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Doctors Without Borders Demands Independent Investigation of Deadly Air Strike; Historic Rainfall; Growing Wave of Violence Between Israelis and Palestinians; Clinton Appears on 'SNL'. Aired 3-4a ET.
Aired October 05, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM HOST: Shock and outage, Doctors Without Borders demands an independent investigation after a deadly air strike on of its hospitals Afghanistan.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM HOST: Historic rainfall. Curfews and scores of people stranded as South Carolina struggles with an epic storm.
BARNETT: Also ahead, a growing wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Now new restrictions on who gets into the old city of Jerusalem.
CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for kicking off your week with us. This is CNN Newsroom.
The aid agency Doctors Without Borders is voicing outrage over an apparent air strike on one of its hospitals in Afghanistan. The attack Saturday killed 12 staffers and 10 patients.
CHURCH: Medicins Sans Frontieres says it amounts to a war crime. The group is calling for an independent inquiry. Meanwhile, the United States is trying to determine if an American gun ship is to blame. The U.S. Defense Secretary promising the investigation will be thorough and transparent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: My reaction, I think, was the same that anybody's would, which is, this is a tragic loss of life, your hearts can only go out to innocent people who are caught up in this kind of violence. As far as the United States is concerned, and as far as our forces are concerned, that we be fully transparent about our investigation, and also that we be hold accountable if there is someone to be accountable, anybody responsible for doing something they should haven't done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And Medecins Sans Frontieres has pulled out of the city of Kunduz where the air strike took place. BARNETT: Now listen here as an executive director from the group
explained why the situation there has become simply unacceptable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICKIE HAWKINS, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: For us, it's completely shocking, the circumstances around it are very -- yeah, I mean -- I'm almost lost for words. The international military forces and the Afghan military know exactly where that hospital is. Working there for four years, it's a very busy, vital facility for the population of Northeast Afghanistan. We handed over the GPS coordinates of the hospital on the 29th of September. That was the most recent update. There's no question they knew exactly where the hospital was and who was the running it. So really for this to happen it's completely unbelievable, and unacceptable.
We want somebody -- we want a body to have a look at this attack that wasn't involved in it. We feel it's really important that there's an independent body that holds an investigation, and we want full access to whatever findings come out and full transparency, not only for those who were actually affected by the attack, the families of our staff and the patients that have been killed, it's very important for them to know how -- how this could have happened. But also, in terms of our future work in Kunduz and in Afghanistan, we are a medical humanitarian organization, we depend for our safety on people understanding that we are only there to provide medical support for civilians caught in the middle of a vicious conflict.
And obviously this throws into question all of the norms that we use to keep ourselves safe. So for our future activity in Afghanistan, it's extremely important that we understand the exact circumstances around this attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So many questions in the aftermath of this attack. We want to go now to Sune Engel Rasmussen, he is a Reporter for the Guardian Newspaper and joins us now live from Kabul, Afghanistan. So Sune, what are you hearing from people at the scene of this attack on the Medecins Sans Frontieres Hospital in Kunduz, because the question as we heard there, how does a hospital become a target?
SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN, THE GUARDIAN REPORTER: That's a question, Rosemary, that everyone in Kunduz is asking themselves, I think. The hospital is right in the center of the city, it's a big white compound, very easily to recognize, and people are describing these scenes from the fighting around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning as very loud, more violent than what they heard in the previous week.
[03:05:00] And there's no doubt that people say this wasn't an American gun ship that caused havoc. There was heavy fighting on Friday night and Saturday morning around the area of the hospital. Now Afghan officials including the police chief's spokesman in Kunduz said that Taliban fighters were fighting either from the main building in the hospital or from the roof. But MSF denied that categorically. And doctor's I spoke to a few hours after the attacks also there were no reports and so sign of insurgence fighting from within the compound. Everybody in Kunduz, both warring parties and civilians recognize that MSF was doing humanitarian work and they were treating civilians, soldiers and insurgents equally when people came to the hospital. They were civilians, and it was very widely recognized in the community.
