Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20170625

Here in the United States and all around the world. Im george howell. And im natalie allen. And cnn news rocnn newsroom s now. And we begin the hour with a deadly explosion in eastern pakistan. At least 120 people are dead, dozens more injured after an oil tanker exploded in the city sunday morning. The tanker reportedly left the road following an accident then villagers gathered to collect the oil, and that is when the truck exploded. An emergency has been declared in the city as well as in nearby towns. Cnn producer sophia saufy joins me with the latest on the situation there. Reporter yes, its a very horrific situation. It was supposed to be a time of celebration, the last day of ramadan here in pakistan. Tomorrow is a massive festival. There was a Public Holiday declared for the rest of the week. And this was not supposed to be a time of such tragedy. What we do know at 6 30 this morning, an oil tanker collided with another vehicle and fell off the road into a nearby field. This is where villages from nearby came on their bikes, carrying pots, pans, any container they could find and started carrying off as much fuel as they could in these containers. And ten minutes after they arrived, according to police sources, that is when the explosion took place. There are a hundred, over a hundred injured. We have a death toll of 120. Theres a medical emergency across the province in that region. And then in other parts of the country as well, because helicopters are taking them from one place to the next. So were seeing a medical emergency unfolding with numbers expected to rise. We can tell from the video that it was a very horrific fire and explosion that happened there. And there are no hospitals in that immediate area which have burn centers. So where are these people being taken . Reporter well, this is a matter of grave concern. They have basically, there are no burn centers. There are no proper facilities. So you have the military sending out helicopters to try to help the victims to other cities across the border and other major hospitals. The chief Ministers Office has sent in helicopters to airlift these victims from this area to other cities, a province of punjab. Hospitals are on high alert. There are numbers that are expected to rise. And theres a lot of growing anger against the way this is being managed. Because when i spoke to various police officials, many were reluctant to share numbers. But theres a share of graphic photographs, images that are very haunting and theres a lot of anger spewing on social media and on the ground right now as to how the government is managing this. It is supposed to be a tay of celebration and what a horror there. Thank you. Now to china. Authorities say the outlook is grim after a land slide that happened saturday. At least 24 bodies have been recovered. This disaster struck a village in the szechuan province. State media report a couple and their baby made it out of the rubble alive. But a local official admits it is unlikely that more survivors will be found. Matt rivers is following the story live in shanghai this morning. Were hearing of course from officials the officials theyre a lot less optimistic about the possibility of finding survivors. What are they saying about this recovery operation as it stands right now . Reporter yeah, thats the main sentiment youre getting from government officials. We are now some 30plus hours on after this happened. Really nearing 40 hours at this point, that there really is slimming chances of finding people alive, and that if they did find someone, it would be quite a miracle. Now there are some conflicting reports as to exactly how many bodies have been recovered from the rubble at this point. The latest reporting from state media that cnn has been relying on here is that 24 bodies have been recovered from the rubble. But that number is expected to be very fluid and could go much, much higher as 109 people remain unaccounted for at this point. The numbers have been changing slightly. So we can expect those numbers to not stay the same, especially as the hours go on and rescue workers continue their very grim work. Theres over 2500 rescue workers on scene there. They have 150 ditfferent machines. There are search and rescue dogs as well. So theyre doing their very best in what is extremely challenging conditions you can see from the pictures, just how expansive this landslide was. There as a number of different challenges facing rescuers, something the government has been very forthright about. Lets show you a little sound from the vice governor talking about this very step. Translator according to the geologists who have participated in the rescue operations, the chances of the missing persons surviving a landslide from such a height is small. Large scale Search Operations are hard it to conduct. In addition, the rescuers cant dig too deep to avoid triggering a new slide of the rocks. However, we will spare no effort and regard saving peoples lives as our top priority. Reporter but as far as sparing no effort, we dont doubt that, but they certainly face a litany of challenges, not the least of which is that sundown is coming in a few hours and it is expected to rain over the next few days, so they certainly have very difficult conditions in which to do their grim task of trying to find anyone alive, more than likely just recovering the bodies of those ha we those that were buried. As far as the cause, researchers are saying this can be tied back happened in szechuan province in may of 2008 that loosened the structure of these mountains. Heavy rainfall over the last couple days combined with that structure, loosening that slide. Well have our own derek van dam to tell us more about what you were describing. But matt, thank you pour tfor t reporting. Well stay in touch