MACHADO (voice-over): Ravaging floodwaters and severe weather across central Texas and Oklahoma, forcing more than 1,000 people to stay in shelters this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now is not the time to try to return to your homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh. Stop, stop, stop.

MACHADO: Vehicles and hundreds of homes destroyed. Swept away by the deadly deluge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This flood is the largest I've seen in a 25 years. MACHADO: Waters continuing to rise through Sunday in central Texas.

The flood's height swelling one river to a record-breaking 43 feet in San Marcos, according to officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point it's mainly an operation of rescue.

MACHADO: Emergency crews scrambling to pull people from the floodwaters. Bridges washed out, unable to handle the force of the rising tide. Roller coasters at the Six Flags Amusement Park near Dallas, Texas, submerged in water. In Wimberley, many residents returned to homes unsalvageable.

(On camera): We've seen houses that have been knocked off their foundations or tipped over just by this one here just by the sheer force of those rising floodwaters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no electricity at the complex now.

MACHADO (voice-over): In Houston, hundreds are now homeless, after an EF-1 tornado packing winds of 100 miles an hour slammed into their apartment complex. The severe storms turning deadly in Oklahoma. A firefighter swept away from a dramatic rescue just north of Tulsa. Captain Jason Farley, a nearly 20-year veteran, died while trying to rescue 10 residents from the flood. The waters so high the firefighter never saw the storm drain that carried him under.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We suspect that he drowned. Got caught in the storm drain itself. It's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:05:03] MACHADO: We could see several more inches of rain in this area sometime today. The ground is already saturated so that could spell some big trouble for the people who are trying to recover from this flood -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alina Machado, reporting live for us this morning.

To find out how you can help those affected by severe flooding and storm damage in Texas and Oklahoma visit CNN.com/impact.

Turning now to the war on ISIS. Syria is striking back. This morning we've learned that it has launched at least 15 airstrikes on the militants who control the city of Palmyra. Now according to a watchdog group of activists some of the bombings have been near those ancient sites we've been talking about. The United Nations is among the groups calling for ISIS to spare the ruins that date back to Roman times.

There are also new tales of horror and brutally. ISIS militants are blamed for murdering more than 250 people including at least 13 children. The group has underscored its ruthlessness in newly captured cities by beheading government soldiers and anyone who helped them. The growing reach of ISIS is igniting new frustration and

fingerpointing between Washington and Baghdad and now Tehran. In his first comments since ISIS militants captured the Iraqi town of Ramadi Defense Secretary Ash Carter lays the blame on the collapse of Ramadi on Iraqi forces there.

Here's part of his exclusive interview with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARTER: The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force. And yet they failed to fight. They withdrew from the site. And that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's get the view from Baghdad.

CNN's Arwa Damon is there. Hi, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. And those comments are being viewed here largely as being an attempt by the U.S. to perhaps shirk any sort of responsibility it may have for the current failures of the Iraqi army, since it was, after all, America that trained the Iraqi military. And America that trained and declared the Iraqi Security Forces combat ready before they withdrew.

We did hear from Iraq's prime minister, an interview to the BBC, reacting to those comments. Here's Haider al-Abadi had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAIDER AL-ABADI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: I'm surprised why he said that. I mean, he was very supportive of Iraq. I'm sure he was fed with the wrong information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: And we have also heard from Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force. He himself has been quite active in the battlefield in Iraq, especially when it came to the battle for Tikrit. He said that it was the U.S. that has no will to fight ISIS, and is, quote, "doing nothing." Going on to state today, nobody is confronting ISIS properly, except Iran. Even the countries that Iran is supporting saying that basically, Iran was confronting ISIS more than even Iraq itself.

Interesting in all of this, Carol, was some of the reaction that we heard from Baghdad, residents were out in the street, they said that they were yes, concerned about ISIS advancing towards the capital but they felt that Baghdad would not fall. Why? They said not because they believe that the Iraqi Security Forces would defend the capital, but because they said Iran would not allow it to fall to ISIS.

