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The Race for 2016; Pistorius Could be Free; Migrants Rescued at Sea; Controversy Over Spike Lee's "Chiraq" Film Title; Russia and Qatar Could Lose World Cups. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 08, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] SEN. JONI ERNST (R), IOWA: I would say, Hillary, it's not enough to be a woman. You have to care about women's issues. And women's issues here in Iowa are that we have a strong economy. We have jobs that our sons and daughters can go off to someday. We have a great educational system. And women want strong national defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Women do care about those issues, but I would say a sizable number of women also care about equal pay and child care. So, from a male voter perspective, how does Clinton's talk of all things women play with male voters, Ron?

RON CHRISTIE, FORMER SPECIAL ASST. TO PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: I just don't like it, Carol. I mean I don't care what your race is, I don't care what your gender is, I don't care what plumbing you have, I want to know what's between your ears. What are your specific issues? Where do you stand on the issues? How are you going to make America strong? How are you going to promote the economy? And the talk about Hillary Clinton that somehow people should support her because he's a woman, I think that's great, but that is not the major qualification for that office. It's, how are you going to be the most powerful president, the most powerful person in the world and how are you going to lead America forward I think are the questions we need to ask.

COSTELLO: On the other hand, Marc, according to Politico, 60 percent of Clinton's donors are women. Way more than in 2008. So it's working out for her that way.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's certainly working out. I think people are saying, hey, it's time to have a female president and I think they want to push Hillary into that space. The other piece of this is, there are people who -- on the left who are divided between Obama and Hillary. There is no strong competition for Hillary Clinton right now.

But let me be clear, because I agree with Mr. Christie here, I don't think we should elect a woman because she's a woman, just like I don't think we should elect a black person because they're black.

CHRISTIE: Right.

HILL: I think we should elect a person because they represent our interests and because they'll be a strong candidate. I'm not a Hillary Clinton cheerleader, but I do think that her work does speak to the interests of women and I think that's why many women are finding her candidacy resonate. I think it's a very powerful thing.

And, lastly, turnabout is fair play. She would have to Ernst the same way and say being a woman isn't enough. So it's totally fair to go after Hillary in the same way. Hillary just needs to have the answers.

COSTELLO: All right.

CHRISTIE: That's right.

COSTELLO: Marc Lamont Hill, Ron Christie, got to leave it there. Thank you so much.

CHRISTIE: Thank you much.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM -- you're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he was convicted of the negligent killing of his girlfriend, but we're hearing Oscar Pistorius could soon get out of jail. CNN's Robyn Kriel is following the story from South Africa.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN EAST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's a Paralympian star fallen from grace. Oscar Pistorius might well be released after serving just 10 months of his five year prison sentence. More when NEWSROOM continues.

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[09:36:46] COSTELLO: Convicted killer and former Olympian Oscar Pistorius could be released from prison in just about two months. Last October, the 28-year-old was found guilty of the negligent killing of his girlfriend. But he might be a free man after serving a fraction of his five-year sentence. CNN's Robyn Kriel live in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more.

Good morning.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN EAST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, Oscar Pistorius, serving just one-tenth of his prison sentence, he was sentenced to five years for the culpable homicide of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after shooting her dead on Valentine's Day back in 2013. The parole board, Carol, meeting last week, hearing from a number of different people, including Reeva Steenkamp's family. They presented a letter. I just wanted to read a portion of that to you. It is quite an emotional letter. They do state that they have forgiven Mr. Pistorius after he took the life of their precious daughter, Reeva. However, they say a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions. Statistics show that our society, that would be South African society, is under a continuous attack from criminals and offenders, incarceration of 10 months of simply taking a life is just not enough. Those are the words of the Steenkamp family, Carol. COSTELLO: Robyn Kriel reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

We're going to get a check of some other stop stories for you at 38 minutes past.

A United Airlines flight skidded off a runway last night in Buffalo, New York. The United Express flight from Washington landed on a slick runway, sending the jet and its 69 passengers sliding into a grassy safety area. Passengers say the plane's pilot told them a strong gust of wind was to blame. No one was hurt.

There is a significant victory in the battle against ISIS. Iraqi troops are mopping up small pockets of resistance from ISIS fighters in the key city of Beiji (ph) after declaring complete control of the city center, the main mosque and surrounding neighborhoods. The Iraqi defense ministry credited the U.S. with a significant supporting role in the win, but still raging is the battle to retake a major oil refinery, Beiji's main strategic asset.

A huge migrant rescue operation happening right now in the Mediterranean. Almost 6,000 people rescued from smuggling ships trying to cross from Libya into Italy. One British ship alone taking in 1,000 migrants, including 10 pregnant women. It's set to dock in Italy in less than three hours. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live in Italy with more.

Hi, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey, Carol. Good morning.

