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Oil Prices Spike as Iraq Vehicle Flames; CNN Crew Hurt in World Cup Protest; Hagel Tries to Calm Bergdahl Swap Critics; JFK's Assassination

Aired June 12, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And we are following breaking news out of Iraq this morning. Iraq state TV now reporting that the country's air force is bombing insurgents in and around Mosul the second largest city in Iraq. Just in the last few days, a Sunni group has taken hold of the city on their way to Baghdad. Earlier Iraq said they are -- they are open for America to conduct air strikes in their country, but the White House only says that it will consider a range of options. We're also learning that insurgents driving 50 vehicles have now surrounded one of Iraq's oil refineries.

It sounds like deja vu all over again, doesn't it? Not in a good way because that offensive is now having a significant impact on oil prices and you know what that means. CNN's Christine Romans is following that part of the story for us. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Investors pretty nervous by what they're seeing devolve in Iraq quite frankly. And why would what's happening in Iraq affect oil prices and potentially gas prices down the road because Iraq is a big producer Carol, 3.3 million barrels per day, it's the second largest producer in OPEC behind Saudi Arabia. There is the chart. You see the surge this year so far in oil prices. Now $106 a barrel when you measure it on the NYMEX, the crude oil markets here.

And that's the highest in about nine months. So a great deal of nervousness there. There had already been some supply disruptions and some pipeline closures in the north earlier this year.

So a lot of the oil analysts we're talking to say it's not that big of a surprise that there are some problems here, but the depth and the duration now of these problems is a big concern here. There's a lot of oil coming out of the south, the southern oil fields of the country now. The problems in Tikrit and Mosul, and in transporting the oil even by truck to Jordan, those are still -- those are still something that's a big concern.

But overall, overall experts say they hope that oil exports will still be increasing this year. But when you see pictures like this and when you see armed convoys around refineries, that's why you see such nervousness in world markets -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I understand that. Christine Romans, many thanks.

More breaking news, to tell you about this out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the World Cup will soon get under way. Millions of fans from all over the world are in attendance. And this morning their safety is at risk. Large protests have broken out and they have turned violent. This is a picture tweeted out of one of our CNN producers who was injured as police fired stun gun grenades at World Cup protesters.

Now, the protests are taking place -- the protests are taking place near the site of the opening match between host Brazil and Croatia. CNN's Shasta Darlington was in the middle of that protest. Watch.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The police fired tear gas. They ended up arresting one person. It looks like protesters want to start get moving and there's some pushing back. As you can see, if they shoot -- I've got to go. That hit my arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. We also have some twit pics. This is much more serious than it appears. In fact, the CNN crew was hurt pretty badly. They're being treated now by doctors. Alex Thomas joins us now from Sao Paulo. You can -- oh, you can see Shasta there with blood on her arm. Tell us more about what happened to our crew.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS: Carol, strange mix of partying and protests here on the opening day of the soccer World Cup. You're showing that footage to our viewers, and I can tell you that they are safe. That's the first thing to say. But they were covering those protests and the police have been out in force all morning here in Sao Paulo. Massive security operation under way. And the tactics that local police like to adopt is to get in and break up the protesters first, even if they're being peaceful, they like to be preventive for security forces here to avoid protest groups getting too big.

So they've been using flash bombs and tear gas canisters. And we believe it's one of the canisters that may have hit Shasta and her producer, Barbara Banatides. They were both slightly hurt, have had to receive medical attention. For the moment they're off the streets, not reporting for CNN while they get medical attention. But they're only minor injuries. They will both be fine.

COSTELLO: Yes I thought that was Shasta, but is that Barbara? That's Barbara, right? OK. I hope they'll be fine. But that's really scary. What are these people protesting, Alex?

THOMAS: They're really protesting about the colossal cost of staging this soccer World Cup. FIFA, the organizing body for world football, has many demands. And the costs this World Cup has been more than $11 billion. It does include infrastructure like new roads and transport systems that will benefit the country as a whole going forward. But there's huge social inequalities in this country. And many people are protesting that while the rich are getting richer, the poor are suffering and spending billions of dollars on essentially a sporting event even if it is the biggest on the planet. It's not the best use of that money. Hence the protests.

We spoke to Kafu, the man that last lifted the World Cup trophy when Brazil won their record fifth title in 2002. He says he understands why the protesters are doing what they're doing. He himself comes from a poor background grew up in the favelas. But he's asked the protesters to leave their objections to one side and let Brazil welcome the world with open arms to enjoy the festivities of football over the next four and a half weeks.

COSTELLO: All right Alex Thomas, stay safe. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defends the White House's deal for Bowe Bergdahl to Congress, could the fallout spread to the increasing tensions in Iraq? A member of the House Armed Services Committee joins me next.

