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Carson: Chinese Inside Syria; U.S. Strike Blow to ISIS in Killing Jihadi John as ISIS Claims Responsibility for Beirut Bombings; Biden Speaks Out on College Rape. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 13, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:31:57] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The Chinese are inside of Syria. Did he say it? Did he not? Presidential Candidate Ben Carson's comments under the microscope, slamming the media, parsing words over what he meant about operations in Syria.

Here is Dr. Carson in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: What we have to recognize is that Putin is trying to really spread his influence throughout the Middle East. This is going to be his base. And we have to oppose him there in an effective way. We also must recognize it's a complex place. The Chinese are there as well as the Russians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: For the record, U.S. officials are saying they have no idea what he's talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I have not seen any evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Someone did tell me he said that earlier today.

(LAUGHTER)

I guess it's not common that maybe it violates my job description as a spokesperson to be speechless.

(LAUGHTER)

But I think, in this case, I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now is Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN senior political correspondent. Let's get to it. We heard Ben Carson saying earlier today, yes, I

have this intel source and would provide my sourcing. Apparently, he said his intelligence is better than the White House's and better than President Obama's. He's released the documents. What do they say?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He has released the documents. I have them here in my hand. It's 15 pages, some of which includes a newspaper clipping. Essentially, I think the takeaway comes from a statement from Doug Watts, who is Ben Carson's communication director. He says, "China has had a long-standing and well=documented security ties to Syria and has provided military weapons and equipment that Syria is using in the current conflict. Dr. Carson does not believe China is currently fighting in or deploying troops to Syria. And contrary to press reports, he has never made that assertion."

So essentially, the Carson campaign is saying this is something of a misinterpretation on the part of the press, that we have misjudged what he said in that original debate where he said the Chinese are there, and he likened the Chinese to Russia. He released these documents.

In terms of the sourcing, I have had had some questions out to the campaign about who the sourcing is. Dr. Carson said this is better than the White House, better than Susan Rice's intel.

And a man named Sean O'Connor is listed on these documents. I reached out to the campaign to see who he is, but we have some photographs here.

I think the issue here is he is essentially saying that if you supply weapons to a country that that seems to suggest some sort of involvement and we know that, often times, countries do supplies to different countries and it doesn't mean military involvement.

[14:35:10] BALDWIN: Ben Carson camp also said that -- Nia-Malika Henderson, thank you.

The Ben Carson camp also that the media needed to start doing homework on the issue of China and Syria.

By the way, we did our homework. Jim Sciutto talked to two U.S. military sources at the Pentagon and they say there's no evidence of China military actually being on the ground in Syria. So there's that.

Next, Jihadi John, the ISIS executioner responsible for these murders has likely been killed in an airstrike in Raqqa. What kind of blow is this to the ISIS operation as a whole?

Also ahead, a U.S.-aided push to destroy ISIS strongholds around Mount Sinjar n Iraq gaining steam in the northern part of the country.

We are learning more information about the bombing there in Beirut. ISIS-affiliated groups claiming responsibility there. Our senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, is live in Lebanon. We'll talk to her, coming up.

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[14:40:33] BALDWIN: One of the most famous faces of ISIS now likely dead. We're talking about Jihadi John, the masked man who taunted the world in those hideous videos again and again. Jihadi John put a long blade to the throat of several terrified hostages. The U.S. military unleashed a drone strike on a car in the city of Raqqa in Syria. Jihadi John was believed to be inside that car. All of this unfolding just a day after ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly series of bombings near a refugee camp in Beirut.

So joining me from Beirut is our senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward.

Let me begin on what more we know today with regard to the cents bombings. What more do we know about the bombers themselves?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know definitively is at least two suicide bombers hit that area. This is a Shiite/Muslim enclave. We know that 43 people were killed, more than 200 people were injured. Additionally, there appear to be conflicting reports about a possible third and fourth bomber. CNN has spoken to a Lebanese security official who says there was a third bomber, who was killed, but whose vest did not detonate and a fourth bomber has, in fact, been arrested. Authorities are continuing to question him. What we know for certain is this is really the first time that is has claimed responsibility for such a large and bloody attack. It is important to emphasize that while Lebanon is no stranger to sectarian conflict and spillover from the war in Syria, this is the bloodiest attack we have seen here in well over a year.

BALDWIN: What about bigger picture? You have U.S. has been highlighting the developments with regard to Jihadi John, Mount Sinjar, talking to a reporter in Iraq raising the Kurdish flag, retaking that from is. But as you point out in the last 48 hours, they say they carried out this terrorist attack in Beirut. Does this really showcase the reach that ISIS's influence has?

WARD: I think what it really showcases is what ISIS's strategy is here. And ISIS's primary strategy at this stage is to destabilize the region. It's looking for soft targets. This was basically a commercial area with shops and caves, not a terribly tough place to get a suicide bomber into, but the repercussions are enormous. What you see ISIS doing is exploiting these tensions and sectarian divisions that it already exist throughout the region and trying to fan the flames of those divisions with the hopes of creating chaos, that they can then come in and try to exploit the vacuum.

BALDWIN: Clarissa Ward, thank you very much.

Coming up next, I want to show you Vice President Joe Biden in a way you perhaps have never seen. This is last night at Syracuse University. This is where his son, Beau, had gone to school. He did something and said something that has to be done about sexual violence on college campuses. My next guest will talk about the vice president's comments, the tone he struck, and what needs to be done.

