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17 Hospitalized, 4 Critical in OSU Parade Accident; Revealing Interview with Tony Blair on War in Iraq; U.S. Commandos Rescue Hostages from ISIS. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 25, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:00:06] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, dramatic new video purportedly showing that U.S. raid to save hostages in Iraq. One American soldier killed in that daring rescue. We'll take a closer look at what these new pictures show.

And a revealing interview with Tony Blair, about the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the decision to enter Iraq and topple his regime a mistake?

TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: You know, whenever I'm asked this, I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello, again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Stunning new details today about a terrifying crash at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade. Moments ago, we heard a witness describe what happened when a car ploughed through the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, as you can imagine, quite a crazy scene. And the only thing I could relate it to is maybe some type of bombing or something. It just -- nobody knew what was going on. And all we were really concern with was our family and friends and everybody that was injured.

You know, today we're all -- we're all Oklahoma. So we appreciate the kind words, and didn't realize how big of a story or what this would be, so we wanted to put a face to Leo. Good guy. Everybody loves him, would do anything for you. You know, loves horses and works hard, and a big family guy and loves to have a good time and never -- any opportunity to see a cowboy football game, he's there. So, we missed the game, but we feel the love, and we'll get through this and move on so --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, he's talking about his step dad who suffered multiple injuries and remains hospitalized. And the man who was just talking also talked about suffering from a bruise. That's it for him. But his mother is in stitches.

Four people in all died in that crash including this 2-year-old little boy named Nash Lucas.

Our Nick Valencia joining me now with much more on this. And you've also obtained some new video that gives you -- people a different perspective of what happened.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're going through so much that what an emotional press conference to listen to. That family member apologizing for his appearance, saying he's been wearing the same clothes for the last 24 hours. It's been a very difficult 24 hours for those at Stillwater, Oklahoma.

And it was just a few hours ago, as Fredricka was saying, that we obtained new cell phone video from one of the spectators in that parade. It shows the moment the 25-year-old Adacia Chambers barrelled through an unmanned police motorcycle and continued on into a very packed crowd.

We have to warn you the video you're about to watch is very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): You can hear the horrific screams from the crowd as the car barrels through a homecoming parade in Oklahoma. The cell phone video captures just how fast the driver was going on Saturday afternoon when she crashed into the celebration filled with unsuspecting victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were here having fun and literally they don't know what hit them. I mean, it just came 40, 50 miles an hour.

VALENCIA: The suspect 25-year-old Adacia Chambers walked away from the crash in handcuffs. She's been charged with driving under the influence. More charges are possible.

Littered throughout the scene, debris from the crash that killed four people. Several others are in critical condition. In all, at least 47 were hurt. Kailey Carter was one of them.

KAILEY CARTER, HIT BY CAR: I'm never going to forget that in my mind. You know, it's going to replay over and over.

VALENCIA: She says there were bodies everywhere.

CARTER: I just saw something black coming at us. I didn't know what it was at first. Until I got up and ran and the car hit me, like, as it was stopping and then I flew over some strollers.

VALENCIA: At the Oklahoma State University homecoming, a moment of silence. Players kneel to honor the victims. Among those killed 2- year-old Nash Lucas. Late Saturday his father posted a message on Facebook. "Miss you so much, buddy."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: More than a dozen people remain hospitalized. Four of them are in critical condition. And we just, a little while ago, heard from the mayor of Stillwater, Fredricka.

She released a statement saying, "Everyone was kind, everyone was happy. We were celebrating life in Stillwater. We were celebrating OSU. We were celebrating friendships and family and the cowboy spirit and then the unthinkable happened."

She went on to say, "We are mourning together and we extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and families. Our hearts are heavy."

A lot of people thinking about Oklahoma right now and what they've gone through. Just a terrible situation in an otherwise wholesome event.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: It absolutely is. It's a tradition for a lot of families there.

VALENCIA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Nick.

VALENCIA: You got it, Fredricka. Thanks.

[16:05:05] WHITFIELD: And let's talk more about the legal ramifications of this case. CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson joining us now.

