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Was Mitchell's Husband Warned About plot to Kill Him; Former NAACP's Rachel Dolezal Firing Back on Race Controversy; U.S., Allies Stage Show of Force After Putin Vows to Add Missiles to Russia's Nuclear Arsenal; Hong Kong Readies for Confrontations over Chief Executive Elections; Donald Trump Jumps into 2016 Presidential Race; Jeb Bush Starts Presidential Campaign with Appearance on "The Tonight Show"; NBA Crowns a New Champ; U.S. Takes Out Top Jihadi with Drone Strike; Wives, Children Disappear on Trip to Middle East; Balcony Collapse in Berkeley Kills 6; Massive Wildfire Grows in Alaska; Mother Fighting for Her Life after Contracting Mysterious Deadly Flesh-Eating Bacteria. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 16, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:55] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: New York prison break. Was a prison worker's husband warned about a plot to kill him?
Going ballistic. The U.S. and its allies stage a major show of force as Russia's president vows to add dozens of missiles to his country's nuclear arsenal.
And the best in basketball. The NBA has crowned a new champ.
A big welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and those of you tuned in from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin with the latest on the New York prison break investigation. A source familiar with the investigation tells CNN prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, knew convicted killers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, had plotted to kill her husband and warned him about her plans or their plans to break out. But an attorney for Mitchell's husband said his client did not know anything about the escape plan. Joyce Mitchell is now charged with helping the fugitives escape. Investigators are looking in to whether other inmates may have created a diversion before, during or after that escape. Meanwhile, authorities are expanding their search for the escaped inmates to new areas near the prison.
As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, investigators are digging deeper in to Joyce Mitchell's alleged role in the escape plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the manpower, despite more than 1,000 leads, still no sign of Richard Matt and David Sweat. Their trail, at least for now, has gone cold.
UNIDENTIFIED PROSECUTOR: I've gone over the charges with Mrs. Mitchell.
CARROLL: The woman, who investigators say aided the two in their daring escape behind bars and feeling the weight of what happened. This, according to her attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY FOR JOYCE MITCHELL: She is distraught. She's very weeping and very upset.
CARROLL (on camera): Mr. Mitchell?
(voice-over): Joyce Mitchell's only visitor to date, her husband, Lyle, who went to see her today.
(on camera): That visit lasted hour an hour. There was no physical contact between the two. They spoke over the phone and were separated bay glass partition.
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY FOR JOYCE MITCHELL: All I know is he said he is standing by her. That's what he told me when I spoke to him.
CARROLL (voice-over): But Joyce Mitchell's role in the escape becoming more clear. Investigators say she may have agreed to be the duo's get away driver after Matt or Sweat threatened her and her husband.
Law enforcement looking more closely at Lyle Mitchell amid allegations he may have know something about the escape plan.
The Mitchell's daughter-in-law, Paige Mitchell, who initially defended Joyce Mitchell, told CNN by phone today, "I have nothing to say about my mother-in-law's arrest."
Paige Mitchell also said she would not comment on allegations her father-in-law is under investigation.
One alleged accomplice facing charges, the investigation that may turn up more.
DAVID FAVRO, SHERIFF, CLINTON COUNTRY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I can't conceive how these two could put together an elaborate escape route and have the understandings and thoroughly follow through with the mechanics of this elaborate escape without having multiple people involved.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, West Plattsburgh, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now to another big story we're following. After days of controversy, Rachel Dolezal has spoken out in several interviews. She resigned from the NAACP in Spokane, Washington, where, as far as anyone knew, she was a light-skinned black woman. Her white birth parents said she lied about that for years. Now she's firing back against these allegations.
Here's part of her conversation with NBC's Matt Lauer. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT LAUER, NBC CO-HOST, THE TODAY SHOW: Let me ask you the question in simple terms, again, because you have sent mixed signals over the years. Are you an African-American woman?
RACHEL DOLEZAL, FORMER NAACP OFFICIAL: I identify as black.
