Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Calls for CIA Chief's Resignation; Racially Charged Sony Emails Revealed; Murder Devastates Small Mississippi Town; Shonda Rhimes in the Spotlight
Aired December 12, 2014 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For years, Brennan has been dogged by questions over his knowledge of harsh interrogations when he was at the CIA.
JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: I was aware of a detention interrogation program. I had some visibility into some of the activities that were there. I did not have authority over the implementation of that program or the management oversight of it.
STARR: It was outrage over the interrogation program that destroyed Brennan's chances to lead the agency in Obama's first term. Four years later, Brennan's nomination was met with opposition from members of the president's own party, who threatened to hold up his nomination, demanding answers about the legality of targeted drone attacks, killing Americans overseas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every American has the right to know when their government believes it's allowed to kill them.
STARR: And for his role in administration leaks about covert operations like the cyber-attack on Iran's nuclear program.
BRENNAN: Although I consider myself neither a Republican nor a Democrat, I very much look forward to working closely with those on both sides of the aisle.
STARR: Less than two years into the job, one senator now calling for Brennan to resign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To date, there's been no accountability for the CIA's actions or for Director Brennan's failure of leadership.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: One senator at least calling for resignation. Brennan, apologetic in some cases, defiant in others, but don't look for him to be leaving the White House any -- the administration any time soon. The White House offering its full support for the director.
Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon. Thanks so much. Of course, John Brennan isn't the only one defending the agency's
controversial tactics. During a heated interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday, former CIA chief, General Michael Hayden, said some of the techniques used by interrogators were medically necessary. Hayden was the CIA director from 2006 to 2009. He was replaced by Leon Panetta, who later served as Secretary of Defense.
Hayden denies claims by Senator Dianne Feinstein that he misled Congress about the tactics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN'S "THE LEAD": She's saying that you misled Congress. Your response?
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Yes, my response is, you've got to be kidding, all right? I'm the one who argued within the administration, frankly with the strong support of the president in 2006 during that first summer when I was director, that we had to go full Monte to the committees. This could not be just the president's program. It had to be America's program, Jake. And to do that, we needed political support from the other political branch. So I went down there in September of '06 and then later, the first time that all the members of the Intelligence Committee had been briefed on all of the details of the program. And the only thing I told them that I had to withhold from them was the location of the sites.
TAPPER: Let's differentiate, if we can for the sake of this conversation, between the abuses, the things that were not --
HAYDEN: The unauthorized (INAUDIBLE) --
TAPPER: The unauthorized, such as the rectal rehydration --
HAYDEN: No, stop.
TAPPER: OK.
HAYDEN: All right. That was a medical procedure. That was done because of detainee health. But the people responsible there for the health of these detainees saw that they were becoming dehydrated. They had limited options in which to go do this. It was intravenous with needles, which would be dangerous with a non-cooperative detainee. It was through the nasal passage --
TAPPER: Pureeing hummus and pine nuts and --
HAYDEN: Jake, I'm not a doctor and neither are you, but what I am told is, this is one of the ways that the body is rehydrated. These were medical procedures. And to give you a sense --
TAPPER: Are you really defending rectal rehydration?
HAYDEN: What I'm defending is history. To give you a sense as to how this report was put together, this activity, which was done five times, and each time for the health of the detainee, not part of the interrogation program, not designed to soften him up for any questioning. The committee, the Democrats on the committee, have used one half-ass, unwarranted comment in one e-mail to justify the story that you have now bought hook, line and sinker that we used this to abuse other human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Hayden has also criticized lawmakers for not interviewing CIA agents before releasing the report. I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This morning, Sony Pictures is fighting back against a massive hack attack by doing something you wouldn't expect. It hacked itself. It's called defensive hacking. Sony flooded service with dummy contents so users cannot get pirated material. The move comes after hackers released a series of embarrassing e-mails between Sony exec Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, some focusing on Angelina Jolie.
And it made for quite the awkward moment between Pascal and Jolie this week. The tension caught on camera. The e-mails might also have also offended not only Hollywood's elite, but the most powerful man in the world.
CNN's Pamela Brown has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim Cameron used this for "Avatar" --
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hollywood's elite have been rubbing elbows with President Obama for years, making millions in fund-raising dollars for him.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, everybody!
BROWN: Now, a major plot twist. One of Hollywood's biggest players, Sony exec Amy Pascal, forced to apologize for e-mails in which she wrote racially charged jokes about the president, e-mails made public by hackers. In one e-mail to producer Scott Rudin, Pascal, despite being a prominent Democrat Party donor and Obama supporter, insinuates that Obama only likes films with black actors, like "Django Unchained."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Django. The "d" is silent.
