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Biggest Storm Measured; Ash Carter Briefing. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 23, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That's it for me. I'll be back, 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." The news continues next on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here we go. Top of the hour here. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Breaking news as we come to you live here. A hurricane barreling toward Mexico. And this hurricane is not just big, this is record- breaking. This is the strongest storm ever measured. Let me repeat, the strongest storm ever measured. This is bringing 200 mile an hour sustained winds. Just for a little perspective for all of us, that's potentially an F-5 tornado, the most deadly there is. Except unlike a tornado, this hurricane will churn and move slowly, span some 60 miles, and bring with it a huge wall of water, a potentially catastrophic 20 inches of rain all along the West Coast there, a tourist hub, before pushing further inland. Officials are saying get out with fears the coastline could be decimated by tonight.

Jennifer Gray is standing by in the CNN Weather Channel.

Have you ever seen anything like this?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, never. This is stronger than Katrina. It's stronger than Andrew. It's stronger than Wilma. It is stronger than - than any storm the National Hurricane Center has ever had to deal with. One of the reasons for that is because of the very warm sea surface temperatures. You know, we're in an el Nino year, Brooke, and so that brings more active Pacific than the Atlantic.

We've seen a quieter Atlantic season. The Pacific has been very, very active, especially with the intensity of these storms. And so that's exactly what we're seeing here with sea surface temperatures in the mid-80s, of course, winds of 200 miles per hour. The latest advisory just came out at 2:00. Nothing has changed except it is moving to the north a little bit faster at about 12 miles per hour.

It is expected to make landfall in the next couple hours. And it could make landfall as a strong Category 4, possibly a Category 5. And it is going to continue to weaken once it makes landfall. That terrain is very mountainous and so we are going to see a lot of rain. The flooding that's also going to be associated with this, not to mention winds well over 100 miles per hour. And you are going to see incredible storm surge. Just to put this in perspective, and let me show you on the floor, New Orleans - or the Gulf Coast during Katrina had about a 27-foot storm surge. We could see storm surge higher than that. With the terrain, mountainous like it is, you could see 10 to 20 inches of rain on top of falling down those mountains, on top of that, the storm surge pushing in against it. There's going to be major flooding. The wind. This could be catastrophic for the coastline, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Wow! Jennifer Gray, we will stay in close contact with you over the course of the next two hours. Thank you so much.

I want to go straight to this area that will be likely hardest hit in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta. I have Barbie Myatt on the phone with me.

Barbie, how is it looking outside at the moment?

BARBIE MYATT, PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO (voice-over): Hello. Good afternoon.

Well, I just went outside and took some pictures and sent them over to you guys. There's actually - there's no people outside. There's few traffic. All the stores are closed. It's not raining. It was raining very light like an hour ago, but now there's not even wind. It's cloudy. And a lot of people from Vallarta that live here, about 90 percent people that I know, they left. And, well, they're encountering right now heavy traffic heading their way to Guadalajara city. So I just stayed here because I didn't want to get into any panic. So let's see what happens. Also I want to take care of my house in case if there's a major disaster as they're saying, no.

BALDWIN: So they are saying a potential for major disaster, as we're looking at some of these pictures. Why not heed the warnings, Barbie? Why stay put?

MYATT: Well, I've lived all my - almost all my life in the - at beach areas like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun. I've encountered several hurricanes and they haven't been that bad. I don't know, I don't like to panic. I don't like to hear the media. But sometimes I just like to stay put or whatever. Wherever - whatever I know, if something's going to happen, I just rather stay here where I know where I can move. I know people, no.

BALDWIN: I understand. I'm not going to try to make you panic, but you just heard our meteorologist there sort of explaining the historical significance of this - of this incoming storm.

Let me ask you this. For people who have never been to Puerto Vallarta, what is it like? I mean this is - this is a massive resort city, tons of tourists.

MYATT: Yes.

BALDWIN: And is this a low season or a high season?

MYATT: There's a lot of (INAUDIBLE) tourists - yes, this is the high season. And I heard from several hotels actually they sent all their - their tourists to Guadalajara so they can be safe because they're trying to prevent. And I think that's a smart way, no, in case there's a catastrophic event. But, I don't know. Yes, probably I should move around, but right now it's too late because the traffic is horrible. The airport is closed. So actually I can't move anywhere.

[14:05:24] BALDWIN: How do you plan to ride this out? What do you plan to do for the next 24 hours?

MYATT: Well, I'm staying over at a friend's house with my kids and their kids and with other friends as well. Also, they have an electric generator. And in a couple of - two or three hours, they're going to cut the electricity and also as well as the water. So here we have plenty of supplies, no. So if we don't have any light in town, at least with my friends we do for the next day or two.

