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Military Helicopter Crash; Iraq Takes Military Hospital; SAE Racist Chant; Ferguson Resignations

Aired March 11, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Elise, thanks so much.

I'll be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." For our international viewers, CNN "NEWS CENTER" is up next. For our viewers in North America, "NEWSROOM" with Ana Cabrera starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera. Thanks for joining me.

We begin with a grim search for debris and remains underway right now following the crash of a U.S. military helicopter. Now this crash happened here in the waters off Pensacola, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials now say all 11 onboard are presumed dead. Seven Marines plus four members of the Army Air Crew.

These are some new pictures I want to show you just coming in of the wreckage that is beginning to wash ashore. This near Elgin Air Force Base. Also the Pentagon now confirming some human remains have been found. And the Army Blackhawk crashed during a foggy night training mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE SPAITS, SPOKESMAN, EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE: They train how they would fight. So they would train in this type of environment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even in very heavy fog?

SPAITS: They train as they fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: I want to bring in CNN's Victor Blackwell in Hammond, Louisiana, where that helicopter is based. Victor's joining us on the phone.

As I know you're still gathering information on the ground, what is the latest in this search?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Ana, the reason I'm not able to be in front of a camera right now is because we're driving on to Louisiana's Army National Guard Base here in Hammond. The major general who's in charge here, Major General Glenn Curtis (ph), is holding a news conference at the top of the next hour and we're setting up to bring those -- those comments on the latest in the search live to everyone.

But we have a bit of good news here. The only good news this morning after this accident, is that the weather in the search area is starting to clear. The fog is starting to lift, making this search a little easier for the Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the others who are searching for the 11 missing service members and the parts of this helicopter. We've also been told by a spokesperson there at Eglin Air Force Base that part of the landing gear has now washed ashore, and also we've reported today that the human remains have started to wash ashore as well.

We got an update from a spokesperson at Camp Lejeune, the Marine base there in Jacksonville, North Carolina, that members of the next of kin of those seven Marines who are missing, they are in the process of being notified. The other Marines who were on the other chopper involved, they have not yet been questioned or screened, but that will happen sometime soon. And a command-level representative is en route from Camp Lejeune to Eglin Air Force Base to help in this investigation.

Ana.

CABRERA: All right, Victor Blackwell. Again, we will check back in with you throughout the next couple of hours. We're, of course, standing by for that 3:00 news conference where we hope to get an update on the investigation into this helicopter crash, as well as more information perhaps from those who were on that second helicopter that made it back safely.

We have been hearing about the plan now for days, and now the fight is on. Iraqi forces have begun their offensive to liberate Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from ISIS. And they've already seen celebrations of their successes along the way. Watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That Iraqi woman and others joining her, cries for joy that ISIS is out of that town of Allan (ph), which is near Tikrit. Iraqi troops have advanced into Tikrit. Today they won back a key military hospital. So a couple good signs there. And this as ISIS loses ground, of course.

The president is trying to gain more support now on Capitol Hill for his plan to defeat this terrorist group. His top three advisers on this issue, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, the secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, and the secretary of state, of course, John Kerry, all went before a Senate committee just hours ago and they were there to talk more, to push for the president's authorization for use of military force. Now, we know it would last three year, it set some limits on the use of American ground troops, but as we learned today, it could also extend to using force against Boko Haram, which, as we've discussed here on this show, has apparently just announced allegiance to ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So just say --

ASHTON CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Under the proposed AUMF by the lawyer (ph) --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is saying that your -- your have allegiance, swear allegiance will be enough then?

CARTER: No, it's not enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the point.

CARTER: It also has to about a threat to Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

CARTER: That's what the language says. It says associated with, et cetera, ISIL and threatening Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us to discuss, the author of "Foreign and Domestic," retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata, who was a deputy commanding general of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Thanks so much for being here with us, general.

We're hearing now about some success in Tikrit, of course, but we're also getting word today about ISIS on the offensive in Ramadi. People on the ground there say this is the fiercest offense in months by the terrorist group, attacking from really all directions. We've heard of more than a dozen car bombs. There's rockets, mortar rounds being fired. So, general, what does Ramadi mean strategically for ISIS and is this a response to what's happening in Tikrit?

