Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
More Artists Cancel Seaworld Concerts; Surprises Emerge In Iowa Poll; Judge Rules In Favor Of Polygamist Family; Groom Dies In Accident Hours After Wedding; Judge: NSA Phone Surveillance Unconstitutional
Aired December 16, 2013 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The list of performers for SeaWorld's banned blues and barbecue concert series keeps shrinking. The latest group to pull out of the all-star line-up is country singer, Martina McBride. Take a look with me, this growing list. Six other musical acts bowing out because of the controversy surrounding the documentary "Blackfish."
You had first, the Bare Naked Ladies, Willie Nelson, Heart, Chip Trick, Trisha Yearwood, REO Speedwagon, the latest pulling out Friday. Now CNN aired this documentary, which spotlighted the death of a SeaWorld trainer by a killer whale. The film also examined how the park treats mammals in captivity. That set off a massive online petition for these bands to pull out of their gigs at SeaWorld.
Willie Nelson was one of the first. I talked to him last week. He explained to me why he pulled out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIE NELSON, CANCELED SEAWORLD CONCERT (via telephone): Yes, I had a lot of calls from people asking me to cancel. I understand there are petitions going around with thousands of people's names on it so you know, I had to cancel. And I think that also, I don't agree with the way they treat their animals. It wasn't that hard a deal for me to cancel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So that was Willie, Willie Nelson. He said that there is nothing SeaWorld can do to change his mind, nothing they can say to him. He just doesn't want to play there. Look at this, though. This is a statement, a huge statement, a piece of the statement from SeaWorld, calling its critics a small group of misinformed individuals, has invited the bands to see firsthand how it cares for its marine mammals.
Let me bring in Grey Stafford, the director of conservation for the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium. My goodness, this list keeps growing and growing, but putting freedom of speech aside, are the performers overreacting? GREY STAFFORD, CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, WILDLIFE WORLD ZOO AND AQUARIUM: Well, actually, I think they are. I think it was -- there was a time when I was a kid when rock bands would never jump on the bandwagon or the speed wagon in this case, but might actually rebel against, you know, a group think kind of situation. I think a more courageous thing would have been for them to actually take SeaWorld up on their offer to go and investigate for themselves because as you say, they're getting all their information from "Blackfish," which as you know, is a rather one-sided piece, and really doesn't reflect the kind of care that the animals receive today in this modern age.
BALDWIN: I would say seeing the film, it exposes both sides. We wanted to make sure we had you on, though, explaining - we've heard so much from these artists, Grey, but for you, you say, you know, that because a marine mammal is in captivity, it doesn't mean that it leads a sad, sad existence. So you tell me, what should SeaWorld be saying now? Not only just to these artists, saying, come to our park and we'll show you it's a-OK, but what should SeaWorld be saying to the public?
STAFFORD: Well, you know, that's an excellent question. I don't think it's something just SeaWorld should be saying. One of the issues I've had with all my zoo colleagues since the airing of the film and before is, we need to be proud of what we do. We do great work at zoos and aquariums, modern zoos and aquariums.
We train animals with positive re-enforcement. We're learning all sorts of things about them and how to care for them, and that information transfers over to caring for animals in the wild. It really is in nature that we see the biggest decline of species. We need that information that zoos and aquariums provide us.
I would like to see my colleagues speak out more in favor of what they do and not hang their heads down and apologize for the great work that's being done each and every day.
BALDWIN: Grey Stafford, thank you so much for sharing with us. Appreciate it.
Iowa is the first contest out of the presidential gate in 2016. Who is the front-runner among Republicans? The answer might surprise you. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Never too early to talk presidential politics, is it? New poll from super important Iowa, scene of the first presidential caucus, approval ratings of top Republicans, look at that, Paul Ryan leading the way at 73 percent. Then you have Rick Santorum, spending a lot of time in Iowa, by the way, 58 percent there, and Rick Perry is in the top three, and then it's Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz.
Gloria Borger with me from Washington, looking at some interesting numbers there and Paul Ryan, he's been instrumental this whole budget, which went fairly swimmingly on the House side last week. But I'm just wondering what sticks out to you.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Paul Ryan does stick out to me. I mean, look, don't forget, he was the Republican vice presidential nominee. He is a Midwesterner. People in Iowa clearly like him. It will be interesting to see, Brooke, as you point out, after this budget deal whether conservatives in Iowa will like the fact that he was cutting a deal with Democrats, but Paul Ryan is somebody who has been able to straddle both parts of the party.
