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Obama Speaks About Payroll Tax Cut Extension; Congress Passes Tax Cut Extension; Suicide Bombers Strike Syria; Anti-Military Protest In Egypt; Wrongfully Convicted Man Goes Free, Prosecutors Could Be Charged; Civil Libertarians Angry With Obama

Aired December 23, 2011 - 13:02   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: What has this -- and again to our viewers, we're just crossing over the top of the hour, waiting for the president really at any moment. They're a little behind schedule. Jessica Yellin gave us an idea of what he may be doing, some business, has a couple things to sign before he comes out. But Wolf, this legislative year, this Congress, how is this going to go down now? And they end it on another low note, I guess you could possibly say. But there have been a lot of low notes. We were taken to the brink of government shutdown time after time after time again this year. And some of the fights and back-and-forth we've just unfortunately become accustomed to.

WOLF BLITZERCNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And the -- you know, raising the nation's debt ceiling, that was a bitter, bitter fight as all of our viewers recall. In the end, they did it, and they raised it through 2012 until after the election. But it was so bitter, so acrimonious, it resulted in the first ever downgrading of America's credit worthiness.

The credit rating of the United States went down, meaning interest rates slightly will go up having a negative spillover on the economic growth, on the economy. And that was indicative, as you pointed out, T.J., of this Congress which was not very productive, didn't really move forward on a whole lot of important issues. There was a moment a lot of people thought 2011, the year before an election year, there would be a chance to really get some substantive work done. There were some issues on the sidelines, some marginal issues but not a whole lot. Merely reinforcing the American public's generally negative attitude toward Congress. And what, the approval number we've pointed out in our last CNN poll, 16 percent approve of the way Congress does its job.

I've asked this question before, T.J., who are those 16 people who actually approve of the way Congress does its job? Because the overwhelming majority of the American public -- including I suspect most members of Congress, they don't approve of the way Congress does its job. It's just -- it's sort of dysfunctional right now, and let's hope it can get better.

HOLMES: Yes, those 16 people. Maybe they didn't hear the question clearly when it was being asked of them, Wolf. And to remind our viewers, we're just getting past the top of the hour as we wait for the president. This bath and forth, we've been watching this for several weeks, we knew this fight was coming about this payroll tax cut extension. Many of us would have seen our paychecks go up roughly $40 every pay period if they did not extend this. Well, we heard, Wolf, for week a certain tone from Speaker Boehner about what was going to happen. They were holding firm to the one-year extension.,. but listen to him from last night, a much different Speaker Boehner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We have fought the fight, the good fight, but you know, I talked to enough members over the -- over the last 24 hours who believe that, hey, listen, we don't like this two-month extension, we don't like this reporting problem in the Senate bill, and if you can get this fixed, why not -- why not do the right thing for the American people, even though it's not exactly what we want?

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: It seems that everything we've done this last year has been a knock-down drag-out fight. There is no reason to do that. And if there were not -- if there were a message received from this last thing we've been through, I would hope -- especially I repeat, the new members of the House will understand that legislation is the art of compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. As we continue to watch that podium, I want to bring in our Kate Bolduan up on Capitol Hill for us. And Kate, I'm sure you heard that sound bite from Speaker Boehner and you've -- I'm sure you've been hearing it air, and you heard it last night as well. But he sounded a lot different than from you have been hearing from him the past several days. He was defiant, even energetic at times last night. He sounded like a man defeated.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He did not sound like the happy warrior, as he often says, when there's a lot going on and everyone's asking, where do things stand, Speaker Boehner? He always says that I'm a happy warrior. Did he not look like that happy warrior last night. I mean, it has been a pretty tough slog for speaker Boehner over the past -- really, over the past week. Because when you think about it, we don't often see such quick reversals like we have seen -- and such stark reversals as we've seen this week. Remember, just Tuesday -- I'm sorry, just looking to make sure we're good on the president coming out.

Back on Tuesday, this is when the House rejected an almost identical bill to what they eventually signed on to this morning. And what was the change? Well, House speaker Boehner last night said that of after a lot of consideration and a lot of talk with his members, they said, if you kind of sweeten up this deal with this technical fix, then we can sign on to it. But let me put it this way, if this technical fix was the thing that was holding up this compromise, this deal this entire time, we would have heard a lot more about it, and it probably would not have been held up this long.