BALDWIN: At least you'll have your generator and the friends. Barbie Myatt, good luck. Good luck.

BALDWIN: Let me bring in another guest who knows -

MYATT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: You got it.

My next guest knows better than anyone how bad this could get for the people there on the ground. On the phone with me now is Roger Hill, storm chaser. And he's also the current Guinness World Record holder for having witnessed more tornadoes than anyone else on earth.

So, Roger, were you listening to my last conversation with Barbie? I mean the fact that she plans to stick it out, ride this one out in Puerto Vallarta, smart move?

ROGER HILL, STORM CHASER (via telephone): Oh, my goodness. There's no way on earth that you could get me to go down there and chase this particular hurricane. No, I've chased a lot of hurricanes over the last couple decades and, you know, when you get a storm that's basically of biblical proportions, I mean the strongest storm ever recorded, you know, it's a fairly compact hurricane, but, my goodness, what a wallop this thing is going to punch.

You know, but it basically has a three-prong fork, you know, between the storm surge and the 200 mile an hour winds, plus the intense rainfall. It's going to cause, you know, just catastrophic flash flooding. Anybody that would stay there, if you want my honest opinion, is crazy.

BALDWIN: Listen, I know there are a lot of skeptics out there. They hear, you know, folks like you or even me talk about the biggest storm ever, biblical proportions, and they think, this will peter out. Your response to that?

HILL: Well, you know, as a hurricane approaches land, just its interaction with the land mass will cause it to weaken. And just like Hurricane Wilma did and Hurricane Gene did back in 2004, 2005, you know, as it approached land, both of those hurricanes were quite powerful Category 5 hurricanes in the Gulf basin. As they approached land, they rapidly weakened. I mean there's a chance this - that this storm will rapidly weaken before it makes landfall, but, you know, the damage is already going to be done. You know, once - once that storm surge starts building up along the coastline there and the - and the rain starts falling, it's too late. Whether it weakens or not, it's - the damage is going to occur.

BALDWIN: How did this get so strong so fast?

HILL: You know, it's a - it's just a - it was just an absolute fluke of nature just to how rapidly this thing - this thing intensified. You just had to have the right conditions under a nice ridge of high pressure where there was very little to no wind shear and had to have very warm sea surface temperatures to help generate all that energy. And it's - it's just one of those - one of those flukes that it - that it, you know, basically go from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in half a day. That's - that's almost unheard of.

BALDWIN: Roger Hill, storm chaser, thanks for hopping on the phone with me. I appreciate it. We'll loop back to this story.

But coming up, breaking today, in the world of politics, Donald Trump finding himself in second place. But get this, one writer who's done the math says, he knows the reason why Trump could really be elected president. He joins me next to explain.

BALDWIN: Plus, Hillary Clinton, she's smiling. Why? Because her campaign may have just had its best week ever.

And we now know the name of the first U.S. combat soldier killed in Iraq since 2011. And he died coming face to face with ISIS. New details on that operation ahead. This is CNN.

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[14:13:31] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're turning around some sound for you here in just a second. But just to set it up, we've been listening to the secretary of defense, Ash Carter, talking about the first American who was just killed in Iraq. The first American since 2011. His name, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler. Here is the secretary of defense.

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have now heard from rescued hostages. They expected to be executed that day after morning prayers. Their graves had already been prepared. Not only did our support help provide (ph) another mass killing, we enabled those partners of ours to deliver a sole (ph) - a clear defeat and prevented them from broadcasting a horrific massacre to the world.

Meanwhile, across the border in eastern Syria, coalition aircraft recently hit a key node in ISIL's oil enterprise, destroying a pump station and a site for crude oil production and cash collection. After extensive conversations with Chairman Dunford (ph), General Austin (ph), Secretary Kerry and with leaders of the coalition in recent weeks, we're ramping up our assault on this critical pillar of ISIL's financial infrastructure. We will also work to disrupt ISIL's distribution of oil in the lucrative marketplace, one that includes customers, by the way, from the Assad regime.

[14:15:04] And we will continue to work on all of the so-called nine lines of effort of the counter ISIL campaign, including counter finance, counter messaging and interdicting foreign fighters.

Also in Syria, we continue to target terrorist leaders. This week we dealt a significant blow to the Khorasan Group, which continues to plot against our homeland by killing Sanafi al-Nasr. Al-Nasr served as a leading financial figure for Khorasan and is the fifth highest level Khorasan operative we've killed in the past four months.

