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Flood Devastate Parts of Texas and Oklahoma; Iraqi Forces Prepare to Retake Ramadi from ISIS; Interview with White House Communications Director Jen Psaki; FIFA Leadership Under Investigation for Corruption; DOJ, Cleveland Agree to Police Reforms; Texas Mom, Two Children Among the Missing After Floods. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 27, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, May 27th, 8:00 in the east. Deadly floods are changing communities and taking lives. A flash flood warning now in effect for about two more hours in several Texas counties including parts of Houston. And 18 dead so far and that number will likely change.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And 13 people are still missing this morning, most of them in Hays County, Texas. Time is of the essence as more storms move in. CNN has complete coverage beginning with Rosa Flores. She's live in Houston, one of the worst hit areas. How is it there, Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning. This is what people did not want to see here in Houston. It's raining again. And the office of emergency management just issuing a flash flood warning, warning residents that they're expecting one to three inches of rain in the next few hours. That's bad news for all these folks when they know that the ground in Houston is already saturated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: The catastrophic aftermath of record-breaking deadly flood waters in Houston, Texas, revealed this morning. More than 11 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours Monday night into Tuesday, a wall of water rising with frightening speed, leaving thousands traveling in their vehicles racing to escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around, don't drown.

FLORES: Rows of vehicles left abandoned on a Houston highway, some cars almost completely submerged under water, emergency crews scrambling to pull people from the floodwaters. But for some it was too late. One woman says she witnessed the discovery of a body in a flooded truck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a woman, and it was dead by the time we got there.

FLORES: Thousands of people without power, the flash floods rushing through thousands of homes. Houston's mayor says at least 4,000 residents may have suffered significant damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We first were on the couches and then on the table and then on the counters.

FLORES: One Houston resident, her family narrowly escaping the flood, shows me the devastation the rapidly rising tide left behind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water got up to the slip on the county.

FLORES: Over a dozen people, including children, are still missing. And the death toll in both Texas and Oklahoma continues to rise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now, here is how quickly the situation can change here in Houston. Take a look at the bayou behind me. A few hours ago the water level was very low. And 24 hours ago, take a look at the debris that's hanging from this pipe that goes from bank to bank. The water was above this bank and it actually rushed into the homes that you see beyond the bank. I talked to those folks and they tell me that they had to rush inside to high ground, i.e., their kitchen cabinets, their kitchen counters, because there was no way for them to stay dry. And then, Chris, they were thinking we're probably going to have to get on our roof if the water keeps rising. They say that they were on their counters for hours before the water receded. Chris?

CUOMO: You can just see on that main above you has grass on it now because water was rushing some 10, 12 feet above where you are right now. All right, Rosa, thank you very much. Be safe there.

Houston not the only area hit. Hays County is also under water, especially the town of Wimberley. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is there. Jennifer, the latest?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Chris, we are still here in Wimberley where the waters rose so quickly overt weekend, and you can see now the river has gone down considerably. That's the Blanco River. We still have 11 missing here in Hays County, three people dead, one adult female and two males. They recovered all of the bodies in the Blanco River. Of course total 18 deaths and 13 missing all over the southwest.

And the water is still raging and still running high, so the fear of more flooding by the end of the week and the weekend still exists. But you can see all the debris around here, and we are at a campsite where I counted four or five cabins completely gone. You will see empty slabs. You can also see the swimming pool in the distance where kids were playing less than a week ago.

So the sight here is haunting. You see cabins tangled all on top of each other. You see all of this debris. You see the empty slabs and you can just imagine the fear in people over the weekend.

Of course, like we mentioned, more rain possible Thursday through Sunday. The good news is we are only expected about an inch, maybe less. But as we all know you could get one of the heavy downpours and you could get isolated amounts even higher.

[08:05:02] Schools are closed today, and we also know volunteers are coming in from all over the area just to help out. They don't know what they're going to do yet. Said one college student to us yesterday, he said they just have to get there and they have to do some things. So as you can see behind me, a lot to do, and the crews will be out again looking for those 11 missing people here in Hays County.