I mean, bottom line, Speaker Boehner, Republicans, they are opposed to this two-month extension. House -- there is a wave election with this House freshman Republican class. You heard from one of them a short time ago when you interviewed them. They came in to say they were elected to change the way Washington works. And one of those things is they say to stop kicking the can down the road, stop pushing off the tough decisions. But that doesn't always jive with the fact that there is a Republican majority in the House right now, there's a Democratic majority in the Senate and there is a Democrat in the White House.

So, this art of compromise that we also heard from the top Democrat in the Senate today, Harry Reid, that does not always jive with the desire to change how Washington works. And you're kind of seeing those two things butt heads, at the moment, and have on all of these major issues where there's a large part -- a big, very vocal and now we can say rebellious part of the House Republican conference who are standing up and saying this is what we were elected for. And what you saw last night is Speaker Boehner basically saying, it's great, but we need to move on because we're threatening to be labeled as allowing a tax increase to occur which is not what any Republican wants to be labeled going into an election year -- T.J.

HOLMES: And as you said, we're going to continue to wait on the president, one other point you brought up -- and Huelskamp you were talking about that I was speaking to a little earlier, and he seemed to back off it a little bit, but at first he said, I would've gone to the floor. I would have been the one to object to this two-month extension. That's all it would've took to really derail this thing, but I could've find a flight that would've worked out. And I asked him about it specifically, and he came back and said, well, you know, maybe. He seemed to back off it a little bit. So, did you hear much talk around Capitol Hill? Were they nervous that one member would show up and object?

BOLDUAN: There were -- it was not a done deal that one member wouldn't show up, let me put it that way. I mean, at the -- at a press conference last night when Speaker Boehner said we've got a deal, he was asked specifically about that, and he said -- he said if someone would object, I think is how he went about it, that he would most absolutely bring it back up for a full House vote which would require that all House members come back next week.

I'll say it -- from our perspective, we were definitely keeping our eye out there, because this has been a very unpredictable fight back and for the with this battle, especially with that revolt that we had learned about over the weekend when House Republicans set on a conference call with House Speaker Boehner and other leaders, we're not going for the Senate deal, this two-month deal which now we know they eventually signed on to.

I think what -- maybe what seems like happened is that Speaker Boehner basically said, we've got -- we know your opinions, we've taken the temperature, we know where you stand, but the reality is that we are losing here and we're taking a beating politically, and we need to just -- as the "Wall Street Journal" editorial even put it, cut your losses and move on. And it seems while we did hear from Huelskamp there saying that he had considered it. Even on John King show last night, there was another member who's -- and from Pennsylvania who even considered doing that. But in the end, no one came to the floor to object, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Kate Bolduan for us there, thank you. And we're standing by, President Obama any moment making comments about that two-month payroll tax cut extension. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Natalie Allen in for Randi Kaye. It is just 12 minutes past 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Again, we're waiting to hear from President Obama. We expect him to be stepping out at any moment to comment on the tax cut deal, and we'll take you there when it happens.

For right now, let's get right to the news. You can you rest easy about your paychecks, taxes and benefits at least for the next two months. President Obama set to speak, as we mentioned, about the payroll tax cut. That's because Congress finally passed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut after an ugly political standoff. This basically means the average person will get to keep $40 a paycheck rather than pay that much more in taxes. It also extends emergency unemployment benefits and delays scheduled pay cuts to doctors who treat Medicare patients. Congress immediately sent the extension to the president for his signature, but there's now the issue of extending those benefits for a full year. The Senate has agreed to appoint a conference committee to hammer that out with the House after the new year.

Well, once he is done in Washington, the president is heading off to Hawaii where he was born and raised. He is expected to leave at around 1:30, if he finishes his business by then. As you know, the political stalemate over the payroll tax cut delayed his Christmas vacation for nearly a week. First lady, Michelle Obama, and his daughters have been in Hawaii since late last week. The president and his family plan to stay until early January.

