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Climate Change Debate; Missing Nigerian Girls; Ukraine on the Brink

Aired May 06, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Brooke Baldwin. Great to have you with us on this Tuesday.

The first warnings emerged more than 100 years ago, but today a team of scientists say that the team for dire predictions -- the time for dire predictions is over, that global climate change is here, it is here right now, and we are all being affected, longer, hotter summers, drought, and extreme weather patterns across the U.S.

The thick report concludes that climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present. That is a quote.

And there is politics here, of course. The report was released by the White House and immediately rapped by Republicans. That said, supporters of stronger government action to meet this challenge say the study could be a game-changer.

With us now from Atlanta, professor Marshall Shepherd. He is a noted authority on climate change. And he's with the University of Georgia. And from here in Washington, White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.

Great to have you with us.

MARSHALL SHEPHERD, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Thank you.

BROWN: Marshall Shepherd, I want to start with you.

What do you make of this climate change report? What's new here that really jumps out to you?

SHEPHERD: Well, what's new to me is that the report is so consistent.

It's bringing the specter of future climate change into the present. I think the public thinks this is something far off. But a year or two ago, during drought, they were paying more for their Cheerios and for their bread because of drought. There are issues that really affect their lives.

The other thing that really jumped out to me is that we're seeing sea level rise and melting in the Arctic much faster than even the projections would have said even several years ago. And these things actually have links back to our life here in the U.S. It's not just about polar bears. BROWN: Michelle, I want to go to you to talk about sort of the political implications here. Some Republicans have come out and said the timing, the release of this report is convenient. Of course, the whole debate over the Keystone pipeline taking center stage in the Senate this week, how could that impact things?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

Well, I know there's an energy efficient bill -- efficiency bill coming up in the Senate really right now, but the thought is that they're going to be these amendments trying to tack on there like Keystone. That is an issue that's not going away, even though the White House has kind of delayed it as long as they possibly can, it seems.

So there has been criticism. I think it's interesting now that when you see the criticism from the other side of this assessment, it's not so much denying climate change outright anymore; it's the politics of it. Yes, it's saying, well, why -- is this going to become a way then for the administration to try to impose greater taxes, things like taxes on gas and other fossil fuels?

The administration could be focusing on other things that are more important. Just today, one congressman said that it should be -- the focus should be elsewhere, for instance, on America's treatment of veterans. So they're not necessarily criticizing the substance of the report, although there has been some, certain language that's in there and things like that.

But it's mostly the politics of it. But what the White House has said is, they're basically not going to let Congress stand in their way for pushing this year of action, as they have portrayed it, for the second-term push for more climate action, things like imposing greater restrictions on emissions, on industry, on coal-fired plants, that the administration wants to bypass Congress altogether through these executive actions and executive orders that the president, we know, has planned.

Is there a timeline for more of these actions that will go through the Clean Air Act or EPA? No, not necessarily. In fact, just today, the administration said there is no timeline for that. But I think we can be assured that we're going to be seeing -- we're going to be seeing President Obama taking some action outside of Congress, because there's virtually no chance of some of this getting passed in that way -- Pamela.

BROWN: And, of course, the White House suggesting that this report is a game-changer.

Marshall Shepherd, I want to go back to you. We can trace the first climate change warnings back to the 1800s. Whose fault is it that we are where we are, in your opinion?

SHEPHERD: Well, it's interesting, because, oftentimes, I will have someone walk up to me in the grocery store and say, Dr. Shepherd, you know the climate changes naturally. I said, I certainly do. I shouldn't have my Ph.D. if I didn't know that.

But we know that human beings are contributing. We figured out how to burn fossil fuels in 1850. And we're outside that natural bound that we have seen in sort of rising CO2 and temperature.

But I want to get back to a point in terms of how we're thinking about this from a policy standpoint. Climate change directly impacts national security, the economy, agriculture, transportation. There's results in this report that suggest that it is raining much harder than it did 30, 40 years ago.

That overwhelms storm management and city planning systems. Farmers have to think about drought-resistant seeding. The national military -- I was on a National Academy, a study panel for the Navy. They're concerned about things like political destabilization from climate refugees.

So, there are all kinds of issues that I know that our stakeholders and policy-makers that are concerned about that are directly traceable back to this science study. So, we can't be dismissive of this as some sort of egghead science that we shouldn't be concerned about.

BROWN: But you have the deniers out there, Marshall. Do you think they're going to keep denying? Do you think this debate will ever end?

SHEPHERD: Oh, sure.

I have talked for length about the zombie theories that are out there, these theories that just live on, even though the science has refuted it. They just kind of live on like zombies. Oh, it's the sun, natural variability. There's a pause.

The science has dealt with these things. Upton Sinclair said it best. It's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. That particular quote sets the context for why we have some of the discussions that we have.

I kind of steer clear of that. The science is clear; 97 percent of us that publish and speak on the science have known this for a while. So, there's a lot of noise out there, but I try to stay focused on the signal.

BROWN: Michelle, as we mentioned, this report was released by the White House. Is there any indication that there was any sort of political intervention with this report?

KOSINSKI: I mean, I think that the detractors out there will say, well, look, this was commissioned by a White House, by an administration that has an agenda to advance, especially in President Obama's second term.

But these are scientists who, when asked, will stand behind the science of what they're doing. And for every detractor out there, of course there's a response not only from the administration, but from the scientists themselves, Pamela. BROWN: All right. Michelle Kosinski, Marshall Shepherd, thank you both.

SHEPHERD: Thank you.

BROWN: The offer is on the table. But the question remains, is the U.S. headed to Nigeria to help find hundreds of missing kidnapped schoolgirls?

