tv CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin CNN June 18, 2014 12:00pm-1:01pm PDT
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flores. thank you for joining me. and we move on. i'm brooke baldwin. and we move on. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the question now, will this meeting of the minds end with a u.s. strategy, a specific plan to stop isis militants before they reach baghdad or will it be mere discussions, consultations? we are hearing the military's top brass, including dempsey, have come up with a draft plan, a list of possible isis targets and ways to hit them, including dropping precision guided bombs from manned aircraft, and in iraq today, the political and economic stakes just got higher for the united states. isis militants stormed iraq's largest oil refinery. this is just north of baghdad. and at one point terrorists controlled most of that site. so this is significant here. also, if you look at the map,
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and baiji is the town with the largest oil refinery. you see the yellow, the southern section of iraq? oil refineries predominantly in that section of the country responded to what's happening in the north very quickly. oil giants even before this happened. exxonmobil, bp, began these massive evacuations fearing for the safety of their own workers. all of this as isis moves ever closer to baghdad. but the word from iraq's prime minister today, that everything is under control. joining me now, dana bash, chief congressional correspondent and mark kimmit. dana bash, let me start with you. right around now this meeting is happening at the oval office, not too far from where you are. do we know, will the president be presenting these top, you know, leaders in congress with a specific plan? or might he say -- we'll put the ball in congress' court, syria.
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>> reporter: it's unclear how specific he's going to get today but i can almost guarantee he's not putting any balls in congress' court right now, particularly when it comes to matters of war, especially on theish you've of iraq, for lots of reasons. congress doesn't want the ball in their court. you did hear a lot of calls for the president to come to congress first, before any air strikes in syria. not so much now. and i honestly think that the hard, cold truth is because they don't want their hands on it. we are just months before an election day. and they -- even those who are probably the most robust in saying there should be air strikes, should be a military response, probably wouldn't want to ask their constituents that because they wouldn't agree when they hear the words iraq and military force. i can say there certainly is a divide. not surprisingly, a partisan divide, over what to do. listen to both the house speaker and the democratic leader today. >> the president has been watching what we have been
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watching for over a year. as the situation in iraq continued to be undermined. and yet nothing, nothing has happened to try to reverse it. i'm hopeful i'll hear something today. >> it's not worth the blood of american soldiers. not worth the monetary cost to the american taxpayer. so mr. president, rather than spending hundreds and billions of dollars on the war in iraq, $1.5 trillion. rather than spending more money doing that, fighting george w. bush's war, how about we use that money to remanufacture our nation's infrastructure. roads, bridges. >> even though you just heard that from the democratic leader and heard similar things from nancy pelosi, both of whom fought vehemently against the iraq war towards the end of the bush administration, they are actually being more cautious, and that would appear with regard to -- maybe circumspect
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is the right word with regard to air strikes because they want options open for the president. >> general kimmit, let me ask you, there were conflicting reports over whether air strikes would be a viable option or scrapped. what about the do nothing option? is that viable? >> well, it's viable, only if we don't want the to have an iraq state. i think the air strike options in support of the iraqi security forces may be one of the best guarantees to keep this country together. >> the oil refinery city, the largest in iraq, in baiji. this is north of baghdad. taken by isis. you know, i've talked to a bufrlg of people who have been in iraq as we talk about the southern oil fields. they sa no way they could make it down there. what does that tell you about this strategy from this not ragtag -- quite sophisticated terrorist group? >> well, it looks like rather than try to it continue the assault towards bag tad, they're trying to connel consolidate
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their gains. it's a predominantly sunni area. they have the most civilian support in that region. it's highly unlikely they have either the manpower or the capability, or quite frankly, the desire to go well south into the southern predominantly almost exclusively shia area. >> and dana to you, as we know with these meeting in the oval office, will there be a stakeout camera? can we assume we'll be hearing from the mcconnells, pelosis, boehners, reids, most meeting? >> some we won't hear from, others waiting to see what happens in the meeting. and sometimes we try to read into the fact that they don't come out. maybe they know something they simply can't talk about. other times they actually make a bipartisan agreement, just to let the president do his thing. so we're going to wait and see what exactly happens at the end of that. we're not exactly sure. >> we'll be watching for it. dana bash, general kimmit, thank
