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U.S. Drones Kill 4 Americans; Obama Speech on Counterterrorism Expected; New U.S. Military Sex Scandal; New Audio of Tornado Hitting School; Brad Pitts' Unusual Problem.

Aired May 23, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All things the president says he wrestles with in an interview last summer with CNN's Jessica Yellin.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's something you have to struggle with.

LOTHIAN: Another flashpoint the president will address, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. President Obama first pledge when he took office in 2009 was to close the facility. But after insurmountable legal hurdles, it remains open.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You know, it is the president's view that we should be determined, as he is, to see the Guantanamo Bay Detentions Facility closed. Keeping it open is not efficient, it's not effective, and it's not in the interest of our national security.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So we have a couple of questions for Dan Lothian, joining us now live from the White House.

Let's start with the drone policy, Dan. The significance of shifting the policy away from the CIA to the military, what is the significance and what about the timing of it?

LOTHIAN: Well, I think, you know, that the significance is wherever anything happens within the CIA, there's a lot of secrecy, and this administration is trying to put out there that they want to be more transparent about this program. Hence, the military will allow them to do this.

In terms of the timing, there's been a lot of pressure on the president and this drone program. Those on the left have deep concerns about civilian casualties, but also, there's the relationship factor with other countries like Pakistan. Remember, the Pakistan blocked that key supply, NATO supply line into Afghanistan after some two dozen of their soldiers were killed during one of those strikes. And so, they have -- it sort of frayed the relationship, if you will, with some countries in the United States. So you put it all together, some of that pressure is what's leading the president in this new direction.

BANFIELD: Well, and Gitmo is a whole other issue, which I'll have to address with my next guest.

Dan Lothian, thank you.

And you can certainly watch the president's speech right here. It starts at 2:00 eastern live on CNN. We will bring you those comments when he begins. One of the world's foremost experts on the U.S. counterterrorism program, al Qaeda and the Taliban is our national security analyst, Peter Bergen, and he joins us live now from our Washington studio.

Peter, I'm sure you were just overhearing Dan Lothian's report. And we were just about to touch on Gitmo and Guantanamo Bay. The issue of Guantanamo Bay seems to be a real conundrum for this administration. What to do about those who are there and what to do about some of the myths. You wrote a piece for CNN.com that published yesterday. There's a lot of marketing that may be hasn't been done or needs to be done about the truth about Gitmo, the people who are there, the people who have been released, and the infractions they may or may not have been accused of or charged with or convicted of. Can you lay out the real story behind Gitmo and the issues that we're facing with Gitmo?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST & AUTHOR: Sure, Ashleigh. The reason that it's been so difficult to close is, you know, there are some people in Guantanamo who are too dangerous to release and can't be prosecuted. The exact number is a relatively small proportion. There are also people in Gitmo who should be there and will be prosecuted by military commissions. There are 86 people that a task force of Justice officials, Department of Defense officials, have cleared for release, which means, either, generally speaking, will be transferred to their home countries, prison system, where they'll be monitored and eventually released or held on to by those countries. So, there are quite -- about half the population is being cleared for transfer to their home countries.

The problem there, of course, is that quite a number of them are from Yemen. And people who are involved in anti-American attacks, who have been in the Yemeni prison system, and who have escaped. So you want to have a Yemeni prison situation that you feel very confident about, if you're going to start transferring people back to Yemen. So it's a -- you know, it's not an easy problem. The administration has put quite a lot of effort into assessing who should be released. On the -- you know, on the issue -- one of the issues, of course, is how many people have been released and sort of returned to the "battlefield," quote, unquote. The government claims something like a quarter. The public record shows a much, much smaller number. And the number of people who have gone back to the battlefield in the Obama administration period is much more. Partly because fewer people have been released than under George W. Bush, and partly because there's been a much more rigorous process about who to release.

BANFIELD: I find it interesting, looking at those recidivism rates, the commensurate to re-offend, they're not km commiserate at all with people in the United States.

