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Two U.S. Swimmers Pulled Off Flight in Brazil; North Korean Diplomat Defects to South Korea; Trump Overhauls Campaign; El Chapo's Son Kidnapped; Heart Breaking Image Shows Human Cost of Syria War; Louisiana Flooding Death Toll Rises to 13; Crews Battling "Blue Cut" Wildfire in California. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired August 18, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:10] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, robbed at gun point or real bad fib? U.S. swimmers pulled off a plane in Rio as questions about their mugging story have arisen.

A high level diplomat flees Kim Jong-Un and defects from North Korea as the U.S. grows more concerned about the country's nuclear capabilities.

And as the war rages on, the new and haunting face of the Syrian conflict.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Sara Sidner. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Brazilian police are questioning two U.S. swimmers after pulling them off their flights in Rio as questions mount over their story of being robbed at gunpoint. They are two of four swimmers who first claimed people posing as Brazilian police officers held them up Sunday morning after they left a party in Rio.

Earlier Wednesday one of the men, star swimmer Ryan Lochte talked to NBC's Matt Lauer. Lauer says Lochte has softened his story and that Lochte now says the group was ambushed after using a gas station restroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, NBC HOST: When he talked to me the night he said that's when the guy pointed the gun in my direction and cocked it. And I pointedly said to him, you had said before it was placed on your forehead and cocked. He said no, that's not exactly what happened. And I think he feels it was more of a traumatic mischaracterization. I think people listening at home might feel that was embellishment at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more on the changing story.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This extraordinary story takes yet another quite remarkable turn here. Jack Conger and Gunner Bentz the two of the four swimmers who as far as we understand were not questioned by Brazilian police after it seems their intense ordeal on Sunday morning where they said they were subject to an armed robbery by men dressed as police.

Those two men, according to the U.S. (inaudible) had been taken from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities. We don't know if they were actually on the plane specifically when this happened or they were somehow stopped from leaving the country.

But it does take this already very complicated and confusing story to a whole new level, preventing athletes from the team currently at the top of the medals table from simply going back home.

This began with the disclosure by Ryan Lochte, the 12 medal winning U.S. swimmer that he had when he left a nightclub early on Sunday morning along with three friends been held by men who were disguised as police officers holding weapons at gunpoint and then robbed of some things but not everything with high value in his possession. For example, he still he said had his cell phone and his Olympic credentials.

Now, the story got yet more complicated because a police spokesperson said to us in Brazil if you are subject to an armed robbery, you'll most certainly lose your cell phone. So, confusion there.

And then earlier on this morning, the "Daily Mail" released CCTV footage of what they said was them returning home after the robbery and it was the judge who issued the search and seizure warrants. They looked unshaken. They look comparatively relaxed and you do also see in that video they seem to be in possession of some quite high-value items that you think an armed robber might have some interest in taking off them.

That led to this day's remarkable decision by a Rio judge to issue the search and seizure warrants and also seize the passports of Mr. Lochte and also James Feigen, two of the men who were questioned by police. The judge cited what she said was inconsistencies in the statements they had given to police about the number of robbers who were armed and whether or not they'd been taken by surprise by these individuals.

I should point out that no one really is suggesting that anyone has done anything wrong here. There is just a huge amount of confusion about what actually happened. Mr. Lochte's lawyer had said he has cooperated with anybody who has asked him any question at all from the tourist police to the FBI. That he intended to leave the country as he did on schedule and that was before the search and seizure warrants were even issued. He goes on to say that actually he hasn't even been asked to cooperate further at this stage.

But there are these now enduring questions over certainly Mr. Lochte who is back in the U.S., Mr. James Feigen we don't quite know where he is, he may still be in Brazil; and of course, Mr. Gunner Bentz and Mr. Jack Conger who are certainly still in Brazil. And they weren't allowed to leave home. This is starting from a bit of confusion and to what's increasingly an international incident pitting Brazilian authorities against the words of some of the most high profile athletes of the U.S. Team here.