So, Joey, the driver is due in court tomorrow. Right now, she is facing DUI, at least one DUI charge. How do you see that charge growing into multiple charges?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good afternoon, Fredricka. And, of course, press, the Oklahoma people, the families, everyone affected here. You know, charges are always driven by the facts, and so what we learn the facts to be will ultimately be what's charged.

There's some indication, as we're learning, that she may have been intoxicated. Now we also know that a blood test was taken and if that blood test does indeed come back that she was intoxicated or otherwise impaired by some other type of drug, we don't know that to be the case, but if that is the case then, of course, charges will elevate to DWI manslaughter, which carries four years to life in jail.

And she certainly would expect in the event that she was intoxicated or otherwise impaired by drugs or alcohol to be charged with multiple counts of that.

In addition to those, of course, who are dead, Fredricka, we also know of the dozens who were injured. And so we can certainly expect charges of DWI causing serious physical injury. Again, very significant.

And so in the event that she does have this in her system, and it won't only be the blood test, although that would be definitive for sure, but you could also expect witnesses to give some of their indications. Did she have watery, bloodshot eyes? Did she have slurred speech? Did she have the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath?

And even if, I should be clear, she's doesn't have anything in her system, so what if she's not drunk at all, then I think certainly it turns to the issue of whether this was criminally negligent homicide so that's also a criminal act as well.

WHITFIELD: And then what about the interviews of people, anyone who may have had some sort of interaction with her before that accident. Perhaps even the use of surveillance video to see, you know, what her behavior may have been leading up to the crash. How might those things factor in, too?

JACKSON: It's critical. And it's critical because of the fact that you want to go to the issue of the state of mind. And whenever you're charging someone with a crime, you want to know what their mental state was. And, of course, the people who she interacted with prior to this, if any, will give the indication, did she appear drunk? Did she otherwise appear to be impaired by anything else? Was she confused? Was she disoriented? Was she suffering from some type of personal, perhaps, crisis, that she was dealing with at the time? These are all questions that could give investigators insight as to what she was thinking when she was doing this.

In addition to that, Fredricka, there will be accident reconstruction done so as to determine the actual rate of speed, exactly what the trajectory was, everything else. There will be things done in terms of forensics on her cell phone. Was she on the phone? Was she texting on the phone? Was there anything else? So that investigators will piece all of this together and that will have a lot to do with ultimately what she's charged with. But the charges in the event that she was drunk are so significant and, again, could carry up to life in jail.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. And, of course, we mentioned the toddler, the 2-year-old little boy, who was killed in all of this. And this certainly pulls at the heartstrings. There he is with his dad, tweeting this, you know, "miss you so much, buddy." How might this factor into the types of charges when you talk about someone at a very vulnerable 2 years old?

JACKSON: It's what you call an aggravating factor. And clearly, you know, you talk about tugging at the heartstrings. The whole event. The child that we see there, you know, the other victims that were injured, just imagine in the event that it went forward to trial and you are a juror and you were thinking about that child as you saw that child's visual depiction shone to you, a child no longer that had so much promise. What impact would it have on you as a juror? Well, that's the impact certainly will have on her in terms of whether she's guilty or not guilty of any crime that she's charged with.

And so it's an aggravator just like everything else is in terms of bodies being described as flying through the air. What is the car doing going at that rate of speed. Was there some other indication? Was there maybe a defect in the car? Everything will be checked out because if there are mitigating factors, meaning factors that assist her, certainly that's something that everyone should need to know when a jury's empanelled, if a jury is empanelled, if it goes that far.

Or if there are aggravating factors like intoxication or some other personal crisis that needs to be known. And so an investigation will unearth all of this and we should expect to hear that and see that in the coming days and weeks.

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of unanswered questions.

All right, thank you so much, Joey Jackson, good to see you.

JACKSON: Thank you, Fredricka. And you.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAIR: I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was -- was wrong. I could also apologize, by the way, for some of the mistakes in planning and certainly our mistaken in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime. But I find it hard to apologize for removing Saddam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tony Blair telling CNN exclusively mistakes were made in Iraq. One of his former advisers weighs in on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:13: 26] WHITFIELD: One of the strongest U.S. allies in the Iraq war is now apologizing for the bad intelligence that led to the 2003 invasion.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair admits that the decisions and mistakes made back then ultimately played a role in the rise of ISIS and other extremists. But in an exclusive interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Blair said removing Saddam Hussein from power was still the right thing to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Given, however, that Saddam Hussein, did not prove to have weapons of mass destruction, was the decision to enter Iraq and topple his regime a mistake?