This was the terrifying scene in Syria's capital today. Two suicide bombs explode outside security offices in Damascus. According to the state run media, the Syrian government is blaming the attacks on terrorists, while opposition forces blame Bashar Al Assad's regime. Officials say at least 30 people were killed. The U.S. has denounced the bombings. The attacks come as a team from the Arab league arrived in Syria to monitor the violence and prevent human rights abuses.

Another mass rally against the Egyptian military in Cairo's Tahrir Square. They are expressing outrage over the recent savage beating of female protesters and the killing of at least 16 other demonstrators. The latest military crackdown on protesters started last Saturday. The military has expressed great regret over the beating of the women protesters but has not apologized. Protesters today also demanded that the military give up power. In another part of the city, thousands of people turned out for what was described as a pro-military rally.

In the Czech Republic, a funeral today for Vaclav Havel, the president who played a major role in toppling the country's communist regime. Havel's widow, Dagmar, sat in the front row, along with his brother, Ivan. Foreign dignitaries attending included Bill Clinton, his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French president Nicolas Sarcozy and British prime minister David Cameron. Havel died Sunday. He was 75.

In Christchurch, New Zealand, when the shaking began, it felt all too familiar. Workers in this office dropped to the floor, and across Christchurch, people raced for cover as a series of powerful earthquakes rocked the city. The first 5.8 magnitude quake hit at about 2:00 PM local time, rattling even the more quake-experienced kiwis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty freaky, actually. We're used to (INAUDIBLE) but (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quite scary, yes, just watching the ceiling, making sure nothing's going to come down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, this time just a few injuries have been reported, we're happy to stay, but the tremor stirred painful memories of February's devastating 6.3 earthquake when 181 people died.

Debris scattered across the streets of north Georgia after storms set off tornado warning sirens Thursday. Straight-line winds are blamed for damaging several buildings and homes near Atlanta. Downed trees meant power outages for thousands.

And heavy snowfall in the Rockies may freeze holiday travel for some in Colorado. Look at that -- 8 to 14 inches of snow fell (ph) in (ph) at around Denver Thursday. Anyone outside had to be sure to have on a heavy coat -- like that guy! Interstate travel was difficult. For some, just getting to the interstate was a challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a car under there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't recognize a car when we first walked out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My ice scraper's, like, this big, and so I couldn't even -- I just had to just start using my arms to shovel my car out!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Sounds like fun. High winds and snow also spelling trouble at airports, delays being reported in several metro areas. But with more than 43 million people expected to fly around this time of the year, passengers are already prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been fine so far. We got in fine. It's been good so far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expected it, but I also heard on the news that air flights are down, like, 10 percent. People are not flying as much this holiday season. So I expected not to be as crowded. So it ended not crowded at all, so it's great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Some good news there.

Well, sounds like Best Buy is having a good year, but that might mean a bad Christmas morning for some customers. The electronics retailer had to cancel some on-line orders after the company ran out of popular merchandise. The canceled orders date back to the weekend after Thanksgiving, when Best Buy stepped up discounts to compete with other retailers.

Well, this is what three men aboard a Soyuz spacecraft saw out their window as they docked with the International Space Station this morning. The craft is carrying three astronauts -- a Russian, an American and one from the European Space Agency. Russian rockets took over the job of taking astronauts to the station after the U.S. retired its space shuttle fleet earlier this year.

And in just a few minutes, we expect the astronauts to pop the hatch and get treated to a special holiday welcoming ceremony on board the ISS. Hopefully, they brought them presents.

Well, it's a story that will give you chills. Imagine spending 25 years in prison for a murder you did not commit. That's what happened to this man, Michael Morton, wrongly convicted of killing his wife. Now there are allegations that key evidence was withheld from his trial, and one man is on a crusade to find out what happened to it and why it wasn't brought forth. We will talk with him next.

But first, sure, maybe you didn't get that pony when you were 8, but Santa Claus has a tough job. And while NORAD's Twitter feed says movement has been detected, we're happy to report, at North Pole Airport, his helpers are already out in full force, like the elves that put together Alaska Airlines flight 1225, AKA Santa One, where 60 disadvantaged kids flew to visit Santa at the North Pole.

