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Now: Bergdahl Being Treated At Texas Hospital; U.S. War Vets Watch Siege On Iraq; U.S. Could Decide Iraq Action This Weekend; Deporting Immigrant Children From The U.S.
Aired June 13, 2014 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, breaking overnight: Bergdahl back in America.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arriving just hours ago at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
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COSTELLO: The Army sergeant started to heal after five years of Taliban captivity.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to need some time to re-assimilate.
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COSTELLO: Tinder box. Terrorists marching to Baghdad taking control of key cities. What was once unthinkable for this anti-Iraq war president?
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'll be a president who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home.
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COSTELLO: As become this --
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PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don't rule out anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They come here and they find a relief.
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COSTELLO: A tiny shelter in Texas home to families from foreign countries trying to get into America. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look into these people's eyes, especially the children, what do you see?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fear. They're scared.
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COSTELLO: We'll take you live to the border on the trail of children some as young as four crossing the Rio Grande.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So that's one for you changed your mind.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I have to say, I think you are being very persistent.
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COSTELLO: The Hillary NPR interview, same sex marriage and a quippy Clinton --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just trying to clarify so I can understand.
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COSTELLO: What happened? Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me. We begin this hour with Bowe Bergdahl's return. Today for the first time in five years, the former POW is on American soil. This is the plane landing in San Antonio overnight, on board Bowe Bergdahl and a host of people trained to help transition him back to a more normal life.
A physician, psychiatrist and personal recovery specialist, all in tow, not there most notably the Bergdahl family. This statement was released moments ago on their behalf. Quote, "While the Bergdahls are overjoyed that their son has returned to the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl don't intend to make any travel plans public.
They ask for continued privacy as they concentrate on their son's reintegration. CNN's Martin Savidge live outside the Army hospital in San Antonio. Is it a surprise that the Bergdahls aren't there?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it is. I'll have to preface it by saying that I have two sources that are telling me that they're not on base and they're not in San Antonio. I have been told in the two weeks I was here in the build-up to this that the family would arrive, would arrive early and that might have been the first tip that Bergdahl himself was on his way.
So something has changed. The question is why. Could be medical staff. Could be Bergdahl himself saying I'm not ready. It could be the family could be here at a moment's notice when the time is right. Remember, they've had threats that have been made against them themselves. But right now when it comes to Bergdahl's treatment, the Army says they're going by the book.
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SAVIDGE (voice-over): After five years in Taliban captivity, U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is back on American soil. Touching down overnight Bergdahl arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and was transported to a military medical facility with a room prepped for his arrival and a support team standing by along with his family.
REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: He just came out of five years of captivity. We're going to get a chance to find out what was in his head there that day when he was taken captive.
SAVIDGE: "The Daily Beast" obtained letters purportedly written by Sergeant Bergdahl to his family while he was in captivity. They may give a glimpse into his disappearance from his base at night in 2009, writing, leadership was lacking, if not non-existent. The conditions were bad and looked to be getting worse for the man that were actually the ones risking their lives from attack.
The two letters are dated 2012 and 2013. Penned in two very different writing styles. One in cursive. The other in block print. The Bergdahl family purportedly confirmed the authenticity of the letters revealed by sources in contact with the Taliban. Held hostage in Iraq for nearly a year, American Roy Hallums can relate.
ROY HALLUMS, AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN IRAQ FOR 10 MONTHS: When I did mine they set a piece of paper in front of me and gave me a pen and one person sat on each side of me and told me exactly what words to write and they wanted me to print it and not write it in script because they couldn't read English in script.
SAVIDGE: At times, Bergdahl's thoughts seemed to wander, touching on mathematics, God, and the universe. Several portions of the letter blocked out, it's unclear by whom. Words in letters oddly misspelled. In 2013 he wrote, "If this letter makes it to the USA tell those involved in the investigation that there are more sides to the cittuwation."
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SAVIDGE: Carol, we know that there is going to be a press conference that's been announced by the military. It's going to take place at 4:00 Eastern Time. Among those participating will be a doctor and a psychiatrist. Both of whom are on the sergeant's reintegration team. That's how they refer to it. There's also going to be a general from the army there. A lot of questions. We'll have to see how many answers we truly get -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge reporting live from San Antonio. Already this morning President Obama has met with his national security team to discuss the terrorist siege on Iraq. And a senior administration official tells us that Mr. Obama could decide what action to take in Iraq as early as this weekend.
