. >>> let's bring in brian todd. he is in houston. on a boat. they continue to, as we see right there, rescue people. extraordinary, brian. what's going on? >> we're in the lakeside forest neighborhood west of houston. a massive evacuation here all by private boat. you see fire and police units. ferrying people to trucks where they can get them on trucks and then out of this neighborhood. we have five people in the boat and four dogs that we pulled out of a house around the corner here. pretty good coordination between the private boat operators and truck drivers and officials down the street. according to the residents, these waters were not as high as this until this morning. the rain subsided last night. the local citizens told us that they believe it's from the buffalo bayou, from the reservoir that spilled over. this is a late stage flood here. they're trying to get the dogs and everybody -- the dogs are finl fi fidgety and scared. they're asking me to help with the dog. i will hold him. this is kind of the situation here. they're trying to

you can see brian todd, he is on an airboat, navigating some of the areas that are affected by harvey. and we're seeing some extraordinary pictures coming in from him, we'll touch base with him in just a little bit. but we want to start with a desperate call for help in east texas. tropical storm harvey came back on shore this morning bringing flooding in louisiana. the flooding is being blamed for at least 19 deaths at this point. in houston people are still being helped from their flooded homes while the scope of this humanitarian disaster is still widening, meanwhile president 2ru6 thu trump last week, released this trump. my heart goes out even more to the people, the great people of texas. and some of the worst of what we're seeing right now is in port arthur, texas. kaley is in nearby orange and far eastern texas. kaley, it's been a dramatic day of rescues, we just saw brian todd on an airboat a few moments ago, navigating those waters, like what is behind you right now, what can you tell us? >> reporter: right as you cross the state line, this is the first large scale rescue ef

our brian todd there in houston right now. ed lavandera in galveston island and cnn meteorologist, he's at the severe weather center in atlanta. brian, as we look at these live pictures in corpus christi, texas, where the president is expected to arrive at any moment. i only preface that in case we have to jump in as you're speaking, brian. you see have seen so many rescu heroic efforts. thousands so far. it what's happening right now? brian todd, can you hear me, sir? this is jim acosta. we are in, live programming right now. brian is down in houston trying to reach out to him. brian todd, can you hear me? what can you tell us? >> reporter: jim, we are at the bush intercontinental airport. these customs and border protection helicopters are sh shuttlining over and about to te off. >> where are they going to next? what have you jean what's taken place, in the last minutes, you can see, being blown around. might be tough to hear. what can you tell us about everything you're seeing. >> reporter: these are customs and border prote

brian todd on the scene in charlottesville. i want to bring in now the virginia attorney general mark herring. attorney general, thanks so much for joining us. >> wolf, thank you for having me. >> what can you tell us first of all about james alex fields jr., the man charged with second-degree murder for plowing that vehicle into that crowd of pedestrians? >> well, it was just tragic to see that happen, and to claim the life of a young woman with so much potential, and really weaponize a car, a vehicle, and turn it into a weapon for killing and destruction. he's from out of state like a lot of these folks who descended on charlottesville. these folks came in with their neo-nazi white supremacist, just descended on this city which is a great city. it's a -- a city i love very well. i went to school here. my daughter graduated a couple years ago from uva. this is a diverse community. a community committed to equality and to see the hatred and the bigotry that these white supremacists brought to charlottesville and our commonwealt

cnn's brian todd accompanied some of those rescues by the water. brian, tell us the number of people you've seen in need today and how those rescuers are able to get to them. >> reporter: well, they could only really get to them, jim, on these boats. this air boat that we're on and some of these other private boats behind me, fishing boats and others. just a moment ago, we were told there are some more people in need of rescuing in an apartment complex back into this lake forest neighborhood. they thought they had gotten everyone out, but they have not. we're told the coast guard boat needs to get a little ahead of us because the power of this boat is just too great. we have to let them get ahead of us in the neighborhood. we're going to follow them there and see if we can see who in the apartment complex needs to be rescued. this is a staging area where we just so the some rescuees being dropped off here. they can be dropped off here where they're picked up by trucks and taken to some dryer areas. one other thing we've noticed, jim, these waters ha

let's go first to cnn's brian todd who was on the streets of charlottesville and, brian, i think we should begin with this new information that we're getting about this suspect. >> reporter: he's 20 years old, and booked into detention as of this afternoon, charged with one count of murder and failure to stop in an accident that resulted in a death. there could be other charges forthcoming. what we can tell you is that five people remain in critical condition. four people in serious condition. six in fair condition and four in good condition tonight at a local hospital. so, again, we have to stress, five people in critical condition. so some of these casualties may change in the coming hours. we can also tell you tonight that there have been three arrests of three men in connection with what happened today. 21-year-old drtroy dunnigan, jab smith and 44-year-old james o'brien of gainesville, florida. dunnigan is charged with disorderly comment and jacob is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and you have three arrests in connection with what happened. what i can tell you right behi