CHURCH: And, Sune, now that Medecins Sans Frontieres are pulling out of Kunduz, what will that mean for the city, and how long will it take for more information to come out of the NATO, U.S., and Afghan investigations that are currently underway, something of course that's been called a war crime by MSF?
RASMUSSEN: Yeah, this is a disaster for Kunduz, there's no other way of putting it. The fighting is still raging in the province. People are stilling being injured. MSF treated more than 400 people last week before this incident happened. And now, the hospital is working overcapacity, a far, far inferior standard than MSF could provide. The worst injured patients from MSF hospital have been transferred to Kabul. But for the remaining days and weeks of the fight, similarly not be the kind of health care for people in Kunduz, the Afghan -- the U.S. and NATO's investigations of the incident are likely to drag on for a few more days.
They said they'll probably be concluding within a matter of days, that's something that everyone is looking to anxiously. As MSF said, they're demanding an independent international body to investigate this, so NATO and U.S. are not investigating their own possible war crimes as they put it.
CHURCH: It's a tragedy. We will of course wait the outcome of that three-pronged investigation, many thanks to Sune Engel Rasmussen reporting there live from Kabul.
BARNETT: Now, there are a number of major weather stories we're following around the world. First let's begin in Guatemala, families are mourning the victims of a massive landslide that hit a small town near Guatemala City, at least 131 people died after a rain-soaked hill collapsed on Thursday night. Residents and rescuers are digging through mud and debris, you see it there all in search of hundreds who are still missing.
CHURCH: And in the U.S., parts of South Carolina are being inundated by historic rainfall, more than a half meter, about two feet of rain has hit some areas since Friday. At least 21,000 people are without power right now.
BARNETT: If that wasn't enough, the state is bracing for even more rain in the coming hours and the Governor is just urging people to stay home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: What we're going to continue to say is, if you're in your house stay in your house. This is not something you to be taking pictures. This is not something you want your kids playing in. The water is not safe. And a lot of areas across the state where you see this deep water, it's got bacteria in it. So stay inside and don't get in there. We have seen areas of the interstate that are right now clear, but there will be a patch will gets real deep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now search and rescue operations will pick up Monday morning for residents who need to be evacuated. It's just past 3:00 a.m. now. So as soon as there is daybreak, they'll try to make progress on this. Major highways have been closed and curfews are in effect as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JACK SCOVILLE, GEORGETOWN SOUTH CAROLINA MAYOR: Just don't be stupid, I mean, that's the thing -- keep saying, don't try to drive through flooded areas. You don't know how deep they'll be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And officials say more than 200 water rescues like this one took place from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. At least five people have died in weather-related incidents. So we want to find out more about this, Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us in the studio. So tell us when this is likely to come to an end.
[03:10:00] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's starting to dwindle in about 24 hours, it'll be all but done here across this region of South Carolina. And it's just one of the more remarkable, prolific rain events across the United States. It's incredible. We did the math actually on exactly how much water was released over the South Carolina, about four trillion gallons of water, which is enough to fill about seven million Olympic pools. Think about that. It's staggering amount of water that occurred from Friday. We initially talked about it on Friday. We could get quite a bit of rain from this. The entire state of South Carolina gets deluged by rainfall. The area indicated in pink and purple, upward of 20 inches. This stretches from Charleston on the coast out toward Columbia in the central and northern portion of the state of South Carolina, 24 inches in Mt. Pleasant just outside of Charleston, 65 billion gallons of water just across the Charleston area alone.
That's ten days of flow over the Niagara Falls, again and Joaquin partly responsible for it. As it was moving away moisture drawn away from Joaquin from an existing storm system, everything it takes to open the record books up and make this is a 1 and 1,000-year event, nearly the entire state sitting underneath flood watches and warnings. We could get some additional water as Joaquin pulls away out toward the Central Atlantic. The rainfall could continue through the northern portion of South Carolina. Charleston, vast majority of rain has moved away, Myrtle Beach, additional rain possible over the next 24 hours or so before conditions begin to improve, just a staggering number when you think the largest number of rainfall, number three to be precise.
