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Extremists Take over City in Iraq; Bergdahl Discharged from Coast Guard for Psychological Reasons; Who is Guy that Beat Eric Cantor; Controversy over Miss Indiana's Body Size; New Accusations in V.A. Scandal

Aired June 11, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I have to wonder what they think when you look at the video of al Qaeda-linked fighters driving around in American Humvees. They control a huge swath of territory now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about. As I mentioned, the military equipment the United States left behind when they pulled out, there was a lot of talk about that when it happened. Obviously, there's concern those weapons, that equipment has fallen into the hands of these extremists.

HOLMES: They've already got it. They are driving around in those Humvees. They have got other armored vehicles. They also have helicopters up there. One hopes that ISIS doesn't know how to fly them or there will be a big change in all this. They also have got other long weapons and even artillery pieces, by all accounts. They have now been well armed. As you say, the great fear is that the Iraqi military isn't up to dealing with them despite all of that training, tens of billions of dollars in training and equipment -- Pamela.

BROWN: Michael, how much of a threat are they to American interests.

HOLMES: They are a big threat. America, let's remember, has its fingerprints all over Iraq, which was the war that America fought there, in many ways, led to all of this. Look at it in the government at the moment, too. Nouri al Maliki, the prime minister, this is a guy who is a Shiite. He's a sectarian man. He was elected. The U.S. had assurances was going to be inclusive. He was the opposite. Disenfranchised the Sunni population, cut them out of the picture. They're angry. They cover areas like Ramadi and up in Mosul, a mainly Sunni town. That provided the fertile breading ground for those Sunni tribes who don't like ISIS and the way they govern. They are allowing them to come in and be there in many cases on the basis of my enemy's enemy is my friend. So the guy that is running Iraq has really created a lot of the environment for what we see now. He is not a secular-minded man.

BROWN: I think everyone should pay attention to this considering we waged a war there and we lost a lot of blood and treasure in Iraq.

Michael Holmes, thank you very much. Some new developments with new developments concerning Army Sergeant

Bowe Bergdahl. First, new information today. A Defense official told Barbara Starr that Bergdahl served in the Coast Guard for about a month before being discharged. "The Washington Post" is now reporting the discharge was for psychological reasons. We're going to have more on that in just a moment.

Today, for the first time, we saw defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, defend the White House deal to exchange five Afghan detainees for Bergdahl. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: In the decision to rescue Sergeant Bergdahl, we complied with the law and we did what we believed was in the best interest of our country, our military, and Sergeant Bergdahl. The president has constitutional responsibilities and constitutional authorities to protect American citizens and members of our armed forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I want to turn to Sergeant Bergdahl's short time in the Coast Guard. "The Washington Post" reporting today that he was discharged for psychological reasons.

Dr. Elsbeth Ritchie is a military psychiatrist, and Dr. Ritchie joins us.

If you would, tell us what the screening process is before joining. If he was discharged from the Coast Guard, how was he able to get into the Army?

DR. ELSBETH RITCHIE, MILITARY PSYCHIATRIST: To get into the military, you have to go through a history and physical, at what is called MEPS station, Military Entrance Processing Station. And questions are always asked about your past medical history and your past psychological history.

Now, if a person wants to get into the military, there are likely to not admit if they had any psychological problems or medical problems. If they have asthma, for example, they disqualify. If they have a history of depression or suicidal ideation, they're disqualified. What I don't know is how much the Army knew about his past history with the Coast Guard.

BROWN: But isn't there a screening process that takes place so that even if someone doesn't admit it, the screening process could detect if there is some issue at play?

RITCHIE: Yes, there should have been a screening process to see that he had been in the Coast Guard and that he had been discharged with what is usually called a training discharge. That's within less than six months. So that should have happened. I don't know also at the time whether was granting -- actually, I do know what the Army was granting more waivers but what I don't know is whether the army knew of his history and granted him a waiver.

This story has more twists and turns, and it seems like every time every new day, there is a new twist to it. I expect we will find out whether or not he was granted a waiver or not.

BROWN: This is certainly a big talk of the day.

Dr. Elsbeth Ritchie, thank you so much for coming on.

RITCHIE: Thank you.

BROWN: In a stunning upset, the second most powerful Republican in the House loses a primary race. Congressman Eric Cantor, beaten and beaten by a lot. But who was the guy that beat him, this political no-name until now? We have done some digging, so stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: David Brat was a political nobody, running a long-shot campaign from a cheap flip phone. In a historical political upset, Brat toppled House majority leader, Eric Cantor, one of the most powerful Republicans in the nation.

