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Jesse Jackson Jr. Pleads Guilty; The Astroid Was 130 Feet; Sen. McCain's Heated Town Hall; Kelly Clarkson Calls Clive Davis A Bully; Same Sex Marriage Will Take the Floor this Spring; New Developments in Pistorius Case; Donatin Embryos

Aired February 20, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's been a good hour. I'm told we ran out of time.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's flown by. I know, we were that close to doing -- telling you something else. Got to go. That will do it for me with the "NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL."

MALVEAUX: We'll bring in that story tomorrow.

HOLMES: Yes, we'll have --

MALVEAUX: This is a big tease for tomorrow anyway.

HOLMES: A long-term tease. You've got more work to do.

MALVEAUX: All right. Good to see you.

HOLMES: See you tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing wrapped up for the day with no decision. He is charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend. Prosecutors are calling him a flight risk while the defense is questioning the investigation.

Then Jesse Jackson Jr. pleading guilty. He teared up in the court this morning. He is charged with misusing $750,000 in campaign funds.

Plus, we are waiting for his wife to arrive. She is also facing corruption charges and is expected to plead guilty.

And are Republicans changing their tune? A new ad shows several of them supporting same-sex marriage. This is CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Up first today, a dramatic fall from grace for Jesse Jackson Jr. The former Congressman from Illinois, he has pleaded guilty to misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds. That is a federal offense that could put him behind bars for several years. The Chicago Democrat, of course son of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is accused of using campaign cash for a huge personal spending spree, buying expensive watches, furs, and celebrity memorabilia. Well, Lisa Sylvester, she was in the courtroom when Jackson entered the plea. Tell us, first of all, what was his demeanor? Did he seem that he acknowledged what had happened and that he felt a certain sense of responsibility or remorse?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he definitely took responsibility for this. And, you know, Suzanne, during this court proceeding, Jesse Jackson Jr. several times he looked back at his parents who were in the courtroom. And that key moment when the judge asked him, how do you plead? He looked directly at them and then he dabbed his eyes. He turned back to the judge and he said, guilty, your honor. Jesse Jackson Jr. Also told the judge, quote, "I used monies that should have been for campaign purposes." He is pleading guilty to a felony, this is a felony, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements.

The judge also asked him about his state of mind, you know, getting a sense of was he aware of what was happening in the proceedings? As you well know, Jackson had said that he suffers from depression and bipolar disease. And, in fact, he acknowledged in the court that he was a patient for a while at the mayo clinic. But Jackson's attorney told the press that this is the beginning of a new day and that he is optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID WEINGARTEN, ATTORNEY: I will answer a question I received many times, and it's a question about how he's doing. It turns out that Jesse has serious health issues. Many of you know about them. We're going to talk about them extensively with the court. And those health issues are directly related to his present predicament. That's not an excuse, that's just a fact. And Jesse's turned the corner there as well, and I think there's reason for optimism here, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER: And, Suzanne, I want to just point out, you can probably see there, you can see Judy Smith, she is the crisis manager who has been involved in so many high-profile cases here in Washington. In fact, there's a T.V. show now based on her career. So, she is involved here. And I can tell you what led up to this point, what led up to this day, is the lawyers and the prosecution, they have actually been talking and they -- the prosecution and the defense, they have actually a plea agreement. And as part of that agreement, they have said that a sentence of about three to four years and a fine between, say, $10,000 and $100,000, that that would be appropriate. But it is ultimately going to be the judge's discretion. The judge could sentence him to as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing scheduled for June 28th -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you very much, Lisa. Our next guest has been following the story, Jesse Jackson Jr.'s political career really for years. Mary Mitchell, she's a columnist for the "Chicago Sun- Times." Mary, first of all, let's talk about his Jackson's wife, Sandra. I understand that she's also going to be appearing before the very same judge. She's facing her own problems. What is she being charged with? And do we expect she also will plead guilty?

MARY MITCHELL, COLUMNIST, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": Well, she's been charged with tax fraud. I think that's a way of getting -- you know, getting to a plea deal. She's going to have to go into court and basically, you know, take a plea just like her husband did previously.

MALVEAUX: Can you explain for us -- you know the Jackson family very well. Why did all this happen? Why did this just go downhill and deteriorate? He came from, you know, a very prominent family, and, you know, his father has had his own problems. But why did he succumb to all of this?

