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Ted Turner Speaks Out on Global Issues; U.S. Marine Jailed in Mexico; Cedric is Reaching Out, Giving Back; John McAfee Speaks in Miami.
Aired December 13, 2012 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: It won't work because we have thousands of nuclear weapons. How can we look with a straight face to any other country and say you can't have two? Particularly when we said it was OK for Israel to have 100.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think if Iran has nuclear weapons it would be a dangerous situation?
TURNER: It's already a dangerous situation.
MALVEAUX: How so?
TURNER: Because Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons, Israel has them, Pakistan has them, India has them. About eight countries have them, and they're extremely dangerous. If they all went off at once, it would clearly destroy the world completely.
MALVEAUX: You think Ahmadinejad should have nuclear weapons as well?
TURNER: I think nobody should have them. That way, either we all have them or nobody has them. We play by the same rules, equal rights for equal people. Women have equal rights with men. In Afghanistan, people have equal rights as the people of the United States.
MALVEAUX: What do you think of when you watch the world and see what's happening and there's so much turmoil and it looks like there's so much change, even crisis in the middle east, when you see that, what do you make of what's taking place?
TURNER: Well, once again, I'll take the optimistic view of things. I was just -- war is just about over with. War is just about over with. That is huge news. First of all, the big, intelligent, well-educated countries have already quit war. You don't see France getting ready to go to war with Germany, or Russia getting ready to go to war with Poland. That used to happen all the time, but it's not happening. The best example of all was just a couple of weeks ago when Gaza was fighting -- the Palestinians were fighting with the Israelis --
MALVEAUX: Right.
TURNER: -- and they lobbed a couple of missiles into Tel Aviv. I'm sure that both people on both sides could see that the day was coming that they'd be lobbing missiles into Jerusalem. This is -- both the Christian and the Jewish religion began there. It's the Holy Land. And it's some of the greatest tourist attractions in the world. People want to come from all over the world to see it, but not when the war is going on. They realized within a week of war that they made a terrible mistake to go to war. Even though it's better to grumble at each other, but not to be shooting at each other and causing all this damage and wrecking the economy and upsetting people all over the world, because these pictures -- you got the BBC and CNN now --
MALVEAUX: Sure.
TURNER: -- having the pictures of grandmothers and grandfathers and little children lined up on the street in front of the houses dead, bringing them out to bury them. That doesn't look like a fun way to live. It's not. So they quit. They quit fighting in a week.
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: Maybe they won't start again. Maybe this will be the last war.
MALVEAUX: Do you think that -- you're a successful person. You have many different ventures. Do you think you should pay more as a wealthy American? Do you think you should pay more taxes?
TURNER: Yes.
MALVEAUX: How much?
TURNER: You know, whatever is reasonable.
MALVEAUX: When you see the equation and when you see the kinds of conversations they're having, do you think the wealthy -- it's far for the wealthy to pay more taxes?
TURNER: Yes. Yes.
MALVEAUX: You'd be willing to do that?
TURNER: Yes.
TURNER: Remember, I gave most of my money away. I gave $31 million to the United States government and didn't even ask for a credit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: To hear my entire interview with Ted Turner, log onto CNN.com/Suzanne.
This 27-year-old U.S. Marine was on a surfing vacation, was arrested once he crossed into the border into Mexico. He's been in prison since August. Why he's held captive and why we're just hearing about this now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: A U.S. Marine has been in a Mexican jail since August. This is Johnny Hammar. The 27-year-old was on his way to Costa Rica for a surfing trip when he was arrested. So why are we hearing about this now? It was not four months ago, when it actually happened. Well, his parents were concerned for his safety, but now they're speaking out.
Gary Tuchman has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Johnny Hammar is an American war veteran. He was a Marine serving in the infantry in Afghanistan and Iraq. He decided to drive with a fellow Marine from Florida in a Winnebago all the way through Mexico to Costa Rica for a surfing vacation.
John and Olivia Hammar are his parents.
JOHN HAMMAR SR, FATHER OF ARRESTED MARINE: He'd been there before and served. They took every single decent board they had.
TUCHMAN (on camera): He was looking forward to a cool trip, driving it there. He knew it was Mexico, but he wasn't planning on staying in Mexico.
JOHN HAMMAR: No, they were going to drive though. The only reason they were going to stop was to get more gas.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): His parents were concerned when he said he wanted to bring an antique Sears & Roebuck shot gun. His great- grandfather one owned. One that looks just like this. His parents said he wanted to hunt with it. They said he got the proper forms from U.S. border agents to declare it, but once he did declare it, the nightmare began.
(on camera): How far was he from the United States of America when he was arrested?
JOHN HAMMAR: He was crossing the border.
TUCHMAN: So he was --
JOHN HAMMAR: He was not --
TUCHMAN: -- 40 feet away from America?
OLIVIA HAMMAR, MOTHER OF ARRESTED MARINE: Or less.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Johnny Hammar's friend was released but Johnny was brought to this jail in Matamoras, Mexico, charged with violating Mexico's strict gun laws.
