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Possible Deal Over Off-the-Cuff Kerry Remarks; Alison Spann Reflects on Her Father; Nyad's Swim Questioned; Serena Williams Wins Fifth U.S. Open

Aired September 09, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just past the bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're following breaking news in the "Crisis in Syria," and let me just take you back because it all began this morning in London where you have the secretary of state, John Kerry, possibly muddying the waters regarding the march toward an attack on Syria.

So he suggested that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad could stave off an attack by handing over control of their chemical weapons.

Syria and its biggest ally, Russia, both seem to think that is an idea worth exploring, putting those weapons under international control as a way to avert this attack.

So let me go straight to the United Nations to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh who is there.

And, so, Nick, Secretary Kerry, he came out and said Syria can avoid all this by putting the weapons under international control.

Walk me through, then, what happened in Moscow.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a remarkable turn of event there. It seems, in a few hours, what seems to be a slip of the tongue by John Kerry, certainly answering a hypothetical, has now led to this chain of diplomatic events.

The Russians seizing upon his remarks and saying if they did hand their weapons over in a week, that could divert some kind of military intervention. The Russians seizing upon that saying it would urge Syria to put its chemical weapons under international control.

The Syrian foreign minister, who is in Moscow now, saying, next to Sergey Lavrov, that, frankly, yes, they would welcome that, that they thought Russia had their best interest of the heart trying to prevent what they referred to as American aggression.

Some certain muddying the waters of how feasible this is because, bear in mind, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, said in a recent interview he didn't really want to go into whether or not they actually had chemical weapons.

And then you have the issue of how would, in fact, such an international even mission work, trying to get involved, finding the weapons in a very dangerous environment of Syria's civil war right now, moving them, storing them and then disposing of them to the satisfaction of everybody concerned.

But still the diplomatic bandwagon is now moving and the French have just come out, their foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, to say this deserves, quote, "thorough examination."

Three conditions, though, for it to move forward -- the first being that Bashar al-Assad should immediately hand over his weapons -- chemical weapons -- for ultimate destruction; and then this should be backed by a Security Council resolution with a short timeframe that would suggest consequences if the Syrians fail to act; and finally those responsible for the 21st of August attacks on the suburbs of Damascus, which started all of this off, should then be handed over to the international criminal court in the Hague to face some sort of form of international justice.

So a lot there really happening, but the question you really have to ask, even though the U.S. has said they would give this a hard look, how feasible really is it to send U.N. inspectors into Syria right now at the height of a civil war, collect all of these complicated weapons and then dispose of them?

Brooke?

BALDWIN: I was asking Fareed Zakaria that exact question. He says it's feasible, but it's not simple.

So, Nick Paton Walsh at the United Nations, Nick, thank you very much.

And speaking of everything that has been happening when it comes to Syria, this is a must-see interview. Wolf Blitzer goes one-on-one with the president on Syria. Watch it tonight, 6:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Coming up next, it is hot on CNN.com right now. This is incredibly compelling stuff, the victims of wars that we don't see, like Alison Spann, who was all of nine-years-young when her dad was killed in Afghanistan. Days later, her mom passed away.

Find out what happened to this young girl, her father, the first American killed in combat in Afghanistan.

And here she is 12 years later, Alison Spann and the writer of this incredible piece on CNN.com, Wayne Drash, join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As Washington debates whether to strike Syria for the use of chemical weapons on civilians, I just want to take a few moments to tell you about this young woman whose life has been shaped by war. Her name is Alison Spann, and you might remember her father, CIA officer Johnny Michael Spann. He is considered an American hero. Mike Spann was the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan.

He was sent there to help with the search for Osama bin Laden in the weeks after 9/11, and he died in a prison riot just hours after questioning Taliban prisoners, including American John Walker Lindh.

Alison Spann was nine years old at the time, so young to be facing the loss of her father. A scant 33 days later, her mother lost her long battle with cancer. So then Alison became an orphan, but her story goes way beyond the tragedies of 2001.

Folks, this is a tale of resilience. This is a vivid reminder of what you parents teach your kids when they're very young truly shapes who they become even after you're gone.

So Wayne Drash of CNN.com went in search of Alison. He joins me here now, incredible piece.

And Alison Spann joins us from Calabasas, California. Alison, welcome to you. Thank you so much for coming on, and I'm going to get to you in a moment, but, Wayne, with all this talk about Syria and possible military intervention, here you have, of course, the war in Afghanistan.

Why did you seek Alison out?

WAYNE DRASH, STAFF WRITER AND SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN.COM: I thought there was a powerful message there with her. The world, we had last seen her when she was nine-years-old at basically her father's funeral.