But even more interesting for those in America who are very supportive of Gitmo and don't believe that those particular detainees should be brought to the mainland or tried in the mainland, they might change their tune when they find out what our bad relationship with Cuba costs us to actually keep each one of those detainees incarcerated. It is unbelievable, the amount of money per detainee to just keep them there. Can you outline that?

BERGEN: Yeah, it's $800,000 per year per detainee, which is about 30 times what it would cost to house a detainee in the United States. But the politics of bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States, you know, that's down. Congress has basically blocked that.

But I think there is a way forward. We'll hear from the president this afternoon about releasing at least some of these detainees who, three years ago, by the way, Ashleigh, three years ago, this interagency task force of officials said 86 were cleared for release. So, it would be, basically, un-American to hold people indefinitely. It's been a principal of Angelo-American law since 1215 when Magna Carta was signed, that you don't hold people without trial indefinitely.

And, you know, sadly, you know, moving forward, the hunger strike that's going on in Guantanamo has put more additional pressure on the administration to try to solve this and basically just not sort of shelve it and say, this is too difficult.

BANFIELD: Hey, Peter, you know, Americans may not get a steady diet of news on Guantanamo, but that's a whole different ball game when you go overseas. I mean, there are people who hammer down this issue, this problem. It's a propaganda tool for a lot of people. We're accused on a regular basis of doing very illegal, unconstitutional, very un-American kinds of things. Can you just give me a perspective on what we don't get in our media that folks overseas get all the time?

BERGEN: Well, I think Guantanamo, as an issue, has proceeded a little bit overseas. But I do think that the drones -- you know, none of our closest allies, according to the U.N. investigator, whose looking into this, you know, except our legal rationale, that we can basically kill people outside the conventional war zones. And that's, I think, one of the many reasons the president is going to be speaking this afternoon about the drone program. You know, we have to have a legal framework that we feel comfortable, that the Chinese will work with or the Iranians will work with because our monopoly on armed drones is basically eroding very quickly. China, in February, said that it contemplated killing a drug lord with an armed drone, who was in a remote area of Southeast Asia. And so, you know, other countries are going to point to our legal framework and it better be good. It better be something that we can live with and want other countries to live with. And I think that's, you know, one of the reasons we're seeing this kind of a -- you know, this announcement this afternoon about a much more calibrated drone policy, apart from the fact that, of course, it's perceived to kill civilians, which, I think, is unfair. Most of these attacks don't actually kill civilians now, because the targeting is much better. But, certainly, the legal framework needs to be something that we can be comfortable with. You know, other countries, you know, sort of being held to the same kind of level of accountability. BANFIELD: Sure. Yeah, we don't want to be the pot calling the kettle black down the road some times. What works for us may work very well for others and not work for us.

Peter Bergen, it's a great piece.

I encourage people to go to CNN.com and have a lack at it. He lays out a lot of the myths behind not only Gitmo, but also the drone program.

Thank you, Peter.

BERGEN: Thank you.

BANFIELD: The author of the "Manhunt," a very wise man.

And I also want to let you know about a special program set for tomorrow night based on Peter Bergen's book, "Manhunt: The 10-Year Search for Bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad." It's an HBO documentary film telling the remarkable true story of the two-decade search for bin Laden. It's a must-see, "Manhunt," 9:00 eastern Friday night, right here on CNN.

There is yet another incident in the military regarding sexual misconduct, videotaping people in showers. Not kidding. More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A sergeant who is supposed to advise and counsel West Point cadets is instead being accused of sexual misconduct. And not just any kind of conduct. He allegedly videotaped female cadets while they were in the showers and the bathrooms of the nation's oldest and most prestigious military academy. This is just the latest in a recent string of scandals that have hit the military here in the U.S. And the Pentagon is under growing pressure to put a stop to it.

Here's Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, for the elite U.S. military academy at West Point, it doesn't get any seedier, any more invasive than this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

STARR (voice-over): Another black eye for the U.S. military. This time, an Army sergeant, first class, is charged with allegedly secretly videotaping female cadets in the showers and bathrooms at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It went on for nearly three years. His job? To mentor and train cadets.

