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Dozens Wounded in Blast in Turkey; North Korea Celebrates Ruling Party Anniversary; Violence Erupts at Jerusalem Refugee Camp; U.S. Shift to Supplying Military Aid to Rebel Leaders; Search for New U.S. House Speaker; Obama Visits Mass Shooting Survivors and Families; More Rain and Flooding for South Carolina; Afghan Defense Minister Reacts to Hospital Attack; Reporter Marks 445 Days in Iranian Prison; Merkel's Popularity Slides amid Refugee Crisis; Here Come the Rugby Quarterfinals. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired October 10, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A bomb blast in Turkey's capital. Reports of dozens of casualties in Ankara near the city's main train station. A live report straight ahead.
Ready for battle: North Korea's leader declares his country is prepared for any war with the U.S. as the isolated nation parades its military might.
And popularity sliding: Angela Merkel has led Germany for almost 10 years but the migrant crisis could be costing her support.
From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm George Howell. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: Good day to you and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We begin this hour with breaking news.
Turkish media report dozens of casualties from at least one bomb blast in Ankara. It happened near the Turkish capital's main train station. A witness tells CNN the explosion was so powerful it rocked nearby high-rise buildings. No word yet on who might be responsible.
For the latest on this, let's turn to our own Arwa Damon live in Istanbul and now joining us by phone.
Arwa, what is the latest?
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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What we know from monitoring Turkish media and what they're reporting, trying to piece together the horrific events that took place earlier in the bomb blast, happening during a peace rally, and video just airing on Turkish media showing that exact moment.
And you see a line of people dancing and, then in the background, a massive fireball emerging and then the camera appears to fall to the ground. Various different media outlets at this stage reporting that at least 10 people have been killed.
Again, this was a peace rally. This comes at a time when Turkey certainly is on edge for a number of different reasons. They have recently launched, the government has, in the last few months, launched this multifaceted defensive against terrorism, targeting ISIS both inside Syria but also the PKK, the Kurdish group, within its own borders.
This is something that many were concerned would be causing some sort of a backlash because there had been cease-fire talks and there had been a cease-fire in place with the PKK for quite some time now.
And of course, we have Turkey heading again for a new round of elections in the beginning of November. So many people have been greatly concerned that there would be more violence that would somehow materialize.
Sadly, it seems that today that it in fact has. Who is responsible at this stage, we do not know. It could be a number of different players. No claims just yet and the government not yet pointing the finger of blame at anyone.
HOWELL: Arwa, right now we understand the latest as far as injured and, you know, et cetera.
Can you explain to us the situation as it stands now?
DAMON (voice-over): Well, we know from watching these reports on Turkish media that, according to them, at least 10 people have been killed. Dozens have been wounded. The scenes of the aftermath very chaotic. Ambulances arriving fairly quickly because this was on a main road. Hospitals were not too far away, perhaps something that is lucky for some of those who were injured.
Scenes of complete and total chaos. Remember, the last time Turkey saw something like this was over the summer, in July with the bombing in Suruc that happened in the south. That also was a bombing that was targeting an effort by a bunch of different groups to try to get together humanitarian aid to send into Syria, actually, to the city of Kobani, this time targeting a peace rally.
Some of the images being broadcast on Turkish media have been blurred out because they're so graphic in the aftermath of this horrific event. But we'll -- we do know enough from Turkish media at this stage that at least 10 people have been killed, dozens more wounded and that this was a peace rally that's -- that so sadly ended this way.
HOWELL: Tragic indeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: Our Arwa Damon, joining us live, over the phone. Arwa,
thank you so much for your reporting.
We move on new to North Korea. The nation's leader, Kim Jong-un --
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HOWELL: -- says that his country is, quote, "fully ready to defend itself against any threat from the United States."
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HOWELL (voice-over): He gave a rare televised speech at the parade to celebrate the founding of the ruling Workers Party. This comes as the U.S. has concerns that North Korea will launch weapons as part of the anniversary celebration.
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HOWELL (voice-over): The massive parade, this military parade that you see here, got underway a few hours ago after a lengthy delay due to weather. CNN's Will Ripley has more from Pyongyang.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to patriotic displays of state muscle, few countries can rival North Korea in the kinds of massive spectacles we're seeing unfold in the streets of Pyongyang today.
