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Don Lemon Tonight
Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial; New England's Deflate-Gate?; "Saving Private Ryan" Reigns As Top American War Hero Movie; Sources: No DOJ Charges in Michael Brown Death; Palestinian Man Bombs Bus in Tel Aviv; Previewing "Inside Man"
Aired January 21, 2015 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT, I'm Don Lemon.
From O.J. to ex-Patriot Aaron Hernandez, charges against NFL players still have the power to shock us.
Hernandez's murder trial is expected to begin just days before his former team faces the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLIX as a matter of fact. Well, tonight we have the latest on the case against him.
Meanwhile, the Pats themselves are in hot water. Did they deliberately deflate game balls? Is there a culture of cheating in the NFL or what is it just what it takes to win? And why does America love to hate the Patriots anyway?
Tonight I'm going to toss the pigskin around with former pro Pete Najarian. He's here with me on set now.
Plus, "American Sniper" hits the box office bullseye. But from "John Wayne" to last year's "Lone Survivor," what happens when the story goes off the big screen into real life?
And CNN's Morgan Spurlock is here with some robots. That's right.
We've got a whole lot to cover for you tonight, but I want to begin with the very latest on Aaron Hernandez, charged with first-degree murder in the death of semi-pro player Odin Lloyd.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last time the New England Patriots played in the Super Bowl in 2012, Aaron Hernandez was on the field. This time, he's sidelined.
On trial for murder, pleading not guilty. No longer getting plays from his old bosses, Coach Bill Belichick and team owner Bob Kraft. They're on the prosecutor's witness list.
The Patriots fired their star tight end the day he was led out of his home in handcuffs. Arrested for the murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, shot seven times.
At first it seems there's a mountain of circumstantial evidence against the star tight end who's pleaded not guilty. Eighteen months later the case isn't the same.
MICHAEL MCCANN, LEGAL ANALYST AND WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: The universe of damning evidence has shrunk.
CANDIOTTI: Shrunk thanks to a defense team scoring victories. Arguably the biggest, a text message from Lloyd to his sister sent minutes before Lloyd was killed. Lloyd writes, "NFL, just so you know." A judge ruling it's inadmissible, not enough proof Lloyd thought he was going the die.
MCCANN: If the jury believes that Aaron Hernandez was with Odin Lloyd right before Odin Lloyd was killed, it's not a big leap to conclude Aaron Hernandez was involved in the murder of Odin Lloyd.
CANDIOTTI: Yet prosecutors say they have surveillance videos of the victim getting into a car with Hernandez and co-defendants Ernst Wallace and Carlos Ortiz who've also pleaded not guilty to murder. Video of that same car driving into an industrial park. And later Hernandez back home less than a mile away, holding what prosecutors say is the alleged murder weapon, but it was never found.
MCCANN: There is no murder weapon, or a -- a witness that's credible would testify that Aaron Hernandez did it. There is no such witness.
CANDIOTTI: The judge also blocking any mention Hernandez is indicted for two more murders in Boston. Prosecution witness Alexander Bradley can't say he is suing Hernandez for allegedly shooting him in the face a few months before Lloyd's murder.
Will the state overcome any weaknesses?
MCCANN: So there is still a good amount of circumstantial evidence against Aaron Hernandez. It just isn't the slam dunk case that it seemed to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And will Hernandez's fiancee be a star witness? Prosecutors suggest that Chianna Jenkins may know more than she's letting on about the missing murder weapon. She's pleaded not guilty to a perjury charge and recently met with prosecutors to discuss possible immunity.
Will she stand by her man? Well, Don, we may not find out unless and until she takes the stand.
LEMON: Susan Candiotti, thank you very much. You cannot write this stuff.
Susan, I want you to stay with me because I want to bring in now CNN commentator Mel Robbins, CNN Turner -- and Turner Sports anchor Rachel Nichols, "USA Today" sports columnist Christine Brennan, and Pete Najarian, he is a former linebacker and current CNBC "Fast Money" contributor.
As I said, Rachel, you can't write these things. Aaron Hernandez, only 23 years old when he was arrested. At the time he had a five- year, $40 million contract.
Do you think sometimes people expect too much from people who are so young, these young athletes, when they get so much so fast?
RACHEL NICHOLS, TURNER SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, you can't spin this out into any larger picture. Look, for every Aaron Hernandez accused of murder, there are literally thousands and thousands of professional athletes, young athletes, with a lot of money who are not being accused of murder. So this is being treated an individual case, certainly a bizarre case.
And the entire NFL world is watching because, as you said, you look at those contract numbers, he didn't sign that much longer before this crime came to light. So you have a guy that the NFL and the New England Patriots trusted with a lot of money, a lot of prestige, and it all went wrong.
LEMON: Yes, absolutely.
And, Mel, you say it's a slam dunk case. Why do you say that?
MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's not necessarily a slam dunk case on the criminal charges, Don, because there's no eyewitness, and they never recovered the gun. However, in the state of Massachusetts, we have what's called joint venture liability, meaning they don't necessarily have to get Aaron Hernandez as the trigger man to get him on first, second degree or manslaughter.
All they have to do is to convict the other two and say he was a material part of the crime, Don, and he'll be found guilty under Massachusetts law.