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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Something is happening. I don't expect everybody to walk up to the 240-pound guy when you're 5'9", 148 pounds. But least you can do, you can holler.

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[14:48:36] BALDWIN: Vice President Joe Biden is telling college students across the country it is on them. He's on a week-long tour pushing the Oval Office's "It's On Us" campaign. It's an initiative that challenges students, men and women, to do more to take more responsibility to stop sexual violence on college campuses. His latest stop is Syracuse University.

Here's the vice president sharing stories he's heard from survivors of date rape, and he roared at the students, reprimanding them to stand up against sexual assault.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It is the worst of all forms of violence. And women who are abused by someone they know are much less likely to recover than women who are abused by an absolute stranger. All the data shows it because women say, I should have known. What did I do? What was it that happened that caused him to think that I was like that?

Guys, it's not complicated. You're an upperclassman, you're at a fraternity party, a lovely young girl gets drunk, like too many do, especially in their freshman year, and she's nearly passing out. When you see your roommate or your fraternity brother walking her upstairs, have the gumption to step in. Tell him. Expose him. Save him. Have the nerve. Look at that young woman as if she were your sister or your mother. You know it's wrong. You know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:50:45] BALDWIN: Wow.

Lynn Rosenthal, the former White House senior adviser on violence against women, the current vice president of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Thank you so much for being with me.

My goodness, I have seen that clip now multiple times and, every time, you feel it. You feel it in your bones, this message from the vice president.

LYNN ROSENTHAL, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE & FORMER WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: You absolutely do. Vice President Biden has committed his entire career to try u to change the culture that allows sexual violence to occur. You can see it here. He's very inspirational to the students he's talking to.

BALDWIN: To me, he hit on it. I want to play a little more, the heart of his message about others. He says, "Guys, it's not complicated about jumping in."

Here's more of the vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It's not easy. It takes a lot of courage for a man to step in. That's why we have to find other means on campuses. There ought to be telephones. There ought to be ways you can text quickly if something is happening.

I don't expect everybody to walk up to the 240-pound guy when you're 5'9", 148 pounds. But least you can do, you can holler.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me get some numbers. The CDC is reporting more than half of female rape victims report being attacked by an intimate partner and 40 percent by an acquaintance. You mentioned getting on your cell phone, but what kinds of resources other than elbowing your way in and may go downhill quickly, what other resources are available on these college campuses?

ROSENTHAL: Bystander intervention is really about changing the culture. So it has to do not only with stepping in if you see something that's about to occur, but educating yourself, speaking with your friends, challenging sexist jokes, speaking out about violence against women. It's not only what happens in the heat of the moment, it's about changing the culture that allows the violence to continue. More and more schools have student-driven programs today that teach these skills, that encourage students to speak out, and that really work to change the culture on college campuses.

BALDWIN: How do you measure that? It's this intangible. We're talking about a culture change. How do you measure that success on these college campuses when so many people, as you well know, don't come forward?

ROSENTHAL: First, we have to understand the scope of the problem. Studies have shone over 20 years that 1 in 5 young women will be sexually assaulted while in college. Each school needs to understand what that means in their situation. So we encourage them to conduct their own studies and find out the incidents of sexual assault among their students. Only when they understand the scope of the problem will they know what it is they need to do to address it.

BALDWIN: Tell me more about this "It's On Us" campaign.

ROSENTHAL: It's designed to get everyone involved. The idea is "It's On Us" to speak out. It's on everybody. It's on students who see a friend who may be in trouble. It's on young men to challenge this culture can where sexist views as a conquest. But it's also on school administrators to do their part. To have clear policies that say sexual violence is unacceptable to hold those commit it accountable, to make sure there's clear punishment and sanctions if somebody commits it. And finally, to teach the student body about what conduct is acceptable and not acceptable and to hold them to it. That's what "It's On Us" is really all about. It's on all of us to change the culture.

BALDWIN: And I know you told the story, he gave his son, Beau, who did jump in, in one example, and he talks about the example about the frat guy and the drunk freshman girl. But let's just be real. It's also women as well who can be astute and aware and jump in.

ROSENTHAL: Yeah. Yeah.

BALDWIN: Ladies, don't let your girlfriends -- don't let this happen to them.

ROSENTHAL: That's a wonderful point. We need to take care of each other.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROSENTHAL: Many young women have served as bystanders. But what we have to do is not just watch out for each other, but stop committing it. The real message is don't commit this kind of sexual violence. As much as we want to look out for each other, what we really want is the culture to change so this just does not happen.

[14:55:13] BALDWIN: Lynn Rosenthal, so glad we talked. This is so important.

ROSENTHAL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And I just love the vice president's message at Syracuse.

Make sure you watch the CNN special. It's our film "Hunting Ground." It's a close look at sexual assault on college campuses. It premiers Thursday night, 9:00 eastern and pacific, here on CNN. Do not miss that.

Coming up next, we have much, much more on the big story today. This airstrike targeting ISIS killer, Jihadi John. A top U.S. commander calls him, quote, "a human animal," and says the world is better off without him.

Plus, the breaking news involving the Supreme Court in a major abortion case. Those details, next.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[15:00:09] BALDWIN: Let's get to it, the breaking news here. The top of the hour on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.