Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Blinken Speaks With Families Of Americans Detained In Iran; March Against New Black History Standards In FL Schools; Michael Oher Says Tuohy Family Lied To Him And Kept Millions Of Dollars From Him. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 16, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has learned that Secretary of State Tony Blinken held a private call with the families of the five Americans currently detained in Iran. The huge news broke last week that four wrongfully detained Americans had been moved out of the notorious Evin Prison joining a fifth in house arrest there. It's seen as the first step in a deal between the United States and Iran that would include making six billion dollars and Iranian funds more accessible to Tehran in exchange for their return home. A return that their families have been waiting for and fighting for, for years.

Joining us now are two of those family members Neda Sharghi and Tara Tahbaz. Neda's brother Emad and Tara's father Morad had been wrongfully detained since they were both arrested in 2018. Thank you, guys, for being here. Truly, truly, it's wonderful to see your faces.

NEDA SHARGHI, SISTER OF EMAD SHARGI, AMERICAN HELD IN IRAN: Thank you for having me.

BOLDUAN: Tara, you -- this is the first time I'm going to -- I'll talk about the call with Blinken in a sec. But you were able to actually speak to your father, see your father, since he was moved to house arrest. This is the first time that you're speaking out since then. What is he looked like? How did he see what did he say?

TARA TAHBAZ, DAUGHTER OF MORAD TAHBAZ, AMERICAN HELD IN IRAN: You know, as soon as I saw that incoming video call coming in, my heart like sank because I knew this was a sign that he was safe. He was OK. He was there. And as soon as I answered the phone, his face was there just smiling.

And your natural reaction, you always think you know what you're going to react with. I wanted to cry. I wanted to smile. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to reach the phone and touch him and know that he was there.

But I think his spirit was so strong, fighting to come home. But again, this was just one step. He's not home yet.

So, I saw the hope in his eyes but I also saw the fear that you know, anything could go wrong between where he is now to we finally get him home. And, you know, you see all the speculations in the media right now. And I wish I could just take a glimpse of that phone call and show the public there's a human on the other side.

This is a father, a brother, their sons, you know, their husbands, and it's been years -- six years -- almost six years for us that we haven't seen them. And it's so important aside from all the speculations to remember, they're human beings and their families are waiting for them.

BOLDUAN: And the chance to see his face --

TAHBAZ: Just to see him.

BLITZER: -- is just -- it's such a -- I can only imagine the feeling that must have washed over you. You were able to see Emad as well. How did he -- how did he seem -- just -- did he have a sense of kind of everything that's going on outside of obviously, when he was in prison and now that he's been moved to house arrest? Did you get a sense of that from him?

SHARGHI: You know, Emad's been through a lot.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SHARGHI: Today is five years three months and 25 days since he was taken from us. So, when I first saw him on that phone call, whenever I'm nervous, I do this really awkward giggle and laugh and then it was just sort of silence processing, that that's my brother. And he went into a typical big brother role asking me how I am, how my kids are, how our parents are, and of course his wife and his two daughters.

And, you know, it's -- we talk about -- we say the phrase, you know, wrongfully detained Americans, and it's just kind of rolls off our tongue as if it's just nothing. But it means something. It means that these are innocent Americans and they've been taken because they're American.

BOLDUAN: There was a call that you will be able to have with the Secretary of State -- with Tony Blinken.

SHARGHI: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I was very interested when I saw the reporting of this because, in our conversations over -- years now, you have been asking for face-to-face. You've been asking for these kinds of conversations to understand what your family has been going through. What did the Secretary of State -- what was your takeaway from this call?

[11:35:01]

SHARGHI: Yes. I mean, the call was really more of a check-in. I think he probably realized the -- you know the speculation out there and how much that must have impacted the families. And he really wanted to see how we were doing. And he wanted to get across that they are very serious about getting our loved ones home, and that we just have to be patient because we're not there yet. They're not home yet. They're still wrongfully detained in Iran.

BOLDUAN: And there is a long road still. I mean this was a huge step last week in knowing that they're now out of the worst of worst places, maybe on the planet, in Evin Prison is great.

But when the news broke, I had Jason Rezaian came on the show. He, of course, for everyone out there to remind here, he was also wrongfully detained in Iran, released finally in 2016. And he talked about the challenges of the stage still to come.

He said that, from his perspective, his whole deal almost fell apart, like the night before he was released. And he talked about how it can so easily go sideways. Where -- how -- where is your level of confidence right now or what you and your family may be heard if -- heard from the State Department and others that your father will be released -- will get out?

