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Driving out ISIS; Witnessing History on CNN; Fans Trapped Overnight in Houston's Toyota Center; B.B. King's Daughter Allege Murder. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 26, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: People are missing near Austin, Texas. Twelve still missing due to these raging floodwaters. Four hundred homes in Hays County knocked off their foundations and simply washed away. We'll take you back to Houston in just a bit, but I did want to show you these new and awful pictures out of Houston, Texas, this morning.

In other news, Iraq's military goes head to head with ISIS. According to Iraq's defense minister, vast operations are underway. The goal, to try to liberate Anbar province from the grip of ISIS and cut of an ISIS supply route to a major oil refinery. It's believed Iraqi troops are now surrounding Ramadi from three directions. All of this happening after Defense Secretary Ash Carter told CNN in an exclusive interview that Iraqi forces showed, quote, "no will to fight" when Ramadi fell into ISIS' hands. In the meantime, the vice president, Joe Biden, praises Iraqi troops. During a phone call on Monday with Iraq's prime minister, Biden said, quote, he "recognized the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces" in Ramadi. Biden's comments at odds with those made by the defense secretary, who, as I said, Iraqi -- he said -- Ash Carter said Iraqi forces just turned and ran. Here's how Iraq's deputy prime minister sees it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALEH AL-MUTLAQ, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF IRAQ: It's not clear for us why such a unit, which is supposed to be trained by the Americans for years, and it supposed to be one of the best units in the army, would withdrawal from Ramadi in such a way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Iran piled on, pointing the finger of blame at the United States, too. An Iranian general saying, quote, "Mr. Obama, how far are your bases from al-Ramadi? You established a presence in Iraq on the pretense of supporting that nation, but you did not do a damn thing," end quote.

So let's talk about all of this with retired major general James Williams. He was the commander of the Fourth Marine Division between 2007 and 2010. I'm also joined by Aaron David Miller. He's the vice president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington.

Welcome, general. I mean welcome gentleman. MAJ. GEN. JAMES WILLIAMS, FMR. COMMANDER, 4TH MARINE DIVISION: Thank

you so much.

COSTELLO: Both of you. It's nice to have you here.

AARON DAVID MILLER, V.P., WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, General Williams, I want to start with you. The Iraqi defense ministry says Iraqi forces have Ramadi surrounded on all sides. Do you believe them?

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, that's very possible, Carol. You know, the -- since Ramadi was my headquarters when I was with the Second Marine Division. You know, I know the area quite well and certainly they could very well be positioned around the city. You know, the conflict, I guess, between Secretary Carter and the Iraqi defense minister, you know, kind of bodes for maybe lack of coordination between what are two nations are trying to accomplish, and then, obviously, Iran has complicated it by the conversations that they're having.

But I think what everybody should still realize is that in mostly a Sunni area, which is mostly Arabic, and the Shias, which are mostly aligned with the Persians, the Iranians, you know, to me it's a slash of civilizations. And ultimately I think until you resolve some political issues, the military fight probably will not be settled very soon.

COSTELLO: Well, resolving those political issues, I'm not sure that's even possible because it hasn't been possible for, what, decades and decades, or maybe hundreds of years, Aaron?

MILLER: You know, it's -- this is a very long movie, Carol. I mean we -- we got back into Iraq in order to basically try to contain and ultimately defeat, to use the president's words, the Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL, whatever you want to call it. The general's right in this respect that ISIS is a response to no governance in Syria and/or bad governance in Iraq. And the military piece of this is going to go back and forth, I suspect, for a very long time because it is undermined by the political factors.

You've got a Shia prime minister who I think wants to do the right thing but is fearful of empowering the Sunnis in Anbar, as we did during the surge in '07. You've got an Iranian state, which has a natural advantage in geography and demagoguery, which is determined to create an Iraq, or a vision of Iraq, which is quite different than ours. And you've got a Shia government in Baghdad, even though it would like to reach out, that wants to maintain to a large degree Shia privilege. So what do you do under these circumstances? How do you build and create a coherent, stable governance, which ultimately is the only remedy to deal with a state like ISIS. We're trapped, Carol, in a conflict that we can't transform and sadly we will not be able to leave, and that is going to be the dilemma, not just for this president, but for his successor.

[09:35:05] COSTELLO: Yes. So, general, I'll go back to you. Do you agree with Aaron? Is it an impossible situation? Will it be the United States' role to go back into Iraq and protect the Sunnis like forever?