His parents were told the jail is largely controlled by Mexican drug cartel members. A few nights after he was imprisoned, his parents got a call from someone threatening to kill their son unless they paid money.
OLIVIA HAMMAR: So then, he said, I have your son. He said, I'm going to "F" him up. He said, and I already have. For some stupid reason, my response was, oh, no, I'm going to call the consulate. And he put Johnny on the phone, and I just -- I couldn't believe it. I just -- then I realized, I was like, oh, my god. I really thought he wasn't in the prison. I thought, someone has taken him out of the prison. I just couldn't conceive of this going on in a government facility.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Olivia, what did Johnny tell you?
OLIVIA HAMMAR: He said, mom, you need to do whatever they say. He said, they're really serious.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The Hammars never heard from the caller again. Although the U.S. consulate has known about this from the beginning, Johnny's kept the story out of the press, scared attention could be bad for their son. Increasingly desperate, they're speaking out now.
JOHN HAMMAR: The longer we go with him in there, the greater chance he won't get out alive.
TUCHMAN: The Hammar's congresswoman is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who heads up the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The family has just informed her of this.
REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, (R), FLORIDA: This is outrageous, and I'm asking for the State Department to be more proactive. I've communicated with them. I've communicated with our U.S. ambassador in Mexico. This week I meet with the Mexican ambassador to the United States. And enough is enough.
TUCHMAN: Their son had looked forward to a surfing vacation, now he's past the four-month mark in a Mexican prison.
He talked to his parents on the phone Friday.
OLIVIA HAMMAR: I said, Johnny, we're going to get you out. He said, mom, you've been telling me that since August.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: We have just learned that the coalition servicemember killed in a bombing attack in Afghanistan today is American. The attack happened in Kandahar just hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was there visiting with the troops. U.S. officials say there is no indication that Panetta was ever in any danger. And they're unclear still if the attack was linked to Panetta's visit.
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(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
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MALVEAUX: All right. You know the sound. It's "Sweet Georgia Brown," the theme music of the Harlem Globetrotters, iconic basketball team, has entertained audiences around the world for more than 80 years. They took their crazy antics and amazing skills to Afghanistan for the holiday season to perform for the troops.
Long-ball shooter, Firefly Fisher, was one of those players. And he told me about how he was honored just to be there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIREFLY FISHER, HARLEM GLOBETROTTER: It means a lot, because, you know, the Globetrotters are not around our family as much because we're gone nine out of the 12 months. So we can kind of relate to the troops in some way not being around our family in the holiday season. Anytime we can take time out of our busy schedule to put a smile on their face, that's what it's all about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: That's great. The Globetrotters begin a 200-city U.S. tour on the day after Christmas.
He's best known for his role in the sitcom "Steve Harvey Show" or a stint in "Dancing with the Stars." Cedric, the entertainer, is using his fame it to help kids get a better education. He's joining us live to talk about his motor, "Reaching out and giving back," up next.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jim is this renaissance guy. Whatever he tries to do he does well and he has a gift for music or art or more than a gift, a passion.
(MUSIC)
JIM MCKELVEY, CO-FOUNDER, SQUARE: I took two years of piano lessons in eighth grade. My mom forced me to take it, because she never had a piano growing up. She wanted me to be able to play. And I hated it because the teacher wouldn't let me play anything interesting. I got bored and sick of it and me quite as soon as mom would let me, and didn't touch it for 20 years.
(MUSIC)
MCKELVEY: Then I heard this piece on the radio, and I the thought it was impossible for a human to play that. I couldn't imagine being able to move my hands that fast. And I got obsessed with it. (MUSIC)
MCKELVEY: It's the third movement of "The Moonlight Sonata."
(MUSIC)
MCKELVEY: I went on to check out the music. I looked at it was like this scatter plot of notes. And I thought, my god. But at the end, each one is a note. It's just a finger on a key. Can you teach your fingers to do that?
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRIC, ACTOR & ENTERTAINER: Oh, we want you to stop dad from moving to Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: What's wrong with your father moving to Florida?
CEDRIC: Are you kidding me? Sitting in the sun, fishing, drinking Mai Tais, what kind of fun is that?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Our next guest knows how to have fun and seems to do it al and no signs of slowing down. You know him as Cedric, the entertainer. Joining us from Los Angeles to tell us what he's up to.
Good to see you. Very good to see you.
You are on fire right now. I understand you got the "Soul Man" TV series being renewed. The NAACP calling it the best comedy series. How do you keep it going?
CEDRIC: It's exciting. Just to have the opportunity to even be on television after this many years in this business. You know, just having fun, man. So the show is doing well. They just picked us up for a second season, and that's exciting. And now, I'm nominated for an Image Award. Did you notice the accent, Suzanne?
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Now, you have the accent to go with it.
CEDRIC: Image Award.
(LAUGHTER)
Nomination.
MALVEAUX: The nomination. Tell us about some of the things you're doing. I understand this is an important time for you because you talk about your mom and younger sister, and especially during the holidays, you were taught to reach out and give back to folks and you have a foundation, a charitable foundation that actually does that. And it's run by your sister. And these are the things that are very important to you.