i believe brian todd is with us now. brian, what does the mother say? >> reporter: right, john.mation here from the mother of james alex fields her name is samantha bloom. she spoke to the toledo blade newspaper. a riveting account of what she said to her son apparently as he was leaving to come to the rally. mr. feeds mother according to the toledo blade expressed disbelief upon learning her son was involved in this incident today. she said -- she told the toledo blade he told her last week that he was going to a "alt-right rally in virginia," but he didn't know what it was about. her quote to the blade is i try to stay out of his political views. i don't get too involved. then she said ", i told him to be careful. if they're going to rally to make sure he's doing it peacefully she said before according to the newspaper she broke down it theirs. that is samantha bloom, the mother of this chief suspect james alex fieldss. james is 20 years old. he could be 20 or 22 from maumee, ohio. he is charged with one count of second degree murder. three counts of malicious wounding, one co

let's turn to brian todd out in it as well in houston right now. hear the water coming down as it is dumping. >> a little earlier and it sounds like the water was receding. it's coming down heavy ily. these high water rescue vehicles that are on scene, let's go back to derek. what is this that you're wnging there? >> so what you're watching is district one in harris county. the constables with one of the high water rescue boats. they have used this as a staging point for the rescues. they go out to the individual homes. everybody impacted by the rising flood waters and you can see that they are saving anyone from small children to full adults and even their pets as well. the most important belongings, you can see people are relieved to be to dry water. you can imagine what they have gone through as flood waters continue to go. we have heard about the medical concerns. there's elderly woman that has literally running out of oxygen. we're hoping to go to her next. she has actually been calling for help here for the past couple hours. you can see peop

our brian todd is there. brian, in an air boat in a completely flooded neighborhood. just helped rescue four people from the top of their cars. tell us about that and what conditions are like right now. >> reporter: john, this is the lakewood neighborhood of northeast houston. conditions are hoar risk. i'll have our photojournalist eddie gross before i go to these people pan beyond me. way road going down there. you can see the devastation of flooding. it's not receded, only risen in the last 24 to 48 hours, rain still pounding and getting more in the next few days. we pulled up or these four people waiting on cars. water rising as we got to them. fortunate timing. this is marilyn rice. just got you out of your home. marilyn, how do you feel right now? >> wonderful. i thank god for coming to rescue us and concerned to see about us. we've been crying, calling news people and different ones to rescue us. we thank you god for you having the mind and heart to rescue us. >> is wasn't us. the team driving the boat and everything. your name? >> beverly young. >> beverly. >>

cnn's brian todd with more on the suspect and the investigation. >> reporter: we've got some important new information about the suspect accused in the car strike which killed that young woman on saturday here in charlottesville. according to our justice producer, mary kay maloney, she got this information from a justice department official familiar with the investigation. federal investigators have enough evidence to be suspicious that the suspect, james fields jr., intended to send a message not just harm the immediate victims. and they're looking into that. they are also looking into whether he had any accomplices, anybody who might have helped him in the attack. some other information that we're getting about this suspect, according to a teacher who taught him history in the last two years of high school. the teacher is derek weimer who taught him at a high school in northern kentucky. he said that this suspect, james fields, had disturbing views about nazis, he had an inf infatuation with nazis. the white supremacist organizer, jason kessler, showed up sunday intending to hold a n

brian todd, cnn, houston. >> brian todd thanks for the report. let's bring in our meteorologist, karen mcginnis at the national weather center. i want to point out a tweet saying harvey dumped enough rain on harris county to run niagara falls for 15 days, more than 1 trillion gallons. >> and they were estimating that we might see in the vicinity of 25 trillion gallons, i think that went up to 35 trillion gallons across the entire flooded area. then we also have to look at beaumont, port author i mentioned this last night. they saw such heavy rainfall, 26 inches in 24 hours, it is still raining there. not not those types of rainfall amounts. here's the latest regarding tropical depression harvey. so an inclination from a category 4 hurricane made rainfall around corpus christi, around houston and galveston and all those areas and transitioned that broad rain field over towards louisiana/texas border where we're seeing high level rescues in beaumont/port author. some of the refineries and oils and they've had to pull back or stop production. you've

first, brian todd is in charlottesville, virginia, right now. brian, you first on the ground there. update us on what police are saying about this deadly crash and set is scene as we head into the evening. >> reporter: setting the scene for you at the scene of the crash, we're here near the corner of 4th street and water streets in shafrlt. we're going to zoom in and tell you where the car strike occurred. you see the police officers up there on 4th street with that dark colored van pointing toward us. that's a maroon colored honda van. we believe it's a van. right behind it is a silver car. both of those cars were struck in that incident. that is where authorities say a 32-year-old female pedestrian was struck and killed. you can see officers are still processing the crime scene. they were gathering evidence here earlier. you have barricades and police tape up there. the driver is in custody. they're not giving a name of that person yet. some clarification here on the casualties tonight, ana. we heard from the governor a short time ago that there were a total of three fatalities to