BROWN: Pascal, shortly before attending an event with the president, wrote, "should I ask him if he liked 'Django'?" "12 Years," Rudin responded, referring to the film "12 Years a Slave." Pascal wrote back, "Or 'The Butler'."
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: She said, even though this was a private communication that was stolen from me, she takes full responsibility and she apologizes for it.
BROWN: Today, Pascal released this statement, say the hacked e-mails are, quote, "not an accurate reflection of who I am. I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended."
It's just the latest embarrassing leak after hackers, calling themselves "Guardians of Peace," infiltrated Sony's computer systems in an unprecedented breach, also revealing celebrity Social Security Numbers and salaries to studio secrets about budget-busting movies like the next James Bond film "Spectre." Leaked memos reveal it's already $50 million over budget. Others newly surfaced e-mails bashed stars like Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler.
HOWARD BRAGMAN, FIFTEEN MINUTES PUBLIC RELATIONS: Behind the scenes, you're seeing a lot of phone calls being made to talent and their representatives, trying to mend fences.
BROWN: Hollywood insiders say the leaks are causing prominent producers, directors and Sony executives to go on major damage control.
BRAGMAN: They're embarrassed. They're humiliated. It's a very awkward situation.
BROWN: A big concern is that the leaks could continue to spill out and haunt Sony and its thousands of employees for months, possibly years to come.
STELTER: Some people at Sony think this was basically a terrorist attack. That this was the equivalent of a physical bombing, but only, you know, via cyberspace instead.
BROWN: Pamela Brown, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, living in fear. A small town looking over its shoulders as police scramble to find the person who burned a teenager to death. The latest leads, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Police are searching for new leads into the gruesome crime that ended the life of a rural Mississippi teenager. Gas station surveillance video reveals the final moments of 19-year-old Jessica Chambers before someone burned her alive. Ninety minutes later, first responders would find her dying less than two miles away. A passerby calling 911 to report a car fire just outside the Courtland city limits. With no arrests made, locals say they're living in fear, worried that the perpetrator is one of their own. CNN's Martin Savidge has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Along a quiet road in rural Mississippi, investigators way deep into the brush and use dogs looking for anything out of the ordinary. It's the second time they've done this along Herron Road, the road where 19-year-old Jessica Chambers was attacked and burned alive.
Police tape churned up a large pine tree scorch high into its branches mark the place where the teen and her car were found. It's a murder that is both horrified and mystified this small town.
JOHN CHAMPION, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, PANOLA COUNTY: I think that one of the biggest fears is dying in a fire.
SAVIDGE: But at their first news conference, authorities gave little indication they were close to finding who is responsible.
CHAMPION: We're currently following up leads in the case. There have been no arrests made at this point. Nor do I anticipate any in the immediate future at this point.
SAVIDGE: The former high school cheerleader was found barely alive Saturday night after their family say someone may have struck her in the head, doused her and her car with flammable liquid, igniting it and leaving here burned over 98 percent of her body.
She managed to whisper something to first responders before she died, something she was trying to name her killer, but investigators won't say. Samples of the car's interior have been sent to the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms to determine what kind of accelerant may have been used. Meanwhile, in this town of 500 where everyone knows everyone, Chambers' death is personal.
SHERIFF DENNIS DARBY, PANOLA COUNTY POLICE: We are going to stay here until we find out who did it.
SAVIDGE: But at the local gas station where the 19-year-old was seen filling up and buying cigarettes just 90 minutes before she was set on fire, residents and employees wouldn't talk to me on camera admitting they're scared, fearing the killer is likely local, someone they know, and someone who knows them.
(on camera): And getting back to that level of fear, it is very hard to really downplay how frightened many people are in this community, especially women, in light of what happened. And many say that they won't feel comfortable, they won't feel at ease, until, one, authorities have figured out who actually did this crime and have them in custody.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Batesville, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM -- she's taken over Thursday nights with hits like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal". Creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes shines during one speech you must hear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHONDA RHIMES, TV PRODUCER: To get all Beyonce about it, I woke up like this. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, it's awesome. Coming up next, hear why Rhimes says she has not broken the so-called glass ceiling. You will be inspired.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: She's one of the hottest names in Hollywood right now and if you don't know her name, well, here's a hint: "Grey's Anatomy", "Scandal", "How To Get Away With Murder".
Of course I'm talking about creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes. On Wednesday, Rhimes was honored with the Sherry Lancing Award at the "Hollywood Reporter's" Women in Entertainment breakfast. Every year, the award is given to someone viewed as a leader in the industry. Rhimes has taken over the Thursday night lineup and has been praised by fans and colleagues as example of someone who has broken the glass ceiling.
