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How Should Republicans Reach Out to Minority Voters?; Dow Down More than 70 Points Today; Cyprus Bailout Means Drop in U.S. Stocks; Social Media Convicts Teen Rapists; NCAA Tournament
Aired March 18, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. "Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three topics, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing with us today, CNN contributor and senior writer for ESPN L.Z. Granderson and CNN contributor and analyst for "The Blaze," Will Cain. Welcome to you both.
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good Monday morning.
Onward to victory, that's the message in this 100 page autopsy issued today by the Republican National Committee. It takes a critical look at the party, its recent losses and its future. Something imperative since focus groups call the Republican party scary, narrow-minded, and out of touch. So how to change without changing the party's core beliefs? Well, get involved in the community especially minority communities and massage the message. For example if you talk to the NAACP, like Mitt Romney did in 20012, don't do this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to eliminate every nonessential expensive program I can find. That includes Obamacare. And I'm going to work to reform and save --
(BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That didn't go over so well. NAACP execs later said Romney's agenda was, quote, "antithetical to African Americans." So my question, how can Republicans mass as message the message to attract minorities? L.Z.?
GRANDERSON: They can't massage the message to attract minorities. They have to start from scratch. They have to start by actually listening to minorities instead of just talking to them all the time. Instead of dictating what they think they should be doing, they should actually try to serve the minority population in this country. That to me is the reason why this $10 million plan that was released this weekend is an ill conceived one because it's so much about getting the message out, not so much about listening to what people want from them.
COSTELLO: Will.
CAIN: Well, I do share some similar pessimism and the reason is how you set this up, Carol. And that is how do you appeal or change your message to minority voters without professing something that's antithetical to your philosophy, which is minority voters largely accept a greater degree of government intervention than Republicans can accept. That being said, I want to answer your question directly so I'll offer and you philosophical and policy example. On the philosophical level, you must communicate and try to convince that the economic policy, the economic philosophy of Republicans has caused a massive amount of wealth for everyone. Second, real quick, on policy education Carol. Education is ripe for reform and Republican principles are perfect for minority voters.
COSTELLO: All right. Next --
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: L.Z. should I let you weigh in?
GRANDERSON: I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: Why are you laughing?
CAIN: You're laughing at education. Expound upon your laughter on education.
GRANDERSON: Well, because its 's ridiculous to think that the party who tried to get rid of, for instance, the Department of Education is all of a sudden now the one who wants to push education. It's absolutely ridiculous to think the department that wanted to gut the teachers union wants to push education. It's absolutely ridiculous to think that the party that wanted to take funding away from education is now the party in favor of education. That's reason I started laughing.
CAIN: Right. Those policies worked well for you over the last 40 years. Those schools that you're professing that teachers unions have a hold on are doing really well. Where school choice and charter schools that's the point. That's what's doing well and voters across minority voters to voters of every ethnicity have seen the benefits of those kind of schools.
COSTELLO: Okay, by this argument, we can see how difficult the road the Republicans have before them.
CAIN: Thanks for breaking format.
COSTELLO: Hey, no problem. I like contention. Up next, president Obama heading to Israel this week. His first visit to the country as commander in chief. One item likely on the agenda, Iran. And its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons. The "Washington Post" reporting that Iran is doubling down on its efforts in the face of severe economic sanctions with one top cleric saying Iran will resist, quote, "arrogant powers" such as the United States and other nations, and we think they mean Israel. Our question: what steps should the United States and Israel take to stop Iran there developing a nuclear weapon. Will?
CAIN: You're asking easy questions today. I think the answer is there are no steps. I mean, you could gas up the airplanes and get ready for air strikes, but I'm not sure that will keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It will certainly delay them. This country is very intent despite diplomacy, not a ton of diplomacy, but despite sanctions, despite threats of air strikes, they're intent to becoming a nuclear power so he we might begin to consider what does the world look like with Iran as a nuclear power. That's nuclear proliferation in the neighborhood (ph). Will they fulfill all their threats. Those are the questions you might want to start answering because they're very, very intent on being a nuclear power.
COSTELLO: L.Z.?
GRANDERSON: I think a lot of the focus in terms of the economic sanctions has been about the U.S. and western civilization. It's really time now in a the Obama administration and the world actually start to see if they'll have influence in terms of the eastern part of the globe. China and India are the two largest countries that actually bring in -- export oil in from Iran. And so you have to find a way to characterize this conversation to those two nations that a nuclear Iran is not a good idea for their interests. We already have convinced the western civilization. You have to talk to China, you have to talk to India.