Not only are we seeing thousands of troops representing the country's infantry, air force, navy and paramilitary reserve forces but we'll also be seeing a lot of the North Korean hardware rolling through the streets, hardware that has been assembled at a military base outside of town and then lining up on the streets of the capital ready to roll through the Kim il-Sung Square.
Some of these pieces of military equipment are considered vintage. They go back to the Soviet era. But there are some new pieces of military technology that the world will be watching for.
This includes intercontinental ballistic missiles on missile launchers rolling through the streets. People want to know what new weaponry North Korea has on display in addition to North Korean- produced drones, some of which have been on reconnaissance flights and have reportedly crashed in South Korea.
This is also an important moment politically for the supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, who gave a speech to his people and earlier in the day met with a high-level delegation from China.
A high-ranking member of China's Communist Party hand-delivered a president -- hand-delivered a letter from President Xi Jinping to the supreme leader of North Korea, the first public statement of these two countries' relationship after months of speculation and a visit by the South Korean president to China's own military parade last month.
The spectacle continuing here in Pyongyang as North Korea sends a very clear message to its own people, fierce patriotism and, to the world, defiance -- Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
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HOWELL: It is the Sabbath in Israel today but that's not stopped the violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Sources tell CNN that clashes erupted when Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in Jerusalem Saturday.
An Israeli police spokesman says that Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails at them. Palestinian medical sources say one man was shot and killed by police in the process. An activist at the scene claims that he was left on the ground to bleed to death.
CNN's Erin McLaughlin is covering it live in Jerusalem this hour.
Erin, good day to you. What's the latest?
ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, we're hearing of yet another stabbing attack in Jerusalem.
According to Israeli police and rescue services an Israeli couple were on their way back from prayers at the Western Wall near the Damascus gate of the Old City when a 16-year-old Palestinian attacked them, stabbing them.
Israeli police say they responded, shooting the teenager dead. Clashes broke out near the Damascus gate following that attack. There were clashes overnight in the West Bank as well as at the Shuafat refugee camp where the situation escalated, Israeli police saying that clashes broke out at that camp and a Palestinian man opened fire on authorities.
They say they returned fire. He later died in an Israeli hospital. They said on his body they found bullet shells as well as a knife. Palestinian eyewitnesses say that there was live fire from the Palestinian side of things but they say that the man was killed, was throwing stones.
Meanwhile, for a second day, clashes continue in Gaza, according to the Red Crescent. Eight Palestinians now killed by Israeli forces in the clashes. In total, clashes across the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza, at least 800 Palestinians injured. George?
And what are Palestinian and Israeli leaders saying about all of this?
MCLAUGHLIN: Israeli leaders are blaming Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for inciting violence. Yesterday we heard from Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, during Friday prayers praise the attacks. We heard from other Palestinian leaders trying to de- escalate the situation but they say the bloodshed will not end unless there is a two-state solution. Now yesterday in the Israeli city of Afula, there was an
incident. Israeli police say an Israeli Arab woman tried to stab a soldier. A video following that shows her surrounded by Israeli security forces. it's unclear what she's holding. Israeli police say that she's holding a knife. You then --
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MCLAUGHLIN: -- see Israeli forces opened fire, moderately wounding her. But members -- Arab members of the Israeli Knesset really reacting to that video in outrage, accusing the Israeli security forces as well of the media of encouraging the execution of Arabs in cold blood.
HOWELL: Erin McLaughlin live for us in Jerusalem. Erin, thank you so much for your reporting.
The United States is overhauling one of its key efforts in the war against ISIS in Syria. Officials say the U.S. is putting its ineffective program to train Syrian rebels on hold.
The U.S. military will now focus on airdropping ammunition and communications gear to rebel leaders and their units on the battlefield. Airstrikes will also continue.
CNN's Ian Lee has more for us on this latest shift in U.S. strategy and now joins us live from Cairo, Egypt.
Ian, so first of all, let's talk about another incident that happened, the death of an Iranian general who was training the Syrian army, killed by ISIS the U.S. is calling it a major psychological blow.
How significant an impact has that had?
