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More Than 200 Girls Taken by Islamist Militant Group Boko Haram in Nigeria; Monica Lewinsky Speaks Out

Aired May 06, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: As the world watches and waits, eight more girls have been kidnapped, taken to a frightening and uncertain future. According to a villager in a northeast Nigerian village, armed men in vehicles stormed in and took the girls. The latest abductions come amid international outcry after the April 14th kidnapping of more than 200 girls, taken by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.

But the world is refusing to simply stand by. Rallies, calls for international aid, they have been gaining steam over the last week. Also sparking the bring back our girls twitter hash tag.

CNN's Athena Jones is live at the Nigerian embassy in Washington were a rally has just wrapped up.

Athena, what was the message today?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna.

Well, the message, apart from bring back our girls here at this rally that was organized all via social media and twitter, the message was to the Nigerian government. They want both answers and they want action. They want the Nigerian government to explain what it is doing to try to find these girls and do more.

As far as the folks here are concerned, not enough is done. It took the president weeks to come forward and acknowledge what was going on. And so, they want to keep the pressure on. That's why they had this event right outside the Nigerian embassy. They want to put the pressure on the top Nigerian official in America.

And one interesting point was brought up by one of the speakers, Nicole Lee, she is the outgoing president of the trans-Africa Forum. And she compared this incident in Nigeria to two other incidents that have gotten a lot of media attention worldwide. Let's listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE LEE, TRANS-AFRICA FORUM: When a plane goes down, or you know, as a ship goes down, all the resources of the planet are brought to bear. Here in Nigeria, everybody's talking about complications and how difficult it is.

I don't want to hear that. Those people behind me don't want to hear that. And the moms and dads in Nigeria don't want to hear this. What we want to here is this is going to be global worldwide action. We want the Nigerian government to be responsible and accountable, and listen to the protests. And listen to their own citizens. They want their girls back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: They want their girls back, and they have vowed to keep up the protests. The most emotional moment came when the families coming out to talk with the protesters. The protesters are demanding answers from them, demanding some sort of update on what Nigeria is doing. They didn't get the answers they wanted. But they say they're going to keep the pressure on, and they want the media to keep paying attention to the story -- Brianna.

KEILAR: They certainly are keeping the pressure on.

Athena Jones, outside the Nigerian embassy here in Washington, thanks so much.

Boko Haram is no stranger to the Nigerian government. In fact, the Islamist militant group have terrorized the northeastern region for several years. U.N. human rights watchers say its actions have grown increasingly monstrous. That is a quote.

Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joining us now from New York with a closer look inside Boko Haram.

Christiane, thanks for being with us. And just give us a sense of why this group is so pervasive, why the Nigerian government seemingly unable to handle it.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends on who you talk to. I've just been speaking with Nigeria's novel laureate (INAUDIBLE) who has been watching this closely for years. He thinks it's because they simply didn't tackle it from the beginning, even when this threat started to emerge and this threat not just Nigeria, but west Africa as well.

Al Qaeda's ally Boko Haram, whose intent is Sharia state. And you can see swaggering, gleeful and laughing, talking about, you know, setting off these girls, and western education should be banned, and really completely showing himself for what he is, and what the group is, to the world.

So the point here being, that the Nigerian government seems to be, according to critics, in a state of denial. And that was exemplified beyond any doubt by the fact that the president did not address the nation, say anything public for about 20 days since these girls were kidnapped. He only said something this weekend.

And I will tell you, it is incredibly hard to get the Nigerian government to engage. We had an exclusive interview with the minister of information planned for our program just half an hour ago, just refused, just didn't turn up. Just didn't show up. This has been going on, you know, several days now, since all this happened. So they don't know how to combat them. They don't have the wherewithal.

According to CNN sources and our own Jake Tapper basically reporting that the Nigerian government has not yet accepted officially this offer of U.S. help. That may come when they meet with the U.S. delegation. But they are really standoffish about all of this. Even though President Goodluck Johnson told me several times that Boko Haram poses an existential threat to the nation.

KEILAR: And that's the minister of information who bailed on the interview, right?

AMANPOUR: Yes. Exactly.

KEILAR: So, the Nigerian government on one hand, I mean, they've been doing a very poor job of communicating this situation, in denial as you said. They say that they are working to find the girls, though. Is that the impression you get, that maybe publicly not doing a whole lot, but behind the scenes, really working here?