Here is what we know about Brat. The 49-year old was born in Michigan. For nearly two decades, he worked as an economics professor. He lives in a small town in Virginia, population less than 8,000 people. Brat is a Catholic. He and his wife, Laura, have two children.

And now we have breaking news on Eric Cantor's political future. Cantor has made up his mind about his role as House majority leader. Cantor will resign as House majority leader. His decision is setting off a Republican scramble to fill the power vacuum.

Let's go to chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

Dana, when is Cantor going to step down and who is possibly the next House majority leader?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our understanding from Republican sources, senior Republican sources, is that July 31 is the date he will stay until. But I should tell you that Cantor's office is not saying anything. They are silent on this, but this is what we're hearing from people. But If the House Republican leadership decides to have elections sooner than that, perhaps he could step down sooner. We won't know the answer to that probably for another hour and a half. The republicans are meeting at 4:00 and a lot of these things will be discussed and perhaps decided.

BROWN: What about Republicans who are eyeing to take over his role?

BASH: The number-one person that we're looking at is Kevin McCarthy. He is now the number three, the House majority whip. He is not very shy about, and certainly they are not shy about making clear that they would like to move up a notch. It will likely to have some competition. That will leave his job open, if he gets it. So there is a scramble and this is not going be easy, especially when you're not just talking about individuals. You're talking about wings of the House Republican Party, wings of the caucuses that represent different, very important aspects like, for example, the Tea Party or mainstream.

BROWN: Adding to this is how surprise everyone is that Cantor was defeated. Even you, Dana, didn't see this coming.

BASH: Absolutely. No one saw this coming. Most importantly, Eric Cantor and maybe even the winner didn't see it coming.

Before we go, I actually want to play for our viewers -- I believe we have it -- new sound that we just got in from the House speaker, the first words that he had said about the defeat of his number two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Eric Cantor is a good friend of mine and has been a very good leader for our party. They've got to decisions to make. But I'm sure that he and his family will come to the right decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, not a lot of new light shed there. It is important that we heard again from the House speaker for the first time.

BROWN: Dana Bash, thank you very much. I know you've been busy. Thank you.

BASH: Thanks.

BROWN: Coming up right here, when a gunman shot and killed an Oregon high school freshman in a locker room, he had come prepared to kill. A police news conference has just wrapped up. And we have shocking new details on the shooter and what he had on him. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All right. So I have a question for you. What's normal? A number of people are wondering after this reaction to Miss Indiana Mikayla Diehl's appearance in the Miss USA pageant. Have you heard about this? The 25-year-old is not as thin as your usual beauty contestant. Even though she didn't win, she caused an explosion of tweets praising her for having a, quote, "normal body."

"Finally, a contestant that is not a bag of bones," one wrote. "And dear Miss Indiana, thank you for looking like an average woman."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEKAYLA DIEHL, MISS INDIANA: Today's woman is healthy and that's what I represent, I guess, and I'm OK with it. And I'm happy that girls are looking to me and thanking me for being average, I suppose.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: All right. Even Miss Indiana doesn't seem quite convinced that she's average. And there's a chorus of voices saying, no, her body is not normal.

Let's bring in to discuss, model and author, Emme.

Nice to see you, Emme.

There's no question that Mikayla -- she looks great. Thousands tweeted their agreement with that. But here's a comparison of her vital statistics. And let's take a look here at what the Centers for Disease Control calls the average American. Quite a difference, right?

EMME, MODEL AND AUTHOR: Absolutely. There's a difference. I first want to say that she is very beautiful in her own right. I am sure she has worked very hard in her 5'8" frame to have a size-four body. We have to remember, classically, in Miss America, they are usually very tall and very thin. This is a departure from the norm, which, with all this wonderful response, the public is really thirsting for more diversity in the way we see beauty. That's healthy.

BROWN: I absolutely think that's healthy. My mom was in pageants. Over the years, it's changed. Probably more pressure on women. What do you think?

EMME: I definitely think there is more pressure. We have to also be responsible for either buying into that pressure or not, just like Miss Indiana. She accepted who she was. Worked with what she -- how she was born. And not tried to work against nature. She really did a very good job with that. But to say, and I don't mean to interrupt, but to say that she is an average American woman is not really the right thing to say in this context because this is miss America.