I'm going to step out of the shot here because we can see HMS Bulwark, this navy vessel here, just coming in. It's a massive ship, 165 meters long. It's about 500 feet, almost 600 feet long. It's going to dock here. On board we're told as many as 1,200 migrants from Syria, from Libya, from Egypt, from Mali and the northern of Africa, from Nigeria, even as far afield (ph) as Pakistan.

What the British Royal Navy, who carried out this operation, beginning the early hours of Sunday, say happened, they got a distress call. They went to take a look at what they thought was possibly one ship in distress. They discovered 15 different vessels there. Some of those vessels, we're told 12 of them, were just small rubber dingies, inflatable boats that are normally designed, we're told, to carry perhaps as many as 20 people. Some of those small boats had as many as 100 people in them. There were three wooden boats there as well.

[09:40:26] But it very clearly indicates the nature of what's happening here, that these migrants are put to sea in boats that are unseaworthy, that cannot make the long journey. Phone calls are made, distress calls are made, and then the navies of Europe, and in this case Britain, rush out to try and help them. So 1,200 migrants on board that vessel here.

And I'll just step out of the way again. You might be able to see some of the Red Cross workers here on the dock side. They're going to be giving health checks to all these migrants when they come ashore. That's before the processing begins with the immigration officials here and then they'll go to immigration centers overnight. But at the moment, it looks like we're -- we're still a few minutes away before those migrants begin to step ashore. This is a huge boat coming in here.

The scale of the operation this week had close to 6,000 migrants coming across the Mediterranean rescued this week. That is the biggest wave of migrants coming across the Mediterranean in a single weekend so far this year. So far this year, as well, close to 100,000 migrants tried to make that journey. That is more or almost half as many by this time last year. A significant increase, Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. Nic Robertson reporting live this morning, thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the film hasn't even been made, but the controversial working title of Spike Lee's latest movie "Chiraq," well, it's offending a whole lot of people in Chicago this morning.

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[09:46:28] COSTELLO: Not surprisingly Spike Lee's latest film is polarizing. The backlash usually comes after people actually see the film. Now just the possible name of the film, "Chiraq", is igniting a firestorm in Chicago as critics, including the mayor, argue it unfairly links America's third largest city, take a look at that, with a dangerous war zone like Iraq.

CNN's Ryan Young has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Buzz is usually a good thing when it comes to a new movie. Spike Lee's new film "Chiraq" starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Piven, and Nick Cannon has plenty. But it's the title, a combo of Chicago and Iraq, that has created a firestorm through this city's neighborhoods. Chicago's mayor making his feelings clear to the filmmaker himself.

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, (D) CHICAGO: I was clear that I was not happy about the title. I told him also that there are very good people that live in Engelwood who are raising their family and do -- there's a lot of positive things that are happening in Englewood.

YOUNG (on camera): And you can already see the big signs of a Hollywood production right here in Chicago. Filming started this week, but there's already people in the Windy City that are calling for a Hollywood edit. They want the name of the movie changed.

WILLIAM BURNS, CHICAGO ALDERMAN: The name itself is deeply troubling to people who live in these communities. They don't view their neighborhood as "Chiraq". They view it as Auburn Gresham, or Engelwood, or Hyde Park, or Kenwood. And they're very proud about where they live.

YOUNG (voice-over): City alderman Will Burns feel the movie's title -- not yet confirmed, by the way -- compares Chicago's streets to a war zone and gives gang members credit for coming up with the city nickname. Burns believes the movie's title will have such a negative impact, he wants tax credits normally given to a film production pulled.

BURNS: If you really want to stop the violence, you got to create living wage jobs, you got to create hope in these communities. And that means you got to get folks to invest in those communities. And so if the brand for the communities is Chiraq, would you want to risk your capital? Would you want to take out debt to build something in a neighborhood called Chiraq? I don't know.

YOUNG: Beyond the fight downtown, there's no denying Chicago faces an uphill battle. The murder rate on a startling pace -- 161 people killed so far this year. One reason why Spike Lee and star John Cusack, a Chicago native, believe this movie is important. For now, Spike Lee isn't taking any questions about the film, but did give a statement last month.

SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: A lot of people have opinions about the-called title of the film. Again, know nothing about the movie.

BURNS: It's vitally important we try to protect the next generation of kids, give them hope, give them the opportunity so that they can contribute to society.

YOUNG: A hallmark of all Spike Lee's films. In this case, an entire city is waiting to see if the title gets in the way of that message.

Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All right. "Chicago Tribune" film critic Michael Phillips joins me now. Michael, welcome.

MICHAEL PHILLIPS, FILM CRITIC, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. I think that -- well, Baltimore is probably relieved that Spike Lee isn't making "Balraq", right? So I guess Spike Lee is picking at another --

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I don't know.

PHILLIPS: What's that? I'm sorry.

COSTELLO: No, no, no, it just intrigues me. Like why Chicago? Why did Spike Lee pick Chicago when there are so many cities across the country that are experiencing violent crime or upswings in violent crime?