Rhimes doesn't see it that way, however. Here's part of her inspiring acceptance speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RHIMES: How many women had to hit that glass to ripple it, to send out a thousand little fractures? How many women had to hit the glass before the pressure of their efforts caused it to be balled from a thick pane of glass to a thin sheet of splintered ice? So that, when it was my turn to run, it didn't even look like glass anymore.
I mean, the wind was whistling through it. I always could feel it on my face. And there were holes giving me a perfect view to the other side. I didn't even notice the gravity. It had worn itself away so I didn't have to fight that hard.
I had time to study the cracks. I had to time decide where the air felt the rarest, where the wind was the coolest, where the view was most soaring. I could pick my spot and call my target and run. And when I finally hit that ceiling, I think it just exploded into dust.
My sisters who went before me had already handled it. Making it through glass ceiling to the other side was simply a matter of running on the path created by every other woman's footprints. I just hit at exactly the right point, exactly the right spot, exactly the right time. This was a group effort.
I want to thank all the women in this room and I want to thank all the women who never made it to this room, and I want to thank all the women who never made it to this room, and I want to thank all the women who will hopefully fill a room 100 times this size when we are all gone. You're all an inspiration. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I have tears in my eyes. Once again, I want to talk about this with cultural critic and writer Michaela Angela Davis. But, like I said, I had tears in my eyes. Every time I listen to that, I get teary.
MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC & WRITER: Doesn't that make you feel good, Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes.
DAVIS: Oh my god. My first reaction was this was so beautifully written and flawlessly delivered. I'm so glad she's writing for television because her talent just showed even in that speech. But she also -- like she hit this chord of being both fierce and humble at the same time. And I think that's really what women are looking to be and who we are, and this idea of her understanding that -- she didn't praise what she had no power over, meaning her gender and her race. She's like I didn't do that; I woke up like this. And anyone who calls Beyonce --
But also she did talk about what she did have power over, which was widening the path and bringing more women forward. And I just feel like women do that so much. When they are awarded or honored, they talk about whose shoulders they stand on and who they hope to bring with them way more than men. Because the path was created for men, right? So they don't have to acknowledge that. They don't feel that same journey. And I just love how flawlessly and beautifully and funny she let us feel that, that she was in a trajectory of other women.
COSTELLO: The other thing that struck me about her speech, she talked about her family life and growing up and how competitive they were. Even at games like Scrabble, they became so competitive, her brothers and sisters, that her mother sometimes had to stop the game because it would become unbearable.
But I think that's a good thing because her mother taught her to be competitive and to be that strong.
DAVIS: That's right. And you know what's great about that? It break this is myth that she's the Magical Negro, right? That that she popped out of nowhere. That she was made, she was raised. There were people who contributed to her success. So I think that that was also very powerful to bring up, that she's part of a plan. Like, that there were people in place helping her be who she is rather than this anomaly or like this -- we have this thing about Oprah just -- these kind of like "Ahh".
Shonda came out very, very real. And she's talking about -- there were people like Oprah that came before her and lots of other women. I do think, though, while she may not feel like she broke a glass ceiling, there may not be a ceiling, there is a cavernous gap with women in Hollywood. I mean --
COSTELLO: Well, that is true. I want to get something before we run out of time because the other thing I like about her is she refuses to be a stereotype and she'll fight back if people consider her a stereotype.
Because, remember "The New York Times" wrote about Rhimes back in September. Alessandra Stanley labeled Rhimes as an angry black woman. And I want to read you a quote from her article. "Ms. Rhimes has embraced the trite but persistent caricature of the angry black woman recast in her own image and made it enviable. She has almost single- handedly trampled a taboo even Michelle Obama couldn't break. Nobody thinks Shonda Rhimes is holding back and nobody is asking to see the real Shonda Rhimes. She's all over the place."
RHIMES: Well, not only did Shonda go in so fiercely, Black Twitter went insane. Women all over the place -- I mean, even Anika Noni Rose made a t-shirt line that said "Classically Beautiful", because in that same article she talked about how Viola Davis wasn't classically beautiful. There was so much wrong with that, but then there was so much right with Shonda Rhimes' response. She is this generation's Norman Lear.
So to take someone that we see as being this powerhouse in Hollywood and TV and reducing her to an angry black woman, oh, we weren't having that. She wasn't having it. We weren't having it. No one was having that.
COSTELLO: Love her and thank you for talking about something positive.
DAVIS: Yes, it was fun. I'm going to watch the speech again.
COSTELLO: I am, too.
DAVIS: And the Golden Globes are great. Ava DuVernay, Viola Davis, so we have some bright spots happening in the world of image, yes?
COSTELLO: Yes. Michaela, thank you so much. And if you want to watch Shonda's speech, I'm going to put the link on my Facebook page, so facebook.com/carolCNN.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