COSTELLO: Third question. Sarah Palin rocking the conservative CPAC gathering once again. The former Alaska governor doing everything from mocking New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's big soda ban with a big sip from her big gulp, which is really funny, to blasting the Republican establishment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER GOVERNOR TO ALASKA: If these experts who keep losing elections, you keep getting rehired raking in millions, if they feel that strongly about who gets to run in this party, then they should buck up or stay in the truck. Buck up and run. The architects can head on back to -- they can head on back to the great Lone Star state and put their name on some ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, that did not go over too well with Karl Rove, the man known as the architect of George W. Bush's presidential campaigns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I appreciate her encouragement that I ought to go home to Texas. I'd be enthused if I ran for office to have her support. I would say this though: I don't think I'm particularly good candidate, sort of a balding fat guy. And second of all, I'd say if I did run for office and win, I'd serve out my term. I wouldn't leave office midterm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ouch. Our question, in a hypothetical match-up, who wins over the Republican faithful, Karl Rove or Sarah Palin? L.Z.?
GRANDERSON: Sarah Palin. Simply because she's just more likeable. You may think she's an idiot, you may think she has no idea what she's talking about, but there is something about her charisma that attracts a large number of people and causes people to want to listen to her and be attracted to her. Karl Rove is right. He does not have that appeal. And worse yet is that he has a lot of egg on his face from 2012 including that colossal meltdown on Fox News in Ohio. So if you go past the last victories, if you will, the last thing we saw from Karl Rove was a total meltdown.
COSTELLO: Will?
CAIN: L.Z.'s right, it's Sarah Palin. Karl Rove's singular asset was his ability to work behind the scenes and pick winners, and he did a horrid job of that in 2012. He seems to know his place and he knows it's not on the ballot, it's behind the scenes. That being said, the future of the Republican party, I know that your hypothetical match-up is Sarah Palin versus Karl Rove, but the future is with neither. And I think Rand Paul winner of CPAC's straw poll illustrates that.
COSTELLO: We'll see. Will Cain, L.Z. Granderson, thanks for playing today.
CAIN: You bet.
GRANDERSON: Thank you.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS.
COSTELLO: The opening bell just rang on Wall Street and guess what, the Dow is down just about 79 points right now. Alison Kosik is live at the New York stock exchange. What's going on?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news is the Dow is off its lows of the session. We did see the Dow fall as much as 100 points. And this is about is about the tiny island country of Cyprus, Carol, located south of Turkey. It's the latest country in Europe that that needs a bailout. But this bailout is being watched closely because there is a condition for Cyprus to get its $13 billion bailout. The proposal on the table here for those who live in Cyprus is if you have a bank accounting you're going to have to be taxed one time on your deposits. So let's say you have an account with $129,000 in it or less, you'd have to fork over about $9,000. That's a 6 percent tax. Actually 6.7 percent tax.
So people obviously getting nervous about this tax over the week weekend, they rushed to withdraw their money out of the bank, but keep in mind at this point lawmakers in Cyprus are still working on this proposal trying to come up with something a little more equitable. Some proposals are being floated that is. So a vote on this has been postponed until tomorrow. But you're seeing the markets react because this could really be a game-changer in this Eurozone debt drama that we used to talk about so much that everybody's kind of tabled, but now brought to the forefront because it shows that a bank doesn't have to fail to reach in and grab your money, at least if you're in Cyprus. So it has also big implications for future bailouts, as well. What if this idea does catch on in Cyprus? What happens to other countries in Europe that may need a bailout?
So you're seeing the ripple effect happening from Europe all the way here to the U.S. at least in the stock market. We are seeing shares of banks here in the U.S. like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, down 1 percent to 2 percent. That's what's dragging down the Dow. Down 73 points.
COSTELLO: I'm sure you'll keep us posted. Alison Kosik, live from the New York stock exchange. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We want to take a closer look at the rape trial in Steubenville, Ohio. Two football players, stars in the small rust belt town, convicted of raping a drunken teenager. The boys cried as they were sentenced to juvenile detention for at least a year, but the girl likely faces years of pain and torment. Images and crude comments on her sexual assault were plastered all over the internet. It was the crowning cruelty in a case that questions the cultures of social media and the idol worship of sports stars.
Like I said, we want to take a closer look at this case. Katie Hanna is the executive director of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and in New York, Jeff Gardere who is both a clinical and forensic psychologist. Welcome to you both.
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you.
KATIE HANNA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OHIO ALLIANCE TO END SEXUAL VIOLENCE: Thank you for having me.
Jeff, I'd like to start with you because there were many women over the weekend who witnessed these boys crying in the courtroom and their parents hugging them and they were appalled at that. It's like you're crying now only because you'll be incarcerated, only because you got caught. Not because you were truly sorry. Are they right?
GARDERE: Well, let's hope that these boys were truly sorry for what they did. It was a horrific crime, and certainly a moral lesson for us all as to what friendship really should be about. Because at one if not both of those boys knew her and when she had gotten so drunk, their job really was to protect her, no to abuse her, not to rape her, not to treat her like she was dirt. So let's hope that these tears were about recognition that what they did was horrible, they destroyed this girl's life, and they have to have some sort of emotional rehabilitation. COSTELLO: It's tough to figure now (ph). Jeff, I want you also to listen to a quote from the girl's mother. Quote. This is what said in court.