And to Seoul, South Korea, where today his helpers delivered gifts to poor children who may be hearing about Santa for the first time, to Thailand, where some of Santa's largest helpers ever helped bring in a little Christmas spirit.

Our rock stars today, then, all of Santa's helpers -- and not just because, well, I want a new iPad, but Santa, that would be nice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Well, we've been standing by to hear from President Obama on the payroll tax cut plan, and we hear he is about to step out. So let's take it over to our CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who can take us into it -- Wolf. BLITZER: Natalie, thanks very much. Let me just set the scene for viewers who are just tuning in right now. The House of Representatives and the Senate earlier today, within a matter of minutes, passed legislation formally authorizing, at least for the next two months, the continuation of the payroll tax cut. That affects 160 million Americans. If you make about $50,000 a year, you're going to save $1,000 this coming year. If you make $75,000 a year, you'll save around $1,500.

The president had wanted a one-year extension, but everyone compromised, two months. During the next two months, they'll have a chance, House and Senate conferees, members, to work out an extension for the rest of the year.

At the same time, nearly three million unemployed Americans will continue receiving their benefits. They would have expired December 31st if this legislation were not passed. And a lot of doctors who work with Medicare recipients out there, patients, they'll continue to get full funding, full payment, for their work as Medicare doctors, and that was included in the legislation.

The president is going to come out and make a statement thanking Congress for doing this. Presumably, they've sent the legislation to the Oval Office. I assume we were waiting for him because he wanted to sign it into law, wanted to tell the American people he signed it into law. And once he does make that statement, he'll go into some other issues, presumably, as well.

And then he'll get ready to head out of Washington. He'll go on the South Lawn of the White House, take Marine One over to Andrews Air Force Base, meet with Air Force One to fly to Hawaii.

Here's the president.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know you are all looking forward to spending time with your families over the holidays, but we did have one last piece of business to finish up.

I said it was critical for Congress not to go home without preventing a tax increase on 160 million working Americans, and I'm pleased to say that they've got it done. So I want to thank all the members of Congress for ending the stalemate and making this happen.

Because of this agreement, every working American will keep their tax cut, about $1,000 for a typical family, and that translates into an extra $40 or so in every paycheck. Vital unemployment insurance will continue for millions of Americans who are looking for work.

And when Congress returns, I urge them to keep working without drama, without delay, to reach an agreement that extends this tax cut, as well as unemployment insurance, through all of 2012. Last week, I said that this should be a formality, and that's still the case. So let's make sure that we extend this tax break and unemployment insurance for a full year for our families but also for our economy. It's the right thing to do because more money spent by more Americans means more business hiring more workers, and that's a boost for everybody. And it's a boost that we very much need right now.

Finally, I want to take a moment to thank my fellow Americans for bringing their voices to this debate. I met with several here at the White House yesterday. I really think it takes courage to believe that your voice can make a difference. And I promise you, the American people, your voices made a difference on this debate.

Whether you tweeted or called or wrote, you reminded people in this town what this debate and what all of our debates should be about. It's about you. It's about your lives. It's about your families. You didn't send us to this town to play partisan games and to see who's up and who's down. You sent us here to serve and make your lives a little bit better, to do what's right, and fortunately, that's how this week ended. So this is some good news just in the nick of time for the holidays.

I do want to be clear, though, we have a lot more work to do. This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class in this country, and we're going to have to roll up our sleeves together, Democrats and Republicans, to make sure that the economy is growing and to make sure that more jobs are created.

We've got an economy that is showing some positive signs. We've seen many consecutive months of private sector job growth. But it is not happening as fast as it needs to, and that means that we've got to redouble our efforts working together. It also means that we've got to make sure we're rebuilding an economy where if you work hard, that work will be rewarded, the kind of economy where everyone's doing their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules, everybody has a fair chance and everybody's acting responsibly, including those of us here in Washington.

So there are going to be some important debates next year, some tough fights, I'm sure, in the years to come. But that's the kind of country that I'm fighting for, one where everybody has a fair chance and everybody is doing their fair share. That's the kind of country that I think the American people deserve and the kind of country that American people want.

