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Planned Parenthood Videos; Darren Wilson Breaks His Silence in New Yorker Profile. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired August 04, 2015 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Under cover videos claiming to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating or at least talking about the transfer of fetal tissue. We are talking to the man behind these videos. What does he plan to do next?
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAWN LAGUENS, EXECUTIVE V.P., PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Today, 2.5 million Americans can continue to get their important, excellent preventive health care at Planned Parenthood. You know, what we're seeing is very little about women's health care or even fetal tissue research and has everything to do with Republican primary politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That was Planned Parenthood's executive vice president Dawn Laguens reacting to the failed vote in the Senate to defund Planned Parenthood. That effort was renewed by the release of controversial sting videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood doctors negotiating over the transfer of fetal tissue.
Let's bring in the man behind those undercover videos, David Daleiden.
David, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.
DAVID DALEIDEN, PROJECTED LEAD, CENTER FOR MEDICAL PROGRESS: Thanks for having me on, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: One of your goals in releasing the videos was to push Congress to defund Planned Parenthood. Last night that effort failed. So what's your next move?
[08:35:05] DALEIDEN: Sure. So, you know, what the vote in the - what the vote in the Senate didn't show yesterday is that there's certainly already a bipartisan majority that is ready to have an immediate moratorium on Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding directly as a result of the exposure of Planned Parenthood's illegal use of partial birth abortions to harvest higher quality fetal organs for resale. What's going to -
CAMEROTA: I mean that's what you say that your - the videos - the videos show. Obviously Planned Parenthood refutes that and says that it - it shows nothing of the sort. That, in fact, it shows them trying to recoup their costs for the transfer of fetal tissue to biotech companies and that that's totally legal.
DALEIDEN: Right. Well, there's two things there. Number one, Planned Parenthood still has not, after about three and a half weeks, Planned Parenthood still has not addressed the claim about partial birth abortions, which is a really clear description given by their senior director of medical services from the very first video that we produced. On the second point, Planned Parenthood also hasn't produced any evidence that they have any real costs associated with the supply of aborted fetal tissue, especially when they're partnered with a middle man biotech company like StemExpress or Novagenics (ph) or ABR (ph) that sends technicians into the clinics to do the harvesting, to identify - identify the patients, to receive the fetuses, dissect the specimens, ship them off.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
DALEIDEN: That's all - all those costs are absorbed by other outside biotech companies, yet Planned Parenthood is still receiving payments per specimen that they produce.
CAMEROTA: David, I want to stop you there because we did ask Planned Parenthood about that, about your claims, and we also asked StemExpress and both of them say that you're wrong. They say that there are - the only costs that Planned Parenthood gets are the costs for transfer, if it involved storage, if it involves the time that it takes for a staff member to get consent from a patient. In fact, let me read to you the statement that StemExpress gave us about this very thing.
"StemExpress does not pay Planned Parenthood clinics or any other health care provider for fetal tissue. StemExpress reimburses Planned Parenthood clinics and other health care providers for their reasonable costs associated with the tissue procurement process, such as those incurred in connection with storage, processing, documentation and staff participation." So now here are two different organization, Planned Parenthood and the middleman that you're talking about saying that they're not being paid for the sale of fetal tissue.
DALEIDEN: Yes, I - I think it's really cute that they have their stories straight and that they're - they're covering up for each other. But, I mean, what - I think the next question that the media should be asking of StemExpress and Planned Parenthood is, if you go to our website, centerformedicalprogress.org, we have an advertisement from StemExpress that was an advertisement for Planned Parenthood clinics to tell them that they could make a fiscal profit, they could have fiscal growth to their clinics, that it would be of financial benefit to the Planned Parenthood clinics if they partnered with StemExpress to supply aborted fetal tissue. And that advertisement was endorsed by one of Planned Parenthood's medical directors, Dr. Berthe Ferguson (ph). So I'm not sure how that flyer that StemExpress has been passing out to Planned Parenthood clinics squares with the statement that they just gave you.
CAMEROTA: OK. David, your critics - critics of your organization, I should say, say that you're not journalists, as you purport to be on your website, but rather you're violent extremists. They say that you are operating under the guise of investigative reporting but really you're trying to shut down all Planned Parenthoods and women's access to things like birth control and other services that they provide. Do you have any ties to Operation Rescue?
DALEIDEN: So a couple of things there. First, number one, I'm not a violent person and I never have been and I never will be. Troy Newman is one of the board members of the Center for Medical Progress and Troy is a good friend of mine.