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a fairly significant development. The Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani was killed outside of Aleppo just yesterday. He was a very high-ranking general within the Iranian military. He's overseen operations in the past, including he was very active in the war between Iran and Iraq back in the '80s.
But this is a huge blow, Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has said that it is a big loss and has caused deep grief. But this just highlights the direct involvement of the Iranians in this -- in this civil war that's taking place and how they're backing up the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a regime that it also being backed by the Russians.
HOWELL: Ian, also, when it comes to the shift in strategy by the United States of training Syrian rebels, how is that being viewed in the region?
LEE: You do have this major shift. If we look at what the initial plan was, which was to have half a billion dollars to try to put thousands of Syrian rebels to fight ISIS on the ground in the country, it has failed. We heard from an American general that they were only able to get about four or five fighters on the ground. One senator called the program a joke.
So when you do have these regional allies look at this failure by the United States to conduct this operation, this does raise a lot of questions, although the United States has shifted gears. They are now arming the Syrian-Arab coalition in the northern part of the country, giving them weapons, giving them communications.
They have been somewhat successful on taking on ISIS. What they hope -- the United States hopes to replicate is what the Kurds were able to do: give them weapons, provide air support, bomb ISIS targets and then have the fighters on the ground capitalize on those airstrikes that take the fight to ISIS.
So it is a shift by the United States, one that they hope is more successful than the last attempt.
HOWELL: CNN's Ian Lee live for us in Cairo, Egypt, Ian, thank you so much for your reporting there.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Russia in the mix, as well. Its military in full swing against targets in Syria from the air, from the land and sea. From these images, you can see the massive amount of firepower that Moscow is using to try to stamp out ISIS and what it calls other terrorist groups.
Russia says that its air force killed 200 ISIS militants since Thursday. The U.S. and its allies accuse Moscow of targeting Western- backed moderate rebel groups. As you can see here on the map, many missiles appear to have struck areas that are outside of ISIS control.
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HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come this hour, families of those killed at an Oregon community college get a condolence visit from the U.S. president even as shootings break out at two more U.S. campuses. Details ahead.
Plus, the U.S. Republican Party is in a frenzy trying to fill the third most-powerful position in American politics. Now all eyes are on this man.
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HOWELL: A week after a gunman opened fire on a community college campus in Roseburg, Oregon, U.S. President Barack Obama paid a personal visit to pay his respects to the victim's families.
Ironically, just hours before the meeting, two more shootings sent waves of fear through campuses of the states of Texas and Arizona. CNN's Mary Moloney has the story.
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MARY MOLONEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment Marine One landed, president was met with protesters who say he rushed to politicize the tragedy by pushing a gun control agenda.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The announcement he made about gun control. And the way that coming off the first thing he said, instead of saying I'm sorry for the families, I think it was wrong.
MOLONEY (voice-over): Mr. Obama met privately with families still grieving their loved ones following the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College. The gunman shot and killed nine people before turning the gun on himself.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got some very strong feelings about this because when you talk to these families, you're reminded that this could be happening to your child.
MOLONEY (voice-over): Early Friday, two more college shootings unfolded, first at Northern Arizona University, where police say a freshman shot four other students, killing one.
Later, Texas Southern University was also put on lockdown following a shooting. One student killed, another person hospitalized.
In May, Texas passed a new law set to go into effect next year that will allow anyone with a concealed handgun license to carry a weapon on campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means you're going to have the wild, wild West. You're going to have some shootouts maybe. That's what that says to me. I would like to not have a situation where we have shootouts on campus -- I'm Mary Moloney reporting.
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HOWELL: When it comes to gun sales in the United States, they are on record-setting pace.
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HOWELL (voice-over): In the first nine months of this year, there were 15.6 million background checks of guns sold from federally licensed sellers, this according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Compare that to 15.5 million checks for the same period in 2013, when gun sales surged after the Sandy Hook school shooting.
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HOWELL: Record sales mean increasing profits for gun makers, as well. Smith & Wesson, for instance, their stock has skyrocketed. More than 80 percent this year. The company reported a first quarter profit of $17.7 million on a $148 million in revenue.