The situation is growing more urgent as American contractors are forced to evacuate and militants continue their march toward Baghdad. Jonathan Rugman was at a checkpoint in Kirkuk as fighting broke out and Iraq's military abandoned their post.
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JONATHAN RUGMAN, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside Kirkuk, Iraqi troops from the 12th Division were filled trying to hold the Islamist advance, but it seems they didn't try for long. Somebody filmed the Iraqi soldiers fleeing. Many of them in civilian clothing. And apparently leaving behind this military base as a playground for jihadist from the Islamic state of Iraq and Elsham (ph).
From this footage, we could count 14 abandoned tanks. So it was that Kurdish fighters moved in to occupy Kirkuk. They said to stop it from falling. Kirkuk, the city the Kurds have long claimed as their historical capital.
(on camera): The Kurdish fighters here argue that they are the only force for stability in this region because so much of the Iraqi army has collapsed. But the temptation for the Kurds is to hold onto Kirkuk. Not because of its oil wealth, but because they've always wanted it as part of a future Kurdish state and a Kurdish state is what might happen here if Iraq does indeed collapse.
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COSTELLO: All right, so let's take a quick look at the range of options for the United States should the United States decide to take military action. They include manned air strikes and unmanned air strikes using drone aircraft. The White House is not considering boots on the ground. Several sources tell us that the U.S. military has not finalized a proposed set of targets and Secretary of State John Kerry, he just spoke moments ago about this. Listen.
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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I saw it as a fundamental basic terrorist structure that seeks to do everything outside of any rule of law and structure in order to dominate any territory location where it is. It's frankly the enemy of civility, the enemy of rule of law, the enemy of pluralism, the enemy of decency and we need to make it crystal clear as we have the United States views it as a threat to our interest as well as the interest of our friends and allies in the region.
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COSTELLO: All right, let's bring in Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. So read between the lines for us, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Look, Carol, I think straight up it is absolutely clear the White House is saying that the president has not made a decision about how to proceed. There are things other than air strikes. He could announce more armed sales. He could announce intelligence sharing.
But if it does come down to air strikes, what we hear at the Pentagon is there will be a number of military challenges and it basically starts with what do you strike? Are you going to use manned aircraft? Are you going to use drones? If you go with manned aircraft or drones, the U.S. right now lacks the specific military intelligence on the ground.
It does not have personnel on the ground. It has very little credible accurate information about where these fighters are and who they are and how they are moving around. ISIS, these militant fighters don't have military bases, radar sites, air defense, installations. They're dispersed. They're on the roads. They're in cities. They're mixed in with civilian populations, very tough to target.
Before you launch a bomb, you have to know who you are hitting and who the people are. There is a great risk of civilian casualties and civilian destruction and that puts the U.S. back into a political dilemma of being the country that may cause destruction inside of Iraq. So all of this is playing into the decision making we are told. The president hasn't made up his mind.
COSTELLO: All right, Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon. All of these developments, a breath taking reversal from these giddy moments just over 11 years ago, overjoyed Iraqi civilians toppling a statue of Saddam Hussein and the country celebrates the ally forces that ousted their oppressor, but it all came at a terrible price.
Nearly 4,500 Americans were killed during the Iraq war and 32,000 were wounded and many are left with a lifetime of suffering ahead. Christopher Debord served two tours of duty in Iraq. He joins us live now from Washington. Welcome, Christopher.
SGT. CHRISTOPHER DEBORD, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. I know you lost two friends in combat. How painful is it to watch Iraq teeter like this?
DEBORD: You can't really let yourself become overwhelmed by emotion based off what's going on and personal experiences and what's going on in Iraq right now. You have to focus on what is going to be happening next on how Iraq will take care of itself because that was what we aimed to do towards the end of our occupation there.
COSTELLO: There are so many ironies here. Nic Robertson reported not so long ago that some of Saddam Hussein's old generals are now in cahoots with these terrorists. That has to make you a little crazy.