AMANPOUR: Well, they really better be, but the parents of these girls, the people who live up in that region where they were taken from, and where apparently they were still being held, at least for the first 11 or 12 days after the abduction, say that absolutely nothing was done. And that's why they're so desperate and that's why they're protesting in the streets. They say they saw these girls, they saw the people who took them. They followed them, and they just needed help to go and be able to bring the girls back. And that they understood from villagers that these abductees and their captors were hanging around that area a couple of kilometers from where they were taken for a good period of time. But nobody from the government came to try to get them back or try to rescue them. And it's only because it's gone viral around the world, they say, that the government is reacting now.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a shame. And hopefully they are moving to act, as you said.

Christiane, thank you so much. Christiane Amanpour.

Now, coming up, battling climate change, a big personal issue for President Obama, and with a new report on the changing climate out today from the White House, how could this issue play in the coming elections. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: I want to show you two photos from the climate change report out today. On the left, that's a black-and-white snapped 70 years ago. This was the month of August, Alaska's glacier. And then on the right, a shot from the same vantage point. Also in August, but this was in the year 2004. You can see how the glacier has melted. And now it is a lake, very scenic, but a lake nonetheless.

Now even son, there's every suggestion today that the climate change study hasn't moved the debate in Washington. Let's listen quickly to the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Later today, we expect the president to talk about the weather at the White House. Presumably he'll use the platform to call for a national energy tax. I'm sure he'll get loud cheers from liberal elites. From the kind of people who leave a giant carbon footprint and then lecture everybody else about low-flow toilets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, Ryan Lizza is with us now to discuss this. He's CNN political commentator, and also Washington correspondent for the "New Yorker."

You know, Ryan, we talked a lot already about the contents of the report here. It says global warming is here. It's here already. But first, I want to get your take on the politics of this. Mitch McConnell's suggestion that this is a class issue by slamming what he called elites. What do you make of this?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's probably indicative of the fact that he is, you know, he is up for reelection this year, in the coal states. And let's be honest, the way to deal with climate change, producing electricity using coal, is going to have to get more expensive if we want to do anything about reducing carbon. And so, you know, folks from states that still rely on those energy sources are not excited about doing anything that increases the cost of coal. I think it's as simple as that.

You know, climate change is one of those very strange issues, where the scientific community has no debate that it is happening, but politically it's so far off the most dire consequences from climate change, is so far off, that it's really difficult for our political system to do anything about it, because our political system only responds to emergencies, the one who response on things that are immediate crises.

And I think what the White House is trying to say today is, it's here. Look at these pictures. This is no longer something that is far off into the future. But as Mitch McConnell's comments made clear, our political system is not even close to addressing this issue.

KEILAR: So what break down the politics of this election year for us. And also, I mean, it's important to note that when you're talking about climate change, you're talking about energy states. This is not along a party line all the time. But talk about what the White House is hoping to get here, and sort of how this plays into midterm elections, even for both parties.

LIZZA: It's complicated. As many of your viewers know, the Democrats are playing defense in the midterms this year. A lot of the seats in the Senate that they are defending are in places where climate change is not the most important issue for voters, to say the least. So in a sense, I think a lot of the Senate Democrats up for reelection in tough races, this is probably not the issue they want to talk about. On the other hand, the other story of this election is the tale of two electorates. It's Democrats and the Obama White House trying to activate the electorate from 2012, that included a lot of voters who don't get very excited and don't vote in midterms. Now, one group of voters that voted for the president, but is not likely to vote this year, are young voters. Millennials.

KEILAR: Yes.

LIZZA: Yes. They're not that excited about Obama anymore, the polls show. But what's an issue they care about a lot? Climate change. You know, I think that's something that I think could help. So that is why -- I think the White House thinks it can activate those voters. And then the donor base of the Democratic Party cares a lot about this issue.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a big issue for them. They want more from President Obama on this.

Ryan Lizza, thanks so much.

LIZZA: Yes.

KEILAR: Really appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Now coming up, Monica Lewinsky speaking out nearly 20 years after the scandal that rocked the oval office. What she's saying now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: It's been more than ten years since Monica Lewinsky has spoken about her affair with president Bill Clinton back in 2002. She was over him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONICA LEWINSKY, REPORTED TO HAD AN AFFAIR WITH BILL CLINTON: My heart certainly doesn't beat like it used to. And I don't get excited. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angry some days. But I really have worked hard to put a lot of the anger, disappointment in the past. And a lot of -- I've really worked on moving forward and kind of looking at my future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now we're learning that her future was never able to shake the scandal of her internship and his impeachment. Lewinsky writes in the June issue of "Vanity Fair" that she had suicidal thoughts because of the ordeal.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joining me to talk about this.

