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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Political Feud Heats Up; Driver Accused of Running Over 38 People; San Bernardino Attacker's Friend Charged; Bowe Bergdahl to be Arraigned; Massive Landslide Strikes Shenzhen, China; India's Top Court Says Youngest Rapist Must Be Released; 6 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan; Trump's Remedy for Miss Universe Gaffe. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 22, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, Donald Trump calls Hillary Clinton a liar after Clinton claims videos of Trump are being used as ISIS recruiting tools.
Plus, we're learning more about the woman accused of running down dozens of pedestrians on the Vegas Strip. All with her 3-year-old daughter sitting in the backseat.
And what goes up is pretty cool but what came down from this SpaceX launch was even better.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
The 2016 U.S. presidential race is getting nastier with the feud between Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton flaring up.
At a campaign stop in Michigan Trump slammed Clinton for attacking him at Saturday's Democratic debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary -- I mean, did you watch that? What happened to her? No, she's terrible. She's terrible. "Donald Trump is on video, and ISIS is using him on the video to recruit." And it turned out to be a lie. She's a liar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, the war of words between Trump and Clinton gets uglier each time one targets the other.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny shows us the debate claim that started this latest feud.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Never mind their primary fights. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are locked in a new brawl of their own tonight. He's demanding an apology for this.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that Trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. He is becoming ISIS' best recruiter.
ZELENY: At the weekend Democratic debate, Clinton said Trump's plan to block Muslims from entering the U.S. has emboldened ISIS fighters.
CLINTON: They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. So I want to explain why this is not in America's interest to react with this kind of fear and respond to this sort of bigotry.
ZELENY: But there's no evidence to back up her assertion Trump's rhetoric has been a recruiting tool for ISIS. So far ISIS recruiters have used American leaders, President Obama, President Bush and even her husband in recruiting videos.
The accusation set Trump off. He fired back on Twitter, "It's the Democrats' total weakness and incompetence that gave rise to ISIS, not a tape of Donald Trump. That was an admitted Hillary lie."
On "The Today Show," he demanded an apology.
TRUMP: She should apologize. She lies about e-mails, she lies about Whitewater, she lies about everything.
ZELENY: President Obama unleashed his own criticism of Trump, telling NPR the billionaire was exploiting the fears of white men and blue- collar workers.
She's hardly the only one talking about a video that doesn't seem to exist. For weeks, Trump has failed to back up claims he saw video of thousands cheering in New Jersey as the World Trade Center crumbled on 9/11. He defended it again today.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. I think somebody like Mr. Trump has taken advantage of that.
ZELENY: The skirmish came as the GOP field got a little smaller. Senator Lindsey Graham left the race, telling CNN's Kate Bolduan he'll back one of his rivals.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have hit a wall here. You know. My campaign has come to a point where I need to think about getting out and helping somebody else.
ZELENY: Today in New Hampshire, the campaign trail was filled with Republicans who could use help in their battle to be an alternative to Trump and Ted Cruz.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, I want everybody's support, anyone I can get to jump on board.
ZELENY: Marco Rubio and Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, all trying to squeeze in last-minute campaigning before Christmas.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everyone here in New Hampshire has been just so incredibly warm and welcoming.
ZELENY: Speaking of Christmas, the Clinton campaign tried to change the subject with a little help from the Grinch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Together they shout with great grinchy seal that on health care their plan is --
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Repeal.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Repeal.
RUBIO: Repeal.
ZELENY (on camera): Trump and Clinton are both trying to squeeze in some last-minute holiday campaigning. Trump is in Michigan, Clinton is in Iowa, but don't look for any apologies. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton says, hell no. Hillary Clinton will not be apologizing to Donald Trump for correctly pointing out how his hateful rhetoric only helps ISIS recruit more terrorists.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, joining me now to discuss the state of the race for the White House is Rosario Marin. She is a former U.S. treasurer and a supporter of Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush.
Rosario, thank you so much for joining us.
