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Sanders Comments on Being Clinton's V.P.; Flooding Kills 6 in Texas; Calls for Olympics to be Postponed or Moved from Rio on Zika Fears; Current U.S. Troop Needs; American Troops Killed in Fighting Remembered. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 30, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is so different than 2008 where Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, even though it was a hard-fought primary, they didn't have deep ideological differences. Sanders is different. When Hillary Clinton bowed out, she wanted things from Obama, like paying down her campaign debt. That's not where Sanders is. He wants policy. Like to influence the Democratic Party and keep the pressure on Hillary Clinton to make sure she's looking at his issues. And Hillary Clinton running against Donald Trump, who a lot of Republicans, who has disaffected a lot of Republicans, she has a strategic decision to make for her running mate. Does she move to the middle or pick someone who might bring in some of those disaffected Republicans? I think Bernie Sanders keeping pressure on her is going to make that impossible. She's going to have to stick with the base.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Centrist is in the eyes the idea of the beholder, that term. And the one thing the Clinton campaign will tell you over and over again, they believe their road map to success is taking the Obama coalition and making sure that all those folks turn out. It seems as we watched Hillary Clinton move left throughout this nomination race to sort of where her party is, and it seems their entire strategic plan is about reigniting the enthusiasm among the Obama coalition, that the idea she would pick some old centrist Bill Clinton seems like an unreasonable idea.

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LIZZA: Too polarized.

CHALIAN: It seems this won't be terribly difficult for her to find someone to meet Sanders' test.

LIZZA: Democrats, they don't have a strong bench though. They lost the Senate. The 2010 and 2011 wiped out the bench of the Democratic Party. She's got Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. They are not that many firebrand lefties she can appeal to.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Ryan Lizza, David Chalian, thank you very much. Coming up right after this. Deadly flooding in Texas and a storm

traveling up the east coast. We'll bring you the latest.

And on this Memorial Day, we remember those who died in the line of duty, Like Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, who was killed while fighting ISIS in Iraq last October.

We'll be right back.

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[13:36:13] SCIUTTO: The rain has stopped but the flooding lingers in parts of Texas. Authorities are searching for three people missing after record-setting floods there. The flooding blamed for at least six deaths in total.

Meteorologist Tom Sater joining me now from the CNN Weather Center.

So, give us an update on the flooding, the forecast in Texas. Are they going to see some relief there now?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They are going to see relief, Jim, for a couple of days. Unfortunately, it looks like the long-term forecast at least into the middle and the end of this week, promises more rainfall. We've got two stories. One is more of a nuisance rain on the coast. We'll get there but this is tragedy. A one and 500 year flood event for residents in and around Houston. This on top of the one in 500 flood event they had last month. What are the chances of that? Now that the death toll is up to seven. Yesterday, it was 5. And around the San Luis Pass, finding the remains of a person swept away. And the counties in flood warnings seem to be the Fort Bend, Montgomery County, over 200 water rescues on Friday alone. Most of the rain was north of Houston but all the rivers flow through that area. So the rivers are rising like the San Jacinto River over 120 feet. When you get in close and look at the color of purple here, Friday, over 19 inches in a 48 hour time period and a broader picture, you'll be able to see problems we have later on this week around San Antonio. But with that heavy rain north of Houston, all the rivers are rising quickly. Yesterday, mentioned two prison facilities had to be evacuated. 2600 inmates moved to higher ground. Thousands have been evacuated but unfortunately with the death toll at seven, we have still three that are missing and that's a big, big concern. No rainfall right now or in the near future for the next 24 or 48 hours and Houston may get a break for the next five to six days. And now we'll continue to look at this freak of nature. This incredible amount of moisture dropping huge amounts of rain down to areas in the south of Texas.

SCIUTTO: We know it's been a soggy memorial day for the folks on the east coast and outside as well. What's the latest on that and when will we see some relief?

