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Unprecedented Threat Level for U.S. Lawmakers This Year; Generals: Didn't Initially Know Drone Strike Was in Error; British Soldiers to Help Deliver Fuel in Coming Days; YouTube to Ban Any Misleading Videos about Vaccines. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 30, 2021 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

GEN. MARK MILLEY, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: It is clear, it is obvious to all of us that the war in Afghanistan did not end on the terms that we wanted. The war was a strategic failure.

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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHO: Long assessments and heated exchanges, the United States' top military leaders get grilled once again on the fall of Afghanistan.

Both of those stories after a very short break. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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SOARES: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Isa Soares. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

Britney spears is one step closer to controlling her own life after a judge suspended her father from her conservatorship.

And all eyes are on Washington as lawmakers prepare to vote on President Biden's key economic bill. We'll have much more on that story in about 30 minutes or so on "EARLY START."

Now, the Congressional committee that's investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is broadening its inquiry. 11 more subpoenas were issued Wednesday to organizers of "Stop the Steal" rallies and events leading up to the attack. The Women for America First organization hosted the Save America Rally where then president Donald Trump told the crowd to march to the capitol. The committee is asking the 11 individuals to testify by depositions by late October or early November.

Now, the kind of danger the rioters posed to Representatives and Senators back in January is increasing. Police are predicting an unprecedented number of threats to U.S. lawmakers by the end of this year. Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) [04:35:00]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Capitol police chief, Tom Manger, in a new interview with the "Associated Press" says, quote, we have never had the level of threats against members of Congress that we are seeing today. Clearly, we've got a bigger job in terms of the protection aspect of our responsibilities.

Manger predicted in the interview that authorities could respond to some 9,000 threats to members of Congress by the end of this year. He told Wolf Blitzer in August that the number could be even higher.

CHIEF TOM MANGER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: We typically, just a couple years ago, had around six -- 6 or 7,000. This year, I think we'll be up close to 10,000 threats that we're investigating.

TODD (voice-over): The reasons for the rise in threats are varied. Domestic extremists have been buoyed by the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, by false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, by former President Donald Trump's incendiary rhetoric.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: We did win this election.

TODD (voice-over) him: But the ability of those who would do harm to find members of Congress has also changed.

ANTHONY CHAPA, FORMER SECRET SERVICE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Remember, your members of Congress are elected all the time. So, they're always out on the campaign. They need to be known. They want to be known. People know who they are just by sight. They know where they live.

TODD (voice-over) him: Democratic Congresswoman Nora Torres found that out in a frightening way. This summer, after she had a political dispute over Twitter with the president of El Salvador, she said she received multiple threats, then an anonymous video. A man's voice narrating it.

REP. NORMA TORRES (D-CA): He stated that he was following me, and he tagged that to a blue vehicle which I had -- I owned a blue SUV. And he said that he was following me, and then panned down to his gun and said that he had something for me.

TODD: How frightened are you, though, still of all this?

TORRES: I sold my car. I just could not drive that car.

TODD (voice-over): Republican Congressman Tom Reid says someone left a dead rat and a brick on his doorstep, along with a family member's name. The Capitol Police don't have the resources for every member of Congress to get their own security detail in their home districts. So, it's up to many of them to protect themselves.

After that video incident, Congresswoman Torres says gang members cased her home in California, and once tried to bait her husband out onto the street. So, she retrieved a gun from their home, and scared them off. TORRES: I went in and armed myself. I thought that they were going to come in and hurt, you know, not just my husband but myself. So, I'm going to do whatever I need to do to protect myself and my family.