COSTELLO: All right, Arwa Damon reporting live from Baghdad this morning.

One expert says defending ISIS after the fall of Ramadi is like a game of whack-a-mole and writes this, quote, "The problem is that the coalition efforts and the Iraqi government's actions are canceling each other out. When the coalition makes military advances, the Iraqi government sabotages them by antagonizing the very people who are needed to help root out ISIS and that would be the Sunni population of Iraq."

So let's bring in CNN military analyst, Lt. General Mark Hertling, to parse this out for us.

Welcome, sir.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning. Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So let's go back first to what Ash Carter said. Do Iraqi forces have the will to fight?

HERTLING: I believe the soldiers certainly do. The challenge is with the government. I think all of these narratives that you're starting to hear, Carol, are talking about exactly that. There are too many factions within Iraq right now to include the supporting Iranian Shia forces to include the U.S. coalition forces with air power.

The Iraqi government has to pull it all together and find ways for the parliament of Iraq to really fight this scourge as a single body as opposed to individual actions.

COSTELLO: Isn't that what the new Iraqi president was supposed to be doing?

HERTLING: Well, yes, but he's got a tough row to hoe truthfully. I mean, he's got several years of distrust between Sunni, Kurds and Shia. He's got to build a government, first of all, and also I mean I hate to say this, but you still have prime -- the former prime minister Maliki within the parliament. So he is -- he is sabotaging in many cases as well as some of the other Shia lawmakers what's going on?

[09:10:14] You know, when you're talking about a consolidated Iraq, you need the Sunnis, you need the Kurds, and you need the Shias to fight together. And I think that's what we saw when we left there in 2010. It was beginning down that road. And unfortunately, the politicians created a divide truthfully.

COSTELLO: OK. So you say Iraqi leadership is needed. There are a few other ideas being tossed around here in the United States by various lawmakers. I'm going to run some of the ideas by you. This is from Congresswoman Tulsa Gabbard, she's a veteran, she's on the House Armed Services Committee. She says you have the solution, arm the Kurds. So why not do that?

HERTLING: Well, because you're then going to see another civil war in the north. The Kurds have their -- truthfully have their own agenda. The Kurds are not going to go in to Anbar Province. They are not going to contribute to a unifying element of the entire Iraq because they have not been treated well by the central government, as well. So they have a requirement to defend along what they call their green line. And that's where I think unfortunately I disagree with Congresswoman Gabbard, she doesn't understand the situation in the north. That's where I lived for awhile.

The Kurds have a very succinct agenda on their own as to develop an independent Kurdistan. They're not going to fight in other Anbar Province or in many areas of the north. But they will attempt to gain territory for the Kurdish regional government.

COSTELLO: OK, this idea from Congresswoman Kinsinger. Of course America is not losing and it's not winning, because America's not really engaged in this fight. So he's saying send his advisory American force to Iraq and they can work things out from there. Is he right?

HERTLING: Well, I -- that's an interesting commentary, too. I, while I understand where the congressman is coming from, I also have problems with that as a military guy because there are a lot of people who are suggesting we put forces on the ground with Iraqi units. When you don't have the support for those forces, even though you might have 10,000 alleged special operators, which I'm not sure we have that many in the force truthfully, you're going to dissipate other actions throughout the world. First of all.

But secondly you need legal protection for those forces. You also need support, administrative support for those forces. We at one time had over 25,000 advisers in Iraq in 2008, '09, '10. And they were building an Iraqi army. The problem is you can do that and you can potentially defeat ISIS, but then what? What happens next? Even though you kill all the ISIS fighters in there, is there going to be another element that will crop up if the government isn't good enough to take care of the people?

COSTELLO: Safe to say this is a complicated issue with no easy answers.

(LAUGHTER)

HERTLING: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: All right. General Hertling, thanks so much for being with me. I appreciate it.

As we head to break the national anthem at the World War II Memorial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:11] COSTELLO: A bomb scare closes off parts of the nation's capital in the middle of a busy holiday weekend. Crowds bracing for a loud bang, there it was, as capitol police detonate a pressure cooker. Authorities say they found the pressure cooker inside of a suspicious car reeking of gasoline. The owner of that car now arrested.