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I agree with Aaron that certainly it's going to be a long, drawn out affair and certainly the history in the region indices that. You know, I think when we start looking at the way we build strategy in the region, if the United States sees this as, you know, something that really affects our national security, it's important that the United States has presence and ultimately it's about leadership. And if the United States is going to lead, you know, I walked to the region every day, all around the gulf states and so forth and -- including some of the forces that we don't necessarily want to talk to, but, at the end of the day, everybody tells me that they're waiting for the United States to lead. And that's what I think this really comes down to is, what is the leadership here? You know, many Americans don't want to spend any more money on the war. I mean certainly when I was there, we were spending $12 billion a month. And it's a -- it's a large ticket and nobody -- and we, you know, lost nearly 6,000 men and women and so nobody wants to make that commitment without a clear end state of what the situation is going to be. But that's really driven by the political state of affairs.

COSTELLO: Well, Aaron, I'll ask this last question to you. Everybody wants the United States to lead first. Why does it -- why does it have to be the United States leading? Because certainly Iraq is important to the wider Arab world, right? Is there anyone else who can step up?

MILLER: I mean, I think you know the answer to that question, no. That doesn't suggest, however, that the United States is somehow an indispensable ingredient for creating the new Iraqi and one day the new Syria. I mean that's a bridge too far. We've seen that movie. It went on for a decade. The two longest wars in American history. I noticed the other day that -- that in Afghanistan, the central government is now relying more and more on Afghan war lords and militias to deal with the -- a surging Taliban.

COSTELLO: The Taliban. Uh-huh.

MILLER: And that's essentially what's happening in Iraqi. If the Iraqi army can't do it, Kurds can be mobilized to an extent. You are going to be forced to rely on Iraqi militias. Those that are independent of Iran and many that are frankly controlled by Iran and that's going to be a hard pill for us to swallow.

COSTELLO: All right, Aaron David Miller, General James Williams, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:30] COSTELLO: As we approach 35 years on the air here at CNN, tonight you'll get a chance to witness history. The biggest stories we've ever covered told through personal accounts of the people who covered them for us. It's the focus of our special report "Breaking News: 35 Years at CNN." It airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight on CNN.

Wolf Blitzer, as you know, has been around for a long time. He's been with CNN for 25 of the 35 years.

And, welcome, Wolf. And not to make you feel old, but you're like a fixture at CNN and very well respected.

WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": It's been a -- it's been fabulous, 25 of those 35 years. Hard to believe how fast it has gone. And I actually remember watching CNN when it was started on June 1, 1980. I joined May of 1990. So that was 10 years later. But it has been an amazing, an amazing ride.

And I think it's fair to say, as I like saying all the time, CNN literally has changed the world the way that the world gets news. We created this 24/7 news network. Ted Turner deserved a lot of credit.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. And you would never think that you could cover a war in real time. I think that's -- that's my takeaway from working at CNN. And I -- I know it must be yours as well.

BLITZER: You know, we learned in the first Gulf War that, yes, there were enormous restrictions on what the press could do, but we did have reporters, photographers, producers who remained behind in Baghdad. We're showing our viewers some pictures of what happened on that first night of the air war January 17, 1991, when three of our reporters, Bernie Shaw (ph), John Hollom (ph) and Peter Arnett (ph), they were there. They were willing to risk their lives literally because that al Rashid (ph) hotel, where they were staying, that was in the crosshairs. The top Pentagon brass, the White House leadership, had told our CNN leadership at the time, get those guys out of there because that's not going to be safe. That's one of the targets. And they made a decision, they were willing to take that risk. They stayed behind. We were really the only news organization that stayed behind and covered the war from inside and literally the whole world was watching.

COSTELLO: What sticks out in your mind as the most memorable moment? You know, and I want you to talk personally about this.

BLITZER: The most memorable and most powerful, poignant moment for me personally in the 25 years I've been at CNN was on 9/11 when I was here in Washington and all of a sudden we saw what was going on in New York, we heard about a plane going into the Pentagon. I had once been CNN's Pentagon correspondent. I was trying to drive downtown from my house and get to the CNN bureau. I originally wanted to go to New York, but there was no way you could get to New York. And then I started understanding the enormity of what was happening, how it was going to change all of our lives. And it -- it was just a powerful moment. And, you know, we stayed on that story for a long, long time, as we obviously should. I'm sure, Carol, you remember those days as well.

COSTELLO: I do. I was working at a local station in Washington, D.C. So, you're right, I remember them well, and that certainly sticks in my mind, too. Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your

personal story. The CNN special report "BREAKING NEWS: 35 YEARS OF CNN" airs tonight 9:00 Eastern and Pacific.

And with anniversaries comes the opportunity for me to reflect as well. For me, reporting on Hurricane Katrina was one of my most impactful assignments, not only the heartbreak of the storm, but the utter devastation and uncertainty that followed. Here's a bit of my reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: On behalf of Mayor Nagin and the City of New Orleans, welcome back.

[09:45:01] You are entering at your own risk. The City of New Orleans remains a hazardous site. Food and water will not be provided to you. You are at your own risk to determine whether your home or business is structurally sound enough to enter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It was truly like a third world country. I will never forget to go into the airport in New Orleans, and as you know, they used it as a makeshift hospital. It was just -- it just was an amazing tragedy. So tweet me your most impactful CNN moment @carolCNN.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: -- Houston Rockets. I know a lot of people that were at the game last night. My father-in-law was there. He spent the night at the Toyota Center. A lot of the Rockets staff members are still at the Toyota Center.