So I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas, happy holidays, a happy new year to you and your families. And that includes everybody here in the press corps. I know you guys have been working hard, and your families will be happy to spend a little more time with you over the next few days.

I also want to make sure to send the warmest holiday wishes to all the men and women in uniform who are serving overseas right now and may not have a chance to see their families during this holiday season. We are grateful for everything that you do. All right? Thank you, guys. Aloha.

QUESTION: Are you concerned about Iraq, sir?

QUESTION: Mr. President, happy new year, sir!

(END LIVE SPEECH)

BLITZER: All right, so there's the president of the United States quickly leaving the briefing room without answering reporters' questions.

You heard one question being shouted, "Are you concerned about Iraq?" I'm sure he is very concerned about what's going on in Iraq right now, within days of all U.S. forces. (SIC) It looks like the situation over there is quickly unraveling.

The president saying we have a lot more work to do after the new year's. That's an understatement. There will be an enormous amount of work to do to try to improve the economy, create jobs. That will be the primary focus of this president, there's no doubt about that. But there are many international crises out there which are hovering over his agenda, as well.

Kate Bolduan's our congressional correspondent. Kate, I take it, by now, that the House and the Senate, they moved very quickly, within minutes, to pass this legislation extending tax cuts for another two months, hoping it will continue into -- well into the entire year. Everyone in Congress getting out of town, I assume.

BOLDUAN: I assume, at this point, I'm probably one of the few people still here in the capitol, other than probably some other staffers that are trying to wrap up their work for the year, Wolf.

With those -- with the brief moments we saw in both the House and the Senate this morning, they really wrapped up their work. And Congress will return in mid-January to pick back up right where we left off here, predictably with this fight. I mean, you heard President Obama say, when you return to work, get to work without drama, without delay. That might be a tall order considering how contentious this battle has been to this point and the fact we're entering an election year.

While both sides have talked about the need for compromise and for a less partisan atmosphere, it is likely that this fight over the payroll tax cut, considering that it expires -- this short-term extension expires at the end of February, we'll be picking up with another battle ahead on how -- if, how and how to pay for a further extension, as the president called for, and really leaders on both sides of the aisle, Wolf, are all calling for a full-year extension. But how to get there, how to thread that needle is always the major question up here on Capitol Hill -- Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll have a lot of opportunity to discuss it at the end of February. We're in that deadline moment once again. It repeats itself. We'll see how they work that out.

Kate, stand by.

Jessica Yellin is our chief White House correspondent. Jessica, you're in the briefing room over there right now. The president, he wasn't gloating or anything. He was basically just giving us the facts as they are right now. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. The economy is still in an anemic situation. And if he's going to get himself re-elected, he's got to show the American public that at least things are moving in the right direction.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And there were two key moments that I point to in that statement, Wolf. One was when he pointed out that so many American people had written in to the White House. Now this seems like a sort of almost trite thing that most White Houses do, but it was a point in his comments when the president stopped looking around the briefing room, and he made a point of turning to the cameras at the back of the room and looked directly into the cameras, as if he were speaking directly to the American people, and said, "You are the people who have contributed to making a difference."

This was the candidate Obama we saw in 2008 when he addressed the voters, the regular folks, who said you make up the movement that can make a difference in Washington, that can change America and that can change our future. And it sounded like he was once again sounding the themes of that 2008 campaign that, I suspect, we'll hear from him again in 2012, saying again sort of, you, the people, can make a difference in Washington. And we saw that start again in their campaign to get this payroll tax cut done and through by persuading American people to lend their voices to the effort.

The second part was when he said, this is a make or break moment for the middle class in this nation. And that was a line direct from his Kansas City speech, when he laid out his sort of philosophical vision for the economy where everybody gets a fair shake. So we're hearing again that theme that we're going to hear through 2012 that he is trying to position himself as a champion for working Americans. And you heard that here from him again today -- Wolf?

BLITZER: I assume in the coming year we'll see a lot more passion and excitement from the president as he gears up for his re- election campaign.

Jessica will join me later today in "The Situation Room."

Jessica, thanks very much.