LEMON: How does a coach or a teammate not know if their -- if their teammate is involved in serious illegal activity? How do you know not that?
PETE NAJARIAN, FORMER PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER: Well, you know, I think a lot of the time these coaches and the rest of the players, the management, they just turn their head, Don. I think they don't want to know your personal life, and they try to stay out of your personal life. You are, of course, a man, you're over 20-plus years old, and they expect that you're going to conduct yourself in the right way.
And they hope that you do. And they don't want to know. The NFL doesn't want to know, the teams don't want to know until it gets to a point of extreme, and then they've got to step in, but they'd rather stay out of your personal life.
LEMON: Christine, what's the lesson in this for other rookies or either for the NFL?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Well, I agree with Rachel that it's hard to extrapolate anything from this one story, because this story is so horrendous, at least allegedly so, and so I think obviously too much too soon is always a problem. Again, I would put Aaron Hernandez in a different situation just because of the nature of these allegations and charges, but as we have seen, the National Football League is much more than just a sports league.
It is a cultural phenomenon in the United States, from the Ray Rice story, to the Patriot's story, it has just taken over our conversations literally the last five, six, seven months, and I think that, if anything, hopefully people learn from this and you watch this and just as you can have positive role models, you can have negative role models, and I think we can safely say that Aaron Hernandez is that.
LEMON: Susan, there are few correspondents or reporters who have put more time on this story than you have. You have been covering this Hernandez case from the start.
There is an old saying called the Patriot's way. Talk to us about that. What does that mean?
CANDIOTTI: Well, in talking to players and everybody else knows it means winning. Whatever you're going to do to win. It's all about the team. Do what you can to make sure that the team does the best it can. Of course, the obvious follow-up to that is how far do you go to win? And you're seeing the results of some of those things now.
I mean, there was even rumors going back -- you talk about the secrecy and what they're not sharing with other people, or the allegations of cheating and cheating, and there was even talk a few years ago of Tom Brady, did he actually try to hide the fact that he was getting hair plugs. Now I'm joking about that, but that's one of the things that was being talked about at one point.
LEMON: That would be a huge story. If that's --
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Mel, do you believe that there is, you know, the Patriot's way?
ROBBINS: Look, I think that whenever you have a team that's dominated sports the way that the Patriots have, everybody else in the nation is going to focus on them and try to find any kind of weakness because you can't possibly reconcile how the hell are they winning in the way that they do, but I'll tell you one thing. Robert Kraft would have none of this B.S. on his team.
The second that he caught wind that Aaron Hernandez was involved in anything illegal, the guy was not only sidelined, he was off the team. And I'll tell you what, that's a hell of a lot more than I got to say for many owners in the NFL, Don.
LEMON: Is there a Patriots' way, Pete?
NAJARIAN: There is. Absolutely. And I think you spoke to it just now. Exactly right. I agree with you. I think when it gets to the very top, the Patriot's way is we're going to address it, we're going to address it now. But up to that point, it's all about winning, everybody says win, baby. That's what it's all about.
LEMON: Because that's what it's all about in the end.
NAJARIAN: Right.
LEMON: And cheating -- it's only cheating until you get caught.
NAJARIAN: Until you get caught.
LEMON: Until you get caught.
NAJARIAN: Bend it, and you push it, you push the envelope, and every team seems to want to do that more and more.
LEMON: We're going to talk a little bit more about that because I want to talk about the balls. But before the deflate-gate or whatever it's called. But I want to ask you about, before we move on with the segment. What about the analysis, mentally and physically, that a rookie or someone who is, you know, signing up for the NFL.
NAJARIAN: Sure.
LEMON: What do they go through? Do they go through any?
NAJARIAN: They go through an extraordinary amount. As a matter of fact, all the pre-interviews, then you go to the Combine and they really put you in just about every scenario you could possibly go into physically and mentally, Don, and they want to know who you are.
There's a real reason why Aaron Hernandez was not a first-round draft pick.
LEMON: Yes.
NAJARIAN: Red flags were everywhere. This guy was the 113th pick in the draft, fourth round, and this is a guy who was the John Mackey Award winner. He was all SCC. He was an all-American tight end. As it good as it gets.
LEMON: Yes.
NAJARIAN: And somehow he slipped through the fourth round. It makes you wonder.
LEMON: I got to ask, Susan --
NICHOLS: Right. But as Pete knows that if you're good enough, they will draft you. If you're good enough, they will play you.
LEMON: Susan Candiotti --
NICHOLS: And they don't ask you in those pre-draft meetings. They don't ask you, are you going to go kill someone? So -- LEMON: Susan Candiotti, what does --
NICHOLS: It's a delicate line.
LEMON: What does he face now moving on?
CANDIOTTI: Well, you know, after the jury is finally selected, the first thing that the jury is going to see, they're going to go on a bus tour. And they're going to be taken not only to the crime scene, they're also going to be shown a cell phone tower that prosecutors suggest will be able to pinpoint pings that came from his cell phone the night of the murder and be able to show exactly where he was, presumably, at the crime scene.
But they're also going to get a tour of his house because the defense wanted to show off the elaborate home security system. Now they're also going to get a look at his football jerseys and trophies and prosecutors wanted all that covered up saying it could unduly influence the jury.
LEMON: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: But the judge said, uh-uh. They should be able to see just the way his house looks like.