And it's on track for over $600 million in sales this year, according to FactCheck. Rival gunmaker Sturm Ruger isn't far behind. Its stock is up nearly 70 percent with quarterly earnings of $17.6 million on sales of $141 million. The company reports over half a billion in gun sales a year, almost double what it did in 2010.
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HOWELL: All right. Here we go. The prep time is dwindling before the first major primary for the U.S. Democratic presidential candidates. There are just four days left until the event in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be seen Tuesday night right here on CNN.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders -- you see him here -- held a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday and touched on an issue that is sure to come up at that debate.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT.: So I think while, yes, there are disagreements of how we go forward in terms of gun safety, I think the vast majority of the American people want us to move forward in sensible ways which keeps guns out of the hands of people who should not have that and cut down on these senseless murders that we see every week.
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HOWELL: As we mentioned, CNN is hosting the first debate among the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates. Our own Anderson Cooper will moderate. Don Lemon will take questions that are submitted via Facebook. Our live coverage begins from Las Vegas starting at 8:30 pm this Tuesday on the East Coast in the U.S. And if that's a bit late for you, you can catch the replay at 8:00 pm Wednesday in London, 9:00 pm Central European time, only on CNN.
We'll also replay the debate in its entirety Wednesday at 7:00 pm in Hong Kong, 8:00 pm in Tokyo. Again, only here on CNN.
U.S. congressional leaders are scrambling to fill the soon-to-be vacant seat for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Front- runner Kevin McCarthy backed out earlier this week.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Now most eyes are on this man, Paul Ryan, who told fellow Republicans he is thinking and praying about seeking that position. CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash has the very latest from Washington.
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DANA BASH, CNN SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will he run for Speaker? Right now, Paul Ryan won't say.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE: Right now I'm just going to (INAUDIBLE) I can make it home for dinner.
BASH (voice-over): Pressure on a resistant Ryan to run is growing and intense.
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R): I did everything except carry his gym bag this morning try to get him to do it.
BASH (voice-over): Just yesterday, Ryan's office was saying "no way" to the job. Not anymore.
ISSA: I think he's gone from a hard no to he knows he has to consider it. I know he's going home to have the kind of real meeting with his family that would allow him to weigh that.
BASH (voice-over): GOP lawmakers from all sides say he's the one Republican who can get not just the 218 votes needed to become Speaker but support from most of the 247 House Republicans in the fractured GOP caucus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have very good conference working together.
BASH (voice-over): Even Kevin McCarthy, who abruptly ended his own ambitions for Speaker and left House Republicans scrambling for a replacement.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), U.S. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Paul is looking at it, but it's his decision. If he decides to do it, he'd be an amazing Speaker. But he has got to decide on his own.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) leader?
MCCARTHY: Yes, I don't -- it's a very good chance.
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: Thanks, guys.
BASH (voice-over): CNN is told that Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee who picked Ryan as his running mate, called Ryan, pushing him to run. But the policy wonk enjoys his current job.
RYAN: What an absolute privilege and honor it is to chair this committee.
BASH (voice-over): Chairing the tax writing committee which Ryan talked to us about this summer.
RYAN: I'm chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. It's an incredibly important job.
BASH: Is it fair to say it's a dream job for you?
RYAN: This is why I chose not to run for other things like the Senate races in Wisconsin, because I wanted to do the Ways and Means job.
Look at the (INAUDIBLE), everybody.
BASH (voice-over): Plus being Speaker means a slew of fundraising and travel. A lot of time away from his three young children in Wisconsin. But Ryan's resistance is also politically pragmatic. Being Speaker these days, trying to corral an unwieldy GOP caucus, is a nightmare and possibly a roadblock for higher ambitions someday: the White House.
REP. CHARLIE DENT (R): Absolutely, he could easily get 218 Republican votes on the floor, maybe the whole conference. But that's not the issue. The issue is how do we change the political dynamic.
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HOWELL: That was chief political correspondent Dana Bash reporting.
Now to flood-ravaged South Carolina. It looks like more rain and flooding is on the way for that state.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Emergency management officials are warning people to be careful. The floodwaters that swamped the state capital, Columbia, at the beginning of the week is now flooding communities downstream. More rainy weather is moving in as well but it won't be the deluge that South Carolina saw last week when some 60 centimeters or about 2 feet of rain fell in some places.
