Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Mixed Reaction to Obama's Syria Speech; Washington Redskins Name Controversy; iPad is Focus of Zimmerman Inquiry

Aired September 11, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

A critical night for President Obama: with the majority of the nation firmly opposed to a strike in Syria, it was the President's turn to make his case and a plea for support from the American public, from you.

But if the President was hoping to make a clear and convincing case, some political pundits think he still has a lot of work to do. Politico pointing out the President's contradictions in his speech described the remarks as quote "Obama's Zig versus Zag"; "Time" magazine calling it "Obama's Syria Struggle"; while "The Week" referred to it as "Obama's Confusing Winding Response to Syria".

Stephen Colbert also had something to say about this and why a focus on chemical weapons may not be enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Tonight we're stepping away from the conflict in Syria, because apparently, so is the United States. A lot of details still to be worked out, and we'll get into those tomorrow, but the upshot is that America will not attack Syria for gassing its citizens if they give up their chemical weapons. It's like, if you decapitated a co-worker, so they're taking away your axe. But, you get to keep your job and your hatchet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There you have it. I don't think I could have put it better myself.

Joining me now, CNN political commentators Donna Brazile and Ana Navarro. Good morning to both of you.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So Ana, Stephen Colbert is kind of right, isn't that in the minds of most Americans who are opposed to a military strike in Syria? NAVARRO: Ok. I think what happened here is that we've had several weeks of zigzag, we've had several of weeks of confusion and lack of clarity. A policy that's incoherent and it's being made up as we go along.

Also what happened was that he was ready to give an entirely different speech when this thing with Russia and Syria popped up just a few hours before. So he had to change course entirely right before giving the speech and then went through with his speech.

But I think it was an important speech. I'm glad he gave it. I think it was time that he spoke to the nation on this. I think he made a compelling case when he talked about the children of -- the effects of the chemical weapons and he touched the conscience of the American people. It may not have been a game-changer, but it was important, nonetheless.

COSTELLO: And Donna, that's true. When the President spoke of children and he spoke of the videos coming out of Syria and the children dying on the floor and gasping for air. You know, the picture that brought the mind was heartbreaking. But I guess the big -- you know, we're a generous, we're a caring nation, but at this point, is compassion enough?

BRAZILE: Well, first of all, I thought the President's address last night was not meant to sway public opinion. It was meant to explain a very difficult situation. The use of chemical weapons was a game changer and what the President sought to do last night was thread the needle to inform the public in terms of what's at stake for the American people -- our national interests -- explaining why this matters and why the United States may have to act.

Look, I don't know if it's zig or zag, or ying or yang, or bright or dark, or moon or sun, all of the different opposites, but you know what? He wants democracy to work, he wants diplomacy to work but he also understand that we have to keep the military option on the table if we are to get the Syrians and the Russians and their allies to come to the table to dispose of these chemical weapons.

COSTELLO: And Ana, in fairness to the President, I mean, Americans like things laid out in black and white, too. They like things that are easy to understand. They like decisions made right now. Shades of gray are more difficult to explain.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Don't do shades of gray with Ana.

NAVARRO: That's a problem the President has Carol -- except for the 50 shades of gray.

BRAZILE: Don't go there.

NAVARRO: Don't go into shades of gray with Donna and me. You're going down a slippery slope.

BRAZILE: Yes. Reality's tough.

COSTELLO: Seriously, though. I mean this is a complex situation and it's going to take place in a complex part of the world that -- that sucked in America before and we didn't come out to a great outcome. So how do you explain that to the American people?

NAVARRO: Well right now it's very hard to explain, because the bottom line is that we don't know what's going to happen. Right now we are holding our breath hoping that what the Russians and Syrians are proposing ends up having good results. I will tell you putting our trust and faith in the Russians and Syrians is a big, big stretch. I think most Americans including the President are not willing to do that and neither do they trust them nor and they want to verify.

So you know, we are -- it's up in the air. We don't know when Congress is going to vote we don't know what they're going to vote on, we don't know what the Russian plan is going to end up looking like, we don't know what the timeline is going to be.

BRAZILE: Yes right.

NAVARRO: So there's way to -- there's way more questions than there are answers. And it becomes hard to explain, and that comes on top of two weeks of a lot of fumbling by the administration. I hope they take this time, Carol, to develop a policy and a strategy in case this does not work.

BRAZILE: There is no fumbling here. You know what it is -- I mean the Russians now have some skin in the game. They're willing to go to U.N., get this resolution on the table. We have to verify it, of course, but you know what? The fact that the United States is even pushing this -- I mean, if the United States didn't push it, Ana, nobody would come to the table and Assad would be free to continue to spread these deadly weapons and kill innocent men and women and children.