TAHBAZ: No. As Neda just said, there are speculations and we are just optimistically being hopeful and trusting our government that they are working as hard as they can to get them home as quickly as possible. And we just have to have faith that they will get them home to us. And until then, we will be anxious and holding on to the moment that we can greet them on U.S. soil and this nightmare has ended for us.

BOLDUAN: Yet still nothing -- nothing is guaranteed yet still.

SHARGHI: I mean cautiously optimistic is really sort of the word that we can use.

TAHBAZ: Yes.

SHARGHI: We have no idea what's next. Nothing.

BOLDUAN: You both have talked about the speculation. Because along with the collective relief that the step has been taken and wrongfully detained Americans, a father, a brother could be coming home, you will have seen the criticism of the U.S. engaging in any type of talks and negotiations with Iran. I just saw -- an opinion piece by Bret Stevens was out just yesterday in the New York Times. It was titled this way, Neda. How much is an American hostage worth?

Republican Senator James Risch. He wrote this. I think you've seen his statement. He said. While I welcome home wrongfully detained Americans unfreezing six billion dollars in Iranian assets, dangerously further incentivizes hostage-taking and provides a windfall for regime aggression. How do you respond to this?

SHARGHI: Well, first of all, I have to say, I don't know the terms of this deal. I know others say they do. We certainly have never been briefed. So I'll start with that.

And then I -- you know, the question is, then what do you do? Do you let an innocent American -- an innocent American citizen who's a father a brother, just die in a foreign prison? Do you do nothing to bring them home? You know -- and Tara can speak for her father, but Emad was in that prison, right in the thick of it when the fires happened, when the riots happened, and he would have been killed -- nearly killed. And so my question then is what do we answer to this? How can we let an innocent American man perish in a foreign prison? Especially one who has been taken because he's an American -- his passport? That's, that's why he's in prison.

BOLDUAN: How does it feel when you hear those things?

TAHBAZ: I completely agree with everything that Neda just said. And I think, first and foremost, we need to bring Americans home. And it is never wrong to bring an American home. As she just said, they were only taken because they're Americans, and they hold blue passports. I think that hostage diplomacy is such a larger issue and a national security issue.

And it's not just limited to Iran. And I think that is definitely something that we do need to address and put things in place to deter this in the future. But it shouldn't be at the mercy and expense of her brother, my father, all the other American hostages who are currently languishing in these prisons.

They need to come home first, and then we need to figure out how we deter this in the future. But I think the priority is bringing these Americans home safely. I mean, they have a blue passport and they should be afforded the protection of their country.

BOLDUAN: Well, actually, my colleague, Jennifer Hansler, she actually spoke to a U.S. permanent resident, another person who's still in Iran, Shahab Dalili. And she spoke to the family member. And the family member said -- after hearing the news of your loved ones said that they sent an e-mail to the State Department and included this line on the bottom.

You are leaving my father to die. That is Shahab's son in hearing this. You guys, you know how that feels. What does that feel like knowing that there are more people that are still there?

TAHBAZ: It's absolutely heartbreaking. I think that it's heartbreaking for every family that has a loved one detained. And I mean I know firsthand how painful it is having a father for nearly six years who's been wrongfully detained.

But I think the details of that case should come from the White House. We only know our part of the details. That includes her brother, my father, and that's the depth we don't know the rest of the details and who else is included in this deal.

[11:40:11]

BOLDUAN: Yes. Shahab, one distinction. I don't know if that makes a difference but Shahab is a U.S. legal permanent resident. He's an Iranian citizen. Your brother, American citizen. Your father, American citizen. And others, a long road continues to try to get them home. Thank you both so much. SHARGHI: Thank you.

TAHBAZ: Thank you for having us.

BOLDUAN: Very good to see you here.

TAHBAZ: Thank you.

SHARGHI: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Kate. Protesters -- you're looking at live pictures right now. They're marching towards the Miami school board building. They're rallying against Florida's new standards for how they teach Black History. Their message, teach no lies, teach the truth. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:12]