CEDRIC: Yes. I mean, growing up in a single-parent household with a mother who worked very hard to just provide for my sister and myself, it was one that I saw a lot of my friends that I grew up with and relatives and guys that they either ended up dead or in jail, and I saw myself having those choices. My mother provided the type of environment and the encouragement by working to get her masters and working and becoming a professional teacher.
So I work very hard with my foundation at giving back. We do a lot of scholarships. I work in conjunction with the United Negro College Fund where we have been given scholarships to send kids to school since 1996, as well as my Entourage Program, where I take wayward youth and at-risk youth and take them out of their environment and show them other things so they can experience life and see that there is opportunity beyond that four-block radius they live in. So it's something very important to me and a way to help out folks.
MALVEAUX: A lot of people don't feel that obligation. You talk about the need to be a role model, specifically for St. Louis and some of the young black men there. Why do you think it's so important?
CEDRIC: I think ideally that when you become a person on television, you are a role model to some degree. But I was raised with that spirit that if I can do something for others and have the opportunity to give back, the opportunity to aspire and encourage, I want to be able to do that. I think it's a lot of, still in our community, still a lot of single-parent households. A lot of kid who is have dreams and aspirations and get lost along the way. It doesn't mean they are bad kids, but they get off track. I try to just provide that encouragement that is important to dream positive and stay positive and that you can be a winner.
MALVEAUX: The last time we talked, you performed at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Do you have your ticket yet? Are you on the invite list? The inside crowd?
CEDRIC: I have been trading tweets and Instagram shots with the president.
(LAUGHTER)
We have not got the invitation yet. I have been invited to some peripheral inaugural balls, the ones on the out-skirts. So --
(LAUGHTER) MALVEAUX: How out-skirts, out-skirts?
CEDRIC: Yes. It's not even in Washington, I believe. A lot of the balls I go to are actually in lower Pennsylvania.
MALVEAUX: Give us a sense of what you are doing now. You have "Madagascar" going on, and the "Haunted House." What's happening with that?
CEDRIC: Yes, we got a real fun movie. "Haunted House" is coming out at the top of the year. It's one of the Crazy Wayans comedies where they do the paranormal activity. Super crazy. I had a fun time playing this character. Of course, "Madagascar 3" is out on DVD. Very fun movie. Love being in the animated movies, especially for the kids, just gaining that new audience. And like my children and their friends, they all hear my voice and you get that new audience that moves on to the next generation.
MALVEAUX: Do they freak out when they hear your voice?
CEDRIC: Not anymore. My kids don't freak out at anything about me anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm not even a big star to them. It's like whatever, dude. Can you turn the DVD on, dad?
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: All right. I understand, too, you have a spiffy hat there. Are you in the line of hats too, right?
CEDRIC: This is one of my hats, who said hats? You can go online and go to whosaid.com. Or at Saks in several cities around the country. And right her in L.A., at Brigade where I did a special-event launching the hats at Brigade Downtown in Los Angeles. Definitely, encourage people to get them for the holidays --
(LAUGHTER)
-- at Saks and several cities around the country and a whole line at whosaid.com
MALVEAUX: We have to cutoff for commercial. You look great and you are into everything. Cedric, good to see you as always. We will be following the projects in the month ahead. See you at the inauguration.
CEDRIC: I love you. Pass it back.
MALVEAUX: We'll see you at the inauguration.
CEDRIC: Pass it back.
MALVEAUX: All right. CEDRIC: Pass it back.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: They grabbed your attention in 2012, and now you can vote for the most intriguing people of the year. Just long on to CNN.com/intriguing. We'll announce the results on Monday, December 24th.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: The eccentric millionaire and software designer on the run. John McAfee spoke to reporters just minutes ago in Miami's South Beach. The 67-year-old arrived last night after he says Guatemalan authorities expelled him from prison and put him on a plane. Reporters, once again, asked him about the reason he is on the run, the reason he refuses to speak to police about the murder of his neighbor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What can you say about the crime itself?
JOHN MCAFEE, SOFTWARE DESIGNER: I can say, I want to make this clear for the 100th time, I have absolutely nothing to do with this. This is not about a murder. This began on the 30th on April of last year when 42 armed soldiers stormed by property, shot my dog in the head, and held me in the sun, handcuffed with my hands behind my back for 14 hours, destroyed a half million dollars of my property, and let me go with no charges. The next day, I was approached by the same person who asked for the bribe and said, now are you willing to pay the money. I said no. Instead, i went to you people. I went to the international press. That was on May 4th, my first speaking out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: McAfee also told reporters he faked a heart attack while detained in Guatemala to buy time for his attorney to file a series of appeals, appeals that prevented his deportation back to Belize. Now, we don't know if Belize will seek his extradition from Miami.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN goes inside Syria. Witness this man crawling on his stomach just to save this woman's life. She had been shot by a sniper. You will see what happens next.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now. Be prepared.
A massive cyber attack may be coming, and the target? Your cash.
Plus, in his last weeks in Congress, Dennis Kucinich demanding President Obama give up secrets about drone attacks. He joins me live.