LAUER: You identify as black. Let me put up a picture of you in your early 20s. When you see this picture, is that an African-American or an Caucasian woman?
DOLEZAL: That is not my early 20s but --
LAUER: That's a little younger, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
DOLEZAL: Yes. I'm 16 in that picture.
LAUER: Is she a Caucasian or African-American woman?
DOLEZAL: I would say that visibly she would be identified as white by people who see her.
[01:05:14] LAUER: But at the time, were you identifying yourself as African-American?
DOLEZAL: In that picture, during that time, no.
LAUER: Your parents were asked this question this week and they didn't have any trouble answering it. Here's what they said. "She's clearly our birth daughter and we're clearly Caucasian. That's a fact." Your father says, "She is a talented woman doing work she believes in. Why can't she do that as a Caucasian woman, which is what she is?" How do you answer that question?
DOLEZAL: Well, first of all, I really don't see why they are in such a rush to whitewash some of the work I have done and who I am and how I have identified. This goes back to a very early age with myself, identification with the black experience, as a very young child.
LAUER: When did it start?
DOLEZAL: I would say about 5 years old.
LAUER: You began to identify yourself as African-American?
DOLEZAL: I was drawing self portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon, and black curly hair. Yeah. That is how I was portraying myself.
LAUER: You have changed your appearance. Your complexion appears darker than it did in the photos of you as a young lady. Have you done something to darken your complexion?
DOLEZAL: I certainly don't stay out of the sun. I also don't, as some critics said put on black face as a performance.
LAUER: Let me address that because some people have said the way you changed your appearance is akin to putting on black face. And Jonathan Capeheart wrote in the "Washington Post," "Black face is highly racist no matter how down with the cause a white person is." Do you understand what he means by that?
DOLEZAL: Absolutely. Absolutely.
LAUER: Do you agree with that?
DOLEZAL: I have a huge issue with black face. This is not some freak "Birth of A Nation" mockery black face performance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now many of the comments that Rachel Dolezal has made have prompted her parents to speak out again about their daughter's behavior. They say they have been troubled about her many claims to being black.
Her mother talked about that in a conversation with CNN's Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUTHANNE DOLEZAL, MOTHER OF RACHEL DOLEZAL: We're concerned that she's not being rational and she's not being honest with herself or with others. And in her attempt to establish a new identity, she has become very malicious towards her biological family and very accusatory with false accusations and so that is very concerning for her and for the rest of the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: And if you would like to read more about this story, and there are many angles and opinions, as well, you can find it all on our website at CNN.com.
Relations between NATO and Russia are increasingly tense. President Vladimir Putin announced his plans to increase the country's nuclear arsenal after the U.S. said it would move heavy military equipment along Russia's border.
Brian Todd has more on the growing concern about a return to Cold War hostility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dramatic amphibious landing. A U.S. Navy hover craft glides on to the beach. Troops storm ashore and fire their weapons.
(GUNFIRE)
TODD: This is a NATO landing exercise in Sweden. Further south, soldiers move through trench lines, deploy from helicopters. These are U.S. and NATO troops battle-testing themselves as a possible confrontation with Russia looms in Eastern Europe.
STEVEN PIFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: My big worry here is the possibility of accident or miscalculation when you have military forces operating in close proximately.
TODD: The Pentagon is considering sending hundreds of tanks, artillery and other weapons to Vladimir Putin's doorstep to the Baltic nations and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. A U.S. defense official tells CNN it will be enough to outfit a brigade, up to 5500 troops. The soldiers won't be permanently stationed there but the official says the equipment will be there to use in these kinds of training exercises.
It has prompted a warning from Russia. It's foreign ministry saying this could slide in to a, quote, "new military confrontation with destructive consequences."
Putin has just announced he is adding over 40 ballistic missiles to his nuclear arsenal.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translation): If someone threatens some of our territories, we will have to aim our armed forces, modern attack capabilities at those territories which threaten us. What else can we do?
