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Cosby's Wife Deposition; Battle for Black Vote; Syrian Bombings; Confederate Battle Flag Center of SC's Republican Primary; Supreme Court Returns to Work After Scalia's Death. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 22, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But you defamed us in 2014 when you and your people said that we were liars. We're not liars. So we're going to bring this defamation suit against you.

They then counter sued, Bill Cosby, at the end of last year saying, no, wait a minute, you defamed me. You actually -- I mean saying everything you did hurt my business dealings. Well, the lady you're looking at in the red right there, Camille Cosby, she's the business manager for Bill Cosby, and she has been for many, many years. So that, then, Carol, gave these women the right to depose her. And there's been a big legal battle because she is trying to say, I have the marital privilege.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CASAREZ: And there is a marital privilege, but it's very -- there's a lot of legal ease here. But, number one, you can still depose somebody even though it can't come into court because you can use that information to find information that can come in court. And by being a business manager, there are many things that would not be under the marital privilege. So it's a fight. It will continue to be a fight. And we'll just have to see, number one, if the deposition is sealed and, number two, if she does answer questions.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Jean Casarez, I'm sure you'll continue to follow this for us. Thank you.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

With the Democratic South Carolina primary on Saturday, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are ramping up their outreach to African- Americans, part of their efforts coming during dueling sit down interviews with BET. And Sanders pulling no punches, accusing Clinton of cozying up to President Obama in order to pander to black voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everything the president does is wonderful and she loves the president and he loves her and all that stuff. And we know what that's about. That's trying to -- to win support from the African-American community where the president is enormously popular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But as "The New York Times" points out, Sanders got a lukewarm reception during a trip yesterday to a black South Carolina church. In fact, for the most part, the parishioners ignored him. For her part, Clinton is also making a pitch to African-American churchgoers, making a surprise appearance at the Stellar Awards, which celebrates Gospel music artists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know this is the day the Lord has made and let us rejoice and sing (ph) of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That trip coming as Clinton spoke to BET about her history with the black community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I feel very supported by the large majority of the African- American community. I feel trusted by them. I experience that every day. I realize, though, that there are questions that deserve answers, which is what I'm trying to provide. I am trying to lead a conversation that doesn't just address African-Americans, but also goes right at talking with, you know, white Americans about the perspective they need to have in hearing about the barriers that African-Americans face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, let's talk about this. Marc Lamont Hill is the guy who interviewed Bernie Sanders for that BET special, and Maria Cardona is a Clinton supporter and a Democratic strategist.

So, Marc, is Clinton pandering? After all, she did accept Obama's invitation to be his secretary of state.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, pandering might be overstating it. She -- if so, she's certainly playing the long game. I mean the Clintons have always sort of strategized and found ways to appeal to the African-American community, whether it's Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on Arsenio Hall many years ago, or whether it's them going to Selma eight years ago, for Hillary in particular, as did President Obama. I mean they attempted to appeal to black voters. Yes, her cadence changes. Yes, her tone changes. Yes, she knows the kind of cultural etiquette of black life. And that is a kind of appeal. At the same time, though, it's often contradicted, her critics would argue, by the actual public policy they put forth, which undermines the prosperity of black folk.

COSTELLO: OK, going back to her full embrace of President Obama, Maria. You know, Sanders accusing Clinton of pandering, but he also took a swipe at Obama saying, quote, "like any other human being, he's wrong on certain issues. That's fair, isn't it?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, sure, but I also think that that criticism has fallen flat, especially in the African- American community, because President Obama enjoys a sky high approval rating among African-Americans. And, you know, Hillary Clinton is a lot more than just the symbolism of going to Selma or going to black churches. She actually has a four decades long record of working on issues that are important to African-Americans. That's why they trust her.

COSTELLO: No, it gets -- but going, Maria, going back to -- to President Obama, he is fallible. He's not a saint. He makes mistakes. Why is it so wrong to bring that up? Certainly the black community would not say President Obama is perfect.

CARDONA: Absolutely. And I'm not saying it's wrong to bring it up. You know, Sanders has every right to bring up any issue that he believes can be one that differentiate him with Hillary Clinton. But I don't think that this is one that will work in his favor when he does so because President Obama is so popular among African-Americans.

[09:35:14] But it's more than that. It's because the things that President Obama has done for the African-American community and frankly for the country as a whole are things that Hillary Clinton can point to that she will continue and that will help prosper the prosperity among African-Americans. Let's take Obamacare, for example.

COSTELLO: OK.

CARDONA: You know, the African-American has prospered in terms of having health insurance that they didn't have before with Obamacare. And she will continue that and make it better.

COSTELLO: But, Marc, come on, there are negatives too.

HILL: Yes, but it's -- it's --

COSTELLO: It's not like the -- the, you know, you know, job quality and income has increased for black Americans under President Obama?

