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U.S. Action in Iraq; President Obama's Next Move on Iraq; Inside CDC's War Room; A Mother's Choice; Fascination with Charles Manson
Aired August 09, 2014 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Our top story, President Obama said this morning U.S. airstrikes in Iraq were successful in destroying militant weapons. On Friday, the U.S. dropped a series of bombs targeting ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The group is threatening the city of Irbil, forcing thousands of people to flee.
The U.S. military released this video of two 500-pound laser-guided bombs hitting an ISIS artillery unit yesterday morning. Later in the day, eight more bombs were dropped on an ISIS convoy.
The U.S. and Iraq have also dropped food and water supplies to people who have fled ISIS and are now stranded.
The president of the United States said this morning the UK and France have also pledged humanitarian support.
President Obama spoke before he was heading out to Martha's Vineyard for vacation. He reiterated that the U.S. will not send combat troops into Iraq, but he also said there's no timeline for how long airstrikes might last.
Erin McPike is live for us now at the White House.
So, Erin, what more did the president say about what he wants accomplished?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, he obviously wants to dismantle the terrorist threat that's posed, but when asked if he and his administration have underestimated the threat that ISIS does pose, listen to how he answered that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Did we underestimate? I think that there is no doubt that their advance, their movement over the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and I think the expectations of policymakers both in and -- outside of Iraq. And part of that is I think not a full appreciation of the degree to which the Iraqi Security Forces when they're far away from Baghdad did not have the incentive or the capacity to hold the ground against an aggressive adversary. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MCPIKE: Now certainly this admission is likely to provide fodder for his critics in the coming days. He also said that really the onus is on Iraqis to form an inclusive government to protect their own people, but he said by and large this is going to be a long-term project -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And did the president also say the assistance, the humanitarian aid, that, too, is a long-term project?
MCPIKE: Well, basically, Fred, the next complication in this current mission is guiding the people who are stranded on Mount Sinjar to safety, and they need the assistance of the international community in order to do that. But that is something that is still perplexing the administration -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike at the White House. Thanks so much.
All right. So what is President Obama's next move?
Jim Acosta looks at the tough choices facing this president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After multiple rounds of U.S. airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq, this was all we could see of the president, commander-in-chief on the phone with King Abdullah of Jordan discussing what's next.
Aides insist the mission in Iraq will be limited. Protect U.S. military advisers and diplomats in Irbil and end the siege against Iraqi minorities driven into the mountains by ISIS fighters. But the White House concedes there's no firm timeline.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has not laid out a specific end date.
ACOSTA: That prospect of an open ended engagement is a far cry from the president's initial reluctance to deal with ISIS two months ago, as well as his preference for a diplomatic solutions in Ukraine and Syria after ending the war in Iraq nearly three years ago --
OBAMA: America's war in Iraq will be over.
ACOSTA: -- Mr. Obama is now the fourth U.S. president in a row to launch military action in Iraq.
(On camera): Was he reluctant to make this decision?
EARNEST: I think the president was determined to use military action to protect American personnel who are in harm's way in Iraq. He was determined to use American military assets to try to address an urgent humanitarian situation. ACOSTA (voice-over): ISIS is just as determined. As one of its
fighters told Vice News, "We will raise the flag of Allah at the White House."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those people are not people. They are monsters.
ACOSTA: Monsters the president apparently brushed off back in January when he said to "The New Yorker", if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant."
They're not the jayvee anymore.
EARNEST: We do remain concerned about the military proficiency that's been demonstrated by ISIL.
ACOSTA: For now members of Congress are showing support for the airstrikes. But House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement, "I am dismayed by the ongoing absence of a strategy, for countering the grave threat ISIS possesses to the region. Vital national interests are at stake, yet the White House has remained disengaged."
ISIS has threatened one of Mr. Obama's main hopes for his legacy -- to get out and stay out of Iraq.
OBAMA: I want to make sure that when I turn the keys over to the next president, that they have the ability, that he or she has the capacity to make some decisions with a relatively clean slate.
ACOSTA (on camera): White House officials insist the president will stay on top of this crisis during his family vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Key members of the president's national security team will also be making the trip.
Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: People who live along the border between Israel and Gaza are heading into their second night after a cease-fire collapsed. The return to fighting brought new destruction and more deaths today. The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque in central Gaza. Three people, including a Hamas leader, reportedly were killed.
And we have these new pictures taken earlier today. Showing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. One strike killed two people on a motorbike. Israeli officials say they were militants and were deliberately targeted.