The sergeant's conduct was discovered last year. After a criminal investigation, he is now charged with indecent conduct, dereliction of duty, cruelty, and maltreatment. The story was first reported by "The New York Times." It's the latest in a series of high-profile cases of sexual misconduct in the military.

President Obama is outraged and vowing to crack down on assaults.

CARNEY: He has zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military and that he believes that it is -- that those who participate in it dishonor the uniform they wear.

STARR: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says, accountability must improve.

CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Starting with some of the questions about victims saying, and rightfully so, that they didn't feel their commanders were accountable, enough to be able to come forward and register a complaint.

STARR: At Ft. Hood, Texas, another sergeant first class, who worked on preventing sexual assaults, is under criminal investigation by the Army for allegedly trying to force a female soldier into prostitution, as well as abusive sexual conduct and maltreatment of subordinates. An Air Force lieutenant corporal, Jeffrey Krasinski (ph), was arrested on federal battery charges can by allegedly groping a woman near the Pentagon where he worked on sexual assault prevention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Sex crimes have happened in civilian society and in the military for years. But what commanders will tell you is inside the Pentagon, inside military circles, they now believe they must confront and deal with a cultural issue. And that is how military women are treated -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, great work at the Pentagon for us. Thank you.

I want to turn to Oklahoma now. Some terrified teachers, terrified students, all of them huddling together, wondering if they would survive as a tornado, a monster, whipped across their school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA ORR, TEACHER, BRIARWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Some of the kids were praying, the teachers were praying, and I looked Miss Bretton in the eye, and we could hear a roar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And you can hear the cries. There they are, listening to what they were able to record on their cell phones. We are going to bring it to you with our Brian Todd, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN DURANT, OKLAHOMA THUNDER BASKETBALL PLAYER: That's all I can do right now. Continue to help, tell people about what's going on, so they can donate and put a smile on some of these people's faces, man. Because it's a crazy last few days for them and they don't know what the future holds either. So I want them to keep the faith, continue to smile, because that's what gets them through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That was NBA player, Kevin Durant, who plays for the Oklahoma Thunder, touring through the devastation in Moore. All of this, as the residents in Oklahoma try to pick up any pieces they can find. If there are any pieces left, some unbelievably harrowing tales of survival are coming out as well.

Monday's tornado, EF-5. They don't get worse than that, effectively leveling Briarwood Elementary School. But, amazingly, every student, every teacher walked out of that, they walked out of that alive.

And now, there is some sound of the terrifying moment that that tornado hit. It was recorded by one of the teachers who was rolling it on her cell phone.

Our Brian Todd now picking up that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

(SHOUTING)

(END AUDIO FEED)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's the sound of the terrifying moments when the tornado hit. Lynne Bretton and Jessica Orr are still shaken. Their voices still quiver when they talk about it.

Monday afternoon, when this massive tornado struck, they huddled with 25 kids inside a bathroom at briarwood elementary school. Bretton says she covered two kids with her body and kept thinking --

LYNNE BRETTON, TEACHER, BRIARWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Don't let me die. Just let me get these babies out of here.

TODD: As the roof was torn off and the ceiling caved in on the bathroom, listen to the audio recording on Bretton's cell phone of horrified kids, Bretton trying to reassure them.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

BRETTON: You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK.

(END AUDIO FEED)

BRETTON: I didn't know what to tell them. I just kept telling them we're OK. My mind, I was praying.

ORR: She said, Father, just protect us. Put angels in between us and the tornado. I know you're stronger than this tornado. And some of the kids were praying, the teachers were praying and I looked her in the eye and we could hear a roar.

TODD: Teaching sixth grade at Briarwood, Orr teaches fifth grade, the kids they were protecting, 10 or 11 years old.

(on camera): Lynne Bretton says the most intense part of the experience, when the tornado was at its strongest and grinding their school apart, played out over the course of only about 10 minutes. Afterward, this is what was left of Briarwood Elementary School.

