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Wolf

Chaffetz Challenges McCarthy for House Speaker; U.S. Air Strike on Hospital Being Called War Crime; U.S.: Russia Stepping Up Ground Activity in Syria; Amal Clooney Fights for Former Maldives President; Bloodshed in Jerusalem. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 05, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And all of a sudden, yesterday, he announces he's going to challenge him for the speakership.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: It is remarkable because I talked to him on Thursday and he said that he was supportive of Kevin McCarthy. And then Friday morning, he had a meeting with McCarthy in New York. They were at a fund-raiser together, and he told McCarthy straight up, I will challenge you, and he said that he decided between Thursday night and Friday morning that he going to run. But he knows that he is a long shot for the race, and little chance that he can win, but he is trying to tap into the unrest within the Republican conference over simply promoting the existing leadership team, and that is the leadership team that folks are talking about that the Republicans and the conservatives have not been aggressive enough in pursuing the agenda, and not just fighting the president, but the Republicans in the Senate as well.

BLITZER: And this could get lively if Kevin McCarthy gets the majority of the caucus in the House, and he does not get the 218 vote -- all of the Democrats will vote for Nancy Pelosi on a ballot after ballot -- this could go on and on, and maybe the Republicans will have to find somebody who could get 218 vote, and maybe not necessarily Jason Chaffetz, but maybe someone else could emerge. So this could be lively.

RAJU: Yes, their hands will be full the next couple of weeks.

BLITZER: Thanks for doing that Manu. Thanks very much.

RAJU: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Still ahead, 23 dead, two of them children after an air strike hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. We are going live to Kabul for the latest in the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:30:48] BLITZER: The director of Doctors Without Borders say the U.S. is responsible for a deadline air strikes on its hospital in Kunduz in Afghanistan. The group calls bombing a war crime. At least 23 people were killed, including 12 staffers and 10 patients. Three children were among the victims. President Obama has offered his condolences, and says the U.S. is conducting a full investigation. Meanwhile, here is what the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan

said at a Pentagon briefing this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL, U.S. ARMY COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: We have now learned that on October 3rd, Afghan forces advised that they were taking enemy fire positions and asked for air support from the U.S. forces. And air strike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidentally struck. This is different from the initial reports which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the air strike was called on their behalf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Just a few minutes ago, the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest addressed the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I do think its warrants mentioned is that there is no country in the world or no military in the world that goes to greater lengths and places a higher premium on avoiding civilian casualties than the United States Department of Defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Earnest outlined three investigations to take place, a formal Department of Defense investigation, already taking place an investigation of NATO, and a joint Afghan and NATO investigation. And he said that President Obama has confidence in these investigations.

I want to bring in our senior international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who is joining us on the phone from Kabul; and also joining us, our military analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, retired defense intelligence agency officer, and in the U.S. Air Force as well.

And first of all, Nic, Doctors Without Borders is calling it a war crime. And tell us why they believe in their estimation this was a war crime?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice- over): Their explanation is that they say that there were no Taliban on the hospital compound that were using the hospital as a base of operations. They say that hospitals under international humanitarian law are protected and there should not be any military action on those bases. And they say earlier today, and this is something that they feel very strongly about and not just because of what happened to this hospital, but the implications of other hospitals, and not just across Afghanistan but the globe and not just for them, but for other NGOs throughout the world.

They called the accusation of the Afghan government today disgusting that the Afghan government said that the Taliban had bases inside of the hospital. They have gone further to responding to General Campbell saying that this investigation will be transparent, but now it does show that, in fact, the Afghan soldiers called in yesterday. What Doctors Without Borders said is that, first of all, this is called by the United States collateral damage, and then a tragic accident, and now the United States forces are blaming it on the Afghan government. And he said that, for that reason, it makes it all of the more urgent that there is an independent international transparent inquiry -- Wolf?

BLITZER: As you know, Colonel Francona -- and, Nic, stay with us -- Doctors Without Borders gave their coordinates to the U.S. military official, and Afghan military officials in the days leading up to the awful air strike. The U.S. military says that Afghan forces asked for the specific strikes, offered the coordinates, if you will, and this is obviously, a horrible situation. A lot of people were killed in the process. How do these things happen like this if Doctors Without Borders is right in saying that they provided their coordinates to the United States Air Force?