LEMON: And in the house of a player, my gosh, fans, that's going to be very interesting to watch.
Susan, we want to thank you. I want to make sure you got that last question and answering.
The rest of the panel is going to stick around.
When we come right back, did New England cheat its way into the Super Bowl or they're just doing what it takes to win?
And why would you deflate a football? We are talking about the deflate-gate here. We've got a couple of footballs right here. Pete is going to help us see the difference. There is a difference, in these two, right?
NAJARIAN: Absolutely.
LEMON: You say?
NAJARIAN: One of them you can catch, right?
LEMON: Yes. You can catch one of them, the other one you can't.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes, we're not going to go --
NAJARIAN: This one is a little bit tough.
LEMON: Shall we go a little far? You want to go? NAJARIAN: Let's do it.
LEMON: You want to exchange here?
NAJARIAN: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The biggest scandal in this country right now has nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with celebrities behaving badly. It has everything to do with, of all things, deflated footballs. And whether the New England Patriots might have used them unfairly to get into the Super Bowl.
Rachel Nichols has that story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICHOLS (voice-over): The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks take the field February 1st in Arizona, but as happens all too often with the Patriots, scandal is brewing.
The NFL is investigating allegations that 11 of the 12 footballs that the Patriots used in their AFC Championship win over the Indianapolis Colts were underinflated. That would be an advantage since underinflated footballs are easier to grip and catch, especially in bad weather. And Sunday's game was indeed played in bad weather.
And the underinflated footballs would only have been an advantage to New England since each team's offense provides its own footballs.
Footballs are inspected before the game by officials, and NBC is reporting that at that time the footballs met regulations, but by the time the Patriots' footballs were inspected again at halftime, they reportedly had significantly less air than is allowed under league rules.
If the Patriots were found to have let the air out deliberately, the team could be fined a minimum of $25,000 or docked future draft picks.
The NFL is largely reserving comment telling CNN, quote, "We are continuing our review and will provide information as soon as possible."
But the Seahawks are speaking out about the Patriots and their quarterback Tom Brady.
RICHARD SHERMAN, CORNER BACK, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: I think people somehow get a skewed view of Tom Brady, that he's just a clean cut, does everything right, and never says a bad word to anyone, and we know him to be otherwise.
NICHOLS: And when I sat down for an interview with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll he noted the importance of following the rules. (On camera): You are one of the 32 stewards of the game. How
important is it that these coaches relentlessly protect the integrity of the game?
PETE CARROLL, HEAD COACH, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: I think it is ultimately, absolutely important. We've seen the power of the league and how every turn of issues that have come up in one right after another, people have looked to the league for leadership. You can see the league and the league office working to figure out what is right, and that stand for what's right, and when we make our mistakes, we admit to them and we fix the situation and -- we send the send the message of that's the right way to do things, and so we'll see what happens with this.
NICHOLS (voice-over): As for the Patriots, well, the team has stated it is fully cooperating with the investigation. Brady laughed off the accusations in a radio interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get the sense that you're able to grip the ball better than the Colts last night?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you care -- would you care to weigh in on that?
TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Oh, I think that I have heard it all at this point. Oh, god.
NICHOLS: But back in 2011, Brady told the same Boston radio station he likes using deflated footballs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you spike it every time you score?
BRADY: Yes, which happens like once every three years.
(LAUGHTER)
BRADY: When Gronk scores it, like he does it, he spikes the ball, and he deflates the ball, which I love that because I like, you know, deflated ball.
NICHOLS: This isn't the first scandal for the Patriots. In 2007 the league's fined Bill Belichick a record half a million dollars for taping opponents' signals from the sideline, a scandal known as spygate. The Patriots were also fined $250,000 and lost a first-round draft pick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NICHOLS: And it's because of that spygate scandal, Don, that the Patriots are just not getting the benefit of the doubt here, at least not from anyone outside of the Boston area code, not the fans, not the league which is investigating this incident. And they shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt. The reason the Colts were looking for these deflated balls is they played the Patriots earlier in the season. They had a -- defensive player who caught an interception, felt the
ball and said, this feels kind of funny, brought it to the equipment manager. They looked at it after the game. They thought this doesn't look right. So when it happened again during this game, they brought it to the officials. And that caused them to question, did this happen more than in just this game? Did it happened last week when they played the Ravens? And now there's some questions about those balls?
LEMON: Yes.
NICHOLS: Have they been doing this all season?
LEMON: Yes. And Rachel --
NICHOLS: Christine Brennan mentioned hey, this is our national sports.
LEMON: Right.
NICHOLS: People, this is important.
LEMON: That's what we're going to discuss in this segment so stick around, Rachel.
I want to bring in now Mel Robbins, Christine Brennan and Pete Najarian.
Talk about exactly what Rachel just said, because you said that it was pointed out, I asked you if the temperatures makes a difference, and you said, there was -- was it an interception and they figured it out? What happened?
NAJARIAN: And D'Qwell Jackson had an interception, immediately hands it to the equipment staff and the coaches, and they checked it out. And they immediately starts saying, hey, look, we thought they deflated balls previously, looks like they're doing it once again and Baltimore warned about it from the week before. So there was a lot of reasons behind this, Don, why it was getting checked so closely.