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you both very much. the suspected benghazi raid mastermind is being interrogated on a slow boat ride to the united states. ahmed abu khattala taken by sea instead of by air allows the investigators maximum time to question him. we do know that this terror suspect didn't put up a fight when special forces captured him sunday in libya. khattala says he was directing traffic in benghazi on that september night in 2012 when fighters attacked the u.s. consulate and four americans were killed. i talked to one of the mothers, and an emotional and candid interview, patricia smith. she has so many questions. she says no one from the white house, not president obama, not hillary clinton, has answered. here she was. >> hillary clinton will be answering questions as part of a town hall in a couple of hours here on cnn. let me ask you, live on cnn, if you could ask her one question,
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because christiane amanpour will be doing so, what is your one question for hillary clinton? >> why did she not give security? to those people that were there? she sent them in there to do her thing, whatever it is that she was supposed -- they were supposed to do. which they did willingly, and my son i'm sure did willingly. and he would probably do it again, even knowing what the outcome is. but why can't they just tell me the truth? just the truth. that's -- that should be something that's allowable. she don't care. she wants to be president. >> well, our chief international correspondent, christiane amanpour, heard that interview, and pat smith's understandable emotional plea. hours later, christiane took smith's question directly to hillary clinton at that town hall. here she was. >> certainly, some of the family
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are still very distraught. one of the mothers said she still feels all this time that she has not had sufficient answers. how do you relate to her as a mother? >> oh, i totally relate to her as a mother, or to any of the family members of the four americans who were killed that night. i can see why she and others are inconsolable. there have been, as you know, a number of investigations, including the independent one that the state department commissioned, as well as many in congress. there are answers. not all of them. not enough, frankly. i'm still looking for answers, because it was a confusing and difficult time. but i would hope that every american would understand, number one, why we were there. because we need to be in dangerous places. and number two, that we're doing the best we can. >> the benghazi suspect, khattala, is set to face a federal trial in washington, d.c. just ahead, a hearing right now under way about the implications about that taliban prisoner
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swap. this as we learn new details about why bowe bergdahl has yet to talk to his parents. remember, he is now back in the u.s. at a texas hospital. also ahead, the u.s. government stripping the washington redskins of its trademarks over criticism the team name is racist. the bigger question is this. does that mean a name change could be in the works? we'll discuss, next, here on cnn. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are no branches? 24/7 i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally.
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trademark protection. why, you ask? because it says the team's trademarks are, quote, disparaging of native americans. now, the redskins say they will appeal this decision. they can also continue to use the logos. there is kind of a caveat to that. we're going to get into that. and they retain trademark protection throughout this appeal. but today this is seen as a victory for the five native americans who sued a representative for them says they are, quote, extraordinarily gratified to have prevailed in this case. former federal prosecutor teasy and stacy borits for "the washington post." this made it to capitol hill today. harry reid said on the floor of the senate today, dan snyder, own of the redskins, may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it's a matter of time before he's forced to do the right thing and change the name. do you think this is the beginning of the end of the
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redskins? >> well, i think that it might be. it might be the tipping point. i have thought all along it would take a major economic push to get the redskins and the nfl to begin to entertain the motion of changing the nickname. we have now had kind of three significant events in the span of about a month in that you had the 50 senators writing two letters to the nfl and harry reid involved in that. and also an ad that aired during the nba playoffs in seven markets. it was a very effective and pourel of ad, which was actually really, really sleekly polished and now you've got this. so i am kind of beginning to wonder. i still think -- i still think it's going to take a lot to change it. and you know, this has happened before. they -- there were a group of native americans, 22 years ago, who filed a trademark lawsuit. and that basically was -- the trademark office ruled in the same way it did today.