TODD: As both sides build up their forces, it's putting the region on edge.
PIFER: Given the tempo of Russian military operations over the last year, you have more of those interactions and more possibility for things to go wrong.
[01:10:08] TODD: Putin's jets have played dangerous Cold War-style games with Western forces recently. One jet flying within 10 feet of a U.S. aircraft.
Coming off an escalation of fighting in Ukraine between pro Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, and Putin's aggressive deployment of weapons into Ukraine, the Baltic countries, NATO allies of the United States, are terrified that Putin will target them next.
GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They have every reason to be concerned if Russia wants to gobble up some more perceived threat s on their flanks they would be the first ones attacked.
TODD (on camera): Secretary of State John Kerry said he is very concerned with the Russian president's military flexing, saying if this continues it's a huge challenge and that no one wants to go back to a Cold War standoff.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Hong Kong is getting ready for a new confrontation over democracy. Lawmakers are introducing a controversial plan to elect the city's next chief executive. The proposal would let people cast votes for Hong Kong's next leader in 2017 but only if China gets to vet the candidates first. This was the scene last year when pro democracy demonstrations shut down key parts of the city for some 79 days. Now you've got new tensions and police say they've arrested 10 people accused of conspiring to cause an explosion ahead of what will be a crucial vote.
Let's turn now to our Ivan Watson. He's following this developing story from Hong Kong.
Ivan, I think we know how the vote on reform may go since, last year, the government didn't budge at all to student demands. Set the scene for us there today. What's happening?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you can hear, it is noisy and scorching hot. We are in front of the legislative council, this round building, where the assembly room is, where the new election proposal which resulted in some controversy in Hong Kong has been introduced and presumably will get debated, possibly voted on in the next day or so.
This crowd here as come out to support it. Signs saying, "Yes to democracy," "Protect democracy," because it would allow residents of Hong Kong for the very first time to vote for their chief executive in elections.
One of the supporters of the motion is the current chief executive, C.Y. Leung, who spoke earlier this week in favor. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
C.Y. LEUNG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, HONG KONG: It is a question of government amending the laws in Hong Kong to allow all of the voters in Hong Kong to allow all the voters in Hong Kong to have the right to vote for the chief executive in a universal suffrage for the first time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: (INAUDIBLE) -- in Hong Kong, opposed to this law, saying it would basically allow Beijing to vet the candidates.
And one of the legislators, who has vowed to vote against it, spoke to us and will explain why. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILY LAU, HONG KONG LEGISLATOR: It is an election, which will not give the voters genuine choice. Only candidates picked by Beijing and the powers that be, and only two or three, will be allowed to stand for election. The rest will not get a look in. So if we get this passed, when the election comes, I think many voters will cry and they will stay home and will be very tearful. They will regret it. So now I'm telling them, no, we're not going to give you that sort of electoral system. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So, Errol, the authorities have separated opponents of the election law, like this woman with that trademark yellow umbrella -- at this point in the day, there are far fewer of them rallying here -- from supporters of the new law. I'm happy to report there's been no violence to speak of. Even though the authorities repeatedly made warnings as they arrested at least a half dozen people and accused them of planning to manufacture explosives and issuing a warning that no unrest will be tolerated as the controversial bill will be debated and voted upon on this week in this electoral showdown -- Errol?
[01:14:42] BARNETT: Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong, as we all watch closely to see the mood on the ground and how it may change ahead of that important vote. We will check in with Ivan throughout the day here on CNN.
South Korea's confirmed eight new cases of the MERS virus. That brings the total to 162. One more person has died and that raises the death toll to 20. This comes a day after the World Health Organization said the number of new cases appears to be declining. It also warned that outbreaks like this are unpredictable. In the meantime, the Seoul city government is taking precautions, planning to disinfect almost 10,000 public places over the next several days.