ROSARIO MARIN, FORMER U.S. TREASURER: Delighted to be here.
SESAY: Welcome to the program. What's your view of where the race stands now on the GOP side?
[01:05:01] MARIN: Well, it's diminishing by the number of people now on the race, and I think with Senator Lindsey Graham leaving I think that that opens a door for some of those supporters to go to other candidates, especially, in my view, they should really go for Jeb Bush, only because Lindsey Graham was also attacking the frontrunner and I think that the people that support him will find a voice and a home in Jeb Bush.
SESAY: You think so. I mean, when you look at the fact that Lindsey Graham tried to be a moderate voice in this race, I mean, what does it say about how this race has shaped up until now and really the chances of the other moderate Republicans in this race when we see Donald Trump so far out in front?
MARIN: Well, I think, you know, it's too early. You know, people forget this is -- this is my sixth presidential campaign. People forget that four years ago Mitt Romney was not leading the pack. Eight years ago Senator McCain was not leading the pack. Everybody concentrates on the first state. None of them where -- the frontrunners did not end up being our nominee. So I'm a little bit cautious. I don't jump to conclusions as many people. They think, oh, well, if the election was held today, yes. But it's still far away.
SESAY: But you would accept that this is a different kind of election this year. The feeling everyone says is different. This is the year of the outsider. So things are a little bit different. I'm sure you'd agree. So much so that someone like Jeb Bush who you support, who -- I'm sure you never -- well, could you have imagined, let me pose it as a question, that Jeb Bush would be running a race where now he is going on the attack in the way of Donald Trump calling Donald Trump a jerk? I mean, did you ever think you'd see that?
MARIN: Well, I can tell you this. The frontrunner has attacked everybody, has insulted everybody. He insults everybody from women to minorities to Mexicans to immigrants to people with disabilities. Mocks them.
SESAY: But he continues to stand at the front of the pack.
MARIN: Well, that's because -- and I will tell you, even we're doing it right now. He has gotten more air time than all of the presidential candidates put together, including the Democrats, because he knows how to manipulate the media. And so we keep talking about him. So people when they ask him who are you going to support, they give him the names, they heard one name a thousand times. They never heard of Lindsey Graham. You know. So the media has actually played into his game.
SESAY: One quick question on the Democratic side of things. Hillary Clinton so far out in front at this point, many expect her to be the nominee. If she's indeed the nominee, how do you see the Republicans mounting a race to defeat her? What do you see as her vulnerabilities?
MARIN: Well, she has quite a few. And I can tell you with a lot of respect she has some problems. She cannot name -- she couldn't name successes. She has a problem with telling the truth sometimes. And that is -- that is challenging.
I would suspect the frontrunner is not going to be our nominee. If that is the case then you just go to the record. And the Republicans have a record and she has a record. And when you do that, then that's when you compare. She has some work to do. There are candidates including mine that have a very clear strong record of accomplishments. And what are her accomplishments? She couldn't name one.
SESAY: It's going to be a very interesting 2016, Rosario Marin.
MARIN: I'm looking forward to it.
SESAY: Thank you so much for joining you us. I appreciate it. Thank you.
MARIN: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
SESAY: Now to a major accomplishment in the space community.
No other company like SpaceX successfully guided a rocket booster back to land after using it to deliver a payload into space Monday evening. The booster's safe return marks a major step toward making space travel a lot cheaper because the rocket can now be reused for a future launch.
Earlier I spoke with Dr. Charles Beichman, the executive director of NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BEICHMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NASA'S EXOPLANET SCIENCE INSTITUTE: It's a big day for the U.S. space community. If they can successfully refurbish this -- the spacecraft and this rocket and use it again, the turnaround time becomes much more rapid. The costs come down. This is a way to really bring down the cost of getting into space.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, zero. Lift-off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, the primary mission was to put 11 small communications satellites into orbit. All were successfully deployed.
