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Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Crashes In California's Mojave Desert; Nurse Kaci Hickox Freed From Quarantine; Marine Andrew Tahmooressi, Is Freed From Mexican Prison
Aired November 01, 2014 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Deborah Feyerick in New York.
An American has been freed after spending seven months in a Mexican prison on weapons charges. Andrew Tahmooressi, a U.S. marine reservist, said the charges stem from his making a wrong turn at the border while carrying three firearms in his truck. Several public figures including former ambassador Bill Richardson had been pressuring Mexico to set Tahmooressi free.
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson is vowing to figure out why his spacecraft broke apart on a test flight yesterday. One test pilot was killed. A second pilot parachuted to the ground, but he was seriously injured. The spacecraft disintegrated at 45,000 feet over California's Mojave Desert. Branson says that he hopes to finish what he started and make commercial space tourism both safe and available.
Signs of progress in the only remaining case of Ebola in the United States. New York City health officials say Dr. Craig Spencer is now in stable condition. Meanwhile, a nurse who has recovered from the disease is back with her dog, Bentley. Nina Pham, the first person to contract Ebola in the U.S., was released in the hospital October 24th. Bentley had been in quarantine as well.
Now, four of our top contributors take on today's biggest issues -- CNN political commentator Margaret Hoover, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin, CNN commentator Mel Robbins and CNN political commentator Sally Kohn.
Elections, Ebola, and cat calls, they're here with all of it. Take it away, ladies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks so much.
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks so much, Deb. Well, a huge story this week. You all know about it, right? Kaci Hickox fighting that quarantine order in Maine, refusing basically to obey it. And during that fight, check it out, she's going on, yes, a bike ride, not alone, but with her fiance and also surrounded by media. Of course, we know now that a judge refused and rejected that quarantine, allowing her to kind of hang out amongst all of us. But when I look at this, I think why don't you just keep your butt home? I mean, it's 21 days, right? It's just 21 days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least she wore a helmet. Can you imagine the outrage?
MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR/LEGAL ANALYST: Is that what you're supposed to do when your constitutional rights are being violated? I mean, come on. A judge even agreed and said the quarantine is out because it's unreasonable.
HOSTIN: Isn't this so, Mel, a public health issue, right? You take one for the team.
ROBBINS: If she were sick.
HOSTIN: But we don't know if she's sick.
ROBBINS: Yes, we do.
HOSTIN: If somebody gave me 21 days off, I'd say thank you, I'm going to hang out for 21 days.
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You guys are perfectly capturing the natural tension that is going to exist between public health and public responsibility and your freedom, this call your constitutional rights. I think we would hope that a public health worker would at least understand that even though she certainly has rights, and we know now that she's not contagious, wouldn't she, in the spirit of public health, in the spirit of trying to look out for others, because that's what she does. She cares about other people.
HOSTIN: She cares about other people.
HOOVER: Just take a little bit of precaution instead of seeming to push the wire. I mean, she's pushing the envelope here.
SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, this is funny to me. Craig Spencer, the doctor here in New York City, who turns out actually does have Ebola, he went on the subway. He went bowling. He went at ball shop, but neither is she. She's not symptomatic.
HOSTIN: But you're making my point.
KOHN: And she, she is in a town of 4,000 people. And as far as we know, all she did was go for a bike ride. It is really important. We don't want to discourage people from going to Africa and healing people who need help. That's how we're going to fix this.
HOSTIN: Sally, my friend, you are making my point. He went to a meatball shop, he went on the high line, he went bowling, he went on the train and guess what? Ebola. Ebola. And he had Ebola.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of the problem, sonny --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have Ebola.
ROBBINS: Margaret made my point which is yes, she is a health care worker and yes, she understands public policy, and that's why she's pushing this because the fear and actually enforcing quarantine against somebody who's tested negative who is showing no signs only ramps the fear up. And so she's taking this fight, and I applaud her efforts. On behalf of not only all the other public health workers and aid workers that are coming home but also to educate the public. This is not a threat.
HOSTIN: I'm very shocked at all of you because certainly -- and I am worried. And the other thing that I think we have to think about, there's sort of -- I am. And there's this sort of fine line, right? So now she isn't staying quarantined for 21 days. Now what do we do when the next person comes in, having taken care of people that have Ebola?
ROBBINS: The protocol.
HOSTIN: And what's your protocol now?
