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Missouri Flooding Prompts Evacuations; Water Overtops Levee Along Mississippi River; Recommendation To Evacuate; ISIS Leader Killed; City Retaken from ISIS. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 29, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Wolf Blitzer. It is 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London and 7:00 p.m. in Brussels. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you so much for watching us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KEILAR: And we begin now with some breaking news. We're bringing you some live pictures you're looking at right here. This is coming from the helicopter flying over Union, Missouri where you can just see all of the severe flooding that is going on. This is about a half hour north of St. Louis.

Residents in this area have been urged to evacuate immediately because the water level on the Mississippi River is rising there causing flooding.

And I want to get to CNN Meteorologist Tom Sater for more on this. You're obviously very familiar with this area, Tom.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

KEILAR: And they've been facing record rainfall and this is some bad news today.

SATER: It's terrible news. I mean, the radar, Brianna, shows it best. In fact, the storm system that dropped copious amounts of rain in the Midwest dropped over eight and a half at Lambert Airport. Now, the rain has moved out and the forecast is good.

But, already, the Mississippi River, when it reaches 33 feet, you start to get some major flooding and that's what we're seeing. Most of the flooding now, again, at West Alton where evacuations are voluntary, some are going to be mandatory soon as, again, rescues may have to take place. But the waters are going to continue to go up.

Now, again, this is nothing like it was in 1993 when massive flooding occurred, not just in the St. Louis area on both sides of the bi-state region of Illinois as well, but well out west where other tributaries, such as the Missouri, the Merrimack River as well, all come together.

Now, they have made improvements since 1993. But when you have historic rainfall like this, there's almost nothing you can do except wait now for the waters to recede.

The best news, Brianna, is that the conditions are going to be dry. We are going to see dry conditions extend through the weekend. That's fabulous news. But it takes a while for all of this record rain in the region to make its way from the smaller streams and tributaries into the larger rivers. And that's why we're seeing this.

Now, many times in downtown metro St. Louis, what first floods are some city parks and areas that are known for some flooding when the water levels can reach 30, 31, 32. But now, you're getting into a situation like this, this is West Alton, the Consolidated North County levee has been breached. And, therefore, you're seeing the pictures that we see there.

So, again, evacuations will continue and most likely, even though the waters will continue to rise, this area may start to recede as we'll watch the crest then make its way down stream.

So, again, it's a multi-faceted problem here. At least the rain has come to an end and that's very good news. But earlier, just a few days ago, major Interstate I-70, a major corridor through the central part of the country, was shutdown west of metro St. Louis around Mid Rivers' area. There is a historic St. Charles, Missouri. That floods and that will continue to start to see some problems.

Then, we'll follow that crest down the Mississippi River. Historic towns such as Farmington or St. Genevieve, maybe down toward the boot heel (ph) where Cape Girardeau and Paducah, Kentucky and possibly even further south than that.

KEILAR: And I do want to pull up some pictures that we have from St. Charles County because it seems like there's really two areas here that are dealing with the brunt of this. Right, Tom?

SATER: Yes, this is where the Mississippi -- the Missouri River and the Merrimack River, which are pretty good-sized rivers, all start to come together and meet the Mississippi. So, again, it's anything like it was in 1993 where they have really built up the levees and it has become quite populated even though it flooded thousands of homes back in 1993. It was total devastation.

But this is something and I should bring this up. It's very interesting what's going on around the globe right now. El Nino, the warming of the Pacific waters, has reached a peak. But it takes a while for the pattern to change around the world. What we're seeing here in the St. Louis and Illinois area is occurring in historic towns of northern England, York, Manchester, Leeds. Thousands of homes have been flooded from massive flooding there in the county of Cambria.

Also, Argentina, 115,000 have been displaced. In Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, massive floodings in parts of Australia derailing cars. The mudflow has been a problem but then there also the bush fires in Australia just like the fires we've seen in California.

Now, it has reached its peak, this El Nino, but has been so strong, it'll be -- most likely pretty much compared to 1997 which has been the threshold, we're going to see the effects of this, the patterns around the world, for at least several more months as the decline starts to -- and the cooler temperatures start to occur. But the pattern has been changed and we're going to see this at least until April or possibly May.

