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Top U.S. Commander Testifies in the Senate; NTSB to Investigate El Faro Disappearance; Dams Breaching, Failing as Rivers Rise; Boehner Delays Leadership Votes; Bernie Sanders Reaches Out to Black Voters; Russia Strikes Hit ISIS Targets. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 6, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:19] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks for being with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. Glad to have you with us.

We begin this hour with the demand for answers on Capitol Hill after the deadly U.S. air strike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan over the weekend. This blast prompting a lot of questions because it killed more than 20 innocent people, including three children.

Right now the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, is testifying in front of Senate lawmakers. Now he says the strike was carried out after a request by Afghan who are being threatened by the Taliban. Moments ago General Campbell said this hospital there was mistakenly struck.

Let's get the very latest from our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joining us now -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Once again General Campbell telling Congress that it was a terrible mistake to strike the hospital. That is not what was intended. But the big question out there for this investigation is, of course how could the U.S. have not known it was a hospital because the Doctors Without Borders group said they had notified the military for months of their precise location.

Have a bit of a listen to some of what General Campbell had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: To be clear, the decision to provide aero fliers was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of a command. A hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.

I must allow the investigation to take its course and, therefore, I'm not at liberty to discuss further specifics at this time. However, I assure you that the investigation will be thorough, objective and transparent.

I would also like to remind the committee and the American people that we continue to make extraordinary efforts to protect civilians. No military in history has done more to avoid harming innocence. We've readily assumed greater risks to our own forces in order to protect noncombatants.

To prevent any future incidents of this nature, I've directed the entire force to undergo in-depth training in order to review all of our operational authorities and rules of engagement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now if the aircraft, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations AC- 130 gun ship that came into this area, if those on board thought they were seeing fire possibly coming from an area, possibly from Taliban fighters, it is still the case that the U.S. does not strike hospitals, mosques and schools. Those are very restricted targets.

What General Campbell did offer, though, was a very interesting additional piece of information. While U.S. forces were not taking fire at the time, that would have been a legitimate target to try and defend them, perhaps. There was a Special Operations team U.S. troops on the ground nearby that were talking to the aircraft overhead. And what they do is they tell the aircraft overhead, the crew, where the targets are, where the enemy fire may be coming from.

They help potentially direct the fire. So this raises another wrinkle in all of this. Did the Special Operations Forces, what did they tell the crew overhead? What did they direct them to do? How could nobody have known that this was a hospital -- Ana.

CABRERA: And of course, international groups are calling this a war crime, so a lot more information that we're waiting to find out. We'll continue to monitor the hearing.

Barbara Starr, thanks to you.

Now an NTSB team is heading to Jacksonville, Florida. They'll arrive later today to try to investigate the disappearance of the cargo ship El Faro, and they hope interviews, marine logs, and any equipment recovered might provide clues into what happened. A 225-square mile debris field was discovered over the weekend but still no sign of ship itself or any life. The Coast Guard said yesterday the ship likely sank, but they continue searching for survivors.

CNN's Alexandra Field is joining me now with the latest on their efforts -- Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ana. Mounting pressure of course from these families to try and understand why the ship was out in the middle of a hurricane. What caused it to sink and of course what has happened to their loved ones. We know that the crews are continuing to work around the clock. They had deployed those search flights again at daybreak this morning.

You've also got a number of Coast Guard cutters that have been out there 24/7 along with some commercial vessels that are still looking for survivors. They've turned up some signs of some of the cargo that the ship was carrying. We know that they have found an empty lifeboat, they're looking for the second life boat that was on board that ship, hoping that they could find survivors in it.

But, Ana, really the question of what happened, the question that the NTSB will seek to answer, we're already learning a little bit about that from the Coast Guard.

[10:05:06] The Coast Guard has said that the captain of the ship reported that the ship had lost propulsion. That was called into the owner of the ship. The owner of the ship is now speaking out. The company that owns is, TOTE Maritime, saying they're aware that the ship had lost propulsion in the middle of this storm but they do not know what caused that to happen. They did not hear that from the captain who's on board the ship. So these are some of the questions that investigators will start to look into.

