Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama's Remarks on Trayvon Martin Examined; Middle East Peace Talks to Resume

Aired July 19, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We will take you back to the breaking news out of the White House today, the president speaking during the White House daily briefing, surprising everyone.

But, first, more breaking news halfway across the world that the long- stalled Middle East peace process is now getting new life. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says peace talks will be resuming. Secretary Kerry is touring the region, meeting with both Palestinian and Israeli leaders. His comments at a stop today in Amman, Jordan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct, final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. This is a significant and welcome step forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney joins me now by phone from Jerusalem. Fionnuala, the agreement has been made to resume talks?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): In a sense it's talks about talks.

It took a long time for John Kerry to get both sides to agree to sit around the table. He's been here six times since March trying to get both sides around the table.

Finally, today we heard what we've been expecting since yesterday, which was that something was in the air.

As to when those talks are going to begin, we know that in the following week or so in Washington, John Kerry says he expects to be joined by the chief Palestinian negotiator and the former prime minister of Israel, very involved in the Palestinian track.

And someone close to Benjamin Netanyahu will be in D.C. sometime next week. At that time John Kerry says he hopes they will be able to make a statement.

Crucially, even though the man has been in the region for the last few months, it was only two days ago that word began to leak out that actually something might be in the cards.

It's in the cards. They're almost around the table. They're not quite around the table. There's a long way to go yet. It's a rocky road to peace in the Middle East. This is, as John Kerry said, a significant step.

BALDWIN: Fionnuala Sweeney, thank you very much, calling in from Jerusalem.

When we come back, our breaking news from the president, we're getting new details as to why the president wanted to speak publicly for the first time and the first place, who he's been talking to and why that particular venue. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We continue this discussion on the president speaking today, wow, huge surprise.

Rejoining me, Gloria Borger and Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, first to you. I've been looking at some of the notes from our chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin, some of the color, background on why the president wanted to speak, why today, why this venue.

What are you learning?

WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I think the information Jessica is providing based on her sources at the White House are significant, that the president decided last night it's about time he goes before the American people and speaks directly to them about what has happened and speaks in very personal terms.

He could have done it in a formal sit-down interview with a reporter, let's say. He decided, you know what? I'll just go into the briefing room. I'll surprise everyone and go forward and speak directly as he did for, what, 18, 19, almost 20 minutes or so.

He had some notes in front of him. This was not a finely crafted speech along those lines. It wasn't an Oval Office address looking into the camera, reading from the teleprompter. It was speaking from the heart in personal terms.

I thought it was well done in the structure. He went through his immediate reaction in the jury decision, the respect he has for Trayvon Martin's family.

Then he spoke a little personally about how he as a young African- American man growing up faced similar kinds of problems, spoke once again about Trayvon Martin.

But then he ended it with let's look forward, no violence. We don't want to do that. We want to look forward.

And he came up with these four initiatives in general terms, not a whole lot of specifics for initiatives to move the process forward, to get the country thinking about it.

And I thought, you know, this was an extremely effective opportunity for the president that -- to discuss with everyone in the United States these really important issues.

BALDWIN: Gloria, do you agree? What to you make of the way in which the president spoke, the location, everything?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I do. You know, I think he didn't want to make it an official presidential statement. Wandered into the briefing room. Spoke from his own personal notes. No prompter. Speaking to the American people. I think they knew going into this that every time this president talks about race, it's polarizing. When he said Trayvon Martin could have been my son, he kind of took it up a notch today and said Trayvon Martin could have been me.

BALDWIN: Could have been me.

BORGER: You know, over 30 years ago, right? But I think what he tried to do, and people who don't like the president or think he shouldn't have gotten in the middle of this, you know, will say it's too polarizing.

What he tried to do was say, understand the context of this, understand the pain of African-Americans who have lived through this in history, understand where I'm coming from as a black man who also happens to be president of the United States, who's also been followed in department stores, right?

And so I think it was very effective. There are going to be people who complain about it, sure.

BALDWIN: We've heard the complaints. Let me interject. We've heard the complaints already on this show.

We've talked to Ari Fleischer, Ben Ferguson, two guys on the right. They're saying because of the specific examples the president gave, these Republicans, folks on the right, are saying he's supposed to be the president of the United States.

He shouldn't just be speaking, their perspective, to one group.

BORGER: He didn't just speak to one group. He spoke -- he tried to get the conversation moving in this country. He didn't speak about the verdict.

He didn't tell you what the Justice Department is going to do because there is an open investigation that the attorney general is having.

What he did say is this is the context into which we ought to be having a productive conversation.