BLAIR: You know, whenever I'm asked this, I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was -- was wrong because even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought. So, I can apologize for that.

I could also apologize, by the way, for some of the mistakes in planning and certainly our mistaken in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime. But I find it hard to apologize for removing Saddam. I think even from today in 2015, it is better that he's not there than that he is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A short time ago, I asked Tony Blair's former spokesman and adviser for his take on Blair's apology about the Iraq war, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:15:00] DOYLE: Well, this isn't the first time that Tony Blair has apologized for both the failures in the intelligence and the -- failures in the planning that there clearly was in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But what's important is also to listen to what he says about the reality of he just doesn't believe that you can argue that the country would be in a better place if -- or the region would be a safer place if Saddam was still in power today.

So, therefore, he isn't apologizing for the Iraq war itself. He won't do that, because he doesn't believe that that's true.

WHITFIELD: But he does believe that there's a connection between the 2003 invasion and the rise of Islamic extremism. In fact, this is what he told our Fareed Zakaria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA: When people look at the rise of ISIS, many people point to the invasion of Iraq as the principal cause. What would you say to them?

BLAIR: I think there are elements of truth in that. But, I think we've, again, got to be extremely careful otherwise we'll misunderstood what's going on in Iraq and in Syria today.

Of course, you can't say that those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015. But it's important also to realize, one, that the Arab spring which began in 2011 would also had its impact on Iraq today.

And, two, ISIS actually came to prominence from the base in Syria and not in Iraq. And that leads me to the broader point, which I think is so essential when we're looking at policy today, which is we have tried intervention and putting down troops in Iraq. We've tried intervention without putting in troops in Libya. And we've tried no intervention at all, but demanding regime change in Syria.

It's not clear to me that even if our policy did not work, subsequent policies have worked better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Matthew, is it clear to you whether Tony Blair is saying that Saddam Hussein remaining in power in Iraq would promote a better outcome than Saddam Hussein no longer being there? The region in large part is destabilized, so how do you interpret what he's saying?

DOYLE: Look, I think there's two separate parts to this. First of all, you can look at the rise of ISIS, and the fact of the matter is that the ideology behind the rise of ISIS didn't suddenly spring up as a result of the invasion in 2003. The ideology behind ISIS has been around for decades and unless it's tackled ideologically will be around for decades to come.

There is this narrative, which is based on a perversion of the faith of Islam that has to be tackled and has to be confronted. And that is a real threat.

Now, at the same time, it's in a sense a statement of the obvious to say that you can't say what happened in 2003 has had absolutely nothing to do with what's followed. But, I believe, and I think Tony Blair believes, based on what he said there, that in reality if you look at the roots of ISIS, it's got more to do with our failure to intervene in Syria than it does with what happened in Iraq.

WHITFIELD: Right? And we heard him say that ISIS not necessarily being born out of Iraq, but out of Syria.

So, then, what is your view and what do you believe the former prime minister's view is on how the U.S. and how Great Britain should or should not be involved particularly with Iraq right now to help stabilize it?

DOYLE: I think if you look across the region, then there's no question that this isn't a conflict that we can stand idly by in.

Now, that doesn't necessarily always mean military intervention. As I say, ultimately, what this needs to be sold by is tackling the narrative that is behind the rise of ISIS, and that is a battle that people within the region are far better placed to do than those outside the region.

But we need to wake up and shape up to the reality of the threat that is faced. And at times that will require us to provide military intervention in support.

What Iraq teaches us, however, is that when you do remove one -- a regime from power, you -- have to -- and this is probably the biggest acknowledgement based on the 2003 intervention, you have to be aware of the forces that will be unleashed after that. And we've seen that in Iraq. We've seen it in Libya. And, obviously, we're seeing it in a different form in Syria today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And to see all of Fareed Zakaria's interview with Tony Blair, watch CNN tomorrow night for the special "The Long Road To Hell," that's Monday 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:25] WHITFIELD: The ISIS prison that was the scene of a daring hostage rescue that killed an American last week reduced to rubble in a coalition air strike shortly afterwards. You see the images here.