[13:40:] LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, yeah, I am sure they did, and they say they did it both to the Afghans and the American. I'm sure they had the coordinates and it's written in the map. They probably know what the things are. But what is happening out there when these battles are ongoing, things are happening very quickly, they're getting the coordinates from the ground, and told what to do, and it is dark and they are using the night vision goggles. It's confusing. They're taking fire. These things happen. But to label it a war crime, I thing, goes beyond where we are. I think we did to get all the facts before we start to use terms like war crimes. Yes, it is a tragic accident, and there is no indication that it was a deliberate strike on a hospital. The pilots may not have realized they were that close to the hospital.

[13:40:45] BLITZER: And are there different rules of engagement for the C-131 using its weaponry to go after a target than there would be for an F-16 or F-15?

FRANCONA: No, not really. They are supposed to have -- there is a target validation process that when they have a target, it has to meet certain conditions, and those rules of engagement are the same. Many times, you have to call back to a higher headquarters to get the authorization to strike a target, but in this instance where you have an American unit on the ground working with the Afghans, and the Afghans call for the air strike, then the pilot is authorized to expend weaponry on that target. But in this case, they got too close to the hospital and caused this damage. But there's no efforts by these pilots to put weapons onto a hospital.

BLITZER: And, Nic, you are at the scene of an attack in Kabul, the Afghan capital, and what can you tell us? What is going on?

ROBERTSON: Well, Wolf, I am surrounded by a number of Afghan Special Forces, Afghan police, these forces here, the machine gun and flak jackets, helmets. What happened was, about an hour ago, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked the building. It is not yet clear who was in the build building. Eyewitnesses say that several Taliban went in, but we are not hearing the shooting at the moment. We are told the operation is still ongoing. They turned back the ambulance that was trying to move into the scene there. So at the moment, you have a large number of Afghan forces brought to bear on this exPLOsion, not far from the center of Kabul this evening. It's been a few weeks since an exPLOsion like this. And from what I see around me here is the ability of the Afghan forces to move rapidly a large number of assets in the area, and this operation is still, as far as we know, ongoing, and the target is still not clear -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Nic Robertson, be careful over there in Kabul.

And, Rick Francona, thanks to you as well.

Up next, The U.S. says Russia is stepping up its ground activities in Syria. What are they doing?

And the reaction from the U.S. secretary of defense. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:25] BLITZER: The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the U.S. and Russia had high-level discussions about Russia's actions in Syria. He says both side are agreeing to cooperate to avoid unintended incidents. But the U.S. defense secretary, Ash Carter, says Russia is still stocking the fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: By taking military action in Syria against moderate group targets, Russia has escalated the civil war, putting further at risk the very political resolution and preservation of Syria's structure of future government it says it wants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is joining us.

Barbara, you have new reporting on the U.S. assessment of Russian operations under way in Syria. What can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, all of the reports say the Russians are on the move and this time on the ground. The U.S. has observed that Russian artillery and rocket launchers and troops and vehicles, and a whole range of equipment has been moved from the port of Latakia, the pace where the Russians have an airfield. They have unloaded everything and they have moved from that airfield. They are now on the road and in a variety of positions in western Syria between Homs and Idlib. Why is this area so important? This is stronghold of the regime of opposition groups that the U.S. says the Russians have been hitting. So the Russians moving into place on the ground potentially to engage in combat, heavy combat operations against these anti-regime forces in support of Bashar al Assad. The U.S. does not think that the Russians are going for a full combat operation on the ground on their own, but they are putting things into place to support the Syrian troops as the Syrian troops try to move into the areas yet again. This is very disconcerting to the U.S. To them, and Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council, another indication that the Russians are saying one thing, going after ISIS, but their movements on the ground continue to indicate that they are there to support Bashar al Assad -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Barbara Starr with the latest at the Pentagon. Thank you. Very disconcerting, clearly.

Meanwhile, the prominent human rights attorney, Amal Clooney is filing for sanctions against the Maldives over the imprisonment of the former president. Clooney, who also is the wife of the actor, George Clooney, is fighting for the former president's release. She sat down to discuss the case with out chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[13:50:03] CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Amal, as you take on this case as human rights case, as a violation of what the U.N. says is international justice, what are the logical next steps? What happens if the government doesn't let him out of jail?