This is a humanitarian crisis as well. Two million Syrians have been displaced. Let's not forget that. Let's not forget, though, over 100,000 people have been -- that are now dead as a result of it.

I mean Assad has already started to bomb away at some of the Syrians who are fighting him in the civil war. So I'm glad the Russians have some skin in the game. I hope we can get the United Nations to act this time and the Russians will not hold us back, but President Obama has put it on the table, if they will not act, the United States will act. And that's important.

COSTELLO: And we'll leave it there. CNN political analyst Donna Brazile, Ana Navarro, thanks so much for being with me this morning.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, for more than 80 years, they've been the Washington Redskins. But now some say the name is so racist, some journalist, big time sports journalists, won't even utter the name, won't write it in their articles. So -- is it about time Washington changed its nickname? We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Wrong, insensitive and unacceptable. That's what a new radio campaign is saying about the name of one of professional sports most popular franchises -- the Washington Redskins.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RAY HALBRITTER, NATION LEADER, ONEIDA INDIAN NATION: The commissioner has the opportunity to stand up to bigotry again. He can denounce the racial slur in the team name of the Washington Redskins. That word "Redskins" is not a harmless term. The term "Redskins" is obviously wrong, insensitive and unacceptable. We do not deserve to be called Redskins. We deserve to be treated as what we are: Americans.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But it's just not Oneida Indians who are upset. Some big names in sports journalism are now refusing to even write the team's nickname. "Sports Illustrated's" Peter King uses the generic "Washington Football Team", ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook writes simply "Washington".

But will the growing pressure be enough to force a name change? I'm joined now by Ray Halbritter, leader of the Oneida Indian Nation which released that ad you just heard which aired ahead of the big Monday football game. Good morning Ray.

HALBRITTER: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So what kind of reaction are you getting from this ad?

HALBRITTER: Well, we have to change the mascot, www.changethemascot.org and we are getting a lot of very supportive comments and a lot of people recognize the significance and the importance of this issue.

COSTELLO: You've been fighting this fight for decades, and all of a sudden some big names in sports journalism say, "Ok, we get it now. We're not going to use the nickname Redskins anymore in our articles." What do you think, like, forced that change finally?

HALBRITTER: Well, I think it's great. I think in this country we've seen different time periods where things have gone along for a certain time, different times in history -- slavery, segregation, a lack of women's rights. I mean, times do change, and that's one thing that's really great about this country, that we can come together and make a change for the better and make a better America.

COSTELLO: On the other hand, the Redskins team owner, the billionaire, Daniel Snyder says he'll quote, "Never change the name". Does that discourage you?

HALBRITTER: No, not really. History is littered with people who say never. I've learned a long time ago, it's better not to say "never". But look, this is a very important issue. You know, using a name like this especially with our national team. Especially at a time like this in our country's history, we want to be unified as American people.

We are Americans. We want to -- I think names like that, though, I mean let's be clear. The dictionary defines it is an offensive term towards Native Americans. What makes it offensive, it's racial. It's an epithet, it's a slur, and it's dehumanizing, and it trivializes all of the other really significant issues that American Indians face in this country.

COSTELLO: So -- so are you going to appeal or have you appealed directly to Daniel Snyder? Do you plan and if you have, do you plan to increase the intensity?

HALBRITTER: Yes. Well, I think that that's, sometimes, what's necessary. We just think that it's important to stand up for ourselves and hopefully the others will and recognize how important this is to our country.

We want to have a country that's -- that has unifying language, that has unifying symbols. Sports is such -- can be such a unifying symbol, but in this particular context it represents the national capital and I think it sends the wrong message to the rest of the world especially now when the NFL is seeking to internationalize its brand.

COSTELLO: Ray Halbritter, leader of the Oneida Indian Nation, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

HALBRITTER: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, George Zimmerman detained by police once again. Oh there are new developments to tell you about and it involves an iPad. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: More legal troubles for George Zimmerman. That's him, the man found not guilty of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, walking backwards surrendering to authorities. Now, this altercation happened earlier this week after a dispute that Zimmerman had with his estranged wife and her father.

Now police are trying to piece together a broken iPad that George's estranged wife Shellie Zimmerman says she used to record the entire incident. In this home surveillance tape, which George Zimmerman freely gave to police, you see him toss that iPad on the ground and later you can see him using a penknife to, like, stab the iPad. Now, George Zimmerman told police Shellie used the iPad to hit him and Shellie told a 911 operator that George threatened she and her father with a gun, though police said they never found a gun. So no charges have been filed in the Zimmerman family dispute, but police are still investigating. Joining me now to talk about the latest twist for George Zimmerman is criminal defense attorney Page Pate. Welcome back, Page.