And you know, the issue was not that the streets in downtown Houston were flooded. It was once you got outside of downtown Houston, where you were going to go? Underpasses, completely underwater. Freeways, completely underwater.

[09:50:00] And they made an announcement near the end of last night's game, you know, a huge storm cell. It was coming through downtown Houston. Remain in your seats. We recommend you not leave Toyota Center right now. And as people waited it out, they saw on social media, "My path home is covered underwater." So waiting for minutes turned into waiting for hours. It ended up -- turned into a stay overnight inside the arena for a lot of people.

Now, Dwight Howard, he also couldn't make it home, so he ended up hanging out with the fans at Toyota Center. And our affiliate KTRK caught up with him as he was hanging out with some of fans on the floor. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DWIGHT HOWARD, HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYER: And I can't go nowhere so I'm with the fans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the other players, they left. They had a way to get out?

HOWARD: Well, I live far from here. So they said that the highway that I would take to my house is flooded, so I don't want to be on the highway stuck. I'd rather be here sitting on the floor enjoying the scenery. So I'm happy about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Hey Carol, the Toyota Center very hospital to those fans. They fed them breakfast, helped them charge their phones, and most of them ended up leaving the arena at about 6:00 a.m. local time this morning.

COSTELLO: OK, well, we're glad that they were safe and sound and didn't dare drive. That was a good choice. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, shocking new claims in the death of B.B. King. Two of his daughters claim he was murdered.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Explosive new accusations in the death of legendary blues singer B.B. King. Two of Kings' daughters filed affidavits over the weekend saying their father was murdered. The 89-year-old B.B. King died earlier this month under hospice care at his home in Las Vegas. King' cause of death is listed as dementia resulting from a series of strokes. But King's daughters claim the singer was poisoned. They say their father's personal assistant and business manager kept King away from the family and gave him medications to induce diabetic shock.

A lawyer for the women said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:55:03] LARISSA DROHOBYCZER, ATTORNEY FOR B.B. KING'S DAUGHTERS: They didn't see their father die. They didn't see him for a week before he died. They want to know and they want to be at peace. And if everything is on the up and up, fine. They know that and they can go to their grave knowing that their father did die peacefully in his sleep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me to talk about this, Paul Callan, CNN's legal analyst. So they just want to know everything's on the up and up. They're alleging murder!

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, yes, it's quite shocking. I mean, the attorney obviously drafted this affidavit which essentially says that his business manager and his personal assistant committed murder by poisoning him to death. They just want to find out what happened?

COSTELLO: Well, inducing diabetic shock, you would have to give him an extra dose of insulin maybe. They would induce diabetic shock. But poison?

CALLAN: Well, there doesn't seem to be anything in the affidavit that indicates a supportable murder case here. But obviously when you make an allegation like this, the coroner is still involved in the investigation. The body is still available. They most certainly will be doing a toxicology run to test this theory as to whether poison was involved.

COSTELLO: So the family has the right to do that even though the executor of B.B. King's estate isn't a family member.

CALLAN: Well, they have the right to request that the coroner do it. Now, if they want to supersede the rights of the executor of the will, they would have to go into court with a petition to the court asking that the body be separated and that an independent expert be appointed.

Now I'm not so sure that they would get it on this affidavit, which is very weak. And of course we would have to see what the coroner had to say. If a toxicology report has been done and it doesn't indicate anything out of the ordinary, I don't think they'll get it.

Eleven kids here. He had 15 kids, 11 are still alive, multimillion dollar estate. I suspect this may be the first of many battles among many children for his multimillion dollar estate.

COSTELLO: OK, let's go back to the cause of death for just a second, because doctors said he died from a of series of small strokes that were caused by his -- by his having diabetes so many years. He like had Type II diabetes. It was a terrible problem for him all of his life. So why would they put that as the cause of the death if they weren't sure?

CALLAN: Well, I mean doctors do -- there's a certain element of speculation about cause of death in the absence of a very detailed autopsy. We don't know enough background to know whether the medical doctors did an autopsy at the hospital, whether the autopsy will be done strictly by the coroner's office. So it's really premature for us to know whether that's based on good medicine or speculation, a little bit of speculation.

You know, when someone is 89 or 90 years old, a lot of times they just say, OK, heart attack, diabetes, old age. There's not a lot of investigation that goes into it in the absence of an allegation. But now somebody's saying murder. So I think the D.A. and the police will have to take a look at it.

COSTELLO: Paul Callan, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

CALLAN: Thank you. COSTELLO: The next hour of NEWSROOM after a break.

[09:58:06]

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