BARNETT: Just incredible.
(CROSSTALK) BARNETT: There's a possible new clue in the search for a missing
container ship. The company that owns the ship El Faro says the container has found that appears to be from the missing vessel. El Faro and its 33 crew members went missing off the Bahamas Thursday while navigating through Hurricane Joaquin.
CHURCH: The U.S. Coast Guard also spotted a huge debris field in the area but it's not yet clear if it's from the ship. The only confirmed item from El Faro is this life ring, search crews found it late Saturday, about 120 kilometers from the ship's last known location.
BARNETT: Now, we're getting the first accounts of how some people lost their lives in horrific flash floods in France. CNN affiliate BFMTV reports, at least 17 people were killed in those floods.
CHURCH: At least three people died in a retirement home. Other report suggests several people died while parking their cars or drowned when their vehicle became trapped in a tunnel. Officials are warning people against traveling because of damage against roads and rail networks.
BARNETT: A South Korean student that has been detained in North Korea is reportedly about to be released.
CHURCH: Yeah, the South Korean Unification Ministry says he's expected to be handed over to South Korea at the border in the next hour, in fact, he was a student at New York University.
BARNETT: Our Kathy Novak is following this development in Seoul. Kathy, this was announced by the North Korean government a few hours ago. What do we know about him and what at least he said was his motivations for heading there?
KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was arrested back in April, Errol. In May, he spoke to CNN while our team was in North Korea and what he said at the time that he had crossed illegally, he admitted, from China into North Korea, and that he wanted to be arrested. He said that this would bring about a great event. He wouldn't really elaborate on what that great event might be. He wanted to show the world that an ordinary college student could go into North Korea and be safely released and returned home. Of course, this was a huge risk he's taking. He was arrested for coming into the country illegally but ultimately it doesn't seem that he faced a trial. .
[03:15:00] Now three other South Korean citizens had a very different fate. They were tried on spying charges and they got life sentences in North Korea in labor camps. The South Korean government is welcoming this announcement that this South Korean citizen, also a U.S. permanent resident, will be returned at the border. But the South Korean government continues to call for the release of these three other South Koreans, Errol.
BARNETT: And while he may have positive intentions, he literally inserted himself into tense diplomatic relations, what do we know what will happen to him upon this handover and whether he'll face any discipline on the South Korean side or if he'll be able to return to the states.
NOVAK: That's a big question, Errol. South Korean citizens aren't allowed to go North Korea without specific permission. The National Intelligence Service will have some questions for One Mun Ju, they will be looking into whether he did violate any South Korean security laws. People here can't just hop on a North Korean website if they want to get any news out of it. This will be taken very seriously from the South Korean side as well. Authorities here are welcoming the fact that he has been released. The government released a statement saying it's relieved that One Mun Ju has been released but it has questions of its own, Errol.
BARNETT: How often do we hear good news and positive developments out of the north, Kathy Novak live for us in Seoul, South Korea, Kathy thanks.
CHURCH: Let's take a very short break here. Still to come -- Syrian president assesses the risk ISIS poses, and says Russia's intervention is vital, details coming up in a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:22:00] CHURCH: Well, we are getting word that ISIS militants have destroyed another antiquity in Palmyra, Syria. Eye witnesses told authorities the militants blew up the iconic Arch of Triumph on Sunday.
BARNETT: Now, the 1800-year-old arch there had framed the approach to the Roman city, Palmyra is Enesco world heritage site. Enesco's Director General has called destruction of the antiquities a war crime.
CHURCH: Syrian President Assad says the threat from ISIS puts the entire Middle East at risk, not just one or two states. In an interview with Iranian television Assad said Russia intervention in Syria is vital or the whole region will be destroyed.
