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Flash Flood Emergency In South Carolina; House Oversight Committee Chair Utah Jason Chaffetz Running for House Speaker; Aid Group Says Independent Probe Needed; Vatican Fires Priest After Revealing He Has Partner. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 04, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:13] SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining me. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Fredricka Whitfield is off today.

Catastrophic flooding leaving parts of the south Atlantic completely under water. The rapidly rising water stranding people now in their homes. In some parts of Columbia, the water is so high, many people are unable to evacuate on their own. Instead, needing to be rescued by boat, one woman escaping from the rising water just in the nick of time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA WILLIAMS, ESCAPED FLOOD WATER: If we wouldn't have got out by 7:00 this morning, we wouldn't have got out. A lot of our neighbors got trapped in their homes and they had to come rescue them in motor boats and canoes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The dangerous weather forcing the South Carolina department of transportation to now shut down a 75 mile stretch of I-95 between I-20 near Florence and I-26 north of Charleston. You are looking at live pictures here. This is where I-95 meets I-26 right before the road is closed there. Now, I-95 as you know, one of the busiest highways in the country stretching from Maine to Florida.

President Obama already declaring a state of emergency in that state. People being encouraged now to stay indoors if they are safe. They have to be safe and in a dry place. But some people are risking everything to help others.

I want you to see this picture here. Look at this. This is a human chain formed to help a man who was clinging to a stop sign.

We have team coverage on the ground. Our own Boris Sanchez, he is in Georgetown, South Carolina. Our meteorologist Tom Sater, he is at the CNN weather center.

And Boris, I want to start with you first in Georgetown there. You were driving down on U.S. 17 and parts of it are closed as well as several other major roads. Tell us what they flock on the roads, the driving conditioning right now. BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it was a mess trying to

get down here to Georgetown. We drove from Myrtle Beach this morning and there were several inches of water on the highway similar to where I'm standing right now. You had to drive extremely carefully. We saw several cars that had pulled over because the water was simply too high and really in some parts you had to cross your fingers and just hope that you were going to make it through.

Despite those conditions, we still saw a lot of drivers that were speeding not something you want to see considering that in the past two days, there had been at least three weather related traffic fatalities in South Carolina alone. Now, once we got here to Georgetown, a lot of the road nearby were shut down. We've seen a lot of emergency teams scattered through the city. The office of emergency management told us that they have completed more than 70 rescues getting people out of their homes since 4:00 this morning.

Aside from that there is a lot of ancillary issues, things like structure fires and gas leaks that have caused problems for first responders. We spoke to two people who were working an ambulance, they told us they had been going for more than 24 hours. And we know that every ambulance in the city of Georgetown is out right now helping respond to issues like this. But the rain is still coming down, so the cleanup here in Georgetown will take a while as you can imagine.

MALVEAUX: You're standing in a whole bunch of water there. Give us a sense of the big picture. I mean how big is that area? It really is under water.

SANCHEZ: It is essentially under water. The big problem here, Suzanne, is that Georgetown is exceptionally at the bottom of a bowl. There are major rivers all around as well as several inlets. I want to show one of them. It is just off here to my left. And the problem here is that even if the rain isn't torrential, it's still steady and it is still keeps coming down. So the water really has nowhere to go.

Just a short while ago, that parking lot you're looking at was mostly dry, now it's inundated because the inlet has come up over its shores. We saw several boats that have been stranded on land. We have also seen several cars, as I mentioned before, submerged like that. And the problem here is that there are businesses all along this area.

You can see right beside me, there are several businesses have been flooded and haven't yet pumped out. We also swung by city hall earlier in the day and got a chance to speak with the mayor. The parking lot of the city hall in Georgetown was completely under water. And the mayor says he's making a plea for people to please be careful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACK SCOVILLE, GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA: Just don't be stupid. I mean that's the thing. We keep saying, you know, don't try to drive through flooded areas if you don't have (INAUDIBLE). We're supposed to get a lot more rain later today. High tide is going to be about 4:00. So it could actually be worse in two or three hours. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's the thing, high tide is coming soon. And this inlet and other bodies of water in this area are expected to continue to rise. Quite a mess out here, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And Boris, it certainly must be comforting to see the mayor out there in the city essentially talking to you, talking to the others in the rain as we saw there. Really trying to keep people off those roads.