HILL: Well, I -- I think that was Bernie Sanders' point, right? And, again, it's not as if Bernie Sanders is going to end Obamacare. So, yes, Hillary may advance it, but I think Bernie Sanders would say he is too. And I'm not a Bernie Sanders surrogate or proxy at all. I'm simply saying, what Bernie Sanders articulated to me was that he wants to -- he wants to continue the advances of the -- the Clinton administration, as well -- or the Obama administration, excuse me, as well, but he sees a key area of intervention where Obama missed the mark and where Hillary Clinton also misses the mark, which is the critique -- a deeper critique of Wall Street, which is ending terrible trade policies like TPP and old school trade policies, which she also endorsed, like NAFTA. Those are things that Bernie Sanders is saying is -- differentiates him from both President Obama and Secretary Clinton and he says in the long term those things will actually be more beneficial to the black community than Hillary's policies.

CARDONA: Right. Right.

COSTELLO: And Hillary Clinton --

HILL: Now the one -- the one critique I will have is that --

COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton is trying to sort of steer the conversation away from that single issue because she's rolling into South Carolina with this mother strategy.

CARDONA: Right.

COSTELLO: Five African-American mothers who lost sons to gun violence will be in South Carolina to campaign for Clinton, Maria.

CARDONA: Sure.

COSTELLO: So how is Hillary Clinton trying to -- to shape the conversation when it comes to race?

CARDONA: Well, I think that that's something that she can also historically talk about because, you know, from decades ago when she went undercover to work for desegregation in Alabama's public schools, again, she can point to a record of standing up for or against racial profiling, for example, and other issues that have affected the African-American community.

And, look, Bernie Sanders, I think it's terrific that he is vying for the African-American vote. He should. And it's a terrific debate to have. No question about that. But when you talk about, for example, the crime bill that President Clinton signed into law, he never talks about how he signed -- that he supported it also and he voted for it. So between Sanders and Hillary Clinton there's only one person who voted for that crime bill and has never apologized for it. So these --

HILL: Whoa, but that's a -- I mean that's sort of the (INAUDIBLE), Maria. I mean --

CARDONA: These are the -- these are facts. These are facts -- these are fact, Marc, that need to be out there when this kind of debate is happening, which I think is a good one.

HILL: Well, look --

COSTELLO: All right, last word, last word, Marc Lamont Hill.

HILL: I -- OK. Bernie Sanders has absolutely gotten a free pass on the crime bill, and he should not.

CARDONA: Yes.

HILL: He absolutely endorsed it. He pushed back against it several times. He said he accepted the bill because of other things that were in it around female -- women's rights. But that aside, Hillary Clinton didn't vote for it because she wasn't in a position to vote for it, but she certainly endorsed it. She certainly used the language of super predator. The Clinton's also endorsed three strikes, welfare reform, Prison Litigation Reform Act, a whole range of policies that actually did have a disproportionate impact on black people. So she may not support profiling against black people, but she certainly endorsed policy that had disproportionate, negative impact on black people.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there.

CARDONA: And when she was a senator, she worked towards making those better.

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there. I do. Marc Lamont Hill, Maria Cardona, thanks to both of you.

CARDONA: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's now being called the deadliest attack in Syria since its uprising. A live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:06] COSTELLO: The death toll climbing in Syria this morning after a series of suicide bombings. The blasts so powerful the entire face of this building, as you can see, is gone. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting more than 180 people are dead. Three suicide bombers striking Syria's capital of Damascus, while two car bombs hit the city of Homs. ISIS is claiming responsibility. Nick Paton Walsh is in Beirut with more on this.

Hi, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that attack here at the Sayyida Zeinab shrine in Damascus now could have killed over 130 people we are hearing from activists, making it, in their eyes, perhaps the deadliest attack so far of Syria's civil war. That's one particular instance. Bear in mind, it depends how you interpret an attack.

Now, this comes, a death toll, potentially as high as 200 at this stage for those two episodes of violence as the nation is supposed to be experiencing the beginnings maybe of what John Kerry called the cessation of hostilities. Now, the problem here is that while John Kerry has been talking to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and they do say their provincial agreement potentially for what possibly could end up being a cessation of hostilities, there's still a lot of things left to do and John Kerry in Amman yesterday talked about how Barack Obama needs to talk to Vladimir Putin, perhaps in the days ahead, to finalize this.

Now, you might be asking, Carol, what's missing in this? Well, it's Syrians. We're having a discussion, it seems, between Moscow and Washington about how peace can be implemented inside of Syria. But in that discussion and technicalities, you don't have the main acts on the ground, or even their often distant political representatives who talk about peace in foreign capitals on their behalf. That's a key problem.

[09:44:50] It also gives you sort of a shock just to exactly what kind of a Cold War discussion this has become when the Kremlin reach out to the White House. Many perhaps think they might have some traction because the Americans influence many rebels.

[09:45:17] And Moscow, of course, is the key backers of Damascus, the Syrian regime. But there are fighters involved in this, like ISIS, behind the weekend's attack.