We're also hearing from a teen who survived a rare shark attack on a North Carolina Beach. The 16-year-old was one of two teens who lost arms in separate attacks about 90 minutes apart. Now he's talking about what happened from his hospital bed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER TRESCHEI, SHARK ATTACK SURVIVOR: I was just in waist-deep water, I'd say, playing with my cousin, as I said, and I felt this hit on my left leg. I felt like it was a big fish coming near you or something and I felt it, like, one more time and it hit my arm and that was the first I saw it when it was biting up my left arm. Then I got that off eventually and swam -- I don't know if it swam away, but I was able to move and I got out of the water with the help of my cousin and onto the beach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Just amazing. He thankfully did escape with his life.
Another U.S. presidential candidate has joined the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP GROUP & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How stupid are our leaders? How stupid are they? Our president doesn't have a clue.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: Billionaire Donald Trump jumps into the 2016 race with an unfiltered announcement that has everyone talking. You are going to want to hear more of what he had to say after the break.
Plus, the NBA has a new champion. We'll have the latest on the Game Six showdown in Cleveland, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:44] BARNETT: American billionaire and reality TV star, Donald Trump, says he wants to make America great again and that's why he is running for president of the United States. The real estate mogul is now working on what may be the greatest sales job of his career, selling himself to voters.
Joe Johns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Donald is in --
TRUMP: Whoa.
JOHNS: -- delivering a jolt to the already crowded 2016 presidential race.
TRUMP: I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created, I tell you.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHNS: Billionaire Donald Trump kicked off his presidential campaign in New York by touting his wealth as a selling point.
TRUMP: I don't need anybody's money. I'm using my own money. I'm not using lobbyists or donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. I'll share that.
(CHEERING)
JOHNS: And foreign policy.
TRUMP: Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump.
I will bring back our jobs from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places.
(SHOUTING)
TRUMP: I'll bring back our jobs and I'll bring back our money.
JOHNS: He's long been a favorite target of late-night TV for behaving exactly the way he did today.
UNIDENTIFIED SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE COMEDIAN: Of course, most of you know who I am already because I'm rich and I'm handsome.
TRUMP: One thing I do --
JOHNS: This isn't the first time Trump has flirted with presidential aspirations.
TRUMP: This is very serious. I'm seriously thinking about it.
I am seriously considering it.
I have never taken it seriously like this.
I think you will be surprised at what my announcement is.
JOHNS: Now that he is officially in the race, he is quickly taking aim at his GOP rivals.
TRUMP: You look at Bush. It took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn't answer the question. He didn't know.
JOHNS: And President Obama.
TRUMP: Our president doesn't have a clue. He's a bad negotiator.
JOHNS: Up next for Trump, a trip to Iowa tonight where he has an up- hill battle. A recent Iowa poll showing 58 percent of Republican respondents saying they would never vote for him. Then on to New Hampshire tomorrow. But aides predict his numbers will rise now he is officially in the race and hope Americans don't use his catch phrase from the apprentice on him --
TRUMP: You're fired.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now Donald Trump made his entrance to the political stage with this song. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: For those that don't know, that's Neil Young's "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World." Neil Young now says the Donald is not free to keep on rockin' to his song. You see, it seems singers of catchy rock anthems don't always groove with Republicans. You may recall Bruce Springsteen, for example, telling Ronald Reagan to stop rallying to his "Born in the USA" track that we all like to belt out. When John McCain used "Running on Empty," its singer, Jackson Browne, said the Republican was indeed running on empty and wanted him to stop using that track. Sarah Palin used Heart's hit song "Barracuda." The band said it smelled fishy. And when Newt Gingrich used the song "Don't Stop Believing," Journey said do stop using our song. Surely, they will send me the same note shortly. Now, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and brother of former
President George W. Bush, officially entered the U.S. presidential race on Monday. The Republican hit the late-night circuit on Tuesday appearing on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon. The pair picked up a couple of microphones and, as you do, slow jammed the news. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm looking forward to hitting the campaign trail and discussing the issues that are important to all Americans and having spirited debates with my fellow Republicans about how to solve them.