BARNETT: He said a year-long campaign against ISIS by the U.S.-led coalition has been counterproductive and he dismissed international calls to step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIAN PRESIDENT: As to the recent statements about a transitional period and other issues, I would like to be very clear, no foreign officials might decide the future of Syria the future of Syria's political system, or the individuals who should govern Syria. This is the Syrian people's decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, Russia intensified its air strikes in Syria over the weekend and it said it has considerably reduced the ability of ISIS to fight. Meantime, Russia's air campaign is also raising the ire of neighboring Turkey. Our Phil Black joins us now live from Moscow with the very latest on all of this. So Phil, what proof is there that the Russian air strikes have impacted ISIS in any way and talk about Turkey's reaction to these air strikes.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Turkey has been very critical, Rosemary, critical in principle of Russia's action. More than that, we're just learning details of a much more intense situation, involving Turkish air force and a Russian fighter jet. Turkey has accused Russian fighter jets of violating its air space, apparently happened on Saturday. So October 3rd, 12:08, it says a Russian fighter violated its air space and it was intercepted by two Turkish F-16s before that Russian jet than proceeded back into Syrian air space. Because this happened over the weekend, already protests have been lodged, the Russian Ambassador was summoned to not let this happen again and the Turkish foreign minister has had conversations with the Russian foreign minister as well as Turkish allies.
Foreign ministers of the United States, Italy, the U.K. and so forth. It's talking about maintaining conversations about this. It shows the risks and potential tensions that can very quickly escalate by having so many and such a highly militarized situation within a limited air space. We heard concerns about this from the outset made by the United States and so forth about Russia operating in this air space without any real coordination or any real contact between Russia and the United States and its coalition partners and so forth. There's been called for talks. The United States was particularly unhappy with the very short notice and the nature of the notice that was given by Russia when it began the strikes.
Now since then, talks have begun, but clearly the contacts, the communications going on between the Russians and the United States and its coalition partners, including Turkey, aren't what they should be. An incident like this could quickly escalate and have much more serious unintended, Rosemary.
CHURCH: There are a lot of concerns for sure on that matter. Also, Russian officials have been releasing lists of targets that have been hit. They insist that ISIS is the main focus. But not everyone agrees. What have you been learning about that?
BLACK: So the Russian view, you're right, we're getting these lists of targets they claimed to strike every day, they're command enters, weapons, depots, training camps, armored vehicles, and in each case, they're being attributed to being possessed or operated by either ISIS or terrorists. That's the Russian view that they're hitting terrorists and ISIS in the same way. They say the United States and its allies are in their operations. Russia said they're doing it very accurately and doing so that no civilians are harmed, either, but as you're touching on there, we know the assessment of the United States and its allies is very different, that Russia is only going after groups that are targeting Assad's regime only. They call those strikes indiscriminate, and they say that civilians are indeed suffering, Rosemary.
CHURCH: CNN's Phil Black, joining us live from Moscow, many thanks for bringing us up to date on the situation.
BARNETT: Doctors without Borders is calling the attack on their hospital a war crime. Coming up, we'll look at what that entails and see what it means for war zones.
CHURCH: Plus, a Vatican priest is fired after announcing he's in a same-sex relationship. We'll have a live report from Rome coming up here on CNN Newsroom.
[03:27:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and those of you watching all around the world. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. It is of course time to check the main stories we have been following for you this hour. Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders has pulled out of the Afghan city of Kunduz after an air strike destroyed one of its hospitals. The U.S. is investigating whether one of its gun ships was responsible. At least 22 people were killed.
BARNETT: In the U.S., search and rescue operations will pick up in the coming hours in South Carolina where historic rains...
[03:30:00] CHURCH: Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders has pulled out of the Afghan city of Kunduz after an airstrike destroyed one of its hospitals. The U.S. is investigating whether one of its gunships was responsible. At least 22 people were killed.