AMAL CLOONEY, HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The United Nations panel that decided the case, there's not only that there were violations, but the only appropriate remedy is for him to be released and granted compensation. So what we need is support from diplomatic partners to, for instance, move from the public statements that have been made in support of our case to more concrete measures. That would include sanctions, individual sanctions like travel bans and asset freezes against individuals who were responsible for the malicious prosecution and unjust conviction that he has faced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The president was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. Our international views can see more of the interview with Amal Clooney on "Amanpour" right at the top of the hour.

North Korea has released an NYU student who has been detained since crossing into the country since April. Won-Moon Joo is a South Korean citizen, a permanent U.S. resident. In an interview with CNN in May, he admitted he crossed into North Korea illegally from China to make a statement.

Up next, an outbreak of violence in Jerusalem now raising tensions. And now the Israeli authorities are taking strong new actions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:] BLITZER: Israeli authorities are taking extreme action, banning most Palestinians from entering the old city. The action taken after a knife and gun attack that killed two Israelis and injured two others. Increased violence between Palestinians and Israelis now escalating to new heights in recent weeks. Just last week, an Israeli couple was shot and killed in front of their four children. A week before, a Palestinian teen was shot by Israeli soldiers at a military check point. All the latest developments are indeed shocking.

We want to warn our viewers here in the United States and around the world what you're about to see may be difficult for many to watch.

The overnight events, captured on cell phone video, scenes that not only depict the horror of what happened, but also threatened to further inflame tensions in the region.

Here's CNN's Erin McLaughlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Panic in the old city of Jerusalem. About 8:30 in the evening --

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: -- screams of a dying rabbi. Israeli authorities say, moments before, he had attempted to defend an Israeli couple and their infant from a stabbing by a 19-year-old Palestinian man. The subsequent attack on the rabbi captured on shaky cell phone footage by a Palestinian shop owner. Israeli Police say by the time they arrived, the attacker had grabbed the rabbi's gun.

"Now they will kill him," says an off-camera voice in Arabic.

(SHOUTING)

(GUNFIRE)

MCLAUGHLIN: The shooting happens out of frame. Israeli police say when the teenager fired, police shot and killed him. He was later identified as a Mohammad Mohabi (ph), a Palestinian from the West Bank. His last Facebook posting, "According to what I see, the third infatada has started," he wrote.

The rabbi and the Israeli father died of their stab wounds.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: In that charged atmosphere, a group of far right Israelis gather outside the Damascus gate of the old city.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: "People want revenge," they say.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCLAUGHLIN: In Hebrew, a young boy shouts, "Death to Arabs."

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: Then two hours later, a block away, another incident captured on a cell phone. Another 19-year-old Palestinian man is seen running along a tram line outside the old city --

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: -- followed by Israelis shouting, "He's a terrorist, shoot him, shoot him." In another video, you see the police arrive and you hear seven gunshots and the man falls to the ground.

(GUNFIRE)

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: You see a police officer is pointing his gun.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: Voices off camera ask, "Did he stab someone?" Someone answers, "No, he did not succeed." "Who did he try to attack?" Israeli police say the 19-year-old man was shot holding a knife in his hand, covered in blood. Police say he had just stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. The shooting prevented additional attacks.

Palestinians say he'd attacked no one, just got into a verbal altercation with the Israelis protesting outside the Damascus gate. They say the Israeli protesters simply wanted him dead.

He was later identified as Sali Alane (ph) of east Jerusalem. His friends say he was peaceful, that he loved fashion and wanted to be a model. His father says he was executed in cold blood.

(SHOUTING)

MCLAUGHLIN: For days, there have been running clashes as Palestinians protest restrictions that prohibit Palestinian men under the age of 50 from worshipping at the mosque. Far right Israelis, too, have been visiting the mosque compound. Now stone throwing and tear gas have escalated to stabbings and gunfire. The anger and passions captured on video, video that will likely make tensions worse in this already tense city.

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks for that report.

Clearly, a very tense situation in Jerusalem right now. We're going to stay on top of the story, update you with more information as it becomes available.

In the meantime, that's it for me. Thank you for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room." Among other things, we'll speak with Republican presidential candidate and South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham, talk about the flooding in his home state and the race for the White House.

The news continues next on CNN.

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