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. So police are looking at this iPad, it's broken but they think it has some sort of evidence. Why are they going through all this if Shellie Zimmerman doesn't want to press charges?

PATE: Well, in Florida like many other states, you do not necessarily need the victim to testify to bring a domestic violence case. So if the police look at this iPad and they're able to find video evidence or photography or some picture of there physical contact between George Zimmerman and Shellie Zimmerman, then they can charge him, even if she does not want to cooperate and testify.

COSTELLO: But what about Shellie Zimmerman's father? I mean we saw a picture of him. He had a cut on his nose. Shellie Zimmerman said on that 911 call that George Zimmerman punched him. Isn't that enough to charge George Zimmerman with some sort of assault crime?

PATE: It could be. But I think the police here want to make sure that they are absolutely certain that they have sufficient evidence to go forward. Because if you have family members who do not want to participate in a prosecution, who don't want to testify, who say, look, "I don't want to press charge, it's a personal issue," then although they can do it, it makes it a lot more difficult.

COSTELLO: So is this unusual that police are taking this amount of time on this particular case?

PATE: I think so. Obviously, it's George Zimmerman. Everyone knows who he is. Most of the time the police will investigate a case like this. They'll take statements from the family members. They may look at video evidence. They'll listen carefully to the 911 call, because many times you'll hear them arguing in the background. I think they want to get it right, because if he is convicted of even a misdemeanor and it's domestic violence, he can't possess a firearm any longer.

COSTELLO: And that will open a new can of worms, huh?

PATE: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: All right. Page Pate, thanks so much.

PATE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, few NFL players are as scrutinized as Ndamukong Suh. It only took a single game for the Detroit Lions defensive tackle to be hit with his first fine of the season, and oh, boy, it was a doozy. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Funny music for our top stories but let's check them anyway at 54 minutes past.

Two Colorado state senators who supported stricter gun laws are out of a job this morning. Colorado voters kicked them out in the state's first-ever legislative recall. The two lawmakers had voted for new gun laws following mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, Connecticut. State senate president John Morse though said getting fired was worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MORSE, FORMER COLORADO STATE SENATOR: If passing gun safety legislation in Colorado cost me my political career that is such a small price to pay because the families of gun violence victims pay a huge price every single day. And so the least I could do is stand up and do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The National Rifle Association, the NRA, bank rolled the recall campaign and called the outcome a major milestone.

The FDA has gotten at least 89 reports of getting sick after eating Chobani Greek Yogurt. Reports have not been confirmed. Chobani has acknowledged that some cups of yogurt made at its Idaho plant were contaminated with mold. The company voluntarily pulled those cups, some of which were reportedly bloated.

For the seventh time, the U.S. men's soccer team will play for the World Cup. Here's our sports news. Andy Scholes is here this morning's Bleacher Report. Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey Carol, good morning. Not only did the U.S. punch their ticket to next summer's World Cup in Brazil last night, they did it at the expense of their biggest rival -- Mexico. The U.S. got on the board in the 49th minute on a header by Eddie Johnson. And then about 30 minutes later off the cross (ph), Landon Donovan put the game away. U.S. won 2-0, they're not guaranteed a spot in the 2014 World Cup. Mexico meanwhile is in danger of not qualifying for the World Cup, for the first time in more than 30 years.

In the line up section of BleacherReport.com, today you can read about the $100,000 fine the NFL handed down to Ndamukong Suh. The Lions (inaudible) was penalized for this hit on Viking center John Sullivan. Over the last few years, Suh has earned a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. He once stomped on a player laying on the ground and he kicked an opposing quarterback in the groin on Thanksgiving.

COSTELLO: That was a mistake.

SCHOLES: Suh apologized for the latest low blow and he plans on appealing the fine.

Well Nick Saban may have his future quarterback right in his own backyard. You have to check this out, Carol. John David Taylor, Pee Wee quarterback in Alabama -- check it out -- he (inaudible) right here. This to the outside. He's going to make a ready push, tight move right there then stiff-arm the last guy before running all the way in for the touchdown.

That's got to be one of the most incredible runs you'll ever see on a Pee Wee football field. John David Taylor, remember that name Carol, you may see him starting for the Crimson Tide one day.

COSTELLO: You never know. I like a (inaudible) state myself. Thank you Andy Scholes -- that was fun.

And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And it is Wednesday, September 11th, a day that, of course, America pauses to remember those lost who were lost in the attacks 12 years ago.

Today is also a day for diplomacy though. And diplomacy is front and center this morning as plans for a U.S. military strike on Syria are on hold for now.

But President Obama has laid out his case for military action against that president, Bashar al Assad and his regime if a diplomatic effort led by Russia doesn't work.

Here is part of his national address on that very subject.