SIDNER: This morning, frustration is boiling over among some educators in Arkansas just days before the new school year there. State officials revealed that public high school students enrolled in AP African American Studies will not be able to receive credit for that class towards graduation, like all the other AP classes. Several high schools including Central High School in Little Rock, once the center of the fight to desegregate schools had plans to offer the course this school year. The school's district attorney and a board member spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI NOLAND, ATTORNEY & LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: This course is an essential and important part of American history. But what it does is provide students with original documents so that they can learn the critical thinking skills to be able to interpret and make their own decisions about these topics. So, it is the opposite of indoctrination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The Education Department's move comes just months after Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order prohibiting what she called indoctrination in critical race theory in schools. Now, this is not the first time the controversy over African American Studies has been brought to the public's attention. In Miami at this moment, teachers, students, community members marching in protest of changes made to the black history curriculum there.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is there. Can you give us a sense of in Miami, what changes to the teaching of African American History has people so riled up?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I will. Sara, right now, about one hundred teachers, educators, activists, historians, and people who live in South Florida are protesting these changes. They took part in about a two-mile march from Booker T High School out to the Miami Dade County School District to protest the changes to the State's curriculum when it comes to the teaching of history in Florida. Many of them are holding signs that say teach the truth and that there was no benefit to slavery. That is all in reference to some changes that were made to the upcoming school year.

The Board of Education in Florida is now requiring that certain black history events including several massacres that took place in Florida, that they be taught "as acts of violence that were perpetrated against and by African Americans." Another part of the new education standards says that "slaves develop the skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit."

And so, as you can see, at this hour, this group of people are upset. They would like to see this curriculum change there as we head into the new school year. This issue right now is very much still playing out with teachers across the state of Florida deciding exactly how they're going to handle the new requirements of the education curriculum, Sara.

SIDNER: Carlos Suarez, thank you so much for giving us that view. And we see all those signs there. Teachers and residents saying teach the truth, Kate.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: OK.

SIDNER: And John -- also John.

BERMAN: Just like Kate Bataler (PH). The family that took in future NFL player Michael Oher inspiring the film, "The Blind Side" is responding to his new claims that they cheated him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:03]

BERMAN: So this morning, the family that inspired the film "The Blind Side" is speaking out against accusations that they exploited the man at the center of the story. The Tuohy family took in Michael Oher when he was a teenager and he went on to become an NFL star. But now, Oher claims that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy lied about adopting him. And in the process, kept millions of dollars from him. An attorney for the Tuohy family calls those accusations outlandish and hurtful and absurd.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is all over the story this morning. Brynn.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean a full-page statement from the Tuohy family responding to all those statements. And it's kind of getting ugly, guys. I want to read part of it to you.

They're essentially saying though that Michael Oher is actually shaking them down. And this isn't the first attempt that he's done that. They're trying -- he's trying to get $15 million, according to this family from them. And part of that statement reads this.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the outlandish claims made by Michael Oher about the Tuohy family are hurtful and absurd. The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.

So like I said, it's getting a little ugly, this story. We're trying to figure out who's -- what's going on here. But there are still a lot of questions. One, we don't know why again, Michael Oher came forward now with this lawsuit.

We also don't know the details of that conservatorship. They actually admit in this -- in this statement that there was a conservatorship. Remember yesterday, we were asking if it was an adoption conservatorship?

BOLDUAN: Right.

SIDNER: Yes. Adoption conservatorship.

GINGRAS: They talked about conservatorship, but we don't know the details of that. So, were they still making money off of Michael Oher? So, again, there's still a lot of questions that are -- that we're not getting answers to. Mainly everybody is just sort of releasing statements at this point.

BOLDUAN: And it's just so -- I mean we keep saying it. It's just sad to watch it play out publicly, that's for sure.

SIDNER: Yes.

GINGRAS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But also, there's a lot more people speaking up and releasing statements.

GINGRAS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: The actor who played Michael Oher in the movie, "Blind Side," he's speaking out in that too?

GINGRAS: Yes. And then everyone's just disappointed, right?

SIDNER: Yes, true. Yes.

GINGRAS: We talked yesterday about how, like this is just a heartwarming film and it kind of makes it feel a little tainted now.

[11:55:00]

And yes, that actor speaking out mainly though also because Sandra Bullock, the woman -- of course, the actress that won an Academy Award for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy, she's getting online hate just basically -- for playing that role, saying why don't you research the world before taking it. And so, that actor who played him, Quinton Aaron, says Sandra did nothing wrong. That's my girl and she is going through a really tough time right now. I really feel like they should leave her alone and stop trying to come at her.

So, it's a sad day when we have two different actresses also now that are playing these roles. But it's just getting ugly.

SIDNER: And he's -- and he's referencing the fact that she just lost her longtime partner to ALS.

BERMAN: Right.

GINGRAS: Yes.

SIDNER: And here she is mourning, and people are coming out here for this. Hollywood is not real. That's what we have learned. Sadly, this is not ending the way that the movie ended.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Brynn.

GINGRAS: Yes.

BERMAN: All right. Thank you all for joining us today. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)