[01:10:07] We have new details about the woman who ran over dozens of people on the Vegas Strip. Police say 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway deliberately veered off the road several times to plow into pedestrians on the sidewalk.
CNN's Ryan Young has more now from Las Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of questions about what happened out here. A lot of people want to know what drove this woman to drive her car onto the strip and had all those people witness these horrific events. It's questions that won't be answered any time soon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG (voice-over): Just after 6:30 p.m., the first 911 calls came in, reports of a vehicle on the Las Vegas Strip that drove on to a sidewalk hitting several pedestrians. It seemed at first to be an accident but soon it would become clear this was much worse.
JUSTIN COCHRANE, WITNESS: It was bustling through people. They were just thudding. The sound was -- so I'd say 30, maybe, and I thought it might a little bit faster but it seemed like it was going pretty fast. People were flying. But this child I saw literally hit, and the sound I'll never forget. It's horrible, and it just never stopped, those people. It wasn't hitting cars, it was hitting people. YOUNG: According to police, this was an intentional act. The driver,
ramming her car into the crowds in at least three or four different spots along the sidewalk between Planet Hollywood and the Paris Resort and Casino, repeatedly driving over pedestrians.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car. She had both of her hands on the wheel, almost looking straight forward. And there were men running after her trying to stop the vehicle and they couldn't get to her. They were yelling stop, stop, and she just wasn't trying.
YOUNG: Police say 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway was behind the wheel during the attack. She was driving a 1996 Oldsmobile sedan with Oregon plates. Her 3-year-old daughter was in the back seat the entire time.
ANTONIO NASSAR, WITNESS: She rode the sidewalk. She came to a stop right here at the Paris intersection and then she like -- people were punching the window trying to get apparently the child out of the back seat. She accelerated again and just kept mowing everyone down.
YOUNG: After the attack, Holloway fled the scene, driving to another casino before abandoning her car with her daughter still inside. She asked the security officer there to call police because she had just hit several people. She is now in custody. Her daughter is unharmed.
Authorities at first were quick to rule out terrorism as a motive. But now said they needed to complete their investigation before making a final conclusion.
SHERIFF JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: She is believed to be from the Oregon area and we are going to do the best we can throughout the day to determine her background. In light of that, and not having those unknowns, we're not 100 percent ruling out the possibility of terrorism.
YOUNG: So if not an act of terror, what could have been the motivation behind this attack? Police say she made a statement when they took her into custody but wouldn't disclose the details.
LOMBARDO: We believe that she -- she had some disassociation with the father of her child and then events prior to the event, her being what we believe to be in Las Vegas approximately a week and homeless and residing within her vehicle. We don't know the exact percipient event that caused her to snap and-or whether it was planned previously.
YOUNG: So far Holloway's charged with a single count of murder with a deadly weapon. The first of what authorities say are many charges to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: And Isha, we do know that three people are still in critical condition. One person did die. That young child that was in the car we know is in protective custody.
SESAY: Our thanks to Ryan Young for that report.
Now the man accused of arming San Bernardino mass killers Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik remains behind bars. Meantime, new and disturbing details have surfaced about Enrique Marquez teaming with Farook on other potentially deadly plots.
CNN's Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Enrique Marquez has had his bail denied by a federal court judge and his alleged role in another plot with San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook is causing major concern among counter-terror officials.
The criminal complaint says starting late in 2011 Marquez and Farook mapped out a plan to attack the 91 Freeway near Los Angeles at rush hour. Marquez told investigators Farook was to start the attack by throwing pipe bombs on to the highway on a stretch with no exits. The explosions would disable traffic. Then Farook would move among the stopped vehicles and fire at them.
SEAMUS HUGHES, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: In a place like this what you're essentially looking at is you throw pipe bombs, you're setting up a confined space and you're able to then stop traffic. And then they're not able to get out. So you can slowly pick through people and then build up your level of casualties.
TODD: A top L.A. Police counter-terror chief tells CNN this is the first time a terror plot involving freeways has been revealed to that department. He calls it a nightmare that they have been gaming out in tabletop scenarios.