Nick Paton Walsh -- CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

[00:05:08] SIDNER: And criminal defense attorney and host of the TV show "Deadly Sins", Darren Kavinoky is joining me now to talk about some of the details that we have just heard. We've just heard Matt Lauer talk about a phone conversation he had with Ryan Lochte.

And one of the things that, of course, are raising eyebrows is that his story has changed ever so slightly but it seems like a big deal. He said at first publicly that a gun was pointed to his head and now he is saying no, it was pointed towards me. Is this something that people can grab on to and say he's not -- this didn't happen? This isn't true.

DARREN KAVINOKY, TV HOST: Well, if somebody gets arrested and a defense lawyer gets a-hold of it, this is exactly the kind of material that defense lawyers love to work with. (AUDIO GAP) -- come out of a molehill and one time you said this and another time you said this.

The fact of the matter is that human beings don't have brains that operate just like computers and it's not unusual for stories to change and vary over time. Prosecutors hate it, defense lawyers love it and it's just interesting to see how it's playing out now in the court of public opinion which very frankly it sounds like it may be driving what's happening in the court of law here too.

SIDNER: Let's talk about what's happening in a court of law. Let's show a little bit of that closed circuit TV. The judge released this from the court and made a few comments about the video. What you see in the video is you see these swimmers coming through. They've got all of their fancy watches on. They've got their keys. And she makes the sort of comment that they arrived -- you're seeing them here -- sort of unshaken, making jokes amongst each other and then some Brazilians talk about the fact that the thing that robbers generally go after are things like your watch and your keys and your wallet and they had some of those things on them.

Is there something to be made about this? And are you surprised a judge is saying these things publicly.

KAVINOKY: Well, I am surprised to hear the judge is making these kinds of value judgments because the fact of the matter is they don't really have an incentive to make a false report or there's not been one that has been floated yet.

Number two, everybody reacts differently to stressors. And so it's hard to imagine that the judge is going to project and say well, I'm not going to believe them because they acted normally as they're going back into the village. And frankly, it just seems like a conclusion that doesn't necessarily draw from the evidence. It is a little surprising to me to hear a judge who's making decisions about the case publicly coming out with these kinds of findings, if you will.

SIDNER: It certainly has embarrassed Brazil. So that may be one of the underlying political reasons. But I do want to lastly ask you, can they compel him in Brazil while he is in the United States to speak to police from here.

KAVINOKY: Well, here's a great thing for people to appreciate is when they are traveling abroad they are subject to the laws of the land wherever it is that they go. We can remember famously that caning incident that happened years ago. It wouldn't have happened in the U.S. but in Singapore, I believe, it was fair game. So people need to keep that in mind.

If Lochte goes back to Brazil he can certainly be subject to any kind of questioning that is lawfully allowed in Brazil. So he may not be going back there. I think his business there is done. He may be just kicking it in the United States with a new reality show -- who knows?

SIDNER: Don't know about that. We do have to see what happened -- there is a lot of interest in this besides all the wonderful things happening at the Olympic site.

Thank you so much Mr. Kavinoky --

KAVINOKY: Of course.

SIDNER: -- for coming on and explaining some of the legal intricacies of all of this.

All right. Moving on. North Korea has suffered an embarrassing high- level defection from its regime. This upset comes as U.S. officials warn that the country is making gains towards attacking the U.S. or its allies.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's the highest level diplomatic defection ever from Kim Jong-Un's North Korean regime.

THAE YONG HO, DEFECTED TO SOUTH KOREA: Socialism is not something in the air.

STARR: North Korea's deputy ambassador to the U.K. defecting and reaching safety in South Korea. Last year the ambassador appeared loyal.

THAE: If you read our papers and magazines and the photos you can see how socialism is carried on and put into practice.

STARR: A South Korean government spokesman says the ambassador wanted out.