TODD: Congresswoman Torres says after those incidents, Capitol Police did come to her home in California and guarded it for about a week. But she says they can't provide constant security for her, and she doesn't want to hire her own security detail. And she says the threats have followed her to Washington, so she recently moved out of her basement apartment here to a more secure building.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, the United States top military leaders were back in the hot seat on Wednesday testifying before a U.S. House committee about what went wrong really in Afghanistan. The top general says the 20- year war wasn't lost in the last 20 days or even 20 months. And that many factors led to the country's collapse including the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban that set a date for the U.S. to fully withdraw. The U.S. defense secretary says that deal meant no more air-strikes against the Taliban which allowed them to gain strength. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We caused them to release 5,000 prisoners, you know, and those prisoners, many of those prisoners went back to fill the ranks of the Taliban. So, they got a lot stronger. They continued their attacks. You know, we got smaller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: But the generals were also questioned about the deadly U.S. drone strike in Kabul about a month ago. It was meant to kill members of ISIS, but took out ten civilians instead, seven of them children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. KENNETH F, MCKENZIE, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: We knew the strike hit civilians within four or five hours after the strike occurred. And U.S. Central Command released a press release saying that. We did not know, though, that the target of the strike was, in fact, an error -- a mistake until sometime later. Took a few days to run that down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Anna Coren is following the story for us live from Hong Kong. And Anna, as we just heard there, you know, we are now learning the U.S. knew within hours that they had killed civilians. You have been speaking and been on the story for some time now. Been speaking to the family of who lost loved ones in that strike. Have they received an apology or even a call from the United States?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isa, it's quite stunning. The admissions that were made in Congress by those top U.S. defense officials because we have to remember that for weeks after this drone strike that killed ten civilians, that the U.S. military was defending this strike.

[04:40:00]

You know, we heard from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Malley, that it was a righteous strike three days after that drone strike.

So, it was very fascinating to learn this time line that within hours they knew there were civilians. And within days they knew that they had made this terrible mistake. For the family of Zamarai Ahmadi who was this supposed ISIS facilitator carrying explosives in his car and posed an imminent threat to the U.S. forces that were in the final days of this evacuation, this mass evacuation at the airport. They are a broken people. Ten members of their family were killed on the 29th of August, Isa. And not one person from the U.S. government has tried to contact them. That in itself is quite extraordinary.

Obviously, we heard from General McKenzie, the boss of Central Command on the 17th of September. He made that very public apology before the cameras, but nothing specific to the family. We are only speaking to them this morning, and still, still nothing. And it's not just Zamarai's family, Isa. It's also the country director of this NGO that Zamarai worked for whose home is being labeled an ISIS safe house. The U.S. military still maintains this.

Well, I have spoken to Dr. Walid who has lived in the house for 40 years. We sent a crew and he gave us a tour of the house. He's a pediatrician. He has three young daughters. This is a man who has contributed to his country. He has a U.S. green card and has had one since 2018. And yet still the U.S. military say that is where they heard chatter regarding this imminent threat. Let's listen to what Dr. Walid had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WALID, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, NUTRITION AND EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL: I'm really shocked. Why this house is labelled as a safe house for ISIS. It is absolutely untrue, but I do expect from the U.S. government to clear the name on my house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (on camera): Dr. Walid obviously is feeling in danger now. He's been exposed as the country director for the U.S. NGO as well as falsely accused of being affiliated to ISIS. As for Zamarai's family, they are looking for compensation. They're also looking for resettlement, Isa. They want to move to the United States. They need a new life. They, too, are in danger considering this affiliation and exposure that they have been given. But they absolutely want justice, Isa, for the ten family members who were killed a month ago.

SOARES: Anna Coren for us there. Thanks very much, Anna. Now patience is wearing thin across the U.K. as the country faces a

fuel supply shortage. How a lack of truck drivers is impacting more than just fuel. Nina dos Santos explains next.

[04:45:00]

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SOARES: The British government will deploy the military in the coming days to deliver fuel and ease a petrol supply crisis. A reverse tanker fleet of civilians is already helping. There are still long lines at the pump as you can see there. CNN's Nina dos Santos joins me now from London. And Nina, I was reading today the U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab was suggesting former prisoners could be used to address the country's lack of truck drivers. What more can you tell us and how feasible do you think this is?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this seems quite extreme as a suggestion. It's come from an interview that he's given to a newspaper magazine that essentially says the U.K. should be more creative in what it does with its population of offenders helping to unlock the labor market shortage that now stands at 1 million plus in this country. And that includes, of course, about 100,000 truck drivers that the country is missing. Either way, though, there is a big supply in labor crunch. So, the government is coming under increasing pressure to address at fuel pumps like these, isa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Petrol, fresh produce, and natural gas, shortages of vital items are affecting day to day life in Britain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This shouldn't be happening in a country like ours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have enough skilled workers, and that's going to be the problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hindsight is 20-20. So, it's very easy for me to sit and say, oh they should've, could've, would've. But we should do better.