[01:15:05] According to court papers Marquez told investigators his role was to shoot at cars from a position in the hills overlooking the 91 Freeway, then fire on police and rescue teams as they arrived.
HUGHES: First responders are always the target when it comes to jihadist ideology. They're focusing on military, also first responders and cops. They see those at the front line.
TODD: Marquez says he backed out of that plot and another plan to attack student gathering places at Riverside City College.
Marquez is charged with illegally buying the rifles used in the San Bernardino shootings and of defrauding officials over a sham marriage with the sister of Farook's brother's wife. For that Marquez was paid about $200 a month according to the complaint.
One analyst says it all suggests Enrique Marquez was very much a follower among these plotters.
AKI PERITZ, CENTER FOR INTELLIGENCE POLICY: This guy sounds like a scaredy-cat and he seems like a guy who does not really have a very strong will to do anything. And so if his friend, his neighbor, decided to say let's go shoot at some cars he might go along. TODD (on camera): At least one counterterrorism expert says the
highway plot was flimsy and wouldn't have inflicted the mass casualties that an attack in an enclosed space would have produced.
Seamus Hughes disagrees saying even if not many people were killed on the highway it would have generated massive news coverage and had a huge psychological effect in a place like Los Angeles, where it could have scared motorists away from using major highways.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Time for a quick break. A U.S. Army sergeant who spent several years in Taliban captivity could now face time in prison. We'll look at the charges against Bowe Bergdahl as he prepares to face a military court in the coming hours.
Plus, Donald Trump is weighing in on that very, very awkward moment at the Miss Universe Pageant. What he says he would have done. The details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:49] SESAY: Hello, everyone. A U.S. Army sergeant who was held captive by the Taliban and later released is set to appear in a military court in North Carolina in the coming hours.
Bowe Bergdahl faces charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers.
CNN's Nick Valencia has more on this controversial case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By now you've probably seen this video. A U.S. Blackhawk helicopter lands in the middle of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. With each passing second, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl takes a step closer to freedom. After five years in Taliban captivity and torture, he is finally going home.
BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT: It's like you're standing there screaming in your mind. In this room you're standing like in this blackened dirt room and it's tiny, and just on the other side of that flimsy little door, wooden door, that you could probably easily rip off the hinges is the entire world out there.
VALENCIA: That's Bergdahl describing his captivity in an interview with a popular podcast Serial.
SARAH KOENIG, SERIAL PODCAST: From this American Life and WBEZ Chicago, it's Serial. One story told week by week. I'm Sarah Koenig.
VALENCIA: Host Sarah Koenig chose Bergdahl as the subject for the show's second season. In it we get a chance to hear from Bergdahl for ourselves, a man who was discharged from the Coast Guard for psychological reasons, only to land in the U.S. Army, under what he calls inept leadership. Bergdahl says, as a 23-year-old private, he didn't feel like his concerns would be taken seriously.
BERGDAHL: All I was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally, from what I could see, in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon, everybody.
VALENCIA: Shortly after Bergdahl's release, President Obama hosted Bergdahl's parents in the Rose Garden. He defended his decision to exchange five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to bring Bergdahl back home.
OBAMA: We also made an ironclad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. That's who we are as Americans. It's a profound obligation within our military. And today, at least in this instance it is a promise we have been able to keep.
VALENCIA: But seemed it was this moment from Bergdahl's father that also caused concern and piled on to the controversy. Bergdahl's father grew out his beard and learned to speak Pashtu in hopes of connecting with his son's capture. The gesture only added to the critics' skepticism of Bergdahl swap to freedom.
But what awaited back home was anything but a homecoming. The celebration in his home town of Hailey, Idaho, canceled amid controversy of Bergdahl's release and questions surrounding his disappearance.
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: President Obama who wants to justify his hasty Bergdahl terrorist swap by claiming the soldier was too sick to wait. Then he needs to share his evidence with the rest of the country.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We don't negotiate with terrorists. The fact is, is that we have violated that policy.