KEILAR: So, how many people do you think, Tom, are affected in this area and are we expecting that authorities have been able to tell them to evacuate in time that they can avoid injuries or certainly possible deaths that we've seen in some of these flooding situations?

SATER: That's a great question. It's hard to know exactly --

KEILAR: And just to pause -- just to pause real quick.

[13:05:00] SATER: Sure.

KEILAR: I think we are looking here at a football stadium. I don't know if that's a high school or what not. It looks like it may be.

SATER: Possibly, yes.

KEILAR: But you can see just the flooding there of the entire field. Sorry that I interrupted you, Tom.

SATER: No, no, that's fine. These areas have been flooded in the past. Again, these areas are prone to flooding, although quite not like what we're seeing there. And most likely, that could have been a high school in West Alton.

But, again, getting the word out. As most people probably understand when it rains for days and days and days, sure there can be some flooding. But when you have a levee breach, that's a completely different story. That's a wall of water slowly rising and, in fact, at times, can really pick up in speed. And those water levels just give no one no time at au all.

So, I do suspect there'll probably be maybe hundreds of calls for rescue workers to get some of these people out of their homes and out of their businesses that have been flooding as well. Because, obviously, it's during the week. Businesses are still, you know, up and running. Maybe not here anymore because, of course, they're going to be getting out the rafts. The crews are going to be going. They're going to be searching probably neighborhood by neighborhood, door by door in the businesses as well.

So, again, it has seen flooding in the past. But when you think that you're probably in the clear with the improvements that have made, you just don't expect something this fast when a levee gives way. And that's the dangerous part.

KEILAR: Well, so, they had built up the levies. So, what happens when you see a levee breach? Are there a number of different scenarios that happen and is there really any warning or none at all?

SATER: You know, that's -- I'm sure the Corps of Engineers have been checking all these levees, because they know that the rainfall was record-breaking. But there's different types of levees. Some are, you know, with concrete. Sometimes it's just a road that has been built up using the bulldozers. And, of course, they'll use that in minor situations.

But, again, when you have days and days of rain, the pressure of that water can be so great. It only takes one area to have a weakness, just like we've seen here at the Consolidated North County levee that has given way.

So, again, I'm sure they've been inspecting them. They did not quite expect something like this to occur.

KEILAR: What do authorities do from here? I mean, obviously, the immediate issue here is going to be responding to calls that they're getting from people who are caught by surprise by this flooding. But this is also going to be an engineering feat in order -- certainly to deal with the recovery and then to make sure this doesn't happen again.

SATER: I'm sure. And, in fact, what's happening right now in northern England, they're using helicopters to try to drop concrete and other materials to at least try to shore up that levee that gave way in the county of York -- or the city of York. Here, they may be trying to do the same thing. But they'll have a couple of days of dry weather so they may just wait until it recedes.

But, obviously, they're going to have to do something about that levee that has given way because we are expecting the rivers to continue to rise for the next 24 to 48 hours. Already 33 feet. That's a good flood stage and that's expected to go a little higher.

KEILAR: All right, Tom, stay with me.

I am going to bring in now Colene McEntee. She's on the phone with us from St. Charles County Emergency Management. This is where water has breached a levee in West Alton, I believe. Colene, give us the latest from where you are.

COLENE MCENTEE, ST. CHARLES COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via telephone): Yes, so, actually, water has over topped that bridge, the Consolidated North County levee on the Mississippi River in West Alton. So, the mayor of West Alton and the Rivers Pointe fire chief have directed residents of the city of West Alton to evacuate effective immediately. This is the final stage of the voluntary evacuation decree that the mayor issued on Sunday.

KEILAR: OK. So, this is the final stage of this voluntary evacuation decree. So, is it still considered to be a voluntary evacuation situation or is this mandatory at this point?

MCENTEE: This is still considered to be a voluntary evacuation. Again, you know, there's not the authority, you know, to force people to go.