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: You don't want to mess with little Jebby --
(LAUGHTER)
-- because when it comes to debating, he's a master. He's a master debater.
(LAUGHTER)
While we're talking about the issues, where do you stand on immigration?
[01:25:14] BUSH: Well, Jimmy, we're a nation of immigrants, and I believe everyone should have the chance to achieve the American dream.
And to translate that for all of your Spanish speaking viewers -- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(APPLAUSE)
FALLON: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the telephono.
(LAUGHTER)
I know you just got back from Miami but I didn't think I was interviewing Governor Pit Bull.
(MUSIC)
BUSH: Fire ball.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BARNETT: There you go. Very nice stuff there.
Now to sports. The Golden State Warriors are the best in basketball. They just won the NBA championship over the Cavaliers with a 105-97 win on the road. It's the Warriors' fourth title in franchise history but their first since 1975. The series saw the league's reigning MVP Steph Curry go up against the Cavaliers' Lebron James, but it was the Warriors' Andre Iguodala named the MVP of the finals.
I spoke a short time ago with "Bleacher Report's" NBA senior writer, Ric Bucher, on what made the difference for Golden State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIC BUCHER, CNN SENIOR WRITER, THE BLEACHER REPORT: It reflected the depth and versatility of the team. The Coach Steve Kerr made the most of it. All guys off the bench that were pivotal in the second half, yet didn't play a lot in the season, didn't play during the regular season. It showed the guts of Kerr to use everything he had but also the arsenal he had to draw on that the Cavaliers did not. So it -- Curry had his moments. He stepped up when they need him. It really was the depth of the team that was the difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: This interesting development, the FBI is investigating whether a U.S. baseball team hacked into a rival's computer system. "The New York Times" reports that hackers working for the St. Louis Cardinals sought out information about the Houston Astros. The Cardinals organization says it is fully cooperating with the investigation. The commissioner of Major League Baseball said it is just too soon to speculate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MANFRED, COMMISSIONER, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: There's an ongoing investigation. We have been fully cooperative. Obviously, any allegation like, this no matter how serious it turns out to be, is of great concern to us. But it's just too early to speculate on what the facts are going to turn out to be and what action, if any, is necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: More of the world's biggest stories coming up. A U.S. drone takes out a key al Qaeda leader in Yemen. Next, a look at how the U.S. found him and whether luck played a role here.
Also, all contact lost. Three sisters and nine children vanished during a trip to the Middle East. Their husbands' public appeal after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:52] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks so much for staying with me. I'm Errol Barnett.
Here are our top global stories right now.
Police are expanding their search for two convicted killers who escaped from a New York prison. Also a source tells CNN the prison worker accused of helping Richard Matt and David Sweat escape warned her husband about their plans, but an attorney for Joyce Mitchell's husband said his client was kept in the dark.
In Hong Kong, lawmakers have introduced a controversial plan for electing the city's next chief executive. The proposal will let people cast votes for Hong Kong's next leader in 2017 but only if China gets to vet the candidates first. Opponents say it would be a fake democracy.
One day after condemning the U.S. plan to store heavy military equipment along the Russian border, President Vladimir Putin responds. He announced he's adding more than 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles to Russia's arsenal. The U.S. secretary of state expressed concern over a possible backslide to Cold War status.
Hundreds of additional U.S. military trainers are on the job in Iraq. They are working at an air base between Ramadi and Fallujah. This is in Anbar Province. Both of the cities are controlled by ISIS. The 450 additional trainers will work with Sunni fighters and the Iraqi military as they try to push back the terror group. Tribal leaders have asked repeatedly for better weapons and additional help.
Kurdish fighters, meantime, say they have recaptured the town of Tal Abyad from ISIS. We have new video posted online and it shows members of the Free Syrian Army celebrating at the main gate to the city. Tal Abyad is near Syria's border with Turkey and it sits along an ISIS supply route. Kurdish forces unfurled their flag in the town on Monday. The capture of Tal Abyad means the Syrian Kurds now control a major stretch of the border with Turkey where foreign fighters cross in to Syria to join ISIS.