CAMEROTA: Jennifer, those pictures just show how quickly life can change. Thank you so much for that update.

Now to a developing story out of Iraq. Iraqi forces trying to retake Ramadi, 30 Iraqi soldiers killed by suicide bombers at military outposts in the Anbar province this morning. CNN's has every angle of this story covered, staring with senior international correspondent Arwa Damon live from Baghdad. What is the latest, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And that triple suicide bombing attack goes to show you the type of tactics that ISIS does and have been employing throughout all of the different battles that are taking place. Around Ramadi the Iraqi government has massed troops, a patchwork of conventional forces, the army and the police, as well as this Iranian backed Shia paramilitary forces and tribal fighters.

A little bit of progress made around that crucial city to the south. We are hearing from two tribal sheiks that this force did manage to take over the Anbar University just on the outskirts of Ramadi. And else in Anbar Province, this is quite a widespread operation. There are different attempts underway to try to cut off vital ISIS logistical routes and capture these small territories that ISIS does control to prevent the group from being able to resupply its fighters and also generally shift the fighters and weapons around the battlefield, because as we have seen in battles past, ISIS is very capable of regrouping and striking areas that it finds quite vulnerable. But this is still a very fluid battlefield, no one expecting it to end anytime soon at this stage. But the Iraqis are confident that this time they will stand their ground, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's the latest from Baghdad there. Arwa, thank you.

Meanwhile, the U.S. appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach regarding Iraq's military offensive. The White House is standing by Defense Secretary Ash Carter's exclusive comments to CNN questioning the will of the Iraqi fighters in the fall Ramadi. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us. Good morning to you, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. One of the things that Ash Carter said that was so significant is that the Sunni tribes need to get involved in the fight. And now look for that to be the focus of much of the U.S. effort, getting those Sunni tribes in Anbar province to fight back against ISIS. Look for the U.S. to try and help recruit more Sunni fighters, arm them, train them, all under the control of the Iraqi government in Baghdad, unified government.

But that is why Ash Carter had a two-pronged approach -- get more focus on the Sunnis and send that message to Iraqi prime minister Haider al Abadi that it is time to get your act together and get your forces out there get them fighting and take care of them so they have the will to fight, so they stay in the field.

What about U.S. airstrikes now? There will continue to be U.S. airstrikes, but one of the key things the U.S. is facing is ISIS is improving its tactics. It is digging in and it is mixing in with the local populations, making it very difficult for those OK to pick out targets. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Barbara, thank you very much.

Let's bring in White House communication director Jen Psaki. Jen, thank you very much for joining us.

JENNIFER PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: My pleasure, great to be here.

CUOMO: So you've got Ash Carter who says they don't have the will to fight. Then you have Vice President Biden says, no, no, no, they absolutely have the will to fight and they are great fighters. Then you have Josh Earnest say, well, look, we have seen a pattern of them not being the most willful fighters. What is the line out of the White House? What do you want to say about this?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, first of all, it's more complicated than a line. We have a terrorist organization that intends to do harm to the Iraqi forces and intends to do harm to the region, and even more broadly than that. And what our focus is on, Chris, is equipping, training, preparing the Iraqi Security Forces to take on the fight. They have taken on the fight and they are continuing to, but we need to adapt our strategy, too, and adapt the equipment we're providing as well as time goes on and as ISIL adapts.

CUOMO: Is this just a function of the reality that the best fighters in the world are not in the fight, the best fighting men and women, and that the reality is that when you're dealing with Iraqis, yes, they should be in charge of their own determination and fight their own fights, but they are not up to the task the way the U.S. fighters would be. Do you think that is what gave birth to this will to fight drum?

PSAKI: Chris, I certainly would not put it in those terms. Let me first say that what Secretary Carter said was consistent with what he was seeing and hearing from the ground. But also the Iraqi themselves acknowledge that there were some command issues, there were some issues on the ground, and it's something they want to adapt to as well.