KOHN: Are you supporting all the mandatory quarantine just like what Christie did? Mandatory quarantine people the minute they come back?
HOSTIN: Yes, 21 days.
HOOVER: Let's be careful. I think Christie did and what they are doing in terms of, you know, she had a fever when she got to Newark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
HOOVER: And so the reason she was in quarantine --
KOHN: I think I have a fever from this conversation.
HOOVER: But it doesn't matter why you have a fever. If you came back from Sierra Leone and you have a fever, forget about it. You're quarantined until they can test you for Ebola. I think that's a very fair precautionary term. It's when you don't have a fever, and that's frankly why they withdrew the quarantine for her. And look, here is the point.
HOSTIN: Why is 21 days so unreasonable? Why is that overly burdensome?
HOOVER: I agree that it is now. But what about the fact -- I mean, you brought up a good point, Mel. And that is the country has been educated because of this sort of circus that's taken place. Rather than because our public officials, when the first Ebola patient came here in August, had protocols in place, were able to educate the public, I mean, really, truly, there was a lack of information, a lack of coordination, it seems to me from the people who we look to for guidance. I mean, the government and the president wasn't in front of it. It took state governors having different policies which really made it a controversy. And now we've got this woman in Maine who's frankly codified and catalyzed this conversation.
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: No one's afraid, right? So since no one is afraid, what do we do -- I'm the only fearful person here, obviously -- what do we now do when someone, again, comes into the United States, may have a fever, may not, we know they've had contact with people that have Ebola. And now there really is no guideline, right? There's no 21 days. What do we do?
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: I want to show a photo to you guys. This is Amber Vinson. And she was the second nurse who contracted Ebola after treating Mr. Duncan. And she, in a press conference at Emory, is surrounded by doctors and nurses who treated her. There are all of those people who treated her that were exposed to Ebola? Sunny, they're supposed to be in quarantine?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only because she's been treated. She doesn't have the Ebola.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neither does the person in Maine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has it been 21 days?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me back up and say she has Ebola.
HOSTIN: I don't think her fiance should be kissing her either.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: I am curious. I assume they're not having sex. I would like to know. America would like to know, but look, Thomas Duncan, the man that Texas who unfortunately did die, his fiancee did not contract Ebola, right? There have been so far no cases contracted when Craig Spencer went out in New York City, a city of eight million. No, come on. We've got to watch out for panic. I think we really have to be careful of panic.
HOSTIN: Please stay home for 21 days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't panic, people.
ROBBINS: For actually going out to Christie. And speaking of Governor Christie, he's coming up next because he's back in the news, and he's bold, but is his act wearing thin?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBBINS: New Jersey governor Christie back in a big way after bridge gate and loud as ever. Just listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'd be more than happy to have a debate with you any time you like, guy, because somebody like you doesn't know a damn thing what you're talking about except to stand off and show off when the cameras are here. I've been here when the cameras aren't here, buddy, and done the work.
So listen, you want to have the conversation later? I'm happy to have it, buddy. But until that time, sit down and shut up.
It was inside a hospital. It's called an isolation tent because she needed to be isolated because she was suspected to have Ebola. So no, I had no concerns about it. And by the way, neither do the CDC who is on the ground in university hospital monitoring the condition she was in. She had access to the internet and we brought her takeout food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Looks like you'll have to defend this in court.
CHRISTIE: Whatever. Get in line. I've been sued lots of times before. Get in line. I'm happy to take it on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBBINS: Get in line, wow. Is Chris Christie's shtick refreshing or is it getting old?
Sally, I want to go to you first because I know you've got a little back story on that clip.
KOHN: It isn't charming, right? So the gentleman that Chris Christie was yelling at, asserting that he knows absolutely nothing, is a homeowner, a Sandy victim who is one of many Sandy victims. The polls show that among the Sandy victims in Jersey, they are incredibly disappointed with Governor Chris Christie. Of the $1.1 billion in Sandy recovery funds, he's spent just a little over $200 million.
"The Star Ledger" gave Christie a "D" for his Sandy recovery work and on transparency, an "F." So all this gentleman, who is a business owner, a homeowner who helped Sandy recovery rebuilding, all this gentleman wanted to do was say why haven't you finished job? Why haven't you spent the money? And that's how he gets treated as a citizen? You don't treat your citizens like this.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: Let say he like fully transparent. I mean, this guy is a city council member. You happen to know him. He is sort of a professional agitator.