BLITZER: I'll be back at 4:00 p.m. eastern for a full hour of "The Situation Room." This programming note -- a special "Situation Room," "Reporters Notebook: My Six Days in North Korea," airs today at 5:00 p.m. eastern, a rare inside look into North Korea. This coming at a very tense time following the death of Kim Jong-Il. 5:00 p.m., "Six Days in North Korea."

Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The NEWSROOM continues with Natalie Allen right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLEN: Imagine being locked up for 25 years for killing your spouse. Sitting in your cell, things like dinner at restaurants, ball games, family holidays, that's all over. And if you're this man, Michael Morton, in prison since 1987, you never got to watch your son grow up into a man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MORTON, FREED AFTER WRONGLY CONVICTED: I lost all of my son's youth. He's 28 now. That's all gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: In October, a judge freed Morton after DNA evidence proved he didn't do it. Monday, they made it official. But the story doesn't end there. Morton's lawyers want a hearing to investigate whether the prosecutor broke the law by withholding evidence that could have handed Morton an acquittal 25 years ago.

The Innocence Project's Barry Scheck has been on this case since the very start.

Barry, what sort of evidence do you believe the prosecutor held back?

BARRY SCHECK, CO-FOUNDER & CO-DIRECTOR, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: Well, I think there is probable cause to believe that this prosecutor, Ken Anderson, who's now a sitting judge in Williamson County, held back, in defiance of a direct court order, evidence that the victim in this case, Christine Morton, that her credit card was used two days after her murder in San Antonio, that a check was cashed in a forgery nine days after her murder. There was a report from a neighbor, interview with a neighbor, that there was a man that was, on several occasions, pulling behind the Morton's house and a suspicious man getting out and looking at it, consistent with casing the place for the burglary. And worst of all, that Michael's 3 1/2-year-old son had told his maternal grandmother that he had seen a monster with red gloves hurt mommy. And when the grandmother asked, was daddy there, he said no, daddy wasn't there. Now, what makes that so important is this is evidence that there was a burglar who came into the home after Michael went and -- to work that morning, found his wife there and, in the course of the burglary, bludgeoned her to death.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHECK: That's the theory of defense.

ALLEN: Right. When you discovered this evidence, what happened then, evidence that could have perhaps -- he could have used very well in his defense?

SCHECK: Well, we discovered this 25 years later. And what makes it most troubling is that, in our judgment, the trial court had specifically ordered this prosecutor to turn over the file of the lead investigator for review to see if there was any exculpatory evidence there. And when, 25 years later, we opened up the sealed envelope that was supposed to contain all the police reports and would have contained all this exculpatory evidence, the exculpatory evidence wasn't there. It was never disclosed.

ALLEN: You are going after the prosecutor now. What could happen to him?

SCHECK: What we have asked the new judge to do here is make a finding that there's probable cause to believe that this former prosecutor, now judge, was in contempt of court and also concealed illegally documents that should have been disclosed. And if he makes that probable cause finding, it's then sent up to the chief judge, probably of the Texas Supreme Court, who may, in turn, at that point, bind him over for a trial essentially.

ALLEN: So you're not only going after him, you're also looking for a change in the law so this can't happen again, a systemic change to push for an open file law. Tell us about that.

SCHECK: Yes. We made a series of recommendations that we hope the Texas legislation will take up, recommendations that are backed by the American Bar Association and lots of other prosecutors across the country to really try to solve this problem of suppression of exculpatory evidence. So things like open file discovery -- why shouldn't there be an opportunity for the defense to see the entire file. And if prosecutors have a problem where a witness might be in danger or there's some real reason to believe a defendant may suborn perjury, then can you time that disclosure to the eve of trial. We want to have conferences where the judge sits with the parties and says, OK, has everybody turned over what they're supposed to turn over? Here's a checklist. Did you ask all the right questions of all the right people? Do we have everything? And then everybody is under a court order. It would apply to the defense lawyer, too, for what the defense lawyer has to disclose. And then if it's found out years later that the disclosure wasn't done, then you really have a court order where everybody can be held in contempt and disciplined. We also want to have a specific ethical requirement that post-conviction, prosecutors turn over evidence that can demonstrate somebody's innocent. We only have that in four states, even though the American Bar Association has recommended that every state do it.