And the U.S. confirms it killed a top al Qaeda leader in a drone strike in Yemen. Nasir al Wuhayshi was the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al Qaeda's number-two leader overall. That follows the reported death days ago of another top terror leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar. This attack was in Libya. The U.S. said it targeted him with an air strike. Libyan officials say he was killed, although the U.S. has not confirmed that.
Now analysts say the strikes that killed the two terror leaders are the result of enhanced intelligence in the region.
Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nasir al Wuhayshi just the latest jihadi taken off the battlefield by a drone in a swift strike. A new success in the series of high-profile attacks against al Qaeda and ISIS.
Sources tell CNN he wasn't specifically targeted, this was more than just luck.
SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: I think there's no question that the vast majority of the explanation for the targeting and range of individuals, including Wuhayshi, is very, very hard intelligence work.
[01:35:14] STARR: Another top target, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa, targeted by F-15s, dropping 500 pounds bombs on a compound in eastern Libya. The U.S. had looked for him for years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that he got sloppy, that he moved in a way he could be tracked.
STARR: Classified high-tech gear making the strikes possible. Electronic eavesdropping on cell phones and monitoring social media is at an all-time high. Drones and satellites are often called in, some now equipped with full-motion video. That's a powerful tool in making that final decision to strike.
JONES: You can watch a compound for hours and hours and days and days and weeks and weeks.
STARR: Consider the third major strike in recent weeks, the Delta Force raid in to Syria that killed Abu Sayyaf, a top ISIS operative. A woman who escaped from his house provided an initial tip, and the U.S. spied on him for months, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.
(EXPLOSION)
STARR (on camera): Some missions do not succeed. Several months ago, when the U.S. tried to rescue hostages being held by ISIS inside Syria, when Special Forces got to the scene that they were aiming for, the hostages had already been removed.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: CNN contributor, Michael Weiss, says the death of al Wuhayshi is a significant blow to al Qaeda but it doesn't signal the end of the organization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: In terms of these decapitation strikes, which is usually done by drone bombardment or areal sorties, it is a great symbolic victory. It eliminates someone with a lot of experience and operational trade craft. I mean, al Wuhayshi was an intimate and a confidant of Osama bin Laden. So some of his skill set cannot be that quickly swapped in, but there's always a guy lying in wait, if you like, or a successor to the throne.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: That successor is AQAP military commander, Qasm al-Rimi. The group released a video statement Tuesday confirming his new role.
Now in England, emotional pleas from two husbands who lost have contact with their families. The wives and their children disappeared while on a trip to the Middle East.
Nic Robertson reports on the families' fears of where they have gone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three sisters and their nine children all missing. Their family fears they have fled to Syria.
Two of their husbands in a tear-fuelled press conference making an emotional appeal.
UNIDENTIFIED HUSBAND: I miss you. I love you. I love you a lot. I can't live without you.
ROBERTSON: His wife, 34-year-old Sugra (ph), and her sisters, Zora (ph), 33, and Kadija (ph), 30, took their nine children on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia late May. As they left, everyone looked happy. But instead of flying home last week, as their husbands expected, they all flew to Turkey.
The husbands say they have no idea why the change of plan. Their relationships, they say, rock solid.
UNIDENTIFIED HUSBAND: Everything is fine. Please come back. Everything is normal. Come back to me alive, please. They are young kids, 7 and 5. You know, I love you so much.
ROBERTSON: The youngest of the children is 3, the oldest 15.
(on camera): It's the plight of the children who used to play in the streets here that worries officials the most.
A local politician told me it is top priority now to get them home and safe. Local police are talking to Turkish authorities asking for help.
(voice-over): Their lawyers are still waiting for information.
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: We have not been informed of any further development from Turkey at this stage. We are hoping the information to be passed to us soon possible.
ROBERTSON (on camera): When are you expecting it?