KOHN: He's an elected official who stood there and held a sign.
HOOVER: He stood in front of the governor. That's not how you really get things done. And look, so hold on. I did a little bit of recon with the New Jersey government here because I wanted to check and see how much is out the door, how much of the federal government's money has gone through.
What's happened, incidentally, as somebody who worked at the department of homeland during Katrina and saw a lot of fraud going on in terms of the people that were -- a lot of money was dispensed fraudulently from the federal government, there have been more holes and more protective measures put on the money that's gone out the door from Sandy because for better or for worse, all the fraud that went on during Katrina. Here's what I have. Eighty percent of homeowners who had damages are
already in the construction process in New Jersey. By the way, New Jersey's distribution of the funds from federal funds is far -- apparently more prevalent, and it's been more effective than New York's.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: For me, I see Christie, and I see the bluster and the bullying and the brash talk. And that's part of his political persona. But my question to you is can that survive a presidential election? Or is this --
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: I've seen him as a bully. I see him as boorish, and it is not presidential. A lot of people talk about President Obama being too professorial, right, almost too elegant. I don't think you can ever be too elegant as the leader of the free world. How can you this boorish bully and be able to talk with heads of people. Is that the representation we want?
HOOVER: So we, if you're a Republican primary voter, you'll have a chance to say something. I don't think you are, but it's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can change your registration.
HOOVER: But I think this is exactly why Republican primary voters like him, right? I mean, this is part of, you know, it's not a shtick actually. This is who the guy is and right now he's the governor of New Jersey and he has work in New Jersey. If he's going to be the president of the United States or aspires to, he's going to have to sell it, not just to Republicans.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: It's not even working in New Jersey.
HOOVER: I think if you look at the polls, he's still incredibly popular. He was re-elected with a lot. So look, it's up to Republican primary voters. I know you don't like it, but a lot of people do like it.
KOHN: Look. There are certain amount of I get it, the tough guy thing, the bully thing, it is Jersey. It is an exceptional state. I wonder how much it plays nationally. But you know, when you actually are telling constituents who are Sandy survivors, instead of saying look, I hear your concerns, you have a problem, here's a person on my staff. Go talk to them. Look, instead it's sit down and shut up. You don't know what you're talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's saying that to the guy who's protesting his concept.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they couldn't get an answer otherwise.
ROBBINS: Yes. Finally, a politician that speaks like I do.
KOHN: Also, New Jersey poll, 50 percent of voters, they said Christie handled it.
ROBBINS: We've got to close this.
HOOVER: Aside from that, there are other elections that are going on. There are elections on Tuesday, as a matter of fact. And in some states they've gotten pretty ugly. Playing the race card, fair or foul? That's what's next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOOVER: Welcome back. I'm Margaret Hoover here in New York with a group of our top CNN contributors talking over the best stories of the week.
So how about this one? Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu, she is in a tight race and suggested this week that President Obama isn't popular in the south because he's black. Well, then New York Representative Charles Rangel brought up the civil war and slavery on the campaign trail. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: To be very, very honest with you. And the south has not always been the friendliest place for African- Americans. It's been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Everything we believe in they hate. They don't disagree. They hate. They think that if you didn't come from Europe 30 years ago, we shouldn't have immigration. Some of them believe that slavery isn't over and that they won the civil war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOOVER: Wow! Playing the race card too much? Let's go to our panel. I know you have opinions.
HOSTIN: I have an opinion as the brown person on the panel. You know, it's interesting to me when people say that when African- Americans or anyone else is discussing race, we are somehow playing the race card. Why can't we have this open and very honest conversation about race, about racism and really about discrimination and about people's feelings?
We do know the history of the south. I mean, my father is from the south. Let's face it. In my family, I am the first generation that has civil rights. OK? So our struggle is not so far along that people can say race is not an issue.
HOOVER: But can we also say -- can we also reject the notion that slavery is still alive?
ROBBINS: High fives. HOSTIN: No, we can't reject that.
HOOVER: You're not going to reject the fact that Charles Rangel said that slavery is still alive?
HOSTIN: To suggest, Margaret, that the ramifications of slavery don't still exist is absurd.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: Can we talk about the real issue, which is, why is that guy still in office? He's been in office since I was born, 11 ethics violations saying things that only immoral.