BARNETT: In the U.S., search and rescue operations will pick up in the coming hours in South Carolina, where historic rains are battering parts of the state. At least 21,000 people are without power right now. Major highways have been closed and curfews are in effect. Officials say some hospitals could evacuate due to water shortages.
CHURCH: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the coalition of Iran, Russia, Iraq, and Syria must be successful against ISIS to protect the entire Middle East from destruction. His remarks from Iranian T.V. come a day after Russia said it was intensifying its air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria.
BARNETT: Now, we want to look more in depth on the airstrikes on Medecins Sans Frontieres Hospital in Afghanistan where at least 22 people are dead. The group says that attack amounts to a war crime.
Greg Steven Gordon is a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, he's been a prosecutor, adviser and scholar of cases involving war crimes, so he's the perfect person to discuss this with. He joins us live from Hong Kong.
Thanks so much for your time and joining us on CNN today. So, let's start here, Doctors Without Borders says this is a war crime which is the most serious charge you can make in a conflict. But based on what we know, which isn't much, does it appear to be anything close that in your view?
GREGORY STEVEN GORDON, LAW PROFESSOR, CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: On the surface, when you see a hospital attacked as it was and 22 people killed, there is a credible allegation of a war crime. But we don't know a lot of the facts surrounding it and I think we have to be cautious before we jump to any conclusions.
Remember, this is an area of active combat and it may be that there were operations in the vicinity and that the hospital was not directly targeted or intentionally targeted in which case, it might be collateral damage and there are other issues that you have to consider.
BARNETT: And MSF says the reason they feel this is a war crime is because in their view the hospital was targeted precisely and repeatedly. One of the unknowns though is, where the Taliban were at the time.
For example, the Afghan government says there were militants inside the hospital who were armed; MSF says that's not true. And even if they were treating Taliban militants, they typically leave their weapons outside. Is that a key question or one of the key questions you want to get the answers to?
GORDON: Absolutely. Because if this was a direct and intentional attack, it's a hospital, which is a protected site. You can't, under the laws of war, attack sites such as hospitals, schools, religious buildings, things like that. However, the hospital, as a building can lose its immunity if it's being used by the enemy for military attacks.
So, we would need to know exactly what kind of attacks were being carried on in the hospital, if any, and as well the United States, even if attacks were being carried out from the hospital, would have to respect certain principles of precaution.
In other words, they would have to make sure that they were using weapons that would be the least destructive, they would have to give warnings to civilians to try to get them out, things like that. So, it's very complex. And we would need to know those facts.
BARNETT: And the U.S. will be investigating itself. How much faith do you put in an investigation like that? And MSF says it should be done by a third independent body. Is that even possible?
GORDON: Well, that is also a complicated question, and I think the answer to it is, if you look at real politics, it's going to have to be the U.S. that conducts the investigation.
Let me say that the United States has conducted investigations into allegations of war crimes before, it has put on trial its military personnel in connection with war crimes allegations and it has prosecuted them.
So, let me just say that it's not out of the question that if there were in fact a war crime committed here, the United States could undertake a legitimate investigation and possibly prosecution.
BARNETT: All right.
GORDON: That said, there have been allegations the other way and certainly the United States is not subject to the international criminal court, and that's something that a lot of people criticize the United States for because there's no outside body that can make sure it's being held accountable.
BARNETT: And it's angered a lot of people and we just have to wait to get more information. My thanks to Greg Steven Gordon there, war crimes scholar, joining us from Hong Kong. I appreciate it.
GORDON: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
[03:35:00] CHURCH: And we turn to another story we have been following very closely. In Jerusalem's old city, Israeli authorities taking extreme action banning Palestinians from entering the old city. The action taken after a knife and gun attack that killed two Israelis and injured two others.
BARNETT: Now, increased violence between Palestinians and Israelis escalating tensions to new heights in recent weeks. Just last week, an Israeli couple shot and killed in front of their four children. A week prior, a Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint.
These latest developments are shocking. We better warn you that they may be difficult for many viewers to watch.