but. Its been one week since the uss fitzgerald collided with the cargo ship. It was much larger than the fitzgerald and nearly three times as heavy. Reporter u. S. Navy investigators are starting to learn some new details about the collision between a cargo ship and the uss fitzgerald which cost the lives of seven u. S. Navy soldiers. This investigation is ongoing but some of the initial details beginning to emerge is where the collision took place, on the starboard side of the fitzgerald, impacting the berthing areas, the sleeping quarters, forcing sailors to use Satellite Cell phones to communicate with headquarters as they attempted to keep the ship aknow. Investigators are most interested in finding out how this collision could have taken place without any of the crew aboard the fitzgerald being able to detect the incoming cargo ship and avoid the collision. Now theyre going to be reviewing radar data from the sophisticated aegis system as well as weather and other information from the cargo ship to find out how such a tragedy could have taken place that cost the lives of seven u. S. Navy sailors, back to you. Syrias staterun news reports several people were killed saturday by israeli airstrikes near the countrys disputed border in the comGolan Heights. In the meantime, israel has stepped up involvement in syrias civil war in recent months. The two countries share a border, more than 60 kilometers long, about 38 miles. Cnns ian lee spent the night with an Israeli Intelligence unit as they deployed to that area. Reporter tonights mission utilizes the darkness for cover. We are joining an israeli unit gathering intelligence on the neighboring civil war. The final orders from the commander were quickly and quietly, well be tens of miles from syria. They occupied the Golan Heights in 1967. The two states clashed again six years later in a massive tank battle. That was conventional warfare. Today, advanced israeli units patrol the frontier, watching the regime, rebels and isis on this vast, unconventional battlefield. Earlier in the day, we witnessed such class, automatic gunfire in a nearby syrian village. Fighting occasionally spills over. Last november, isis attacked an israeli patrol. A tank silenced the terror groups guns. The blazing moon illuminates the countryside and us. Soldiers secure the perimeter before beginning their mission. Were a few hundred meters from the security fence right now, just behind me. If you listen closely, you can hear dogs barking, vehicles moving around. Im told you can also hear a tank. Its a t55. Yes. Reporter a rebel tank idles roughly a mile away. The night skoeb observcope obse crew, unaware theyre being watched, smoking a last cigarette before bed. Were tracking all of the factions, the Battalion Commander tells me. We know how to differentiate and separate them. Theres a contingency for each threat. Over the past years, Intelligence Units witness attacks, regime movements and rebels training. One group in particular gets special attention. Hezbollah and lebanon and syria threatens the state of leal. We know their tactics. The unit finishes, camouflaging the position. We leave. Their watch has just begun. One hour down, 59 to go. Ian lee, cnn, in the Golan Heights. Ian lee, thank you for the report. Still ahead here on newsroom, the u. S. President is trying to shift the russia investigation away from himself. Next, why hes pointing the feng fenger to the man who held the job before him. Nger to the man job before him. Inger to the man job before him. Im only in my 60s. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan. 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So we found a plan that can travel with us. Anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. Remember, all Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. And welcome back to cnn newsroom. U. S. President donald trump is trying to shift the russia investigation away from himself and onto the former president barack obama. Mr. Trump is reacting to a Washington Post story that details how and when mr. Obama first learned that russia tried to sway last years election in favor of mr. Trump. That report also details how mr. Obama and his advisers wrestled with various options for retaliation. Our athena jones has more for us. Reporter the president has been wrestling with that report. It seems he accepted the conclusion that russia meddled in the election. This after calling the russian meddling story a hoax and a phony. Now its certainly possible that the president was just responding to this Washington Post report and not making a definitive same about his own beliefs about the election, but it was noteworthy. He continued his responses to that story on saturday, with a couple more tweets, ill read them to you. Even put them on the screen. He said since the Obama Administration was told way before the 2016 election that the russians were meddling, why no action . Focus on them, not t, trump. Another tweet, the Obama Administration officials said they choked when it came to acting on russian meddling of election. They didnt want to hurt hillary . That second tweet a direct troefrns a quote included in that Washington Post article. So its clear the president very much focussed on this story and wanting to shift the blame to his predecessor and away from himself. I should mention that he followed up those two tweets by talking about the Health Care Bill pending before the senate, putting pressure on republicans to vote for the bill, since it is of course republicans who are standing in the way. But its still very, very clear that the whole issue of russian meddling remains top of mind for the president. Well have to see what he tweets today. All right, thats from athena jones earlier today. Thank you, athena. A disturbing trend has emerged in the trump white house. Unprecedented restrictions