LEMON: Yes.
NAJARIAN: People normally don't do that.
LEMON: Yes, and I have these here. And you --
NAJARIAN: Yes.
LEMON: To me, I can tell the difference.
NAJARIAN: Right.
LEMON: Can you tell the difference?
NAJARIAN: Hundred percent.
LEMON: A hundred percent.
NAJARIAN: Yes.
LEMON: I was watching Mike Greenberg on yesterday, and he said that it's tough to -- and here's what he said, though, about the expression -- when he talked about the Pats' way or the New England way.
NAJARIAN: Right.
LEMON: And also when he talked about the difference in the balls. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE GREENBERG, ESPN: There's an old expression in sports that comes from NASCAR. If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. Everybody is trying to find a way to bend the rules. The Patriots just get caught more than anyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Christine Brennan, is that true?
BRENNAN: Well, it appears to be true, at least over the last few years, Don, but as I have been reporting this story, as Rachel has and others have, I've also found a lot of laughs and giggles, and people saying, wait, this is the kind of thing that happens all the time, you should see what the quarterbacks do to shine a football up or scuff it up, or Aaron Rodgers apparently like the overinflated football, Tom Brady likes the underinflated football.
So the NFL is in a very interesting situation. This season of all seasons we know the Ray Rice video, all the things that have happened, and Roger Goodell will be looking at this seriously, so even though this may end up being a little thing, certainly compared to Ray Rice and domestic violence.
LEMON: Yes.
BRENNAN: It may -- the NFL has to look into it because the pressure is on, and even in this big league, the littlest things do matter.
LEMON: And how often does it happen? Because you talked to me --
NAJARIAN: Every year. Every game, every team, everybody tampers with the ball. The rule is there and they need to enforce the rule. And if they want to change the rules in some way, or they want to change how the ball is presented by each team, they should do that. But right now, everybody is doing it. Matt Leinart tweeted about that.
LEMON: But doesn't the ref tough the ball every play?
NAJARIAN: He does.
LEMON: And they would know if -- NAJARIAN: You would think -- you would think so. But, you know, to
be honest with you, they don't actually handle the ball to the extent where they're going to be really making sure hey, is this ball lighter by a little bit or not, but the players are.
LEMON: Mel, aren't you a Patriots fan?
ROBBINS: Hell, yes, I am. I'm here in Boston right now, Don.
LEMON: And so what should happen to your team? If this is true.
ROBBINS: Well look. Couple of things I want to say. If it's true, I personally believe that if you're a cheater, you should have the goodies taken away, which means they should have the win vacated and they should have the Colts go to the Super Bowl. However, I want to point out that when the balls were taken away at halftime the Patriots did go on to score 28 more points, so anybody that thinks that it would have made a difference in the win is smoking something.
And secondly, you know, the other thing I want to point out is, yes, you know, Brad Johnson of the Buccaneers 2013 winner admitted recently that he paid the ball boy 7,000 bucks each to scuff up the balls.
Do I think cheating is a great idea? Of course not, but the NFL has got much bigger problems, Don.
LEMON: Yes.
ROBBINS: I mean, this is a bigger scandal than Ray Rice, give me a freaking break. And if Adam Silver were in charge, they wouldn't be going to the Super Bowl.
LEMON: OK. All right.
ROBBINS: So Goodell is going to do exactly what he did with domestic violence. He's going to push this beyond the Super Bowl. He's going to pull in the cash, and we're not going to hear about it again.
LEMON: I see where you're going, but I want to get this in because, let's see, John Berman pointed this out. This is my colleague. He said, "Patriots didn't need to cheat on Sunday, even Colts players Dwayne Allen tweeted the Patriots were the better team. Dwayne said, "Not a story, they could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the better team. We have to continue to build," and he has #btm.
OK, so I want to do a lightning round here, and I'm going to start with Rachel.
Rachel, if all of these allegations are proven to be true, should there be a punishment, and what should it be? Quickly, please.
NICHOLS: Yes, if they -- if they are true, then there should be a punishment, they are not going to be vacate them and pull them from the Super Bowl, but they could suspend Bill Belichick from the Super Bowl or certainly suspend him for part of next year and that should happen.
LEMON: OK.
NICHOLS: If he is shown to be involved in this.
LEMON: You're shaking the head no?
NAJARIAN: I'm shaking my head because I don't think Bill Belichick has anything to do with this. This is Tom Brady, this is the equipment staff. It should be a financial fine of some sort, half a million dollars make sense to me. And draft picks and make it hurt. Not just one first rounder, two first rounders.
LEMON: I'm being told I have to go, so, Christine, quickly?
BRENNAN: Yes, fine, and maybe a draft pick or two, but I don't think they'll even resolve this until after the Super Bowl.
LEMON: Mel?
ROBBINS: Yes. Nothing is going to hurt unless they get yanked from the Super Bowl, so whatever.
LEMON: All right. Deflate-gate. Deflate-gate.
NAJARIAN: That's right.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Thank you. There you go. You can have --
NAJARIAN: You bet.
LEMON: You can have this back.
(LAUGHTER)
NAJARIAN: OK.
LEMON: When we come back right. "American Sniper," wait until you hear what a real-life Iraq vet says about America's favorite movie.
And "Danger, Will Robinson." Remember that? You young guys don't remember that.