And I wanted to know if there was a greater message between being a nine-year-old to the time to getting to college and what her story was in her journey through grief, what her parents had taught her, what her grandfather, who has helped raise her, as well as her stepmother, what is it that made her who she is now and how she was doing.

And I agree with everything you said in that set-up. Her story is a story of profound grief yet amazing strength.

BALDWIN: Alison, let me get to you. It's incredible, your story, but we have to go back to the toughest part, when you were all of nine.

Tell me what you remember about your dad.

ALISON SPANN, FATHER WAS FIRST AMERICAN KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN WAR: I remember a lot about my dad. He was a very memorable person. He taught me to always strive to do my best and strive to get everything I could out of life.

He taught me determination. He taught me strength. And he not only taught me that through his words, but he showed me that through his actions.

BALDWIN: And that has stayed with you, it sounds like, all through the years. And I know he took you --

SPANN: Definitely.

BALDWIN: He took you to the International House of Pancakes. I think it was when you finished the third grade.

But then he took you back to sort of drop the news that he would be going to war. What do you remember about that conversation?

SPANN: I remember he loved the International House of Pancakes. It wasn't my favorite place, but he always wanted to go there, and he took us there to basically tell us that he was going off to war.

And all I remember is that one line where he said he was going -- he was leaving and going to Afghanistan. And I lost it.

I -- as a child of 9/11, really, all I remember is that day. I remember 9/11 perfectly. I saw the buildings come down. I saw the people fall out of the buildings.

I saw everyone leave from school that day, and it was a day I'll always remember, and I knew something was wrong.

To hear that my dad was going to be going over there to be around those people, to be in danger with those people, it was hard for me.

I was not happy about it, and I didn't have really much to say. I just was begging him, please don't go. Please don't go.

BALDWIN: He went. This was part of his dream from what I read in Wayne's piece.

And the moment when he passed away -- and we thank him all these years later, of course, for his service.

The moment where you touched his casket, forever etched in your mind, but something that's unique about your story, Alison, is the fact your grandparents, your stepmother, you all went to Afghanistan, part of this journey of grief.

What did you learn from going there and standing where your father died?

SPANN: At first, when they presented the idea of going to Afghanistan to me, I was very hesitant about it. I didn't want to go.

And my stepmother and both of my grandparents really encouraged me to go. I'm so thankful for that experience because the only sight I had seen of Afghanistan was the very cruel side, the side that we saw on 9/11.

But after going there, I got to meet all of my father's friends from the Northern Alliance. I got to meet their families. They were the nicest people and they just respected my father so much.

They just constantly thanked us and were so appreciative of him and talked about so highly of him and what a great person he was.

And I got the chance to go visit an orphanage there and also a women's home, and the women and children there were just so thankful to me, and they were trying to offer me things when really I felt as if I needed to offer them something.

The people there were so amazing and I'm really, really thankful for that experience.

BALDWIN: Incredible, and Alison, I have one more for you, but Wayne, just in reading your piece, it's incredible to me all the different people you talked to sort of through her life.

And it's this point of sort of realizing your dream, learning from your parents, the words that mom and dad say to us when we're young, it sticks.

DRASH: Yes, that's right. And her grandfather was telling me a story of they were back in Alabama. She had been to Europe. And the clerk was one of Alison's friends who they had gone to high school together.

And at some point, the clerk had said something to the fact of, I think it was, I'm so jealous of you. And that took the grandfather, you know, made him pause a little bit because he wanted to say, actually, you don't know what that means, to go through what she's been through.

But he also understood what the clerk meant, that she was off in Europe and getting to do these great things. But it did make her grandfather, the elder Johnny Spann, step back and, you know -- so.

BALDWIN: Think a little bit.

DRASH: Yes.

BALDWIN: Alison, I know you're at Pepperdine. You're studying political science and communication, and you have an open invitation anytime to visit us here at CNN.

SPANN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Let me end with this. I love the picture of you standing, and I don't know if you were in that moment, the photo of you at your father's grave in Arlington. If you had one more hour with your father, what would you say?

SPANN: If I had just one more hour, I would thank him for everything that he did for me.

All of those lectures and speeches I got as a little kid that I didn't always appreciate and take to heart, I sort of scoffed off and was like, oh, no, not another lecture, I would love to thank him.

Thank you so much for instilling all those great values in me and thank you so much for teaching me everything you taught me.

And then I would probably like to watch a little Shark Week with him and share a bag of salt and vinegar chips. That would be my last hour.

BALDWIN: Maybe he could get you to take him to IHOP.