Boris, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

I want to go, of course, to our own meteorologist Tom Sater in the CNN weather center.

And Tom, you and I we are talking about this earlier today, but you called this catastrophic that parts of South Carolina between 16 and 24 inches of rain and it's not stopping? I mean, how much longer?

[14:05:16] TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Maybe another 24 hours. We could see in some cases, six, ten, maybe a few isolated high totals. But look at this, Suzanne. We are talking about all-time greatest one day rain totals, all-time greatest two day, three day, the greatest rainfall for any day of October and for any month. And what we fear now is when you look at the amounts of rain that have poured across areas of South Carolina this is now what we're calling a one in 500 year event.

In purple, much of the state of South Carolina inundated with 10 to 20 inches. The stories that are coming out are, really, are just - they are catastrophic in a way. When I show you the 36-hour rain loop, this is going to show you this atmospheric moisture field, this flume like a conveyor belt, just south of Myrtle Beach, the town of Georgetown, completely submerged. They are trying to pump the water back into the ocean, but right now at 2:04, its high tide and we have 10, 15-foot waves.

Columbia, the gill creek rose seven feet in just a matter of hours. Washed away the river crest monitors. That doesn't happen. You don't lose your river instruments because they're now over capacity hitting above historic levels. We still have warnings in effect.

Charleston good news. But the number of rescues, by the hundreds in some cases from Charleston to Columbia, the every able bodied personnel is out trying to rescue them from apartments, from homes, from vehicles. They're calling in crews now from areas of Tennessee.

Here is the next streak and we're still watching it continues, Suzanne, to move in the same direction where again we fear a good six to ten inches of rainfall in several locations that will continue for the next 24 hours. Unbelievable.

MALVEAUX: And Tom, when are people going to get out of this mess here? I mean, how long are they going to have to endure this? SATER: That's a good question. They're pleading with everyone, if

you are safe and dry, stay put. Because too many people are trying to sight see. But now, Suzanne, I think the problem will be the next 48 hours. And after that, as the rivers continue to rise. Remember that I-95 stretch 75 miles of it is cut off. But also I-20, I-126, I-77, until we get this area of low pressure to move away a little bit, I think things will start to clear up late tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: All right, Tom. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

I want to go, of course, to the Charleston, South Carolina now. This is where the national weather service reporting up to 20 inches of rain in some parts of that city. And the Mayor Joseph Riley, he is on the phone now from Charleston.

Thank you so much, Mayor, for being with us. I know you have a big, big job ahead and it is very busy time for you. So we appreciate your time here.

We have seen throughout the day dozens of water rescues. When people are looking at that amount of water, what are they dealing with, what kind of emergency situations have you seen?

MAYOR JOSEPH RILEY, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, you know, it's a 500 year storm what we've experienced. And certainly our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters north and east. We are not successful, rather, the storm. And we're in the cleanup phase. And our public safety, public service people have been outstanding. And citizens have been so cooperative. And heeded the plea not to come into the downtown area where they couldn't get around. And so we're working way through it.

MALVEAUX: And what is your city now that it's getting on the other side and looking it at the cleanup operation, what does your city look like? What are you dealing with? Particularly downtown. We're seeing pictures of cars stranded, individuals stranded. And lots and lots of water. Can you tell us what you're dealing with?

RILEY: Well, we closed 75 cars and we are helping citizens who are stranded. We've evacuated some 18 people from their homes in the dark of the night last night. And then, you know, the tide is receding. And the rain is essentially stopped or stopping. So we're move manage to the cleanup mode. And helping everyone, you know. We're on a complete standby. Any citizen knows how to reach us and we're giving one to one assistance when need. And tomorrow morning we'll wrap up with a huge cleanup effort and make sure that we get back to work as soon as possible.

MALVEAUX: And tell us about the time table there. How much time will it take for this water to recede in your city? How much time will it take for people to get back into their homes and into their businesses?

RILEY: Well, we have a good low tide coming up early in the morning, you know. Tide changes every six hours. So we'll be experiencing high tide about now. So in the middle of the night or early morning, the tide will go down and we think that will drain a lot of the water out of the peninsula.

And so we're hoping that businesses can be substantially back in operation. The city government is going to be fully open. And with a couple of tide cycles, the water goes out, and then we will just start cleaning up or moving debris and making sure that the city is stick and stand properly.