BROWN: Right. Miss USA -- I was actually --

EMME: Excuse me, Miss USA. Sorry.

BROWN: That's OK.

I was actually struck because when I saw the headlines, I was curious to see her picture, and when I saw the picture, I thought she is a thin beautiful woman. And I was surprised to see how many people talked about how normal she looks. What do you think the message should be to young girls? What do you think the take-away should be here?

EMME: I think the take away should really be that there is a diversity in beauty and that there is a departure this year in Miss USA where there is a more shapely, trimmer figure that is being represented. And how wonderful that the public is reacting positively to this. That we, as a group, as a nation, really are starting to open our understanding, our acceptance of all different types of women being beautiful. So this is just a small step in the right direction.

BROWN: Absolutely. I agree with you. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and forms.

EMME: Absolutely.

BROWN: Emme, thank you so much. Nice to see you.

EMME: Nice to see you as well.

BROWN: Up next on NEWSROOM, was the V.A. trying to stall lawmakers who wanted to know if they were treating veterans? One Republican and one Democrat, and both are accused in the V.A. of throwing them off of the scent of serious problems within the department. Jake Tapper joins me live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Just in, new accusations today in that scandal of V.A. hospitals and those alarming wait times for veterans needing care. Some died while waiting for appointments. CNN first broke the story.

CNN chief Washington correspondent and anchor of "The Lead," Jake Tapper, has the details -- Jake?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, it is a very interesting story out of Pittsburgh. A couple of weeks ago, Congressman Tim Murphy, who is a Republican, and Congressman Doyle, who is a Democrat, were contacted by the Pittsburgh V.A. They were doing an audit to find out about these wait lists. These wait lists, called Near Lists, in which people are put on the list to try to get health care, and they never get off the wait list, and never get that appointment. It comes down to the fact that the head of the Pittsburgh V.A. told the two congressmen that she had known about the fact that the wait list had almost 700 people on it, but the national V.A. told her not to share that information with area members of Congress.

The congressmen are very upset. Apparently, according to congressional sources, the person who conveyed this information to the Pittsburg director was a guy named Gary Devanski (ph), with the regional headquarters. And he apparently, according to sources, said that a woman in the national V.A. named Vivica Wright Simpson (ph), she had told them not to share that information. They are very distressed. When the final list came out, the audit from a couple of days ago, the list was much smaller than 700. They believe that what the V.A. was trying to do was cook the books and get as many people off the list as they could before the list went public.

Now the chairman of the House Veteran's Affairs committee is very upset. He gave us a statement at CNN, saying, "Interfering with Congress's constitutionally mandated oversight responsibility is not just wrong, it's against the law. Right now acting V.A. secretary, Sloan Gibson, needs to immediately send a clear and powerful message that criminal behavior will not be tolerated from V.A.'s ranks. The only way to do this is by immediately firing anyone who directed V.A. officials not to speak with members of Congress." That's from Congressman Jeff Miller, the chairman of the House Veteran's Affairs Committee. What we have here is an allegation that the national V.A. told the regional V.A. in Pittsburgh, don't share information with members of Congress. Congress is very upset about that.

BROWN: A stunning revelation there. Also, Jake, we're learning today that the FBI now getting involved and looking into these allegations specifically in the Phoenix office. Do we know anything more about that?

TAPPER: The FBI, I am told, is getting involved. A lot of members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, have been calling for the Justice Department to get involved, for the FBI to start investigating some of these charges.

In terms of Pittsburgh, both Congressman Doyle and Murphy have asked the inspector general of the Veterans Affairs Department to look into whether any criminal acts were committed here by telling the Pittsburgh V.A. hospital director not to share information with members of Congress. And then Congressman Miller, the head of the V.A. committee in the House, has also called for the Justice Department to get involved not just in Pittsburgh but nationally is laws were broken.

BROWN: All right. Of course, we will stay on top of this story.

Jake Tapper, thank you so much.

And don't forget to catch Jake on "The Lead" this afternoon, 4:00 p.m. eastern time.

Great to see you, Jake.

TAPPER: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: And we just learned shocking new claims about Bowe Bergdahl's mental health. It turns out Bergdahl was expelled from the U.S. Coast Guard. Records show it was an administrative discharge. But friends say it had much more to do with his state of mind. We will have all the details ahead.

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