BRIG. GEN. ANTHONY TATA, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Ana, it's great to be with you. And, first of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family members of the Marines and soldiers who perished in that helicopter training accident. Just a grim reminder of what our soldiers and Marines and the rest of our service members train for every day.

What Ramadi means in the fight is that we're pressuring Tikrit and so ISIS is trying to open up another logistical line. If we -- if we capture Tikrit and open up that logistical line, that means that we have cut off ISIS and the Daesh forces that are coming down from Mosul, and they need to be able to put pressure on Baghdad from a different direction and so they're trying to give us a two-front tactical fight to consider, which is obviously more complex than a one-front fight, and so that's what Daesh is trying to do by going to Ramadi.

And, you know, I thought the discussion today with the foreign relations committee was encouraging. And as we look at what's happening tactically on the ground, the support that we're starting to hear about from the secretary of state and the secretary of defense and the chairman, while I think this discussion should have happened about year ago, it's great to hear we've got 62 nations involved and that we are beginning to build the coalition that's needed to defeat this grave threat.

CABRERA: There have been discussion on Capitol Hill and in some of the questioning, of course, Democrats have expressed reservations about using this force.

TATA: Right.

CABRERA: The authorizing of the use of force. If these lawmakers are afraid of perhaps a prolonged war, what happens if Congress doesn't go along with the AUMF?

TATA: Well, you know, I would hope that they do. I would hope that everybody comes together. Foreign policy is one of those things that we've got to have a united front on. There's a very serious threat. And, you know, frankly, the media has really helped bring this thing to a head by showing what the threat is there and really forcing the hand of all of the decision-makers to make sure that we have a concerted effort going forward here. And so I don't even want to contemplate that we don't get the authorized use of military force passed.

But the focus really needs to be on getting this thing passed and having all the elements of national power leveraged against ISIS and separating Iran out of this thing because it's very complicated right now. If it doesn't pass, you know, the -- they all -- you know, the chairman and the two secretaries both said, you know, the '02 authorization still conveyed today, so I think they would continue to operate under that. But it would certainly be nice to have a united front going forward here to be able to destroy this enemy.

CABRERA: You brought up Iran and I want to get to that in just a minute, Iran's involvement on the ground there in Iraq. But we also know that the majority of these fighters who are trying to take back Tikrit are Iraqis. That they are the Iraqi military, along with some of the Sunni tribal member there. That's obviously very different than what we saw in the fight on the ground when ISIS initially captured that town. What's changed?

TATA: Right. Well, you know, I think what you've got is the backing of the United States and several other countries. You've got air power. You've got intelligence. You've got communications. All of that back- end support is so important. You can't -- you know, the logisticians use -- have a saying, you know, quote/unquote, "try fighting without us." Well, that's essentially what they were doing is they were trying to fight without all the backend support that communications, intelligence, logistics and all of that. You've got to deliver ammunition every day. You've got to deliver fuel every day. You've got to be able to sustain a fight or you culminate very quickly.

And so I think what's happened on the ground, under the great leadership of Lieutenant General James Terry is that we have been now providing that kind of support to the Iraqis or at least coordinating it. And so as we coordinate intelligence support and communications and logistic support, the Iraqi forces are much better able to take the fight to the enemy and sustain that fight, keep the pressure on in a combined arms kind of way with artillery, with air power, with all of the elements of tactical power that American forces can bring to bear.

CABRERA: Quickly, if will you, general, on ISIS. We did hear from our Ben Wedeman on the ground there a couple of days ago saying the Iraqis he's talking to would much rather have these Iranian generals working with them on the ground in the fight against ISIS then American troops. Does that surprise you?

TATA: Well, you know, it surprises me in one sense that Persians and Arabs have been fighting for thousands of years. If you're on the ground and you're in a fight against somebody who's shooting at you, if anybody is on your flank, your left or right, and they're shooting back at the guy shooting at you, that's a friend. So I think there's sort of a -- an immediacy that the Sunnis are feeling here, Tikrit is very important both logistically and symbolically to the Iraqis. So I think there's -- there's a sense that they would rather have local indigenous forces next to them because that's who's there right now. And, frankly, when we put timelines on things and when we put conditions on our use of force, they don't have conditions. They don't have timelines. So I think that's probably what you're hearing about.

