Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama Pardons Thanksgiving Turkeys; Travel Delays Due to Weather; What to Tell Children about Ferguson; Pharrell Asks: Why Aren't We Talking about Brown's Character?

Aired November 26, 2014 - 14:30   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: You are watching CNN. And half past the hour here.

And it is a stormy getaway Wednesday up and down the coast this Thanksgiving eve. Travelers making their way home for the holidays and having to be patient. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at airports across the country, and many of the cancellations because of -- ding, ding, ding -- the weather. And CNN is tracking the travel woes by the air and car and --

(LAUGHTER)

Sorry I am laughing, but this is good. Brian Todd by -- sorry, scratch that.

We're going rogue to the White House, and I give you to the annual pardoning of the turkey. Take a look.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And while we normally do this outside, the weather is not cooperating. I want, first of all, on behalf of Malia and Sasha, I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. And I'm here to wish everybody the most talked-about executive action this month.

(LAUGHTER)

Today, I am taking an action fully within my legal authority --

(LAUGHTER)

-- the same kind of action taken by Democrats and Republican presidents before me, to spare the lives of two turkeys, Mac and Cheese, from a terrible and delicious fate.

(LAUGHTER)

I want to thank Joel Brandenberger, the president of the National Turkey Federation, and Gary Cooper and his son, Colt Cooper, who personally raised Mac and Cheese, and give them a big round of applause for --

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Because Cole has been keeping a careful eye on Cheese, and he is getting excited about this.

And now, thank you to all of you online voting to pick the national Thanksgiving turkey. And Cheese wants you to know that he won. Mac, the alternate, is not so badly off either. Let's face it, if you are a turkey, and you're named after a side dish --

(LAUGHTER)

-- your chances of escaping Thanksgiving dinner are pretty low. So these guys are well ahead of the curve. They really beat the odds.

It is important to know that turkeys always had powerful allies. Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "I wish that the bald eagle has not been chosen bird of the country, because he is of bad moral character, and the turkey is a much more respectable bird." I think these to turkeys would agree with Mr. Franklin and they will live out the days at a Virginia estate with 10,000 acres of roaming space.

I know some of us will call this amnesty.

(LAUGHTER)

But don't worry, because there is plenty of turkey to go around.

(LAUGHTER)

In fact, later this afternoon, Michelle, Malia and Sasha and I will take two turkeys who did not make the cut to a food pantry that works hard year-round to make sure those in the nation's capital have clothes to wear and food to eat. And so I want to thank the turkey farm in Pennsylvania for the birds that six years in a row they have made these contributions, and for making Thanksgiving dinner possible for some of our fellow Americans.

Finally, "The Washington Post" recently questioned the wisdom of the whole turkey pardon tradition. Typically, on the day before Thanksgiving, the story went, the man who makes decisions about wars, virus outbreaks, and terrorism cells and other dire decisions about matters of state, chooses to pardon a single turkey, plus an alternate. Tell me about it. It is a little puzzling that I do this every year. But I will say that I enjoy it, because with all of the tough stuff that swirls around in the office, it is nice once in a while to just say happy Thanksgiving, and this is a great excuse to do it.

Tomorrow is a special moment when we give thanks for the people we love and where we are mindful of the incredible blessings that we have received. We remember the folks who can't spend their holidays at home, especially the brave men and women in uniform who help keep the country secure. And we celebrate the holiday that, at it's best, which makes this nation great, and that is the generosity, and the openness. And as President Franklin Roosevelt once said, "Our commitment to make a country in with which no one is left out." Now, because I know that everyone wants to get out of town, Mac and

Cheese included --

(LAUGHTER)

-- it is time for me to engage in the official act, so let's see what we can do here with Cheese.

Careful there. Careful now. Come on, girls. Girls, careful.

(LAUGHTER)

Are we ready? All right.

Cheese, you are hereby pardoned from the Thanksgiving dinner table.

(LAUGHTER)

Congratulations. God bless you.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: He looks pretty happy about it.

(LAUGHTER)

All right. If you want to take Cheese down, that is OK.

(LAUGHTER)

I will tell you, though, turkeys don't have the best looking heads.

(LAUGHTER)

You know what I'm saying? You think that they are beautiful?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are beautiful.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they are patriotic. They are red, white and blue.

OBAMA: And patriotic, too. (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER)

All right. Good to see you. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, everybody. And happy Thanksgiving.

(APPLAUSE)

BALDWIN: So, just so that we are clear here, you have Mac and you have Cheese. And the one that got all of the face time here was Cheese. Mac, maybe a little jealous. But none the less, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Meantime, let's talk weather. Because as you are cooking the turkey, we are wondering if we can get outside and travel to where we are going.

As we mentioned before, we have Erin McPike and Brian Todd.