This as we get a look at how that dramatic rescue actually went down at the prison with this body cam imaging.

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GUN FIRES

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, the prison was located on the border of the Kurdish territory in the town of Hawija, Iraq, freshly dug graves nearby indicated the hostages inside were about to be killed.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is covering this story for us from Turkey.

Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very secretive world you're about to get, a very rare and intimate window into the U.S. Special Forces working with the Kurds, the Kurdish Peshmerga Special Forces.

Well, they've always been on an advice and assist mission. No one we knew quite what that meant, they were involved in the fighting. But in this video, it's pretty clear they are right up front, the tip of the spear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): You're now right inside the jailbreak that revealed America's changed role in Iraq. They think they're rescuing Kurds from this ISIS jail, but look who staggers out. Terrified Iraqis.

Even their eyes lit up by fear caught on the Kurdish soldier's helmet camera. It's edited. But U.S. officials tells CNN it's genuine. More cells opened it seems. And the Iraqi soldier and civilian hostages keep coming.

(GUN FIRES)

An office, an ISIS flag. More cells. And perhaps a target through the light of the door. Then a quick close-up likely of an American commando.

Don't be afraid, he cries, as they search the prisoners. Remember, they were expecting Kurds. Perhaps these men are ISIS, have guns or bombs.

It's the Americans who seem in charge here. The captors' relief palpable, U.S. officials saying they faced imminent execution. It's unclear when before or after this footage, the Americans here learned one of their own was gunned down. But their mission went on to rescue 70.

That first combat death since 2011 in Iraq forcing public acknowledgement American commandos were now boots on the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: In just the last few hours, Pentagon has released these startling pictures of what happened shortly after we believe all those commandos evacuated with the prisoners from that compound, a substantial air strike.

There were air strikes before the attack, but these air strikes afterwards that laid waste to the whole area, presumably hoping to both deny ISIS with that prison facility and, of course, kill any remaining ISIS militants in that particular area.

The U.S. casualty in that raid Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, 39 from Oklahoma. A veteran of 14 tours of Afghanistan and Iraq. That number shows you just reminder really of how lengthy the U.S. has been engaged in what used to be the war on terror and has now morphed into this complex, messy fight against ISIS, in which Barack Obama doesn't really want to commit ground troops in the full, but knows fully well the threat builds everyday, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

All right, still ahead, back in the U.S., Republican presidential candidate and Senator Marco Rubio facing strong criticism for missing nearly a third of Senate votes this year. Hear how he defended that in an interview with CNN -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:50]

WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again and thanks so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Presidential Candidate Marco Rubio is defending himself today against criticism that he often skips Senate votes. According to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Rubio is polling third after Carson and Trump. Joining me right now is CNN National Correspondent Ryan Noble. So Ryan, exactly how is Marco Rubio explaining himself?

RYAN NOBLE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, Marco Rubio has yet to crack the top of the GOP field as you showed in that last poll, but recent polls do show that his stock is rising and Rubio's poor attendance record in Washington has made him an easy target for his Republican opponents. He's actually missed more votes than any of his fellow senators, Republican or Democrat who are also running for President. Donald Trump has called Rubio a lightweight Senator. Now Rubio himself has said that federal workers who aren't doing their jobs should be able to be fired, and the candidate told CNN's Jamie Gangel that he's missing votes but he is still doing his job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Marco Rubio criticism over and over again that you keep missing votes on the Senate floor, 43 percent of the votes. I know you say you are campaigning for President. But Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, they've missed fewer than ten votes. You're up at 59 or 60.

MARCO RUBIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, everyone needs to run their own campaign. I can tell you in the history of Presidential politics, people when -- they've been running for politics in the Senate they've missed votes. And I'm not missing votes because I'm on vacation.

GANGEL: But this many votes?

RUBIO: Actually this is lower than what other people have missed. I'm running for President so that the votes they take in the Senate are actually meaningful again. A lot of these votes won't mean anything. They're not going to pass and even if they did the President would veto it.