CAMEROTA: And Troy Newman is the president of Operation Rescue that does have - I mean Operation Rescue does have a history of threatening violence against abortion clinics.
DALEIDEN: You know, I don't think that's true at all. You'd have to - you'd have to talk to Troy specifically about, you know, how - how that - about the full history of Operation Rescue and some of those details. But I don't think that's a fair characterization at all.
As far as the - as far as the second point, ultimately the two and a half yearlong investigative journalism study that the Center for Medical Progress conducted about Planned Parenthood's sale of fetal tissue, ultimately that's about exposing to the public the reality of how Planned Parenthood conducts their fetal tissue sales and what their relationship with companies like StemExpress is like. It's not an issue of the rest of Planned Parenthood's services or whether or not those are a good thing. It's - it's specifically about showing the public exactly how those sales work and documenting those in a way that everybody can see.
CAMEROTA: David, last, 21 minutes from now we understand that you plan to put out another one of your undercover videos. There have been two restraining orders against your videos, one from a superior court, one from a judge just this week, because they believe that you may have done something illegal in obtaining these videos. Can you tell us what this video - the next video that you're going to put out contains?
[08:40:03] DALEIDEN: Sure. So the next video that should go up in about an hour or so, we're still doing the - the export and upload of it right now - is going to be much in the vein of the first four videos that have come out so far except it's perhaps going to be even more shocking. You're going to see evidence in it of how Planned Parenthood is actually willing to sell fully intact fetuses to buyers of aborted fetal tissue. And whenever you're talking about fully intact fetuses in the context of fetal tissue procurement, those are situations where no fetus (INAUDIBLE) -- like a - like the Johnson (ph) or potassium chloride, no chemical like that can be used to kill the fetus beforehand because that poisons the organs and the tissues.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
DALEIDEN: And so in that case it's prima fascia evidence of born alive infant cases.
CAMEROTA: All right, David Daleiden, thank you for coming on and explaining your side and we will see what courts say about this video and about your future videos. We appreciate getting your perspective. Thanks so much for being here.
DALEIDEN: Thanks, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Darren Wilson has broken his silence about the day that he shot and killed Michael Brown. You're going to hear some of the things he had to say in a new article, ahead.
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PEREIRA: Here are your five things for Tuesday.
Donald Trump making gains in three new polls this morning ahead of Thursday's Republican debate. The newest poll from CBS News shows Trump with 24 percent support. Jeb Bush following at 13. The GOP field awaiting word on which 10 Republicans will qualify for the debate.
Several leading Republicans threatening, meanwhile, to shut down the federal government next month if a new spending plan includes funding for Planned Parenthood. A bill to defund the organization failed in the Senate Monday.
Shocking video of a school resource officer handcuffing an eight-year- old boy with ADHD above the elbow. The ACLU and children's advocates in Kentucky now suing on behalf of that little boy and a nine-year-old girl from a different school handcuffed by the very same officer.
[08:45:13] A probe is underway into what caused that circus tent to collapse, killing two people and injuring dozens more. At least 100 people turned out for the show in Lancaster, New Hampshire, when severe weather hit the fairgrounds.
Darren Wilson speaking out. The former Ferguson, Missouri, cop who shot and killed Michael Brown telling "New Yorker" magazine he wants another law enforcement job but no one will hire him.
Those are your five things. Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Mick. Now we have today's "Impact Your World." We're going to meet a man trying to stem the tide of parents giving up their infants. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO (voice-over): If it weren't for Nick Silverio and his late wife Gloria, Maya Lawlette (ph) might not be here holding onto her dad.
NICK SILVERIO, FOUNDER, A SAFE HAVEN FOR NEWBORNS: My wife and I were married for 32 years and I wanted to continue something in her memory and spirit. One night I was flipping through a magazine and my fingers stopped on a page about infant abandonment and I knew that that would be my mission in life.
CUOMO: When moms like Maya's are committed to giving up a child, Safe Haven's 24/7 advice line lets them know safe places to do so. The foundation also helps connect babies with adoptive families like the Lawlettes.
But Silverio wants to support moms before they reach that point.
SILVERIO: That's what our goal is, for them to keep their baby and to get them help in the community in which they live. We have helped 218 babies over the last 15 years.
CUOMO: Opinions vary over Safe Haven laws, which can grant parents anonymity when leaving their baby in a designated safe location. But for some parents, it is the best option.
For Silverio, it's all about safe babies and stories like this one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember one of the nurses like, she's the one in the yellow blanket. She's crying. And I remember I picked her up and she stopped crying. We got to hold our baby girl for the first time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[08:51:15] PEREIRA: Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown is breaking his silence in a "New Yorker" magazine interview. The Brown family says his comments only prove that he is a racist.