(voice-over): At one point, one of the kids shouted at Bretton, I love you.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I love you!

BRETTON: I love you too! We're OK! We're OK!

(SHOUTING)

(END AUDIO FEED)

TODD: Everyone survived. The teachers say no one was hurt.

ORR: And the sound, you could just hear it start to go away and I thought, we made it, we made it, thank you god.

TODD: Lynne Bretton says the advice she'd give to other teachers for a situation like that, count your kids, know who you have and stay calm. Although, she says, that's next to impossible.

Brian Todd, CNN, Moore, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: And we invite you to go along with Anderson Cooper as he gets an up close look at the storm chasers who risk their lives to document these storms and show us the magnitude of their power. "Storm Hunters in the Path of Disaster," Saturday night, 7:00 eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: One of Hollywood's leading couples may be facing another big medical problem. First Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy made headlines and now her partner, Brad Pitt, could have a very unusual condition that makes it hard for him to recognize people's faces. You can imagine the problems that would cause in an industry that you could describe as very ego-driven.

Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is with me.

Face blindness, I'm sorry, I've never heard of it. I don't know anything about it and I'm a little baffled by it. What is it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it is sort of baffling. What it is is it's kind of like dyslexia for the face. Dyslexics might see letters but can't put together to form a word. So, Ashleigh, I look at you and I can see that you have beautiful brown hair and you have glasses and you have high cheekbones, but if I had face blindness, I couldn't put together that this is Ashleigh Banfield, even though I've known you for years. It's the putting it together part that is difficult for people with face blindness. And doctors tell us that it's more common than people think and there's a continuum. People might be like I need more time to figure this out, it can be mild or severe, but it's probably more common than we think. It's a baffling brain disorder.

BANFIELD: It's great that you describe it as dyslexia for the face, that makes perfect sense, but why just the face? Why not say a road map or a brand of car or vehicle? Does it apply to anything else other than people's faces?

COHEN: That is a great question. And it really does appear to be very face-specific. So one doctor I talked to at Harvard, he says he has patients who are artists, very successful artists who have face blindness and irony of irony some of them are port rate artists. They paint beautiful portraits. They see things and can't file it away and recall it as the person I went to college with or the person I work with every day.

BANFIELD: Is it based not just to suggest you know all about this, but it based on physiology, or is it more mental? I freeze up when I have to do math on the spot, and I almost wonder if face blindness is a little like the pressure's on, oh, no, I'm scrambling.

COHEN: It doesn't feel like it's emotional, actually. From what doctors told us it really feels very much like a brain disorder. Some doctors say you can look at an MRI of someone with face blindness and you can see it like certain things will light up or not light up so it seems very organic from what doctors tell us.

BANFIELD: It's really interesting.

Thank you, Elizabeth. I learned something knew and I know you would always recognize me, but I have blond hair.

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: Did I get the high cheekbones and glasses right? Did I get that part right?

BANFIELD: I was very appreciative of everything else you said.

Elizabeth Cohen, reporting for us live in Atlanta.

We're also keeping an eye for you on the New York Stock Exchange because the Dow is down. I'm looking at my numbers here. I think down 13. That's quite significant. It was only down about five points just a few minutes ago. We'll keep an eye on that for you. In the meantime, I want to let you know my colleague, Anderson Cooper, has been very hard at work. He's going to take over our coverage, live from Moore, Oklahoma, right after this break. Thanks for watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at images of Moore, Oklahoma. It has been three days now since the deadly tornado ripped through this area. Extraordinary to see the damage that it has brought.

I'm Anderson Cooper, live, with special coverage from Moore, Oklahoma.

This battered town is being slammed again. It is a miserable day here. Heavy rain today is hampering recovery efforts. Lightning and thunder. Authorities warn that strong winds could send tornado debris flying through the air. This comes as people here start the painful task of burying 24 of their own, including 10 children killed in Monday's tornado.