VALENCIA: The frustration was especially expressed by some of Bergdahl's platoon who were part of the initial rescue mission.
DARRYL HANGON, BOWE BERGDAHL'S PLATOON: If we would have found him I think a lot of us would have shot him, if that tells you anything. I truly say that with sincerity that we had that much hate towards him.
VALENCIA: Despite a military investigator's recommendations that Bergdahl not face jail time, the Army announced this month it will court-marshal Bergdahl on charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers.
HANGON: I made the through the last five years it is just kind of seems stupid that -- lose whatever it is that's been keeping me going.
VALENCIA: If convicted, he could face life in prison. But the court's decision may not matter much to those who already see Bergdahl as either a hero or deserter.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, joining me now to discuss the case is Joseph Lowe, a military defense attorney and a former U.S. Marine.
Joseph Lowe, thank you so much for joining us. Let me start by just asking you the basic question of what you make of this turn of events that Bowe Bergdahl is now set to go before a military court and not, you know -- he was supposed to -- they also court-martial, at least the gentleman who oversaw the preliminary hearing, asked for a court- martial.
[01:25:15] And that was effectively ignored and this is now happening. Why? What do you make of it?
JOSEPH LOWE, MILITARY DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good question. The lieutenant colonel was hired, if you will, was asked by the convening authority, the general, conduct this investigation. His title is an investigating officer. Look through all the facts. Look through all the evidence. With all your legal expertise because he was a JAG lawyer. And tell us what you think we ought to do based on the objective facts and the law as you understand it.
And after going through all that information and evidence, far more than we're entitled to see, he came up with the conclusion that this should definitely not go to a general court-martial or a felony charge, and this doesn't rise to anything higher than a misdemeanor, or that means in the military a special court-martial, which the maximum penalty is a year in jail, and you cannot get a dishonorable discharge. The worst you can get is other than an honorable.
So you ask me, well, why would they disregard a very experienced hired person who went through the evidence and do something else? Well, it kind of comes down to the people involved in the decision-making. One of which is a general who is now up for a new chief of staff position and it was a fodder saying no one wants to look bad.
SESAY: So you really think internal politics is at play here.
LOWE: I've seen many of these international murder cases which are far worse than what we're dealing with here where you had a similar situation and they went forward with a general court-martial. Most of the time you see that because the general in the chain of command doesn't want to be the one to make the decision. He wants the jury to make a decision so it cannot fall back on him. This one's different, though. And in my opinion, why would they want
a young man who made a bad decision which he thought he was going to change the climate of a very bad command, or bad, if you will, sergeant in charge, was trying to make a better climate for his troops, and as a result he's the one who got punished for it and for five years he languished in that dark hole as they beat him and did whatever else to him.
Why wouldn't that be enough right now?
SESAY: People say, and I want you to respond to this, that he broke the rules, people lost their lives on missions to find him, and he should be punished for that because he broke the rules. You are a man who knows the system better than anyone. Is that a wrong --
LOWE: No, that is not wrong.
SESAY: Wrong position to take?
LOWE: I actually agree with that. Let me say what I mean by that. What rules he break or broke I don't know because I haven't heard the facts or the evidence. Just what we've heard. But let's go this way. He left his post. You are absolutely not to do that. He left his post and went to an enemy area that caused the U.S. troops to have to go look for him and put themselves at risk. That's not right. That's not fair to them.
Whether or not someone lost their life in a combat zone which they were already on patrol for looking for him, I don't have those facts. I'm not able to comment on it. But what I can say is assume that's true, if we have innocent people losing their lives because of decisions he made, he's accountable for that, and he should be. And especially in the United States Marine Corps we've got a whole program for people like that.
Having said that, though, I believe from what I have seen and what I have heard and what I have read that he was not making a decision to hurt anybody or certainly not to be a traitor. He was a young boy who had ambitious dreams that were naive and ridiculous, but the intent is what's important to focus on. And his intent was not to hurt anybody. His intent was actually to help.