Here to discuss is CNN political commentator and "New York Times" columnist, Charles Blow. And I know you've read the article in its entirety and - sort of first level thoughts. How do you think America is going to receive it?
CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think it would change anyone's mind. The people who were already suspicious of Darren Wilson will remain suspicious. The people who are supporters of him who think that he was doing the right thing, that he is a defender of justice and truth, will continue to believe that. I don't think it moves the needle in that regard.
PEREIRA: Was it smart to do this now? Because we know there's ongoing litigation, civil litigation.
BLOW: Right.
PEREIRA: Were you curious about the timing of it?
BLOW: I'm curious about whether or not it's smart or not. I'm sure that he and his lawyers have made a calculation about whether or not he should speak now. That may be to influence, if it's indeed heard by a jury, influence the people who might hear it. I mean --
PEREIRA: He's careful in the article about certain things, right?
BLOW: Yeah, of course. He doesn't discuss the -- very much about the actual incident itself. However, you know, it is an effort to humanize him. And I think that him and his lawyers probably thought that that was a good idea. I'm not sure that it comes across that way to me.
PEREIRA: Well, it's interesting. Well, that's what I wanted to ask, because oftentimes this kind of thing is sort of, hey, now I get to speak my peace, my side. Did he achieve that?
BLOW: Well, a lot of times, that happens after the litigation, right. So that's when you get to speak your mind. I'm not sure that he achieves it in the fact that he cements some people's view of him as insensitive.
PEREIRA: Let's look at some of the language, because I think this is interesting. This is the author who sat down with him, talks about Darren using what he describes as sort of a racial code language. "They're so wrapped up," I'm quoting here, "up in a different culture, the right culture, the better one to pick from, pre-gang culture, where you are just running around in the streets not worried about working in the morning, just worried about your immediate gratification. It's the same younger culture that is everywhere in the inner cities." What do you make of his language, his use of language, and his interpretation and assessment?
BLOW: It's an incredibly broad brush and offensive and bracing in a way. You know that people always use inner city as kind of a substitute for blackness in America. And then to categorize all of those young men or young people as not necessarily being interested in work or betterment. It's really a broad brush. And it does paint him as not -- it is racialized language.
PEREIRA: His new reality is very different. I mean, he's a free man, but he's not a free man, living in seclusion. He moved. He has under lock and key, they have cameras everywhere synched to his phone so he can see. Think about his reality. But, when asked about, you know, what he does when he goes out in public, wants to get a meal somewhere, this is what he said. "We try to go somewhere - how do I say this correctly?" - sounds like he's measuring his words a bit - "With like-minded individuals, you know, where it's not a mixing pot."
BLOW: I actually kind of understand that - I mean I understand in this context, but this is a sad situation all the way around. No one should live with death threats, but he's still living a life. I still don't believe that Mike Brown should be dead. The escalation in that interaction, I believe, did not have to happen and that Mike Brown could have been taken into custody without the escalation. So I think it's going to be hard for some people to feel sympathy for someone who took a life but is still alive. And even though that new life is hard, you're breathing.
PEREIRA: Are you surprised that he hasn't read the D.O.J. report? And he actually says that he thinks that the D.O.J. numbers were skewed.
BLOW: Right. I don't know how you know that the numbers are skewed and you don't read -- if you didn't read the report. But also, there's also another detaching moment in there where he says that, you know, it's not my job to solve in 30 minutes 30 years of history and it's not my job to be a psychologist and I don't need to understand racial context. [08:55:09] And you know, even if you said -- I try to separate that from the incident itself and I just looked at that and said, you know, isn't that the exquisite beauty of kind of structural racism, that it operates like the beehive? That -- the individual bee doesn't have to know the entirety and the enormity of the hive. They can just do their job. And they are contributing to it and you don't even have to do a job and benefit from the hive and its deadly effects.
And one way that this works, you know, none of us are separate from this. None of us have our hands -- as Americans -- have our hands free and clean of this. If you have a municipality, as the other D.O.J. report made clear, you have municipality, you need money. You're low to raise taxes or cut services, but you say you guys go out and make up the difference. That means that the officers just become the tip of the spear. They're not the entire system. The system is in fact guilty here.
PEREIRA: Well, that's a big article to read and I'm sure a lot of people are going to see it. August 10th edition of "The New Yorker."
Charles Blow, great to have you.
BLOW: Thank you.
PEREIRA: "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello will begin right after this break
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