[14:10:30] MALVEAUX: And mayor, we know there is a curfew in effect until 7:00 p.m. in other (INAUDIBLE) counties South Carolina. Is there a curfew in effect in your area? And do you anticipate --?

RILEY: No.

MALVEAUX: OK. Do you anticipate schools will be operating and what is the power situation, as well?

RILEY: The power situation is really quite good. We didn't have winds with this event. Substantial winds. It was a little breezy. So that usually is what knocks power out. So the power outages have been relatively limited. I don't know that the school district has made the call on schools tomorrow. But we'll have the city government this operation. Obviously cleanup crews and all of the public service, public safety people will be there bright and early. Of course they have been working, you know, 24 hours anyway to help out citizens to get ready and weather the storm. We see challenges like this, it is an opportunity for public service and an opportunity for our citizens to pull together. And both of those things have happened. I'm very proud of the response of the government. I'm very proud of the response of our citizens.

MALVEAUX: And mayor, you're absolutely right, those are the times when the best of people, the best of humanity comes together, and neighbor helping neighbor. I know you're very busy, mayor. Thank you so much for just taking the time to talk with us. We certainly wish you the best and all those getting through that tragedy.

RILEY: Thank you very much. I'll pass your words along. We have a staff meeting in about 15 minutes.

MALVEAUX: OK, appreciate that.

The search is expanding today for a missing cargo ship carrying 28 Americans. That is after the U.S. coast guard and Navy found multiple items, but there is no confirmation now if any of it is related to that ship. Search and rescue planes yesterday found a life ring belonging to the ship. The Alfaro (ph) disappeared off the Bahamas, this was during hurricane Joaquin on Thursday.

And coming up, another congressman is throwing his hat into the race for house speaker. Why Republican Jason Chaffetz says he wants the job. That is straight ahead.

But next, the first time we are hearing directly from someone who was in the classroom where a gunman opened fire in Oregon. She tells CNN what happened and how she survived.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:59] MALVEAUX: For the very first time we're hearing directly from a survivor of the Oregon campus massacre that left nine people dead. Our own Sara Sidner spoke with a student who was shot in the hand. She did not want CNN to share her name or show her face, but Sara is live in Roseburg, Oregon.

And first, tell us can about the condition of this young woman. How is she doing?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's OK. She was shot in the hand. Two of her bones broke and she's all bandaged up. But she tells us she's just happy to be alive. She's a mother of three. And she never thought she'd see her babies again, especially after she witnessed what she did. The remorselessness of the shooter and the fact that he took aim at someone in a wheelchair as well as everyone else in the class.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sitting in the front of the classroom. Facing the teacher when everything happened. He just came in and shot towards the back of the wall and told everybody to get in the center of the room.

SIDNER: So did he hit anyone, can at the hit anyone when he first shot that first shot some.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he just got everybody's attention a. And then everybody looked over to the door and he had guns with him, he was armed. He had a bulletproof vest on. And he didn't seem like he was anxious or anything. He just seemed he wanted to do that and he seemed happy about it. He didn't seems stressed. He didn't seem nervous. But when he came in, he told everybody to get on the ground. Everybody tried to huddle to the ground. And then the girl in the wheelchair tried to get -- she got off and tried to get down on the ground.

SIDNER: Wait, there was a woman in a wheelchair during all this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And she had a dog with her, but the dog was just on the ground. And she got off the chair, she went on the ground. And then he told her to get back on the chair. And then she tried to climb back on the chair and he shot her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: She says when he first entered the classroom and did that initial shot into the wall to get everyone's attention, after that he didn't say a whole lot and he started shooting people one by one even as they lay on the ground. Even as they obeyed his commands. He did not take mercy on anyone except for one person who he said handed and envelope and said I will he let you live, go stand in the back, but you have to hand this over to police - Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Just cold blooded. Sara, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

And of course you can watch more of these emotional interviews on "New Day" tomorrow. This is starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern for that, the rest of Sara's amazing interview.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:22:25] MALVEAUX: We just learned South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is going to give a news conference at 3:00 p.m. on the catastrophic flooding in her state. You are looking at live pictures here from WIS, just cars under water, submerged. We have seen dramatic rescues. It is a state of emergency there. And this is flooding that just continues. And a tremendous amount of water, interstate blocked off. I mean just a lot of people dealing with a tremendous amount of rain, an event that continues this hour and will continue throughout the day into Monday. It is something that they have not seen in many, many years.