SATER: This is a slow mover. And, unfortunately, this is a good reminder, June 1st, is when the Atlantic hurricane season came in. Bonnie did not make landfall as a tropical storm. It was depression. So this is a good reminder and that this doesn't have to be a hurricane. Parts of I-95 north of Savannah yesterday shut down for hours. We had people like on the highways, looking at problems. They couldn't get off because other area roads were closed as well. And it's just a good soaking now for our center, from the center, still in South Carolina all the way this plume of moisture through the Outer Banks up through Delmarva to the north of Nantucket. So because, Jim, this is a slow mover, it's going to be more than dampen Memorial Day barbecues, festivities and community parades. It's going to do this for a couple of days. Not just the flooding that we've seen in South Carolina and the eastern part of North Carolina, but maybe for the next couple of days, this, what was a tropical storm at one point, is now just the remnants. But because it's moving so slow, we'll see some probably some problems with flash flooding in several communities mainly along the coastline.

For those that have been trying to get to the beaches, rip currents are a big, big problem now. Some beaches are closed, we know. But we'll watch this the next couple of days. It'll create problems of its own. But thoughts and prayers with many communities in and around the Houston area.

[13:39:53] SCIUTTO: Got to watch out for those rip currents.

Tom Sater, thanks so much.

Coming up next, unprecedented fears over the Olympics with the spread of the Zika Virus. Now some want the games postponed, even moved out of Brazil. We'll check the facts and the fears after this.

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SCIUTTO: Attend, postpone or cancel? Questions about the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Many concerned about the spread of the Zika Virus there.

CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, in Rio.

Ivan, we saw this open letter to the World Health Organization. More than 100 doctors and professors who recommend holding the Olympics in Rio as planned, not worth the risk. Has there been a response?

[13:45:00] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The World Health Organization has come back and it says there is no global health risk to justify postponing or moving the games. It says that it insists that Zika, the Zika Virus is found in around 60 countries, more than 30 countries in the region here. And it's standing by its health advice, which includes advice for pregnant women simply not to come here for the Olympics in roughly two months, Jim, and also for people to practice safe sex. And it found Zika can be transmitted through sexual contact. And it also issued an advisory going back to May 12th saying visitors should stay away from poorer neighborhoods of Rio because there's open water and sanitation, and poorer sanitation, and that is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and it puts people at greater risk -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: Real challenge there. So many challenges going on in Brazil now.

Ivan Watson, live from Rio.

On the day that we remember fallen U.S. troops, we want to ask two distinguished American soldiers about what the troops need right now. Their message to military leaders, right after this.

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SCIUTTO: Time to reflect. In Washington and across the country today, ceremonies honoring America's war dead. The somber observances serve as a reminder that U.S. soldiers remain very much in harm's way around the world today. There are some 15,000 American troops currently deployed in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. That includes Special Forces helping in the war against ISIS, as well as those involved in the coalition air attacks in Syria and Iraq. They're part of more than 1.3 million U.S. military personnel stationed around the world today.

Let's talk about the current state of the U.S. military, what the military's needs are.

Both of my guests have distinguished military careers. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a CNN military analyst. He served for 37 years, rising to role of commanding general in the U.S. Army, long deployments in Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1970, flying recon missions there in the Vietnam War. Heater assigned as Defense Intelligence and served as a military attache in the Middle East, including in Syria.

Thanks to both of you for your service and thank you for joining me today.

GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Jim.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you for having us.

SCIUTTO: General Hertling, if I could begin with you, you said that the major challenges facing the U.S. military, certainly include personnel issues, the strain on forces, but primarily now, funding in the age of sequestration.

HERTLING: Yeah. The 2011 Budget Control Act, Jim, really affected the military significantly. And I tell you, I was still on active duty 2011 through '13 when that first went into place and many of my colleagues said this cannot last. This will destroy. We took a real hard look at what we were doing to try to improve our efficiencies and our effectiveness. And I think it was very good. But as that lasted through '15, '16, '17 and '18, we'll see a deterioration of the force that will be significant. And I think the service chiefs, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, have all juggled their balls very well in terms of modernization and readiness issues and personal. But it's increasingly becoming tough. And they have cut fat. They are now cutting muscle. And they're soon going to cut bone.

SCIUTTO: Colonel, you have said the biggest challenge is troop draw down, so similar a problem to what General Hertling is talking about.