As I review the pace of recent events and the multiple ways we are bringing pressure against ISIL, I'd like to command General Sean McFarland (ph), a pioneer of the Sunni awakening several years ago, who I recently appointed as the commander of our counter ISIL efforts. Rather than three generals responsible of different aspects of the campaign, as had been the case, I have empowered Lieutenant General McFarland as the single commander of counter ISIL activities in both Iraq and Syria. His efforts will be critical in the coming months as we continue to provide support for capable partners fighting on the front lines.

In Iraq, thousands of fighters have now passed through coalition training sites. The contributions of more than a dozen coalition nations have provided capacity to train thousands more. It is essential - it is essential that more Iraqis, Sunni and Shia, Arab and Kurd, be recruited, trained and equipped so that Iraq's territorial integrity is restored and the country returned to the full control of the its people. As I have stressed repeatedly, we're committed to supporting these partners but cannot serve as a substitute for them.

We're watching recent military advances in Baji (ph) and around Ramadi, which suggest that Iraqi forces may be regaining the initiative. As local forces continue to prove their medal and as they prove a commitment to an inclusive future for their country, we are correspondingly committed to enhancing the support we provide. The challenges of developing capable and motivated forces in Syria have been painfully clear. But here, too, the coalition has provided an air drop and air support for Syrian Arab coalition fighters as they prepare for a difficult drive towards ISIL's administrative capital (ph) in Raqqa. This is one example of how we're adjusting our approach in Syria to focus on equipping existing groups rather than training new recruits. Though we will continue to be open to all approaches.

We're strengthening our partnerships with moderate Syrian forces who have fought fiercely in recent months and hope to advance the gains they've made with our help. The additional support I've mentioned today does not represent a change in our strategy, but it does represent a change in our approach to achieving it. I'm determined that we continue to adapt to get results.

So we will continue to work closely with Prime Minister Abadi and his command of the Iraqi security forces. The department of Defense will continue to support the moderate Syrian opposition and we will continue to meet our commitments to friends and allies across the region, especially Israel. And that connection I look forward to consultations with Israel's defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, when he arrives in Washington next week.

On Tuesday, I will also appear before Congress alongside Chairman Joe Dunford. Our testimony in the Senate will provide an opportunity to discuss in more detail the execution of the counter-ISIL strategy and how to pursue the next phase of the coalition campaign.

One final note. I know that each of you is waiting for the civilian casualty report from General Campbell on the tragic incident in Kunduz. My staff and I are in frequent contact with General Campbell as his team completes their initial report. We want to get this done, and I want him to get it done, but we want him to get it done absolutely right. And, remember, the more complete report will come from the so-called 15-6 (ph), which is the expanded military investigation. I want the answers to the questions in those investigations. Accountability is part of our obligation to those who died in Kunduz and it must inform everything we do here at the Department of Defense.

[14:20:03] And with that, I'll take a few questions here.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary. On your comments about the (INAUDIBLE) prison mission, the rescue mission, you said that - that the people that are faced eminent mass execution, that their graves had already been dug. Curious how you know that? And also, you said there was a significant cache of intelligence that was gathered. Can you describe that in (INAUDIBLE)?

CARTER: Yes. On the first - on the first point, the - I mean, first of all, we now have 70 people who were rescued who told us what they were facing. And the graves were right next door to the compound. It happens that we had seen them beforehand because we were watching this compound once the Peshmerga informed us that they believed that there were prisoners of ISIL there. And so that was another indication to us what appeared to be basically the digging of graves. You can't be sure by just looking at it, but it sure looked like that. Then was another indication. Then we had other indications as well I can't go into.

But the main thing is that the - that our Peshmerga partners, they were the ones who had information that this particular location was being used basically as a prison camp and seemingly planned to be an execution center by ISIL. So that's how we knew.

And, Bob, I forgot the second part of you -

QUESTION: Intelligence you collected at the site. What -

CARTER: Well, yes, this - the -- this is the stuff you get and the great value, by the way, of raids of this kind. And I expect that we'll do more of this kind of thing. But one of the reasons for that is that you learn a great deal because you collect the documentation. You collect various electronic equipment and so forth, on top of which we now have 70 individuals who spent a lot of time there and who were in turn captured by ISIL in different ways and thereby had different perspectives. And so the sum of all this will be some valuable intelligence and that just - obviously saving the lives that were about to be brutally sacrificed is the main thing and supporting our Peshmerga partners who have been wonderful fighters and everything we were looking for in Iraq, which is capable, motivated fighters. But then it turns out we'll get good information as well.

Yes. Go ahead, David.

QUESTION: You just said that you expect there will be more raids like this in the future. So could you please explain how more raids fits with no combat troops?