ALLEN: Well, we thank you for the information. And we'll stay -- keep everyone posted on the developments. I'm sure Mr. Morton is looking forward to a very joyous holiday with his grown son now.

Barry Scheck, thank you so much for joining us.

SCHECK: Thank you very much.

ALLEN: Just ahead here, the man who says President Obama is completely destroying civil liberties, and the presidential candidate who could benefit from it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: For weeks, President Obama vowed to veto the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. He expressed grave concern over several disputed provisions in the measure that was passed by both the House and Senate. The White House says changes were made that removed those concerns and that the president will now sign the measure.

Civil liberties groups are outraged. Here are some of their concerns. Under the act, the government may detain, without trial, suspected members of al Qaeda or its allies. Officials would be required to hold non-citizens suspected of being tied to operatives in military custody. The attorney general will be able to confer with military and intelligence agencies before charging terror suspects in civilian court.

But one of the most outspoken critics of the measure and President Obama's decision to sign it, is constitutional law expert, Jonathan Turley. He's written extensibily about it on his blog at jonathanturley.org.

Thank you for coming on the program, Jonathan.

JONATHAN TURLEY, PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: Thank you.

ALLEN: First of all, the president says he's satisfied with the changes, but you aren't. Why?

TURLEY: Well, I don't know any civil Libertarians who are. I mean, this has taken a level of distrust and anger from the civil liberties community towards the president to an all new level. This is not the first time the president has broken promises that he has made, but this is a real shocking development. I mean, he has claimed that the legislation was changed to satisfaction. But we found out from Senator Carl Levin that it was actually the president and his staff that asked for citizens to be subject to indefinite detention. That was never explained to the citizens. The White House was claiming that the president was upset about a provision that Senator Levin said the White House actually put into the law.

And the change he's talking about is facially ridiculous. That is the key amendment that would have protected the citizens from indefinite detention, was defeated by both Democrats and Republicans. What was put in there was meaningless language that the indefinite detention of individuals shouldn't be contrary to U.S. law. Well, this is a president who recently said that he has the unilateral authority to kill U.S. citizens anywhere in the world, without any court order, without any authorization except his own inherent power. So you can imagine what the interpretation is of the current law. Of course, they believe they can detain citizens indefinitely. They believe that they can kill citizens.

ALLEN: Well, will signing the act politically damage the president in next year's election, do you think?

TURLEY: You know, we talked about this on my blog. It is a large civil liberties blog. There's some really heartfelt angst and anger towards the president from some civil liberties groups. It is a very difficult time for civil Libertarians. They find themselves at odds with the Democratic leadership and the president.

The irony is that the only guy out there talking about civil liberties and anti-war issues is Ron Paul. So it is a very different situation for civil Libertarians.

But quite frankly, many have already said they cannot support the president. He started out rather badly as president by going to the CIA and telling employees that they would not be prosecuted for torture, which violated treaties that we have signed as a nation. And it went from bad to worse after that moment for civil Libertarians.

ALLEN: Outside of Ron Paul though, why do you think most Democrats, both in the House and the Senate, support this measure?

TURLEY: Well, you know, unfortunately, you've seen it. It is -- there is really very few advocates when it comes down to specific bills for privacy and constitutional issues. Those tend to be abstractions, and nobody wants to be left to the -- left of an issue like terrorism. So it is a non-starter with these politicians.

And what's fascinating is that we had a series of polls that showed that American citizens are now more afraid of their own government and the power it has than they are outside groups. And yet, there's this disconnect between the voting public and their leaders. They seem to have no impact on these politicians. Because the politicians do not want to be accused of soft on terror, so they're rolling back civil liberties. They're increasing surveillance, even when the majority of American citizens don't want that.

ALLEN: How will you gauge civil liberty groups' support of Mr. Obama now?

TURLEY: Well, it could not be lower. And the anger is so intense. Many of them are going to stay at home or they'll vote for Ron Paul or they'll vote for someone else. But it is going to be a very hard task for the White House to get that cat to walk backwards. He has gone too far. And part of this, I think, was a cynical move by the White House that civil Libertarians have nowhere else to go.