Here's the other thing. One of the things that I didn't like about what the senator said is that she implied that if you disagree with the president's policies, that you disagree with him because he's black.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're extending what she said.
ROBBINS: That there's a lot of people that do not like Obamacare and a lot of states in the south that don't as a policy.
KOHN: Saying that part of the reason --
HOSTIN: There you go.
KOHN: -- some people are hypercritical, often irrationally critical of President Obama is in part because of race is not the same as saying if you criticize the president, you're a racist, right? That is such a false equivalency, number one.
Number two, I completely agree with Sunny. And the thing is, here is the thing. Same thing when Democrats go to appeal to women voters or to black voters, suddenly you're playing the race card, you're playing the gender card, instead of Republicans just addressing the substantive critique. If you think there is a problem in the way that Democrats are talking to black voters, you go ahead. You do something about it instead of just lobbing the name calling.
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: And ignoring it.
HOOVER: Look, I'm going to be -- you know, I am one of the Republicans who will absolutely say certainly we have race problems and certainly the Republicans screwed up in 1964 by not supporting the civil rights act and we really haven't gotten it right in it, right?
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: But it really begins then, right? And I think that there are Republicans out there trying to help on poverty issues, trying to help, you know, fix these racial issues. But I think if the Republican party doesn't sort of own up to that sort of beginning that fundamental mistake, that misstep in 1964 which was really -- I mean, that's when the south your turned Republican. Because African- American Republicans up until then for 100 years after the civil war. And I think if the Republican Party can't own up to that history, then we're never going to get past it. On the other hand --
KOHN: That's why you get the Republican award of the day, Margaret Hoover.
HOSTIN: You do. I agree.
HOOVER: I have a dubious distinction from my good friend, a liberal, I'm independent and you're a liberal.
ROBBINS: You're the only Republican on the panel. I think she was a shoo-in.
HOOVER: But truth be told, you still have got to be fair and say when Charles Rangel says slavery is still alive, come on. That's crazy talk, guys.
HOSTIN: I don't think its crazy talk at all. It's not crazy talk at all. And I think, you know, the suggestion, again, that slavery in some form, maybe not the form that you are thinking of, but that's what he meant. Slavery in some form doesn't exist. It's absurd.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: Nuanced who are Republican who maybe misspoke.
HOSTIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: Make sure you mark that first.
HOSTIN: And it certainly is a nuanced argument and something we need to discuss.
HOOVER: Well, good. I think we've gotten to the bottom of that one.
ROBBINS: Hardly.
HOOVER: Stick with us next.
KOHN: All right. Well, from name political calls to cat calls, these are actually, we know there's something not right about these accusations. How do we feel about it? How do we feel about cat calling? Is it infuriating? Is it flattering? That's coming right up. Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOHN: This week a huge video online, more than 24 million hits on "You Tube." A woman walking through New York City for ten hours and some men in New York cat calling her the entire time. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you today? I guess not good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, have a good day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what's up, girl? How you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody is acknowledging you. You should say thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For real?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you, mami.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you this morning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a nice evening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sexy, American eagle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. God bless you. Have a good day, ma'am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOHN: OK. So full disclosure, I am on the advisory board of Holla Back (ph) which is an organization in fights against street harassment and associated with this video. The question is, is this harassment? Is this just flattering? I should say we just got tweeted that we, this group, is a sexy box of chocolates. Is that a tweet? Is that a cat call?
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: What is it? What is it, guys?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harassment.
ROBBINS: That's the point of the whole conversation. Is this a compliment or is it harassment?
KOHN: Or both? What do you think?
ROBBINS: I think it's all of the above, honestly. Like I look at the context and I used to be one of these women that said, look, I love it, man. I'm 46. I've been married almost 20 years. If a guy wants to tell me I look great, thank you. I'll take it. But when I was walking down the street the other day in Boston with my daughter and I watched --
KOHN: Who's how old?
ROBBINS: Fifteen.
KOHN: OK.
ROBBINS: And I watched the, you know, the ankle to the chest and back down and then the turnaround and I watched her get really quiet, it was the first time that I kind of thought, wow.
HOSTIN: Yes, I've always found it really disturbing. I mean, I've got to tell you, you know, I was born and raised in New York. And I remember walking to high school several blocks. And there just wasn't a day that went by when I couldn't --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you in a uniform, too?