Rosa Flores is following this story for us. This is kind of strange.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is very strange.

COSTELLO: I don't know whether to be scared or not actually.

FLORES: What to think about this?

COSTELLO: Yes.

FLORES: But, Carol, in all honesty, there were a lot of tense moments, because just think about it, folks. It's Memorial Day weekend. Thousands of people gathered for a Memorial Day concert. Police, of course, on high alert. And then they identify a suspicious vehicle that reeks of gasoline, like Carolyn said, and they also find that there is a suspicious device in clear view.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): A frightening scene at the Nation's Capitol. Authorities blowing up a cooker found in a, quote, "suspicious car". It all happened around 5:00 p.m. just west of the Capitol building when officers on routine patrol notice a suspicious vehicle parked between Jefferson and Madison Drives.

Further investigation revealing a pressure cooker coupled with the smell of gasoline. That's when officers called in the bomb squad. Authorities locking down 3rd Street between Independence and Constitution Avenues. Amid the annual Memorial Day concert on the National Mall. The bomb squad worked the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. Capital Police are investigating a suspicious vehicle on a nearby street. In the next few minutes, you may hear a loud noise as part of that process.

FLORES (voice-over): Then, nearly three hours later, this. No one was hurt.

Police have arrested the owner of the vehicle, a Virginia man charged with driving with a revoked license. Pressure cookers have been used as tools for terrorists like in the2013 Boston Marathon Bombing that resulted in the deaths of three and debilitating injuries of hundreds of others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now, here's the good news. Investigators say they found nothing nefarious and nothing dangerous that they know as of now, Carol but of course they're investigating. And they have to take these things seriously just because of all of the people that were nearby. There were big names there, as well. Gloria Estefan was in the crowd, and also former Secretary of State Colin Powell was there. So, they, of course, took every precaution.

COSTELLO: Rosa Flores, many thanks. I appreciate it.

Checking some other top stories for you at 19 minutes past the hour.

The former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sentenced to eight months in prison. The former prime minister of Israel, I should have said. He was sentenced for illegally accepting money from an American supporter.

[09:20:01] Olmert fined about $25,000. He was also sentenced to six years in a separate bribery trial last year. Olmert is appealing both decisions.

The New Orleans Police Department is investigating after an officer is shot and killed in his patrol car. The victim's cruiser apparently rolling forward until it eventually hit a curb after the shooting. We don't have the officer's name but we do know we was 45 years old and worked for the public housing agency. The New Orleans mayor calling the shooting a vile and cowardly act.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a judge acquits a Cleveland cop in the shooting death of two unarmed people saying deadly force was justified.

Ryan Young is in Cleveland.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we are live in Cleveland where so far protests have really stepped down. You can just see a few people who are left out here. We'll have that story coming up in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A tense calm in Cleveland this morning after police say peaceful weekend protests became, quote, "disruptive" following the acquittal of a Police Officer Michael Brelo in the shooting deaths of two unarmed people. In all, 71 arrests were made. Those people set to be arraigned shortly. Officials say they only took action when demonstrators turned violent and refused to leave.

And earlier, the attorney for Officer Brelo spoke to CNN about those protests, and the judge's decision that sparked them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT D'ANGELO, ATTORNEY FOR ACQUITTED CLEVELAND POLICE OFFICER: Individuals have their own opinions, and sometimes the facts don't matter, because of their own agendas or their hatred and animosity towards law enforcement. In essence, the case came down to the fact that there was a question as to causation, which bullets caused the death of the two decedents. And in addition to that, the major issue was one of legal justification. That pursuant to law, Officer Brelo, as well as the other 12 officers, were legally justified in using the deadly force that they used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Ryan Young is in Cleveland to tell us more.

Good morning, Ryan.

YOUNG: Good morning, Carol. We've been here throughout the weekend. In fact, I was sitting behind Michael Brelo as that decision was coming down. You could see him touch his lawyers under the table and he started crying.