CHURCH: The overnight events captured on cellphone video seems not only depict the horror of what happened but also threatened to inflame tensions even more. CNN's Erin McLaughlin reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Panic in the old city of Jerusalem, about 8:30 in the evening. Screams of a dying rabbi. Israeli authorities say moments before he had attempted to defend an Israeli couple and their infant from stabbing by a 19-year-old Palestinian man.
The subsequent attack on the rabbi captured on a shaky cellphone footage by a Palestinian shop owner. Israeli police say by the time they arrived, the attacker had grabbed the rabbi's gun. "Now they will kill him," says an off-camera voice in Arabic.
Shooting happens out of frame. Israeli police say when the teenager fired, police shot and killed him.
He was later identified as a Mohammad Halabi, a Palestinian from the West Bank. His last Facebook posting, "According to what I see, the third intifada has started," he wrote. The rabbi and Israeli father died of their stab wounds.
In that charged atmosphere, at 2 a.m. a group of Far-right Israelis gather outside the Damascus gate of the old city. "People want revenge," they say. In Hebrew a young boy shouts, "Death to Arabs."
Then two hours later, a block away, another incident captured on Israeli cellphone footage. Another 19-year-old Palestinian man is seen running along a tramline outside the old city. Followed by Israelis shouting, "He's a terrorist. Shoot him. Shoot him."
In another video you see the police arrive and you hear seven gun shots as he falls to the ground. You see a police officer pointing his gun.
Voices off-camera ask, "Did he stab someone?" Someone answers, "No. He did not succeed." "Who did he try to attack?"
Israeli police say the 19-year-old man was shot holding a knife in his hand, covered in blood. Police say he had just stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy, and the shooting prevented additional attacks. Palestinians say he'd attacked no one, just got into a verbal altercation with Israelis protesting outside Damascus gate. They say the Israeli protesters simply wanted him dead.
He was later identified as Fadi Alloun of East Jerusalem. His friends say he was peaceful, that he loved fashion and wanted to be a model. His father says he was executed in cold blood.
For days, there have been running clashes as Palestinians protest restrictions that have prohibit Palestinian men under the age of 50 from worshipping at the Aqsa mosque. Far-right Israelis, too, have been visiting the mosque compound.
Now stone-throwing and tear gas have escalated to stabbing and gunfire. The anger and passions captured on video, video that will likely make tensions worse in this already tense city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Some truly disturbing image there, that report from Erin McLaughlin. She joins us now, live from Jerusalem.
So, Erin, how are Israeli and Palestinian officials responding to this increased violence?
MCLAUGHLIN: Hi, Rosemary. Well, Israeli and Palestinian officials are blaming each other. Now, according to Israeli media reports, Israeli authorities are considering a range of additional security measures.
Those measures from increasing the pace of something called administrative detentions, which is detaining suspects without trial or charge. They're also considering fast-tracking the raising of attackers' homes, a controversial practice.
We are expecting Israeli cabinet to meet later this evening to make a decision on any additional security measures.
CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to Erin McLaughlin with that live report from Jerusalem.
BARNETT: Now Catholic bishops and cardinals from around the world have kicked off a three-week meeting focused on issues facing families. [03:40:00] CHURCH: The event began under a cloud of controversy, and we are looking at these live pictures, that controversy coming after a Polish priest announced he's in a same-sex relationship. The Vatican responded quickly and relieved that priest of his duties.
BARNETT: For the latest on this, let's bring in on Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher, live from Rome.
And, Delia, in some ways, this priest makes it seem as if he felt encouraged to come out, thanks to the many progressive comments Pope Francis has made about same-sex couples. Is it possible that he thought he wouldn't get fired, that change had finally come to the Vatican?
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Presumably, Errol, he understood what would be the implications of his coming out, but he made the calculation that it might be worth it to advance his cause.