HOSTIN: In a uniform, catholic school uniform. I could never get to school without several cat calls. And it always made me sort of feel like I was almost being visually attacked. It was very, very uncomfortable. And I never, ever, ever liked it. I still don't like it. I still get it today.
But I will tell you what was so disturbing for me, watching this video, is the slant. I mean, is she only walking around African- American and Latino neighborhoods because I only see African-American and Latino men sort of giving her these compliments. And I walk down the street and I get white men and I get black men, and I get Spanish men, I get Asian men. So there was something that really bothered me about the video because it depicted just black and Latino men.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was bad editing because it does happen everywhere.
HOOVER: If you go to their web site they totally fess up and say we completely disproportionately represented minorities in this video.
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: Because I noticed it immediately.
ROBBINS: I did and then I went back and re-watched then. There were some of the faces were questionable.
HOOVER: I'm a grown person now. I have a strong sense of myself. You know, sometimes I take it as a compliment, sometime I let it roll off my back and I don't pay attention to it at all. But when I was a young woman, it affected me way worse because I didn't, you know, when you're younger and you are more vulnerable to the world and you don't have thick skin, you haven't figured it out.
So what I appreciate about Holla Back's approach is that they've cultivated this conversation, right? And they've cultivated a conversation about -- also, if you go to their Web site, there's this handbook. And it says how does it affects different people of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, whether you're gay, whether you are straight.
And frankly, having a conversation publicly, frankly, shaming cat callers. This is the way you change a culture and that's what you want to do.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: Let me ask this. There's a conversation which says look, this isn't about the cat callers. It's about the cat callee, right? Changing, you know, if you don't dress that way, if you don't walk that certain block.
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: Look at what she was wearing. It was a black t-shirt and black pants. And that's what's so remarkable. What's also remark building to me, I was chatting about this last night with my husband and a couple of other people. And many of the men said but this was a compliment. How are you going to feel when you get older and the compliments go away?
And it's interesting because I did speak to my mother about this. And she said, you know, I still -- you know, my mother's a beautiful woman. And she is like I still get a couple of men who will say something to me and it kind of makes my day.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: Did your daughter feel uncomfortable?
ROBBINS: No. She said there was like a sexualized intent. You know the look. You look them in the eye, smile. Keep it at the eyes. Not the cleavage.
All right. Well, come on. We're going to go from the kind of sexual harassment on the street to Halloween and sexy costumes. Halloween seems to have gone from nice to naughty. And what I want to know is why do costumes for tweens have to be so sexed up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBBINS: For kids, Halloween is all about the candy. For the four of us, it was all about a lot of fun. You're about to see the costumes we were wearing. But it seems like for everyone else in America, it's all about the eye candy. Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys are eating burgers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, summer's over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Halloween's coming. You've got to stay in shape for all the costumes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what's that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, like attractive nurse, spicy red riding hood, Viking princess warrior, hot devil, sassy teacher and foxy fullback! Touchdown!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we go over the Viking lady again?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBBINS: Well, some call it sluttoween (ph). Good fun or demeaning for women? I mean, I kind of care less what women dress at. I think I'm more worried about teens. I mean, I went as a bunch of grapes.
HOSTIN: I'm worried about women, too, though.
ROBBINS: Why?
HOSTIN: I don't know I would the costumes have to be so hyper sexualized all the time. I mean, you go to party city or any store, and you try to find a cute little costume.
HOOVER: But there are cute little costumes.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: But it's a symptom of -- it's just a symptom of a sexist society and the double standard for women. Last night after we did the trick-or-treating, my 6-year-old and I were sitting there with a 13-year-old friend and we were handing out candy, and this one girl comes up. She maybe like 14, she knew the 13-year-old, wearing a sexy cop costume. I'm not even sure she was 13 yet. And after she walked away, I said to my daughter, that was inappropriate, like I point it. And so thereafter I'm embarrassed to say every vaguely inappropriate costume that came up, my daughter said very loudly, is that inappropriate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And yes, it is. And yes, it is.
ROBBINS: You're making it very clear because obviously some parent bought that for their kid, right? I mean, if it's a 12 or 13-year- old. I had to wrestle, in full disclosure, I had to basically wrestle the hot pants off my 14-year-old yesterday because she was going as a cute --
HOOVER: She's being alienated for you, by the way.