i want to turn to brian todd who is in houston. ing from the folks you're speaking with. >> brian, can you hear us? talk to me about what's going on there. >> yes, i can hear you guys. we are at a staging area here, sorry about that. i was just talking to a police officer. they were trying to rescue an elderly couple. they tried to get to them over water and they could not get to them. and now they are trying to get to them over land and meet up with some boats in another area to get to this elderly couple that's stranded. this has been a very, very busy staging area here for rescues. we just had some boats coming in and out. they are going to the only knee hotel where there have been dozens of people there stranded all day today. here's one person here in a stretcher. we heard she has back problems and they have a lot of people here tending to her. basically the bottom line here is a lot of people have come out in private boats and waiverunners, anything to get through the flooded area. when you come down here, they are going to ba

brian todd has been there throughout the storm and with one of those crews right now. the weather is a lot better but still have to go house to house, brian. isn't that right? making sure people are okay? >> reporter: that's right, jim. we're still in the emergency response phase of the storm even though the sun sout and its 90-some degrees. wee walk with this team of firefighters going door to door to check if people are still there, if they're missing. asking neighbors, what's become of their neighbors? and just checking all around. sometimes if they have a doorknob on the front door and no one answers they bang on windows. on occasion go around to the back. what they want to do is make sure that everyone in every house is accounted for and contender it in a data base. all the neighborhoods and houses that they've combaled through. we'll walk along with these guys as they go in -- this is a neighborhood hit pretty bad by the storm the other day. just in an adjacent neighborhood. one of the commanders told me, jim, that they've got -- a lot of these people in these nei

our brian todd is on the scene. we'll get the latest from a moment. we also just learned the identity of the woman killed in that horrific car assault. she is 32-year-old heather heyer, a paralegal from virginia. also today the department of justice here in washington formally opening an investigation into the deadly assault, and the violent clashes that have left more than 30 people injured. many of them remain in critical condition right now. today, virginia's governor, terry mcauliffe, issued a very stern message to those violent protestors. >> -- to the white supremacists and neo-nazis who came to our beautiful state yesterday, there is no place for you here in charlottesville! there is no place for you in virginia! and there is no place for you in the united states of america! [ cheers and applause ] we deplore your hatred, your bigotry and shame on you! >> i want to bring in cnn rosa flores on the scene in charlottesville right now. rosa, tell us more about this victim, you were at a memorial for heather heyer a little while ago. what are you le

brian todd, cnn, washington. >> brian todd, thank you. >>> still ahead this hour -- why a phone callrly seven months ago between these two men is generating fresh headlines in the mexican press. we'll have a report. cnn is live on both the networks here in the united states and around the world. "cnn newsroom" pushing off after the break. stay with us. these days families want to be connected 24/7. that's why at comcast we're continuing to make our services more reliable than ever. like technology that can update itself. an advanced fiber-network infrustructure. 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. >>> 5:32 a.m. here in atlanta, georgia. half past the hour as well in istanbul, turkey, and to all points in between. you're watching "cnn newsroom" worldwide. i'm george howell with the headlines. a manhunt in the united states. two suspects it has ended. they are now in police custody in the u.s. state of california. they're wanted f

let's bring in cnn's brian todd. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> reporter: tonight we have new information on the plots which were connected. officials say this indicates that isis is getting more sophisticated with its external terror operations and could use some of these techniques on american targets. >>> two terror plots in australia connected to one another, tonight show isis's growing ambition to strike western targets. two men living in sydney spr been arrested for trying to bring down a passenger plane with an ied. >> this is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on australian soil. >> reporter: australian officials say the plan was to place a bomb in checked luggage aboard an air baze plane. the ploters after getting to the airport aborted the plan. authorities aren't sure why. police only got wind of the plan 11 days later. what's new and frightening about this plot is that according to australian officials, this was a do it yourself bomb. they say a senior isis commande

we have more from cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: amid her grief, the mother of charlottesville violence, heather heyer. >> i'm not talking to the president now. i'm sorry. after what he said about my child and it is not that i saw somebody else's tweets about him. i saw an actual clip of him at a press conference equating the protesters like ms. heyer with the kkk and the white supremacists. >> reporter: susan bro told "good morning america" the white house attempted to reach her during her daughter's funeral. if she was ever considering meeting with the president, this turned her off. >> i think there is blame on both sides. >> you can't wash this away by shaking my hand. >> reporter: the white house saying their thoughts and prayers are with bro and her family. meanwhile, talk show hosts are circulating the conspiracy theory about the protesters in charlottesville. sean hannity brought up a rumor which spread on social media about so-called antifa. >> there is a story out today that raises a question whether or not antifa agitators that showed up in charlottesville on saturday were bo