The governor going to be giving an update on what her state looks like, what are the next moves that people need to do to make sure that they are safe, that they are taken care of each other. And what to expect in the hours and days ahead.

Moving on, house oversight committee chair Utah Jason Chaffetz running to replace outgoing House speaker John Boehner. He says he is going to challenge house majority leader Kevin McCarthy in a vote scheduled for this coming Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R-UT), HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You don't just give an automatic promotion to the existing leadership team. That doesn't signal change. I think they want a fresh face and a fresh new person who is actually there at the leadership table in the speaker's role. You have to speak. You got to be able to articulate the Republican message to the American people and take that fight to the president, but you also have to bridge internally and that's where we've got some conflict going on right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN's Chris Frates is in our Washington bureau with the details.

Chris, he certainly looks like he's ready to run there. What we saw this past week may up end what many thought was a shoo-in for majority leader Kevin McCarthy, right?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, I really think that depends on whether Chaffetz can get the votes, right? And right now he's targeting 50 or so Republicans who are hesitant or frankly down right against voting a member of the current leadership team like McCarthy who is number in the - he is the number two Republican in the House. Now, we caught up with Chaffetz today and we asked him, what is your

rationale for running? Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: Look, I want to have a speaker who can actually speak and make the case to the American people. But again, the major impetus, the major understanding has to be that Kevin McCarthy can't get 218 votes on the floor of the house. That's the fundamental problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So the thing that caught my ear there, Suzanne, was the line a speaker who can actually speak. Now, about McCarthy's long had a reputation as well less than a stellar speaker. Remember McCarthy created an opening for Chaffetz to run when he said last week that the house committee investigating the attacks in Benghazi had helped knock Hillary Clinton's poll numbers down.

Now, Republicans have spent more a year insisting, I mean, it is swearing up and down that Benghazi's committee, that the work that the committee was doing was not political. And McCarthy went out and painted it in what was essential a political light giving Chaffetz the opening he needed to run.

So the other dynamic at work here, Suzanne, is that Chaffetz is betting on the dissatisfaction conservative Republicans have with how McCarthy and the current leadership team have dealt with the White House and the Senate. Chaffetz laid that out in a letter he sent out today explaining his rational for running. I got a copy of that letter where he wrote quote "equally important, we need a body of representatives who are supported by leadership for the work they were elected to do. We need to move away from a top-down process."

In other words, Suzanne, Chaffetz says he'll be the guy who will listen to his (INAUDIBLE) and frustrated colleagues, but he's still the underdog here. Whether or not he can win is still an open question -- Suzanne.

[14:26:08] MALVEAUX: Yes. Chris, we still don't know if he has those numbers yet.

Chris Frates, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

I want to bring in our political panel here. Attorney Brian Morgenstern and he is Republican strategist and Ellis Henican, a Democrat who is a political columnist.

So thanks for being with us this afternoon.

Brian, I want to start off with you. What do you think are Chaffetz's chances at this point against majority leader Kevin McCarthy? I mean, do we think that he has this yet?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, he's got an uphill battle because, you know, whoever is going to win the conference vote needs at least 120 votes. And Chaffetz I think is targeting, you know, the freedom caucus which is 30 votes and some others who are dissatisfied maybe people who were demoted under John Boehner. Folks like that. That doesn't add up to 120. So he has a challenge. McCarthy certainly has the upper happened at this point.

Here is a theory that Ellis and I were discussing that I want to put out there. If the conference is fractured enough and Chaffetz and McCarthy come out of this with a little bit of mud on their face, maybe you see a dark horse other candidate emerge, a popular guy in the house like, I don't know, maybe Paul Ryan, somebody who has a conservative reputation, but also has worked across party lines and can be the bridge that Chaffetz just discussed. I think the odds are on McCarthy at this point, but you know, who knows what is going to happen.

MALVEAUX: Ellis, do you think that's true? Because Paul Ryan has come out and said look, you know, he has a family to it take care of, this is not one of those jobs that he necessarily wants if he was going to be selected or recruited for it.