(CROSSTALK) ROBBINS: And instead, I got her to wear leggings, but it is getting out of control.
What about the offensive costumes? Did you see any costumes -- like what the Ebola costume?
HOOVER: So there's this question. Is it too soon for an Ebola costume? I, you know, is it too soon? I think that it is sort of the test is the pornography test. You know it when you see it. So like, Ebola does not offend me, and for sunny, it may offend her, but as long --.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: It is actually sexy Ebola costume.
KOHN: Ebola isn't sexy.
ROBBINS: No, but look it, you've got skin exposed. That's not protocol. That's not CDC certified.
KOHN: I think the original is hazmat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is OK but now they revised it.
HOSTIN: But I will say. I don't think it's too soon to have an Ebola costume. I had had someone at my house with the Ebola costume. I thought it was quite funny. I still think the nurse should stay home for 21 days.
KOHN: OK. Let's see her costume. Can we pull up a picture of Sunny's costume speaking of good costumes from this?
ROBBINS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: Do we have that? Do we have it? There it is. Now, that, guys --
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: I saw 19 billion Elsas yesterday. This was the best Elsa I've seen.
HOSTIN: I did it for my daughter.
HOOVER: Do you guys have an issue with all the pretty girls always having to be princesses?
HOSTIN: No.
HOOVER: I mean, just Sally, how do you feel? I know you've worked on this.
KOHN: Well, my daughter this year, can you show the picture, went as Hermione. Kind of awesome, total hero who does her homework, so good role model. My daughter is a princess. There she is. My daughter, Willa, is a big fan of the princess thing. And as a very non-princess person growing up, I had to capitulate last year for her birthday. We took her to Disney World, she had the princess makeover. There was fake hair and heels. And I sucked it up because you can't fight it. You can't fight it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty one days of Disney on your Instagram, so don't tell me.
KOHN: You joined the rest of it, just not the princess makeover.
HOSTIN: I think, when you talk about a princess, you know, I think it's important that girls are empowered to feel good about themselves, to feel like royalty, to feel like they can be their own princess. They don't need a prince to, you know, save them and save the world. And so, I think there is something to just feeling good about yourself. And so I love the princess stuff. I'm all in on it.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: "Frozen" is great for them. "Frozen" are better princesses.
ROBBINS: So I have a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old. At what age, as a parent, do you allow your kid to walk out the door wearing a sexy Halloween costume?
KOHN: No age. Not out of my door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: High school.
ROBBINS: Like sexy underneath anyway.
HOOVER: Can we show more pictures of our kids? I just want to show my 14-month-old baby. Jack was dressed as a monkey.
HOSTIN: That's my daughter. She's an angel.
HOOVER: There's jack. There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it.
HOOVER: So that's not sexy. I don't think he's ever going to want to dress sexy.
ROBBINS: Seriously, would you let your high schooler --
HOOVER: No, absolutely not.
I don't know, but you're the one who's telling me that by the time they get to high school, there's sort of nothing you can do about it.
ROBBINS: Of course not. But they're going to wear something out of the house -- HOSTIN: Do they have jobs? Can they buy their own costumes? What do
you mean, there's nothing you can do about it?
ROBBINS: We make our own costumes.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: You know what the best advice you ever gave me on this? Teach your kids to at least be able to say I'll tell you what you, mom, wouldn't like about that costume.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: She bought it herself.
KOHN: I wish she would try Paloma.
HOOVER: Guys, up next, stick by. We're done with Halloween costumes. And next two big disasters in space flight this week. Would you feel safe trying a Virgin Galactic flight? What would it take to get you up there? Coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOOVER: Two reminders this week of how dangerous space flight is. Friday's disaster with a Virgin Galactic spaceship and a rocket exploding seconds after launch on Tuesday. Would you fly on a commercial spaceship? Let's take it to the panel here of CNN contributors. I think we almost have unanimity on this one.
Sally, yes or no?
KOHN: I would have done it before. I mean, let's just be clear like I need to be drugged to go on a roller coaster, for instance.
ROBBINS: For real?
KOHN: So paying a quarter of a million dollars in order to get that sick in outer space is just not money well spent, people. I'm just going to be honest.
HOSTIN: I'm not an adrenaline junkie. I'm sort of high on life. And so for me the thought of roller coasters makes me sick, the thought of bungee jumping, jumping out of a plane. I just don't need it. I don't need the -- I'm so terrified! Now I'm happy! I just -- I don't need that. And so space flight, let's leave it to the astronauts, people that trained for years and years to do it.