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and then they -- the redskins took it to court and it was turned down, overturned, rather, by the court. >> okay. so you say real economics would be that final tipping point. let me come back to you, because the court of public opinion is pretty interesting on this. but fred, as far as the law goes, what does this mean for the trademark? can the redskins say to folks who are hocking their gear, you can't sell our logos on our t-shirts or not necessarily? >> they can continue to do that. and, you know, unfortunately, if your ultimate goal is to get them to change the name and you think the economic sanctions and economic pressures will bring that it to bear, then this isn't going to help you. all a trademark is, is what the law calls constructive notice. your trademark rights come from the use of the mark in commerce. and so the redskins will continue to use this mark, and they will continue to have the right to preclude others. they can't put the little r in a circle on things anymore. and they can't go into federal court. but they can continue to enforce their common law trademark right. so ultimately, you know, you
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really want to bring pressure to bear on these guys, economic pressure in some other form. >> exactly what cindy was saying. so the power of the purse. but then you also have the power of the public, cindy. because the majority of americans, according to the most recent polls i've seen, over the last couple years, the majority of americans actually say that they don't think native american names, i.e., washington redskins, should be changed. could this be a door for the nfl to force a name change? >> yeah. i mean, i think that that's always a possibility. you know, for every poll that says there are people who favor the name change, there's another poll that says people are against it. it's rather difficult to get a grasp on just exactly where this is. overall. >> what about people in d.c.? >> i would say that in d.c. the nickname is overwhelmingly popular still. among the fans that respond to me on twitter and facebook. fans that i'm in touch with.
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>> go ahead, fred. >> i -- well, i personally think you've got to be cognizant of the fact some people find this name offensive. but as a lawyer, someone doing this for 30 years, including a fellow prosecutor, i get hinky when you start trying to strip people's rights away from them that have been afforded under the law for 150 years. i agree with the people who find this offensive. i think these people should effectuate a change of their name. but to start stripping people of rights, which are fundamental. trademarks are a fundamental part of our economic system in this country. and are very, very important. people like apple and microsoft and google find their trademarks very important. and we should not be taking steps to undermine them. >> so the hinky factor is there. but let me end with you, fred. when you both agree this really could be -- economics could change this, what specifically do you mean? >> right. stop buying tickets, stop going to the games and quite frankly -- >> go ahead, fred. >> well, merchandise sales or television. you take away their television revenues, you'll get their attention. >> cindy, you agree?
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>> absolutely. yeah. i mean, you know, this is a multibillion dollar enterprise. the most powerful sports enterprise in america. and once people stop buying stuff -- redskins merchandise is still tremendously popular. and once people stop paying money and once money stops flowing into the nfl coffers, then they'll take notice. they are, after all, businessmen. >> they are? this isn't just about the good of the sport? i kid. cindy boren and fred to usee. >> dollars and keblts. >> thank you both. i appreciate it. just ahead, a mother -- this is a pretty stunning story. a mother is accused of poisoning her own child, blogging about his illness, wanting sympathy. this is all now being called -- this is a case of, have you heard of this, munch hausen by proxy. we'll explain. and we are waiting word from the white house. president obama in a meeting right now with congressional leaders discussing options for
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iraq. could american air strikes be involved? we're watching, we're expecting video any second. stay right here. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. [ male announcer ] it's one of the most amazing things we build and it doesn't even fly. we build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators. we build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving america's veterans. every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be.