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: Imminently.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): In the press conference, he was less able to explain why the women and children are feared in Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: It's coming under investigation by the police. It would be inappropriate for us to (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTSON: Their brother, believed to be in Syria, is under investigation by the police. At the press conference, many more questions than answers. Have the sisters talked to their brother? How much money did they have? Had they gone to join ISIS? Have they been radicalized?
But for now, none of that seems to matter to their husbands.
UNIDENTIFIED HUSBAND: I'm shaking. I miss you. It's been too many days. I don't know where are you? Please, please come back home.
[01:40:19] ROBERTSON: Question is, wherever the sisters and the children are, will they even get this message? And even if they do, will they be free to leave?
Nic Robertson, CNN, Bradford, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: North Korea has sent home two South Korean nationals who had been held for what Pyongyang said was illegal entry. The couple was handed over at a truce village on the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone. North Korea said the two entered their territory May 11th. The South Korean Unification Ministry said the couple had gone missing near the border between North Korea and China. Four other South Korean citizens are known to be held by the North.
A terrifying night for a group of students celebrating a friend's birthday. We'll get you the latest on a deadly balcony collapse after this short break.
Also coming up, people in Texas are on alert as Tropical Storm Bill brings more heavy rain and possible flooding to the state.
Stay with us here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: An apartment balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California, early Tuesday morning, killing six people. Five of the victims were Irish students and one was an American. Authorities say they were all gathered at this apartment for a birthday party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BATES, MAYOR OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA: Our thoughts and our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the people who were killed and injured. It was really a shocking set of events. We're now trying to recover from those and understand what we can do to make sure things like this don't happen again in the future.
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[01:45:05] BARNETT: Really is your worst nightmare when you are on a balcony like that.
Dan Simon has more on the deadly collapse.
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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're standing in front of the apartment complex where this happened. You can see where the balcony collapsed. It is gingerly sitting on top of the balcony that's right below it. This happened just before 1:00 in the morning local time. A number of people standing on the balcony. There was some party going on. Perhaps, a 21st birthday party celebration is what we are hearing. The balcony gave way. You had all of those people fall to the sidewalk. At least six people are confirmed dead, according to the authorities. Seven others being treated at area hospitals.
We're told that the victims are from Ireland. The university, U.C. Berkeley, is a few blocks away from where we are. We don't know if they were studying there or just here temporarily working perhaps. Obviously, this is an enormous tragedy here in Berkeley. Now, authorities are trying to figure out why that balcony gave way.
Dan Simon, CNN, Berkeley, California.
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BARNETT: Also in the U.S., Texas is bracing for more rain from Tropical Storm Bill. The system made landfall on Tuesday with winds reaching 96 kilometers per hour. It's the rainfall, though, that is the biggest concern as parts of the state are still recovering from last month's recorder flooding.
And in Alaska, massive wildfire is just ravaging parts of that state. You see it here. The fire is north of Anchorage and moving quickly. It has already spread to more than 7500 acres. At this hour, it is still growing.
For more details on this, we bring our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri.
Pedram, you noted the fire in Alaska grew very quickly over the span of a few days. Now you have this huge thing out of control.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is actually in a town, near town of Willow where the Iditarod race begins every winter. This winter for the second time in history they had to move the race from Willow to Fairbanks, well to the north because it was too dry. Of course, helps with the conditions out here. We know they are experiencing record heat wave in portions of Alaska and it's been bone dry. This particular fire, officials saying probably started by a human. 95 percent of all fires are started by people.