By the way, as president, he also ended on an optimistic note, talking about his children and saying, look, things are better. We're not perfect, but it's better. BALDWIN: Wolf, you have been in Washington a long time. You have covered a lot of presidents. Did this surprise you?

BLITZER: Well, you know, I was on the air. All of a sudden someone said in my ear, the president's walking into the briefing room.

I said, OK. The president's about to get personal. That was my initial -- he was about to finally wrap up the week with -- excuse me -- with what lot of people thought he should have done earlier in the week.

But, you know, better late than never, I guess.

BORGER: You know, he was probably weighing whether or not to get into this. You know, he released a written statement, as you know ...

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: ... after the verdict. And then the pressure continued to mount.

And I think he knows only too well that every time he steps into a question of race, it becomes a problem for him because the story becomes about him.

But the irony was the longer he held out, the story was becoming about him anyway, so he might as well have talked about it.

And I think he really took his time considering the kind of sober tone he wanted to set. And I don't think he wanted to end on a pessimistic note about the state of race relations in this country.

BLITZER: He ended it on a very optimistic note.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: And Jay Carney, his press secretary, later told reporters he had been prepared earlier in the week to discuss it.

He gave four television interviews with Spanish-speaking anchors, and he was ready to answer their questions about the Zimmerman trial, the verdict and all of that. No one asked him those questions.

Now, he could have started -- he had events. He had speeches during the course of the week on other subjects. He could have started one of those speeches just a few personal words about what's going on in the Zimmerman trial. He decided not to do that.

As Jessica was reporting, last night he decided this would be a good way to do it. They went back and forth what format he should use. In the end they said, you know what? I think I'll just go into the briefing room and do it as sort of a spontaneous moment.

I think what he -- what the White House could have done, and I speak now as a former White House correspondent, what the White House could have done if they wanted to do this is given the television networks, everyone, you know, 15 minute notification.

The president will be in the briefing room in 15 minutes. He'll be speaking about the Zimmerman trial, his personal reflections. Then not just the cable news networks, all of the cable network networks, obviously, took those 18, 19 minutes live.

But the three broadcast networks and other networks probably would have taken the president's remarks live as well, so a lot more people presumably would have seen it. You know, these remarks are going to be played and replayed.

BALDWIN: Played over and over around the world.

BLITZER: Right. Everyone will see them. But that was a White House decision.

BALDWIN: Got to go. Gloria Borger, forgive me, but I've got to go. But I appreciate you both very much.

Wolf, see you 5:00 in "The Situation Room."

Meantime, we'll check with my colleague, Don Lemon. He was in Sanford when the verdict came in Saturday night, the not guilty verdict.

Let's check in with Don, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: It came as a complete shock for me.

And the reason I say that is because I just look at people as people, and I thought for sure that the jury looked at Trayvon as an average teenager that was minding his own business, that wasn't committing any crime, that was coming home from the store and were feet away from where he was actually going.

And I just believe that they realized that, but when I heard the verdict, I kind of understand the disconnect in that maybe they didn't see Trayvon as their son. They didn't see Trayvon as a teenager. They didn't see Trayvon as just a human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of Trayvon Martin speaking last night for an entire hour with Anderson Cooper.

In the wake of that, the wake of the debate raging all week long since that not guilty verdict, we have now heard from the president, just about two hours ago, surprising everyone, stepping forth during the White House daily briefing and expressing his sympathies for the Martin family, saying they've handled all this with grace and dignity but also saying the jury has spoken and that's how our system works. He also went on to talk about his personal experiences. To talk about how he did that I want to bring in my colleague, Don Lemon. He joins me on the phone.

He was also down there in Sanford, Florida, over the weekend, my goodness, when this verdict broke late Saturday night.

Don, I'm sure you've seen the president, talked to a lot of people who said he spoke from the heart, spoke very personally. What did you make of what he said?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's -- look, this is very personal for African-American men, and you could see that it was very personal for the president who spoke from the heart.

And it is -- let me just -- I'll tell you why. I'll read something. I have this ritual that I have with my mother, that every single -- when I leave -- when I lived in Atlanta -- I'm in New York now. I don't drive home.

When I lived in Atlanta, I drove home from work, and I called my mother every time I drove home. And until I got into the house, because she knows of these situations, she raised me to -- with these situations in mind, informing me of what you should do if the police stop you, I need to know where you are at all times.

If I didn't talk to my mom on the drive home, I would call her immediately when I got into the house.

So yesterday after Anderson's interview with Trayvon Martin's mom and dad, my mom texted me and said -- she said that interview of Trayvon's mom and dad reminded me that I have all these fears for you as a male person of color, even today, and you are an adult, still fear for your safety.

You would always wonder why I would always want to hear from you when you would get off work late nights. I could go to sleep once I heard you say we're inside and I heard your house alarm.

