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Flooding Hits Parts of South Carolina; Doctors without Borders Facility Attacked in Afghanistan; New Information Surfaces on Oregon School Shooter; Sheriff of County in which School Shooting Took Place Examined for Stance on Gun Control; Partially Paralyzed Congressman Profiled. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 3, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:01:20] SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks for joining me. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Hurricane Joaquin is a very dangerous category four and it is drenching rains that are already being felt on the east coast. Millions of people in the Carolinas are expected to be affected. North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Virginia have declared states of emergency. And more heavy flooding could hit states all the way up the east coast.

Our own Nick Valencia is live in Charleston, South Carolina. So Nick, we have been going to you every hour. How are the conditions? Are they getting worse?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a steady rain. That rain is continuing. Just a massive storm system Suzanne trapped over the east coast with more 30 million people up and down the eastern seaboard affected. Though it is threatening lives but you might not be able to tell that if you look behind me here. A lot of people are taking this in stride, having fun. Some have brought their canoes out, kayaks out.

The danger, though, is these really flooded intersections. As this rain comes down and accumulates on these roads people have tried to pass their cars through here, and you see many of them have failed. We have seen a lot of good gestures, a lot of very kind gestures. People at work, some people coming from as far as three hours out of town to help with the search and rescue mission.

We also saw a National Guard Humvee take care of a wedding party that was trying to get to their ceremony by about 1:00 p.m. just an hour ago. We just saw some people come from that ceremony. They said it is still underway. And so far it is going on without a hitch.

But really this is not over yet. And that is the implication by state and local agencies. The governor has come out and said please shelter in place. Don't go out in the road if you don't have to, because you see what happens, what could happen, I should say. That is remnants of what is left behind. This is probably the worst of what we have seen. We have seen other

areas around this waterfront area also get flooded a little bit. Some of the local residents I spoken to say today when hurricane Hugo came here in 1989 that was probably the worst of it. But this here also causing concern. So far no injuries that we can report, no fatalities. There have been some evacuations. Up to 100 homes impacted by the flood. But we'll be keeping an eye on this throughout the weekend, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It seems like a kayak and boat is a better way of getting around there. Thank you, Nick, appreciate that.

For more on the major flooding in South Carolina I want to bring in a spokesman from the state's emergency management division Derrec Becker. He is joining us on the phone from Columbia, South Carolina. Derrec, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you guys are very, very busy today. What are the areas that you are most concerned about right now?

DERREC BECKER, SOUTH CAROLINA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIVISION: Particularly right where Nick is in downtown Charleston, Suzanne. We're seeing a lot of flooding along the coast. It's not only due to this record amount of rainfall that is expected to continue in South Carolina for the next couple of days, but also due to the high tides or the king tides bringing an extraordinary amount of flooding to the Charleston area but also to the upstate, to the midlands.

Really everywhere in South Carolina we're forecasted to get a significant amount of rain that is going to produce flooding in lot of low lying areas, and even some areas that are not prone to flooding could still see some rising waters.

We're asking people to stay off the roadways, stay home, don't get out if you don't have to. For example, the Charleston area in particular, the peninsula, has been really blocked off for any incoming traffic, some limited public safety traffic to the Charleston peninsula itself. Charleston city overall is still open, but that one part is still relatively closed due to the high waters.

I want to encourage people to stay out of the roadways like I said before. Our health agency is about to put out an advisory about the dangers of being in flood water, the type of viruses and bacteria, even chemicals that can cause injury and even make you sick.

[14:05:02] MALVEAUX: Yes. And we saw folks in kayaks and boats, but have you seen a need for evacuations? Have there been any rescues so far?

BECKER: There have been limited evacuations locally. Georgetown County, which is just north of Charleston, for example, overnight an apartment building was flooded and about 15 people were evacuated. Ten of those stayed in a Red Cross shelter overnight. Horry County, the Myrtle Beach area that people are familiar with, about 100 homes have been affected by the flood, and rescue crews went in there to help them get through the flood waters into safety. MALVEAUX: All right, Derrec Becker, thank you so much for your time.

I know you have a lot to do. You're very busy there in your community. We appreciate the time.

We turn now to the horrific mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. We are learning more about the nine people who went to campus that day and never came home. They ranged from ages of the victims were from 18 to 67.

We are also learning more about the gunman in the shooting. He was a student in the very class where he opened fire. CNN has decided not to show the gunman's photo. We're also not reporting his name because he wants notoriety for the shooting, and we're not going to give it to him.