ELLIS HENICAN, DEMOCRATIC COLUMNIST: Yes. I've never met a politician who doesn't want a bigger job if he thinks he can get it. And I think Paul Ryan probably (INAUDIBLE). I love by the way Jason Chaffetz and the Brian sterns stuff up like this, right? It looked a few days ago like we would get a Kevin coronation and that's looking less likely now.

From the Democratic point of view, we just want them to all just slap the star out of each other over the next couple of weeks and you know, have all kind of bitterness linger on. That's really, I think, from my side what would be best.

MALVEAUX: Well, let's take a look from your side here. Hillary Clinton, you know, getting out there, getting her personality before everybody and really kind of making fun of the whole thing. I want you to watch this. This is "SNL" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just an ordinary citizen who believes the keystone pipeline will destroy our environment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with you there. It did take me a long time to decide that, but I am against it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, nothing wrong with taking your tile. What's important is getting it right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mrs. Clinton, I'm so sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say my sister is gay. So thank you for all you've done for gay marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you're welcome. It really is great how long you've supported gay marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I could have supported it sooner. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you did it pretty soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could have been sooner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fair point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just so darn bummed. All anyone wants to talk about is Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump? Isn't he the one that is like, you're all losers!

(LAUGHER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: I don't know. Ellis, Brian, Republican, Democrat, I think everybody probably thinks that's kind of funny, you know. I mean, she's playing the bartender. She's got her impersonator like behind the bar. I mean, what do you think, Ellis, does it help here? I mean, it is all just kind of in good humor.

HENICAN: Here's my idea. I think we have to draft Val, the bartender. If Hillary was more like Val, this would be a whole lot easier for her. Yes, loosen up, Hillary, please.

MALVEAUX: Does she go over the top? I mean, you know, does she go over the top? What do you make of it?

MORGENSTERN: You know, she got some comedy chats. She gets the most improved award after the God awful snap chat joke, that's for sure.

[14:30:00]

But a couple of things they pointed out there and we got a little sneak review of what her responses are going to be when the Democratic debates come around, which is that Hillary is, I don't know, doubted, high school trusted by a lot of the true believers in the primary process because she's been on every side of every issue.

She was for the Iraq war before she was against it. She was before bank bailouts before she was against them. She was against gay marriage before she was for it. So for a primary voters for whom many have a bit of a purity test, she's going to have some challenges.

So SNL sort of took them head on. But I agree, it was a really funny sketch.

MALVEAUX: Do you think the fact that they actually did bring up the fact that she was kind of slow on the supporting same-sex marriage, that it helps her, the acknowledgement that she was a little behind?

HENICAN: Bring it all out. I mean, in the end, Hillary's problem isn't her ideological positions. It's her lack of charm and connection. So anything that helps connect her, makes her seem like only, maybe Val for vice president if not for president. MALVEAUX: We'll leave it there, guys. You guys are the comedians. Brian Morgenstern and Ellis Henican, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

And you can catch the first Democratic presidential debate Tuesday, October 13th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And historic flooding in South Carolina, we'll go live to the hardest hit areas, find out how they are coping with floodwaters that have cut off key parts of that state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're waiting on a news conference from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley expected to address the catastrophic flooding and state of emergency in that state at the top of the hour.

The flooding has left parts of the state under water. Some people left stranded in their homes and in need of rescue. Others pitching into help like these people here who formed a human chain to rescue a neighbor, amazing.

[14:35:10] Even I-95, one of the busiest interstates in the country, has been shut down in parts of that state. And this isn't over, more flooding expected in parts of the state.

Nick Valencia is driving. He is near Orangeburg, South Carolina. You've been driving around for the past few hours. You are now on the phone. Tell us how it's been.

Not hearing Nick. Can we try to see if we can get a connection? Nick, can you hear me? All right, we've lost Nick. But you're looking at pictures there out of Columbia, South Carolina.

You can see the incredible situation there as cars nearly submerged, and houses as well almost to the top of the roofs there as people scramble to get to high ground to safety. Many evacuations have occurred.

A state of emergency there in South Carolina and this has been described as a catastrophic event because it hasn't happened in many, many years. And people are dealing with just an incredible amount of water.

You can see those people there, human chain I was talking about, as they reach for their maybe who was there stuck at a stop sign. Nick, can you hear me, are you on the line there? I understand that you've been trying to get through this in your car.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We are. We're in a coving coverage vehicle here being driven by our engineer right into the heavy disaster area. We've just pulled up on the scene here, a downed tree. Several residents looking at this just remarkable flooding that has captured some cars in it.

