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From Butler to Civil Rights Icon; Usher's Bitter Custody Battle; Jury Deliberates Bulger Case; Students Getting Break on Loans.

Aired August 09, 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: I want to start off with you, Lee, because really when you watch this, you cry, you laugh. There are very painful moments when you see the civil rights struggle and some of the violence here. But you described it, Lee, as kind of like a love story, a universal story.

Can you explain why?

LEE DANIELS, DIRECTOR: Because it's a -- for me I wasn't -- I didn't start out trying to make an important civil rights movie. It was more about a father and a son love story. I had a 13-year-old son at the time when I got the script. And as a 13-year-old boy, I say white, you say black. I say day, you say night. I say go to bed, he say hell no. I was like when is this going to end. In "The Butler," it doesn't. It wasn't until we were on the bus and shooting the scene on the bus with the --

MALVEAUX: The Freedom Riders.

DANIELS: The Freedom Riders with the heat and everything that we realized when I yelled action and the KKK came out and the hatred and the swastikas and the hatred and the shaking of the bus that I realized that -- and I yelled cut and they kept coming. I yelled cut. I screamed at the window. I said cut and they kept coming. I realized that there was nobody to say cut when those kids were there and they were heroes and this was a bigger movie than just a father and son love story. Not just for the black kids but the white kids were there too. It was, as Oprah says, an ah-ha moment.

MALVEAUX: You explain, too, even the extras, some of the white actors had a hard time reenacting some of those struggles because it was so violent and passionate and emotional there.

I want to play a clip here. This is when "The Butler" first arrives at the White House. He serves eight presidents, but this is when he first gets there. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I heard you were coming. What's your name?

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR: Cecil Gains.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Cecil Gains. I'm Carter Wilson, the head butler. No worry bout Big Mo behind you. That brother (INAUDIBLE) before you even knew it. His brother over here, his name is James Holloway, my second in command.

WHITAKER: James.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Jackie Robinson was the man.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why don't you shake your man's hand first before you start asking difficult questions like that?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I want to know where man is coming from.

WHITAKER: Looks like the jury is still out on that one, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Forest, you play someone who goes through this amazing transition. He feels loyalty to the presidents but feels betrayal as well. What is the character meant to convey?

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR: I think to convey or carry the experiences of what's going on in the country from behind. To look at the way they structured it from both sides. We see the vulnerability of these presidents when they are making decisions that are bad for the people. There's no justice by some of the decisions that are being made. My job was to try to carry those memories, those thoughts with me and be the eyes for the audience in a way to bring them along in this great tale.

MALVEAUX: What was it like to work with Oprah Winfrey?

(LAUGHTER)

At first, when you see her on the screen, you're trying to divorce yourself from Oprah Winfrey, but she does that. She manages to portray your wife. It's really an extraordinary relationship that you developed.

WHITAKER: She was so amazing. She was so committed and deeply in the character that sometimes when we were working I would be thrown by the authenticity of everything that's going on as the character. She worked on like building that kind of bond, as Lee was talking about, the love relationship between the husband and the wife. Even between takes, she would be stroking my back and be walking along talking just to keep that intimacy that was important to the core of the movie.

MALVEAUX: I want to show another clip to our viewers. This is with Nancy Reagan and the butler. This is really a pivotal moment, if you will, at the White House. She extends this invitation to the state dinner to the butler. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: I'd like to invite you to the state dinner next week.

WHITAKER: I will be there, Ms. Reagan.

(LAUGHTER)

FONDA: Not as a -- not as a butler, Cecil. I'm inviting you as a guest.

WHITAKER: But the president prefers for me to serve in person.

FONDA: Don't you worry about Ronny. I'll take care of that. We'll see you next week, you and your wife.

WHITAKER: My wife?

FONDA: It's Gloria, yes?

WHITAKER: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Lee, I got to say it's a little bizarre to see Jane Fonda playing Nancy Reagan.

(LAUGHTER)

You had A-listers. You had a lot of people involved in this, Mariah Carey and a lot of people who took on these roles. What was that like to work with them?

DANIELS: It was exciting. They came to honor the script. Danny strong wrote an incredible script. I was just the puppeteer. I think that forest was the captain of the ship in that he started from a place of humility and Oprah started from a place of humility and it trickled down to the other actors, movie stars on the set. There was no ego. The only ego was the film. So everybody was vulnerable and raw and open to the direction and willing to jump off the cliff with me. And --

WHITAKER: He's able to inspire people and push the envelope, push the scene to try to find this authenticity that's at the core of the truth. I think everyone was excited to try to dive in, even when afraid. It was exciting.

MALVEAUX: I want to show one more clip here because this really was an extraordinary moment. A lot of people applauded the character, the butler. This is the dinner scene. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Seniority (ph) is a white man's fantasy of what he wants us to be.

WHITAKER: What are you talking about? He just won the Academy Award. He's breaking down barriers for all of us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: By being white, by acting white. Sydney Portier is nothing but a rich Uncle Tom. WHITAKER: Look at you. All puffed up with your hat on your head, covering your ear, saying whatever you want. You need to go.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: What?