Tonight CNN's Morgan Spurlock is here with us. We're talking about robots. That's right. Robots.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The hit movie "American Sniper" is poised to queen up again at the box office this weekend. Fandango's movie buzz indicator, Fanticipation, puts it at the top of the list, scoring 87 out of 100 points.
The success of war movies like "American Sniper," it's no surprise as Paul Vercammen explains now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Squeeze the trigger and they will come. An American tradition paying at the theater to watch countrymen wage war overseas.
Rewind and box office smash hits include Gary Cooper playing real-life marksman Sergeant York, and John Wayne leading from the sands of Iwo Jima. "Platoon" captured the Vietnam generation's attention and dollars. Now it's "American Sniper" with Bradley Cooper playing Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, RENTRAK: The biggest weekend ever for a film in January, $89 million for the three-day part of the weekend and $187 million for the four days, Friday through Monday, for Martin Luther King weekend. That's a brand new record.
VERCAMMEN: Sniper is also benefitting from controversy over Kyle. Some questioning if he is a hero. Every de-faced billboard or negative tweet equals free marketing, even more publicity the upcoming death penalty trial of Kyle's confessed killer, Eddie Ray Routh. The defender's lawyer argues American Sniper success will impact jurors, and he wants the trial moved out of a small Texas town. Another reason war movie hit Lone Survivor, also are getting after attention, it is video afterlife. The Afghan villager who protected and treated wounded SEAL Marcus Luttrell is now seeking asylum in the U.S.
MARCUS LUTTRELL, FORMER NAVY SEAL: You know I can't talk to you about that.
VERCAMMEN: But despite the topical buzz Americans aren't always ready to watch the depictions of the horrors of recent combat. For us tell (ph) Middle East conflict movies, often called sand movies inside Hollywood, struggled to reach hit level.
DERGARABEDIAN: Movies like the Green Zone, Jarhead, The Kingdom, did OK. But they were not out not hits in the way that Zero Dark Thirty, Lone Survivor and American Sniper are.
VERCAMMEN: Despite winning the Academy Award for best picture, the hurt locker made just $17 million domestic for its entire run. American Sniper made more than that in a day.
JEFFREY LYONS, FILM CRITIC: It was a bit of a catharsis too, because after the horrific attacks in Paris, we wanted to see a movie in which the bad people or the people who are helping the bad people are in the scope of the sniper.
VERCAMMEN: American Sniper has a long way to go to catch the reigning American war hero movie champ. Saving Private Ryan cranked out almost $380 million domestic adjusted for today's prices. It won critical acclaim for its realistic portrayals of battles, and yet, Academy Award voters snubbed it for best picture.
GEOFFREY RUSH, ACTOR, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE: The show must -- JOSEPH FIENNES, ACTOR, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE: Go on.
VERCAMMEN: This film won. Perhaps, all isn't fair in Shakespeare in Love and War. Paul Vercammen, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Another Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, thank you for joining us.
PAUL RIECKHOFF, FOUNDER AND CEO OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: My pleasure.
LEMON: Thank you for your service.
RIECKHOFF: Thank you.
LEMON: You are an Iraq war vet. You produced war movies as well, right? It has been -- 12 years, right. You said that this movie, Sniper, it is -- was the greatest war movie of our time?
RIECKHOFF: Post 9/11 film.
LEMON: You believe this --
RIECKHOFF: Yeah, this captures Iraq better than anything else...
LEMON: Because Hollywood is said that people aren't interested in Iraq movies anymore.
RIECKHOFF: They're not...
LEMON: Why is this is they're just --
RIECKHOFF: They're not interested in not bad Iraq movies. And this is really a good film. It is got a powerful story, the narrative is fantastic, the acting is great, the sound, I mean, this is a great film. But it's also a great film about Iraq. It tells our story is veterans more powerfully and more poignantly than, than anything that's been done before. Now, a lot of other films were crap, that's part of it. But the veteran's community is almost universally behind this film, as getting it right. And you know when you walk out in the theater if they got it right, and this film got it right.
LEMON: And accept (ph) why do you think people feel like they have been -- you know.
RIECKHOFF: Military (inaudible)
LEMON: Some beat up a little bit better on -- you know, they went off to war and not -- not everybody accepts what they did or agrees with what they did. It is sort of vindicate people in it, -- this, this movie?
RIECKHOFF: No, in many ways, it's dividing people, just like the war did. LEMON: It is gonna say, why then -- why the controversy?
HEICKHOFF: Because it's Iraq. I mean, Iraq is one of the most controversial issues of our time. You make a big movie about it. You put Clint Eastwood behind it, and its number one the box office. And I've seen it on the Twitter, social media -- you know, people are falling back in their pre-existing positions on Iraq, and at the end of the day, what it's doing it's generating a conversation. And it's connecting people with the issues, and it's getting more people to talk about Iraq than any other thing I've seen in the last 10 years of doing this kind of work. And that's a good thing.
LEMON: Yeah.
RIECKHOFF: We need to debate Iraq, we need to debate veterans issues and we need to support the families and the snipers and all the other folks that are involved.
LEMON: So you --
RIECKHOFF: Including -- including the Iraqi people. You know the film doesn't do a great job of showing their side of this at all. But it does generate a conversation, that's a good thing.
