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U.S. Issues Worldwide Travel Alert; Ariel Castro Statement Shocking; Madeline Albright Talks Trayvon Martin, Immigration; More Women Living Child-Free Lives; Astronaut Speaks from Space on Experiences

Aired August 02, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris. I want to bring in Dana, because, Dana, I know that you told us, reported moments ago that the vice president was actually on the Hill in person briefing members of Congress about these potential threats. What have you learned?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This was a briefing he was doing in general with members of the leadership and with key committee chair and ranking members.

Earlier this week, I spoke to a source at that meeting who said the information was pretty dire. He heard reports it has increased chatter specifically abroad and specifically targeting U.S. facilities abroad. At the time, they were not told they were going to close these but the source said that's the right thing to do. You don't hear a lot of bipartisan agreement but we're hearing that as well. Deidra Walsh just spoke with a Republican, a member of the Intelligence Committee, also with -- in addition with others we've spoken to, they all say this was the right move. You can't underscore enough there's also the Benghazi issue going on here. People were screaming, pounding the administration for not taking the 9/11 anniversary seriously a year ago and not taking the precautions. There's no question that's part of learning the lesson from that.

MALVEAUX: Yeah. Taking it very seriously.

I want to go to Jill Dougherty at the State Department.

Jill, what do people do? If you're traveling over seas, if you are overseas with your family, what do you need to do to protect yourself?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You have to take this very seriously as the people at the State Department are doing. And I have to say they -- I totally agree with what Dana is saying about Benghazi. They using the phrase "out of an abundance of caution" they are doing this.

So there are 21 places, embassies and consulates around the world, but especially in those places North Africa and the Middle East where this threat seems to be focused.

What can people do? They can definitely, as the State Department urges, be very, very cautious whether they travel to the region. And if they do, they should be very ware of their surroundings, especially places where large groups congregate, transportation hubs, et cetera. They can also check on the website of the State Department. That's a very good source. You can see the list of those 21 countries where this is happening. And also get updates and register with the State Department if you want to do that. That would be the most important right now.

MALVEAUX: Jill, quickly, are they going to be closing more embassies? Do we think this will grow in hours and days to come?

DOUGHERTY: This appears to be it. That totally depends on the threats they are hearing. You have to say that they don't want these embassies open because people could congregate outside, let's say looking for visas, and that could be a target.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Jill Dougherty, thank you, Dana Bash, Chris Lawrence, Fran Townsend.

We're going to keep a close eye on this breaking news story.

This, interesting enough, this is a sweatshirt that sparked a movement across the globe here. But should it be on display for the world to see? What are we talking about? Trayvon Martin's hoodie. And we're also talking about who wants to put this in a museum, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Fireworks flew today at the murder trial of reputed mob boss, Whitey Bulger. Bulger called his trial a sham and angrily told the judge he will not take the stand in his own defense. That prompted an out burst from a family member of one of Bulger's alleged victims. The widow of Michael Donohue shouted at Bulger, "You're a coward." Bulger is accused of carrying out 19 murders. The jury will hear closing arguments on Monday.

Now to the scandal surrounding San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. It just keeps getting worse. A ninth woman has come forward accusing Filner of sexual harassment. Emily Gilbert tells CNN affiliate, KFWB, that she was working at a fund-raiser when the mayor grabbed her. Gilbert says, quote, "He grabbed me a little too tight then proceeded to slide his hand down my arm and did a little grab on my derriere." CNN has made several attempts to contact Filner about this latest allegation. We have not yet gotten a response.

The Cleveland kidnapper will find out where he will be spending the rest of his life. CNN has learned that Ariel Castro's first stop when he leaves the county jail will be the Lorain Correctional Institution. This is the Grafton, Ohio. Officials there said they will evaluate him and determine which state prison is most appropriate for his incarceration. Castro was sentenced yesterday to life in prison plus 1,000 years and no chance of parole. The punishment was part of a plea deal and it was expected.

But what surprised many people was his 16-minute statement, his rant, rambling speech because it seemed completely indifferent to the victims.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL CASTRO, SENTENCED FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPE: Most of the sex that went on in that house was consensual. These allegations about me forcing them is totally wrong. There were times that they would ask me for sex, many times. And these girls were not virgins from their testimony to me. They had multiple partners before me, all three of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: When you hear that and you see the evidence mounted against him, it's so disturbing. It's unbelievable.

I want to bring in our legal analyst, Paul Callan, to talk about this.

As a defense attorney, as a former prosecutor, is it even acceptable? Is it common practice that you have a judge who lets someone go on and on like that, 16 minutes or so, in front of one of the alleged victims? Could he have just cut him off even though he was legally allowed to speak? Couldn't he just cut him off?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, he could have cut him off. He could have cut him off or limited the amount of time. You can't talk for five hours or six hours. You can put a reasonable time limit on it.

