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At This Hour

Can Obama/Congress Agree on Immigration Crisis Solutions?; Eric Holder Slams Sarah Palin; Cassidy Stay Speaks Out; Google Executive's Death Puts Focus on Prostitution

Aired July 14, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There has to be a halt to this. That's what we want. And the best way to do is for plane loads of these young people to be returning to the country of origin. We cannot have an unending flow of children from all over the world, much less Central America, into our country.

REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: And I say we are the strongest, wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world, and children are coming to our borders, we should protect them.

Now, I will say this, follow the law, and the law said that we must put the children's interests first, which is what President Obama is doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama wants Congress to approve his $3.7 billion request emergency funding to deal with this issue, but judging from what we're hearing, a deal does not seem imminent.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring in our political commentators, Ana Navarro and Maria Cardona.

Such a delight to have you both with us.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: It seems as though we're at a gridlock. We're at a standstill. Is there a chance -- I want to ask you both, and I'll start with you -- is there a chance that the two sides can agree on something substantive here?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's got to be a chance. There's always a chance, so I'm going to be hopeful because this is about children, this is about our most precious resource that we have. We need to take care of them in a humanitarian way but we need to make sure that it doesn't continue to be a magnet, so Republicans and Democrats and this president need to come together to figure out how we do that, to focus on the solutions. The president is asking for the resources to do all of that. To take care of these kids in a humanitarian manner, these kids who need asylum, can stay. Those who can go back and reunited with their families, we need do that quickly, without trampling on their rights. Maybe we look at temporary protected status here, which is something we gave refugees from a hurricane. We need to think outside the box, try to find ways to come together on this.

(CROSSTALK)

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I see no chance for temporary protective status. I think, I think, they have finally gotten their arms around what the entire problem is, the fact there's push factors from Central America and pull factors here in the United States, and it's all being taken advantage of unscrupulous rings of human smugglers that are misrepresenting the policies to these parents of Central America, making them believe that when they get here, their kids will have some kind of legal resource, which does not exist.

As far as the appropriation request, they got to go through it. They are not going to give any precedent, just a blank check, and they have got to really prioritize. There is a working group that have been formed of Congress people. They went down to Central America for two days. I think it's important that they go to the border, they go to the shelters, they speak to those governments. Because we can't start sending them back. What are we sending them back to? That's part of what started the problem. The problem is it's happening quickly. Congress is going to recess in a couple of weeks. So they've got to --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Ana, I do want to ask you. You were born in Nicaragua. Everyone refers them to as undocumented immigrants. People are saying we should be calling them refugees.

NAVARRO: This is a hard problem for me. I understand these kids and parents are being attending advantage of it. I come from a small town there. It's the second poorest country in the hemisphere. I'm very familiar with the conditions, the kind of violence that exists there, the gangs that exists there. I know people, I know people who are in the United States today who left their kids with a grandmother or an aunt and haven't seen them in ten years and are desperate to see those kids. So it's a desperation that, for many of us in this country, it's very hard to understand. I understand it, because I've lived it, and it gives you a sense of compassion. But I also know that these kids are being taken advantage of by human smugglers. I know that U.S. policy is being misrepresented. I know we can't have a free flow of kids, but what I think we need to do is give them a fair day in court, those that have a strong case to be able to stay here may be able to do so, and can do so, and we have to stop the flow.

PEREIRA: It's a very -- I know it's a very challenging one for all of us, really.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I have talked to Congress people, Republican Congress people. I have talked to Democrats, and the White House, who have gone to these shelters and talked to the kids, asked them, why are you coming. I've seen the pictures. It's heart-wrenching.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: I've talk to these kids and families and they say if they go back, they will be killed, and to be a mother, to send your child, as a mother of two young children, and as an immigrant myself from Latin America, there but for the grace of God go I. I mean, these are things that we really need to keep into consideration and at the same time find solutions so that they don't keep coming, this is not a magnet. Focus on the smugglers, on the violence.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: We need to do something.

PEREIRA: We're going to ask you both to stick around. We have another topic we want to bring up with you. A war of words, Attorney General Eric Holder slamming Sarah Palin, who is calling for President Obama to be impeached.

BERMAN: Then, she is being hailed as a hero. An unbelievably brave Texas teen the lone survivor of a family massacre. She speaks out. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Attorney General Eric Holder has pretty harsh words for Sarah Palin. He says, the vice presidential nominee and other Republicans who are calling for the president to be impeached are bent on blocking anything the president tries to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: She wasn't a particularly good vice-presidential candidate. She's even a worse judge of who ought to be impeached and why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Our political commentators, Ana Navarro and Maria Cardona, are here once again.

I'll start with you, Maria.

What do you make of Holder's assessment? And you have to rebut, of course.

(LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: I think he's right, and I think a lot of people ash the country and even a lot of Republicans that I talk to just wished Sarah Palin would go away and stop making headlines so they can focus on Republicans real message, whatever that is. So I think Eric Holder is right. I think a lot of Republicans agree with him. We saw afterwards, a lot of Republicans, including John Boehner, say impeachment is not on their agenda. They are trying to focus on that energy within their caucus that may want to impeach the president. They are doing this frivolous lawsuit instead. I think most people and a lot of Republicans agree with Eric Holder's sentiment.

NAVARRO: I think it's unseemly for the attorney general of the United States of America to be responding this way to a FOX comment tater. I think she's he host of an outdoor or hunting show. The right answer is, who cares? She's not in a position to make it happen. She's not in a policy making position. Nobody in leadership, nobody in a role of responsibility in the Republican Party, nobody with the actual ability to make impeachment happen has said anything about impeachment, so really, who cares? It would be like if I said, you know what, I don't like kale. I think we should impeach kale.

BERMAN: I'm with you on that.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Who cares? Particularly, the one that gets liquefied, turned into juice.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: We'll leave this there with Sarah Palin. But it does show what kind of influence she does still have in some --

NAVARRO: Because we keep talking about it.

BERMAN: She very popular. She campaigns and she wins votes for many candidates around the country.

I want to turn to a different subject dealing with Eric Holder. Because as part of this interview, he was asked about the issue of race and how he and the president have been treated on the issue of race. And he thinks in some cases they have been targeted a little bit. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLDER: There's a certain level of vehemence, it seems to me, that's directed at me and the president. There is a certain racial competent to this for some people. I don't think this is a thing that is a main driver, but for some, there is a racial animus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A racial animus. Fair, not fair?

CARDONA: I think it's fair to say that there are some people in this country who are against anything that the president does, and then, by extension, the attorney general because of race. And I don't think it's the majority by any means. I think we would not be honest about having this kind of debate if we don't acknowledge that there are some people who oppose the president because of his race.

PEREIRA: Do you feel the same way, Ana? NAVARRO: I do. I think racism is still a problem in America. We all

know it. We know it. I remember there being some very virulent attacks against George W. Bush. Of course, he was a white man so the race factor was not something we talk about. There are also some legitimate criticisms of the attorney general and the president. Not all are race based. I think we all have to be very careful to not claim -- and he didn't -- that everything is race based because there are legitimate criticisms and they need to be treated as such. And we can't trivialize the race thing by making it all about race when it's not about race.

BERMAN: The president talks less about this than Eric Holder. He says he benefits. He wins as many votes because of his race, as he loses.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: This discussion about race should not be just about the president. You know what I often wonder and especially in his last few days, what if those kids coming from the border were blonde and blue eyed and spoke English? Would there be such a virulent attack on them in those border cities?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I very much think -- I think if those were African-American kids, the Congressional Black Caucus could be banging down the doors down. I think Hispanic celebrities that love to go to the White House to be fed and sing and dance, have not said "they are our kids."

BERMAN: Ana Navarro, Maria Cardona, great to have you here.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Coming up, the incredible story we're going to share with you of a teen girl. She played dead as her family was killed around her. She's speaking out about this unimaginable ordeal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: A 15-year-old put in a terrible situation is showing incredible strength. A gunman shot her parents, killed her siblings in their home near Houston. Cassidy Stay was also shot but she played dead and managed to call police and able to prevent even more killings.

BERMAN: She was released from the hospital just over the weekend. She spoke at a celebration of life event for her family that drew hundreds of people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY STAY, FAMILY WAS MURDERED: I'm really thankful for all of the people that have been praying me and keeping me and my family in their thoughts and I would like to thank you all of the first responders, nurses and doctors that have taken care of me. I'm feeling a lot better. I'm on a very straightforward path to a full recovery.

I really like "Harry Potter.

(LAUGHTER)

And in "The Prisoner of Azkaban," Dumbledore says, "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I cannot imagine what this girl has been through. And I cannot figure out where they found the strength to do what she just did there. Police arrested the suspect gunman after a three-hour stand-off.

PEREIRA: They say he was trying to find his estranged his wife. She wasn't in the house. Instead, he allegedly shot his relatives execution style.

I want to bring back Terry Lyles, psychologist, with us again.

I think so many people, and John, and we were commenting in the break at how composed this young woman is that she could even speak in public after undergoing such a trauma. She was shot as well. How do you explain this reserve of energy or presence?

TERRY LYLES, PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, my first response was, wow, you don't see that every day. We cover a lot of stories and I'm telling you the presence of mind that she had and the ability to know to play dead that maybe it could preserve her life and stop this guy from hurting others, wow. I'm a firm believer we have all destiny inside of us. This young girl, she can do some incredible things in her life, and she could so some incredible things. Because she was spared for a reason, and I really believe she's got a reason built up inside her.

BERMAN: She's already done some incredible things. Besides saving herself and perhaps helping capture the gunman. But standing up in front of the people and speaking with such composure there, would you counsel someone to do that? Or what's the process you go through in deciding whether or not you are strong enough, whether it is helpful in your healing process?