The Al Qaeda branch in Syria, who are not meant to be part of any agreed cessation of hostilities at all. They will keep fighting, they may disrupt any slow down in violence on the ground, and still the death toll higher potentially than it has ever been inside Syria at a time when we are, according to the State Department, maybe edging towards peace.

Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting live this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, think South Carolina's battle over the Confederate flag ended when it was removed from the state house? Oh, think again. How the issue has found its way into the 2016 presidential campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Confederate battle flag, a divisive symbol, remove d last year from South Carolina's state house grounds. Well, the Confederate flag is front and center in the state's Republican primary.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): The Democratic National Committee is using the issue, using the flag, to attack Donald Trump, claiming 70 percent of his supporters think the flag should still fly over the state's capital. But a Super PAC backing Ted Cruz blasted Trump for saying Trump approved of removing the flag from the state house.

In the meantime, the flag sits in a box in a storage room, there it is, waiting for someone, anyone, to decide what to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where the flag removed from the memorial was brought on the day when it was taken down. It's in our preparation room, or in storage, as a plan is come up with for how it's going to be displayed.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[09:50:27] COSTELLO (on camera): So, among the options, the $3.6 million proposal to display the flag in a special part of the Confederate relic room and military museum. My next guest says that cost should not be borne by the taxpayers. Joining me now, South Carolina State Representative Mary Tinkler. Welcome. MARY TINKLER, (D), SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Hi. How are you? Good morning.

COSTELLO: I'm - good morning. Why is this still an issue?

TINKLER: You know, I'm finding that it really is not an issue anymore. I feel like once we took it down from the state house grounds in July, we were settled on the fact that it was to come down. Now, we also decided at the time that we voted it down that we would display it appropriately, and when we received from consultants in December a proposal that cost at that point over $5 million, I think we were, as law makers, up in arms about that cost.

COSTELLO: Even the governor came out and said that's way too much money. One of your fellow lawmakers...

TINKLER: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: ... Republican - one of your fellow law makers, Republican Chris Corley, he wants voters to decide whether to put the flag back on top of the state house. His bill would schedule a referendum to coincide with the November presidential election. So - so, why the timing, do you suppose?

TINKLER: For Chris Corley's particular...

COSTELLO: Yes.

TINKLER: ... bill?

COSTELLO: Yes.

TINKLER: You know, I think that Chris Corley was one of the few people who voted to keep the flag up in July, and it's something that -- it may be what his constituents want, but I think overwhelmingly across the state, I believe that South Carolinians support the decision that we ultimately made in July.

COSTELLO: Are you surprised that the Confederate flag has been injected into the presidential race? The DNC is using it, Ted Cruz is using it.

TINKLER: I - I -- it doesn't surprise me. You know, it certainly was a major issue here in South Carolina and, you know, certainly with the primaries and the way that we helped shape who will become the presidential nominee. I don't see that as something that does surprise me. But, again, you know, I feel as though it's a pretty settled issue. I think the people of South Carolina have spoken and believe that the decision that we made is the one that will hold.

COSTELLO: Okay. And so, for now the flag remains in that box that we just saw.

TINKLER: Yes.

COSTELLO: Waiting for somebody to provide the money to display it, quote, unquote, appropriately. All right.

TINKLER: Correct.

COSTELLO: South Carolina state representative, thanks for joining me, Mary Tinkler. I appreciate it.

TINKLER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Supreme Court returns to work after the death of Justice Scalia.

[09:54:00] How they plan to honor the departed justice, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Supreme Court goes back to work for the first time since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The justices will be hearing oral arguments in two cases today, and one of the seats beside them will be draped in black cloth. CNN's Pamela Brown has more for you.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTIC CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol. The Supreme Court is meeting today for the first time since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The now eight justices will be hearing two cases today.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BROWN (voice-over): And Justice Scalia's chair will be draped in black wool, a tradition that goes back more than 100 years, and it will be that way for 30 days, per tradition. At the same time, Congress is reconvening today and, of course, the big fight will continue over who will fill Justice Scalia's vacancy. Both the Democrats and Republicans continue to dig in their heels.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BROWN (on camera): But here at the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia's absence will be deeply felt. He was known for bringing humor and fire to the oral arguments. This will no doubt be a difficult day for the justices. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Pamela Brown reporting for us this morning.

It's a video that's racked up millions of views.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): And it's a pleasure to watch. This is 106- year-old Virginia McLaurin. Look at how excited she is to meet the president and first lady. There she is, dancing. She starts dancing. She asked to meet the Obamas in a petition started online more than a year ago. McLaurin says she didn't think she'd ever live to see a black president. The Obamas, she said, well, she said they made her day.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (on camera): The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump looking to hit the jackpot in Nevada.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love to win. Don't we love to win?

COSTELLO: Is he unstoppable?

TRUMP: I'll tell you what, we're just going one after another.