They're hoping that they'll find the data recorder. They'll also go through the maritime logs, they'll of course do interviews. But right now immediately, the most pressing factor, of course, it goes without saying, is deploying every resource possible to try and find people who could still be out there. There were 33 people on board this ship. Only one body has been found at this point.

CABRERA: And 28 of those people Americans.

Thank you so much, Alexandra Field.

Now if you would like to help out those folks in the flooded southeast, we'll have ways for you to do that. Meantime, let's take a look at the storm there and the dams that are breaching. Some bursting under pressure from the raging floodwaters threatening this region. At least nine dams have breached or failed since Saturday. Water is still rising and the death toll is also growing. It stands at 13 this morning with 11 of those killed in South Carolina. Entire roads washed away. Others are impassable. Damage estimates climbing into the billions of dollars.

And Nick Valencia is in Columbia, South Carolina. And Nick, some of these rivers, we know, haven't peaked yet.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is the middle of the state here, Columbia, and this water is going to have to filter up somewhere which could be very concerning for those coastal communities such as Charleston which were already hard hit over the weekend. We saw that damage firsthand on Saturday.

And just within the last 30 minutes, Ana, you were -- Ana, you were talking about those dams that had breached. Nine of them happening. Let's add another to that tally. 30 minutes ago we heard from the Columbia Police Department that a Forest Acres neighborhood is being evacuated right now because of a separate dam breach. We were in that neighborhood yesterday, surveying the damage of a separate dam that had breached, washed out roads and bridges. Parts of that neighborhood inundated with water. Completely just covered in this rising historic rainfall.

And that's really bad news when you consider this morning, we started talking about the good news in all of this. That the sun is out for the first time in days, if not over a week here. It's just been steadily pouring rain, allowing these floodwaters to start receding. Behind me even the area that we're standing on right now was covered with water but within the last couple of hours that floodwater started to recede but now this new news of evacuation, another desperate situation added to an already dire and desperate situation here throughout the city -- Ana.

CABRERA: And seeing that car behind you still sitting in feet of water. Not a good sign.

Nick Valencia reporting, thank you very much.

Bernie Sanders is on top of the polls in New Hampshire, but winning that state and winning the Democratic presidential nomination are two very different things. Ahead, can he win over a key bloc to beat Hillary Clinton?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:12:38] CABRERA: In just a couple of days, House Republicans will cast their votes for the person to replace outgoing speaker of the House, John Boehner. But they will have to wait a little longer before the vote goes to the full House and then after that it will be the race for the other key leadership posts.

Let's bring in CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju live in Washington for us.

Manu, what's the reason for the delay now?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the delay is for the lower ticket leadership races. That's for majority leader, that's for majority whip and the other leadership posts. And the reason for that is there's a growing unrest within the Republican conference, particularly some elements, the more conservative elements, to simply promote the existing leadership team to the next highest spot.

People believe after the John Boehner resignation announcement, that there's a real desire for new blood in the leadership. A new direction. But the real problem for some of those folks on the conservative side, in the Republican conference, is that they really lack candidates who could -- who have enough votes to send to those higher leadership positions.

Yesterday I had a chance to speak with one of those people on the right, Jason Chaffetz, a congressman from Utah, who's challenging Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, for that speaker's job. And he essentially talked about his strategy, recognizing he does not have the votes to be nominated to be the next speaker by Republicans, and he said that he'll have to gauge how his conference decides what to do Thursday when it comes to a critical vote in the House Republican conference. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I'm not a candidate. The candidacy goes through Thursday and then I'll support the nominee. But my whole thesis here is that, unfortunately, Kevin McCarthy, as current majority leader, doesn't have enough support. He's got the most support but he doesn't have enough support on the floor of the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now what Jason Chaffetz is talking about is that after this Thursday vote, there's going to be a vote on the House floor on October 29th to determine who the next speaker will be. And that person needs to have 218 votes on the House floor. Chaffetz believes that Kevin McCarthy cannot get to that 218 vote threshold.

The question for Chaffetz will be, how hard does he push after that Thursday vote when Republicans probably nominate Kevin McCarthy? Does he take this fight to the House floor? When I pushed him on that yesterday, he said just that he probably would not but really it's hard to predict such an unruly place like the House of Representatives -- Ana.