LEMON: You've been following the conversation, I'm sure.
RIECKHOFF: Oh, yeah.
LEMON: Did you see what Sarah Palin said to some people who are --
RIECKHOFF: No.
LEMON: Folks -- in Hollywood? This is on Facebook. She slammed some folks in Hollywood who were criticizing the film, and here is what she said. "Hollywood leftist: while caressing shiny plastic trophies you exchange among one another while spitting on the graves of freedom fighters who allow you to do what you do, just realize the rest of America knows you're not fit to shine Chris Kyle's combat boots." Are you feeling a cult? Is this a cult war that is develop here because --
RIECKHOFF: I think a lot of people are using --
LEMON: Left and right?
RIECKHOFF: I think a lot of people are using their different political agendas. But, this is a Hollywood film. I mean, Clint Eastwood is a Hollywood guy. Bradley Cooper is a Hollywood guy, so I think it's easy to paint this broad brush of Hollywood. But -- this is an example of Hollywood got it right. Obviously Michael Moore and some things are controversial -- Seth -- you know, Seth Rogen and others. But most of the veterans just saying they are standing behind this film. And most of the American people are saying it's a good film. Look at the box office results, they are entertained by it. And I think that is a bridge into a real conversation about the harder issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, VA form --
LEMON: Right.
RIECKHOFF: Foreign policy.
LEMON: But to a mistake it was got with more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they dealt with a lot.
RIECKHOFF: They, they dealt with pretty heavily, and I'm not gonna giveaway the ending here.
LEMON: Yes.
RIECKHOFF: But this is a tragic story that does reveal a huge -- you know, crisis we've got.
LEMON: Not to the extent that some of the people who will deal with it, especially the way Chris Kyle die. And so, it didn't do it.
RIECKHOFF: Look, at the end of the day, it dealt with it a very effectively.
LEMON: OK.
RIECKHOFF: And I think for me as a veteran's advocate, it opens up a conversation to talk about what Chris Kyle dealt with his wife, dealt with when other veterans are dealing with, and that's importantly. Look, we have VA scandal that engulfed this whole -- whole country, and most people didn't really care. You know maybe American Sniper...
LEMON: But this movie right.
RIECKHOFF: Maybe American Sniper can get them to care what VA reform and the other issues that we are dealing with every single day.
LEMON: You mentioned Bradley Cooper. And Bradley Cooper this is not about war, but he calls it a character study. Listen, he spoke to CNN, and this is what he said.
RIECKHOFF: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRADLEY COOPER, ACTOR, AMERICAN SNIPER: I don't see this movie as a movie that promotes conservative values at all.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Actually at all, it's not anything that Clint and I ever spoke about. And the thing that Clint and I always want to make was a character study. And if someone wants to take this movie and use it for their own political agenda, that's up to them.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Because what I'm just saying to, because...
COOPER: Yeah.
TAPPER: We really, really just one, not some of movie about the Iraqi war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What do you think? Some people say it's propaganda, some people say it's gonna hurt trials and other -- you know, and potential jurors for people who are --
RIECKHOFF: I mean it is unleashing a lot of different political arguments...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Who shot Chris Kyle?
RIECKHOFF: Yeah, but I think it is a character study. It's -- the perspectives of Chris Kyle. It's based on his story, his book and it's seen through his eyes, now that's his version of the war. It's not everyone's version of war, was it my version of the war, but it can be a view point for us to understand in a larger issues. And that's a takeaway for us.
LEMON: Yeah.
RIECKHOFF: And that's why I think so many veterans are behind it. They're saying civilians are walking up to me going, I think I can start to understand now.
LEMON: Yeah.
RIECKHOFF: And that is very, very important where in a country -- in a country where less than 1 percent of the population is served.
LEMON: I have to go but -- thank you very much.
RIECKHOFF: Thank you Don.
LEMON: We appreciate you joining us.
RIECKHOFF: Appreciated.
LEMON: Come on CNN, any time.
RIECKHOFF: Yes, definitely.
LEMON: (Inaudible)
RIECKHOFF: Hang out with the robots and footballs and everything else.
LEMON: Sorry, I didn't have anything for you...
RIECKHOFF: No, it's OK. No problem.
LEMON: Any props for you.
RIECKHOFF: Definitely. OK. LEMON: We have an update on the fatal shooting that we want to tell you about Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson. Multiple sources, familiar with the investigation say the justice department who recommend that that no federal civil rights charges be filed against Officer Wilson. But the final decision is up to Attorney General Eric Holder, a Missouri state grand jury has already decided not to indict the officer.
And up next, a brazen terror attack in broad daylight. Plus, a Republican behind President Obama's back, with one of our strongest allies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to warn you about the video we are gonna show you. It's a -- it is disturbing, Israeli police are calling an incident shocking today, calling it a shocking terror attack, and I warn you again it's very difficult to watch. Police say Palestinian man boarded a bus in Tel Aviv, stabbing the driver and passengers, at least 12 people. He was shot in the leg by police and placed under arrest, and then late today, the American embassy in Tel Aviv, barred U.S. government employees from using the public buses throughout Israel and the West Bank, or from travelling near Israel's border with Lebanon. That video again is from after the attack. Joining me now is Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Thank you for joining us. Can we take a look again at that disturbing, barbaric video that we have been looking at to this attack, today in Tel Aviv. One woman was even stabbed in the back, as she fled -- the spokesman for Hamas called the attack heroic retribution for the occupation of their lands. You say that this is more than the Lone wolf attack, explain.