i want to quickly go to cnn's brian todd who has the very latest for us. ea's foreign minister says under no circumstances whatsoever will north korea negotiate with the united states or anyone else over its nuclear weapons program. >> he did say that, wolf, repeating north korea's stance that it needs its nuclear weapons to counter the military threat that it sees from america. tonight we're at a critical moment with north korea. there is an opening for diplomacy to steer us away from the nuclear and missile standoff, but at the same time kim jong-un's regime is vowing against the united states to lead sanctions against pyongyang. the question is, which way is this going to break? kim jong-un, biting insults. gangsters and a threat from one of his news anchors. >> translator: there is no bigger mistake than the united states blooeflg its land is safe across the ocean. >> reporter: kim's regime and lashing out at the u.s. by pushing out a tough new round in the united states against pyongyang, choking off north korea's coal, iron and other exports. after le

brian todd, cnn, charlottesville, virginia. >>> cnn spoke with a reporter who heard from the mother of the man suspected of driving that car into the crowd of protesters. listen. >> he told her last week he was planning to go and h taken the day off work and she described it as an alt-right rally but had no idea of -- she said she was unaware of its extremist natures or leanings as far as the other people who were going to be attending. >> did she say that her son was part of any of these groups? was somehow sympatico of any of these groups. >> she was unaware of what the definition of alt-right would be. she said to me that she doesn't try to get too much into his political beliefs and that she's not, you know, not too well versed in his political leanings any way. i don't get a sense she necessarily knew what he was headed for this weekend. >>> in an emotional news conference the government of virginia was emphatic. he did not mince words as he spoke to the white nationalists at saturday's rally. >> i have a message to all the white spemists and the as in wheres who came into charlot

brian todd with rescue crews over texas. president trump heads back short ma many -- shortly. jeff zeleny, the president had to walk a fine line with leadership but also staying out of the way with those rescue crews. >> reporter: he did, indeed, jim, and he stayed out of those largely hit areas. did not go where those flood recovery operations are still under way, but he did get several briefings throughout the day. one wrapped up just a few moments ago at the state command center in austin. the governor of texas as well as the two republican senators. he said this is going to be one of the most expensive efforts ever in the country to repair and recover texas. >> i want to be looked at in five years or ten years from now as this is the way to do it. this was of epic proportion. nobody has ever seen anything like this. and i just want to say that working with the governor and his entire team has been an honor for us. so, governor, again, thank you very much. we won't say congratulations. we don't want to do that. we'll congratulate each other when it's all finished. >> and ji

brian todd is in charlottesville for us now. brian, how did it go, what are you learning about this individual? >> reporter: wolf, picking up important new details tonight about that suspect in the deadly car strike as authorities here deal with another day full of tension in charlottesville. boiling tensions outside the courthouse, the man suspected of driving his car into a crowd of protesters was charged with second degree murder. inside court, james field, 20-year-old suspect appeared by video link, now held without bond on multiple charges. new details tonight about fields, the man allegedly behind the wheel in this horrific video. authorities say he rammed his dodge challenger into a crowd of people, killing a 32-year-old woman, injuring 19 others. cnn learned fields recently moved to this apartment complex in maumee, iowa. to -- ohio. he told the judge he couldn't afford a lawyer. a picture emerging of a troubled young man with white supremacist views. >> he had radical views on race. he was very infatuated with the nazis,

brian todd, thank you very much. coming up, breaking news.or a major address to the nation tonight. a new strategy for afghanistan and america's longest war. can he move beyond his disastrous response to charlottesville and the upheaval over at the white house? >>> and ten u.s. sailors, they are missing and a u.s. navy war ship is badly damaged after the fourth major accident this year. so, what's the u.s. navy doing about it? my day starts well before i'm in the kitchen. i need my blood sugar to stay in control. i need to shave my a1c i'm always on call. an insulin that fits my schedule is key. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ (announcer) tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. don't use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. don't share needles or insulin pens. don't reuse needles. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, swtiting, confusion, and headache. check your blood sugar. low blood sugar can be se

cnn's brian todd is in houston and our ed laven dare is in houston on a boat. talk to me about what you've seen in the last hour? >> reporter: well, this is really our first chance to get an up close sense of just how devastating this flooding is across many parts of houston, get you a sense of where we'ret at, this is the neighborhood of bayou chan tilly, just along interstate 25. these are the images. and it is just striking to see. look, this is a home where you can see the family had used a ladder to scaleup on top tof the are roof. they had an american flag they were using to wave down for help, a box of blankets, sorts of things. the garage still open to their home. as we've floated through this neighborhood, ana, we've seen a number of homes where you see holes through their roof where they had chopped their way out of their attic. this is where we see with a number of homes where people had escaped into the their attics and used their ax or some sort of heavy tool to sort of punch their way or chop their way out of the rooftop, the ceiling of roof so th