And how many of the prosecutions have you seen over the years were because you would not refuse an order that you thought was lawful to shot this person over here in combat when they say you should have known not to shoot and now we're going to bring you back to the states and prosecute you and put you in a human warehouse, a concrete tomb, a cell, because you did not disregard the order.
In this case he's actually leaving so he can tell people what's going on wrong, and now they want to prosecute him for being a whistleblower.
SESAY: Joseph Lowe, as you well know, a lot of people disagree with your position. This is a very controversial case. It is one we're going to follow closely. And we hope you'll come back and walk through it as more details emerge.
LOWE: Thank you.
SESAY: Thank you.
LOWE: You're welcome.
SESAY: Now rescue teams are searching the debris after a massive landslide in southern China. We'll tell you what they're up against in a live report from Shenzhen next on NEWSROOM L.A.
[01:30:00] SESAY: Plus, fresh anger in India over a savage gang rape three years ago. A closer look at whether women are any safer now. Do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: Now, the first victim has been pulled from the wreckage in Shenzhen, China. A massive landslide struck the city on Sunday when a pile of construction waste crew so high it collapsed. More than 80 people are still missing as thousands of rescue workers search the debris for survivors.
For more on the rescue efforts, let's turn to CNN's Matt Rivers live in Shenzhen.
Matt, how are search and rescue efforts going?
[01:35:17:] MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are very, very difficult search and rescue operations here, Isha. It is a complicated scene here for rescue officials.
I'll show you the latest scene. This is just over our shoulder here. We're roughly a kilometer or so away at this point. We're not allowed to get any closer than we are right now. But you can see there are dozens of excavators on that scene very gingerly going through rubble that from our vantage point looks to be at least 10 meters high in some places. And then you can see what they're up against, how powerful this landslide was. That building there on the left-hand side of the field, you can see how it's almost toppled over. That was just the sheer force of this landslide. And so rescue crews are having to go through that.
We know they've rescued several people. But the numbers of people who are still stranded still number over 80 at this point, and officials say that could change going forward as they identify more and more missing people.
Speak of missing people, many people who have family members who are unaccounted for at this point have gone to an evacuation shelter with some other people that have been evacuated from this area. We spoke not long ago with one little boy. We have some video of him
to show you. We spoke with him and his older brother and his aunt. And it really is just heartbreaking. The 6-year-old boy and his 16- year-old older brother don't know where their parents are. They were making a delivery at the time of this landslide in that complex.
We spoke to the little boy's aunt after she told us that they actually, the three of them came to this scene during the day on Monday. Here's what she had to say about the little boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUI HUIZHEN, VICTIM'S FAMILY MEMBER (through translation): The rescue is simply too hard. There is too much mud. All we want is to find our relatives as soon as possible. The little one found a large pack of bread on the site, and he said that he wants to share it with his mom when she's back. These two boys will have no one to depend on in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: It's just an incredibly difficult thing to hear this boy, this little boy trying to come to terms with the fact that as this rescue operation goes on the longer time that goes by the less the odds are, the less chance that rescue officials here have of finding his parents alive -- Isha.
SESAY: It is so very, very sad to witness. Heartbreaking, in fact. Matt, let me ask you this. This mound of construction debris that collapsed causing this calamity, had there been any warning ahead of time that something like this could happen or did this really just happen out of the blue? What are we hearing from people on the ground?
RIVERS: Well, as we go through the initial parts of this investigation what we're hearing within Chinese state media here are some conflicting reports on who really is to blame for this. Whether it be the company that was in charge of this dump site or whether it is the government not keeping a close enough eye on what was going on there. Some reports suggest that the company actually told local government officials that they were concerned about the safety of their site.
Meanwhile, we've seen other state media reports saying the government inspectors actually came to this site several months ago earlier this year and actually tried to shut it down, and the operators kept going despite those calls to shut down.