But, Suzanne, another reason that experienced criminal lawyers were shocked by the spectacle in the courtroom yesterday was not only the rambling speech and the dishonor it showed to the victims of the crime, but he really took back his guilty plea. He said he had not raped these women and it was voluntary. He denied the aggravated charge. And the one thing in a criminal case, when you're taking a plea of guilty, you want to make sure you have a clean record that demonstrates the defendant knowingly and intelligently is pleading guilty and is admitted to the offenses in question. And frankly, I'm very surprised that the judge allowed this to occur. It was great television but bad law. I think an appellate court may take a look at this.

MALVEAUX: Some people may think bad taste as well. I want you to listen to this particular part. This was so disturbing to so many people, describing it as a happy home of consenting adults. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASTRO: These accusations that I would come home and beat her, beat them, those are totally wrong, Your Honor. Because like I said before, I'm not a violent person. I'm not a violent person. I kept them there without them being able to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Paul, you mentioned the fact this is a plea deal here. He agreed to plead guilty then he ends up really kind of making a case for himself. Could the judge have decided the plea deal is off the table now, I'm sentencing you to death essentially?

CALLAN: Well, the judge could have taken the plea deal off the table. I've seen it happen many times in court. A judge carefully questions a defendant and if he tries to backtrack and say, I'm not guilty, I didn't do it, the judge says you're going to trial. The judge could not have imposed the death penalty. What happens when a plea is vacated, it gets sent back to trial, you would then have a trial on those 930 counts and criminal charges. If he were convicted, then he could face the death penalty. So it would be quite a decision not to accept the plea.

But the other thing I look at when I see that spectacle is he's rambling on and people will say he was mentally ill and he wasn't competent to enter the plea, some of the things he said were so bizarre. You can be sure all of these things will be raised at a later date.

MALVEAUX: We'll be following that.

Paul, thank you. Really appreciate that.

CALLAN: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: The hooded sweatshirt that Trayvon Martin wore the night George Zimmerman killed him could end up on display at the Smithsonian Museum. The Museum of Africa-American History and Culture has now expressed an interest. It became a powerful symbol of the case after Zimmerman described Martin as wearing one the night he shot the unarmed teenager. Protesters across the country wore hoodies in support of Martin as they demanded, quote, "justice for Trayvon." Zimmerman was eventually arrested and a Florida jury acquitted him last month finding too little evidence too convict him of his second- degree murder or manslaughter.

Worldwide, there's strong opinions about the Trayvon Martin case as well as the verdict, including from former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADELINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm a very proud American and I do believe we're going to figure this one out. But it is a mortifying and horrible thing, I think, that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Up next, our conversation with Madeline Albright. She talks Trayvon Martin and has very frank words on the immigration debate going on right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright puts diplomacy on the backburner for a moment and gets candid about George Zimmerman, the verdict and the Trayvon Martin tragedy. She also talks about race in America. The ground-breaking former secretary of state was at the center of a conversation that we had at the Aspen Institute. She calls the verdict in the Zimmerman trial a mortifying and horrible thing. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBRIGHT: I think that what happened -- and I'm not a lawyer. I'm appalled by what happened in that trial. I probably should keep my mouth shut on it because it's not my business. But I do think that it was a tragedy in every single way.

I think what is great about America is that there still are more possibilities for people to have pursuit of happiness and a way for people -- they're not a lot of countries where somebody who is an immigrant ends up as secretary of state or that has a black president when we are primarily a mixed country. And so there are many fabulous things about us.

But I think what is most interesting about us is we're examining what just happened. What happened, why did it happen, what can we do to make it different? And it's a constant kind of dialogue that goes on.

I think that I am deeply troubled by the decision. I'm deeply troubled by what is not so blatant racism but I do believe that this country is trying to figure it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: She's speaking her mind. She also discussed the push for immigration reform in this country. And for her it's an issue that's both personal as well as political.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBRIGHT: I am an immigrant and a very grateful immigrant. And one of the things that I enjoyed doing the most when I was secretary of state was going to naturalization ceremonies and renewing my own vows.

I think we are cutting off our nose to spite our face to not have a generous comprehensive immigration bill.

I have to tell you this. I was just in Jordan where I was there for the National Democratic Institute. I was taken to the Syrian refugee camp and I had also -- same one that Secretary Kerry went to. And I also was told there are Palestinian refugees and Iraqi refugees and Syrian refugees. The equivalent would be if the United States had 40 million refugees. And we're asking Jordan to deal with this. We can't deal with 11 million undocumented workers. I do believe the United States is an exceptional country. But we can't ask that exceptions be made for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Always candid.