brian todd has the details. >> all out war with north korea, a real possibility being put forth by a key member of the senator armed services committee. president trump told lindsey graham there will be war with north korea if they continue to threaten america with its missile program. >> if there's going to be a war to stop him it's going to be over there. and he's told me that to my face. >> graham says no one wants a war but the president has more of a responsibility to protect the american homeland than the region around north and south korea. senator graham's remarks don't help the situation. >> what senator graham is says is that a host of those folks are going to die. that's a message we do not have to remind the south koreans of. they know. that. >> dianne feinstein who is on the intelligence committee told msnbc there's more to the danger than senator graham seems to realize. >> lindsey graham should get a classified briefing like the ones i have had and sit down with secretary mattis. >> the press secretary issued a dire warning about armed conflict. >> it will be a war mor

let's bring in cnn's brian todd. he's been working the story for us. , brian, from the president of the united states. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. in reents memory, no american president has spoken that way about north korea and tonight veteran observers of the regime in pyongyang are warning of what this escalating war of words could lead to. >>> president trump's message to kim jong-un have no doubt about american fire power if you continue to threaten the u.s. >> they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. >> reporter: possibly playing the good cop, the president's top diplomat stressed nothing has changed militarily in the region. >> i think the president -- what the president is doing is sending a strong message to north korea in language that kim jong-un would understand. >> reporter: kim's regime has often used apocalyptic rhetoric. its state run media recently saying if the u.s. teases north korea with sanctions and military might, america will be, quote, cat putted into an unimag

>> joining us now from that city of charlottesville is cnn's brian todd, brian, the man in jail right now believed to be the one who intentionally drove into that crowd of people killing a woman and what are police saying about him and what is next in this investigation? >> right, ana. we've got new information about this suspect, james alex fields 20 years old from ohio. we have just obtained some records indicating that he served in the u.s. army for about four months between august of 2015 and december of that year. the records do not indicate why he separated from the army after such a short time. we're digging around trying to find out more information about the suspect. what we have learn side according to his former teacher he did hold disturbing views when he was in high school. his teacher is derek wiemer and he spoke to member of the media about those views that james alex fields held. take a listen. >> i mean, he had some very radical views on race. he was very infatuated with the nazis and with adolph hitler. >> separately, some members of the media in ohio caught up with

brian todd, cnn, charlottesville, virginia. >>> todd on the scene, thanks for the report. cnn spoke to a reporter who heard from the mother of the man suspected of driving that car into a crowd of people. >> he told her last week he was planning to go. he had taken the day off work. she described it as an alt-right rally. she said she was unaware of the extremist nature or as far as the other people who were going to be attending. >> did she say that her son was part of any of these groups, was simpatico with any of these groups? >> she was pretty unaware what the definition of alt-right would be. she fumbled over the language. i don't think she knew what that definition would be. she said she doesn't try to get too much into his political beliefs and that she's not too well versed in his political leanings in any way. i don't get awe sense necessarily knew what he was heading for this weekend. >>> we are hearing from the mayor who said the white supremacists brought hatred into their city and that that belongs in the trash heap of history. >> it is brought here by outside

brian todd in houston, give our guest to that family.ght back. >>> the donations are pouring in to help those affected by hurricane harvey. andy scholes with the latest. >> j.j. watt wanted to raise $200,000. more than 50,000 people donating to his houston fund relief fund, now topping $5 million. the new goal is $6 million. >> over 50,000 people have donated to this thing. it's rising by the minute. every time you refresh the link, it goes up and up and up. thank you so much to everybody who has donated, to everybody who spread the word. it's incredible. the most difficult times seem to bring out the best in humanity. that's showing through right now so much. keep sharing. keep donating. whatever you can do, $5, $500, anything helps. >> they will be on the field for the final preseason game tomorrow night. it's moved to arlington. every ticket, $25. proceeds going to those affected by hurricane harvey. the astros moving their series with the rangers to tampa. houston fans coming with signs showing their support for the city and the tick

let's go to cnn's brian todd on the scene in charlottesville now. brian, what is the latest? >> reporter: wolf, tonight top state officials from a u.s. senator to the mayor of charlottesville are saying they need more help from the public in finding more perpetrators of the racist violence here on saturday. they told us those comments, following an emotionally wrenching memorial for the woman killed on the streets. >> they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what, you just magnified her. >> reporter: at the memorial service, her mother made a powerful plea for unity. >> we are going to have our differences, we are going to be angry with each other, but let's channel that anger not into hate, not into violence, not into fear, but let's channel that difference, that anger into righteous action. i'd rather have my child, but by golly, if i got to give her up, we're going to make it count. >> reporter: heather heyer was killed saturday when a car mowed down a group of counter protesters at the white nationalist rally in charlottesville. president trump did not atte