GANGEL: The other day, though, you got up on the Senate floor and you said federal workers who don't show up should be fired.

RUBIO: That's not what I said.

GANGEL: What did you say?

RUBIO: I said federal workers that aren't doing their jobs and not performing at their jobs should be able to be fired, they should be held accountable for not performing.

GANGEL: So someone might say you're not showing up, you're not doing your job by voting.

RUBIO: Not true. The most important thing a Senator does is constituent service. We're still involved in looking out...

GANGEL: Wait a minute, votes aren't important? The Intelligence Committee hearings aren't important? RUBIO: We do all the intelligence briefings. I was just there this

Tuesday. I got fully briefed and caught up on everything that's happening in the world. I'm fully aware. We have a staffer that's assigned to intelligence. We get constant briefings. I think votes are, of course, but unfortunately too many of them today are not meaningful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLE: So while Rubio has missed a lot more votes than his fellow candidates in 2016, he contends that his attendance is comparable to senators who have run for President in the past. In fact, as Barack Obama ramped up for his campaign for President between September and November of 2007, Fredricka, he missed 80 percent of his votes in the Senate.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy, those are big numbers, big comparisons. All right, Ryan Noble, thank you so much. So let's dig deeper into this and what Marco Rubio had to say in this interview, Republican Strategist Brian Morganstern and Ellis Henican, a Columnist and Co- Author of the Party's Over. Ok, gentlemen, so let's hear this. Does Marco Rubio put himself in a good position to defend why has missed so many votes? How does this translate, Brian?

BRIAN MORGANSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think he's put himself in a fine position. Particularly, comparing himself to the President who missed a lot more votes than he's missing, and he won so that's a pretty good little data point there. And also bucking, you know, the leadership and pointing out how many show votes and things have been happening in Washington. Also plays well with conservative America, so he's defending himself. And I will add this, you know, people are going after him for this instead of things that, you know, really matter to the American people and attacking him on issues, then he's in a pretty good position. He's been attacked for sweating, owning a boat, and now skipping a few votes. He's doing great.

WHITFIELD: So, Ellis is it the issue of how many votes or is it what kind of votes? Because apparently, he's missed a lot of very important intelligence briefings as well, and he responded in that interview by saying that his staffer goes to those meetings and reports back to him. How does it translate?

[16:35:17]

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST: I think my buddy Brian needs to get real a little bit on this one. As long as he's explaining this, it makes him look bad, right? There he was -- this vote didn't matter. I got briefed this other time. Listen, as long as he has to make excuses for not showing up, he is not arguing on his turf. Although, it's probably true that some of those tea party folks think that no one in Congress should ever show up and ever do anything ever, so maybe he's playing to the, you know, the whacky side of the base.

WHITFIELD: Should that be an appropriate segment? We're going to talk about Donald Trump now.

HENICAN: What do you mean?

WHITFIELD: You gave me the material. What can I say? Ok, he was on State of the Union this morning, and one of the key moments of that interview was Trump saying that he's going to get Democrats and Republicans to get along. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The level of hatred between Republicans and Democrats was unbelievable. The level of -- you've never seen anything like it. I'm going to unify. This country is totally divided. Barack Obama has divided this country unbelievably. And it's all -- it's all hatred. What can I tell you? I've never seen anything like with it. I've gotten along with Democrats, and I've gotten along with Republicans. I said that's a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Ellis, essentially he's saying the chances of unifying people are much greater if he's in the White House. How does he do that? How does he convince people?

HENICAN: I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea the idiot, moron, all the horrible things that Donald Trump has called people are really his effort to unify our country? Listen, listen, clearly Trump does not pay a penalty for saying stuff that makes no sense, and I would say that this might be another example of that.

WHITFIELD: Brian?

MORGANSTERN: Well, here's how he's going to unify us. He's going to build a big beautiful wall all around the country and nobody is coming in or out and we'll be unified just like North Korea, it's going to be fantastic, it's going to be terrific. It's going to be amazing. Look, if Donald Trump wants to unify he should probably start by unifying the Republican Party, which I guess would start with not slamming and sliming your fellow candidates. So this is hilarious and it's Donald being Donald and its fun to watch I guess.