I'm a 47-year-old man, and my mom is still worrying that someone is going to mistake me as a criminal. And that's why it is important for African-American men, and that's why the president spoke as he spoke.

This isn't something that black men, specifically African-American men, make up or want to happen.

If you have the most powerful African-American man in the world telling you that there is a problem, there is nothing in this politically for him, perhaps people like Ben Ferguson, who I like and respect a lot, should listen, should sleep on it before they react and deny the context of what could have happened to Trayvon Martin and could be and is happening to most African-American men in this country.

I have been profiled. I had to sue a department store for a security guard who pushed me into traffic and accused me of stealing something when I had the receipt in my pocket.

And when the police showed up -- I was working in one of the top three markets in the country as a news reporter. When the police showed up, they went to the security guard and said, go sit in your car.

People if that does not exist for you, then you don't understand it. And as someone who has dated both women and men of color and not of color, that is not something that a white man has to worry about, his physical presence around anyone.

That's something that an African-American man grows up with learning and not -- you raise your voice when you're speaking to people, oh, yes, sir. You don't speak in your normal deep voice because you don't want people to be intimidated by you.

Sometimes you don't get on elevators with people. Sometimes you can't get taxis. It's all well and good, you learn to accept it, but it's a reality, and for people to deny it, I think is insulting, not only to the president of the United States, but for people who helped build this country.

BALDWIN: I hear your emotions through your voice, Don Lemon.

Don, thank you for sharing. I really appreciate that and we will hear from you tomorrow night more on your thoughts. Thank you so much, friend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Jake Tapper, host of "The Lead," I know you'll be all over this breaking news. I know you guys will be re-airing all of the comments, all the remarks from the president at the top of the hour.

But let me ask you this. I know we were talking in commercial, and you say you're fascinated by the fact that clearly there was a decision made on behalf of the president and whoever else that he wanted to speak today and go very personal.

JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": And it's interesting because when you are the president of the United States, you're the president of everyone.

And so there is almost an obligatory, knee-jerk reaction to give comments at times like that are inoffensive, that no one can take offense by.

And you saw some of that over the weekend when President Obama issued a paper statement.

But, obviously, President Obama decided that he, after talking to a lot of friends and talking about his own feelings with friends and family, that there was something he wanted to share about his experience.

And to a degree, I felt like he was trying to explain to non-African- Americans why so many African-Americans have reacted the way that they have.

And it was obviously a decision that was made -- I'm certainly not criticizing it or commenting on it, one way or the other -- but it was a decision that was made that he wanted to talk, not just as a president and as a leader, but as an African-American.

And that was clearly why he wanted to come before the cameras because he could have just relied upon the paper statement that he gave over the weekend that said the jury has spoken, this was a tragedy and just kind of left it at that.

BALDWIN: Yeah. I know you covered the president. You were in that White House briefing room many a time. We'll be curious to hear your perspective show at the top of the hour.

Mr. Tapper, thank you very much.

TAPPER: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And when we come back, we will play a little clip from one of our town halls where we had different voices discussing this verdict.

We're going to play a pretty chilling clip, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to play you a clip at one of our town halls, "Race in America," that happened this week.

CHARLES BLOW, OP-ED COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I have had a conversation where I say, if you are around police and maybe it's dark or something, you might not want to run.

You just don't want to draw attention to yourself. You don't want to look like you stole something. You just don't want a problem.

And a lot of people have had a conversation when it relates to the police. You don't want to draw attention to yourself in that position.

What Zimmerman was saying about Trayvon was that he was walking so slowly, it wasn't like he had already done something, but that he was about to do something.

That struck me as saying, is there any way that they can hold their bodies? Is there any way that you can telegraph to someone who might find you suspicious that you are not suspicious, that I am not the enemy, that am not who you think that I am?

And I am struggling as a parent to figure out, what is it, what can I say? I struggle with the idea that my boys have to be divested of innocence. That either I have to do it, the man who loves them, or someone else will do it who does not love them.

ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, "AC 360": Jeffrey, is this a conversation you've ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that was just a piece of part of a conversation. Many conversations have been had throughout this country, around the world in the wake of the verdicts that was reached in Sanford, Florida Saturday night, the not guilty verdict in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman.

And we heard from the president, initially via a paper statement, basically saying that the jury has spoken, calling for peace, calling the shooting death of a 17-year-old -- an unarmed shooting 17-year- old, tragic.

But now today for the first time for 20 minutes, we saw the president of the United States inside that daily briefing, surprising everyone and speaking from the heart about what has happened in the wake of that verdict.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Let's take you to Washington. "THE LEAD" starts now.