MITCHELL: Well, I think, you know, when I look at this, I see an American tragedy. You have Jesse Jackson Sr. and you have a son who was raised at his feet, the fee of civil rights leaders.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

MITCHELL: Great education, great opportunity, --

MALVEAUX: Great expectations for him as well.

MITCHELL: -- great privileges.

MALVEAUX: A lot of people expected great things from him.

MITCHELL: That too, that too. And Chicago royalty. I think that worked against him because you can put yourself in a place where things come too easily for you. You're not held accountable. I have to say this, that even in Chicago there were signs that something was not quite right, you know, with his wife running for public office and, you know, the exchange of campaign money from his hands to her hands, the high living, the going to Washington and immediately buying a very expensive house in a very expensive neighborhood. Those things should have been red flags. But as Chicago royalty in the political arena, I don't think we ask -- and I'm just speaking for myself, --

MALVEAUX: Sure.

MITCHELL: -- I don't think we asked enough questions that could have gotten to the heart of this before it got way down this road. You know, there was some behavior on the part of Jesse Jackson Jr. that was kind of suspect. You know, we're, like, why did he do that? Why did he do this? But we never put the dots together. And I think not putting the dots together allowed him to go on down that path. It's his own responsibility, but as media people, we should have seen it coming.

MALVEAUX: And a couple of things that he did that kind of struck us, it was strange, I mean, he really spent a lot of money here. He had a $43,000 Rolex watch. He also had these Michael Jackson --

MITHCELL: Right.

MALVEAUX: -- that's what Michael Jackson was wearing on the video. They went for $8,000 apiece. Mary, why do you suppose there wasn't that kind of questioning in the community? I mean, was it simply that they were beyond reproach, they were beyond the law?

MITCHELL: Well, I --

MALVEAUX: That people just thought they could do as they pleased?

MITCHELL: I think they're used to doing as they please. And even now, you know, I sit in my office and I take phone calls from people who think we're actually being hard on the Jacksons on this issue. So, I think that there -- that there is a Chicago royalty, political royalty. They did not get the scrutiny they should have gotten, and that, to me, was a mistake. I hope, as media people, we learn from this because everyone in a public office should be scrutinized. And I think we failed to do that. This is like watching some -- a celebrity or a billionaire going into a store and shoplifting. It was just absurd behavior and it has really brought his whole -- and not just his family down, but this is just really something that the whole nation is watching.

MALVEAUX: All right, Mary Mitchell. Thank you very much for your very frank conversation about the Jacksons. I know that there are different people and certainly people who look and think, you know, they should not be criticized in this way. But, clearly, it does look like there were a lot of things that needed to be questioned. Mary, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Of course, we are also following this meteor that was streaking across Russia. This happened last week, injuring hundreds of folks in a remote village. Well, it has overshadowed another close encounter with a space rock. Chad is here to explain what that is.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It turns out that in 1979, Atari had it right. An asteroid just looks like a rotating thing. You use the little ball and you go, (INAUDIBLE.) Here's the video. I can show you. There's 80 frames from NASA showing us exactly what -- this asteroid that missed us. No, not that one. The one you were just showing. Oh, that would have been so good. And not that one either. The asteroid -- we just got video in from NASA.

MALVEAUX: This one?

MYERS: That's it right there. OK, that's (INAUDIBLE.)

MALVEAUX: All right.

MYERS: This is the video that NASA just put out moments ago showing the asteroid as it was rotating around itself and flying through our atmosphere at 17,000 miles above space.

MALVEAUX: So you could actually see it.

MYERS: The radar -- that was a radar image coming down. Each little pixel is about four meters. They now know that that asteroid was only 130 feet instead of 150 feet, so it would have only knocked down 500 square miles instead of 600 square miles. Great shot there of that new asteroid.

MALVEAUX: You're right, Atari had it right.

MYERS: It looks just like Atari, doesn't it?

MALVEAUX: Yes, right, we were shooting that down.

MYERS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: That was back in the '80s, right?

MYERS: That's right.

MALVEAUX: We're not giving away our age or anything.

MYERS: And it was only a quarter.

MALVEAUX: Yes, that's right.

MYERS: Now, it's like $2.50.

MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE.) Thanks, Chad.

Here's what we're working on this hour. Senator John McCain facing an angry crowd while defending his plans for immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: And that's what this is all about. But occasionally I get a jerk like (INAUDIBLE) here. So, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: How this little town hall got a little bit out of control.