I want to bring in CNN's Ashleigh Banfield. She has been speaking to the friends of some of those victims and the students who were inside of that school when the shots rang out. Ashleigh, what are they telling you today?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST, "LEGAL VIEW": Well, as could be understood, so many are still so shaken. Many of them were onboard those buses as they were being evacuated from campus and watching as they brought in student after student, but not their loved ones, their best friend, their family member, et cetera. It has been a pretty harrowing ordeal.

And so to that end the college has made a decision, and it's something that has changed since just early yesterday is that classes were supposed to resume on Monday. They're not going to. They've actually decided to cancel the classes for the whole week.

This as the crime scene still remains behind me, and I am an eighth of a mile down the road from where the campus is located. So this is a massive forensic zone if you can imagine the investigation continuing. And also part of that investigation is actually the medical examiner and the work that the ME had to do with the victims. So that work has been completed, and in a very somber and sort of a chilling image, the bodies of those nine victims were returned here to Roseburg yesterday.

And our Sara Sidner was able to watch as two National Guard Blackhawk Helicopters hovered over the airport and then tenderly landed on the tarmac to deliver those bodies back to this community. And one by one those gurneys were rolled, many of them with these patterned quilts on them up to those helicopters, and then brought to the waiting vans for transport. So clearly the next order of business for these family members of their loved ones is to arrange their memorials and funerals, et cetera. And whether they will be local or whether they will be somewhere they were from not remains to be seen.

I mentioned at the top of this, Suzanne, when you said how are people doing -- a lot of the family members are not talking and they don't want to talk, and they want space. And some students do want to talk about what it was like when they were, a, evacuated and then, b, waited for their friends. Shelby Wambolt was one of those who was waiting for her friends to return on the buses that followed her bus to the fairgrounds there. One by one those buses kept coming, and then all of a sudden there were no buses and her friend had not arrived. I asked her about that moment. Have a listen.

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SHELBY WAMBOLT, STUDENT, UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: He made an announcement and started choking up, and he said there is no more buses coming. There's no more. And it was just at that point, it was a concrete shutting of the door pretty much for I think every family member that was in there. And I know we were talking about it last night, I would say between 10 and 15 groups of families, and I know there were friends there because we were there to support as friends, and for his family and for people that knew him.

BANFIELD: How did those families react to that announcement?

WAMBOLT: I think at that point they were slowly adjusting to the fact that there was a possibility he wasn't coming back. But I still don't think it had sunk in at that point to anyone. Some of the other families, I saw them break down. I saw a couple people go to their knees. Honestly We got out of there so quickly because I couldn't take it anymore, and neither could my friends. It was just too painful, it was too painful. And we kept saying why, why. It was so senseless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that question why still remains to be answered, if it ever really will be in a circumstance like this, Suzanne.

[10:10:00] I just want to mention also that what Shelby said off camera a little later on was that the official that stood up to make the announcement to her and the other waiting friends and family members that there would be no more buses was completely choked up when having to actually tell them that, and it reminds me so much of the story at Newtown as well when the buses just stopped coming with children and teachers.

MALVEAUX: It's just so sad. It's so, so sad. Ashleigh, thank you so much for this excellent reporting. Thank you.

We're going to be right back.

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MALVEAUX: Pentagon is now investigating a U.S. air strike in Afghanistan to determine if it killed 19 people at a hospital. Doctors without Borders says that the strike damaged a facility in the city of Kunduz. Seven patients including three children were among the dead, and at least 37 others were injured. All of the victims were Afghan nationals.

I want to go to CNN's Sherisse Pham in London who is following the story for us. And Sherisse, what more do we know about this bombing and where it hit in the vicinity of the hospital? [14:15:04] SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So Doctors

without Borders is saying that the head of program there, he was there when the attack happened. You would hear a hit and then you would hear the plane circle around and you would hear a hit again.

Now, this attack happened in the very early morning today between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. local time, and that very precisely hit were the emergency room and the intensive care unit of the hospital. So the Taliban has been in this area of Afghanistan since Monday. Afghan national army forces have been battling them, trying to drive them out. U.S. and NATO advisors were on the ground with them and airstrikes were ordered. And what we also know is that a U.S. military official told CNN that a AC130 gun ship was in the area targeting Taliban positions to defend U.S. special operations forces in the area. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: And we are looking at these pictures that are just absolutely horrific. And the fact that this happened in the ER is just unbelievable. The U.S. commander in Afghanistan has now issued an Apology. What do we think the repercussions are with Afghan officials who must see this and be very, very frustrated?