RON PROSOR, ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATION: You know when we all look at this video -- he stabbed 12 people, this terrorist. But come nearly (ph) the one that stabbed this -- those 12 innocent people was Palestinian incitement. They stabbed the people, radical Islam. They were stabbing the people and the countries like Iran and Qatar who fund terror, they stabbed those innocent people. They all have blood on their hands, as much as the terrorists who used the knife by himself.
LEMON: Can I - I want to ask you about this because Amnesty International is accusing Israel of war crimes so the military campaign in Gaza last summer. Specifically they cite the use of large aerial bomb and attacks on the civilian homes. What is your response?
PROSOR: This is absolutely outrageous, just think of it. The Palestinian authority that is in government with Hamas and internationally recognized terrorist organization has the audacity to accuse Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East? Is Hamas who committed war crimes this summer? I mean, where are we getting? Tomorrow morning, will have ISIS go out to the criminal court against the coalition forces and the United States fighting to defend the values that we all cherish.
LEMON: Yeah.
PROSOR: The world has gone mad.
LEMON: You mentioned ISIS, because this is what CNN has learned tonight, that ISIS is recruiting in Yemen and there is new video today, of a senior leader in Al-Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP in Yemen calling again, for western jihadists to stay home and wage attacks. If the government falls, could Yemen you think become a terrorist state?
PROSOR: Absolutely. We've seen them. The problem is that we have to face radical Islam. We can't just -- you know, turn a blind eye to this, because they are going against everything that we cherish, against our way of life. It's not policy here or there that trying to target everything that we connect to, freedom of speech, freedom of press, all the equalities that we fought to maintain, they're going after our way of life.
LEMON: So, so then should the U.S. evacuate their embassy -- our embassy now?
PROSOR: Well I don't know the exact situation, but the point that I want to make is that we have to stay united against the terror that we can see all over, and we have to do that, because this -- those terrorists are going after us.
LEMON: Yeah.
PROSOR: Are going against everything that we all believe in, against the values that we all cherish. And we don't have any other choice but to defend our way of life.
LEMON: During the State of the Union last night, President Obama brought up the negotiations with Iran and he thinks -- that he can strike a deal with Iran to get them to stop enriching uranium, watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails -- alienating America from its allies, making it harder to maintain sanctions, and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn't make sense. And that's why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Congress is in the pass new sanction, the president believes that he can -- he needs more time, why now that he says he will veto it? If they do, if they -- but why not give the president more time to try diplomacy?
PROSOR: Well, let's look at Iran. I mean you balance one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. They hang gays, they stone women, they imprison journalist, and they hang approximately on average a person every seven hours. Now, this is the regime we have the deal with. This regime has tried to acquire and is acquiring nuclear weapons. This is the biggest threat that we have, not just in the region, but for the entire peace and security of this world. We have to make sure that they understand, that they cannot pursue nuclear weapons, and we have to do that, and the only way to get them -- to get their attention is to have sanctions with the beginning to really drilling to the regime in Teheran.
LEMON: I want to ask you about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who accepted an invitation from John Boehner, the speaker of the House to address Congress on Iran. Behind the president's back, the president did know, do you think that he should do that? Especially when it's so close to election and people are saying that maybe interfering with the elections?
PROSOR: First of all, you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu received a formal invitation from the American Congress -- by the way it's the third time that he's received that invitation. It's an honor for a head of state, any head of state to be invited by the American Congress, hence by the American People. And especially today, when Iran poses such a threat to peace and security in the world, it is important for Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak out on the dangers that you run --
LEMON: Even with Israel's elections just two months away, is it?
PROSOR: Well, you know, elections in Israel --
LEMON: Very close elections.
PROSOR: Yes, like -- like everywhere else, I mean there other things going on, and we should keep an eye on this, but it's an honor for every head of state and especially Prime Minister Netanyahu to address the American people in the American Congress.
LEMON: Ambassador Prosor, thank you.
PROSOR: Thank you.
LEMON: Thanks for joining us in CNN, please come back. Morgan Spurlock is here to preview his new season of "INSIDE MAN". The first episode is all about robot. Here's one to tell us about what's coming up next.
MECCANOID: Up next on CNN TONIGHT --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Will Robinson -- Will Robinson. And that is Morgan Spurlock he's here. "INSIDE MAN", comes its third season tomorrow night, 9 eastern, right here on CNN, and there he is. We are talking about -- you're gonna be talking about robots, right?
MORGAN SPURLOCK, INSIDE MAN: Yeah.
LEMON: And we all -- we all wanted one.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. LEMON: Yeah. But you got to have some freaky robots.
SPURLOCK: We got some freaky robots in the show.
LEMON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: We've got -- you know, we were in Japan, you know, robots in Japan now are much more accepted in there, they're much more further ahead than we are. And we -- I brought a cool robot friend with us.
LEMON: Your robot is like --
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEMON: Making noise over here. I remember when I was a kid, and I still watched Lost in Space.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEMON: It one T.V. (ph) here --
SPURLOCK: It's like, "Danger, Will Robinson."