From Gaza, more than 60 rockets flew at Israel, hitting mostly open ground. Two Israelis including one soldier suffered minor injuries.
Nearly 1,000 deaths and counting. Health officials say they are two steps behind the Ebola outbreak and simply cannot catch up.
We'll take you inside the CDC's Ebola war room next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Nearly 1,000 deaths and counting. The deadly Ebola outbreak is getting worse by the day in West Africa. Global health experts have declared the epidemic an international health emergency. Meanwhile, the two Americans who contracted Ebola while helping patients in Liberia are improving.
Dr. Kent Brantly and aid worker Nancy Writebol are being treated at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Brantly released a statement saying he's growing stronger every day. The husband of the other American with Ebola, Nancy Writebol, says she is not yet out of the woods but is in very good hands.
Earlier this week, the CDC issued its highest possible alert in response to the Ebola crisis.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta was at the CDC when the change was made.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, every time there's an infectious disease outbreak somewhere around the world, there is a room at the CDC that gets a lot busier than usual. We got a rare look inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): This is the CDC's Emergency Operations Center. Think of it as the nerve center of its response to the Ebola outbreak. Just a few minutes after I walked in, phones and BlackBerrys started buzzing everywhere.
(On camera): While we were here, the activation level just went up to level one just in the last couple of minutes. What does that mean?
STEPHAN MONROE, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: What that means is just more people and more resources dedicated to the response.
GUPTA (voice-over): In that room, you could feel a quiet determination and a sense of urgency.
(On camera): What's you're looking at is what the CDC looks at, a map of the world, trying to figure out what infectious diseases are happening and where they're happening. As you might imagine, a lot of focus on Ebola right now. They're tracking that as well real time. They've been doing it since March.
Take a look in here. This really jumped out at me. Mid-May they thought things were basically under control. But then look what happens at the beginning of June. Everything takes off. This is on its way to becoming the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
(Voice-over): Dr. Stephan Monroe is helping lead the CDC's Ebola response. Not an easy task at all.
(On camera): Was there mistakes made? I mean, is there a reason why this outbreak is worse than any other outbreak in history?
MONROE: The initial event, the lightning strike, if you will, was right in this corner between three countries in a very remote part of each of those countries. And so it quickly spread across the borders.
GUPTA (voice-over): Here in the United States, different questions. For example, if Ebola's not airborne, then why were there such extraordinary precautions taken for Dr. Kent Brantly and Miss Writebol? Turns out it was more an abundance of caution rather than a necessity.
MONROE: We're pretty confident that any large hospital could handle an Ebola case if one were to show up at their doorstep using traditional isolation rooms with negative pressure room and with traditional droplet and respiratory percussions.
GUPTA: And while I suited up in multiple layers when I was in Guinea just earlier this year --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That can be worn by health care worker whence they come into contact with patients.
GUPTA: The CDC says a mask, goggles, face shield, a protective gown and gloves can provide all the protection you need in most situations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And, Fred, I should point out that the World Health Organization also declaring this now a public health emergency of international concern. That's going to have an impact on airline travel and also screenings at airports. They're also advising all the nation where is they have Ebola currently to declare a state of emergency.
Lots of details coming forth on this, Fred. We'll bring them to you as they come to us.
WHITFIELD: Excellent. Thanks so much.
And you can watch "SANJAY GUPTA M.D." today 4:30 right here on CNN.
A desperate mother's heart-wrenching choice. She left her small children alone in a car to go to a job interview. She sat down with CNN to reveal why she did it and what was going through her mind at the time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: An Arizona mom who left her two small children in a car while she went on a job interview says she faced a desperate decision -- pass up the interview that could potentially save her family or stay with her children?
She sat down with CNN's Kelly Wallace to explain her choice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SHANESHA TAYLOR, MOTHER: I felt lost at that moment, like everything that I had built myself up for, everything I was trying to do had fallen apart.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you know you have this big job that will change your family's life.
TAYLOR: Right.
WALLACE: OK. What did you think about in terms of a plan for watching the little boys?
TAYLOR: I had a plan. I had someone who was scheduled to watch them for me. I did kind of a trade system. I watched their child the day before so they would be available to watch mine the next day. And when I got to their home, no answer at the door, no answer on the phone, so do you pass up the interview that you know is going to save your family, do you pass up the interview which you know is going to give you a future or -- and that was the thought. That was -- as I'm driving, that was where my mind was.
WALLACE: Right. When you're driving, you're going to the interview, you're thinking, what am I going to do with the boys?