What I see out of my window is at least two, three cars submerged under water. It is by all accounts a desperate situation with the rain just relentlessly pounding the state of South Carolina. The storm trapped over the state.

Governor Nikki Haley who we are expecting a news conference from in just about 30 minutes has asked residents to shelter in place for what is historic rainfall in parts of South Carolina, up to 20 inches. Columbia, more than 12 inches.

Untold number of people injured. No telling right now how many people have been injured. It's only because this is still an active situation. We have been driving across the state and the damage was evident to us about 6 miles south of the capital.

We can also mention a firefighter was swept away briefly by the water and was missing at one point, but he has since been recovered and doing OK. And for pet owners out there some very sad news.

A Petsmart in the city Columbia, South Carolina was flooded leaving an untold number of rescue animals dead as a result. Flash flood warnings remain in effect until at least Monday.

You have parts of I-95, A very busy interstate, several parts shut down. And here in Columbia, the rain just continues to pour. Just when you think that there is a sign of relief, the rain starts all over again.

This entire intersection for at least four blocks completely submerged under water, street signs that look like they're covered under water. It really is probably the worst of the damage that we've seen.

MALVEAUX: Nick, please be safe. We know that you'll try to get us pictures as quickly as possible, though the ability for you just to travel and describe for us what you're seeing as you move through the state and see the devastation firsthand.

So Nick, we will get back to you. We're also going to have that press conference from the Governor Nikki Haley live at the top of the hour, so we want everybody to stay with us so we can get the latest information.

Clearly the people in that state dealing with something that is very, very difficult and everybody trying to give each other a helping happened. But situations and times like this, it is very important for people to be able to communicate and to be informed as to where they need to be, where they need to go and how long they will have to endure these type of conditions. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:43:04]

MALVEAUX: Doctors Without Borders today demanding an independent investigation into this weekend's airstrike. The attack hit a hospital in Afghanistan run by the group killing at least 22, including 12 aid workers. President Obama offering his condolences over this incident and

the White House released a statement from the president also promising to get answers about possible U.S. involvement.

Quote, "The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy. I have asked the Department of Defense to keep me apprised of the investigation and expect a full accounting of the facts."

Doctors Without Borders says it wants an independent investigation. I want to bring in Retired Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer. Thank you very much very much for joining us.

The Pentagon says they will have a full investigation and Doctors Without Borders say we want something independent. What are the kinds of things that you look for, where do you even start when you have those questions about how on earth did something like this happened?

LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER (RETIRED), FORMER U.S. ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Tragically this is not the first time this has happened. When I was there in 2003, we bombed a bunch of women and children because of bad intelligence. And in this case there may be some of that.

The Afghan forces were I believe the intelligence on this specific target and more than once where they have been completely careless on giving us information. In this case it was sustained, it was a long term thing and clearly the other thing that they will to is command and control.

When the Doctors Without Borders contacted us, the United States, saying, stop, we didn't stop so there is two pieces we have to go at here. Was the intelligence reliable and why didn't we stop when we had the correct information saying this is a bad target?

Those two things have to be sorted through. I'm not sure what Doctors Without Borders wants regarding independent. I mean, we have been very self-critical of this.

[14:45:05] The Pentagon -- General Joe Dunford (ph) just took over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. You have General Campbell in charge over there, both very honorable men, who actually know and will do the right thing in this investigation. So I do believe it will be investigated and I do believe both generals want to ensure it gets fixed.

MALVEAUX: I want to ask you about that second piece. The fact is they asked U.S. airstrikes to stop and that didn't happen in a timely way, what could be the reason why that wouldn't happen? Would that be a communications problem? Would that be not actually believing the source that was coming from? What do you think was that disconnect?

SHAFFER: Excellent question. I believe it had to do more with the time it takes for information to flow from a remote location to the right authorities within the chain of command and then giving the command to stop.

Everything cannot be spontaneous. So I do believe they called in the right folks, but it just takes time. The other factor here obviously is once you start shooting, it's difficult to get the forces to kind of pull back.

And the third factor, overall the operation against Taliban in Kunduz was successful. They have been able to expel the forces out. So the one bit of good news here, I don't mean to put a happy face on it.

