[Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] Outrage after the U.S. bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. Now the group is demanding a war crimes investigation.
[Errol Barnett, Cnn Anchor:] Plus, 18 dams have breached or failed in the wake of historic flooding in South Carolina. And the death toll is climbing.
[Church:] And later, California's Governor Jerry Brown signs a controversial Right to Die bill into law.
[Barnett:] Lots to get to in the next two hours. But first, we want to welcome our viewers here in the states and those of you watching from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.
[Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM. More questions are being raised about the deadly air strike on a hospital in Afghanistan. The U.S. commander there says Afghan forces requested air support during their battle against Taliban militants in Kunduz.
[Barnett:] But there are still no answers on how a sustained attack on the hospital took place at all. Three separate investigations are now underway. Our Barbara Starr filed this update.
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] International outrage after a hospital in northern Afghanistan was struck from the air by the U.S. The U.S. is investigating its role in the attack that left 12 medical staff and 10 patients, three of them children, killed, another 37 wounded. The hospital is it run by the aide group Doctors Without Borders, a global charity that works in war zones. They call the attack a war crime.
[Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] Well, again, I wouldn't use a label like that. This is something that continues to be under investigation.
[Starr:] Survivors described the horror to the BBC.
[Unidentified Bomb Survivor:] There were flames all around me. I saw patients and doctors burned to death. There was no place to hide.
[Starr:] The damage massive. An A.C. 130 gun ship like this struck the hospital with its onboard guns.
[Gen. John Campbell, Commander, U.s. Military, Afghanistan:] The Afghan forces advised they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces. An air strike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidently struck.
[Starr:] Doctors Without Borders says it gave the military the exact location of the hospital weeks ago. Furious with the Pentagon, saying, "They're description of the attack keeps changing, from collateral damage to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government. The reality is the U.S. dropped those bombs." Defense Secretary Ash Carter trying to reassure the group.
[Ash Carter, Defense Secretary:] We've been in touch with them to assure them that a full and transparent investigation will be held.
[Starr:] Doctors Without Borders' general director says the Taliban were not at the hospital.
[Christopher Stokes, General Director, Doctors Without Borders:] If there was a major military operation ongoing there they would have noticed. That wasn't the case actually when the strikes occurred.
[Starr:] Contrary to first reports, U.S. forces were not under attack, just Afghan forces. But nonetheless, a senior U.S. official says all strikes the Afghans asked for have strict approval procedures. Not all are approved. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
[Church:] And Sune Engel Rasmussen is a reporter for "The Guardian" newspaper, and he joins us now live from Kabul. Sune, initially, this deadly attack was described as collateral damage, then a tragic accident, and now the U.S. commander in Afghanistan says Afghan forces called for air support while battling the Taliban, so when will we likely get some more answers from the NATO investigation, on how this hospital was attacked? And why has the Afghan president been silent on this matter?
[Sune Engel Rasmussen, Reporter, The Guardian:] That's right, Rosemary. The explanations keep changing a bit, and the coalition forces are saying they expect some results of this inquiry in a matter of days. How long that will take a matter of days is what they say. Now, there are a lot of questions that remain to be answered, and from the statements that U.S. General John Campbell gave yesterday is not completely clear what actually what it means he said the Afghan forces called this an attack. That doesn't say anything about what the role of the U.S. Special forces on the ground was. This kind of power, military expression is very rare for this kind of military power to use as only after fighting in Kunduz, a hospital like this. Everything you just mentioned, they also said that the main building of the hospital was precisely and repeatedly hit, indicating that this was not an accident. Now, we don't know if the military knew it was a hospital they were shooting at. They were indicating they hit the building they were targeting.
[Church:] Yes. So many questions to be answered here, so what impact will this deadly and tragic impact have on the draw down of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
[Rasmussen:] It's a good question. President Obama as plans to withdraw almost all U.S. troops by the end of next year, he will keep around 1,000 troops to be housed in the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Now, there is word from Washington that there may be reconsidered. Some media reported today the president is considering sending around 5,000 troops. It's a sign that the Afghan forces are containing the insurgency on their own. It's a sign that the training mission, the NATO right now is conducting in Afghanistan, has some difficulties, maybe not as thorough as complete as some people would hope, and that all leads to questions about how long the forces should stay, and when the Afghan security forces will take full responsibility of security in their own country. When that is, is still a little unclear. The Afghans would like that withdraw to be solved.