TAYLOR: What am I going to do? What am I going to do? And it's a constant thought. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Because it's literally that pull off if I don't make something happen now by the end of the month this bad situation gets worse.
WALLACE: So when you make the decision to do this, how scary is that for you?
TAYLOR: I think I held my breath the entire interview. I was actually late. I got there on time but I'm in the car still trying to, you know, figure out what am I going to do, what am I going to do, so I couldn't get out right away. I couldn't just get out of the car. And they were asleep so I was, like, OK, OK, they're asleep, OK.
WALLACE: How do you do it as a mom, knowing you've got to be this superstar to get the job but of course in the back of your mind you've got to be thinking about your little ones? How much were you thinking about them and how did you deal with that?
TAYLOR: The entire interview. But I knew what that interview meant. So it's like I had to give a portion of my brain to the interview, but at the same time I'm thinking, OK, OK, it's been two minutes. OK. It's been five minutes. OK. It's been 10 minutes. OK, it's been 15 minutes. You said 15 minutes. Why is this not over yet? Why are we still talking? You said 15 minutes. So -- but it was because the conversation was going so well.
WALLACE: When you came out of that interview, I think you felt good. Right?
TAYLOR: I was on the moon. WALLACE: You thought you may have gotten this job.
TAYLOR: Well, the way it went while I was in the interview, I knew that it had progressed well. And I walked outside in absolute just -- you know that roller coaster ride when it drops down and your stomach is, like -- yes, it was that.
WALLACE: What did you think when you walk out and you see police and police tape and a crime scene van and everything? What went through your mind?
TAYLOR: I couldn't do anything but own up because, I mean, I knew -- I knew what was going on at that point. So I took a deep breath and walked straight up to them.
WALLACE: How hard has that been when people will say, I can't imagine leaving my babies for a second let alone for minutes? How hard is that to hear?
TAYLOR: It's hard because you understand that they may not know what that feels like. They may not know that moment of need, that moment of, I am in a terrible situation and this is my way out of it. And being able to decide, is this the right way or is that the right way?
WALLACE: And the boys, when they're older, what will you tell them about this whole thing?
TAYLOR: I'll just tell them what happened. This is what happened. This is the situation we were in. This is the choice that I made.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Tough choices. Taylor's children are now living with family. And no, she did not get that job.
All right. One of Charles Manson's followers was just denied parole 45 years after the Manson family murder spree.
Coming up, a look at why people are still fascinated by the infamous cult leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A member of Charles Manson's family has been denied parole again. California Governor Jerry Brown reversing a Parole Board's March decision that found 71-year-old Bruce Davis isn't a danger to the public. He was convicted of two murders as well as conspiracy to commit murder.
In the governor's decision, Brown said the Manson family's brutal crimes still resonate 45 years later.
Ted Rowlands takes a closer look at why Manson's crimes still fascinate in tonight's special CNN Spotlight, "Charles Manson." Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES MANSON, CONVICTED MURDERER: Well, you see I live in the underworld. You live in the overworld. I do a lot of things underworld that you guys don't see.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When Manson came onto the scene, this maniacal stare, the guy with the swastika carved into his forehead, he petrified people. Charles Manson has spent the last 25 years here at California's Corcoran State Prison. He's been incarcerated for nearly 45 years after being arrested for the Tate LaBianca murders. Sharon Tate was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she was stabbed to death. Her blood was used to write messages at the crime scene.
The LaBiancas' blood was used to write the words "Helter-Skelter" on their refrigerator. Charles Manson didn't commit any of the murders but he was convicted of orchestrating all seven. It was so hard for people to believe that he was able to convince seemingly regular kids, most of them girls, to commit such horrific acts.
Now through the years, Charles Manson has kept in contact with the outside world. He's received more mails than any other inmate in California history and he still gets about 35 letters a week, according to state prison officials. There's also people that are just simply fascinated by this case. In fact, there's a tour company that takes people around to the murder scenes in Los Angeles. There's also a museum there, the museum of death that has an entire room dedicated to Charles Manson and the Tate LaBianca murders.
Over the years there have been scores of books written about Charles Manson. To this date, "Helter-Skelter" is still the best-selling true crime novel in American history. That was written by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor who put Charles Manson away.
In all likelihood, Charles Manson will die in prison. He's almost 80 years old now. He's been denied parole 12 times. He's not up for parole until he is 92 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Ted Rowlands, thank you so much.
Don't miss "CNN Spotlight: Charles Manson" tonight 7:30 Eastern.
All right. The CNN NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Brooke Baldwin in New York.
"CNN MONEY" starts right now.