[10:15:11] CABRERA: And I'm a little confused, Manu, because it's not adding up. If he doesn't think he can win, Chaffetz, and he doesn't think McCarthy have enough votes, how does him taking on McCarthy help anything?

RAJU: That's a great question. And something we tried to put to him, but he believes that he could be a unity candidate. He's trying -- he's conceding that he does not have the votes this Thursday but maybe he thinks that something can change in the room between now and Thursday. Because remember, this is a secret ballot election on Thursday when Republicans choose who they want to be the next speaker. And possibly he can change some minds, folks who may -- who say they're privately endorsing Kevin McCarthy. Maybe he can convince them to vote for them -- vote for him privately, secretly on Thursday.

We'll see if that's actually the case. The strategy is confusing to some, that's for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

CABRERA: Indeed. It's always complicated on Capitol Hill. Manu Raju, thanks so much.

Now to the battle for the White House and the surprising surge from Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race. Thousands flocking to see the self-described Democratic socialist in Boston over the weekend. And while Sanders scored big in the polls, the numbers show he does trail frontrunner Hillary Clinton when it comes to certain voting blocs, including support among black voters, and now Sanders is expanding his outreach to the African-American community.

Kyra Kyles is the vice president of Digital Editorial for "Ebony" magazine which just sat down with Sanders for an interview. The article now online at ebony.com.

Kyra, good to be here. Thanks for being here. I know Sanders told your magazine that he plans to get out soon to speak specifically in those African-American communities around the country to talk about his life history, his voting record that shows support for civil rights. What do black voters need to hear or what to hear from him or even the other candidates?

KYRA KYLES, VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIGITAL EDITORIAL, EBONY MAGAZINE: You know, I think that what black voters are looking to hear is what are these candidates' stance on certain issues, including police brutality. I think that's the one that we've seen the most in the news cycle. They want to know how the candidates feel about Black Lives Matter, what they're going to do about disproportionate incarceration rates for African-Americans.

And one of the things that Bernie Sanders told our interviewer, Wendy Wilson, was that he needs to get out to the community, he needs to get the message out he's aware that African-American voters are not as familiar with him, but he is certain that he has the policies that will help with a lot of these inequities.

CABRERA: Did you all hear anything from Sanders in that interview that resonated or stood out?

KYLES: You know, I think that it was very interesting to hear how he's kind of conceded on the Black Lives Matter. You know, initially there was a very tense and terse exchange with him where they interrupted him when he was speaking and he seemed almost dismisses to many people. And he's now seemingly come full circle. He talked a lot about that, his upbringing, you know, growing, he said, without much money, knowing what it feels like to be discriminated against because of him being Jewish.

He tried to connect, I think, on a lot of levels with African-American voters through the piece and through the interviewer. And I think one thing that's interesting to note is how he understands that and his plans to try to rectify it by getting out there, talking to the community. And it seems like more so talking about his civil rights history, he's trying to listen more.

CABRERA: We're showing that video you referenced of the Black Lives Matter group coming and shouting him off the stage essentially back in August. And following that incident do you feel like he's, you know, kind of turned a corner?

KYLES: Right.

CABRERA: Has he been able to make that water under the bridge or is it still a weak spot for him?

KYLES: Well, what we're seeing from the comments from readers on ebony.com is that they seem to think that he has. You know, it's very important what the perception is. I think, you know, based on his record that he understands that that might have been a misstep and that he didn't fully understand what the protesters were trying to achieve. And now he and senator -- you know, former Senator Clinton have acknowledged, you know, this isn't something that we can't ignore, this is something that we have to face head-on. I think he definitely expressed remorse for what happened and as I

said, you know, a desire to understand the issues more. I think the problem is that it's hard for some African-Americans to connect the dots between his policies about the economy and the race because they see that the race issue as systematic and it cuts across all categories. You know, you're not safe in these police brutality issues, whether you're rich, middle class or poor. I think that's something the candidates need to acknowledge.

CABRERA: How does Bernie Sanders stack up against Hillary Clinton, in your mind?

KYLES: You know, I think that he definitely needs the recognition. You know, the Gallup poll showed that, especially with black voters, Hillary Clinton has that recognition. You know, Bill Clinton has that recognition. Bernie Sanders realizes that he does not. So I think we're going to see -- he was talking about how he's a little bit nervous about the upcoming debates. We'll see, you know, what pans out from there.