[Church:] Sune Engel Rasmussen, keeping us up to date on the latest information. Bring us up to date there from Kabul. Sune, many thanks to you.
[Barnett:] Other stories we're following. Officials in Yemen say at least a dozen people are dead after a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a hotel. This happened at the Al Casa Hotel in the port city of Aden.
[Church:] Pictures show smoke coming out of the hotel which is used by government officials. The prime minister lives there, but it's not clear if he was actually in the building at the time. It's also not clear who's behind the attack. Well, Turkey has summoned the Russian ambassador over air space violations this weekend. Turkey says a Russian war plane flew over a southern province on Saturday and its air force intercepted the jet.
[Barnett:] The Russian plane continued into Syria and conducted air strikes. There was another incident on Sunday. On Monday, Turkey's prime minister said Russia blamed bad weather.
[Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister:] What we have received from Russia this morning is that this was a mistake. And that they respect Turkey's borders and this will not happen again. Turkey's rules of engagement apply to all planes, be they Syrian, Russian or elsewhere. Turkey's armed forces are very clearly instructed.
[Barnett:] Everyone has different views on this. Turkey and Russia don't see eye to eye over Syria. But Russia insists there was nothing sinister happening. NATO, on the other hand, called this incursion unacceptable.
[Church:] The U.S. Coast Guard says it's focusing on the search for survivors, from a cargo ship that went missing near the Bahamas. Searchers have found debris from the vessel including a life boat and unidentified human remains.
[Barnett:] 33 crew members were on board when the el faro disappeared in the midst of Hurricane Joaquin, they're no longer looking for the ship itself. We turn now to recovery efforts in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Historic flooding has caused at least 11 deaths. Two others were killed in North Carolina. Officials say, so far, 18 dams have breached or failed. The rain has stopped, but as CNN's Boris Sanchez reports, the threat of rising floodwaters remains.
[Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] We're standing on Highway 301 in Manning. If you look behind me, there is water as far as the eye can see. This is a major highway that leads all the way to Florida, but we can see water at least for a mile, covering this entire stretch of road. There are businesses all around, cars submerged as well. Officials tell us they don't know exactly when this water will recede, likely in the coming days if not the coming week. [voice-over]: More rain pounding parts of South Carolina. Officials are warning residents the danger is not over yet.
[Nikki Haley, , Governor Of South Carolina:] People are off the roads. They have really listened. But those that didn't listen, this is dangerous. This is very real.
[Sanchez:] Governor Nikki Haley said today there could be more evacuations, floodwaters likely to arise. Crews across the state have been working around the clock, rescuing people from their homes and cars as floodwaters rise. In Georgetown County, the fire chief tells CNN, one man was found clinging to a tree after his truck was swept away by an overflowing river.
[Unidentified Male:] A witnesses saw the truck pulling around the barricade, and he was pulled into the ditch in strong water. I hope it sends a strong message. This guy could have lost his life.
[Sanchez:] The call to stay on the roads, echoed by officials across the state.
[Haley:] This is not the time to take pictures. We have enough media out there that you can look at to see the pictures and see the views of what's happening in South Carolina.
[Unidentified Male:] Don't be stupid? I mean, that's the thing we keep saying, don't try to drive through flooded areas, you don't know how deep they'll be.
[Sanchez:] Crews are not only having to get to residents cars, but also, if you take a look behind me, that's a National Guard vehicle that came down as this bridge went out underneath it, is actually a car, just another sign of how powerful these floodwaters can be. [voice-over]: According to the governor, about 550 roadways and bridges are closed. Some completely washed out. In Clarendon County, dozens of streets are impassable. In Georgetown, along the coast, business owners rushed to pump water out, even with the threat of high tide looming. Thousands of residents in pockets of the state are also dealing with power outages and contaminated water due to sewage overflow. [on camera]: Despite the obvious problems here, there are some signs of progress. The lights are back on in town, and the water is slowly but surely receding. Again, we're not sure whether or not it's going to be raining in the coming days and making this situation possibly worse. Boris Sanchez, CNN, Manning, South Carolina.
[Barnett:] Joining me on the phone from Columbia, South Carolina, is Derrec Becker, the information officer for South Carolina's Emergency Division. Derrec, thanks so much for your time. I know you're busy. Let's get right to it. What's the latest assessment of the dam failures at breaches? And how much of a risk do they pose right now?