So really who is at blame here is not -- we're not really sure of that as of yet given that this investigation is just getting started. One thing we do know, though, in talking to locals here in Shenzhen, this mound, this construction debris was well known to them. They had voiced their opinions and concerns to local officials here about how unstable it was looking. But apparently those calls went unanswered.
SESAY: Two very, very terrible effects. Matt Rivers joining us from Shenzhen, China. Matt, appreciate the
reporting. Thank you so much.
Now India's top court says it has no choice but to uphold the release of the youngest man convicted of a brutal rape three years ago. His release on Sunday renewed the anger over the vicious attack. The victim, you may remember, died of her injuries. The man was a minor at the time of the 2012 crime and served the maximum legal penalty for a juvenile. But that release is raising questions about whether India is doing enough to protect women.
Sumnima Udas looks at what's changed since the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A day after the release of the youngest of the six men involved in the most savage gang rape India has ever seen, the question on many people's minds -- what's changed? Are women safer?
We go on a patrol with one of Delhi's highest-ranking female police officers.
[01:40:08] MONIKA BHARDWAJ, OFFICER, INDIAN POLICE SERVICE: People have a perception they have not been doing enough. To change we started interacting with the people. We tried to make police more visible so that even if the force is lesser in number the impact is more.
UDAS: Monika Bhardwaj grew up in Delhi. Even though she's strong and independent, until a few years ago, she wouldn't even think of going to the police.
BHARDWAJ: Nobody dared speak about it. Even though something happened with me I would never go to the police station. But now I see regarding this that girls go and report such things. They don't hesitate calling the 800 number. They are more forthcoming about it. So this is a big change.
UDAS: The police were often accused of being largely corrupt, inefficient, and insensitive toward women. Now they go from street to street, school to school, to change that perception.
(on camera): A woman tells us, female police officers 24/7 has been set up at every single police station in New Delhi. An app which anyone in trouble can press the SOS button and the police can track your GPS details and be there within minutes. Just a few of the many changes that are already making a difference.
Are these changes effective? Have you noticed a difference?
BHARDWAJ: This has given a lot of confidence to the women. The first thing is reporting. The first problem we had was reporting. Nobody was reporting.
UDAS (voice-over): There is no question. People are more aware, women more emboldened. The once taboo topic is now discussed at length. India now has some of the strongest anti-rape laws in the world. But many say that may not be enough.
(on camera): As a woman, do you still feel like there's a long way to go?
BHARDWAJ: We have a patriarchal society. It is going to take some time. For example, I'll give you that here's a lady officer tell she is doing so well. So it will stay for some time.
UDAS (voice-over): What's needed is a change in mindsets, how women are viewed. And that is not easily done.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, stay with CNN. I'll be right back with more news after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:45:27] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. A suicide bomber on a motor bike has killed six U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. It happened near the U.S. air base in the Bagram District. And the Taliban have claimed responsibility. Only about 10,000 American troops are now in the country, down from a peak of 100,000 in 2010.
Let's get more now on this latest attack on NATO troops. Our Alexandra Field joins us from Seoul, South Korea.
Alexandra, what do we know about those killed in this attack?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, we do know from U.S. officials that the six who died were all Americans. Among them, a former New York City Police Department Detective Joseph Lem. He was a veteran of the police force. He was also an air National Guardsman who had served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, another tour in Iraq. Officials are now telling us that this suicide bomber, who was riding a motor bike, unleashed the attack on a joint patrol of Afghan security forces and coalition forces. These six deaths, Isha, now bring to 25 the number of NATO forces who have been killed in Afghanistan just this year.
SESAY: And, Alexandra, we're also getting reports of increasing violence in the south of the country, including reports that there were requests for help. What more can you tell us about the situation there?