HOOVER: Mel, would you do it?
ROBBINS: Absolutely not. Well, I was on an airplane that had the air bags come down once. And so I was --
HOOVER: You never flue after that?
ROBBINS: No. I do fly but I can statistically talk myself out of a panic attack by telling myself that it's safer than driving to the airport.
HOOVER: Different question, then.
KOHN: Margaret, would you?
HOOVER: You know, it's like when I'm 80, I'm going to sky dive.
HOSTIN: You are?
HOOVER: Definitely when I'm 80 but not until then. I'm seriously a George H. W. Bush model, right? Like I've had a good life, I'm ready to go for it. So maybe if space flight has improved by then, I mean, you know, my husband and will have it. Interesting conversation and I said look, I'm open to it but not right now. I've got too much ahead of me, I'm hoping.
But, seriously, so what does this mean for the space program? What does this mean for these private entrepreneurs who are investing in space? You know, Branson said in his press conference today that just yesterday in spite of this massive tragedy, a pilot signed up to join their program and to be a pilot for this particular -- but in the face of this tragedy, I think they can take that as a bit of inspiration.
KOHN: No. Look, I will say I find it infinitely interesting in this example as well as in others that when government -- when something sort of goes wrong with a government program, the VA, even the initial sort of botching of Ebola with the CDC, let's look at that example. You know, sort of whole private health care system, as a private hospital, botched the Thomas Duncan case, let him leave, then he came back, then they handled it badly. But it's the government that sort of not only takes the blame but we kind of blame all of government for that. Whereas when the private sector botches something, we don't, like, you know, for every hedge fund trader convicted of insider trading, we don't throw out the entire system, right?
So it will continue. But it is a reminder of why it was helpful to have all of that government knowledge background safety. So they kind of have some of this down.
HOOVER: The "challenger," "Columbia."
HOSTIN: More recently. We allow it.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBBINS: And Richard Branson has an obligation to his shareholders. And I do think this is not going to detour any sort of private space travel, enterprise or exploration because there are a group of people who seem to be very wealthy that are all very interested in this. So if they can get the money together to it --
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: People are always going to be interested in space exploration, right? Sort of the unknown. And there is something very fascinating about it. And if you have, for some, if you have the money to do it, you're going to do it.
KOHN: -- 75 miles above the earth?
HOOVER: You've got 60 miles above the earth, and they have this -- you know, astronauts talk about this overview experience, right, where you get this overview of the earth. And it changes your perspective on the earth. That somehow you come down to earth and you have this different view on life. Your life takes on new meaning. And people who are adventurers --
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: But for $9.99, you can rent gravity. For, like, 100 bucks, you could get a projector and watch it really big in your living room.
HOSTIN: It feels the same.
KOHN: And I just saved you -- I'm not good at math, but I just saved you a lot of money, everybody.
There are other things to spend $250,000 on. I'd be happy to give you a list later of like, you know, people are starving. But it's fine. People get to spend their money however they want to. I just rent gravity instead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They do, they do.
HOSTIN: Well, next up, would you change your eye color if you could? What, though, if it took surgery that's illegal in the United States to do it? That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOSTIN: Would you have surgery to change your eye color? Take a look at Tiny Harris, is it TI, the rap rapper's wife, well, she flew to Africa to have the surgery. It's not legal in the U.S. so she had to fly to Africa and let's just say it was a controversial decision in certain circles.
Everyone is talking about it. Would you let someone do that to you? And as you ladies know, no. I'm good for people do them. If you need to pull the girls up and have some plastic surgery, if you need to have a face-lift and I pull all the skin back, Botox is your friend, I think, I'm so OK with it. But when I saw this one thing it made me feel some kind of way. I don't know, for some reason it bothered me.
HOOVER: Do you think it had an issue that an African-American women who made her eyes blue and there was sort of racial element that bothered you?
HOSTIN: I'm trying to figure that out. I don't know. It made me feel some kind of way.