For more on the weather situation there, let's turn to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
So much rain fell in such a short amount of time.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We actually calculated it, 11 trillion gallons of water fell from the skies during that period from October 1st to October 4th, within the North and South Carolina community. That is equivalent to 16.5 million Olympic-sized --
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VAN DAM: -- swimming pools filled.
HOWELL: And that was all due in part because of the hurricane.
VAN DAM: Yes. It was tropical moisture streaming in from the ocean and an upper level low, working together to create this -- what we call a firehose effect in the weather world. And that just created rain after rain in the same continuous area for days on end, allowing for the catastrophic flooding that they saw.
Let's talk about it because there's more rain to come, George. And unfortunately, we have to think about the potential for more flooding because rain and the water that continues to filter down the streams and the rivers and the ravines across South Carolina will continue to impact areas downstream, especially across the low country as you head toward the Charleston region.
Remember, water seeks its own level. So naturally we're going to see this natural cresting of the rivers. Take, for instance, a river just to the north and east of Charleston, the Santee River. Currently the rain gauges there or the flooding gauges are at 19 feet. But it is predicted to crest at 24 feet late Tuesday night and into Wednesday. That's just from the previous rainfall event that we had.
There is more additional rain in store today and even into Sunday as well. We've got a low-pressure system that will develop across Georgia and into the Carolinas. That's going to bring rainfall into the region. You see that counterclockwise spin in the precipitation on this high-resolution forecast radar imagery.
That means more rain from Columbia to Charleston. That's why the National Weather Service has flood watches and warnings ongoing anywhere you see the bright shading of green. And again, more rainfall starting to edge into those communities already.
We're anticipating anywhere between 1 to locally 3 inches of additional rainfall, which is not good news. Now it's certainly not the catastrophic rain we experienced last weekend. But they just don't need any more precipitation right now. This is just kind of, unfortunately, making matters worse.
HOWELL: Derek, thank you.
VAN DAM: Thanks, George.
HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come this hour, a high-level official in Afghanistan speaks exclusively to CNN about the hospital attack in his country. How he says the Taliban was involved as this broadcast continues around the world this hour on CNN International and CNN USA.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
The headlines we're following this hour:
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HOWELL (voice-over): The Turkish interior ministry says 30 people were killed and 126 wounded when a bomb exploded in Ankara earlier. It happened during a peace rally near the main train station in the Turkish capital. A witness tells CNN the explosion was so powerful it rocked
nearby high-rise buildings. No word yet on who might be responsible for that blast.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says his country is fully ready to defend itself against any U.S. threat. He gave a rare televised speech earlier at the anniversary parade for North Korea's ruling party.
The U.S. has been concerned that the country will conduct weapons testing during its massive celebration there.
Sources tell CNN hundreds of Israeli police raided a Palestinian refugee camp early Saturday, resulting in more of the violence we've seen in recent days. Israeli police say the Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at them and exchanged live fire. Palestinian medical sources say a Palestinian man was shot and killed in the process.
The United States is making a major change to one of its central efforts to stop ISIS in Syria. It's putting an end to the program to train Syrian rebels, putting it on hold.
The U.S. military will now focus on airdropping ammunition and communications gear to rebel leaders and their units on the battlefield. The airstrikes, though, will continue.
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HOWELL: Afghanistan's defense minister insists that Taliban fighters were shooting from, quote, "the walls of the hospital" that was struck last week by U.S. bombs. Twelve medical staff members and at least 10 patients were killed when the Doctors without Borders hospital in Kunduz was hit.
The U.S. has since apologized for what it calls a mistake. CNN Nic Robertson spoke exclusively with the Afghan cabinet member.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened to the Doctors without Borders hospital?
General Campbell in charge of U.S. forces said that it was Afghan special forces that requested the airstrike.
MASOOM STANEKZAI, AFGHAN DEFENSE MINISTER: The problem that appears there was a large concentration of the fighters near the hospital and even inside the hospital. And the special forces, they asked for some support because they were getting under a lot of pressure there.