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>> thank you, pool. >> and that was 22 seconds of camera clicks and not much else. but i'll tell you, we're watching, we're waiting. stay with us on that. now this. the pictures of a five-year-old named garnett smith, feeding problems, diarrhea, vomiting, gets worse from there. it turns out, according to prosecutors, this little boy was suffering not from poor health, but allegedly at his own mother's hands. tuesday, lacey spears playeded not guilty to the second degree murder of her son who died in january. "usa today" reports, quote, the boy was alert and talking on the night of january 20th when friends visited him and spears in his hospital room. one friend recalled the 5-year-old pleading with her,
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don't leave me. westchester county prosecutor say spears overdosed her son with saline. >> it took us across five different states, hundreds of interviews, examination of thousands of documents. and a significant manpower commitment by a number of different agencies. >> with me now, hln's nancy grace and senior medical correspondent, nancy cohen. nancy, as a mother, when i read this little boy was pleading with this person, don't leave me in this hospital room, i know innocent until proven guilty, but it makes my skin crawl. >> those are the five facts about murder cases and child abuse cases i try to forget. i try not to think about them. but i can't help think about them. because that little boy was begging for help. this is what is so damning about it this. you might think it's going to be a toxicology or forensic case, because they're going to be analyzing hissish due and the
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fluids in his body at the time of his death. but listen to this. from the hospital, the mother, lacey spears, calls her neighbor there in chestnut ridge, and asks her to go and get the feeding bag she was using at home and throw it away. so police couldn't find it. what was in that feeding bag? salt. we would call it table salt. what it is, sodium. saline. overdosing her child on saline. and what's so incredible to me is that she actually blogs -- she blogs fror the world to see i'm watching my son come off the bed in pain. we are going to have to make a difficult decision to take him off life support. if this is at her hand, she's going down. >> she gained all kinds of sympathy, as you pointed out, through social media. through the years. and that's why elizabeth cohen,
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i just wanted to have you on, because she is being investigated for having munchhausen by proxy, which is all about, what, getting sympathy, keeping your kid sick, you want the sympathy from the hospital, which is further exacerbated by this world of social media. >> munchhausen syndrome is where you do it about yourself, make up things about yourself, munchhausen by proxy, someone in your care. it it is so sad. in the end, really it's child abuse. and they don't know why people do this. they do it for comfort, they do it to get attention. many of these people were abused themselves as children. and as you said, it used to be with munchhausen by proxy, would you get the sympathy of your doctors and immediate family. but now on social media, you're getting that sympathy constantly. >> to the hospital 23 times with this child. >> and you can bet the people at the hospital were suspicious. that would be my guess, they knew something was up. but it's very hard. what do you do? how do you follow through on that? i think sometimes it can be difficult to really nail that down. >> nancy, what happens next as far as she is concerned?
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what could she face? >> well, on her one-way trip to hell, she is going to make a little stop in the courtroom. what can medical personnel do? for one thing, if they suspect abuse, they can call cps, child protective services. if they really suspect that, it's duty to call department of family and children services. she is now facing murder 2. in that jurisdiction, the same as murder 1. it's called depraved heart when you do something so callous to someone else that results in their death. that's 25 to life. now, here's the thing she's got going for her. before this, she was believed to be, by many, a loving and devoted mother. it's going to be very hard for a jury to wrap their mind around a mother doing this to a child. you look at all those postings you two were talking about, you're absolutely right. they're having fun, he's giggling, with mommy, laughing.
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it's going to be hard for them to believe that she could do this to him. but forensics don't lie. >> nancy grace. thank you so much. elizabeth cohen, thank you. make sure you watch nancy grace on our sister network, 8:00 p.m. weeknights. as the situation in iraq worsens and president obama discusses his options with congressional leaders as i speak at the white house, anderson cooper is on the ground, live in baghdad, reporting on the crisis. we'll check in with anderson momentarily. also ahead, congress is holding a hearing right now on the implications of trading those five mid to high-level taliban detainees for bowe bergdahl. one of bowe bergdahl's fellow soldiers testifies, and what he says about bergdahl's disappearance. we'll share that with you, coming up. she's still the one for you.
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the different towns in iraq's sunni heartland, believe to be controlled by isis. keep in mind, some of those towns are contested with fighting happening right now. and that includes kirkuk, the major oil-producing city in the north. we have also gotten word today from military sources that the pentagon has begun to fly manned reconnaissance missions over iraq, and a list of possible air strike targets has landed on the desk of joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey. with me now from new york, colonel rick francona. welcome back to the show here. let's begin with air strikes. because in terms of what they can actually accomplish, we know they can kill individuals. but could they actually halt the advance of this entire rebel army? >> if they can find out where the logistics are, and the leading edge of vehicles. when these people move down these roads, and these are good roads, they move very quickly. and if you can detect them on those roads and you can stop them.