WHITAKER: Get the hell out of my house!

(SHOUTING)

WHITAKER: Get on out!

OPRAH WINFREY, ACTRESS: Everybody just sit down.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I'm sorry, Mr. Butler, I didn't mean to make fun of your hero.

WINFREY: Everything you are and everything you have is because of that butler.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Very powerful scene.

Where are we in race relations today? A lot of people left that movie thinking so many things resonated with the Zimmerman trial and the killing of Trayvon Martin, the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court in some ways pushed back in a way. Did it resonate in some way with the current state of race relations with in?

DANIELS: When I did the movie, we didn't write any man could kill any -- any white man could kill any black man and get away with it. Trayvon Martin hadn't happened yet. I hoped we come out of the bubble of "The Butler" and find out this happened. It was very strange for me.

How was it for you?

WHITAKER: I think there's a cycle that we should try to break as a country and what I think he did, he was able to manifest, even touching on why this young man decides to go it. He's looking at Emmett Till and what happened with him. And that cycle is going on, the same cycle that we're talking about with Oscar Graham (ph) and with Martin Luther. We're trying to figure out how do we break this cycle and the dialogue, and that's happening. We think what we did was part of that dialogue, just as it's part of the dialogue with the Voting Rights Act, we have to always be mindful and vigilantly watching and make sure that we're like finding human justice where ever we can. That's part of the subject matter. The healing of a country, a family coming together. The country itself it a country. The father of a nation. My son fighting --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: All right.

DANIELS: When we did the Johnson scene, I had no idea that we were doing this scene where Johnson actually was responsible for this Voting Rights Act and then we come out and then the Supreme Court had done this. It was out of body.

MALVEAUX: It really does have relevance today.

I want to thank you both. I wish we had more time.

But really, as daughter of two, who grew up in the segregated South where there were colored fountains only and they sat in the back of the bus, it really is a powerful reminder of just how far we've come and how quickly we've come. It's all a part of our history.

So thank you, again. We really appreciate it.

DANIELS: Thank you.

WHITAKER: Thank you for having us.

MALVEAUX: All right. Usher seen around the world on his tours and on TV as the host of "The Voice," but his ex-wife says that his kids never see him, so she is taking him to court, back for custody. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Usher is expected to be here in an Atlanta courtroom. This is next hour. This is a custody battle over his kids. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The singer's ex-wife is asking a judge to give her custody of her boys after their 5-year-old got stuck in the pool drain and almost died. Tameka Raymond filed an emergency motion saying the boy almost drowned because he was not properly supervised. He's doing much better.

I want to bring in Alina Machado. She is joining us from outside the Atlanta courthouse.

This is not the first time Tameka Raymond has tried to get custody. How is she approaching it this time?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a custody battle between Usher and his ex-wife. This has been part of going on for years. Tameka Foster Raymond says that Usher is gone 85 percent of the time and leaves the children in the care of third-party care givers, be it nannies or other relatives.

We talked to Tameka's attorney and here's what she had to say about the matter. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANGELA KINGLEY, ATTORNEY FOR TAMEKA RAYMOND: Mrs. Raymond's only focus is on the health and safety of the children and that they would be in the custody of a parent or the other parent, not in a third- party setting for days at a time. That's the main concern is the children being left with third parties for extended periods of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: This motion is a continuation of a previous filing that Tameka made in May seeking a modification in custody. And, Suzanne, when the 5-year-old nearly drowned in Usher's pool this week, she says it prompted them to file this emergency motion to get the ball rolling.

MALVEAUX: What has Usher's response been so far?

MACHADO: Usher's attorneys have filed a response to the motion. He's denying all the claims and asking the judge to dismiss the motion, and asking Tameka to cover the court costs associated with what's going on here today.

MALVEAUX: Thanks. Appreciate it.

We have some news we want to get into right away.

This is Miguel Marquez, out of L.A.

I understand there is an update, regarding the Amber Alert of the individual, James DiMaggio, believed to have abducted those two children, and Amber Alert that is across several states now.

Miguel, get us up to speed. What have we learned?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been extended to Idaho. There are several calls there. We also understand a car that fits the description of that blue Nissan Versa has been found in a very, very remote area near the town of Cascade, Idaho. It's in a wilderness area by the name of the River of No Return Wilderness Area. Officials say it's an extremely rough and remote area. They have to access this area by helicopters and horse back to make sure it's the car. They can't tell me about the shape about the car or whether or not the license plate is the correct license plate. But I've talked to a lot of officials over the last couple of hours about this and all things point to this is the strongest lead they've had so far. It would make sense, as Mr. Dimaggio's car was sighted in northern California, southern Oregon and up into Washington State. It's possible that he could have moved eastward toward Idaho into this area. It's very, very far out there according to authorities that I'm talking to -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Miguel, real quickly, there's been much made about the possibility that he could have explosives. How are they treating this vehicle? I imagine they are not going to get too close or there's going to be a lot of unease when they approach this vehicle. Do we have a sense of how they are doing this? MARQUEZ: They'll have to approach it with extreme caution and concern, obviously. The explosives they have talked about previously was information gleaned from the searches they did inside Mr. Dimaggio's house in the days after the announcement of the deaths there. They've continue to collect information. They believe he put together explosives and that he may be rigging the car to explode in the event that anyone opens the door or to perhaps take himself out in a blaze of glory or some sort. It's not entirely clear.