ROBERTSON: Even Doctors without Borders, though, say there were no Taliban fighters using it as a base inside the hospital. STANEKZAI: One is the base, one is, for instance, if somebody is
shooting and firing from the wall of the hospital, this is something that you can see on the battlefield.
ROBERTSON: But I just want to be very clear and understand this very clearly because, honestly, the details are important here.
The Taliban were firing from inside the compound, on the wall of the compound, outside of the compound?
STANEKZAI: Right from the walls, not from the inside but from the walls where they were -- took their position.
ROBERTSON: This is where the airstrikes were called in by the special forces, Afghan special forces, to target the Taliban, who were by the walls on the outside?
STANEKZAI: Yes.
ROBERTSON: But a building on the inside was hit.
STANEKZAI: Actually, the building outside was hurt so that that damage was extended to the inside.
ROBERTSON: Doctors without Borders say that it was very precise. The plane came back around several times and kept hitting the same building inside the compound.
STANEKZAI: As I said, this issue has to be fully investigated in more detail.
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HOWELL: Nic Robertson's exclusive interview with the Afghan defense minister. He joins us live from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Nic, good day to you. What's the latest on the investigation into this hospital bombing?
ROBERTSON: Doctors without Borders are still waiting to see if the country that's a signatory to the European fact-finding commission, this is the independent national body that they've called to do an investigation, if any nation will step forward to request that this international body investigates the strike in Kunduz.
So far that doesn't appear to be happening. Doctors without Borders say that they do --
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ROBERTSON: -- believe they have the support of the NATO chief in this call for the -- for this particular commission. But in terms of details on the ground, there are three investigations underway. It is a NATO investigation that's expected to deliver the quickest initial assessment. That's what we were originally told. But so far, no new details and an explanation to go with them on
the sequence of events, why things happened and a deeper explanation.
But we do know right now that both Afghan forces and U.S. forces have both now been told to look at their rules of engagement. So perhaps that does provide a clue. But of course, still waiting for the precise details -- George.
HOWELL: A three-pronged investigation and Medecins sans Frontieres also demanding an independent review, as well.
Nic, given your interview, that exclusive interview that we just saw, what more can you tell us about that meeting?
ROBERTSON: Well, I asked about how Kunduz had fallen so quickly to the Taliban. What the defense minister told me was that it wasn't because the army failed. He said the army were in their locations outside the town, that the Taliban were able to infiltrate into the center of the town and, therefore, the army couldn't -- you couldn't go after them aggressively initially because there was a risk of -- a risk of casualties among civilians.
And I also put it to him, that a lot of people in the town there had told us that they believe the government in the town had let the Taliban come in. He said, look, that is just propaganda, part of war propaganda trying to demonize one side against another.
But he also talked about the pressure that Afghan forces have been under in Afghanistan this year, the fact that the Taliban have been stepping up their attacks. They appear to have people in more areas around the country.
The fact that Al Qaeda and ISIS have been pushed out of Pakistan by offensives in Pakistan and are now inside Afghanistan and the fact that the Taliban -- the Afghan forces now are without the large support that they had of NATO over the past 10 years. And now they're in the fight alone.
He gave the example of Helmand, where the north of Helmand where just a couple of years ago, you have 30,000 to 40,000 NATO troops, he said, securing that area. Now you have a much smaller number of Afghan forces there.
And again, Helmand, northern Helmand, one of the places that the Taliban have been pushing to try to secure territory on the ground for themselves. So the broader picture he gave me, of the -- of what the Afghan forces face here is a much increased offensive by -- by Taliban/Al Qaeda/ISIS. And essentially now the government forces here are taking on an international --
HOWELL: Nic Robertson live in Kabul, Afghanistan. Nic, thank you so much and we will stay in touch with you as this investigation continues.
A reporter for "The Washington Post" is marking a very grim milestone in Iranian detention. Jason Rezaian, who is a dual Iranian American citizen, has been held 545 days. That is longer than the American hostages held in Iran 35 years ago. CNN's Becky Anderson looks at Rezaian's case.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): June 2009: Protests rocked Tehran after the disputed elections saw the radical president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad return to power. A young reporter, Jason Rezaian, had just left Iran.
JASON REZAIAN, JOURNALIST: I wasn't so much fearful about being detained but I was told last Wednesday that I had to stop working. They revoked my press pass a couple of days before it was to expire.