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air can be very effective in that case. once they get into the cities, it becomes a whole another problem, because they mix in with the local population. and then you run the risk of inflicting civilian casualties. if they can catch them in the open, yeah, it can be effective. i'm assuming that's the kind of targets they're looking for. these manned reconnaissance aircraft will be able to pick out the moving vehicles. >> have to assume that is being discussed at the white house. to the issue we have been talking a lot about today, the fighting for control of iraq's oil fields. right now, as we know, we have been looking again at the map, the fighting has been predominantly in the north, where most of the oil in iraq is in the south. should protecting -- colonel, should protecting oil fields be numero uno as far as priorities for the u.s. military? >> actually, not right now. the only real oil facility being contested right now is the baiji refinery. that's importantly domestically. half the refined gasoline comes from there. but the major production that impacts the world market is in the south. >> right. >> and the northern oil fields
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in the kirkuk area are pretty much under control of the kurds. so the oil is not really the issue right now. but we've got to stop these guys from getting to the capital city. >> okay. you were in iraq in a combat role 2003 to 2011. does the u.s. experience in iraq -- would that translate into a benefit for us? militarily speaking? or since you have this entirely new enemy now, being isis, is this a totally new ball game? >> not a totally new ball game. it's a different enemy. but we fought these guys before. aqi, they're the outgrowth of the al qaeda in iraq. they formed the islamic state of iraq and now expanded to include that part of syria up in the north. >> but are they more extreme? >> no, they're the same guys. >> okay. >> this is al qaeda and iraq. they're the same guys. they've gotten a lot better. they've gotten more sophisticated. so it's a different enemy. but we know the terrain, we know the area. and hopefully we can re-establish contact with the
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sunnis that supported us in the past. right now we have no contacts. >> colonel rick francona, thank you so much. coming up up next, congress is holding a hearing on capitol hill to discuss the trading of the five detainees for bowe bergdahl and one of bergdahl's fellow soders from his time in afghanistan is testifying. we'll talk about that. and hillary clinton talked about a lot with christiane amanpour. opened up about marijuana, for example. does hillary clinton think medical marijuana should be legal? stay with me. okay, movie night.everyone wins. how do i win? because we're streaming the movie that you love. well, how do i win? because we ordered that weird thing that you love from the pizza place. how do you win, dad? because i used the citi thankyou card and got two times the points on alllllll of this. well, and spending time with you guys of course. that was a better answer. the citi thankyou preferred card.
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this bloody attack on iraq's main oil refinery in the town of baiji. and then there's this. iraq is now officially asked the u.s. to launch air strikes against the rebels. let's go live to baghdad, to anderson cooper. and anderson, the new information and you know something about this, the investigation into these 59 high-ranking security officials accused of leaving their posts. what's that about? >> yeah. i mean, certainly, if you need more evidence of the disarray that iraqi security forces have been in over the last several days, an announcement made a short time ago here on iraqi television by a spokesman for nouri al maliki, the prime minister, also who has oversight of military and security forces. announcing investigations into 59 high-level officers of the iraqi military, also the police services and other high-level officials who abandon their post, even before fighting began in some of these areas. the fact that in a place like mosul, it wasn't even a question
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of iraqi forces losing on the battlefield, engaging with enemy fighters. they left in the advance of before enemy fighters got to the battlefield, taking off their weapons, taking -- dropping their weapons, taking off their uniforms and disappearing. their officers disappearing. so so now investigations, according to the iraqi government, into 59 high-level officials, high-level officers, who are said to have abandoned their post. if found guilty, could get the death penalty and could be executed under iraqi law. but it is just the latest sign of the really sort of pandemonium, especially in the early days that we saw among iraqi security forces. and we continue to hear reports of fighting still going on up in baiji for control of that oil refinery. the most important, the largest oil refinery up in the north of iraq. and, again, if that fell to the hands of isis and isis forces were said to control parts