JEONG JOON HEE, SOUTH KOREA UNIFICATION MINISTRY (through translator): I am aware that he defected due to his yearning for liberal democracy. STARR: It comes as U.S. officials tell CNN that intelligence agencies

are watching significant new North Korean military steps that increase the threat to the U.S. and its allies.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They have been exceedingly active in demonstrating capability.

[00:09:52] STARR: The latest intelligence analysis concludes North Korea is now aggressively testing medium and long-range missiles, warheads and nuclear devices and it no longer cares if the world sees its tests failures.

HERTLING: When you had this many tests, you're eventually going to get it right. That's what concerns me.

JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: Kim Jong-Un is trying to demonstrate to the world that he has capability both in terms of the nuclear test as well as ballistic missile.

STARR: New satellite images reveal activity at North Korea's nuclear test site, a canopy now blocks views from spy satellites. Road mobile missiles, difficult to track have been tested. As have intercontinental missiles that could reach Alaska. The U.S. also now assumes North Korea has a rudimentary miniaturized nuclear warhead essential for a nuclear attack.

HERTLING: As soon as they have one test that they could classify as an extreme success then we are talking a whole different ball game in their potential to threaten other sovereign nations in their area but also potentially parts of the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: The bottom line risk now, North Korea is testing all the weapons it needs to potentially launch an attack against the U.S. with little or no warning time.

Barbara Starr -- CNN, the Pentagon.

SIDNER: CNN's David Molko is following the story and joins me now from Seoul, South Korea. Let's first talk about this. We have a U.S. official now making a distinction that North Korea is a practical threat, not just a theoretical threat. Won't North Korea use this for propaganda and also how will this be taken in the rest of the region there?

DAVID MOLKO, CNN: Of course they will, Sara. They have in the past and they will in the future. You know, with the North Koreans they have an incentive to seize on every bit of language that comes out that works in their favor. They also have an incentive as we've seen to exaggerate their own capabilities, not only for waving the flag at home but also potentially as a bargaining chip down the line when it comes to further negotiations.

You know, I think what they are getting at and you heard this in Barbara's piece, what this U.S. official was getting at is this shift we've seen towards more tests, more of a chance of getting it right and therefore less warning time in the future of a potential attack.

We've also seen another shift this year and that is more missile tests but also the very, very public face of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, at these tests.

South Korea's news agency estimated he was at about seven of 14 tests this year, somewhere around there in terms of numbers. Standing at the control panels, watching the missile launches. This very, very public face, also more aggressive, some might say.

In the region the way they probably will respond to this and South Korea will probably say, you know, we agree with this assessment. We've already (inaudible) working toward it. One of the things they have done in response to these increased missile tests is they are now considering deploying an antimissile system that would be run by the U.S. here in South Korea. They announced it last month scheduled to be in place, Sara, by the end of next year.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much. David Molko joining us live there from South Korea.

Donald Trump says he is willing to do whatever it takes to win this election. For the second time in two months though there is a major shakeup in his top campaign leadership. Steve Bannon of Breitbart News joins as a chief executive. Hiring the conservative firebrand could signal a return to Trump's trademark combative style.

Campaign manager Paul Manafort had tried to bring a more traditional approach to the campaign but there's been a series of missteps in recent weeks and Trump is lagging behind in the polls.

Joining me now here in L.A., Dave Jacobson Democratic strategist with Jacobson and Zilber Strategies, and John Thomas a Republican consultant and president of Thomas Partners Strategies.

All right, I am going to start with you, John. Is this because he is down in literally all the polls that have looked at where he is against Hillary Clinton?

JOHN THOMAS, THOMAS PARTNERS STRATEGIES: Yes, 100 percent. What they are doing up to this point has not been working. The fundamental truth is, if this election is about Donald Trump which Hillary Clinton has pushed it to make it about Donald Trump, Donald Trump loses. If this election is about Hillary Clinton and we being the Republicans exploit Hillary Clinton's negatives and the right track/wrong track over the last eight years, Donald Trump wins.