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COSTELLO: Fully consistent with U.S. law, U.S. interest in the core values of the U.S. military. That's how Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel describes the prisoner swap to free Bowe Bergdahl during a Capitol Hill briefing that at times turned quite fiery. Through it all, Hagel defended the administration's actions while admitting one point of contention, notifying Congress could have been handled better.

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CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We could have done a better job. We could have done a better job of keeping you informed. But I urge you to remember two things. This was an extraordinary situation. First we weren't certain that we would transfer those detainees out of Guantanamo until we had Sergeant Bergdahl in hand.

And second, we had Sergeant Bergdahl in hand only a few hours after making the final arrangements.

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COSTELLO: In other words, didn't have time to inform Congress. Joining me now: Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, a ranking member of the House Armed Service Committee which Hagel testified before yesterday. Welcome, sir.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D), WASHINGTON: Thank you for having me on. I appreciate the chance.

COSTELLO: I appreciate you being here. So Chuck Hagel admitted that this has affected the trust between the administration and Congress. Can you repair that trust? Is it possible?

SMITH: Well I think it's always possible. I mean, it's a matter of the White House reaching out to Congress more consistently, consulting us and informing us of what they're planning on doing. I mean, look. I agree with the exchange -- a very, very difficult decision. But in this situation, you do everything you can to bring the men and women who serve in our military home. And I understand that.

But I don't think there's any reason why they couldn't have at least on some level consulted with and informed Congress about what they were thinking about doing.

COSTELLO: If there are no consequences, how can you be assured that this sort of thing won't happen again?

SMITH: Well, you know, we can't be. And look, you know, I was honest in the hearing yesterday. This is not an isolated incident. The White House, I think, has not done a good job of working with Congress. I mean, obviously, there's been a high level of contention, particularly between the House and the White House on a bunch of different issues, but that doesn't get better if you don't talk. So I think on a number of national security issues, the White House would be better served to reach out to us. And you know, it's not irreparable. But it's something they're going to have to work on without a doubt.

COSTELLO: But I ask you that because this morning Iraq is in crisis and the White House says it's looking at a range of options to deal with militants. And are you concerned that, one, the United States could be drawn into another conflict in Iraq and two, that the decision to do so would not involve Congress's input?

SMITH: Yes, I'm very concerned about everything that's going on. I mean, there's a Sunni/Shia civil war going on in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, and it is very, very dangerous. And we have to measure that threat and make sure that al Qaeda doesn't find safe haven from which to attack us again. And there's going to be a bunch of different options to consider.

And yes, I think it would be very important for the White House to keep Congress informed about what they're considering. Now, understand there is the authorization for the use of military force that we gave to go after al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces. So Congress has given the President some power in this area. But it's not just a matter of whether or not it's the law. It's a matter of keeping Congress informed so that we can work together to confront the national security challenges that we face. And that's what I hope the White House will do, work with Congress.

COSTELLO: The Iraqi government wants America to perform airstrikes over its country. Would you be open to that idea?

SMITH: I would be very, very reluctant to dive back into that. We'd have to see what the circumstances are, what the threat is. You know, is this a core threat to the U.S.? Are the al Qaeda militants in Iraq threatening the U.S. in some way? Otherwise we'd being dragged into a war in a very, very difficult to predict way. So I'd be reluctant to do that, but I'd have to hear the case.

COSTELLO: Well, right now we understand that militants have surrounded an oil refinery, and that's reflected in the cost of a barrel of oil already. So that's a big concern that would affect American interests.

SMITH: Yes. There's no question that the chaos and the disruption there has an impact on us. What I was referring to was whether or not we're talking about al Qaeda militants who would then be plotting and planning to directly attack Western targets like even the homeland. That's the big threat that we have to be concerned about.

And then also, you know, we have to be mindful of what impact we can have diving into the middle of, like I said, what is a very, very broad Sunni/Shia civil war. Can we affect it in a positive way that protects our interests? It's something I think we should be very careful about.

COSTELLO: Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, thank you so much for being here.

SMITH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: OK. Listen to this disturbing statistic. According to UNICEF, more than 150 million young girls and 73 million boys are sexually assaulted every year. Children in conflict-affected countries are the most vulnerable. And shockingly, few perpetrators are ever prosecuted. The actress Angelina Jolie is working to change that. This week Jolie is taking part in a global summit in London with the goal of ending sexual violence during war. Jolie sat down with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about why she got involved.