LEMON: Danger, Will Robinson.
SPURLOCK: With his arm, did this.
LEMON: We've come a long way, right?
SPURLOCK: Well, it's when you see they're starting to become -- starting to become a reality, which is amazing. You know we had this vision of one day watching every robot in our lives. They'll be in our homes, they'll be helping us, and now we're getting to the point where they becoming much more humanoid, much more useful, and much more real, like one that I bought.
LEMON: He's dying for us to go.
SPURLOCK: Yeah, let's go, let's go.
LEMON: Come on let's go, let's go.
SPURLOCK: Let's go meet this.
LEMON: So this is Meccanoid.
SPURLOCK: This is Meccanoid. So when I was CES, Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas last week.
MECCANOID: I am Meccanoid from Chicago. (ph) Thank you for having me in the program tonight.
LEMON: Meccanoid. Is he said thank you for having me in the program, did he say Don?
SPURLOCK: He did. LEMON: Can you give me a high five.
SPURLOCK: He's gonna give a high five now.
LEMON: But this is one of those -
MACHONOID: High five. Up high.
LEMON: Up high.
MECCANOID: Most excellent.
SPURLOCK: Nice.
(LAUGHTER)
SPURLOCK: You see, this is one of those things where -- what you want to do as a parent is you want to get your kids excited about robots, just like I'm excited about it.
LEMON: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: And to have something where you can start to have money interact with it, or you can build it or start to understand how robotics work and why robotics matter. It's a great way -- I think have this entry point, you know with the young person.
LEMON: But where are we going? Did you learn how to work these?
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEMON: Can you work them?
SPURLOCK: Of course, I can.
LEMON: Let's do it.
SPURLOCK: Yeah, yeah.
LEMON: Where are we going with this whole robot thing?
SPURLOCK: Well, I mean, I think...
LEMON: For all --
SPURLOCK: Well, I think the reality is robots are gonna be a part of our lives, whether we like -- you know, whether we like it or not, they're gonna be around. And I think that -- you know, one of the things that will continue to have them, we continue to have robots in our homes, whereas to they will start to help us, ones that will entertain us, like that. This is much more of kind of an entertainment bot right now.
LEMON: Is he gonna be like hanging out in my house one day and I'll say, "Hey, Meccanoid can you get me a beer?"
SPURLOCK: Yes, that will happen. But right now, you could say, "Hey Meccanoid, you wanna dance?" And he'll say...
MECCANOID: I have to try (ph) like hip-hop.
LEMON: Oh, sweet. He can dance.
SPURLOCK: Come on.
LEMON: He's dancing. He is breaking it down. Nice.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
LEMON: Who needs another human in the house?
SPURLOCK: That's right.
LEMON: Amazing.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Nice.
SPURLOCK: And even through something as simple as this is having like an entertainment robot in your house. You'll start to become more comfortable of having things like this around, and that's what will -- that's would be next.
LEMON: Did you -- because you also did Cars, right? Let's see walk with me.
SPURLOCK: There you go.
LEMON: You also did Cars?
SPURLOCK: Yes. And so we -- so it turns right in self-driving cars.
MECCANOID: Lead me by the hand.
SPURLOCK: You want to grab him by the hand.
LEMON: (Inaudible)
SPURLOCK: Yeah. Pick -- pick his hand up.
LEMON: You're ready?
SPURLOCK: Yup. And there you go.
LEMON: What did he learn about Cars?
SPURLOCK: It's amazing.
LEMON: And all of those things.
SPURLOCK: Well, the thing that the fact that, you know, self-driving cars will be a reality within the next five years. Like I worked with the -- with folks from Stanford who have a self-driving racecar -- MECCANOID: That was fun.
SUPERLOCK: That amazing -- that's so fun, I agree. They have a self- driving race car that can go 120 miles an hour around a track with no driver and to ride to in a car like that with no driver, gets you excited --gets you scared, like I was scared to the death, but at the same time, it's you get you excited for what's to come.
LEMON: Yeah, and now we are looking at the video, the Cars.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEMON: I mean this is amazing you look at -- and all of these are robotic?
SPURLOCK: It's all robotics.
LEMON: So robotic.
SPURLOCK: This -- this whole car is basically working of satellites and real time, you know, real time recognition software. Where it's gauging the road, how close he in the edge, how he needs to react, when do we need to brake. And this the type of the technology, this type of A.I. is getting into more and more devices, more and more things there will be -- switches -- it's I find it to be really exciting.
LEMON: We should probably get one of these robots to check footballs to make sure they are not deflated.
SPURLOCK: That's right, exactly.
LEMON: Alright, we're gonna send one to -- you know, New England for the Super Bowl. This is so awesome Morgan, will you come back?
SPURLOCK: Absolutely. And I'll bring Meccanoid with me.
LEMON: Season 3 of Morgan Spurlock, Inside Man premiers tomorrow night 9 eastern, right here on CNN and let's see what this guys to say about it -- anything?
MECCANOID: My pleasure. Did you hear the one about the vacuum cleaner?
LEMON: I did not.
MECCANOID: I am not surprised. It sucks.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: We'll be back. Thank you very much, Morgan. We'll be right back, thank you.
SPURLOCK: Good job, Meccanoid.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