Of course, the Vatican side, they said they didn't appreciate the timing of it because they thought that it was time to influence these discussions which are beginning this morning and which will address, in part, gay issues. Let's take a closer look, Errol, at what happened this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: The synod has begun. An opening mass marking the start of the 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 gay.
Pope Francis has been noted for his openness to gay people. Embracing a gay couple in Washington, D.C. just over a week ago, his old friend and student, Yayo Grassi 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 Krysztof Charamsa, a Polish priest who worked at the Vatican's top 146 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRYSZTOF OLAF CHARAMSA, POLISH CATHOLIC PRIEST (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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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.
CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS, ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER: For people who, however they like 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 an equivalence between a same- sex partnership, a sexual same-sex partnership and marriage. In the light -- in teachings of the church, they are not the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Whether Pope Francis' openness to gay people will alter the synod's view of gay relationships will be one of the topics to watch at this meeting.
And, Errol, we should say that the monsignor, while he has been relieved of his duties at the Vatican, remains a priest, and it will now be up to his bishop in Poland to initiate any procedure for laicization or removing him from the priestly state. Errol.
BARNETT: All right. Delia Gallagher, live for us from Rome this morning as the synod continues. Thanks very much.
CHURCH: And we'll take a short break here. But still to come here on CNN Newsroom, chilling details about the gunman who opened fire on a U.S. college campus from the people who survived that deadly attack.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Survivors of a deadly shooting at a U.S. community college are sharing new details about the moment it began.
BARNETT: The people in Roseburg, Oregon, are mourning the loss of the nice people killed with vigils and memorial services. CNN's Sara Sidner spoke to one survivor who was shot in the hand. She talked about the gunman and the moment he stormed the English class he also attended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE WITNESS: 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 on the ground.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So did he hit anybody -- did he hit anyone when he first shot that first shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE WITNESS: No. He just got everybody's attention, and then everybody looked over there to the door. And he had -- guns with him and he was armed. He had a bulletproof vest on. And he didn't seem like he was like anxious or anything. He just seemed like, you know, he wanted to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And witnesses say the shooter singled out a student after his rampage began. That student survived. His mother told CNN after the gunman killed three people, he made a request.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: There were people being shot around him. And then at a certain point, the shooter singles out him, is that correct?
SUMMER SMITH, MOTHER OF SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What did the shooter do?
SMITH: The shooter asked him to get the police a -- something, and that if he did, he would live. Matthew said at that point, he didn't quite get what the shooter said. He thought he was standing up to die.
And that's when the shooter gave him what he was told to give to police, he was then sent to sit in the back of the room facing the room and to watch what was going on. Matthew said that he froze. He didn't make a single move. He was afraid to look away. That if he made anything -- did anything to make the shooter notice him that he would be shot. So he just sat there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: He's sitting there watching the shooter execute people?
SMITH: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Just stunning. Law enforcement officials say the shooter handed his writings to a survivor. They say it appears the gunman studied past mass shootings and identified with the people behind those attacks.
We'll have more news for you after this short break.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Good Monday morning to you. Pedram Javaheri for CNN Weather Watch. Weather pattern across the Americas on the eastern side.
It's been historic rains, even some beneficial rains, even snow fall across the high Sierra and in fact, a flash flood even issued proportions of Death Valley, one of the driest places in the world, but of course we know the bigger story. In recent days has been the historic amount of rainfall which actually became parts of the storm that were ejected off of Joaquin.
Some moisture moving its way toward the southern portion of the U.S. interactive with an existing front that was in place put down some 600 millimeters of rainfall. In some places across the State of South Carolina, a one-in-a-thousand-year event took place with Storm System and still getting some residual moisture that'll exit the picture inside the next 24 hours.
But generally speaking, about 25 or so millimeters could still come down over this region. Atlanta will shoot for 22 degrees today, while in San Francisco, same temperature but sunny skies. No fog across the area as high pressure tries to build as we work our way towards the middle of the week.