[08:10:04] As you know from the vice president's read out of his call, we've rushed 2,000 A-24s there. We want to equipped them with the materials they need to take on some of the tactics that ISIL has been using as they did overnight in the suicide attacks.

But this is a case where the training began late last year. It wasn't applicable or wasn't, the Iraqi Security Forces who were fighting back in Ramadi didn't have access to that. That's something we need to continue. But then also I think it's important for people to remember, the Iraqi security forces have also retaken 25 percent of populated areas from ISIL. There are going to be ups and downs here. We need to continue to adapt and we need to continue to prepare them and equipped them with what they need as does the international coalition.

CUOMO: So bottom line, the White House believes that the Iraqis have the will to fight, yes?

PSAKI: I think we have seen issues in the past and we need to address those. I remind you also, and I think we talked about this a year ago, that Prime Minister Abadi came in in a situation where there was a lot of division, a lot of work needed to be done to better unite the forces, to better bring them together, to equip them. He has done that work, his security forces have done that work. It takes some time and we're going to stay at it, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, so while you are working toward a yes on that question, you have to also be concerned about what Iran is doing here. They come out, one of their military leaders, and say don't talk about the Iraq will to fight. Talk about your own will to fight. And literally, to paraphrase, they say President Obama hasn't done a damn thing to confront ISIS. Are you concerned in the White House about how Iran is working their way in to Iraq and becoming in favor there?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, if we spent every day worrying about what Iranians said about the United States, that's all we would focus on. The fact is the proof is in the pudding. We have done thousands of OK along with our coalition forces. We've trained, we've equipped the Iraqi Security Forces, and we have taken steps to support them and their needs on the ground, and we are going to stay at that. But the actions speak louder than words there. So we are not going to worry about the Iranian accusations. We're going to focus on what more we need to do to help support the Iraqi Security Forces on the ground.

CUOMO: When you say more of what we need to do, is there any chance that you wind up putting more U.S. fighting men and women on the ground?

PSAKI: I think the president has been very clear about that, Chris. Of course as commander in chief he is constantly talking to his military advisers. We're talking to our coalition partners. As I noted earlier, we just rushed 2,000 A-24s to the ground. So of course we're constantly making decisions and taking steps to make sure we're adapting to the tactics that ISIL and others are using on the ground.

CUOMO: Jen Psaki, thank you very much for giving us the word from the White House.

PSAKI: My pleasure.

CUOMO: Appreciate it. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Well, we do have some breaking news overnight. A huge international scandal brewing in the sports world. Not one but two corruption investigations against FIFA, soccer's worldwide governing body. And CNN's justice correspondent Evan Perez is here with all of the breaking details. What do we know this morning?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know, the words "money laundering" and "racketeering" are not words we usually associate with soccer. But this is what the Justice Department says has been going on with FIFA for the last two decades. They are calling it a criminal enterprise that's been going on. They arrested seven people overnight at a luxury hotel in Zurich, which is where the 200 top officials of world soccer have been gathering for their election on Friday.

And 14 people in all have been indicted. According to the Justice Department, this involves bribery, paid for sponsorships, even as well as even fixing the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, fixing the choice of South Africa as the site for the World Cup. And so now we expect Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney general, to announce these charges in Brooklyn in a couple hours. The FBI director, Jim Comey, is also going to be there. It's a very unusual press conference because the United States is asserting jurisdiction over a wordwide body that governs soccer.

CAMEROTA: So of course everyone knows the U.S. lost its bid to host the World Cup. Is this connected?

PEREZ: That's how this all began. People saw the vote for the 2022 World Cup which went to Qatar and said this was rigged. And so this is how part of this investigation got going. The Justice Department started looking into it. Now the Swiss are saying they are look into the 2018 and 2022 bids to look to see whether or not there was any bribery or any corruption involved. I should note FIFA hired a former U.S. prosecutor, Michael Garcia from Manhattan, and investigate for FIFA. They decided he found nothing wrong, which is not what he found.