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earlier today, that would be another major blow for the government and nouri al maliki. >> given what's happening in baiji, we have been dissecting possible military strategies for iraq. looking at history, talking geography. you are there on the ground. you're talking to iraqis. i imagine they're incredibly alarmed. >> look, there's obviously a lot of concern. there's a lot of uncertainty, but this is a place where people are used to that. they have been living like that for decades now. in baghdad, there is not a sense of impending catastrophe. though isis forces and their sunni supporters are said to be some 35 to 40 miles outside the city, and in the town of baquba where there has been fighting. it's a predominantly shia city, tens of thousands of volunteers. the feeling is that if forces were to get closer to baghdad,
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they would start to engage with more motivated forces. highly motivated forces. shia forces within the military who are in charge of protection of this city. and also a lot of these volunteers. you've got to remember, there are thousands of voluntary shia fighters, civilians, who have been fighting in syria for the last two years in support of the government of bashir al assad against isis forces and others there. they have heeded the call to return to iraq, to bolster the iraqi army here. so there's not a sense of panic in this city, because the feeling is, even though isis forces may be not too far off, what stands between them, where they are now and the gates of baghdad are a lot more motivated troops than what we have seen in some of these sunni areas. >> anderson cooper, we'll be watching tonight. 8:00 herein here on cnn, "ac 360" live from baghdad. thank you. happening right now, members of two house subcommittees
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listening to some pretty powerful testimony. these witnesses talking about testifying about the prisoner swap involving bowe bergdahl. the taliban held the army sergeant captive for more than four years. his release came in may, in exchange for those five taliban commanders held at guantanamo bay. some of bergdahl's platoon members say that he it deserted. and they blame that for the deaths of six soldiers who were out looking for him. we're learning new details from one of the witnesses who commanded the special forces assigned to search for bowe bergdahl in the weeks after he vanished. >> we were ordered to devote all resources and energy to the search for bergdahl. it soon became apparent, however, that the taliban knew we were conducting an all-out search for him. and they began feeding false information into our informant network in order to lure our forces into a trap. on several occasions, my men were lured into ambushes. including an afghan home rigged with explosives, a car bomb that
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was primed to explode, and other types of deadly traps. fortunately, the bombs failed to explode in those situations, but they were too close for comfort. other soldiers, as we know, were not so fortunate. all of us commonly understood at the time that bergdahl had walked off his post after a guard shift into a local afghan village. we knew, though, we had to do whatever it took to find him. and that was fine. but i have to tell you, all of my men, me included, were absolutely furious and resent of, frankly, that a fellow american soldier had put us into this position. but i'm confident saying sergeant bergdahl endangered the lives of thousands of men and women sent to search for him. he diverted scarce and valuable resources, search as predator drones, helicopters, ied clearing teams from other units that desperately needed those assets. >> also today, the father of fallen soldier, darren andrews, testified he heard from a handful of soldiers who say that
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his son was killed in afghanistan out searching for bergdahl, which he says is not what he was told by military officials. just ahead, hillary clinton weighing in on medical marijuana in that cnn town hall, talking to christiane amanpour. coming up next, let's get sanjay's reaction. sanjay gupta joins me. also ahead, world cup fever sweeping the nation. we'll take you live to miami, where some very excited fans are watching every single minute. stay here. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me,
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med-care. we deliver a better life. hillary clinton says she did not smoke pot when she was younger and has zero plans to try any marijuana any time soon. even when it comes to medical marijuana. the former secretary of state is not 100% ready to give it a thumb's up. she talked about her views on medicinal marijuana last night at the is not 100% ready to give it a thumbs up. she talked at the cnn town hall in d.c.. >> i think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. i don't think we've done enough research yet, although i think for people who are in extreme medical conditions and have anecdotal evidence that it works there should be available
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research. there is a lot that we don't know. joining me now to discuss our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. >> i don't know if hillary clinton saw your documentaries on weed, dr. gupta. you famously changed your mind on this. tell me why there are real benefits to this stuff. >> well, first of all, i also agree that more research needs to be done. i think everybody agrees with that although it's very difficult to do in this country, and i am happy to talk about that, but let me remind you, brooke, that marijuana has been used as a medication and used for medication for a couple thousand years even in the united states until 1943. it was part of the formulary under which doctors prescribed medications and it was there at the time to support its use. even now we have medications, known as marinol which is a veilable in the united states. another medication known as