LYLES: Sure, well, I think it comes down to the individual. Some people can be more composed than others based upon their personality and their familiarity to doing what they do. If I was consulting her and she said, look, I want to do this, I want to do this eulogy. I would tell her probably what she was doing, focus on your message, not on everybody there, and stay true to your heart, true to yourself, and say what it is you want to say, not only to your family, who are now departed, but those you can really help because they're there. Sticking to that focus, even though she's starting on the grief process, that shock will eventually wear off and she'll have to go through the steps. And I'm sure she'll have good help to assist her. She's a very courageous young lady. PEREIRA: Talk about that a little in depth. What is ahead for her?

Because I know, you know, after the focus goes away, the community continues on, it begins to heal. We heal at a different rate often when we've gone through a trauma like that. Give us an idea of the road she faces.

LYLES: Sure. Well, I think, you know, first off she's going to have to come to grips with what really happened. And ask those questions in the stage of grief after the shock wears off and she gets into, you know, the pain process and hurt. When she realizes that she was spared for some reason, just because she was -- presence of mind, you know, to play dead, that's going to play hard on her. Because I've talked to survivors who come back from tragedy and they often ask the question, why was I spared, why wasn't I one of them, and the guilt that goes with that? I think if she could start just that cathartic process, writing letter, to her family members and throwing it away and allowing that healing process to begin, it will help her through that process I'm sure that will take a while to get through. Like you said, we all grieve very differently. It's a past reality to a new reality which is that gulf of grief. She'll get on the other side.

BERMAN: Let's hope she gets the help she needs. She's obviously doing a great deal to help so many of the others around her.

Terry Lyles, great to have you.

PEREIRA: Thanks for sticking around.

LYLES: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Ahead @THISHOUR, Silicon Valley's other booming industry, prostitution. One arrest in connection with a Google executive's death has sex workers worried. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: They are shocking allegations involving an unlikely duo. Police say a young prostitute killed a married Google executive by injecting him with heroin, then abandoning him on his California yacht as he died. The details of this case came out last week. Now police are investigating the same woman for another overdose death, this one in Georgia. That victim was her boyfriend.

PEREIRA: The whole sordid incident has brought prostitution in the tech world into focus.

I want to bring in our "CNN Money" correspondent, Laurie Segall.

You actually had a chance to speak to some sex workers in the Silicon Valley. What are they saying to you?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: About a year ago, I'd spoke be to sex workers for a story and they said we're seeing an uptick in our business because of all the money in Silicon Valley. Companies are selling for billions of dollars. A lot of these guys are younger. They have the time, they have the money. They say, our business is booming now. It is so lucrative. One compared it to the day of Wall Street. One woman told me she made over $1 million over the last decade. I actually spoke to one sex worker who went on the record and she talked to me a little bit about what's behind that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAXINE HOLLOWAY, SILICON VALLEY SEX WORKER: I think it's really interesting that we have this increase of tech employees coming to the Bay Area. You know, they're working really long intense hours, which is giving them this disposable income. But along with that lifestyle, it doesn't always leave room for traditional dating. So this really nice kind of mutually beneficial relationship with professional sexual providers seems to work out really well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: Obviously, we have to think about the safety here, but I will tell you, these women are marketing. These are T-shirts a woman, who is a sex worker, wears in her ads to attract the money. These are the folks these women are going after. It says, "Geeks make better lovers." T-shirts with "Game of Thrones" references. These women are becoming the other entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Now we're really beginning to see, because of this case, that there are major -- as we all know, there are safety issues, but they're in focus now.

BERMAN: There are safety issues, right, for both the clients and the workers?

SEGALL: Absolutely. And this is -- it's a -- they will tell you there was a big shutdown of a website called MyRedbook. Shut down by the Fed. This was a place where women went to advertise services. People went to go buy their services. It was also a place where people would screen one another. If anyone had a violent experience, something like that, they would talk about it. So a lot of women are saying now they're fearing for their safety. A lot of the men say -- so it's actually calling all of this into focus and calling safety into question. We all know where there's power, where there's money, this kind of thing is going to happen.

(CROSSTALK)

SEGALL: And speaking to these sex workers, they say it is happening more than ever now.

PEREIRA: Obviously, the Internet's playing a key role in all this. Because you any they can operate sort of in the shadows of it.

SEGALL: It's a game changer. This isn't -- prostitution and sex work. This is Silicon Valley. It's not just folks walking on the street corner. There are all sorts of different ways people are going around it. These folks have the money now. They will pay something like $1,000 to -- for one of these sessions. And this is the kind of thing. This is such an unfortunate case, what happened to this Google executive, but it really does call into question, hey, this is the underbelly of Silicon Valley, we should start talking about it. BERMAN: Fascinating.

Laurie Segall, thank you.

SEGALL: Thanks.

PEREIRA: Good to have you with us.

That's it for us @THISHOUR. I'm Michaela Pereira. Thanks for joining us.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Deborah Feyerick today starts right now.