PEREIRA: That's interesting. OK, so you talk about the selection and bribery. Does this go as deep as the outcome of games? Is that coming into question here, too?

PEREZ: That's been the whisper that's been going on. This indictment does not touch that level of corruption.

[08:15:00] But what is alleged here is mostly buying officials around the world so that the leadership of FIFA stays in place, Michaela. That's what this is all about: $150 million in bribes over two decades according to this indictment. That is something separate there are investigations going on around the world to match fixing as well.

PEREIRA: Goodness me. What an investigation.

Thanks very much for bringing us the very latest. We'll be watching it obviously with you.

We turn to Cleveland now, a major shake-up for law enforcement. In the agreement with the Justice Department and the city is planning a broad set of reforms to address what federal officials found was a pattern of excessive force and civil rights violations by officers there in Cleveland.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live for us from Cleveland this morning with reaction -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Cleveland's mayor calls it a new way of policing based on trust and accountability. The new standards put a focus on community engagement and police training with changes to officer recruitment, meaning more diversity and the roughly 1,400 member force. Officers will also receive training in crisis intervention when dealing with mental health cases.

These are some of the most extraordinary standards when it comes to use of force, and officers having to report when they unholster their weapon.

Cleveland's mayor out of press conference says he welcomes the agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK G. JACKSON, MAYOR OF CLEVELAND: This is a transformative time in the city of Cleveland, and with the division of police and most importantly all the citizens in the city of Cleveland and our goal is to have real reform, real reform, that will be sustainable. This agreement is a major step in getting us to that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The Department of Justice calls this uniquely Cleveland agreement. They say they spoke to a handful of officers and they will provide them with new technology and new equipment.

If these implementations are not met, a federal judge has the authority to demand them -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Nick. Thank you very much.

So, China is now officially annoyed lodging a former complaint with Washington after a American spy plane with a CNN crew aboard flew over disputed waters in the South China Sea.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHINESE NAVY: Foreign military aircraft, this is Chinese navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CUOMO: Beijing accuses the U.S. of trying to smear the Chinese military. One thing is for sure, China isn't just grabbing land, it is creating it, adding thousands of acres of artificial islands to the South China Sea in recent months. The question will continue be, why?

CAMEROTA: Here's Michaela's favorite story of the day. This could be considered one of the funniest final 'Jeopardy" answers of all-time. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST: A Christian hymn and a Jewish holiday hymn are both title this, also the name of a 2009 Tony-nominated musical.

Now over to Chuyan (ph).

"What is kinky boots?" -- Yes, indeed.

Whenever people go to temple or go to church, they sing "kinky boots."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Kinky boots!

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Despite that ridiculous answer, the contestant still won. The real is, of course, rock of ages.

PEREIRA: Oh my goodness, I love that. I was trying to think back to what I sang in church, and certainly kinky boots is not among them. Great show, not a choir song.

CAMEROTA: Even if you were thinking of any Broadway show, he could have said cats.

PEREIRA: But it turned for a better a moment on "Jeopardy", huh?

CUOMO: Well, right, he could have said anything because he calculated he couldn't lose, so he was feeling good about whatever he wrote down.

PEREIRA: I love it, I love it.

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, back to the top story because there is flooding in Texas to tell you about, and it has left more than a dozen people still missing, among them a mother and her two children swept away by the rushing floodwaters.

We will hear from her father in law, next.

CUOMO: And the new observation deck at One World Trade Center is about to open up, and not open yet, but guess what? We are there in the fog. You have a sneak peek coming up.

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[08:22:55] PEREIRA: At least 18 people have been killed by raging floodwaters in Texas and Oklahoma, and more dangerous weather on the way. Families are now left dealing with the pain of tragedy, some not knowing if their loved ones perhaps survived.