>> brian todd reporting for us. hanks very much. >>> coming up, more on the breaking news after weeks of denying the president was involved at all in the misleading initial statement about his son's meeting with a russian attorney. the white house press secretary sara huckabee sanders now says the president, quote, weighed in as any father would. your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball. staccato. me llamo jamie. pumpernickel. pudding. employee: hey, guys! home quote explorer. it's home insurance made easy. password was "hey gu

brian todd is joining us with details. brian, what are you learning?onight we have new information on a treacherous alliance between kim jong-un's regime and the syrian dictator, bashar al-assad. kim has a reputation for selling weapons and weapons components to the highest bidder and it seems tonight that assad is a buyer of some of north korea's most dangerous armaments. new indications tonight that kim jong-un's regime will stop at nothing to get cash for his weapons program and will do business with anyone. even syria's murder rust dictator bashar al-assad. a diplomatic source tells cnn u.n. security council experts are about to review a confidential report which says two north korean shipment to syria were intercepted in reepts months. the shipments were headed for the syrian agency which handles assad's chemical weapons program. >> this is a nightmare scenario. what we're looking at right now is the north korean regime, one of the most dangerous regimes in the world pedaling its most dangerous weapons to some of the other more dangerous regimes o

. >> let's bring in brian todd in charlottesville right now. what are the priorities of city officials right now. >> you heard it in the governor's voice just now, we heard it all day today. there's a lot of anger in this city over what's transpired here over the last 48 hours. people are very angry the white supremacists descended on this city and they stuck around today. the governor said we don't want you here, get out, there's no place for you here. you heard what he said today about how angry they are that this happened. one of the white supremacy leaders jason kessler decided to stick around today he started to speak, there were protesters here countering him, shouting him down, people playing instruments trying to drown him out. the police came in and swooped him away, really protected him from the crowd, an angry crowd that was swarming around him and got him into the police station here. that was an you cannily scene. and one man was awrested for misdemeanor assault and battery for spitting on jason kessler. he tweeted this, i tried my

cnn's brian todd spoke with a one-time insider who managed to defect. brian, what did he tell you?porter: wolf, he told us what it was like to live through a series of high-level executions ordered by kim jong-un. it was the execution of kim's uncle which drove this man to defect and with that kim lost one of his top money makers. >>> it was during a bloody and brutal period when kim jong-un was on a purging and execution binge that one of kim's top money makers final bely had enough. kim executed his own uncle an act which led him to defect. >> translator: it was a cruel and crude method of execution. after all these years living in the socialist system, i had never witnessed anything like that. executing high-level officers with antiaircraft guns. it was not just high-level officers. but their families, their children, their followers. >> reporter: he escaped in 2014 eventually settling in northern virginia last year. for decades he says he worked in a unit called office 39, which raises and manages money for kim. then he said he was responsible for operations which exported nort

cnn's brian todd is with one of those crews. brian, tell me what you guys have been seeing. >> reporter: well, brooke, a fire crew just swept through this neighborhood, knocking on doors, pounding on windows to see if they can find anybody. this is one of the houses that they came to. check out the water level here. probably a good three and a half feet and was higher before. the couple here, 87 years old, we met up with them a short time ago. they said the water was up to their chest and they almost didn't make it. neighbors had to carry them, they said, like babies across the street. look at some of the debris being cleared out here. we're going take a walk inside this house. what the firefighters just told us is that the -- they're trying to get an accurate assessment of who's missing and who might be still injured, maybe some people might still be trapped in their homes. a lot of time, brooke, when we were knocking on doors with them, we're not getting a response. a lot of times, that means people have gone to stay in other p

and cnn's brian todd is in houston for us. brian, i know you rode along with a customs and border protection helicopter team today. what have they been doing and what did you see? >> reporter: well, brianna, we just landed a short time ago after flying much of the day with that customs and border protection unit called the marine and air operations unit. their rescues have gone at a furious pace. this unit alone has rescued hundreds of people from floolde homes, often in very dramatic fashion. from the air, this is what houston looks like to responders urgently trying to rescue flood victims. inundated houtses, roadways and businesses stretching in all directions. cnn rode with the border protection agents in the marine and air response units as they set out to help people in every area. a hoist was lowered. six people and a dog were lifted out in that one operation. other victims have been rescued by hoist, like this rooftop rescue on monday of four people. in one of those neighborhoods, we touch down in a sliver of a parking

thank you so much, brian todd, all our correspondents who have been with us throughout the day, givingt people are experiencing there. live pictures right now of dickinson texas by way of our friendly boaters who have given ed lavandera an incredible look. you see the dogs that are in safe haven in that boat at that residents. rescues have been taking place by good samaritans and first responders all day long. it will continue. our continuing coverage goes on. i'm fredericricka whitfield, mu more straight ahead. and the rummage through your closet fee. who is she, verizon? are those my heels? yeah! yeah, we're the same size...in shoes. with t-mobile taxes and fees are already included, so you get four lines of unlimited for just $40 bucks each. and now get zero down on the hottest smart phone brands like samsung galaxy. more reasons why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network. ♪ it's happening, it's happening! in the modern world, you can control just about anything with an app. your son is turning on all the lights again! and with the esurance mobile app, you can do the same thin

brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> joined now by martin, a military expert at kings college in london.o much for joining us, martin. leon panetta saying he's fueling the situation. when we look at the tactics behind this, this latest rhetoric, if you like, this idea of like calling each other's bluff, you hit me and i'll respond in the worst possible way, is there a rationale behind it or just offer the cuff talk? >> well, firstly, i don't agree that it's president trump's rhetoric that's fueling the situation. okay. >> you -- >> i have a different view. if we draw down into what president trump is saying there is no difference between what was previously said by u.s. administrations. they have made absolutely clear to the north koreans if they launch attacks against american territory and guam is an american territory then there will be a significant response. now, the north koreans are not saying from my understanding of the statements that they would actually attack guam. they say they're bracket it which means they will try to land missiles to the northeast and west of the island,

brian todd, cnn, washington. >> terrorism gripped headlines in the united states and around the world1, but a lot of people forget the horror and the rampant carnage of terrorist attacks in the 1980s. for example, here on november 23rd, 1985, egyptair flight 648 left greece bound for cairo, egypt, never reached its destination. on tonight's episode of "declassified," we take a look at how fbi agents launched an international man hunt for the terrorist responsible for that hijacking. >> reporter: even within the fbi, the terrorism section was kind of a small group within the criminal investigative division. nothing to do with intelligence. nothing to do with security. >> that cia, the early days of the reagan administration, there was a position called the national intelligence officer for counterterrorism. one man. he was not in a position to get any intelligence from anybody but where the next attack is going to occur. it was all on the defensive side. >> terrorism was going virtually unchecked. >> in those days, there was never a heads up. now, we have the national security agency o

brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> u.s.sident donald trump is said to be frustrated with the war in afghanistan. and the debate over what to do next is dividing his administration. now one of the president's top strategists is pitching a plan to privatize parts of the war. cnn's barbara starr explains. >> reporter: a military plan for afghanistan has been delayed for months amid sharp disagreements in the white house between the president's top advisers. >> we've had now three sessions within the national security council exploring a full range of options. when i say a full range of options, i mean the entire landscape. >> reporter: the president's chief strategist steve bannon is reportedly seeking the advice of erik prince, the controversial former head of the now disbanded contractor firm blackwater. prince's plan, use military contractors instead of u.s. troops for a virtue of unspecified missions in afghanistan. while leading black water, prince's mercenary force was criticized with how it dealt with civilians in iraq.

cnn's brian todd is also reporting from charlottesville for us. brian, we heard from the police chief in charlottesville just a little while ago. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. he held a news conference seemingly for simply and purely for the purpose of defending the police actions on saturday. the chief al thomas was asked questions about why the police didn't intervene sooner to stop some of the violence on the streets right around this park. he also addressed a question of why the street where the assault happened on the pedestrians there, the vehicular assault happened, why that street was open and the alleged perpetrator was able to get his vehicle on that street when it was supposed to be closed. take a listen to what the chief said about that. >> i'm not sure whether or not the 4th street crossing was open. i don't have the action plan with me currently, but i am certain that the action plan called for this street to be closed. >>> we were certainly not intimidated by the fire power of the alt-right. however, it was prudent to make sure th

so, let's begin live from a boat in houston, cnn's brian todd and crew, you have been, brian, with these rescue crews all day. tell me what you've been seeing. >> reporter: brooke, this is the lakeside forest neighborhood of houston. we're in this labyrinth of apartment buildings called lakeside place. check out these cars here. this is the result of the controlled release from the addicks reservoir flooding the buffalo bayou near here. all of this was today, since 1:00 this morning. it wasn't even happening during the brunt of the storm. look at this. water up to the tops of cars, up to the doorknobs and locks of these apartment buildings here, the first floor windows and look at this. just incredible flooding here, well after the brunt of the storm has passed, and residents -- this group of private rescuers on this airboat were just cruising around this neighborhood to see what residents are going to flag us and want to get out. here's one of them, don. don, tell me what happened. you tried to save a man who was trying to make his way across these flood waters from his flooded car to h

our correspondent brian todd is in charlottesville for us.an, update us what happened in the courtroom today and what we know about the suspect. >> reporter: right, wolf. charged moments inside and outside the courtroom today. a short time ago the suspect james alex fields appeared before judge robert downer here in charlottesville. the judge read charges against him. second-degree murder, malicious wounding and hit and run. the suspect video linked in, with via video screen from his jail cell in the county jail. saw an image of him on the screen rather than live appearance by him in the courtroom. he was wearing kind of a prison jumpsuit. striped prison jumpsuit. looked drawn, sub dewed. subdued. the judge asked if he could afford an attorney. he said he could not. interesting moment. the judge said he contacted the public dendur's office and the public defender's office told him a relative of one of the public defenders was involved in saturday's violence somehow. the judge didn't go into specifics but the judge said because of that he coul