CABRERA: All right, General Anthony Tata, thanks so much for your insight.

TATA: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Up next, one of the ringleaders in the racist fraternity video from the University of Oklahoma apologizes, but says the song was taught to him, and he also blames some alcohol. I'll speak live with a former SAE brother who's making confessions about what he did in that frat.

Plus, one of the first responders in the Boston bombing takes the stand and looks Dzhokhar Tsarnaev square in the eye. He joins me as we get new pictures of the infamous boat.

And, more resignations in Ferguson, Missouri, after this scathing report about police discrimination. Is the police chief next? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A fraternity, shut down. Members, suspended. Two students now expelled from school. And now a public apology coming from one of the ringleaders of that racist rant involving the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. Parker Rice, seen here leading a bus full of students chanting, using the "n" word, threatening lynching. Now Rice was expelled from OU and he apologized in a printed edition of "The Dallas Morning News" calling his actions wrong and reckless. And he says, in part, quote, "I know everyone wants to know why or how this happened. I admit it was likely fueled by alcohol consumed at the house before this bus trip. But that's not an excuse. Yes, the song was taught to us, but that, too, doesn't work as an explanation. My goal for the long term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future."

Now, "The Oklahoma Daily," the campus newspaper, also identifies the second student expelled. We've not been able to independently confirm, but that paper says it's this man, Levi Petit, also believed to have been a ringleader of that chant. His parents have issued a statement of apology as well.

My panel joining me now, writer and lecturer Lawrence Ross, the author of "The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities." He's also a 30-year member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the nation's oldest black Greek letter organization. Also with us, Andrew Lohse, a former member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, who quit the fraternity and actually wrote the memoir, "Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy."

Andrew, to you first. You were an SAE member. Parker Rice, one of these boys who were expelled, says he was taught this chant. Have you heard it before?

ANDREW LOHSE, ENDED MEMBERSHIP IN SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON: You know, I haven't heard this particular chant, but what I will say is that if the SAE chapter at Dartmouth (ph), there were songs of a similar racist and sexist nature, albeit not as egregious, based and the same tune. So I think we need to talk about, you know, the collective psychology of fraternities and how they've passed down these disgusting songs and attitudes from generation to the next.

CABRERA: So it sounds like you're not surprised to hear of this incident. What other racist statements have been made, songs have been made, what are some specific examples that you can give us?

LOHSE: Well, I can't really, you know, repeat some of them on the air and I wouldn't really want to, but I think that what we've seen in the last couple of years nationally with SAE is the increasing frequent of these types of incidences. I mean at the University of Cincinnati at Washington University and I think we need to talk about how we can structurally change the system to address the problem, because focusing solely on the individuals isn't really going to move the needle.

CABRERA: Lawrence, of course, part of the draw of fraternities is a sense of belonging, being part of an exclusive club. Does that open the door to discrimination do you think?

LAWRENCE ROSS, AUTHOR, "THE DIVINE NINE": Well, I don't know whether or not it opens the door to discrimination. You -- I think what -- what he was saying was really correct. I mean when we talk about, you know, the history of African-American fraternities and sororities, and predominately white fraternities and sororities. From the very beginnings, we see some of the issues that we see today in 2015.

One of the African-American fraternities, in particular Kappa Alpha Psi, was founded at the University of -- Indiana University in 1911, but the original name was Kappa Alpha Nu. And they had to change the name because on campus the white students were calling them Kappa Alpha, and use could use the "n" word attached to that. And then we've seen these types of behaviors, not just within the last

few years, but for the last 40, 50 years. I mean some of the earliest parties were for some of the fraternities, white fraternities, centered around members wearing black face. Every -- we should not be surprised at all. Every Halloween you're going to find white fraternities and sororities doing, quote/unquote ghetto parties or Compton (ph) cookouts. And you'll find it during black history month, you'll find things that are anti-Latino. And all of these incidents basically create hostile atmosphere on campuses for minority students. And it's something that we need to address.

CABRERA: But what is that all about? I mean why -- why is it OK? Like you said, you just listed a whole bunch of examples there of these types of, at the very least, racially insensitive situations happening at fraternities and seemingly it's acceptable because they keep on doing it. Why do they think it's acceptable?