[09:50:00] PHILLIPS: I know what you mean. Look, you could set a story like this -- and we don't know what the story is, as we just heard. Spike Lee is not telling anybody yet the real, you know, narrative specifics at all. But it certainly could be set anywhere from New York to Oakland to South Central. It does -- you know, that's not site specific. But, of course, the title is site specific.

I guess the thing I find a little ironic is that ever since the movies learned to talk and then shoot, this city has been synonymous with vice and crime and, you know, right back to Scarface in the early '30s with the bootlegging wars. This is not a new problem for Chicago in terms of its image on film, but I think a lot of overreaction so far, frankly, Carol, on this title is just kind of touchy, insecure, Second City paranoia, frankly. And I'm a native and I can say that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Really, you think it's overreaction? So you think Spike Lee was surprised by the reaction that Chicagoans had to the name of the -- possible name of this movie?

PHILLIPS: That's a good point. I think he probably -- I think everybody connected with "Chiraq", if that is, in fact, the title going forward, was a little taken aback at how strong -- you got not just one but two aldermen, Alderman Biel and Alderman Burns, I believe. I got to look -- yes, Alderman Biel and Alderman Burns saying take the tax breaks away. Rahm Emanuel, the mayor, saying I do not like this title.

It's -- I think it's honestly we just need to see what is actually going to happen with this thing. This thing, so far, has been described as everything from a musical comedy -- which it could be; it's going to have a fair amount of music apparently -- to a hard- hitting kind of portrait of gang violence. We do not know yet. And all I can hope, as frankly as a critic, is that this film's got one- tenth of the juice and purpose of something like "Do the Right Thing", which has been a long time, right? It's been a long time since Spike Lee has made a film of that impact.

COSTELLO: And I think that that helped change things. So maybe this movie, if it's not a musical, which I -- I'm just trying to imagine in my mind what a musical called "Chiraq" would be like and I can't wrap my mind around it at this point. But maybe the movie will help if it really deals seriously with violence in our major cities.

PHILLIPS: Right, right. We don't know. We don't know yet how -- you know, what the seriousness, the purpose, of this film is. We only knew a few facts. We know that Nick Cannon plays a rapper named Chiraq apparently. We know that John Cusack plays a character very much I think inspired by Father Pfleger, who is a South Side Catholic activist. We know a few of those narrative details that Spike Lee has maybe leaked out just occasionally.

But I think what he wants right now is just simply to kind of proceed, make this thing, and then, you know, force the public to decide on the film's merits, pro or con. The title, of course, is a lightning rod. It's as if "Do the Right Thing" had been titled "Light The Match", right? I mean, that's how incendiary it is. And he knows it. He knows he he's got a really hot, controversial title. Now, can the film actually deliver something other than just that

title? We'll have to see. And we don't know what the tone of the film is, how much music there is. We do not know yet. And I'm, for one, very eager to find out just how it turns out.

COSTELLO: Me, too. I'm intrigued even more now after talking with you. Michael Phillips, thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a new twist in the soccer scandal. Both Russia and Qatar could lose their World Cup bids if there's proof of bribery. So does that mean the U.S. gets a shot at hosting the event?

[09:53:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Russia and Qatar could end up losing their right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, FIFA's compliance chief says, if there's proof their votes were bought with bribes. Both countries are still forging ahead with preparations for the events.

Fred Pleitgen is following the story from London. Good morning.

FREDERIK PLETIGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Carol. Yes, and certainly it's something that we are keeping an eye on and something that the compliance officer for FIFA said. He said that if those two World Cups were only awarded due to bribes, then those awardings could be null and void. And, of course, that's something that's also very interesting for the U.S., because keep in mind, the U.S. was also one of the finalists for the World Cup in 2022. So if bad comes to worse, at least according to what this official said, possibly the U.S. might have a chance to host the World Cup 2022.

However, it does seem as though anything like that is still a very remote possibility. One of the reasons is that he said only if it's proven that these World Cups were only awarded because of bribes, then could there be a chance for these to be taken away. Of course, that's a pretty high burden. And then also we have to keep in mind that both Russia and Qatar have already invested millions into stadiums, into hotels, into infrastructure. It would be very, very difficult to take that away from them at this point. But, of course, one of the things we've seen, Carol, the past one-and-a-half weeks since this FIFA scandal broke is anything appears to be possible at this point in time. So we'll certainly keep an eye on it, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yeah, because you'd think Qatar or Russia would take some legal action even if FIFA decides to take the games away from them.

PLEITGEN: They certainly would. They certainly would probably take legal action. They would also go through every sort of instance to keep those World Cups. There' absolutely no question about it. And both Russia and Qatar came out earlier already and they said, both of them said, that their bids were transparent. They said there's no legal basis to take the World Cups away from them. And they also said, at this point time, they don't believe that will happen.

[10:00:02] Especially the Russians are saying they feel very easy about it. And certainly the Russian World Cup would also be the one that would be more difficult to take away, simply because it's already so close to that World Cup happening in 2018, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen reporting live from London. Thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.