KEILAR: Sure. MCENTEE: It is the final stage of the voluntary evacuation decree, you know, given the situation and the -- and then the flooding that's expected to occur, and the lack of access to the town, and the flooding of roads, you know, there is advise the residents to evacuate.

KEILAR: What kind of calls are you getting from residents?

MCENTEE: In terms of, you know -- we've gotten a variety of calls, you know, throughout the weekend, just residents, you know, concerned about the flooding situation as a whole all throughout the weekend here at Emergency Management. Just, you know, this has been just a unique situation here for St. Charles County as a whole.

KEILAR: Do you have to -- do you have your emergency responders -- is it all hands on deck, at this point in time? Obviously, a lot of them would be dealing with flooding as well in their homes.

MCENTEE: Yes, you know, at the police division of Emergency Management, we've been working with first responders throughout the community, ambulance, fire, other law enforcement agencies, you know, around the clock to, you know, coordinate operations, you know, during this time.

KEILAR: What about some of the more sensitive parts of the population there, older folks, for instance, who could be homebound or who certainly can't evacuate as quickly as some of the other residents? Is there assistance for them?

[13:10:05] MCENTEE: I believe, you now, Rivers Pointe Fire Protection does search, you know, and others are, you know, keeping an eye out on them and other, you know, law enforcement agencies have been, you know, law enforcement agencies have been, you know, keeping an eye out on those individuals as well and making sure, you know, that they get access to the resources that they need.

KEILAR: So, it's an important distinction that you make that water is overtopping the levee. It hasn't breached the levee.

MCENTEE: Yes.

KEILAR: Can you give us a sense of how quickly water is coming in, how -- is this along which part of the levee or a length of the levee that water is, essentially, overflowing into this area?

MCENTEE: I do not have, like, an exact length for where water is overtopping the levee. I just know that it is going over the top of the levee and they're expecting, you know, flooding to be imminent as roads, you know, within the town to be, you know, cut off and flooded, you know, within a matter of hours.

KEILAR: We're seeing, actually, some pictures here of folks who are putting sandbags along this levee, obviously trying to prevent some of this overflow that you're describing, Colene. Tell us about the efforts to try to reinforce and heighten the levees in an effort to stop some of this flooding. MCENTEE: Well, from what I understand, in regards to that levee in

that area, there -- in that particular area, there's not sandbagging going on. Although, I might be misunderstood because of the situation that it is in now. But, you know, like I said, may not have the latest update on that. But, again, you know, effective immediately, all the West Alton officials, and the mayor, and Rivers Pointe are encouraging everyone, you know, to get out of town as soon as possible, you know, as flooding is imminent.

KEILAR: All right, Colene McEntee with St. Charles County Emergency Management. Thanks so much for talking with us. An emergency situation there in Missouri. Record rainfall. We're now seeing levees overtopped, levees breached in this area where you see various rivers converging. And folks here in these live pictures you can see putting sandbags there to reinforce this levee in Union, Missouri. We are going to have more on this severe weather situation out of Missouri after a quick break.

[13:12:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:49] KEILAR: We are following some breaking news. A severe weather situation. You can see the flooding here. This are live pictures from Union, Missouri. Sorry, these are actually taped pictures that we just turned around moments ago to show you from Union, Missouri. This is one area of Missouri where levees have either been breached or overtopped as this state faces record rainfall here in recent days. And these towns and the infrastructure is just overcome by the sheer amount of water. An historic amount of water. You can see first responders have been there patrolling the streets. Obviously they're dealing with calls from residents.

The other area is West Alton, which is north of St. Louis. Union is west of St. Louis. West Alton, where you have rivers that are converging, and basically surrounding that town, just so much water coming through those rivers because of this record rainfall they have been overcome. We know that levees there have been overtopped, and that there is, at this point, an evacuation that is effective immediately. They've been in a voluntary evacuation. That's really as far as it goes in this area. And now they're in the final stage of an evacuation decree. That is officials saying in I guess you could say a more stern way to residents there that they need to get out.

I mean just look at this, you can see here, this is the goalpost from a football field in the area. We've been looking at just flooded stadiums and buildings where water is past the first floor. These are -- it's a very severe situation and already at this point we know, as we've seen causalities from this severe weather in Missouri today, we're hearing from officials there that three are dead today just from some of this severe flooding that you have been seeing.