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sadevex around the world. there's research that's gone into many of these things although much of it admittedly not happening in the united states. we talked a lot about the use of marijuana for epilepsy, for example and seeing some of these children who have responded to the use of a medicinal marijuana when other drugs didn't work was quite astounding and that stimulated more research. let me tell you the reason why not, brooke, as fascinating medically as it is socially, it is a schedule 1 substance and what that mean, just wrap your mind around this, what that means is it is categorized as something around one of the most harmful substances and also has no medicinal use and it's pre-ordained as having no medicinal use. you can imagine a researcher saying i want to study this, and i want to go to the various agencies to get approvals to study this and the answer comes back, look, it's schedule 1. it doesn't have any medical use and that won't be a fruitful
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laboratory for you. i agree with secretary clinton when she says that more research is necessary. part of the problem, though, is that it's just so challenging in this country at this time. >> can you just remind me before i let you go, what is the number one reason why you changed your mind? >> look, when you look at the united states research, what i think you see ultimately is a pretty distorted picture. most of the studies aren't looking for benefit. they're looking for harm and they're not giving the approval to study that benefit. for me is when i started looking outside the country and when i started looking at laboratories that were not depending on federal funding, when i started listening to this chorus of patients who i previously dismissed as malingerrors and wanted to get high. they're getting benefit when nothing else had worked and that started to change my mind and it also prompted an 18-month journey around the world to go see these things for myself and
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now i think it can have a real benefit to people and sometimes it can be beneficial when nothing else has worked and it's improper to withhold it as a result. by the way, i think secretary clinton said the same thing. in certain situations it may have real merit. >> if you haven't seen the documentary, the documentary, as i should say, "weed," part one and part two, thank you so much for that. >> coming up, world cup fever sweeping the country. we'll take you live to miami where fans are excited to talk soccer -- football, i'm sorry. stay with us. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪
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chile might surprise in the matchup. surrounded by i imagine, pretty rowdy fans. what do you have do they have to say to you? >> reporter: well, brooke, there is a bit of a contrast here between the espana fans, the spain fans and the chilean fans. i want you to look at this. these are the thillian fans and they're very, very excited by the fact that their team as of right now is beating spain. they are up 2-0. a sharp contrast if you look over here. this is a group of spaniards, span -- spain fans who are here, obviously, very, very disappointed at the moment, but brooke, they are hopeful that spain will turn around and come back. >> what -- what, exactly, is it? i imagine especially in miami,
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what is it about the world cup that has people packing bars in the middle of the afternoon? i mean, hello? don't some people have to work? >> yeah. i mean, think about it, it's a world party. it's the opportunity for people no matter where they are to come out to wear the jerseys and to have the flags of their countries and just really rally around this huge celebration of their culture, of their country and obviously, a lot of hope here today, as well, brooke. >> alina machado, thank you so much in miami for us right now watching that spain-chile game. before i go, just a quick reminder because we never really do this and i would like to start. go to our facebook page for some of our very best interviews and we were shooting a little behind the scenes video and we'll have it for you later, facebook.com/brookebaldwincnn and as always go to the brooke blog, cnn.com/brooke. let's go to washington, the lead
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with jake tapper starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com iraq today formally asking the united states on air strikes on militants swallowing up their cities. your move, mr. president. i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." president obama about to finish a meeting with the top four leaders of congress. will he emerge with a strategy to stop the bloodshed before it can reach baghdad? the money lead. what does the government do when the nfl has a name that is racist? hit them right in the trademark. how a rare patent ruling is putting pressure on washington d.c.'s football team. democrats will have a choice in 2016 between hillary clinton and hillary clinton, but there is a danger to being a likely front-runner this early even if you're not officially running for anything yet.
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