FRANCONA: Yeah. We face -- we're drawing down our resources at a time we see escalating threats. If you look at the Russians and the Chinese, what they're doing, as we go through this draw down, and much of it driven, as the general said, by this funding issue, they're increasing their weapons capabilities. Just look at the Russians. Since we fielded our main battle tank, they fielded three new ones. They're developing a class of intercontinental ballistic missile that dwarfs ours. Their electronic warfare systems are state of the art, as are their air defenses. And they're introducing new lines of aircraft. We're -- meanwhile, we are stagnating and, as the general said, cutting muscle instead of just fat. And this has got to stop or we'll continue down the slope and we'll find ourselves faced with adversaries that outclass us in almost every area.

SCIUTTO: General Hertling, it's always struck me that there's such a tiny fraction of the American population that are bearing the burden of the multiple deployments and the two longest wars ongoing in our nation's history, and ongoing, in Iraq and Afghanistan. As we have the draw downs, does that put more of a burden on the soldiers still deployed?

[13:55:15] HERTLING: Yeah, it certainly does, Jim. We heard the president today at Arlington today remind people. And I said this last week it shocked the crowd when I said less than 1 percent of America serves in uniform. The president said the same thing today. I don't think most people understand that a great deal of this burden is falling on a significantly small number of forces. When you're seeing some of the things -- as I said before, the service chiefs are juggling, how do you get the best for your money, and the biggest bang for the terms of readiness and modernization and people, but while you're talking about drawing down, because that's where you save the most money that the service chiefs have been forced to do, the draw down requires more soldiers to pick up more tasks, to deploy more often, which puts more stress on their families, and this very small component of the force is really carrying an unbelievably heavy load.

SCIUTTO: Rick Francona, before we go, it struck me today the president used the word "combat," to say the three U.S. soldiers killed since last Memorial Day were in combat, although the administration has repeatedly denied they had a combat role. Was that telling?

FRANCONA: You know, they've said they've died in combat, even the secretary of defense and chairman said that. They're trying to walk a fine line by saying killed in combat but they weren't on a combat mission. I think many of us take umbrage, especially when you look at -- you have young men and women in the air right now dropping bombs in Iraq and Syria. I don't think -- there's no way to parse that. That's combat.

SCIUTTO: General Hertling, Rick Francona, thanks very much for joining us. And our thoughts to both of you today, and your thanks to you for your service.

HERTLING: Best to you on this Memorial Day.

FRANCONA: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: We want to take a quiet moment to remember those four Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past seven months while serving their country, our country.

Staff Sergeant Matthew McClintock died in Heldman Province in Afghanistan in January. He left behind a wife and an infant son, named Declan. McClintock's wife wrote this about her husband, saying, quote, "Matthew's greatest wish was to be a father, a husband and a Green Beret. He got to do all of those things in his too short life. Declan will grown up knowing his father was the greatest man I've dreamed know and a hero."

President Obama remembered the three Americans killed fighting ISIS in Iraq in a ceremony this morning at Arlington National Cemetery.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Charles Keating IV, Charlie or Chuck or C-4, was born into a family of veterans, all American athletes and Olympians, even a gold medalist. So naturally, Charlie and the love of his life, Brooke, celebrated their anniversary on the Fourth of July. She called him the huge goofball everybody wanted to be friends with. The inventor who surfed and spear fished and planned to sail around the world.

Joshua Wheeler's sister says he was exactly what was right about this world. He came from nothing and he really made something of himself. As a kid, Josh was the one who made sure his brother and four half- sisters were dressed and fed and off to school. When there wasn't food in the cupboard, he grabbed his hunting rifle and came back with a deer for dinner.

Louis Cardin was the sixth of seven children, a Californian with an infectious wit, who always had a joke at the ready to help someone get through a tough time. When his siblings ran around the house as kids, his mom, Pat, would yell after them, "Watch that baby's safety margin." And today, she realizes that what she was really doing was raising a Marine.

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SCIUTTO: Our thoughts here at CNN are with the families of Matthew McClintock, Charles Keating, Joshua Wheeler, Louis Cardin, and others that have lost their lives in the line of duty as we honor them on this Memorial Day. In my work, I have had the privilege of embedding with U.S. servicemen and servicewomen, seeing them do their work. It is great work, often at great sacrifice. Sadly, too often, with the ultimate sacrifice. I know that I thank you and my family does, as well.

That's it for me today.

The news continues now with Brooke Baldwin in the NEWSROOM.

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