We're going to continue to follow this. We have live pictures coming in, taped pictures that our affiliates there in Missouri are turning around, and we'll keep you posted on this. We do also through have some break news out of Syria where an ISIS

leader with links to the attacks in Paris has been killed in a coalition air strike in Syria. This actually took place Christmas Eve, so days ago, but the coalition says that the man, Charaffe al Mouadan was actively planning more attacks. CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott is with me now to talk about this. We also have CNN contributor Michael Weiss. He is in New York joining us. He is also the senior editor at -- he is a senior editor at "The Daily Beast."

Elise, to you first. What do we know about this man who was killed in this air strike?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, 27- year-old French ISIS fighter. This is not the first time he was suspected of terrorism. We believe that he was investigated for terrorism in 2012. But he traveled to Syria in 2013. And we understand from sources that he was in touch with some of the Paris attackers, and those who were plotting the attack, just days before the attack. Now, it's unclear what his actual role is, Brianna -- was, Brianna, but we do understand that he was in touch with more than one of the attackers, including Abdul Hamid Abboud, who was considered the ringleader of the attacks, Brianna.

KEILAR: And the U.S.-led coalition, Elise, says that al Mouadan was one of ten high value targets who were killed in December. How much do we know about the others who were targeted?

LABOTT: Not a lot. Some of them in Iraq. Some of them in Syria. But what the coalition is trying to do is tie this to some of the successes that they've had on the battlefield. The Iraqis and the Syrians against ISIS. What they're saying is, you know, some of the kind of middle management, if you will, not really the big fish, the ISIS leaders, but some of these middle ranked leaders. The fact that they are not able to help plan the attacks and help execute them they say is having a direct success to some of the gains that they've had on the battlefield, including the recent liberation of the center of Ramadi, they say, Brianna.

KEILAR: Michael, you have the coalition that said this is a target that was actively plotting another attack. What does that tell you about the quality of the intelligence that they have at their disposal right now?

[13:20:06] MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean they say that he was a senior member of ISIS. The fact that he's a 27 year old -- 27-years-old leads me to believe that that's probably a bit of an exaggeration. Paul Cruickshank, CNN's terrorism expert, has reported that one of the eye witnesses to the Bataclan massacre in Paris said that one of the gunmen, the ISIS gunmen, had referred to somebody one the phone as the attack was taking place as Suliman (ph). And Suliman apparently is one of the aliases of this -- this guy who was in Syria.

Look, the way it works with ISIS in terms of their foreign expeditionary activities or their terrorist operatives abroad, they tend to be -- to provide them with weapons -- with money and some logistical capability. But really once you get to Europe or in the west, you're on your own in terms of scouting the targets and surveilling them and all the rest of it.

It doesn't sound to me like this guy was, you know, very high ranking. To give you an example, the guy who essentially was responsible for setting up the ISIS (INAUDIBLE) in Libya, a man called Abu Amas al Ambari (ph), he's an older ISIS operative. In fact, he used to be a policeman in the Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. A native Iraq, by the way. The fact that he was -- this guy is a French national leads me to believe he was probably a part of the middle cadra (ph).

Now, he was in Syria, sure, but some of the other Paris attackers had been to Syria as well. and there's, of course, the -- you know, the rumor had been that one of them, the guys who basically chickened out at the end, might have fled and gone back to el Raqqa. So I'm still waiting to see more information and what the coalition really knows as opposed to what they're putting out here a few days later. And keep in mind, this is part of the new Pentagon push to resell the, quote, "narrative," that, yes, the strategy is successful and --

KEILAR: Yes.

WEISS: It's not like, you know, we're flailing and losing. So, again, you know, I --

KEILAR: (INAUDIBLE) yes, I mean certainly it comes as Americans are certainly wondering, we've seen that in polls as well.

Michael Weiss, thank you so much.

WEISS: Right.

KEILAR: Elise Labott, thank you so much.

WEISS: Sure.