KOHN: All of this plastic surgery I'm generally against it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
KOHN: I'm a free person do what you want to do. You can do your thing. It's cool. You know, you have a choice. But as a social commentary, right, it disturbs me that so many women feel the need to alter their bodies, right, and then you map race on top of this and it's like, OK, so we're sort of aspiring to this nothing personal to the two here on my right but this sort of blond, blue eyed, beautiful skinny, white, right? And when you see people surgically altering their bodies as opposed to accepting their bodies the way they are, as a mother, as a woman, as a mother of a daughter that really gets under my skin.
ROBBINS: That was beautiful and I disagree with everything you said. It's very well said. I'm going to die this as long as I possibly can. You know, to me if you want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, if you get inside double "Gs," I could care less. And I could care less that she's doing it. I think what's fascinating to me, though, is the fact that you would want somebody to slice your eyeball open and stick in some sort of colored disk --
HOSTIN: Does that bother you?
ROBBINS: God no, none of that bothers me at all.
HOSTIN: So, it's the eye.
ROBBINS: But I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I would just never do it because the procedure seems so gross, but I guess it only takes ten minutes to do.
HOOVER: How different is this surgery do we know than Lasik surgery? I mean, in Lasik surgery they also cut your eyeball and they also been to retina. So I don't know, how different it. If there's a woman in the United Kingdom in England who is a single mother of three who also was an Africa-American woman wanted blue eyes, flew to Panama and got it done. Apparently, they do medical tourism in Panama is a big thing now apparently, but they did it wrong and she came back almost blind and some UK doctors actually were able to reverse the surgery. She's recuperated some of her vision. But, you know, why not wear colored eye contacts if it's that important to you? I don't understand.
KOHN: She thought she was suffering with the contacts.
HOOVER: To your point about --
HOSTIN: But I think what's interesting, you know, we've been talking about Renee Zellweger, right? And sort of the plastic surgery that she had because she is living in Hollywood and there's the old Rene and the new Rene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you sure she had plastic surgery?
KOHN: We don't know. She denies that she did.
HOSTIN: She had a plastic surgery. Come on. At that point I said, it's fine. So what Renee Zellweger did that
she's living in this society that requires women to look a certain way if they want the job that she has so I just wonder with Tiny Harris, what made her feel the need to look.
KOHN: Every time women -- it's -- yes, you can say why women do it, right? And why certain women in a certain industry and a certain business, certainly our industry, right? Why they do it? And yet every time a woman does it that reinforces, that reinforces why women do it. It becomes a self-perpetuating dynamic.
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: I get highlights.
HOSTIN: Are you going to do Botox?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's your friend.
KOHN: First of all, it's cow botulism.
HOSTIN: But it's your friend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's cow botulism injected into your skin.
ROBBINS: Why isn't the ability for women or men to do whatever the heck they want with their bodies a form of empowerment or personal liberty --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
ROBBINS: Or whatever else?
KOHN: Totally.
ROBBINS: But you are against it.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: Getting at though I think is really important what the messages in our cultural are and what messages are we sending to people, right? Are we sending them the notion that beauty has to look a certain way and ageing has to be a certain way or aging is bad and so you shouldn't age you have to this do Botox if you are going to remain beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
HOOVER: And I think it's an important commentary especially when you think, you know, you got a daughter and she's pretty susceptible as all young women are to the messages that are coming through media, that you have to be thin, that you have to be blond, you have that blue eyes. So you know, appreciate it. I appreciate where you are coming from. I think I am falling on your side, Sunny.
HOSTIN: Really? (CROSSTALK)
KOHN: What color are you going to change your eyes to?
ROBBINS: I like my hazel-colored eyes. But I think there's a different message which is you can look how you want. If you want purple hair, if you want tattoos, if you want the big, (INAUDIBLE) like block things that people put in their ears, God bless you. Go do it. It's your body. It's your life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are not judging.
ROBBINS: I'm judging. I don't like it. But I'm not doing it to myself.
KOHN: You know, large or African-American or right?
HOSTIN: It's about a standard of beauty, isn't it?
KOHN: There are certain norms. And, again, I think you're right. It is people's freedom to do whatever they want. I can also feel sad that those norms are so pronounced in our society even today that people will literally cut open their eyeballs to try and ascribe to those norms.
HOSTIN: Maybe that's what made me feel that kind of way. But, you know, maybe Botox for you in the future?
(CROSSTALK)
KOHN: Are you endorsing Botox?
HOSTIN: That's it for us this hour, for Margaret, Mel and Sally. Thank you so much for joining us ladies. I had such a great time doing this with all of you.