on the news media that effectively shut out the public from the daily news briefings. More and more theyre held off camera. Oftentimes the audio is delayed. Cnn pushed back by bringing in a sketch artist. Media reporter Brian Stelter explains why the white house is doing this and why it is a mistake. Reporter the banner on the bottom of the screen sometimes says white house in crisis. It very much is. But when you think about the russia investigation, the trump aide that has been under scrutiny, but the white house wants us and the American People paying attention to events like yesterdays v. A. Signing, the new legislation intended to improve the vrmt a. It wants to focus only on that and not on these other stories. I think theyre making a mistake by requiring these events to be off the camera. In the mind sean spicer. That was Brian Stelter speaking with ana cabrera. And we are joined from london. Shes a frequent guest. Leslie, thank you for joining us u wi us. With the Washington Post report, we know the Obama Administration was conflicted in how to act, and as we saw in the athena jones story, trump tweeted this, obama officials said they choked when it came to acting on russian meddling of election. They didnt want to hurt hillary . As i understand the Washington Post report, they were concerned, their administration, that it would look like they were helping hillary thats right. We have to remember how intensely partisan the entire climate was not only in washington but well beyond. So president obama and this is detailed very well in that Washington Post report that he was very concerned to the extent that he would make a statement, that it needed to be bipartisan. So he worked very hard to try and develop a bipartisan commitment, and he failed to get that, so he was very reluctant, i think, to speak out and make look like he was trying to influence the u. S. President ial elections. The idea that the meddling could come back on the presidency, you can understand why that would be the case. It was a toxic environment and difficult to understand how to deal with the situation. Its easy to look back now and say more could have been said. If you look at Donald Trumps reaction rather than the russian meddling and disinformation campaign. Its becoming a partisan issue. Hes looking back to the last president to cast blame and deflect attention not only on the question of russia but on his own role. So in august, when president obama first became aware of this, when the first cia report came out, his instincts were to tread very carefully, to look for a bipartisan commitment and to be sure that the intelligence agencies were united in their sense of what was going on. And that wasnt initially the case. This special prosecutorer, mueller, he, he, President Trump is making a case that mueller and james comey, the fired fbi director are friends. More likely acquaintances, not close buddies, but does that taint muellers investigation, the appearance that they know each other and run in the same professional circles in washington . Its difficult to imagine appointing a special counsel. This is one of the serious appointments who have been made. These are professionals working in intelligence with similar expertise, but to suggest that these arent deeply serious people, i think muellers got incredible support from across the aisles. Hes seen as a very, very serious, credible person. So, but, again, Donald Trumps trying to look in the wrong direction, to suggest that people might not be taking their roles very seriously. I dont think hes going to get very far with this. There have been question marks about whether he would actually dismiss mueller, seems very unlikely that this step would be taken. It would make the allegations of obstruction of justice look much more credible. And i think it would cast too much dispersion on the presidency. Lets talk about the other issue we just had a report on, starting to cast shadows kind of over the white house with the media. Mm. Not able to air these briefings live and let the American People see how the president s spokes people speaks on his behalf with so many important issues. Its almost like what is the white house afraid of . Yeah, i think the white house right now certainly, the president and those around him, are very concerned about safe barding t guarding the message and given that donald trump is using the twitter feed innerat erat ecrat. Its deeply problematic not being able to listen to the public listening to this live, not being able to ask the right questions and not having the level of scrutiny and debate, which is absolutely essential to american democracy, and, again, its going to raise a series of questions about the ethics surrounding the office. Freedom of press, the extent to which the president takes the process of democracy seriously. So its very, its very worrying. All right, the Washington Post has the banner, democracy dies in darkness. So this is a big issue. It is a big issue. We thank you, Leslie Vinjamuri for us. A major debate over health care is brewing in the u. S. Nat. Next, you will hear from three doctors about what they think about the latest plan to replace obamacare. Plus russias big investment in cyber warfare, what it means for the u. S. And its allies. Youre watching cnn newsroom. These days families want to be connected 24 7. Thats why at comcast, were always working to make our services more reliable. With technology that can update itself. And advanced Fiber Network infrastructure. New, more Reliable Equipment for your home. And a new culture built around customer service. It all adds up to our most Reliable Network ever. One that keeps you connected to what matters most. A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Youre watching cnn newsroom. It is good to have you with us. Im george howell. And im natalie allen. The headlines this hour. A tanker exploded in eastern pakistan killing 120 people. At least 120 people were killed, 130 injured. The tanker reportedly went off the road in a crash and villagers had gathered to collect the oil when the truck exploded in china, at least 24 people are dead, more than 100 missing after a massive landslide. It struck in szechuan province saturday. Dozens of homes were buried. About 2500 rescue workers are searching for survivors, but at this point it looks very grim. Pressure over fire safety in apartment blocks across the country. 