We want to bring in Joe McComb, his daughter in law and two children are still missing after being swept away by floodwaters in Texas. His son survived and is now in the hospital recovering.

Mr. McComb, thank you for joining us. It's with a heavy heart we talk to you today, sir.

JOE MCCOMB, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW & 2 GRANDCHILDREN MISSING: Thank you. Well, it's -- you are correct, it's a heavy heart, but we're glad we are here and we are hoping and praying that miracles will happen and we're very optimistic, and at the same time we are realistic.

PEREIRA: Well, and that's the hard part, right, reality, but then, also, you know, believing in a miracle. Tell us first of all, you've obviously had a chance to talk to your son, he is recuperating, and a broken rib and collapsed lung. Has he been able to talk to about what happened and tell you the story of what went on in those horrible moments?

MCCOMB: Yes. He is very communicative. Obviously, he is hurting and on top of the hurting he is under medication for the injuries that he does have, but he has full recall of the whole incident, and basically they were in the house and got the warnings and realized it was raining, and they moved their cars up the hill from underneath the house because the house was built on stilts and in the river and they moved them up the hill about 25 feet higher anticipating the rise in the river and, you know, up to and probably get under the house.

But I don't think anybody had any imagination that this water would be in the volume that it was, and it was at nighttime, and they moved the cars back up to the house, and went back to the house.

[08:25:01] He used their flashlights and started looking out the windows and saw the water came up significantly. And they were at the top of the house because it was at a top of the stilts, which is the bottom of the first livable area.

They realized they were trapped because the water was at the stilts and they realized they were trapped and all of a sudden they heard a tremendous hit on the house and felt it, and he doesn't know if that was a tree or what it was that hit the stilts and that knocked the foundation out from under the house and that caused them to start floating.

And all of them were gathered in the rooms there, holding on to furniture and stuff, and they started floating down the river, and my daughter-in-law, Laura, she managed to get herself on the phone and call her sister and saying, I don't know what the future is. I love you, and we are floating down the river -- and that was the last communication that anybody had with anybody in the house.

And Jonathan said at some point as they were floating down the river, the house ran into a bridge, and it tore the top of the house off and at that point the house just shattered, and the floodwaters and the volume and the speed that it was coming, he said, it just started just washing all of them in all different directions, and that's when everybody got scattered.

And then the next thing he knows he is -- we have heard reports he was seven to 12 miles down the river, and he was fighting the whole time and saying I just have got to get out of here, and I didn't know whether I was swimming up or down, but somehow I was able to get up and catch a breath of air and keep going. And he was able to work himself out of the river, crawl up to a guy's house and knock on the door and say, I need help, our house was washed away, and that's when they called 911.

PEREIRA: Yes. The search continues looking for your daughter- in-law and grandchildren. Tell us about them. Tell us about Layton, and Andrew and Laura.

MCCOMB: They are all precious people and full of life. We had a great time. We loved them and enjoyed laughing together, and they were all involved in, you know, Layton in ballet and had just gone to a recital, good for her, a week before this, and .

Andrew was involved in little league, and Jonathan worked with me in the family business and, of course, I get to see him every day. So, it's quite a shock to us, and also the friends with them and they are close friends and their families are hurting and it's a tragic situation.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Yes, it is, Mr. Joe McComb. We know that there are other families hurting as well and they are trying to figure out what happened in an instant -- it sounds it happened so fast at night before they could do anything.

We are going to keep hope alive with you, Mr. McComb, that a miracle will happen here, and please send our best to the other families as well and give your son our warmest regards for a speedy recovery. He's going to need love and support around him.

MCCOMB: He is, and I thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: All right, Joe McComb.

We certainly wish them well, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my goodness. What a story, and we do pray for them.

Michaela, thanks so much.

Well, here in New York, One World Observatory set to open its doors in the new One World Center. We will preview the space, some 1,700 feet above the streets of New York. It is shrouded in the cloud.

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