Don't forget, he voted to continue the government shutdown last time around and now he's cutting a deal with Democrat Patty Murray, right? So he's able to do both of those and this also shows that he's somebody who is an insider in Washington, chairman of the Budget Committee, who is also able to have some appeal to outsiders who don't really like Washington very much. So I think this all is very good for him whether it lasts or not, as you point out, this is --
BALDWIN: It's early.
BORGER: Yes.
BALDWIN: So that's the Rs. Let's talk Ds. You have Hillary Clinton with this approval rating, this crazy, you know, 89 percent approval rating, which is huge.
BORGER: Huge.
BALDWIN: Let's flip the script. What kind of downside is there really being seen so early on, so favorably?
BORGER: Well, look, you would rather be popular than unpopular. I should also point out to you that Joe Biden had a 71 percent approval rating. That's pretty high, too. These are Democrats, they like them both. But of course, what you do when you're that prohibitive a favorite, as you know, you become the target, right?
BALDWIN: Right.
BORGER: And so it's not as if Hillary Clinton wouldn't always be a target because I believe she would be, but last time, she was the presumptive nominee, that didn't go so well for her. I think in the back of people's minds is, let's just try and play it low key this for a while because they don't want to get too far out front. But let's just say if Hillary Clinton does not run, if she decides not to run, and I believe she will, Joe Biden is still pretty popular within the Democratic Party.
BALDWIN: We'll see. It's early, but it's fun talking presidential politics. Gloria Borger, thank you very much.
Coming up here, a reality TV show triggers a court ruling on polygamy and the "Sister Wives" just scored a huge victory. Jane Velez- Mitchell will join me here on what they're allowed to do now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: OK, polygamy, we all know polygamy is illegal, but living like a polygamist, that is now legal in the state of Utah. The federal judge just dropped down the part of Utah's polygamy law that banned cohabitation. This ruling is in response to this lawsuit by the stars of this reality TV show called "Sister Wives." Kody Brown and his four wives, you have Mary, Janell, Christine, and Robin. They say the Utah law violated their privacy rights. Their attorney spoke about what this ruling means practically speaking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN TURLEY, ATTORNEY FOR "SISTER WIVES" FAMILY: The judge said that the only way that you can be prosecuted in Utah is if you have more than one marriage license. That's the conventional bigamy statute. Most polygamists do not have multiple marriage licenses. Most polygamist families have a single marriage license with the state and the rest of the marriages are called spiritual marriages and these are agreements between consenting adults. They want to have a plural family and as of this decision, that is now legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK, HLN Anchor Jane Velez-Mitchell joining me now. Hello.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, HLN'S "JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL": Hello, sister.
BALDWIN: Read a lot about polygamy, realizing that, as Jonathan Turley, just pointed out, if you, and correct me, because you're in on this today as well. Most people living in this sort of relationship, they have this one marriage license, right, but then you live with multiple wives, sort of a spiritual thing and not necessarily in the eyes of the law. So why is what happened here a big deal?
MITCHELL: It's pretty simple. This ruling essentially says in Utah, you can play house with as many people as you want. You can have as many lovers under the same roof. You just can't go out and get more than one marriage license. I think it's a sensible law, and a sensible ruling because in the other way, you essentially allow the government into your bedroom.
For example, it's a pretty universal experience when people graduate they might have a bunch of roommates. Who's to say that couldn't be twisted into saying there was cohabitation with multiple partners living under the same roof? So I think this maintains the marriage laws. But it also keeps the government out of the bedroom and I think it's pretty sensible and it's a good ruling.
BALDWIN: I remember when this story broke because it was a big deal because you have this show about polygamy, boom, on TV for anyone to see. So this is something that really -- polygamy hadn't been prosecuted in a number of years until this reality TV show.
MITCHELL: Yes, exactly. This was something where the folks involved in this reality TV show really put it in their face and so the authorities felt they had to do something. And they began investigating, and Kody Brown essentially said, along with his wives, we're doing nothing wrong. I married legally to one woman.
BALDWIN: One marriage license.