34 buildings across the uk have failed safety checks. Some residents had to evacuate after the london fire brigade deemed their buildings unsafe the uk House Parliament says members email accounts came under hack. They temporarily shut down remote user access. A look again at the Major Political battle on hey, brewing here in the United States, repealing and replacing obamacare was a Major Campaign promise by president donald trump. He hasnt been able to do it yet. Thats right. A big story and a big push for legisla legislators at this point. But the Senate Bill May not have enough support to move forward. Five republican senators say they wont vote for the bill in its current form. Mr. Trump took to twitter and said the following. Quote, i cannot imagine that these very fine republican senators would allow the American People to suffer a broken obamacare any longer. As expected, Bernie Sanders is harshly criticizing this new bill. Let me be as clear as i can be. This socalled Health Care Bill passed in the house last month is the most antiworking class peace of legislation passed by the house of representatives in the modern history of this country. And the senate bill in some respects is even worse. Well, critics say the Health Care Senate bill will benefit the rich and the young, while hurting the poor and the old. Few people understand health care more than the doctors who see how it affects the patients that they deal with on a daily basis. Martin savage spoke with three physicians about what they think about obamacare and this new plan to replace it. Here it is. Washington state, an hours drive west of seattle. Like anywhere in america, a place where people need health care and a way to pay for it. Kristin gunnerberg is a surgeon, peter layman a primary care physician and illan. I voted for the libertarian candidate. I voted for donald trump. I voted for hillary clinton. Reporter you might think theres little they agree on. Wrong. They all believe the Current Health care system is unsustainable. Can i say its broken . Yeah, its unequivocally broken. Ask any patient. Yeah. Do they think its a system that serves their needs and that theyre happy with . Reporter under programs dominated by health insurers, patients are frustrated because they cant get an appointment to see a doctor and when they do, only get a few minutes. Its all about numbers. Were kind of looking the wrong direction, i think. We need to be looking at how to provide quality care for patients without driving up price. Reporter thats the democrat doctor criticizing obamacare. And the trump doctor says the new gop plan is just as bad and will cover fewer people. Well, i dont think its better. I think were probably on the wrong track. Reporter the doctor even told trump that in a letter she supposed online, begging, please go back to the drawing board and start again. The problem, they say, is not all the talk about which partys Health Care Plan is better. Its that washingtons having the wrong conversation. Were spending too much time talking about how do we cover people with insurance rather than what . Rather than talking with patients about the price for care and what is really, what is the real cost. Reporter the sky rocketing cost of everything in health care is what they say make it unacceptable. Doctors have a lot of good ideas on how to fix things, except whenever democrats or republicans discuss health care reform, the doctors say theres always something missing, which they noticed again in a photo of trump and his team. There were no physicians. Not a one. Reporter what about the doctor trump appointed secretary of health . Tom price, they say, has for a long time been more politician than physician. Why wouldnt we come to you . I mean. You are on the front lines so to speak. Front line practicing physicians have a long history of not necessarily being at the table. And i think its a shame that we havent been, because, if we had been more involved from the beginning, we might be in a different position. Reporter i should probably point out that these doctors dont want to come across as just dumping on Health Insurance. They believe Health Insurance has a role to play, its just not the whole solution. And they want to be part of the active discussion. Because they say maybe more than anybody they know that whether its obamacare or the latest republican plan, when it comes to health care in america, we just cant keep going the way were going. Martin savage, cnn, bremerton, washington. Debate over russias cyber ability has dominated political news in the u. S. Since the last election. They will only grow bolder and more sophisticated. We have more on russias deepening investment in cyber warfare. Reporter guns and laptops, a slick appeal to russias top scientific brains to join the army. If you have technical skills, it says, we want you. Its about modernizing the Russian Military says one programming expert. Translator its not about the Defense Ministry hiring hackers. This is about hiring young graduates who can use intellect for new technology. Reporter modern warfare is not so much tanks and missiles but the battle in cyberspace. We created Information Warfare sources. It is way more effective and powerful than what we created before in this area. Reporter the view here is an arms race. Translator when the u. S. Created its cyber command, which had a global function, including influencing the enemy, of course we understand that by the enemy, they usually mean russia. Reporter and its not just the military. Russias Intelligence Services are also part of this hybrid warfare. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. Reporter former fbi director james comey saying theres no doubt the russian state tried to influence the u. S. Election, sowing doubt in georgia, crimea and ukraine. Russia tries to hire hackers the same way. And they face the same challenges. They are competing with organizations that can pay much better than the organized services. But russia does have the additional leverage of being able to offer people a choice between prosecution and cooperating with authorities. Reporter they have sought western technology. Wikileaks released a trove of emails from an Italian Company called hacking team. They have software that allows governments to spy. And it was obtained by this group. It is controlled by russias state security service, the fsb. They wrote of their business relationship, they are already testing our product, and we are going to arrange with their support a visit to moscow in may, but we will be able to meet fsb people. They used advanced communications to seal the deal. Neither would comment. Hacki hacking team said their software was designed to keep people safe. That case is one example of russias cyber superiority. This is an extremely sensitive subject. Sometimes because of the hazy line between the state and what Vladimir Putin calls patriotic hackers. However haziy the methods, it i clear to see. Claire, thank you. Still ahead, a look at the weather in china. After saturdays landslide, how that could affect the ongoing rescue efforts. Stay with us many. If you have medicare parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what . You could apply for a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. And like all standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. So dont wait. Call now to request your free decision guide. It could help you find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. These types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Rates are competitive, and theyre the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Remember these plans let you apply all year round. So call today. Because nows the perfect time to learn more. Go long. Back now to china. Rescue workers have pushed through the night, looking for survivors after saturdays landslide. The disaster struck a village in szechuan province. More than 100 people are still missing. 24 bodies have been found so far. A couple and their baby reportedly came out of that rubble alive. But a local official admits its unlikely that more survivors will be found. Our meteorologist derek van dam is with us now for more on the impact of the weather conditions as they spend the next few hours with the critical search. Were also learning more about what caused the deadly landslide. We know that rain triggered the landslide, but we are finding out from authorities that a previous earthquake in may of 2008 was actually responsible for destabilizing the mountain side. Remember the terrain across this region towers over 4,000, even 5,000 meters. So very, very large mountains across szechuan province. Again, rescuers searching through the night. This is the overnight period into sunday morning. And with high mountainous terrain, steep, steep mountains and the rainfall theyve experienced lately led to this ultimately disastrous scenario. Going forward, for the search and rescue efforts, the closest reporting weather station that we could find was in the southwestern sections of china in the szechuan province. That has a try forecadry foreca look to the north and west where the landslide took place. You can see precipitation occurring over the next two days. Mountainous terrain does not take much to produce rainfall or snowfall depending on the temperature. This air mass is forced to rise over the mountains. It cools, condenses, creates cloud cover and ultimately rainfall. And a lot of that rain falls at the topmost parts of those mountains. Authorities are telling us here at cnn that that is actually where the land slide was triggered, the top part of that mountain, sliding down the entire mountain side. So theres the threat of additional mudslides and landslides going forward, with more rain, 2550 millimeters expected. But not only is the threat of additional landslides going forward, but natalie, george, the search and Recovery Efforts are definitely going to be impacted by the rainfall that is potentially ongoing for the next several days. All right, derek, thank you. Qatar says demands by nations to end the boycott of its nation are unreasonable. They have been accused of supporting terrorism, which is a charge that nation denies. Following the story, Jomana Karadsheh joins us. There is a timeline attached to these demands, but given qatars response so far, what indications are you hearing about where things go from here . Reporter well, you know, george, its really looking highly unlikely that youre going to have qatar agree to this list of sweeping demands. And weve heard from qatari officials saying that three are reviewing them and that they going to respond through the mediator in this case, that is kuwait. But weve also heard what youve just mentioned, qatari officials saying these are unreasonable demands. They say it that this is not really about combating terrorism. They say that was used as a pretext to go after qatar, to push itna a corner, to try and get concessions from this small country that really has so much influence, george, economically, politically, diplomatically in this region and beyond. And the feeling is that this is something that has