FIELD: Yeah, actually a pretty unusual request for help. This was an open letter on Facebook that was posted by the deputy governor of Helmand Province. He's been describing intensified fighting, intensified attacks from the Taliban in Helmand Province over the last few days and really fighting over the last month. But in this letter he describes attacks on a main bizarre, also on government offices, and he's pleading with the federal government, actually with the president directly, to intervene, saying that the entire province is at risk of falling to the Taliban without some intervention, without some help on the ground. The official who writes this letter on Facebook says he really has no other choice to try to get attention and help but to post this open letter -- Isha?
SESAY: Quite unusual circumstances.
Alexandra Field joining us there from Seoul, South Korea. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Now, a grand jury in Texas has decided not to indict anyone for the death of Sandra Bland. The 28-year-old was found dead in her jail cell three days after she was arrested for a driving infraction in July. Jail officials say she hanged herself with a plastic bag. Her family is disputing that claim. The case comes amid tensions and wide discussions here in the United States about race and excessive use of force by police.
Comedian Bill Cosby is taking legal action against one of his most prominent accusers. Beverly Johnson is a supermodel who claims Cosby drugged her coffee when she came to his house to work on acting exercises in the mid 1980s. Cosby filed suit against Johnson Monday, accusing her of defamation and intentional inflection of emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, a retraction from Johnson, and the removal of a chapter from her memoir.
Time now for a quick break. It was a cringe-worthy moment seen right around the world. Hear what Donald Trump is saying he would do to fix the Miss Universe gaffe just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:52:26] Hello, everyone. Japan's Sports Council has chosen a new design for its Olympic stadium. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the concept was picked because it satisfied the philosophy, construction deadline and budget for the Olympic plan. The original design was scrapped in July when the projected costs soared to more than $2 billion.
Turning to a story everybody is talking about. Organizers of the Miss Universe pageant have apologized to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines after an epic blunder at Sunday's event. It's been trending on social media. And even has Republican presidential contender Donald Trump talking.
CNN's Brian Stelter has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE HARVEY, COMEDIAN & PAGEANT HOT: Miss Universe 2015 is -- Colombia!
(CHEERING)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES (voice-over): Put yourself in Miss Colombia's high-heeled shoes. She was wearing the crown, thinking she was the new Miss Universe, smiling in front of a worldwide audience, when less than two minutes after being declared the winner, Host Steve Harvey walked back on stage and announced this.
HARVEY: I have to apologize. The first runner-up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines.
STELTER: It is a moment that will live in TV infamy. The host of "Family Feud" mistakenly reading the first runner-up's name, then correcting himself with the whole world watching. You could just see his discomfort.
HARVEY: This is exactly what's on the card. I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card.
STELTER: The real winner, Miss Philippines, printed in small type on the card, showing the perils of live television. Harvey tweeted an apology saying, "I feel terrible." And suddenly, Miss Universe was trending like never before.
Donald Trump pounced on the opportunity, claiming that if he were still in charge, "this would have never happened," he tweeted. Trump sold his stake in Miss Universe to the talent agency WME/IMG just three months ago, after NBC and Univision wanted to get out of business with him. And that was during the protests against Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants. The networks even refused to televise Miss USA back in July. But now Trump is turning Harvey's gaffe into a positive, even offering a solution.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION (voice-over): I'll tell you what I think I'd do. I think I'd make them a co-winner. It would be very cool. I would recommend they go have a beautiful ceremony, which is good for the brand and good for Miss Universe, and do a co-winner.
[01:55:18] STELTER: And just like that, Miss Universe became part of our presidential pageant.
Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: This presidential race gets stranger and stranger.
Well, Hillary Clinton could be elected U.S. president next year, but she has something else to look forward to. She's going to be a grandmother for the second time. Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, tweeted Monday, "Next summer Charlotte is going to be a big sister. Feeling very blessed and grateful this holiday season." Mum tweeted back, "Your dad and I could not be happier for you, Mark and Charlotte. We're so excited to meet our second grandchild."
All right. Well, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
The news continues with Errol Barnett right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:09] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: An extensive, exhaustive search for survivors after the landslide in Shenzhen, China.