WHITFIELD: All right. It will be a huge undertaking. Ok, let's talk about Chris Christie. He's not getting a whole lot of airtime or face time anywhere these days, but he was on CBS' Face the Nation this morning, and during the interview he criticized the Black Lives Matter Movement and accused President Obama of not supporting police officers. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The problem is this. There's lawlessness in this country. The President encourages this lawlessness. He encourages it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Encourages it How?

CHRISTIE: By his own rhetoric. He does not support the police. He doesn't back up the police. He justifies Black Lives Matter. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black Lives Matter shouldn't be justified at all?

CHRISTIE: Listen, I don't believe that that movement should be justified when they are calling for the murder of police officers, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But they are not calling for the murder of police officers.

CHRISTIE: Sure they are. They've been chanting in the streets for the murder of police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, individuals have, but the Black Lives Matter...

CHRISTIE: Listen, you know, John, that's what the movement is creating and the President of the United States is justifying that but not only that, he hasn't backed up police officers from the minute he's gotten into office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Brian, what is this? You know, is this Chris Christie distinguishing himself from the pack? Or is Chris Christie also trying to get additional attention because people may have forgotten that he's actually in the race?

MORGANSTERN: Well, Chris Christie's a law and order guy. That's kind of his M.O. is coming in the -- in the Giuliani mold of, you know, prosecuting corruption and working with the police department. So he's a pro-cop guy. The problem with that statement, I would go back to his fellow candidate Rubio who said of the movement, while there are some people inciting violence, you can't diminish the legitimacy of people feeling disenfranchised and harmed by the criminal justice system which is much more likely to interact with young black men than other segments of the population. And so by taking this tact, I understand that it fits with his persona, but I don't think it's something that's going to grow the party or necessarily grow his ability to get votes.

WHITFIELD: Ellis, does this hurt or help him?

HENICAN: Well, listen, we make a mistake taking this too seriously. He doesn't matter in the race anymore. The best Chris Christie story was the report the last hour about him getting tossed out of the quiet car on Amtrak. Did you see that -- drinking a Slurpee.

WHITFIELD: Cameras are everywhere, people.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Bad behavior is always under a microscope, ouch. Ok, thank you so much. Thanks so much, Brian, Ellis, good to see you guys.

[16:40:01] WHITFIELD: All right, coming up next, the rain that caused major flooding in Texas now heading to Louisiana. Ryan Young is there, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been tracking heavy rain and the damage to property. We'll show you what's going on in a live report as more rain is expected in the next few hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. What's left of Hurricane Patricia and another system are now heading towards Louisiana. And that has put more than six million people under a flood watch in the area. Meanwhile, Texas is getting some relief after being soaked with more than 20 inches of rain in the past day or so. CNN's Ryan Young made his way today from Texas early in the morning, and then now in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and how's it going?

YOUNG: Well, good afternoon, Fred, like you said we started around 3 o'clock this morning tracking the storm and seeing the damage that's been caused by it. But the good is so far we haven't seen any major property damage. We did come from Houston, Texas down here. I want to show you the end of this residential street because there's a creek at the end of it. We'll walk down this direction, and I just wanted to tell you this before they've dealt with flooding in this area and one thing we noticed on the edge of this creek here, you can see just over there's a measurement that gives you a gauge of where the water is standing. It's about less than one foot right now, and that's good news for the people who live in this section.

The heavy rains haven't really hit this area just yet. But let's talk about Houston, because we saw that firsthand with the water they were dealing with. They were hit hard. In fact, the entire time we were there, we were drenched, we were soaked with rain, and several cars got stuck in water because people decided to try to drive through the fast-moving waters and several cars were left behind overnight. The good news there is no one lost their life because of trying to drive through the water. Right now it's a wait-and-see mode, because obviously there's still rain out there. It's been slick all day long. We've seen accidents on the highway, but the good news so far is it doesn't seem to be the dangerous model that we thought would be coming through this area with the flash floods, even though warnings continue to pop up.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Young, keep us posted on that. Of course, folks are bracing there, and we are hoping for the best. Hopefully the flash floods do not happen there, all right, thank you.

All right, Pope Francis lashing out at Catholic bishops after a three- week meeting exposing deep divisions on critical issues in the church. But talks did lead to progress on one issue, we'll explain next.