As you know, things can go up, down, sideways. But I do think that this was an important step in connecting with African-American constituents and that the messages that he talked about, the incarceration rates, the police brutality, income inequities, I think that he is speaking a language that black voters are very interested in hearing him speak.

[10:20:14] CABRERA: And you sound open minded about new candidates to support.

Kyra Kyles with "Ebony" magazine. Our thanks to you for offering your thoughts.

And you won't want to miss the first time the Democrats go head to head. You can hear it from the candidates themselves with the CNN- Facebook Democratic debate just seven days away, one week, Tuesday, October 13th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Coverage beginning at 8:30 only on CNN.

And still to come, ISIS hideouts, armored vehicles, rocket launch pads, those are just some of the terror targets reportedly hit by new rounds of Russian airstrikes. Up next, what it means for the crisis in Syria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:03] CABRERA: Live pictures right now from Capitol Hill. Want to keep on top of what's happening there with the questioning of General John Campbell, who is the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, talking about what went wrong when the Afghan hospital was struck there, the Doctors Without Borders, civilians who were killed, including three children. And of course, that was from a U.S. air strike. And he's answering questions about that as well as the overall situation in Afghanistan.

We'll continue to listen for you and bring you any of the highlights that come about.

Now Russia is reportedly unleashing a new round of air strikes against ISIS in Syria, and this time it's in the city of Palmyra which is near some of the region's most treasured ancient ruins. This is according to Syrian state media, which reports the latest assault hit terrorist targets including ISIS hideouts and rocket launch pads.

Now officials in Washington are still a little skeptical. They have been worried that Russia is instead trying to push back the U.S.- supported rebels in an effort to prop up Syrian leader Bashar al- Assad.

Let's bring in CNN international correspondent Matthew Chance, he is live in Moscow this morning.

Matthew, what more are we learning about this most recent round of air strikes by Russia?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, I think first of all the Russians are quite sensitive to that criticism that you mentioned. That they're merely targeting the opponents of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and they're not doing as much as they should be or could be in attacking ISIS. I think that's, perhaps, one of the reasons why today they selected a target, the city of Palmyra, which has been notorious for ISIS action.

It's where the group has destroyed some priceless, invaluable artifacts, some ancient ruins have been destroyed there a couple of weeks ago and a few weeks before that as well. They've really done damage in that ancient city. And so it kind of has extra potency that Russia is now striking ISIS positions in and around Palmyra.

Now what they're saying is that in this latest incidence, latest attack as they carried out, they found and destroyed at least 20 tanks that ISIS have captured from the Syrian government in earlier battles, a number of multiple rocket launchers as well. So a lot of heavy weaponry, according to the Kremlin, have been destroyed by this air strike or these series of air strikes that were carried out. Apparently in conjunction with the Syrian air force as well.

And so, you know, the Kremlin are doing quite a lot to answer the criticism that they're not doing enough to combat ISIS.

CABRERA: Now U.S. intelligence officials also are saying now that there are signs Russia is moving in equipment to ready some kind of a ground fight there in Syria, even providing weapons like rocket launchers. Again, this is what U.S. intelligence officials. What are you hearing from the Russian officials there? Are they confirming this?

CHANCE: No, they're not. I mean, they're categorically denying that. They're certainly denying what the -- what U.S. officials, the Pentagon are briefing on, which is that Russia is building up its forces in preparation to take part in a ground offensive. That -- it could well be a ground offensive in the offing, but what the Russian position is that they'll be providing air support to any such operation that would be carried out primarily by the Syrian Army.

There's also Hezbollah fight alongside the Syrian army on the ground as well as soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. And so, you know, there's already a significant land force, if you like, on the ground. And the Russian role in all of this is to provide air support. At least that's what they're saying publicly but of course the U.S. has intelligence, which is not necessarily making public. And so it will be interesting to see at some point if they make their intelligence in some way available to us so we can sort of judge for ourselves how valid and how accurate their assessments are.

CABRERA: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you for bringing us the latest information.

And still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, in California, you now have a right to die. Up next I'll speak to a man whose terminally-ill wife chose doctor-assisted suicide.

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