And, Erin McPike, where are you? LaGuardia? Yes, you are. And tell me about it.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, yes, I'm at LaGuardia. My experience today has been painless, and I know that there are cancellations and delays throughout the country, but we were half an hour late. And look at LaGuardia. It is relatively empty. And look all of the businesses behind me here. You can see that there is no one in that shop, and only a few in here.

And, Brooke, the day before Thanksgiving, there are empty bar stools in every bar up and down the terminal. I checked them all, and so what I would say, is that air travel is the way to go. I have driven on this day, and I have flown on this, and I have the better assignment. There are four more flights out of LaGuardia back to D.C. tonight, and three of them on time. And of course, mine is the one delayed, but only 20 minutes, so I think that we are OK here. I feel sorry for Brian though, I must say, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, Brian Todd, I think, drew the short straw. And pull up a stool and have fun. And safe travels to you.

Brian Todd, wherever you are on the road. Stay safe.

Now to the coverage of the protests sweeping the country here after the Ferguson decision. Pharrell, Pharrell suggesting that Michael Brown acted, in his word, "bullyish" in that convenient store prior to his death. But not a lot of people are focusing on that part of the story. It's not the popular part of the story, and not the popular part of the story to talk about. But he does not stop there. Hear from the writer, hear from the head of the magazine in which this article landed, coming up.

And then next, this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERESA CLAY, MOTHER OF 15 YEAR OLD: I'm supposed to raise him to believe that officers are going to protect him, and the truth is that they will take his life. I have worked since I was 15 and a half years old. And my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life counts, and my son's life counts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: An emotional iReport from this mother from St. Louis. She is talking to us about how she is feeling, and why she is calling on people to boycott stores this upcoming Black Friday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN.

BALDWIN: It is almost impossible, almost impossible to turn on the tv and not see what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri, and really across the country and the decision not to indict the police officer who shot the teenager and killed him in August and the fires and the loot looting in Ferguson and the protest that spread to the cities across the country. And for many American, it has been emotional and confusing, and the grand jury's decision difficult for some to fathom. Some parents are agonizing over what to tell their children.

Listen to Teresa Clay, who has a 7-year-old son, who sent us this iReport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY: I'm supposed to raise him to believe that officers are going to protect him, and the truth is that they would take his life and never think twice about it. And they will be backed up by an injust justice system. It is wrong. We are more than slavery. We are more than maids. I have worked since I was 15 and a half years old. And my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life counts, and my son's life counts, and as a community, we count.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Teresa Clay joins me live from Minneapolis, St. Louis, and was raised in St. Louis, graduated from the Florissant school district.

Teresa, thank you so much for coming on.

I know this is close to home. This is home for you. I want to talk about being a parent through all of this and having a 7-year-old child. And so I am curious, can your son understand what is happening on TV?

CLAY: Well, I'm not sure if he understands totally what is going on, but I can tell you that we have been following the case since the beginning, and he is concerned about what would happen. He is still young and still believes in the good, and he felt like it would probably work out differently than it has, and so it is sad to hear what happened.

BALDWIN: But hearing you say, over and over, in the iReport, you don't feel like you count, and you don't feel like you count.

CLAY: Yes.

BALDWIN: How do you teach your son that he does count?

CLAY: That is what is hard. I have always taught him to believe in greater good, and that most people are good people, and that if you have great values and morals that things will tend to work out for you, and I don't believe that is the case. And so I struggle and his dad struggles with really telling him, equipping him with the information that he must have, and that even if you are doing all of the things right, that you can be targeted, and that you could be harmed.

BALDWIN: You know, I was having a conversation with Sunny Hostin, and she is an attorney, and spoke actually with Michael Brown's parents this afternoon. And they had this conversation about talking to the children about young African-American boys, in particular, and coming of age and when you see a police officer, and how to respond and how to behave. What do you tell your child?

CLAY: All of us that, you know, from the St. Louis, and across the country, we have been taught since we were little that there are certain things that you do and do not do when dealing with the police. We are often taught absolutely not to be aggressive. And that is why, over and over again, to hear the cases where the African-American men are being killed unarmed, it is just shocking and it is heartbreaking. Because that is not -- you know, we are not taught to be aggressive towards the police.

BALDWIN: And you, too, Teresa, you are joining the chorus of people calling for the blackout on Black Friday. This message I'm hearing, hit corporate America where it hurts. But why is the business community a target for you?

CLAY: You know, what we believe is that nothing else has worked. You know, when someone is killed in our community, and no one is fighting to see how to solve those cases when African-American children are missing and nobody is doing anything about that, and things are happening that there are injustices like that happening, and nothing is happening, and we feel that our voice is not being heard, and so maybe if we withdraw our financial support from the community, that is going to get attention. Because I don't believe that violence is the answer, but I do believe --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But in the end, isn't that going to hurt the communities, and how does that raise up the message?