irritated its bigger and stronger neighbors like saudi arabia and the united ar arab emirates, they want to see qatar change its foreign policy. The big question is what happens next if qatar does not comply. We heard from the United Arab Emirates saying that diplomacy is the way to go. But they say if qatar does not comply they will be parting ways. We will see a parting of the council. They are open for dialog. They want to resolve this crisis, but one thing they will not accept is anyone dictating what qatars policy should be. We are hearing from turkey, turkey supporting qatar. The question is does that nation have enough support in the region to withstand this bh blockade. Thank you for the reporting. Next here, the battle over a controversial symbol is heating up once again and why it is putting the big chill on a u. S. Community. Welcome back to newsroom. For a lot of people in the town of orangeburg, South Carolina, the struggle pour for civil rights is still fresh in their minds. Three africanamerican men least their lives when Police Officers fired into a crowd of protesters in 1968. Against that backdrop, a small ice cream shop owner is in a struggle with his neighbor. A confederate battle flag is next to his restaurant. Getting it removed has led to a battle. Victor blackwell has this report. Reporter this stretch of john c. Calhoun drive is flanked by two unambiguous landmarks. And each in its own way signifies where you are. On the right, a sign welcoming you to orangeburg, South Carolina, population ruffoughly 13,000. On the left, a Confederate Flag right next to the sign for the edisto creamery. Everyone in orangeburg has an opinion about the flag at the ice cream shop. It needs to come down. I never stop there. Dont plan to as long as that flag is still there. Its not hurting anybody. It needs to come down. . I thi i think it will get more business. Reporter and what does the owner say . That flag needs to be done, and were gridlocked. Reporter you need to know about this man. The south shall rise again. Reporter Maurice Bessinger, politician, activist and founder of maurices barbecue. He showed off his collection of confederate memorabilia. He was a fierce defender of states rights and segregation. In his 2004 auto biography. He called the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional and the Supreme Court ruling that integrated Public Schools a really bad decision. Then in 2000, when this happened at the South Carolina state capita. I raised the flag out here to protest the take down of our heritage flag. Reporter Maurice Bessinger died in 2014. Of the flags outside his stores he wrote, there they will stay, i will fight on, because this is what god wants me to do. A year after his death, tommy daris and his wife bought the orangeburg location from bessingers children, but not all of it. Before he died, bessinger sold a little bit of this area to the sons of confederate veterans, camp 84 2. Weve been trying ever since to honor the confederate soldier. Reporter bud braxton is commander of the brigade. He put it in the hands of people he trusted, because he loved his confederate ancestors and his confederate history just like we do. So there was nothing sinister. Reporter initially, buries accepted the flag and the nearby marker, but that changed weeks after his grand opening. The group flew a larger flag in the aftermath of the 2015 shooting in charleston. Dylann roof killed nine Church Members after calling for a race war. From that point of, all hell broke loose. My windows were broken out, my phone was ringing off the hook. Everyone in town assumed it was my property. It looks like its attached to this building. I know its unfortunate to him. But we will not shop here because of this flag. Reporter Maurice Bessingers battle for the flag rages on. Daris has hired a lawyer. That flag needs to be moved. Reporter the sons of the confederate veterans say theyre ready. Not as long as were alive. Reporter cnn, orangeburg, South Carolina. Thanks for watching this hour. Our top stories are ahead. Im natalie allen. Its our little differences, that can make a world of difference. Expedia, everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. For her compassion and care. He spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. But to help others, they first had to protect themselves. I have afib. Even for a nurse, its complicated. And it puts me at higher risk of stroke. That would be devastating. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. Once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner. Significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. It has similar effectiveness to warfarin. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. For afib patients wellmanaged on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. And before starting xarelto®about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Its important to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know™. Hey youve gotta see this. Cno. N. Alright, see you down there. Mmm, fine. Okay, what do we got . Okay, watch this. Do the thing we talked about. What do we say . Its going to be great. Watch. Remember what we were just saying . Go irish see that . Yes im gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. Find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. More than 100 people killed, dozens more injured after an oil tanker explodes in pakistan. Well have the latest. In china, with more than 100 people still missing after a landslide saturday, searchers grow desperate. Responding to a new report that details how and when russia was leading a Major Campaign to sway last years election. These stories all ahead here. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Were live in atlanta. Im natalie allen. And im george howell. From cnn headquarters, newsroom starts now