Suzanne, you covered this scandal back in 1998. Lewinsky is now 40- years-old. Does she have a new perspective on what she did in her 20s?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brianna, it certainly seems like she's grown up here and she puts it in perspective. You know, I used to see her 16 years ago, when we covered her at the Watergate apartment complex, where we take her out, and she was always gracious, friendly. You know, you kept her at D.C. coffee shop. But it was a very tough time for her at the time. And she completely disappeared after the trial.

And as you mentioned, she was 24 at the time. She's now 40. And she gives us a sense of what her life has been like since. She moved to London. She got a master's degree at the London school of Economics, she was in L.A., in New York, and Portland. So she's really like moved around.

And she also said she's had a lot of difficulty holding down a job. You know, various startups. She turned down a $10 million job offer because it wasn't the right thing to do. So she wants to reveal a little bit about what she thought of this affair. And how she saw her relationship with the president.

And she says, quite frankly, she says, look, realistically, my boss took advantage of me. But I will always remain firm on this point. It was a consensual relationship. Any abuse came in the aftermath when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor's minions, prosecutors on both sides of the aisle and media were able to brand me. That brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power.

So, she is really kind of get the sense of this is what happened to her. As for her feelings about the first lady at the time, Hillary Clinton, Clinton in the past, she has referred to her as a narcissistic loony tune. That came out previously. Monica Lewinsky said, if that's the worst thing she said, I should be so lucky.

But then she also makes this very serious point. She says, and I'm quoting here, "yes, I get it, Hillary Clinton wanted it on record that she was lashing out at her husband's mistress. She may have faulted her husband for being inappropriate, but I find her impulse to blame the woman, not only me, but herself troubling."

So, she's done a lot of growing this last ten years -- Bri.

KEILAR: Yes. Because Hillary Clinton wondered if certainly or she had said, I think as well in those records, that she felt perhaps she had been emotionally neglectful and that was the cause.

Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much for that.

And coming up, the legal troubles for Donald Sterling are just getting warmed up. So what he is defense game plan? That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling says he won't sell his team, but the legal battle could get ugly. CNN's Kyung Lah looks at Sterling's legal challenges and potential game plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Clippers launch into the second round of play-offs, another court is warming up, the legal court. At center, embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

DARREN KAVINOKY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The only limitation is a lawyer's creativity in terms of who to sue, and how to sue, to really drag this thing out.

LAH: Playing defense, says Attorney Darren Kavinoky, is Sterling's first move after the NBA banned him from the league for life. Despite the harsh ban, L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti told CBS' "Face The Nation," that he spoke with the 80-year-old billionaire who doesn't fully realize the effects of his now infamous racist remarks.

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI, LOS ANGELES: I think he thinks he's going to be the owner for a lock time, that he wants to stay the owner. I said, this would be a long, protracted fight.

LAH: In Los Angeles, Sterling has a long history of civil court cases. Potential players in this legal battle, the NBA. Now the commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling, the league says it will begin a search for a new Clippers CEO.

KAVINOKY: His legal defense would be that by trying to force him out, that the league has actually violated the contract.

LAH: It may not stop with the league. There's also the NBA owners. Three-quarters of the current owners must agree to force Sterling out. He could then sue them for unfairly ganging up on him.

Potentially the most powerful player in all of this, his wife, Shelly Sterling. In a statement, Mrs. Sterling says of the commissioner's ban of her husband, I fully supported his recent swift and divisive action. While it seems to undermine her husband, don't be so quick to bench this player, says Kavinoky.

KAVINOKY: In one sense, her interests are very much aligned with Donald. That is, the one winning play for Donald and his heirs, which presumably would include Shelly, would be making this litigation so protracted, and so complex, that the court case outlives Donald sterling.

LAH: Why? For the lucrative end game, avoid taxes on a forced and rapid sale of the team. With Sterling alive, a sale today means a potential tax on hundreds of millions in profits. As an inheritance, that tax shrinks significantly. That's why lawyers believe that Sterling may even had to divorce forth as a strategic move, adding yet another court and a layer of litigation.

What about the player who started it all, V. Stiviano? The lady hiding behind a visor. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Stiviano said Sterling is not a racist. But his words don't match what he feels.

V. STIVIANO, DONALD STERLING'S EX-GIRLFRIEND: I'm Mr. Sterling's right hand armed man. I'm Mr. Sterling everything. I'm his (INAUDIBLE), his best friend, his silly rabbit.

LAH: Is she a part of all of this legal maneuvering behind this?

KAVINOKY: Somehow I'm skeptical that she is a real player in all of this. Maybe there's a short-lived TV show in her future. I don't see this as being a long-term play for Ms. Stiviano.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Sterling moving forward with his legal play, reportedly calling major law firms. TMZ is reporting that he has reached out to the very same lawyers who represented Paula Deen in the wake of her N-word scandal.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)