MITCHELL: The three others are spiritual commitments. Therefore, we're under the law and the Utah authorities said, no, because we have a clause. It says cohabitation in a marriage-like relationship with multiple partners is still illegal. So they sued and they moved, by the way, from Utah to Nevada, and they filed suite. Ultimately, this court is saying that the stars of this TLC show are right. They're doing nothing wrong.
BALDWIN: So they can move home?
MITCHELL: If they want to, they can move home.
BALDWIN: Jane Velez-Mitchell, thank you very much.
MITCHELL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Appreciate it.
Coming up here, hours after a man got married, tragic, tragic, he loses his life helping someone in trouble, and his bride was right there, the heart breaking story from over this weekend, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Nikki Knight and her new husband, William, had just left their wedding reception when they stopped to help a driver whose car had just happened to slide off the road and was stuck in this snowy ditch. But as his new bride sat there, waiting in the car, still in her wedding dress, William Knight was run over and killed. In a matter of minutes, this Indiana woman went from a newlywed to a widow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): The tragedy happened on this road in Crown Point, Indiana. William Riley Knight had just left his wedding reception and stopped to help a driver who was stuck in a ditch. In doing so, several cars hit them.
SHERIFF JOHN BUNCICH, LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA: One of the first vehicles was coming eastbound and struck both individuals. The car right behind them, that first vehicle, also struck the two and then unfortunately, a third vehicle that was eastbound also struck the couple.
BALDWIN: William Riley Knight had been driving with his new wife, Nikki. She stayed in their car as he got out to help. She was not hurt in the incident. Knight was acting as a Good Samaritan when he stopped to assist Linda Darlington, who was also killed in the accident. Friends say Knight was always one to help others.
ROB BIELLA, FRIEND: He was very outgoing, always wanting to help somebody. He was -- he was good to be around my kids. I'm glad they got to know him. ANGIE LOW, FRIEND: He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his craft. He loved doing whatever he was doing.
BALDWIN: Police are calling this just a tragic accident and say there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the drivers whose cars hit Riley Knight and Darlington. All three drivers received breathalyser tests and the results were negative.
BUNCICH: Our officers were back at the scene again this morning in the daylight hours, and we going to be doing further work up as far as the road conditions and everything else.
BALDWIN: For now, all are left to grieve for a man killed trying to help others and a bride who became a widow on her wedding night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Just absolutely awful. Lake County Police Department officials say road conditions at the time were wet. They weren't icy. No charges are expected to be brought in the case.
Coming up, we will have much more on our breaking news. A judge has ruled that the phone surveillance program used by the NSA is likely unconstitutional. Find out what it means for you, for our security against the fight on terror.
Plus, did the Boston bomber, the elder Tsarnaev brother, hear voices? A new report in this incredible investigation by the "Boston Globe," suggests he suffered from schizophrenia and that's just the beginning of the revelations from this incredible piece. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, here we go, breaking news. I'm Brooke Baldwin from New York. Here's what we know right now. A huge win for Edward Snowden, the NSA phone tapping program that he revealed to the world in those multiple leaked documents has just been ruled as a constitutional violation.
So this federal judge saying the surveillance program, quote, "infringes on the privacy enshrined in the Fourth Amendment." Let's talk about this, how this came to light, Evan Perez, our justice reporter, and Jeff Toobin, senior legal analyst on the phone with me here in New York.
But Evan, first to you, start at the beginning, what's the back story, how did the suit come to life?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Brooke, this is a very limited ruling, but it has potentially far-reaching consequences. The ruling has to do with the NSA's program that collects data on nearly every phone call made in the United States. They call this metadata, which is information such as the number called and the time of the call and so on.
The government says that the NSA's program is legal in part because it's overseen by the secret surveillance court, the FISA Court, but now this federal judge in Washington, Richard Leon, said the program may be a violation of the Fourth Amendment which prohibits unreasonable search and seizures.
The judge only limited his ruling to four people who sued who claimed it violated their rights, but this also could mean that anyone could sue to prevent their information from being collected by the NSA.
BALDWIN: OK, so Jeff Toobin, let me bring you in because Evan is saying limited ruling. Tell me what that really means and he also mentioned that the further reaching implications of this ruling from this federal judge.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): Well, it's limited, but it is a very, very bad ruling for the Obama administration. One of the key arguments against Edward Snowden's disclosures has been that he never disclosed anything that was shown to be illegal.