. >>> i want to bring out brian todd, he's in houston as well. you're out with a search and rescue boat tonight. tell us what you're seeing. >> reporter: well, don, a moment ago as anderson mentioned, the water is still rising. this has been one of those neighborhoods for much of the day. this is the neighborhoods west of houston, there are other neighborhoods that has had this happen to them. this is the result of controlled release water at addicks reservoir which is not far from here. we were in these areas all day today on an airboat and on a high-water vehicle going around. these are private rescue teams as we were with the last couple of days. these were pulling people out of homes, knocking on doors to see if people wanted to be rescued. some did elect to stay. didn't, i can tell you the water behind me is shallow now, back in these neighborhoods the water was chest deep, sometimes deeper. there were these apartment buildings over here a long way away from any dry ground and the water was about chest deep. the only way you were going to ge

here's cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: suspect james fields made his first court appearance. he was video linked in to the courtroom on monday morning from his jail cell in charlottesville, outside charlottesville actually. the judge told him about his charges which include one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and a hit-and-run charge. he asked james fields if he could afford an attorney. james fields said he could not afford an attorney. and interestingly, the judge then said he could not appoint a public defender for james fields because a member of the public defender's office had a relative who was affected by saturday's violence. so the judge went down his list and appointed an attorney named charles weber to represent james fields. and we moved on with the proceedings there. we reached out to charles weber for comment on this case, and we have not heard back from him. also, on monday we got word from a security firm in ohio that james fields had worked for the firm, a firm called securtas. he work in 2016 and then from july of 2016 to t

brian todd, excellent reporting agency you always do.. >>> i want to bring in someone with a unique perspective on the underlying issues in charlottesville, virginia. cnn contributor j.d. vance joining us who grew up in a rust belt town in ohio, a state that easily went to donald trump in the 2016 election. author of "hillbilly elegy: memoir of a family and culture in crisis" and in the book dives into how many missed the mark on the white working class that fueled donald trump's campaign. j.d., excellent book. thanks so much for joining us. give us your, your reaction when you saw what was going on in charlottesville. >> well, wolf, you see people marching around doing the nazi salute. i come from a family with a large number of military veterans and from back in the day, people who actually went and fought the nazis. it's really disturbing to see this display of white national inch and became doubly terrifying because it led to somebody losing their life. like a lot of people, watched the tv, was horrified and forced me to think what's

i want to start now with cnn's brian todd in houston. brian, you have been with first responders going door to door searching for anyone still stranded six days now after harvey first hit. are they finding anyone? >> reporter: breen that iannbri not finding people, but it does speak to the painstaking nature of trying to account for everyone. and again also speaks to the idea that possibly the injury toll and the death toll may rise in the days ahead. we're on an airboat in the lakeside forest area of west houston. we need an airboat just to get around here. but again, the door to door, you know, the nature of going door to door here is pretty harrowing for some residents because they -- they don't know whether they're going to find people. they're asking people about their neighbors. and we just saw a high water vehicle go down there with some army personnel in it again they're checking to see if anyone is around in these neighborhoods. this is occurring near west houston, as you said days after the storm as areas in east texas are still

cnn correspondent brian todd is there. brian, what do you see? >> reporter: well, john, we're near the scene of that car strike this afternoon. some rain and lightning occurring now outside as nightfall has come here in charlottesville, but we have late information. you mentioned about a suspect being named. cnn just got this information a short time ago. the suspect we are told is 20-year-old james alex fields. he is from ohio. he was booked into theal albeme regional jail this afternoon. he it is believed was the driver of the gray sedan that plowed into the crowd here. this is according to the superintendent of the regional jail. this young man, 20-year-old james alex field from ohio, he was booked into the jail. he faces a charge of one count of second degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of failure to stop in an accident which resulted in a death. so he is booked in the jail. witness accounts of what happened behind me are just horrific. i'm going to ask our photo journalist jeremy harland to zoom in on the acciden

. >> cnn's brian todd is live in charlottesville, virginia, where some protesters were back on the streets today. brian, how are people responding to this people that the suspect behind the deadly crash was there to take part in the white nationalist rally? >> reporter: they're pretty angry about that and angry about a lot of things. they're angry that the white supremacist leader who staged that rally yesterday, jason kesler, stuck around today even though the governor and mayor and everyone else told him to get out. jason kesler insisted on coming back to a spot just a few feet from here and holding a news conference today. we have video and images how that turned out. it turned out very poorly for him. people shouted him down. he spoke for a few minutes. none of us could hear what he was saying because there were so many people shouting at him. there were musical instruments played to drown him out. the crowd converged on him a little bit. he seed to be alone. the crowd converged on him. cy either slipped or was pushed. then the police swooped in clad in riot gear and shuttled him aroun