ROSS: I don't think it's acceptable. I don't think people actually think it's acceptable. I've been to 600 different colleges and universities and I've seen Greek advisers, Greek life offices work think behinds off trying to stem these types of incidents.

But you have to also remember that a lot of these kids are coming from general society. And these -- the incidents themselves are kind of like the symptoms. We -- when we have things such as -- when African-American students and minority students in general are marginalized on campus, for example, I think on the University of Oklahoma campus, they're only 5 percent African-American students. So when you have African-American students who are marginalized on college campuses like that, you don't have a chance for white students in general to actually intermingle with other black students. So you feel comfortable.

The thing about that video that really got me was not just what he was saying but how comfortable he felt actually saying it. He felt comfortable saying it because he recognized from the fact not only were there no African-Americans present, but he also didn't have anyone else who was African -- who even thought that someone may object to it, except for the person who actually took the video.

CABRERA: Andrew, in terms of the culture of those fraternities, do you agree in the sense that these people maybe are saying what they believe and they're surrounded by like-minded people, or do you think it's more of, once you're part of a frat, you're kind of forced into doing certain things, such as, you know, we've heard of the hazing incidents as part of initiations. So maybe you're kind of, you know, coerced to do something that you wouldn't normally do if you weren't among your brothers?

LOHSE: Right. Right. I mean, I think we need to talk about the collective aspect of it. You know, the institutional pathology, the group thing that, you know, brings these things out, encourages them, you know, passes down these ideas over time and creates a space where people can enact this disgusting white privilege and be protected and in many ways rewarded in a group sense for it. And I think we also need to talk about how the history of discrimination in general is just encoded into the DNA of white frats in America. You know, without discrimination, fraternities don't exist because that's the entire concept of it. You know, you're otherizing, you know, folks who are not in the organization and that's how you create any kind of abstract idea of membership.

And I think we need to get to the root of that idea and, you know, and I think Mr. Ross is right, I mean these are symptoms of a deeper problem. I mean it's a deeper problem in society, but like on college campuses, the fraternities, you know, by and large are a corrosive influence that are, you know, exacerbating and amplifying problems that already exist in our broader culture.

CABRERA: Lawrence, do you think there needs to be more checks and balances?

ROSS: I think there needs to be more checks and balances. And to be fair, I mean, to -- I don't like to give a sweeping generalization for all fraternities and sororities. All the national organizations, at some point in time, recognize the idea that there needs to be a diverse -- they're better by having diversity within their ranks.

It's whether or not they're able to enforce it and whether or not they're able to actually translate that into a new set of DNA, as my colleague was talking about. He's absolutely right. In 1947, David Emory was the head of the umbrella organization for all white fraternities and he said, you know, I don't understand -- basically paraphrasing, I don't understand why the idea of discrimination makes people shiver. And that has been going through the ranks for the past 40 or 50 years. Now -- 40, 50, 60 years.

Now, there have been incremental, you know, advancements, but you still have that when you're talking about college kids on these campuses. They're coming and they're starting to pick up the same DNA that has been going on in their organizations for over 100 years. And that, you know, is reflected by Mr. Rice.

CABRERA: Andrew, did you ever have to do something that you felt really uncomfortable doing as part of the pledge?

LOHSE: Well, absolutely. I mean and that's what I write about in the book. You know, it's a whole culture of hazing that it's disgusting, it's dangerous, it could potentially be deadly and it has, you know, deep psychological and emotional impacts on people. And, you know, it --

CABRERA: Like what?

LOHSE: You know, I mean, like depression. Like a feeling of alienation. Like, you know, like the attitudes that we see in Oklahoma being developed, I mean, on different levels, whether it's misogyny, violence towards women, a kind of arrogance towards the outside world, and I think that we need to call all of these ideas into question and talk about how, you know, they form the core of the white fraternity experience in America.

CABRERA: All right, Lawrence Ross, Andrew Lohse, thanks to both of you so much for being here with me.

LOHSE: Thank you.

CABRERA: Up next, we have some breaking news out of Ferguson. We're just getting word that after a series of resignations following a scathing report on the discrimination inside the police department there and along with the court system, the now infamous police chief there may be willing to step down. We'll have details right after this.

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