We will take you over to Alaska and show you what we have in store. From space you look down across Alaska and you will see the smoke of how expansive this is. 40 miles north of Anchorage. The area bone dry. Look at the observation and rainfall out of Anchorage. 79 degrees Fahrenheit over the last couple of days. Warmed up to 83 on Monday. Tuesday, a record temperature of 82. Should be at 63 Fahrenheit for this time of the year if you are in tune with the Celsius scale. High pressure has been in charge here. Temperatures shooting through the roof in a few spots. Fairbanks 86, 30 Celsius. Impressive when your average is far cooler. Work you way to Texas, excessive rainfall has been in place. Over a
foot above normal in Houston so far this year. Oklahoma City more than 16 inches above normal. Here's Bill and, again, still hanging in there. Slow-moving storm system. Think of yourself running on a treadmill. The average speed you want to run on a treadmill is what the storm is doing. It is jogging right up to Dallas and this pattern will continue not only through Dallas and Oklahoma City in the coming couple of days but this will stretch to the Midwestern United States and the northeastern United States. There will be heavy rainfall through Friday before the storm moves out over the Atlantic Ocean.
BARNETT: Everyone look out for Bill.
JAVAHERI: Yeah.
BARNETT: A wide reach.
Pedram, thank you very much.
JAVAHERI: You bet.
BARNETT: A mother is fighting for her life after contracting a mysterious and deadly flesh-eating bacteria. We will get you more on her painful struggle next.
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[01:52:59] BARNETT: A retired U.S. Marine and mother of two is fighting for her life after infected with a deadly flesh-eating bacteria. This started out as severe shoulder pain, and now Cindy Martinez could possibly lose her arms or her legs. Doctors still don't know how she got the infection.
Alina Machado has more on the battle to save her life.
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ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cindy Martinez, a Georgia mother of two, is fighting to recover from a potentially deadly infection and facing possible amputation after being infected with a flesh-eating bacteria.
DAVID MARTINEZ, HUSBAND OF CINDY MARTINEZ: I love her more than ever before.
MACHADO: Her husband unsure how she got sick.
MARTINEZ: She didn't have any injury. When I initially got home and she was feeling the pain, I looked at where the pain was at and I didn't notice anything. That's what's troubling.
MACHADO: The CDC says a few hundred people are affected every year nationwide. Infections from the various strains of flesh-eating bacteria are rare but can be deadly.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: These are very sneaky infections. When we talk about pain being the leading symptoms, it's really pain beyond what you would think would be warranted.
MACHADO: According to the CDC, a majority of flesh-eating bacteria cases are found in the gulf coast region. In Florida, so far this year, two people have died after being exposed to the bacteria in warm, coastal waters where one of the strains normally lives. The cases sparked a warning from the State health department, alerting beach goers with open wounds to avoid the water and to wear protective clothes.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says wounds are one way to get sick.
SCHAFFNER: The other is more subtle because the bacteria sometimes can find their way under your skin without an obvious wound.
MACHADO: That seemed to be the case with Lana Kuykendall, who thought a bruise on her leg was a blood clot. Instead, the South Carolina woman, who had given birth to twins days earlier, underwent more than 20 surgical procedures as doctors tried to repair the damage done by the bacteria. She didn't need any amputations but others aren't as fortunate.
[01:55:14] AMY COPELAND, LOST LIMBS DUE TO FLESH-EATING BACTERIA: This feels freeing, more lightweight.
MACHADO: Amy Copeland lives with prosthetics after losing both hands, a leg and a foot in 2012 when the bacteria entered her body through a gash in her leg.
The Georgia student told "OutFront" she hopes her grueling recovery can be an inspiration to others.
COPELAND: I think it is important to bring hope to those who have none and give a voice to those who can't speak. So, you know, I'm definitely willing to take on that role.
MACHADO: Copeland is reportedly looking forward to meeting Cindy Martinez and sharing some hope with her.
Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: And a quick news item for you here. Australian authorities have seized almost one ton of narcotics worth $811 million in a massive multi-week drug bust operation. The operation was a joint effort between the Australian and New Zealand navies. Authorities say the drug bust denied a key source of funding for terrorist organizations in the Middle East but did not reveal the country's link to the drug ring.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett.
For our viewers in the U.S., "Forensic Files" is next. For everyone else, Rosemary Church is next with another hour of CNN
NEWSROOM. And I will join her in an hour.
Stay with CNN.
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