DOS SANTOS: The government says the recent run on the pump results down to panic buying and that there is plenty of fuel. Thanks to the pandemic and Brexit, there is however a lack of truck drivers, making it very difficult to get all sorts of goods to where they need it most.

DRAZEN MILJIC, TRUCK DRIVER: I'm ready to forgive them.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Authorities hope to ease pressure on strained supply chains by issuing thousands of temporary visas to people like Drazen Miljic, from Bosnia. He has worked in the U.K. before and would gladly return.

MILJIC: It sounds tempting for me, because salary is always good -- always good, especially now when they are in crisis, in need of drivers. I know before, before the Brexit, before the crisis, salaries were good also in England, so yes, it sounds OK for me. I would go there.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): But others, like these drivers in Slovenia weren't so keen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Problems. Custom. Time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Visa problem, passport problem.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): COVID-19 disrupted the examination process for tens of thousands of potential heavy goods vehicle operators in the U.K. Now the government has decided to try and ease the backlog by fast tracking the qualification process. Here at this driving school on the outskirts of London, that means that they're busier than they've ever been.

DOS SANTOS: Here you are as a 29-year-old wanting to be a truck driver. Why?

JOE CROOK, TRAINEE DRIVER: Just the opportunity of earning money is the main thing, it's very flexible within my family life. For an English person to be doing that I think it's a big must and big need. I do try to tell people who I've grown up with, you know, do it.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Until Joe and many others like him can get goods around the U.K., customer patience is another thing that's in short supply.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Well, Isa, the scene, too, at this west London fuel four corner, is calmer than they have been over the last five days that I've been reporting on this fuel crisis. But there's a sense that this is only a temporary measure that the government has managed to alleviate the situation. Where people are awfully worried about future shortages and also some goods later on in the year as we head towards the festive season with Christmas presents to buy and food to put on the table. Britons are continuing to be uneasy about the supply crunch -- Isa.

SOARES: Indeed, Nina dos Santos there. Thanks very much, Nina.

[04:50:00]

Still to come right here on CNN NEWSROOM, COVID and pregnancy, there's a lot of misinformation around. The CDC wants to clear it all up. Their new U.S. guidance when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SOARES: Now, the CDC is sending out an urgent message to pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19. It says only about three out of every ten pregnant women are vaccinated but that number needs to increased. Getting vaccinated is not just about protecting the mother, doctors say COVID can harm unborn babies, too. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The vaccine is safe in women who want to get pregnant or who are pregnant. The data are very, very clear. What we don't want to do is see women who for some reason or other are hesitant to get vaccinated when they're pregnant or wanting to get pregnant, and then have a negative impact on their pregnancy. You could protect yourself, your pregnancy and your fears by getting vaccinated.

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[04:55:00]

SOARES: YouTube is stepping up its fight against vaccine misinformation. The video platform already banned false information about COVID vaccines. Now it says any misinformation about any vaccine will be prohibited. And that includes videos that falsely linked vaccines to autism are cancer. One prominent youtuber who has been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation Dr. Joseph Merola, says his account has already been shut down.

Now, Americans may see a slowdown of mail delivery across the country as soon as Friday. The U.S. Postal Service is implementing new cost saving measures, including longer first-class mail delivery times and cut the post office hours. It's part of a ten-year plan by embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy who was hired by former President Donald Trump.

A passenger on a flight from Columbia to Miami wanted to get off the plane. From the moment the flight reached the gate, he opened the emergency exit and climbed out onto the wing. And as you might imagine, he was immediately obtained by law enforcement officials.

And before you go, you've heard of catch and release, right, when it comes to fishing. What if it involves an alligator? Take a look at this. Now this man as you can see there in Orange County, Florida, spotted that gator in front of his neighbor's home. Eugene Bozzi, a military veteran, father used the trash bin to corner the gator in front of the garage and then trap it. He took the six foot or two- meter reptile to an embankment in the pond where he lifted the lid and then as I would do, ran away. In fact, I would call authorities. Don't do it yourself. Very, very brave.

And that does it for me. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Isa Soares. I'll be back tomorrow at the same time. Early start with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett are next. Do stay right here with CNN. Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.

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