The latest hires actually are quite smart because the Breitbart hire, he's an attack dog. There's no question about it. But he's going to attack Hillary. That's what they have to do. And the new campaign manager, she's an expert pollster in women voting patterns and he's got a women problem.

SIDNER: Let me ask you about Steve Bannon. He has been called the most dangerous political operative. Should Hillary Clinton and her campaign be afraid? [00:15:00] DAVE JACOBSON, JACOBSON AND ZILBER STRATEGIES: Well, look,

I think this is Trump doubling down on Trump. And I think he's belittling Paul Manafort who was his chief strategist. He sort of embodies the more traditional campaign tactics, having a scripted candidate reading off of a teleprompter.

And I think this is a real pivot for Donald Trump to really embrace who he is as a candidate. I think he is really, you know, shifting to a strategy that is more of what Cory Lewandowski was trying to pursue as campaign manager which is letting Trump, you know, speak off the cuff and say really what's on his mind.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about that because one of the things that people were saying in the Republican Party, some in the party have said to him you have to sound more presidential. You can't speak off the cuff. You need to stay on the teleprompter. You should not make these offhand comments. It's not good for the general election.

Is he now going to pivot and stay -- or actually stay where he is, talking to the people who already support him? And how will he get those, for example Independent voters, if he does?

THOMAS: Well, over-scripting Trump removes -- quite frankly an appeal about him is that he's not politically correct. He's unvarnished but Trump has to resist the temptation to pick fights and make it about Trump. That's the problem he's had.

His combative style worked in the primary when he tore apart 16 other candidates. That works. But in a general election everything has been a personal offense to him. And that's not what has to be about. It has to be about Hillary Clinton. So being unscripted is ok if he can stay on message attacking Hillary.

JACOBSON: Well, that's precisely the issue. He has to be disciplined. The problem is he rains on his parade every single day. Today there was news coming out about Hillary Clinton's e-mails again and Republicans investigating what the FBI has and sort of digging that stuff up again. The challenge is Donald Trump hasn't, he's is not on message again.

We are talking about Paul Manafort's campaign position being belittled and these new hires coming on in this massive sort of earthquake of shakeup on the campaign. He's off message. He is not talking about Hillary Clinton. I think that's the challenge and that's why he is losing by double digits nationwide.

SIDNER: But we are going to talk about Hillary Clinton because you just brought it up. I was going to bring it up next. We'll go for it.

There have been calls that if she does become president that the Clinton Foundation has to stop. The laughing is happening here -- ladies and gentlemen. What is your response? Is that going the happen? If it does, does it mean that she's sort of admitting that she can't do both without having a line between the two? THOMA: I mean if it's a problem when she is president why wasn't it a

problem when she was secretary of state. If they admit that it's essentially a conflict of interest or as some Republicans say a money- laundering machine, well it's ok that she did that before? It just doesn't make sense.

It's the same thing like with her e-mails. She had the private server, she regrets it, she trafficked classified information but she still can get classified clearance when she is president? You just can't have your cake and eat it too.

I think that's going to be a real problem for her if voters start thinking about that and digesting that. To this point it's been all about Trump. And voters really have another second to think about that question that we're talking about.

SIDNER: I'm going to let you respond.

JACOBSON: I think the question is does there need to be some sort of legal firewall? If you're commander in chief like what kind of dynamic does that present? And I think the question is who runs it if she has sort of recuse herself, right? Is it something that Chelsea runs?

You know, Donald -- there is a lot of talk about Donald Trump and who is going to run his businesses, right, because you can't sort of be the head of Trump Industries and president of the United States. And so he's going to sort of kick the business to his children. I think that's a major question that folks are going to start asking.

SIDNER: All right. I want to get to this sound from Donald Trump. He spoke to Fox News. They had a town hall. And he was asked a pointed question after it was mentioned that Omar Sateen, the Orlando shooter's father was sitting behind Hillary during one of her Trump speeches and he was asked should Omar Mateen's father be kicked out of the country? Here's his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'd throw him out. If you look at him, I'd throw him out. You know -- I looked at him and he's smiling. He had the red cap on. I thought it was one of my caps. I said no. Make America great again, I don't think so.