CLAY: Well, I believe that it reminds me of the boycotts from the years ago and the bus boycott. And sometimes what you have to do is to do something. I believe, right now, the focus has been on the violence or the riots, but it really needs to be on the pain of the situation. It's a painful situation. And until we can deal with the pain of it, we cannot deal with the violence.

BALDWIN: Teresa Clay, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

CLAY: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: And coming up next, Pharrell suggests Michael Brown acted in a bullyish manner and no one is talking about that. And he does not stop there. And hear from the editor of the magazine that interviewed him, "Ebony."

And more from the interview with Michael Brown's mother. And the mother responds to the video of her husband in the video saying, "Burn this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) down."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Grammy-award winning producer and fashion designer, Pharrell, talked about the part of the Michael Brown story that he said nobody else was talking about because he said it was not popular. In the November issue of "Ebony" magazine but before the grand jury decision was made public, Pharrell was asked to comment on the Ferguson situation, and specifically about the video that surfaced a while back allegedly showing Michael Brown stealing from that convenience story. And this is his response. He said it looked very bullyish, and that in itself he had a problem with, not the kid, but whatever happened in his life for him to arrive in a place where that behavior is OK, and why aren't we talking about that?

I want to bring in Ebony editor-in-chief Mitzi Miller.

Mitzi, thank you for coming in. She is in Chicago.

MITZI MILLER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EBONY MAGAZINE: Nice to see you guys as well. Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: And so, let's ask Pharrell's question, why aren't we talking about that? What is the answer?

MILLER: Well, I don't think that we are not, not talking about that, but Pharrell's quote was taken out of context. They have pulled one sentence from the entire conversation, and it makes it seem that Pharrell was sort of saying that Michael Brown was a bully, and that he comes from the horrible background. But the balance of it was that, you know, life is hard, and these kids are going through things that are creating aggression in them to behave in ways and act in ways that are not appropriate. But we have to address those circumstances and not use excessive force against them because of the circumstances.

BALDWIN: We pulled that precise quote just because he was responding to the video there. But he does go on --

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: Yeah, yeah.

BALDWIN: And let me just give the rest of the conversation. He says, "The boy," meaning Michael Brown, "was walking in the middle of the street when the police suddenly told him to get the bleep on the sidewalk. If you don't listen to that after having just pushed a store owner, you are asking for trouble, but you're not asking to be killed."

And he went on to talk about how youth feel hunted and preyed upon and that's why he feels Officer Wilson needs to be punished.

MILLER: Absolutely. And I had a chance to spend the day with Pharrell, and I think he is a sensitive and introspective person. And it's all about balance and personal responsibility. So we talked about Ferguson, and he said that he was not right for what happened, his the actions, Michael Brown's action, and if it was him -- and we were not certain at the time, and I'm not sure that we are certain now -- but that the repercussions for him in the behavior in the convenient store, but certainly what it came to. And I apologize for stuttering over my words.

BALDWIN: No, no.

MILLER: But you know --

BALDWIN: No, I can hear you loud and clear. And --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right And part of the conversation, too, is that he was pointing out, yeah, it is wonderful to see Eric Holder going to Ferguson, but he wishes that President Obama had gone. And did he talk to you about that in anymore detail with you?

MILLER: Well, I was not the writer, but he did talk to the writer about that. And he was echoing the sentiments off a lot of people at the time. He was saying that the people were calling for a presence, and while he understood that Obama was the president of the United States, and has a lot of weight on the shoulders at that shoulders, as he said, at that time, it was critical and people wanted Obama to kind of land and say, I care and I'm here. And you know, I think that when I have these major crises, everybody wants the president to go. There is not a major situation that nobody says, no, it's OK Obama --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And this is the part of it. That just because he is the first black president, does not mean he has to take on all of these issues, is what people say.

MILLER: Right. And people are going to be divided, like you say, because he is the first black president. There is a lot of opinions going left and right. But ultimately, Pharrell was echoing a popular sentiment. And he is very much about the personal responsibility. And Pharrell is, you know, somebody who has pulled himself up by his boot straps. So if you did wrong, you deserve to see the repercussions for that. But it should be measured and for the actions, and not the excessive use of force that wound up in this tragedy.

BALDWIN: Is it was a great piece in the magazine.

Mitzi Miller, feeling under the weather today.

MILLER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I really appreciate you coming in to talking to us as editor-in-chief of "Ebony" magazine. Thank you, Mitzi.

MILLER: Thank you so much. Have a great day.

BALDWIN: You, too.

Our special coverage continues with CNN's explosive interview with the parents of Michael Brown. We get their candied reaction to the video of Lesley McSpadden's husband telling the people of Ferguson to, quote, "Burn this blank down." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)