BANFIELD: I think we have a lot of condemnation that will come down on the United States. We're already seeing international condemnation come down from the United Nations and from the Red Cross. And I do want to read to you here what the Red Cross has said. They are saying such attacks against health workers and facilities undermine the capacity of humanitarian organizations to assist the Afghan people at a time when they most urgently need it. So I think there will be really big repercussion for the United States, but those are still to come. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right, Sherisse, thank you so much.

Ahead, the Douglas County Oregon sheriff thrust into the spotlight after the horrible massacre at the Umpqua Community College. Well, he took a stand early on, deciding not to release the name of the shooter. Next, more on Sheriff John Hanlin and why his Facebook page is now under scrutiny.

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[14:21:02] MALVEAUX: Many applauded the Douglas County, Oregon, sheriff who refused to name the gunman behind the Umpqua Community College massacre. Now Sheriff John Hanlin is finding himself in the middle of gun control debate. CNN national correspondent Sara Sidner spoke with this sheriff. And what did we learn, Sarah?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, he has got very strong opinions. He is dealing with the worst tragedy in his career here. But he is not afraid to speak his mind. And you know when someone does that and they go on the national stage, of course usually controversy follows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: He was thrust on to the national stage after the massacre at Umpqua Community College. Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin talks tough and isn't afraid to share his opinion.

SHERIFF JOHN HANLIN, DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON: I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit that he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act.

SIDNER: His stance on the shooter cheered by many. But some of his other beliefs are putting him smack dab in the middle of the fight over gun control. A letter he sent to Vice President Joe Biden one month after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, one of the deadliest in American history, gives everyone a good look at his unwavering stance on gun control. It says in part "Gun control is not the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings." But now a mass shooting has hit him at home. So we asked him about his thoughts as entire country asks, why is this happening in America yet again? And what will stop it?

Can you talk to me on your stance on the fact that you feel like gun control is not a potential answer?

HANLIN: OK, I understand your interest in that. And I can appreciate that you have an interest in my position. But like I've said a number of times this morning we are focusing on getting this investigation completed.

SIDNER: But he did talk to us a bit about a controversial post on his Facebook page that is also getting attention now long before the Umpqua College shooting. He reposted a viral video. That video delves into conspiracy theories involving the Sandy Hook shooting. It goes as far as to question whether some of the grieving parents were crisis actors. He writes "This makes me wonder who we can trust anymore," and goes on to say "Watch, listen, and keep an open mind."

Did you post it?

HANLIN: No.

SIDNER: You didn't post it.

HANLIN: No, no. I know what you're referring to.

SIDNER: Yes. We're just trying to clear that up.

HANLIN: That's not a conspiracy theory belief that I have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Right now, of course, he wants to concentrate, as does this community, to be fair, on those people who are dealing with the worst loss of their lives, the nine people who lost loved ones and the nine others who have people who went to the hospital and were injured in this horrific shooting. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right, Sara Sidner, thank you so much, we appreciate it.

Ahead, Russia step sup air strikes in Syria. President Obama issuing a stern warning. Details, next.

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[14:27:49] DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sixteen-year-old James Langevin was volunteering at a local police station when an officer's gun accidentally discharged.

REP. JAMES LANGEVIN, (D) RHODE ISLAND: The bullet went through my neck and severed my spinal cord.

GUPTA: Langevin was paralyzed from the waist down and has limited mobility in his arms.

LANGEVIN: The question I had right from the get go, how am I going to live any kind of life going forward.

GUPTA: But Langevin did just that. He attended college, went on to Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and was elected a Democratic congressman for the state of Rhode Island, motivated, he says, by his own desire to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

LANGEVIN: When you tell me I can't doing something, I'll find a way.

GUPTA: He did find a way. On the 20th anniversary of the American's with Disabilities Act, Langevin made history.

NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: For the first time in our country's history, a gentleman with the challenges that Mr. Langevin faces is presiding as speaker of the House of Representatives.

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LANGEVIN: I hope that people can look at me and say here is a guy with tremendous challenges and difficulty but somehow he has made it.

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MALVEAUX: Checking top stories, Russia's defense ministry says its forces bombed nine ISIS positions near the terror group's de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, today. The ministry says 20 air strikes since Friday have hit various targets including ammunition and oil depots. President Obama is issuing a stern warning to Vladimir Putin, saying the U.S. will continue to support the Syrian opposition.

A priest who just came out as gay has been fired by the Vatican. In a video released by polish LGBT activists, the priest proclaimed his sexuality and says he has a boyfriend. This comes just a day before the opening of a meeting officious to address modern issues facing families. The priest spoke to reporters today with his partner, saying every homosexual person is a son of god.

[14:30:04] More just ahead in the Newsroom at the top of the hour. "Vital Signs" is on CNN, next. Happy to be with you.