Plus he is credited for making Kelly Clarkson, that musical force that she is, of course. But Clarkson says Clive Davis is a bully. She's enraged over things he wrote about her in his new memoir. This is CNN NEWSROOM. It's all happening now. We'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Pentagon officials say they're going to take drastic steps if the forced spending cuts go into effect. Here's the plan. About 800,000 civilian workers will have to take one day of leave a week. That is for at least 22 weeks. Across the board, federal cuts will happen automatically if Congress does not come up with another plan.

Senator John McCain had some tough words for a few critics, of course, at the town hall meeting in Phoenix. The issue, a very sensitive subject in Arizona, in particular, we are talking about immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCCAIN: That's not the case, sir. I mean, you can say that. You can say that pigs fly but it's not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.) I'm just saying, that gives -- that could be the case --

MCCAIN: I'm telling you it's not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- that could be the case for them to have -- because a lot of those guys (INAUDIBLE) --

MCCAIN: Could be a case, could not be a case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of --

MCCAIN: It's not going to be a case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of --

MCCAIN: I'm in charge. You're not. And I can tell you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just saying --

MCCAIN: -- that is not going to be the case.

Every once in a while, I get someone like that. But the fact is 99 percent of people are polite --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you don't listen to us, that's the problem.

MCCAIN: See what you mean? You're making my point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you don't listen to us. That's the reason I'm like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and calm down.

MCCAIN: You know something? Again, I've had town hall meetings for 30 years. People are very happy that I have town hall meetings. And I listen to them, and I get back to them. And that's what this is all about. But occasionally I get a jerk like you here. So, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: McCain had to defend his plan to tie immigration reform to securing the borders. That's what he wants to do.

I want to bring in our own Wolf Blitzer to talk a little bit about this. Wolf, you and I, we've seen these kind of town hall meetings before. And every -- from time to time, there is somebody who disrupts the speaker. They usually handle it pretty well. McCain, kind of blunt with this guy. What do we make of just the emotion, the passion here behind the immigration reform debate and the fact that this is on the president's agenda?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And the president, just yesterday, called senator McCain, senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Marco Rubio, all Republicans who are working on comprehensive immigration reform legislation. He promised to work with them. They seemed to have come off those phone calls, separate phone calls, encouraged. I think there's a great chance there's going to be comprehensive immigration reform passed in the coming months. I think there are still some hurdles they have to go through, specifically the time line on a pathway to citizenship for some of the 11 million undocumented workers here in the United States.

I think they're getting closer and closer. On this particular issue, as opposed to on gun control or taxes or entitlement reform, on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, I suspect there's going to be a deal, and it's going to have bipartisan support.

MALVEAUX: There's something else that, of course, a lot of people are talking about same-sex marriage. I want to take a look at this is a new ad. It features a lot of Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of us want to be told we can't marry the person we love. That's why a growing majority of Americans believe it's time to allow marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY: When couples are committed, they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone else has.

COLIN POWELL, FMR GENERAL: Allowing people to live together under the protection of law is the way we should be moving in this country.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: Freedom means freedom for everyone.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like everyone else under the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for marriage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Wolf, when you see that ad, there are two things that strike me. First, of course, you have Colin Powell, and they take this clip from an interview that you did with him in "THE SITUATION ROOM" 20 years ago. I also interviewed Colin Powell, 1993, after he spoke at the Harvard commencement, pushing him on his policy that he promoted, don't ask, don't tell. Twenty years, a lot has changed. Why do you suppose within the Republican party we've seen really this shift, a huge shift, if you will.

BLITZER: There's been a huge shift, not only here but on Democrats as well. The President of the United States who now supports same-sex marriage. He didn't support it earlier and came around last year to it. Now he's more assertively expressing that, including in his own inauguration address. I think there is a -- if you look at the polls, there's growing support for same-sex marriage across the country.

There's a key -- two key supreme court decisions that will have to be made by the end of June. Oral arguments taking place on two cases that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court. The oral arguments will take place at the end of March, a decision by the nine justices should take place by the end of June, and it's going to determine whether or not there will be changes in terms of the federal government and same- sex marriage.

My own sense right now is these ads are coming out, these kinds of -- the ad that you just showed, which shows Dick Cheney, Laura bush, Colin Powell, the president -- in part, to influence public opinion, but even more directly, to influence the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices. You always hear these justices are only influenced by the arguments that are made before the court, but they're human beings, they're Americans. They're influenced by what they see on television, what they read in the newspapers.