Across the Caribbean, we go with temps in Kingston, Jamaica about 32. San Juan should be in the mid-30s as well. Some thunderstorms possible in and around, say regions of Cartagena, while Paranam (ph) makes it up to 36. Quito will shoot for 24 degrees and works its way towards La Paz, about 17 degrees and sunny skies. And farther to the south we go, temps in Puerto Montt about 13 degrees, Montevideo 19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: All right, let's try and make you smile before we go today.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is taking her campaign to late-night T.V. She performed on the 41st season premiere of "Saturday Night Live (SNL)," playing a bartender serving drinks to Hillary Clinton, played by Kate McKinnon.
CHURCH: And it was the real Clinton's impersonation of republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that got the biggest laughs. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE MCKINNON, AMERICAN ACTRESS: Oh, well, I'm just so darn bummed. All everyone wants to talk about is Donald Trump.
HILLARY CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump? Isn't he the one that's like, "Uhh, you're all losers"?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: She's practiced that. Clinton later tweeted that a vote for her would mean four more years of McKinnon's impression of her. That's worth a while.
BARNETT: And finally for you, a 20-pound French bulldog in California is proving that size truly does not matter.
CHURCH: Jules somehow managed to chase away three bears that wandered into her owner's property. Rebecca Ferriter from Affiliate, KCAL reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REBECCA FERRITER, KCAL T.V. NEWS ANCHOR AND REPORTER: Don't let her sweet face ...
DAVID HERNANDEZ, DOG OWNER: You're loving this attention, huh?
FERRITER: ... or size fool you. HERNANDEZ: Come on, Silly. Come on.
FERRITER: Jules is a true guard dog.
HERNANDEZ: She wasn't having it. You're not coming into her property.
FERRITER: Friday afternoon, two bears, believed to be a year old, wandered into the family's front yard. A third bear is on the balcony just out of the camera's view.
HERNANDEZ: Mama bear's sitting up here.
FERRITER: The 20-pound French bulldog didn't hesitate chasing them off. Here you see one bear estimated to be more than 100 pounds scour the fence to get away from Jules.
[03:55:00] HERNANDEZ: Blew me away. I couldn't believe it that she turned into a Wolverine.
FERRITER: David Hernandez says a wildfire a couple of years ago impacted the food source for wildlife, so now animals look for food in people's yards. Hernandez says some of his neighbors encourage it by feeding the bears.
HERNANDEZ: It is a crime and you can actually do jail time for it if you're caught doing this. Some of my neighbors give them dog food in 25-pound bags. There's one lady in the neighborhood that actually makes them meatloaf.
FERRITER: While it may sound funny, with two young kids, Hernandez isn't taking any chances. His daughters' bedroom window is boarded up to prevent bears from sliding the glass open. He's even installed these cameras that alert him when there's any activity at the home.
HERNANDEZ: There's nothing more dangerous in a forest than a mother bear -- nothing.
FERRITER: So why live in the Monrovia foothills?
HERNANDEZ You can have drivebys or you can have bears. What's it going to be? So for me, I'll choose the wildlife but just don't feed them.
FERRITER: for her heroics, Jules got a bath, treats and lots of kisses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Wow, Jules is a real little hero.
BARNETT: That's incredible.
CHURCH: Unbelievable that people would be feeding the bears. Meatloaf? BARNETT: You know, it's the wrong thing to do. They're wild animals and this is becoming more common, not just in California but also to places where developments are getting bigger and they're getting closer to wildlife.
CHURCH: Yes.
BARNETT: Folks, like, "Oh, let's watch the bears and feed them."
CHURCH: They've encouraged them.
BARNETT: That video could have gone in a much different direction.
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: Very, very brave little doggie there.
BARNETT: Yes.
CHURCH: And thanks for watching CNN. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. I'm off to get a dog now because that's convincing.
CHURCH: Oh, good. I just got one.
BARNETT: Early start. Next for those in the states. For everyone else, stay tuned for another edition of CNN Newsroom.
CHURCH: Have a great day.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