We learned some personal details as well about Madeline Albright. Said she could leg press 450 pounds. That's right. She's not kidding. Her neighbor is current Secretary of State John Kerry and her BFF is Hillary Clinton. We would divulge whether if she's going to run in 2016. But we'll go back for another try.

More women than ever before are now living a child-free life. We'll look at the reasons behind this new trend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Did you know fewer women are having children than ever before in American history? That's right. Check this out. "Time" magazine reporting that back in 1976, only one in 10 women were childless in their early 40s. Now to 2010, that number doubled to one in five.

Lauren Sandler has written a cover story for "Time" called "The Child- Free Life. She spoke to dozens of women who say they felt socially branded as selfish for not being mothers.

Lauren joins us from New York.

And, Lauren, first of all, I have to tell you, I don't have any kids. Covering the White House for 10 years, traveled all the time. My friends know my fish died in the tank. My plants were not alive. I could not keep anything alive in my house. So I was not claiming to be irresponsible or selfish. It would have been selfish to have children. But a lot of the people you talk to say, no, they've gotten that brand that they should be mothers. Yes?

LAUREN SANDLER, CORRESPONDENT, TIME MAGAZINE: It's true. I think that, you know, it's relatively recent in human history that adult women are not automatically mothers. Because of that, I think we don't know what to make of them. As though there's no other role that's legitimate enough. We know now, of course, women are such a huge, important part of the marketplace. There's so much that women add to our society on an equal level as men. Yet, this mandate for motherhood continues.

MALVEAUX: There's a difference in the women that you spoke with. You say those who have more resources, higher income, more likely to say, you know what, I'm going to put off having kids or I'm not going to have kids altogether?

SANDLER: That has historically been true in the past, say, three decades. But there's an interesting change right now, which is that being child free is no longer on the rise amongst white high income, educated women as much as it is amongst women of all races and of lower incomes. In part, because it's so expensive to become a mother. Our opportunity costs are so great. The pressures are so great. But it becomes something you really have to want to do. It's harder, I think, to automatically just step into that role if it's something you don't want. Simultaneously, I think that people are now empowered enough to say, you know what, I don't want it. Society might judge me for it, but, you know, that's my life and I'm going to stand up for it.

MALVEAUX: Lauren, I mentioned my job, my work. I loved it. Give us a sense, what are people doing instead?

SANDLER: People are working. People are having adult friendships and fulfilling romantic relationships. And I don't know, taking a walk on the beach.

(LAUGHER)

I'm a mother myself. I can tell you, we all know what it's like to not have children because we didn't have them before we became mothers. I think it's pretty easy to imagine what you would do with that time when you don't have it.

MALVEAUX: I notice the cover as well. You've got them on the beach there. I mean, you're right. There's that leisure time. But there's also a lot of work involved, too, even if you don't have kids. A lot of women, grandkids, you know, you're the godparent, all those things that go into making a good, healthy, complete life.

SANDLER: I spoke to so many people who are teachers, who have college funds for their friends' children, who spend time with nieces and nephews. A lot of people said, I love children, I just don't need my own.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: All right. Lauren Sandler, thank you very much. Very provocative article. Appreciate it.

SANDLER: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: A Navy SEAL talks from space about how his military experience is helping him out as an astronaut.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The race is on for would-be millionaires. The Powerball jackpot is soaring, so far reaching $290 million for tomorrow night's drawing. People dream of winning that kind of money. I know I do. But I want to caution you, the odds of matching all six of those numbers, one in 175 million. Good luck to you.

(LAUGHTER)

One of the astronauts at the international space station is a Navy SEAL. He spoke from space today about his out-of-this-world experience.

Chad Myers is joining us.

Chad, what have we learned from him? CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I love watching NASA channel when we don't have anything else to do here because we get such great insights. A Navy SEAL says being up here in the space station is a lot like being on a ship or being on an airplane. Your life is always on the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CASSIDY, COMMANDER & ASTRONAUT, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION & NAVY SEAL: Just really the fundamental things of what we need, our Navy war fighters, our military war fighters to do, translates exactly to life in space. It's an operational environment. We're doing things that we can get us hurt or hurt the equipment that we're working with. Neither one of those are good. And it's that innate sense of how to do that, I think, is instilled in every one of us that joins the service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: His goal is to not get hurt and not get anyone else hurt.

MALVEAUX: Good goal.

And I know, Chad, you and I are both in for that Powerball. Wish you the very best here.

MYERS: Yeah.

MALVEAUX: Perhaps if we win, well, maybe Brooke will be doing this hour as well.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Very funny.

MALVEAUX: All right, Brooke, take it from here.