ANDERSON (voice-over): But Rezaian went back and began working for "The Washington Post." In the spring of 2014, he and his Iranian wife, Yeganeh, talked with CNN's Anthony Bourdain about the challenges of reporting from the country.
JASON REZAIAN: The difficult part is convincing people on the other side of the world that what we are telling you, we are seeing in front of our eyes, is actually there. When you walk down the street you see a different side of things. People are proud. The culture is vibrant. People have a lot to say.
ANDERSON (voice-over): There were frustrations.
JASON REZAIAN: I miss certain things about home. I miss my buddies. I miss burritos. But I love it. I love it -- and I hate it. You know. But it's home. It's become home
ANDERSON (voice-over): Six weeks later, Jason and his wife were detained, their home ransacked. Yeganeh was released on bail, but Jason remained in prison with only one visit with a lawyer and unable to talk with his family for four months, until last Thanksgiving, when he was suddenly allowed to make a call home.
YEGANEH SALEHI, WIFE OF JASON REZAIAN: We talked about past Thanksgivings with people who are now departed. We both choked up a number of times.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): His mother, Mary, appearing on CNN's "AMANPOUR" in December 2014, worried about his health.
MARY REZAIAN, MOTHER OF JASON REZAIAN. His continued mental state is in question, Simply because I understand he's been in chronic pain.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Rezaian was finally put on trial five months later accused of espionage and facing a 20-year sentence if convicted. The trial ended late this summer.
And "The Washington Post" again appealed for his release, saying "Jason is a dedicated law-abiding journalist and a good man who is being targeted with nonsensical unsupportable and entirely baseless allegations of espionage and other offenses."
Iran's judiciary news services said his arrest has nothing to do with his being a journalist. Through a website and on Twitter with the #FreeJason, his family have kept up the pressure to get him released.
ALI REZAIAN, BROTHER OF JASON REZAIAN: These delays are just completely inhumane. They're illegal by Iranian standards, they're illegal by international standards.
ANDERSON (voice-over): But months after the end of his trial, still no verdict announced. Only a recent hint from President Rouhani that Jason and other Americans in Iranian jails could be part of an exchange for Iranians convicted in the U.S. on charges related to nuclear technology.
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If the Americans take their appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Jason's mother says all her son ever wanted to do was report.
MARY REZAIAN: He loves Iran and he took it upon himself to try to show modern Iran to the rest of the world, to the Western world, that's been closed out for so many years.
ANDERSON (voice-over): For 445 days now, Jason Rezaian has been unable to report or even speak to the outside world -- Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
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HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still to come, after 10 years on the job, German chancellor Angela Merkel loses some support. Ahead, what's behind her fading popularity.
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HOWELL: The annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank gets underway in just a few hours' time in Lima, Peru.
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HOWELL (voice-over): On Friday, we saw fiery protests there as demonstrators burned and then blew up a flag that looked similar to the U.S. flag. Many protesters are upset over the agency's environmental and austerity policies.
Meanwhile, Europe's migrant crisis is top of the agenda for world financial leaders before they wrap up meetings on Sunday.
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HOWELL: The U.N. Security Council is giving a green light to military action against migrant smugglers.
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HOWELL (voice-over): The council approved the resolution on Friday, authorizing European naval forces to board and inspect ships off Libya's coast that are suspected of smuggling migrants. This comes as European ministers are taking a tougher line on sending economic migrants back home. Those are people who are not seeking asylum from war or conflict zones. E.U. nations are tightening border controls and beefing up patrols to stem the flow of migrants.
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HOWELL: With almost 10 years under her belt as chancellor, Angela Merkel is now one of Germany's longest serving leaders. While she's been praised around the world for opening the country's borders for refugees, her popularity at home is beginning to slide. Atika Shubert has more.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They call her Mama Merkel. For some, she is the embodiment of European wealth and generosity, the leader who opened the doors for Syrian refugees to Germany and beyond.
But for her harshest critics, Mama Merkel is a withering dismissal of weak leadership in the face of a crisis that threatens to end Europe's free borders. We took to the streets of the capital to find out what Germans really think of Mama Merkel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She just said that everybody's welcome. That's good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I come from New Zealand, where we're not taking too many refugees in, we're actually really -- we're in great admiration of what she's done.