But first, CNN has announced the top ten heroes for 2015 and we'd like you to meet another one of them, her name is Monique Poole and she helps save our environment by help saving sloths.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saving the sloth's for me is not just about saving the sloths. It's about what they stand for. It's about losing habitat. It's about the importance of environmental protection for everybody.

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WHITFIELD: For more, go to CNNheroes.com, and while you're there meet all of the top ten heroes. And vote once a day every day for your candidate. And all will be honored on CNN Heroes an all-star tribute hosted by Anderson Cooper December 6th. But only one will be named CNN hero of the year.

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WHITFIELD: Pope Francis delivering a sharp review to conservative Catholic bishops at the close of a historic summit today. The meeting focused on two matters, once considered taboo for the Catholic Church, divorce and same-sex marriage. Progress was made on one of the issues. CNN's Delia Gallagher explains what it all means.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Some 270 bishops from 120 countries around the world have handed in their final recommendations to Pope Francis on what to do about some problems facing modern families. Now one of the most divisive proposals at this meeting was the question of divorced and remarried Catholics. Currently, in the Catholic Church if you are divorced and you have not annulled your first marriage and you are remarried, they consider that second relationship to be adulteress because they consider you still married to your first partner. So they ban you from certain activities in the Catholic Church, such as being godparents, reading at mass, and having communion.

Now the bishops have recommended to Pope Francis that there might be a way to change this and to make exceptions for some of these couples via the internal forum, a kind spiritual counseling between the couple in question and the priest or bishop that examines the particulars of their case. So in a case where one of the partners has been left and has no fault in the divorce, there might be grounds for re-admitting them to some activities in the church. Now significantly, the bishops' recommendations do not directly mention readmission to communion, which was the real sticking point of this issue and, in fact, the proposal itself only just barely received the two/third majority vote necessary to recommend it to Pope Francis suggesting there is still strong opposition on this question.

On the question of gays and lesbians, there was some indication that the church might change its language. The church currently calls gay sexual orientation disorder. However, the final recommendations of the bishop do not address this issue. It instead restates the traditional church teaching that gays and lesbians are to be respected and not discriminated against, but it does not equate gay unions, says it is not remotely analogous to marriage between a man and a woman. Interestingly on this point, the cardinal of Vienna, Cardinal Sean Byrne yesterday, said to reporters that many of the bishops felt the questions of gays and lesbians were too delicate to be addressed fully by the synod -- considering the different political and cultural context of gay issues in the various countries around the world.

That did not mean, however, according to the Cardinal that those questions were not important for churches in North America and Europe. Now up to Pope Francis to decide whether and when to issue any final guidelines based on the bishops' recommendations. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

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WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: Fishermen off Turkey are credited with saving the life of a very young Syrian refugee. A warning, the story you are about to see is very difficult to watch, and you might want to look away. Although, it has a happy ending, it does highlight the dangers refugees face during their difficult journeys. Here now are CNN's eyes, Amara Walker.

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AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Baby Mohamed Hassan clings to his mother in Turkey, their journey to get here a harrowing one, their survival, miraculous. Just days ago, fishermen off Turkey's coast spotted the 18-month-old and others floating in life jackets in the Aegean Sea. Video of the rescue shows a fisherman rushing to pull the bodies from the cold water. The boy is brought into the boat. The fisherman tries frantically to clear the water from the boy's lungs. He is barely responsive. But he is alive. Fearing hypothermia, the fisherman proceeds to remove the child's wet clothes and wrap him in a warm blanket.

The fishermen were able to pull some 15 refugees from the water, including baby Mohammed and his mother. They were among 30 refugees aboard a small boat headed for Greece. A boat they hoped would take them to a better life, but capsized before reaching shore. More than 500,000 people have arrived by sea in Greece this year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Thousands have died. But to Mohammed and his family, lucky to have made it to solid ground, these fishermen are heroes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You both gave him a second life. We are grateful to you. May god bless you.

WALKER: Amara Walker, CNN.

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WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible rescue. All right, thanks so much for being with me this afternoon. I'm

Fredricka Whitfield, much more of the Newsroom straight ahead with Poppy Harlow.

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