But he has the red cap. He's got a big smile on his face during the whole thing. He obviously liked what he heard from her. Look, we have to be so tough and so smart and vigilant and frankly, the Muslims have to help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So you heard him there say that Omar Mateen's father should be kicked out. But on what grounds? And is he just playing to the crowd? They obviously loved it. Those are his supporters. They clapped and they cheered.

But what about those who look at this and say what is the law here and are you going to follow the law?

THOMAS: Yes, I think he's going to walk that back in the coming days. He didn't necessarily mean kick out the guy. I think what he meant was we have to vet people who support terrorist activities if they do. We have to kick them out of this country.

Whether or not the father supported -- I don't think he quite knew what his son was up to. But if there are ISIS sympathizers or people like in San Bernardino who helped those people get weapons and bombs, those people either should be detained or shouldn't be allowed to be in the country.

[00:20:06] JACOBSON: I think this is reflective of the talking points we saw from Donald Trump in the primary where he said, you know, we need to carpet bomb the terrorists with ISIS. We need to have neighborhood watch groups that go around Muslim communities.

I mean this is the outrageous divisive rhetoric that is really splintering the Republican Party and causing a lot of those Republican women, those Independent voters, those college educated women -- pardon me -- college educated Republicans to lean Hillary Clinton's way and it's why she is leading in states and making states in play like Georgia, Arizona, Utah. These are like hard-core Republican states that have gone Republican for decades.

SIDNER: And there's also swing states that he is having trouble in.

John Thomas, Dave Jacobson -- thank you so much both for coming on with fun conversation and there will be plenty more.

(CROSSTALK)

SIDNER: His father was one of the most notorious criminals in the world. But days after the son of drug lord El Chapo Guzman was abducted, many wonder what is going to happen to the cartel and what's the fallout going to be in Mexico?

Plus, the horrors of war seen on a face of one young victim -- a heartbreaking image shows how Syria's children are suffering as the conflict drags on and bombs fall around them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New images have emerged from the restaurant where the son of a notorious Mexican drug lord was kidnapped earlier this week. Joaquin El Chapo Guzman's son was abducted along with five other men. A rival drug cartel is suspected.

CNN's Nick Valencia has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The surveillance images show the attack was brazen. Monday morning around 1:00 a.m. in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico screen shots show Jesus Alfredo Guzman sitting in a table with friends. Moments later he's abducted by men armed with long guns. Alfredo is one of the sons of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the infamous Mexican drug lord currently behind bars and fighting extradition to the United States.

A senior Mexican law enforcement official tells CNN Alfredo who is believed to be part of the new leadership of his father's Sinaloa cartel was said to not to be taking his role seriously. The source says Alfredo quote, "had been partying a lot and was caught off-guard allowing for the abduction to happen."

[00:25:11] The screen shots are only a glimpse into the kidnapping of Alfredo and five other men. They were released on a popular cartel Web site, El Blog del Narco. How the Web site obtained the photos is unclear. But on Wednesday, the Jalisco state attorney general said they were authentic.

The top Mexican official in Jalisco State where the abduction occurred identified El Chapo's son among the kidnapping victims after interviewing more than a dozen witnesses. Nine women who were also at the party were allowed to leave the restaurant. At least three of Guzman's children including the eldest have been known to Mexican and U.S. law enforcement in the past.

Ivan Archibaldo Guzman who's reportedly 33 years old was arrested and imprisoned in Mexico in 2005 but released three years later for lack of evidence. He was initially rumored to have also been kidnapped. But sources with knowledge of the investigation say that has not been officially confirmed.