What we do know is that all arrows at this point seem to be pointing to the very small town of Cascade, Idaho -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Miguel, we'll be watching that closely throughout the afternoon.

Miguel Marquez, thank you for breaking that news for us.

Also ahead on NEWSROOM, a judge has given the defense team for "Whitey" Bulger a talking to for talking too much. That story up next.

But first, taking crash and turning it into schools and homes. That's the weekend's "Next List." Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week on the "Next List," two innovators turning to the past to create a brighter future.

In Guatemala, Mayan traditions inspire Suzanna Hysis's (ph) eco-grid, an unlikely building material transforming communities around the globe.

SUSANNA HYSIS (ph), CREATOR, ECO-GRID: They are really strong, huh?

GUPTA: Here in the United States, space-age archaeologist, Sarah Parkat (ph), is spreading new light with ancient Egypt with the latest infrared satellite technologies.

SARAH PARKAT (ph), ARCHEOLOGIST: I can't tell you the number of times that I've been walking over and you can't see on the ground, and you pull back hundreds of miles in space and you can see streets and roads and houses and even pyramids.

GUPTA (on camera): Underground?

PARKAT (ph): Underground, yes.

GUPTA: We have their story on the "Next List," this Saturday, 2:30 eastern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: We're keeping a close eye on the federal courthouse in Boston. That is where a jury is deliberating now the fate of reputed mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger. They've been at it now for three and a half days. Bulger is accused of killing 19 people during a two- decade reign of terror.

Deborah Feyerick has been following this trial since the very beginning, more than a month ago. Are we reading anything into the fact that this jury has not yet reached a verdict?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not, not really, because actually it's been a two-month long trial. There were 70 witnesses that were called over that time period, 800 pieces of evidence. The jury has to go through 32 counts, including another additional 33. 33 acts that basically say, yes, the government showed there was enough evidence to show that Bulger was either a conspirator, aider and abettor, or principal in the murders of the 19 people.

You look at some of the families inside that court, families of the victims, all the names of children and brothers and sisters who are here representing those people that were killed. And because everyone's sort of sitting around, there's a lot of bonding that is going on. One man who I spoke to actually, his father was gunned down, allegedly, by Whitey Bulger and his gang just four days after he was born. This is a man who grew up without a father as did many of the children who have come here to represent their parents -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Deborah, appreciate it. We'll be watching. We're all on verdict watch. Thank you.

Ahead on the NEWSROOM, as college students head back to the classrooms, they actually can breathe a sigh of relief now about their loans for this year, at least. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: College students around the country are about to get a big break. Next hour, President Obama is going to be planning to sign a bill that will bring down the rates on student loans.

Maribel Aber is joining us from New York to talk about when the law would kick in.

What do we know about the rates as well?

MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Suzanne, Once Obama signs it the law kicks in immediately. Just in time for the coming school year. The law is retroactive back to July 1st. That's good news. That's when some rates doubled overnight jumping to 6.8 percent because Congress couldn't get a deal done in time. If you got a new loan in the past month at that higher rate, you're due for a reduction possibly down to 3.86 percent. That's the new interest rate for subsidized student loans for undergrads. More than seven million people will benefit. Graduate loans will be a bit higher. 5.14 percent, but could save families thousands. Students graduate with an average of $27,000 in loans. MALVEAUX: What do we think after this year? Obviously, a political hot potato.

ABER: We think rates will likely go up. Here's why. There's going to be pegging that to financial markets. The 10-year treasury bond to be specific. When interest rates on bonds are low, like they are now, rates on loans will also be low -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Maribel Aber, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody's going to be watching what happens with those student loans.

Going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The White House has released the names of this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. There are 16 people, including a former president, social activists, sports figures, musicians, all going to be presented with the highest civilian honor in a ceremony that happens later this year. Bill Clinton is one of them. The Medal of Freedom dates back to the Kennedy administration. Also on the list, congratulations, Oprah Winfrey; Arturo Sandoval (ph), the jazz legend who defected to the United States from Cuba; as well as former "Washington Post" executive editor, Ben Bradley, who oversaw the paper's coverage of Watergate. See the whole list of recipients on CNN.com.

That's it for me. Have a great weekend. Brooke Baldwin takes it from here.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see all of you on this Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We begin with breaking news here, just into us, as we've learned of three people now missing because of a plane crash into a home in East Haven, Connecticut. Take a look at these pictures. Here's what we know. Two children are missing, a 1-year-old and a 13-year-old, after a small plane crashed into this home in East Haven. We are just now getting some of these details for you here. So far, officials are telling CNN that these two children and the pilot of this turbo-prop plane are missing after this plane crashed into at least one --