I suspect there's at least part of the desire to an ad like this, to tell a Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, somebody who could go -- either go with, in favor or opposed to same-sex marriage. There's growing support. So we'll see what happens. This is going to be a decisive Supreme Court decision coming up in the spring.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely, Wolf. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

BLITZER: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: For more, of course, on wolf's interview, you can watch "THE SITUATION ROOM" starting at 4:00 eastern.

Prosecutors say there was arguing for an hour before the shooting. Bloodstains on a cell phone and a cricket bat. Plus boxes of testosterone and needles. The case against Olympian Oscar Pistorius is starting to sound more like a trial than a bail hearing. The latest from South Africa up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Olympic star spending another night in jail. No decision made today on whether or not to grant bail to Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius. He is facing premeditated murder charges in the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend. Live to Pretoria, South Africa. Our own Robyn Curnow. Robyn, today in the courtroom they didn't make a decision yet about bail. I understand that Pistorius very much in a different kind of mood today than he was in yesterday.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He looked at lot more confident. He wasn't as slumped over. He was sitting up straight. That's not to say he didn't have the occasional cry, but he did look a little more centered, and no doubt that's because his defense team really managed to punch some holes in the state's case against him. In terms of will he or won't he get bail? I'm just a humble journalist. I'm a bit nervous to call what's going to happen in this magistrate's court tomorrow when the magistrate makes that decision, so I decided to ask a legal expert and law professor here. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LLEWELYN CURLEW, V.P. SOUTH AFRICAN LAW SOCIETY: Personally, I would like to see him receiving bail at this stage that the law can take its course, normal course. We shouldn't have a trial by ambush and shouldn't see immediate trial. Let the evidence come forth. We've got a decent constitution. Arguably, we've got one of the best constitutions in the world. That should be the test in an open society. Fairness and a decent trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: I think some of you, your American viewers might be confused. This has been appearing to be kind of a trial within a trial for just a mere bail application, but that's quite common here in South Africa. This process has been entirely by the book essentially.

MALVEAUX: Robyn, give us the new details revealed in court today.

CURNOW: There was so much. I actually think I would spend at least an hour telling you about some of these quite riveting details of the state investigating officer coming out early this morning and talking about all sorts of fascinating details. For us, the key was what Oscar Pistorius had done and what he hadn't done. He has always maintained that he accidentally shot his girlfriend in the middle of the night because he thought she was an intruder while she was in the bathroom.

Now, it came out from the defense that the autopsy showed that Reeva Steenkamp's bladder was empty, making it consistent with Oscar's story that she had, in fact, gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night and he made a tragic error in the darkness. That's one key issue that was dealt with. There are all sorts of issues that we've really picked over. I think the key is that this defense really knocked holes in the state's case. For example, making them look a little bit foolish. The investigator realizing -- admitting that he didn't wear protective footwear and actually contaminated the scene during his investigation. Just silly things like that made the state look quite bungling, if I'm honest with you.

MALVEAUX: So, Robyn, what's next?

CURNOW: We're back here again tomorrow. It will obviously be lighter. I think everybody is going to be waiting to hear the final arguments from the magistrate, from the legal team. The magistrate will make a decision. I'm just a humble journalist. I can't convince anybody whether it's going to be tomorrow or the day after. But I think the fact that this is such a high profile case, I think magistrate will most definitely try to give a speed speedy answer as to whether and where Oscar Pistorius will spend the night tomorrow. This is his seventh night in jail.

MALVEAUX: And Robyn, very quickly here, the video that we've been watching, we see him with his head bowed and all the photographers taking pictures. What is that about? Is that part of the process, where he has to stand there and have people look at him?

CURNOW: It's humiliating, isn't it? Even if you are charged with premeditated murder, it does become a bit of a theater. I think that's been quite a problem also. There has been some sort of trial by media in this country, little leaks coming out from all sorts of places have created -- and we've talked about this rampant speculation about some of the basic evidence. It's been amplified into things that perhaps didn't happen. Photographers are allowed in the court briefly, but when the magistrate sat down, they had to leave. What you're seeing are brief photographs after the magistrate left.

MALVEAUX: Robyn, thanks. We'll be waiting. We're going to catch up with you tomorrow to see what happens. Obviously, everyone is riveted by this case. Really extraordinary and tragic all at once. Thank you, Robyn. Appreciate it.

This couple just wanted a baby. They could not conceive. Instead, they received a donated embryo. Coming up, we're going to explain this unique procedure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A Washington state couple tried for years to have children, but nothing worked until they met another couple who had frozen their embryos. Heather Graff (ph) from Seattle affiliate KING reports that both families are part of a new kind of modern family. Check it out.