But the fact is the afghan forces did not collapse like a cheap card table and they were able to successfully push out the foe. So it tells me, first, we are making progress in Afghanistan. To depart would be a complete mistake. We do need to figure out what happened and how to prevent it going forward.

MALVEAUX: You have these battles between the Taliban, NATO forces, Afghan forces in this area for days and the Taliban uses these particular areas whether a hospital or school or mosque as a shield. How do you prevent that from happening because that will continue to be a strategy?

SHAFFER: Absolutely. Again, this happened -- I note this in my book in 2003, the Taliban were encouraging the Afghan militia to give us the wrong information, thereby describing one of their tribal adversaries. So that's why solid intelligence is so very important to being effective in this environment.

We've cut back to about 10,000 troops. We're minimizing our offensive capability. But you see all these tribal rivalries which go back 1,000 years popping up again. So we have to be very careful when we accept information like this.

But once the target is identified as being friendly, you have to stop rapidly and that's what we have to get to the bottom of here.

MALVEAUX: Do you think this underscores the need to have human intelligence on the ground?

SHAFFER: My goodness, yes. Human intelligence is critical in this environment. We cannot rely on drones or phone intercepts. Knowing what is over the wall can only be done if you have penetrated the terrorist network.

In this case I do believe intelligence should have been there to tell us where these guys were being -- were the Taliban were actually hanging out and this is where the disconnect may have come through that breakdown.

But the more human intelligence you have, the more you have inside the network, the better the chances are you can defeat that network, absolutely.

MALVEAUX: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer, thank you very much. We appreciate the perspective.

The Vatican fires a senior priest after revealing he's gay and he has a partner. His story is up next.

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WHITFIELD: We are learning more about a Polish priest who was fired by the Vatican after publicly announcing that he is gay and he has a partner. Monsignor Kristof Charamsa served in the congregation for the Doctrine of the Saint, which is tasked with promoting and defending church doctrine.

The monsignor's announcement came just a day before the opening session of a major assembly of bishops. Delia Gallagher has more.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The synod has begun and opening mass marking start of a month long meeting at the Vatican with cardinals and bishops from around the world to discuss the Catholic Church's approach to issues affecting families, declining birth rates, divorce, and gays.

Pope Francis has been noted for his openness to gay people. Embracing a guy couple in Washington, D.C. just over a week ago, his old friend and student and his partner and saying last year who am I to judge about a gay priest who worked for him.

But on Saturday the Vatican fired an openly gay priest, Father Krzysztof Charamsa, a Polish priest, who worked at the Vatican's (inaudible) office. For the Vatican, gay or straight, a priest cannot be in a sexual relationship.

Father Charamsa announced in a video on the eve of the synod that he had a boyfriend and criticized the Catholic Church for its silence on gay issues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My decision of coming out is a very personal decision in the homophobic world of the Catholic Church. It has been very difficult and very hard.

GALLAGHER: Cardinals and bishops who have gathered for the synod say they welcome gay people, but they do not think there can be a change in the Catholic Church's opposition to gay unions or marriage. Cardinal Vincent Nichols from England will be one of the participants in the upcoming discussions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For people who are, however, they love to describe themselves same sex orientation, gay people, there must be respect and an appreciation of their God given dignity. There will not be any change that makes them equivalents between same sex partnership, a sexual same sex partnership, and marriage. In the teaching of the church, they are not the same. [14:55:04] GALLAGHER: Whether Pope Francis' openness to gay people will alter the synod's view will be one of the topics to watch. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

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MALVEAUX: And next, major flooding is devastating the Carolinas. Some areas have gotten 2 feet of rain. The South Carolina governor is speaking live in just a few moments. We'll bring it to you live after this break.

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MALVEAUX: Thanks for joining me. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Catastrophic flooding we're following leaving parts of South Carolina completely under water.

We're expecting a briefing from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley any moment thousand. This rapidly rising water is stranding many people in their homes. Some parts the water so high many unable to evacuate on their own, instead needing to be rescued by boaters, one woman escaping with just the clothes on her back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, we have wonderful neighbors who aided us on to the roof of their home, second story of their home and where we sat for hours until we were able to have a boat come out and take us out of the second story window to rescue us. So we've lost everything.

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MALVEAUX: It is heartbreaking.