DEBORD: Well, whenever you have civilian government that we tried to put in place and then obviously with things trying to build itself from when we left, you'll have issues with individuals cohorting with the enemy and you'll have to step back and see what happens. You can't really judge based off the small instances happen even though a lot of Northern Iraq has been overtaken by the terrorist group.
COSTELLO: You now serve in the Army Reserve. Can you envision a day that you would have to go back to Iraq?
DEBORD: It's hard but at the same time that's what you're trained to do. You're ever ready and ever vigilant. If my country needs me to redeploy to Iraq based on a new conflict, I'll gladly serve my country and do that mission.
COSTELLO: Was it worth it and if you have to go again, will it be worth it?
DEBORD: It was worth it. I did an interview yesterday with a local news team. When you give a child a soccer ball or treat someone's home with respect while conducting a search, it gives you that instance that you are treating someone as another human being and you feel that pride that you were able to conduct that respectfully.
COSTELLO: So you do get the sense that some Iraqis like and respect Americans?
DEBORD: Without a doubt. I mean, unconfirmed reports there are 30,000 Iraqis in Baghdad right now willing to fight for their country even though there was a rebellion from the Iraqi army retreating from their posts.
COSTELLO: Christopher Debord, thank you and thank you for your service. We appreciate it.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a wave of unaccompanied child immigrants deported back to their home countries. CNN's Rosa Flores is at a processing center in Honduras. Hi, Rosa.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. This country is expecting hundreds, if not thousands of children who are going to be deported from the United States and some of them will be housed in the building that you see behind me, but the big question is why? Why are these children making the dangerous trek? The answer after the break.
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COSTELLO: The hundreds of unaccompanied children now daily entering the United States illegally may have dreams of a better life, but after being detained, they can be held in cramped baron spaces and they can be deported. Many trying to cross again despite those poor conditions that may be waiting for them.
This video just into us from the Texas Department of Public Safety shows immigrants crossing borders and rivers. You see them there. CNN's Rosa Flores joins us from San Pedro Solos Honduras where deported children are being bussed today. Those children made their way into the United States, but now they're being deported back to their home country. Rosa, tell us more.
FLORES: Well, you know, Carol, here is the irony. So Mexico is deporting children as well. If we think that the U.S. is overwhelmed, imagine this. Hundreds, if not thousands of children, reach only to Mexico only to be detained by Mexican authorities and then bussed here to this facility where I am right now. We are expecting six buses today and they are all going to be processed in the building that you see behind me. These are unaccompanied minors. Some of them will be claimed by their parents, others will not be claimed.
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FLORES (voice-over): Hundreds of Hondurans are deported from the United States every week arriving here to a processing center dubbed the world's murder capital with only a few belongings in hand. Sometimes minors arrive too like this boy who is 17. He says he was mistaken by U.S. authorities for an adult.
And he's not the only child trying to make it to the U.S. advocate organizations estimate that at least 60,000 unaccompanied minors are expected to flock to the U.S. border this year. This man saw dozens of them. Some as young as five while he was detained in Arizona.
He says while cells are separate, adults and children are held in the same facilities and while U.S. officials have consistently defended their detention facilities, this man says the kids call them iceboxes because of the cold and dire conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's freezing the whole night and the whole day. I think they just do it on purpose so people can get twisted and sign the petition and leave.
FLORES: Quite a different picture at child shelters waiting for them in Honduras. Authorities there are preparing for a massive influx of deported children as early as next week. Some immigration workers say the system could become overwhelmed. Saying this does not tackle the root of the problem. If what adults are doing is a guide, children will try again.
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FLORES: Now, the big question is why. Why are these children making the dangerous trek to the United States and we see a common theme here. First of all, family. A lot of these kids want to reunite with their family in the United States. The second theme is violence. I want you to look around me closely. You can see businesses have barbed wire on their fences. If you look closely, you'll see an armed guard that is guarding a business.
The violence in this city and in this country is at an all-time high and then there's economics, Carol, because of the poverty. There's so much poverty in this country that a lot of these kids feel that they have nothing to lose.
COSTELLO: Rosa Flores, thanks so much. Holding centers in Texas no longer able to accommodate the huge number of immigrant children, the federal government is being forced to open other facilities. One is in Arizona where pictures of unaccompanied children lying on the floor of a large baron space has raised concerns of a humanitarian crisis.