"Human compassion is not taught by a teacher, a coach or a parent. It is a God-given gift instilled in all of us. You displayed not only a lack of this compassion, but a lack of any moral code."
I mean, it's just astounding to me that these boys could abuse this girl practically all night, post nude pictures of her online, laugh about it with their friends. It's obvious at least on that night they had no moral code or compassion. Is that something you're born with?
GARDERE: You are. I truly believe we're all born with some sort of moral compassion. But we also have to look at nature versus nurture. The environment. And here, we have a town has a football mentality where these players are treated as if they're demigods and therefore they can get away with appalling behavior. So something lead up to this. And then you have to look at the gang mentality that night. There were other teenagers involved who had gotten immunity who had taken pictures of her. So people were egging each other on towards this very inappropriate horrific and sexually violating behavior.
COSTELLO: Katie, I want to read you something that the Attorney General Mike Dewine said. He said "Rape is not a recreational activity. We as a society have an obligation to do more to educate our young people about rape. They need to know it is a horrible crime of violence and it's simply not ok."
It seems sad to me that he thinks that we actually have to educate our young men about what rape is.
HANNA: Yes and rape is a crime that happens in every community every day all across the country, across Ohio, across the world. And we have to remember how we got here. We got here because not only was she raped she was also objectified over social media, she was blamed and she continues to be re-victimized over social media.
It wasn't her fault. We need to really focus on the offenders and we have to address these prevention issues because victim blaming will never end sexual violence. We have to address prevention.
COSTELLO: So what should parents tell their sons?
HANNA: I think --
GARDERE: Parents need to teach -- I'm sorry, Katie, go ahead.
HANNA: Oh that's ok I think that parents need to have conversations with their teens about healthy relationships, about consent. And we need to echo that in schools. And football teens on the field. Parents need to be challenging each other and talking about these issues.
You know sitting in that courtroom and hearing teen after teen not do anything, there were so many people that could have intervened that night. And there were so many people that could have intervened after the fact over social media.
We have to support survivors because what happened in this case is why so many survivors don't come forward. She said to herself that she was worried she was going to get blamed for what happened. And in order for us to be able to move forward and to heal, we need to believe survivors.
COSTELLO: Jeff Gardere and Katie Hanna, thank you so much for the conversation.
GARDERE: Thank you.
HANNA: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Well be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. Time to check our "Top Stories".
Two inmates back in custody, two more people have been arrested after a brazen prison break in Canada. Two men posed as tourists and commandeered a helicopter from a Canadian tour company and then like a scene out of a James Bond movie the chopper flew over a prison lowered ropes to two waiting inmates and off they went. But within several hours all four were captured.
In Texas, cell phone and emergency radio service has been restored after being knocked out following a bridge implosion. According to CNN affiliate KXAN, the U.S. 281 bridge outside Austin came down this weekend along with all the communications. The blast was felt 26 miles away.
A Nazi salute has earned a soccer player a lifetime ban from his national team. Giorgos Katidis made the controversial celebration after scoring a goal on Sunday and he has been ripped on social media but Katidis says he's not a racist and he didn't know what that salute meant. He had no idea. Greece's Soccer Federation is also condemning the incident.
Still shocked St. Louis got into the NCAA tournament but it is surprising how the team found out. Bleacher Report is coming your way next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: College basketball selection Sunday in the books. Now it's time to fill out those brackets. Andy Scholes is in with today's "Bleacher Report." Hi, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hi good morning Carol. According to a Yahoo! survey, it takes fans about an average of 75 minutes to fill out their bracket. Now I've already had about 40 minutes invested into this one right here. So I'm probably going to go a little longer than that 75-minute average. And yesterday championship week wrapped up with four games. One of those being the ACC title game between Miami and North Carolina. The Hurricanes would come out on top to win the ACC for the first time in school history. But it still wasn't enough to earn them a one seed in the big dance.
Miami will be a two seed in the east region. Louisville is the number one overall seed in the tournament. The other one seeds are Kansas, Indiana and Gonzaga. Last year's number one overall seed and defending champions Kentucky they failed to make the tournament this year.
St. Louis wrapped up the Atlantic 10 title yesterday taking care of BCU at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. After the game they tried to get right to the airport in order to watch the selection show but the Billikens they got stuck in traffic in New Jersey so get this. The entire team stopped off at a local best buy and set up their own watch party in a magnolia room. A decent crowd of shoppers joined the Billikens as they learned they would be the fourth seed in the Midwest region.
Wondering how your favorite school stacks up among the NCAA field? Well head up to bleacherreport.com where they rank all 68 tournament teams. I don't know about you Carol but if I walked into a Best Buy and saw a NCAA watch party, I would be excited.
COSTELLO: I would join in. Are you kidding?
SCHOLES: For sure.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much -- Andy. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, two teenagers convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl break down in court. But Ohio's attorney general says tears are not enough. This has to stop. Do our young people know what rape is?
A corporate jet slams into a house in Indiana.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My roof is caved in. There was glass everywhere.