So far, the protests have really ramped down. In fact, there's just one protesters who's been here since 4:00 this morning walking back and forth in front of the Justice Center screaming "no justice, no peace." He's also been saying other things as he's been walking in front of the sheriff's department.

If you look here, such a relaxed day compared to the weekend. You can see the barricades move forward. The officers had the line there. But no one's really challenged them. You can see some of the messages that the protesters have left behind here on the sidewalk as well.

We saw those protesters take to the street, and, of course, we walk along with them. There were a couple incidences where protesters and people who were walking the street got into some small mix-ups, 71 arrests were made. And right now, inside this courthouse they're actually getting to arraign some of the people who were arrested.

This is the live feed from inside the courthouse. This is a special session because obviously this is Monday, but so many people were arrested they're going to try to get some of them out. You can see some of the protesters who were here supporting the folks have shown up to give them their support as well.

But all weekend long Cleveland has been different. We heard over and over, especially from civic leaders here they wanted this to be different from Ferguson and Baltimore. That is the sort of conversation you keep hearing over and over Carol. Of course, we've seen that damage there as the wind blows through pretty heavily here.

But the protesters have pretty much walked away at this point. Not creating any problems. And of course, everyone was talking about that basketball game that was taking place last night. There were no instances of protests there, as well.

COSTELLO: Well, LeBron James came out and announced the protests to be peaceful, right?

YOUNG: He did. And I can honestly tell you, a lot of people are looking forward to what may happen next in the Tamir Rice case. People understand this case may be over and they do want justice.

You heard a lot of people talking about the 12-year-old who was shot by the Cleveland Police Department as he had that toy gun. That may be the boiling point for a lot of people here. But of course, we saw that people walking through the streets, and staying peaceful, but everyone is looking forward to what happens next with that case.

COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Young reporting live from Cleveland this morning. So, let's review what brought us to this point briefly. A car

backfires. Police believe it's gunfire. There's a high speed chase that lasts for 22 miles, 62 police cars involved, 137 rounds shot including 49 rounds by Officer Brelo.

The couple in the car shot at or shot at least 20 times each, and it turns out there's no gun in the car. And no one will face any consequences.

So, joining me to talk about this, CNN law enforcement analyst Harry Houck and HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.

Welcome to both of you.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Nice to see you here.

So, I'll start with you, Joey. At least seven police officers who were involved in this incident invoked their Fifth Amendment rights. They refused to testify.

There were no civilian witnesses. Just dozens of police officers who were there on the scene. The Cleveland prosecutors blamed the police union for their lack of testimony, and likened these police officers' silence to the actions of, quote, "an organized crime syndicate."

JACKSON: Ouch.

COSTELLO: That's harsh.

JACKSON: It is harsh. But you know what, Carol -- that notwithstanding and that's rhetoric and I get that tensions flame high and the prosecutor wants conviction and the defense attorney wants an acquittal.

But, ultimately, the judge had a number of a lot of factual information to base the decision upon. Let's start here -- understanding that this was a bench trial. What that means is there's no jury and a judge acts as the finder of fact and puts himself in a position of a jury.

I think it's also important to understand, Carol, that based upon the judge's findings, a different judge certainly could have had other findings and made a different decision. Certainly, a jury could have done the same thing. But I think there are three real critical components of the decision.

One is, is it manslaughter for what Brelo did? You talked about the 49 shots. He jumps on the hood of the car. He discharges his weapon.

Now, the judge found there was no causation. That it was a fatal shot that came from Brelo's weapon but it was not the fatal shot and many people take umbrage of that, saying, listen, there was medical testimony which would suggest that they were alive and it was his shot that did it. The judge opted to reject that as a judge could do and as a juror could do.

But should that now mean, again, this is from the critics, that since you could establish it was a fatal shot but not the fatal shot, should he now be absolved of all responsibility? In the event you could show others were involved and they shot too, should because you can't find which one did it, should all of them now be excused?

Second thing --

COSTELLO: But isn't it hard to figure what exactly happened when no one is testifying about what exactly happened?