Joining us to address those concerns is Nogales' mayor, Arturo Garino. Welcome, Mayor. Thanks for being here. You visited this facility. What did you see?
MAYOR ARTURO GARINO, NOGALES, ARIZONA: I visited on Monday. I saw what border patrol had done to their facility to turn it into a processing center and they actually divided the big warehouse that they have, close to 100,000 square feet, and they divided to a medical section where kids are being checked and possibly even vaccinated.
They also divided two sections for girls and boys under 12. And then two sections for older boys 12 and up and girls. Two sections for eating and cafeteria and they have outside are portable showers connected to the building and also laundromat connected to the building. Logistically it's a task for border patrol and I think they're doing a great job.
COSTELLO: So you think children are safe here. They're not in areas where there are adults and there's enough medical care for these kids, et cetera, et cetera.
GARINO: Yes. There are no adults in the facility and the processing center. Only children anywhere from 4 years old to 17 years old.
COSTELLO: Look, this problem doesn't appear -- it doesn't appear this problem will end any time soon. The governor of your state has written to the Obama administration and also to lawmakers to say, do something about this. Do something about immigration control. Do you join her in her pleas?
GARINO: There's got to be something done about immigration and it's sad that they are not doing anything in Washington. Congress and the senators over there don't want to remove the political ads to decide what they're going to do about immigration. This something that will be ongoing but the children and processing is going to go through the summer, at least to September.
Depends on how many children Texas is going to be sending to be processed in the state of Arizona. We have to do something about it. It has to be addressed. We need to address this and not only here but also at the point of origin. What's happening over there that is causing this influx of children only?
Is it a planned problem, point of origin to come here? I don't know. These are questions that I need to ask. My concern right now and citizens of Nogales and our city, we want to make sure these children are in good hands and I know that border patrol is doing a great job.
COSTELLO: Who's to blame for this?
GARINO: Actually, I don't think the U.S. is to blame for it. This comes from Honduras and El Salvador. Once it reaches our borders, are we to blame for it? I don't think so. We need to talk about immigration like I've said many times for the past three years. We had a gang of eight, four of them visited for a photo shop. This is not a location to do that.
This is a place to come and see what's happening and address issues from Washington D.C. We have to work at this. You're putting a stress on border patrol by having them work this type of process on processing children.
Border patrol are here to take care of our borders and we have to look at that and Washington needs to help border patrol so they can at least while this is happening, this can be solved. Washington is the one that has to work on this.
COSTELLO: Mayor Arturo Garino, thanks so much for being with me. I appreciate it.
GARINO: Thank you very much for having me.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the NBA reality show takes another intriguing turn. Donald Sterling digging in and looking to dig up some dirt on his fellow owners.
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COSTELLO: Is it Donald Sterling's full court press? Multiple reports saying the L.A. Clippers owner has his legal team working with private investigators. Apparently they are trying to dig up dirt on former and current NBA commissioners and team owners. Top targets are said to be the former commissioner David Stern and current NBA Chief Adam Silver.
Earlier this week, CNN's Rachel Nichols sat down with Silver who predicted that Sterling would not go away quietly.
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ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: It's not done. Donald Sterling still has a billion dollar lawsuit filed against the league, against me personally. I'm not so worried about that because I can't afford it. There's still a last issue to resolve and that is Donald dropping his lawsuit and resolving his former issues with his wife.
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": Are you in "I will believe it when I see it mode?"
SILVER: Absolutely. I have been there with him before. He's almost sold his club over the years. He was right there at a closing and at the last minute decided not to sell. Until he signs that document, we still have a pending litigation with him.
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COSTELLO: CNN legal analyst, Danny Cevallos joins me now from New York. Welcome.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: OK, this is a new tactic by Donald Sterling, could it be effective?
CEVALLOS: Yes, it serves two purposes hiring this team of investigators. First, it collects facts for the underlying legal case. Those facts will go directly to the issue of whether or not Donald sterling is being treated arbitrarily. In other words, if other NBA owners were doing the same thing, if this atmosphere of racism was pervasive within the league, then Donald Sterling would argue that he was treated arbitrarily.