[Derrec Becker, Information Officer, South Carolina Emergency Management Agency:] Absolutely. We've received several reports of some localized voluntary evacuations issued by our local public response agencies in communities around the Columbia area due to dam concerns. We have reports of one dam being intentionally breached so it doesn't break further and they can control the water flow. The president has declared a disaster for several counties in South Carolina. That will free up many programs to be made available to the citizens who were directly affected by this storm.
[Barnett:] I should let our viewers know we have a bit of a distortion on the line, but we're going to power through this with you, because it's important information we want to get. These floodwaters we're seeing some footage of it now they're projected to move southeast ward from the Carolinas down toward the Atlantic coastline. Five of the deaths so far are as a result of people trying to drive through these waters. How long do you think that flooding threat will remain?
[Becker:] Everything we've been told by the state's hydrologist is that the flooding throughout the river system, unfortunately, is going to continue for at least the next couple days. The good news is, that tomorrow is the first time in weeks we've had no precipitation, no rain predicted for the state, anywhere in South Carolina, so that's the good news. The bad news is, the water that is here, will still be here. And many more communities further down the river could be put in harm's way, particularly homes, residential areas that are on waterways that are in the middle or next to smaller localized lake fills or dams. So we're not out of this disastrous situation yet. We'll have many more emergency response activities to take place, but we are starting to transition into longer-term recovery operations.
[Barnett:] And the top priority right now?
[Becker:] Top priority is going to be life savings. We're encouraging people to stay home, to not go outside or get on the roadways, unless they absolutely have to. Save 911 for life, safety or- life- threatening emergencies only, I should say. This is still going to be a hazardous situation. There's going to be sporadic road closures into tonight and tomorrow. It's all going to be based on rapidly changing conditions. As some of the waters recede, they will start to rise elsewhere further down the water system.
[Barnett:] Of course, do not try to drive through any of those flooded roads. Derrec Becker, on the line with us from Columbia, South Carolina, the information officer for the Emergency Division there in the state. Thanks so much for your time today.
[Church:] And our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, joins us now. As we've heard there, just because the rain has stopped doesn't mean the danger is over.
[Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] That's a serious note to make. It will be sunny on Tuesday afternoon across South Carolina. It's rained tremendous amounts upstream as well. The way the land is, the water will want to flow downstream, we saw this in 2010 in Pakistan, it caused many fatalities downstream, in Thailand, 2011, we had upstream flooding down by the sea level area, a lot of that water flows downstream. The rain has stopped, it's going to stop here shortly at least. The conditions are not going to improve in the immediate future. Before and after images we're getting across the state capital of Columbia, South Carolina. You see the significant damage done to the property with the water coming in. I often talk about getting one foot of moving water the lateral force of that is 500 pounds. 220 kilograms, the amount of weight associated with the amount of water here's the rain at this hour. The last bout of what is left with the storm system, the drying condition goes to push into this region, it looks like conditions will want to improve, and certainly, psychologically at least, people finally see some sunshine over the region, the Appalachians get up to as high as 3500 feet. Roughly 1,000 meters. We have hundreds of rivers and tributaries. We're down to sea level. all of that water wants to flow, make its way into the Atlantic ocean. We know there's been so many blockages, so many areas where property is locking up, some of the rivers and dams. They have been jeopardized as well. It's a recipe for trouble if everything doesn't go perfectly well. Look at Joaquin, the remnants will become an extra tropical storm, meaning it loses tropical characteristics, and could impact portions of Western Europe by later this weekend. So the rainfall not done for just about everyone. And you know, it always comes back to this climate change, related to what's happening here. What I've been telling people recently, we know our planet is warmer than it was in the 1970s. We have more water vapor, the more heat we have. We've seen on the order of 5 to 10 percent increase in the amount of rain we're seeing in any particular extreme rain event. Just about every single weather event, in some way, is related to climate change. You can't pinpoint a specific one.
[Barnett:] Get used to storms like this?
[Javaheri:] The data supports more water coming down from storms.
[Barnett:] All right.
[Church:] But not in the right places a lot of times.
[Javaheri:] Unfortunately.
[Church:] All right, thanks, Pedram
[Barnett:] Pedram, thanks California's governor signs landmark Right to Die legislation. Coming up, we will hear from one opposition group that calls the new measure flawed. We're back in a moment.