SHUBERT: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how many people she's opened the doors for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea behind it of course is to help, which is always good. But I don't think it's a good idea to tell the people to come over, we want you, you know, and then after four weeks, we start to close down.
What's the idea behind it? So there doesn't seem to be a plan.
SHUBERT (voice-over): That concern has dropped her popularity to its lowest point in recent years. For a chancellor that's been in power for 10 years and possibly hoping for another term, that is not good news.
The problem: too many refugees. Germany now expects as many as a million to apply for asylum this year alone. Up to 10,000 a day are crossing the border into Germany.
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SHUBERT (voice-over): Many initially applauded her warm welcome but with school gymnasiums, festival tents and churches across the country now overwhelmed, many are wondering how the country will cope.
Merkel insists she is coming up with solutions, devoting $6 billion to refugee housing and integration, proposing transit zones in Turkey, Hungary and Greece to slow down the number of refugees. In the meantime, however, Mama Merkel may find Germany is not prepared to provide such a warm welcome anymore -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Berlin.
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HOWELL: Coming up next here on CNN NEWSROOM, rugby fans around the world have their eyes on Japan. The crucial game that could send them to the quarterfinals.
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HOWELL: Rugby fans around the world will be paying very close attention in the coming hours as Scotland can head to the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup if they beat Samoa. The Scots could also get a boost if Japan loses to the United States come Sunday.
But here's where things get a little complicated. Scotland's two bonus points mean they will claim second place in the pool if they beat Samoa. That would automatically send Japan's Brave Blossoms home.
If Japan doesn't make the quarterfinals, the team has overwhelming support at home. Matt Rivers has this story.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A newfound passion for rugby in Japan, a country without the sporting pedigree of more established opponents and yet it was the two-time champion South African team that fell to the Japanese squad in its opening match. It was perhaps the biggest upset in international rugby history.
Suddenly, the Japanese team has newfound fans joining the ranks of long-time enthusiasts.
"Winning against South Africa was unbelievably big news. I am so glad the Japanese people now know Japan's rugby can match up against the world's best teams. It's a great push for the sport here now."
Nearly 25 million people watched the team nicknamed the Brave Blossoms beat the Samoan squad two weeks earlier, a national viewing audience record for the sport.
RIVERS: All that popularity has translated, as it often does these days, into merchandise. In fact, workers here at this B&D (ph) sports shop tell us that all of the famous national team jerseys, the red and white jersey that you see on TV, were sold out after South Africa lost to Japan. In fact, the only jerseys they haven't sold out are the alternate national team jerseys.
Beyond jerseys, the other thing that sold out: the official Japanese match balls. One thing that is still selling is just your standard rugby ball --
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RIVERS: -- bought by eager first-timers ready to try out a sport they were inspired to try out by watching the team on TV.
Retail success just another indication of rugby's growing popularity. Fun to watch for players in Japan's university league.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After World Cup, it's all over the news now. Even people who don't play rugby know all about it.
RIVERS (voice-over): Whether the upstarts make it to the tournament's quarterfinals remains to be seen. But the team will certainly hope to match their success this year in the 2019 World Cup, set to be held, of all places, in Japan -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Tokyo.
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HOWELL: And in the world of baseball, fans in the U.S. are on edge after the first game of the National League Division Series. The St. Louis Cardinals, they are leading the Chicago Cubs 1-0. And the New York Mets are up over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The winner from each series will then play each other for a chance to go to the World Series.
When it comes to Chicago, this is all very personal. The city celebrated big time on Wednesday when the Cubs won their first playoff game in 12 years. But that was cut short after Friday's loss.
You have to keep in mind a lot of people in Chicagoland are pulling for the Cubs. They haven't won a World Series since 1907 and they blame it on the curse of the goat. Some people believe that is real. So if this happens, you can only imagine what it will be like to be in Wrigleyville for the Chicago Cubs fans.
We thank you for joining us this hour. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For viewers in the United States, "NEW DAY" is ahead. For others around the world, "AMANPOUR" starts in just a moment. Thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
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