Their father, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman at one point was one the most powerful criminals in the world. He was captured in January after escaping a second time from a Mexican federal prison last summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: A senior Mexican law enforcement official tells me that the kidnapping of El Chapo's son is a significant blow to the power structure of the Sinaloa Federation. With the former leader, El Chapo behind bars, his rivals are slowly starting to chip away at his turf.

Nick Valencia -- CNN, Atlanta.

SIDNER: And just ahead, Russia launches a series of air strikes it says destroyed some key ISIS targets. So why is the United States so unhappy about those strikes?

And how the face of a five-year-old Syrian boy is grabbing attention around the world and making people pay attention to the war in Syria again.

That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:00] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Sara Sidner.

The headlines for you at this hour.

North Korea's deputy ambassador of the country's embassy in the U.K. has defected to South Korea. South Korean officials say Thae Yong Ho was disillusioned by Kim Jong-un's regime. He and his family are now under the protection of the South Korean government. It's not clear, however, when and how they defected.

Three people were killed and 40 wounded in a car bomb attack at a police station in the Turkish city of Van. The victims were mostly civilians. State-run media reports that Kurdish militants are suspected of carrying out Wednesday's attack.

Amnesty International has released a startling report that estimates more than 17,000 Syrians have died in prison since 2011 when the conflict first began. That's an average of more than 300 deaths each month. The report includes the accounts of torture survivors who describe abuse while in prison by Syrian intelligence agencies.

For a second straight day in the skies above Syria, Russian warplanes fired off airstrikes aimed at ISIS targets. Bombers took off from an airbase in Western Iran as Moscow pushed back on the U.S. suggestion that use of that base could violate a U.N. resolution.

Russia's Defense Ministry says two command centers and an ISIS training camp were destroyed and more than 150 militants killed. But it's civilians as well that are victims of the airstrikes in Syria. The innocent and vulnerable have not been spared.

Like this little boy you're going to see. He sits quietly in an ambulance there after being pulled from the rubble of a building that was bombed in The City of Aleppo.

There are no tears. He is not screaming. He is not being comforted. Just a look of shock in his face as he rubs the blood from his head. A powerful image that shows the human cost of war.

Joining me now is Lina Sergie Attar. She is the co-founder of the Karam Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid to Syrians.

First, I cannot help but start with that picture, it's another one of those gun-wrenching pictures of a child affected by this war.

When you saw that picture, Lina, what was your first gut reaction to it?

LINA SERGIE ATTAR, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, KARAM FOUNDATION: This little boy, his name is Amran (ph), and he is from Aleppo. I saw this picture probably the same way many people saw it, through social media. And I was struck by the image of little Amran (ph) covered in dust, sitting in this huge orange chair.

I clicked on the video. And yet again it was another video of another rescue mission by the Syrian Civil Defence known as the White Helmets basically pulling people out of a destroyed building in Aleppo, the same as many other destroyed buildings across Syria. And to be honest with you, I was just happy that they were alive and that there were several children pulled out alive. And it's never ending for Syrians to watch these kinds of videos.

And now as I'm seeing that Amran's (ph) picture is going viral and everybody is being affected by it, what I think of really is that we are about a year from the Aylan Kurdi picture, the image of the little boy who was washed up on the Turkish beach. And I'm wondering is this another Aylan moment, where the world stops for a second and thinks about the Syrians that are being affected by this endless war. And when we get the hashtag and the articles and the attentions and in a few days people will turn away once again.

SIDNER: As a person who has lived there, loved, gone to school, grown up in Syria, as you watch what is happening there, how do you cope with seeing it as a person who really loves the country?

ATTAR: You know, I'm an architect and I study architecture in Aleppo, and maps are very important to me. And I spent a lot of time in old city of Aleppo drawing maps and drawing different zoning areas of the old city. So I know these places, street by street. And I grew up and live in Western Aleppo.

I mean, even saying these words like Eastern Aleppo and Western Aleppo are so alien to anybody from Aleppo. There was no west and east just a few years ago. And having to understand the city on these kinds of alien terms and ugly terms that have been imposed on us by this war is very difficult to comprehend, but that's our reality right now.