KEILAR: And up next, I'm going to speak live with the Iraqi ambassador to the United States to get his take on the advance in Ramadi, and also the prospects for 2016 in the fight against ISIS. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:43] KEILAR: In Ramadi, Iraq, today, government forces are trying to get civilians to safety, just a day or so after Iraqi troops retook control of the city's center from ISIS fighters. You can see that families have been shuttled to an area outside of the city that is also under government control.

Meantime, soldiers from the Iraqi army swept the city's center for bombs after the ISIS fighters fled the area. Tribal leaders in Ramadi tell CNN that ISIS fighters still control about a quarter of the city and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has arrived in the city and said in a statement that security will be handed over to police and Sunni tribes. The prime minister also promised that the city of Mosul would be liberated from ISIS and ISIS would be defeated in 2016. A big, big promise.

So let's talk more about this now in this fight against ISIS in Iraq with Lukman Faily. He is Iraq's ambassador to the United States. It's a post that he's held now for almost three years.

And I want to begin, ambassador, with Iraq. We understand at this point that it seems about a quarter of the city still has some ISIS fighters in it. Is that your understanding?

LUKMAN FAILY, IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Yes, we have more or less cleared the main city, the center. We've also -- focusing on the residential areas to make sure that the civilians are out of way harms and to make sure that we cleanse (ph) the whole city.

KEILAR: So what is the challenge with trying to eradicate ISIS from that other quarter of the city?

FAILY: Booby traps, car bombs, using human shields within the civilian (ph). So it's a street fight inch by inch. And that's a key issue. These are all Iraqi citizens. We have to make sure that they are (INAUDIBLE) away of harm.

KEILAR: This is being heralded clearly by the prime minister as a victory for Iraq. Quite a turnaround from several months ago when Iraqi forces fled the city as ISIS came in. But this is just the beginning, as we understand it. There's so much more that needs to be done to hold this city. How confident are you that Iraqi forces will be able to hold the city?

FAILY: The whole reason that it took us a while to regain control of Ramadi and that part of Anbar (ph) was to make sure that we have the (INAUDIBLE) of the tribes, to make sure that the politics are there, stabilization, and making sure that people can go back to their homes. And this is considered a victory by all the standards. Iraqis have now retaken the initiative, mainly by the army, and that's a great sign here.

KEILAR: And not necessarily relying on Shia paramilitary forces as you try to get buy-in (ph) in that area, right?

FAILY: This is primarily a mainly Sunni tribe -- allied (ph) tribes who have contributed significantly with the ally (ph). Let's not forget that. They were the game-changer, and we keep wanting the allies (ph) to be -- play a part (ph) there.

KEILAR: We've seen pictures today of civilians who are being evacuated from the center of the city. There was a report that was issued earlier today and it says that Iraq has the highest number of displaced people this year. We're talking about some 3.2 million who have fled their homes. How is the Iraqi government coping with this?

FAILY: Well, certainly, this is a challenge. People -- some will now (ph) be out of their homes for over a year now, thus creates a (INAUDIBLE) to health care, education and so on. So we are responsible for that. We also need substantial international support and -- and stabilizing and reconstruction of these areas. Ramadi has had a significant impacted relation to destruction of the infrastructure. We need support there. The government is focusing on making sure that we cleanse (ph) these areas, that the people are safe, and also to get support, international support, and local allied support and others to make sure that we are able to control these areas that they're after. It's a long project. It's not a short-term project.

KEILAR: And there are other cities, obviously Mosul, that are even perhaps more important than Ramadi. A big promise from the prime minister that that is in the sights of Iraq forces. Talking to some officials representing the coalition, U.S. officials, they don't really commit to a time line when it comes to when Mosul is going to be taken back from ISIS. Do you have a sense of when that would be?

[13:29:46] FAILY: We are focusing on 2016. We have learned a great deal lessons from the liberation of Tikrit before and now from the Ramadi, to make sure that (INAUDIBLE) the people. We also know that we, from our side, as a government, we don't call this a priority or others. They're all Iraqis responsible where we have the responsibility (ph) of the state (ph) on them to make sure that we consider all of Iraq.