CARTER: Well, I say we'll do more raids. Remember, we did - if you remember the raid that took down Abu Sief (ph), we have this capability. It is a great American strength. It doesn't represent us assuming a combat role. It represents a continuation of our advise and assist mission. And I said right from the beginning, David, and we mean this, when we find opportunities to do things that will effectively prosecute the campaign, we're going to do that. And this is an example of a case where we could do something we alone had the capability to do it. And I'm absolutely prepared to do that. So raids is a - is - is one of those categories. And I suspect that we'll have future opportunities in the future and we will avail ourselves of them.

Jim.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Can you clarify the rules of engagement now because it's my understanding that the special operations commander on the ground made a decision when the Kurdish partners came under overwhelming fire, to come to their defense, entered a walled compound in the middle of a firefight. They can do it in self-defense. They can do it when their partners come under fire as well? And, if so, how is that not combat? And I just wonder if you think the president and the administration was being misleading when he says that U.S. forces are not in combat?

CARTER: No, we - we have - let me tell you - explain what this - what happened in this particular event. I mean, again, this is based upon the reporting that we have now, Jim. But everything I know about this incident was that, as the compound was being stormed, the plan was not for the U.S. advise and assist and accompanying forces to enter the compound or be involved in the firefight. However, when a firefight ensued, this American did what I'm very proud that Americans do in that situation, he ran to the sound of the guns and he stood up and all the indications are it was his actions and that of one of his teammates that protected those who were involved in breaching the compound and made the mission successful. So that is an inherent risk that we ask people to assume. Again, it wasn't part of the plan, but it was something that he did. And I'm immensely proud that he - he did that.

[14:25:31] Obviously, we're very saddened that he - he lost his life, but, you know, nobody should be in any illusions, Jim, that Americans are at risk. Americans are flying combat missions, thousands of combat missions over Syria and Iraqi territory. There are Americans involved in training and advising Iraqi security forces around the country. We do not have combat formations there the way we had once upon a time in Iraq or the way we have had in years past in Afghanistan. But we do have people who are in harm's way, who evidentially have shown a willingness to put themselves in harm's way in order to have mission success. And I think that's very commendable.

QUESTION: Just a follow up. I'm not - just for a follow-up, because the administration has taken great pains, the president, in various permutations, to say it's not ground combat. It's not a major combat role. I mean just as you said, it's not the same size as it was during certainly the Iraq invasion and occupation. But if you're saying they're going to be more missions like this and if commanders will be commended for making decisions to go into the breach, right, and go into the battle -

CARTER: They will be - then they will be in harm's way. There's no question about it. And I don't want anybody to be under any illusions about that. But this was an opportunity in which the capabilities that we uniquely possess could have a material effect. Was there risk associated with that? There was. But again, all I can say is, from the reports I've received, I'm immensely proud of this young man.

QUESTION: And I want to ask you about something else, the way ahead (ph) on women in combat, your decision on whether to borrow women from some ground combat jobs. I know General Dunford is supposed to offer his recommendation by the end of the month. The Marines, as you know, or many of us know, have asked that all infantry jobs, also some other jobs, combat engineers, (INAUDIBLE) controllers, artillery controllers, be closed to women as well. And it's based on a Marine report which found that mixed gender units did not do as well as all male units. They were slower, less lethal, had a lot more injuries.

That report is marked pre-decisional, not for release to the public. So I'm wondering, the question is, when will you release that report, after you make your decision? And what about The Hill? Lawmakers want that as well. Will you release it to them before you make your decision?

CARTER: Let me - let me back up. I mean, first of all, I'll say I don't actually have anything new for you relative to two weeks ago when we discussed this. Now, just to take it from the beginning again, the direction to the services, and now going back a couple years, was to - and this was from Secretary Panetta, that they should prepare for all positions to be open to women unless they requested exceptions from the secretary of defense by the - by January 1, 2016. So that's me now several months from now. That the services were to do analysis and make recommendations to the chairman and then the chairman and the deputy secretary of defense will review that. Then they'll bring it to me. They've not done that yet. So that report, which you know of but it -

BALDWIN: All right. So there's been a lot here. This has been incredibly important to hear some of the details about this mission in northern Iraq. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. Obviously difficult for him to talk about the fact that this is the first American killed in combat in Iraq since 2011, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, talking about this rescue mission, saying that they absolutely knew that this mass execution was eminent of about 70 people who they went in to go rescue, that the graves had been dug and that these hostages were planning on being executed after morning prayers.

But there were a lot of other details that the secretary of defense mentioned. So we're going to get into a lot of that. I have two Navy SEALs joining me next hour to talk about this rescue mission, and to Jim Sciutto's question, how what happened in northern Iraq square with the fact the administration is saying U.S. forces are not in combat roles. A lot to get to. That's coming up.

But, again, our condolences, of course, to the family of this man, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler.

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