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ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS/ACTIVIST: You are moved by someone you meet. And for me, it was -- it was time and again meeting young girls, boys and women and men who talked about publicly could talk about all of their pains but privately would become very emotional and tell me about the rape and what had happened to them or the child they couldn't -- you know, they couldn't tell that the child was a child of rape or they couldn't -- they simply couldn't function anymore, and they carried this deep shame and this deep pain. And it was just too many. It was just one too many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jolie is calling for the international community to make holding those responsible for sexual violence a priority.

I'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: All eyes on Sao Paulo this morning in Brazil. As you know, the World Cup is about to begin there. A million fans will watch the World Cup and hopefully enjoy the wonders of Sao Paulo. But this morning violence broke out. There are hundreds of protesters protesting the cost of the World Cup because so many people are poor in that country. Our Shasta Darlington and her producer, Barbara, got caught up in the madness. Take a look.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The police fired tear gas. They ended up arresting one person. It looks like protesters want to start get moving, and there's some pushing back, as you can see, we may have -- if she shoot the -- got to go. It hit my arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those were flash grenades used to break up the crowd. That's producer, Barbara (inaudible) that's sitting. She had to be attended to. She was hurt in this demonstration.

And I want to bring in correspondent with the BBC, Wyre Davies, because he helped Barbara. And we'd just like to thank you publicly for doing that, Wyre.

WYRE DAVIES, BBC CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It's my pleasure. She was lying on the floor. I had to do something. She was in a pretty bad way.

COSTELLO: What happened?

DAVIES: As far as we could the police opened fire without any provocation, really. The protests could have been very easily contained. But they're under pretty clear instructions not to let these protests get any momentum. So they open fired with rubber bullets and with stun grenades. And I think the CNN staff was hit directly by one of these grenades. And it broke your producer's arm but also -- it was a pretty nasty wound.

And it's a very chaotic situation. Luckily there wasn't any tear gas. It was a pretty nasty situation and both the journalists here are pretty well trained in first aid and giving first aid, but it was very difficult to get her out of there because of the chaos. Eventually we were able to get her out of there into a secure area where she received first aid.

COSTELLO: How did you get her out?

DAVIES: Well, it took some time. We had to stabilize her on the ground. We gave her some first aid and dressed the wound because she had a very bad cut to her arm which is also broken which made it a bit more difficult. And she was in a lot of pain. And eventually police moved her to the side and we were able to get her to a nearby fire station. They were some fire workers nearby and we made to get her in there.

And then the CNN correspondent, Shasta Darlington who is a good friend of mine and your cameraman, were able then to escort her to relative safety.

COSTELLO: Wyre, thanks again for helping our crew. We appreciate it. You stay safe over there, too. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, his inauguration heralded a new era in American politics. His assassination altered the course of a nation. A preview of tonight's episode of the CNN film "THE SIXTIES" next.

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COSTELLO: Finally a reminder that CNN's original series "THE SIXTIES" returns tonight at 9:00 Eastern. This episode looks back at the day that changed America forever, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. More than 50 years later, the questions and controversy endure.

So let's talk about that. Thomas Whalen is associate professor at Boston University. He is also the author of several books including "JFK and His Enemies: a portrait of power". Welcome, Tom.

THOMAS WHALEN, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: My pleasure to be here.

COSTELLO: What surprised you most when you were researching JFK's assassination?

WHALEN: What struck me most was just the level of bureaucratic incompetence that was really responsible for ending the President's life and really that responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. There is no way in my estimation that someone like Lee Harvey Oswald should have been within a country mile of the President's motorcade in Dallas at Dealey Plaza that fateful day.

COSTELLO: So he was the lone gunman, you don't buy into all the conspiracy theories?

WHALEN: No, I think the conspiracy theories are really more, I think, psychologists need to take a look at the people floating those ideas. I think it's pretty clear if you look at the evidence in the Kennedy assassination that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin.

I think where the cover-up, if there is a cover-up in the Kennedy case, comes from the FBI because they had screwed up so badly, because they had let someone like Oswald really slip through the cracks. He wasn't even on the FBI's security index, which was a profile of known national security threats to the nation. Oswald should have been on that list.

Also, just a few weeks before the assassination, Oswald walks into the FBI local office in Dallas, Texas and threatens to blow it up. And he actually wrote a note spelling out that threat. An FBI agent did not take it seriously in Dallas and simply filed it away. That note was later destroyed after the assassination.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable.

WHALEN: A local Dallas police officer said that an FBI agent in Dallas told him that we all knew Oswald was a nut. We just didn't think he was that crazy. COSTELLO: Well, you'll see it all tonight. Thank you, Thomas Whalen.

I appreciate it. "THE SIXTIES: The Assassination of President Kennedy" airs tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" starts now.