[00:35:00] And watching that map, yes, I was wondering when that frontline is going to shift closer to where I grew up. And you think about the places that you know that are near by those frontlines, and then you think about -- also you have survivor's guilt because you wonder why am I even thinking about my own home or my own places of memory, or the places that I loved coming near the frontline, what right do I have to even feel these things when millions of Syrians have had the frontlines cross straight through their homes and destroy everything that they've known including Amran's family who they survived the bombing today, but while they were in the hospital, their entire building and their home collapsed to the ground.

And this is a reality that we see every day with Syrians. And I see them with Syrian refugees, who I work with in Southern Turkey. The children and every single child has a story of homes being destroyed and neighborhoods being demolished right in front of their eyes.

SIDNER: Do you think there will be anything left to rebuild by the time all of this ends?

ATTAR: Well, watching the last round of what was going on in the last couple of weeks, it's hard to imagine that this will end well and this will end with anything but the destruction of even more areas in Aleppo that haven't been destroyed yet. And also we have seen over the last few days an intensifying bombing of Eastern Aleppo that has already been ravaged over the last few years by barrel bombs. And so whatever is left there, I think is turning into even more mountains of rubble.

So it's very hard for me to witness this day-to-day and imagined that we will be able to rebuild. But at the same time, when you are from a city like Aleppo that's centuries old and we grew up kind of -- you know, all of our lives are really only a second of what Aleppo's grand life is. And we have to believe that this has happened before to Aleppo and it's rebuilt itself. And I think that future generations will rebuild it. I just hope that we will be able to witness the end of this war and the beginning of the next phase of Aleppo's life.

SIDNER: Lina Sergie Attar, thank you so much for your impassioned comments on Syria today.

ATTAR: Thank you.

SIDNER: And just ahead, people in Southern California are running to escape the flames as wildfire explodes overnight threatening thousands of homes.

Also from fire to floods in part of Louisiana is fighting to come back after a deadly once in a thousand-year rainfall. A look at the damage ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:08] SIDNER: The death toll from widespread flooding in Louisiana has risen to 13. The latest victim was a 93-year-old woman who died while her neighbor was being evacuated.

The Red Cross says this flood is likely the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Meantime, more than 1300 fire-fighters are battling an enormous wildfire in Southern California yet again. Time lapse video here shows the Blue Cut fire. It erupted on Tuesday and quickly exploded across more than 10,000 hectares.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is in San Bernardino County where crews are desperately trying to get this wild fire under control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): This Blue Cut fire has been an erratic blaze for fire-fighters to battle. That's because with the winds coming in, it is burning in multiple directions. And it has also -- it has plenty of fuel, as this is a really dry, parched part of California as we've been under drought conditions for several years now.

We were talking to one fire official who was talking about the danger as well of these power lines that are out here.

Listen to what he had to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These power lines called kV lines; it's a huge concern for us. They have a high amount of electricity, hundreds of thousands of volts in those kV lines. It impacts our aircraft. It makes it unsafe for aircraft to fly above them.

ELAM: And those ambers are really a big concern because those spot fires can blow up into new branches of this fire. And that is what they are concerned about. Thousands of people remain under evacuations, mandatory evacuations. They are fighting this fire from the sky. Also hand crews are out there as well as bulldozers to try to battle this blaze. But let me just show you what something that this fire has done.

Take a look at this right here. This is a school bus where the fire has already run through. Unbelievable, the damage. How the wheels have been burned off. The glass broken out all by the blaze here.

And this, you can see in this little community here, a little rural community, but obviously very devastating for the people who live here to see so much of what they own burned up and destroyed.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, San Bernardino County, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the International Weather Center with more on this story.

I was watching this as it was happening. It was so small at first and it literally kept growing every second. It's incredible how quickly it spread.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SIDNER: Pedram, thank you so much.

"World Sport" is coming up next. Thanks for watching.

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(WORLD SPORT)