Thank you so much. Truly best of luck to you, incredible story and, Wayne Drash, woven so elegantly on CNN.com, thank you so much as well for sharing.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Diana Nyad's record-breaking swim through the shark-infested waters getting called into question today.

You see there's a group of long distance swimmers now demanding proof that the 64-year-old made the swim unassisted.

What do they want? They want all of her GPS data released, pointing to several hours where she went at twice her average speed.

Nyad's team says that was due to a fast-moving Gulf Stream working in her favor.

We should tell you that CNN has reached out to her team, who promise a point-by-point response.

Coming up next, Serena Williams never thought she would play tennis again after suffering that blood clot, but two years later, she is back on top.

Hear what the U.S. Open champ told CNN, including her meeting with former President Bill Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A start-up company gives would-be inventors a chance to see their product ideas go from sketches to store shelves in this week's "THE NEXT LIST."

Here is the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Quirky.com, Ben Kaufman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week on "THE NEXT LIST," we talked to two remarkable innovators. Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO of Quirky.com. Kaufman is passionate about giving would-be inventors a way to get their product ideas to market.

BEN KAUFMAN, QUIRKY.COM: It's human nature to invent. What stops people is to actually do that and to execute on all those ideas. It's really freaking hard.

GUPTA: And he's using the talents of a half a million online members to do it.

KAUFMAN: You are now a Quirky inventor. GUPTA: And, Saul Griffith, he's an inventor, scientist and winner of the coveted Macarthur Genius Award.

SAUL GRIFFITH, MACARTHUR FELLOW: Sometimes you have an idea and you're like, oh, no, I've the idea; now I have to do it.

GUPTA: Griffith and his team are revolutionizing robotics, creating a whole new field of soft machines.

GRIFFITH: When fully pressurized, that arm could lift a human at arm's length.

GUPTA: This Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern on "THE NEXT LIST."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BALDWIN: Serena Williams, boy, she has come a long way in the past two years. She is now a five-time U.S. Open champion.

The younger Williams sister successfully defended her title yesterday. In fact, she hasn't just been good. The woman has been dominant, winning four Grand Slam events over the past 14 months, and it almost didn't happen.

CNN's Rachel Nichols sat down with Serena. Talk about an awesome comeback story.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: Absolutely. Serena was so dominant throughout this U.S. Open and really for years, her name has been the shorthand for female power and strength, even outside the world of sports.

But two years ago, she was feeling weak. She was having trouble breathing and it was her big sister Venus who actually dragged her to the emergency room, for what turned out to be blood clots on her lungs.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, WON FIFTH U.S. OPEN SINGLES TITLE: I think going through that whole situation of being in the emergency room and being in the hospital for all that time and just not knowing if I would ever pick up a racket again, that was a tough time for me. It was really 11 months of hell.

Now when I'm on that court and I'm facing opponents, I feel like I've faced so many tougher opponents that this is just fun now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: And, Brooke, you can hear her. She just appreciates being out there and, for someone who has (inaudible), who has retired and really in the twilight of their careers, she looks like she's just getting started all over again.

And she told me it's the feeling of getting a second chance that's really inspiring her right now, and we're seeing it out on the court.

BALDWIN: Can't imagine. She called it 11 months of hell.

We saw the picture you were talking over with her, hugging former President Bill Clinton. What was that like for her?

NICHOLS: Yeah, it's funny I asked her, is President Clinton your groupie now? He does show up at a lot of her matches.

And she laughed. She first met him when she was 17-years-old when she won her first Grand Slam, which was, of course, also a U.S. Open.

He was there, she met him and he's actually been a good friend and followed her career since. He's a real tennis enthusiast. He's also been a supporter of her sister Venus.

And he missed the tournament last year, she said, to attend to some important work in world affairs. And she says she chastised him. She gave the former president a hard time, said you've got to be at the U.S. Open.

Come on, here! It's more important than anything.

BALDWIN: And just quickly here, in 20 seconds, did you say how much longer she plays -- plans on playing tennis?

NICHOLS: She says she wants to be around for a while. We know Serena has other interests. She does a lot of other things, but she's pretty into the tennis right now and who could blame her with the way she's playing.

BALDWIN: She is doing an amazing job. Rachel Nichols, thank you so much for sharing.

And just quickly before we go to "THE LEAD," quick update on what we've learned about George Zimmerman as he has been part of this altercation involving a weapon at the scene. This is according to police, Lake Mary, Florida.

We've now learned police say he was threatening his wife's father with a weapon. He is currently in police custody.

That's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go to Washington. Jake Tapper and "THE LEAD" start right now.