And, look, I have to tell you, we are used to being the bridesmaid and never the bride at a wedding. Everyone always promises to be faithful to civil liberties and they rarely are as presidents. It's a terrible irony and a tragedy for civil Libertarians. But President Obama has gone so far, I think it's going to be hard for him to get those votes back.

ALLEN: We appreciate your information. And people can read more about it at your blog, jonathanturley.org.

Thank you, Jonathan.

TURLEY: Thank you. Happy holidays.

ALLEN: Happy holidays to you. How about this one? Imagine just sitting on a park bench minding your own business, then police surround you, frisk you, demand to know what you're doing and then simply leave. Our next guest said it happened to him and it happened more than one. We'll hear from him, next.

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ALLEN: Imagine this, if you can. You walk out of your home, take a couple of steps, and suddenly you're surrounded by police. They cuff you, take your keys and try to search your home. That's happened more than once to New York college student, Nicholas Peart.

He wrote about his experiences in a "New York Times" op-ed. He said one incident occurred on his 18th birthday. And we quote him here. "We were talking, watching the night go by, enjoying the evening when suddenly, and out of nowhere, squad cars surrounded us. A policeman yelled, 'Get on the ground.' I was stunned and scared. Then I was on the ground with a gun pointed at me." He says when the cops looked at his I.D., the cops said, "Happy birthday," and they left.

We asked the New York police for a comment. All they said was, quote, "Police stops save lives and are proportional to reported crime in New York City."

Nicholas Peart joins us now with his attorney, Sunita Patel.

Nicholas, thank you for coming on the show. I know that you were also stopped a few months ago. Can you tell us, in brief, what happened at that time?

NICHOLAS PEART, COLLEGE STUDENT STOPPED BY POLICE: First of all, thank you for having me on this show. What happened last time was, you know, the cops had took my keys and entered my building -- and this happens to many of my friends. And it's absurd and unjust and we need change.

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ALLEN: Why do you think, Nicholas, being that you've been stopped so many times? Do you have any idea?

PEART: We know that stop-and-frisk is policy for the New York City Police. And I believe that -- we know that 84 percent of those stop-and-frisks are black and brown people. And 84 percent of those are stop-and-frisk. And we just need change. We shouldn't be stopped and frisked for going to the store, going to the gym, going to -- just living our lives as citizens.

ALLEN: And you wrote in your op-ed in "The New York Times," that you grow up thinking that police officers were cool. And now you feel alienated and you've even changed your lifestyle. How have you changed your lifestyle to try and avoid these situations?

PEART: Well, me, along with my friends, we know -- we kind of have a feel that when the cops will come after us. We dress a certain way, we know not to dress a certain way. We know not to -- we'll more likely be frisked if we go outside at a certain time at night.

ALLEN: And, Sunita, I know that he's involved in a class-action lawsuit against the New York Police Department that alleges that police are violating constitutional rights by stopping people. Nicholas is a witness, not a plaintiff. What can you tell us about this case and your reaction to what he says he's been through?

SUNITA PATEL, ATTORNEY: I think Nicholas' experience is similar to thousands of other black and Latino people in New York City. It's quite a shame that the New York Police Department has made a name for itself of harassing and disenfranchising New Yorkers, rather than protecting and serving the community. This lawsuit, it's a class- action lawsuit, called Floyd versus City of New York. And the case, the Center for Constitutional Rights is advocating for change. We really want the police department to be accountable for its racial profiling and for unlawful stop-and-frisks that have happened for many years throughout the city.

ALLEN: Nicholas, I know that you're finishing up community college and then you'll work on your B.A. after you take some time off. Right now, where this stands, being involved and taking action, are you starting to feel a little bit more emboldened, empowered, when you think about going outside or just going about your daily business, that you're speaking out and doing something?

PEART: Yes, I definitely feel empowered just by breaking -- with CCR, the Center for Constitutional Rights. This is my way going about change and just bringing it -- national attention to something that -- an issue that is just unjust and absurd.

ALLEN: We appreciate both of you for coming on with us.

Nicholas Peart and attorney, Sunita Patel. Thank you both and happy holidays to you.

PATEL: Thank you.

PEART: Thank you.

ALLEN: All right.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM continues in a moment with Brooke Baldwin. Stay right there.

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