Three weeks have passed since more than 200 students were snatched during a fiery attack on their school. And, today, CNN learned that eight more girls have been taken, reportedly by the Boko Haram, the same group that claimed responsibility for the April 14 kidnappings.

The latest violent abductions happened overnight on Sunday in the village in northeast Nigeria. Witnesses say the eight girls, ages 12 to 15, were stolen by armed men who raided homes there.

And just moments ago, Secretary of State John Kerry called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to reiterate President Obama's offer to help. That conversation was followed by a statement from Nigeria that says its president welcomed and accepted the assistance. The aid would include an intelligence team on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Today, I spoke with President Goodluck Jonathan, on behalf of President Obama, and offered -- on behalf of President Obama, offered America's support for Nigeria in their response to this crisis.

Our embassy in Abuja is prepared to form a coordination cell that could provide expertise on intelligence, investigations, and hostage negotiations, and to help facilitate information-sharing and victim assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Isha Sesay is in Nigeria for us.

And, Isha, why is it taking so long for the government to formally accept a full offer of international help? It all still seems a bit ambiguous. And have they also welcomed an offer from the U.K.?

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Pam.

Well, to the best of our knowledge, the Nigerian government -- and we saw that in the statement put out by State House, the office of the presidency. They have accepted this offer from the United States. We heard details of what that assistance would look like.

The Nigerian government has been saying for weeks now that they have the capability, they're able to handle this on their own. But maybe it's just simply a case of the reality that this is much more difficult than they maybe anticipated, and that they have now come to the realization that, after three weeks, or at the point of three weeks, they need to accept help, the Nigerian government saying on camera on Sunday that they have no idea where these girls are.

I will say to you that it will be very welcome news to many in this country, especially, especially the parents of these 200-plus girls, to hear that the United States is getting involved, and to hear that the Nigerian government has welcomed and formally accepted their offer of help.

When it comes to the United Kingdom, unclear as to what the situation is there. We know that an offer of help has been extended. We have not heard of any formal statements from the office of the presidency as to whether that has been accepted, Pamela.

BROWN: And what has Nigeria's response to the reports of these additional kidnappings of those eight girls -- what has the response been from the government there, and what search efforts has the government deployed thus far?

SESAY: Well, I just spoke to two government officials just a short time ago.

And I spoke to the president's senior special assistant on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and he said that they were mobilizing troops, and that they were stepping up efforts and they were going after the assailants and those that captured these eight girls.

Again, these are words that they uttered when it came to the abduction of the 200-plus girls, and the feeling on the ground is, you uttered words, but you didn't give us details of the action that was being taken. And, in fact, added to that, the parents on the ground from the area that the girls were snatched from said, we didn't see much activity on the ground.

So, again, they're saying that they're doing everything they can to find these eight girls, this latest group of girls that have been kidnapped. We will continue to press for more information, because we need to know the details as to what exactly is being done, Pamela.

BROWN: Absolutely, we do. Isha Sesay, thank you so much.

And we have more coverage of the missing girls throughout the hour, including how social media has played a role in the search. The hashtag #bringbackourgirls helped bring awareness to the cause. But does activism on social media make us less likely to do more?

Plus, is Ukraine on the edge of all-out war? Several countries came together to talk about that fear and see what can be done to stop it.

And then how a spy plane from the last century snarled air traffic at one of the world's biggest airports and led to delays across the country -- those stories and more right after this break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A U.S. commander says Russian planes are flying close to the Californian coast, flexing their muscle in a show of strength over the crisis in Ukraine.

The battles for control in Eastern Ukraine have the region living in fear. In town of Slavyansk, Ukrainian forces are intent on dislodging pro-Russian militants, resulting in a deadly day four for both sides.

And at a Council of Europe meeting in Vienna, the crisis took center stage there. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it unusual that Ukraine is planning an election while its army is deployed in its own cities.

Joining me now, Nick Paton Walsh, senior international correspondent.

Nick, you're near Slavyansk, the site of the most recent violence we just talked about. Was are you seeing there right now? And was it necessary for Ukraine to push back here?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Ukraine said it had to retake this town, held now for weeks by pro-Russian militants.

And we saw yesterday their efforts to send troops down the main highway into the town. They lost four of their own soldiers, and the militant spokesman said that they lost 10 pro-Russian...

BROWN: I lost -- all right, we seem to have lost him. Of course, we will try to get back to him later in the show.

Meantime, we want to move on to other news at this hour.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is one of the city's most famous landmarks. And it's the site of a huge battle over human rights. That protest is drawing some big names, too, celebrities, including Jay Leno, lending their fame to these causes. So, does it help them get the attention they need or turn us off to both the cause and the celebrities?

More on that right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: So, here are two names you probably would never have put together, Jay Leno and Brunei.

The celeb and the Sultanate, which is next door to Malaysia, by the way, they're on opposing sides right now. Why, you ask? Well, because Brunei has become the first East Asian country to adopt the strict Islamic criminal code of Sharia law.

More now from CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The toney Beverly Hills Hotel, for decades a haven for Hollywood's elite, but now some stars are rushing for the exits.

JAY LENO, FORMER HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": I know a number of people are canceling events at the hotel, and it's all economic.

ROWLANDS: Jay Leno, his wife, Mavis, and actress Frances Fisher were among those who took part in a demonstration across from the landmark hotel Monday protesting, not the hotel, per se, but its ownership, an investment group controlled by the sultan of Brunei.

LENO: We're just making people aware.

ROWLANDS: They want people to be aware of new Sharia laws being implemented in Brunei, a Muslim majority country in Southeast Asia. The sultan has praised the laws, which provide for the stoning of anyone found guilty of adultery or homosexuality.

LENO: It's not a political issue. This is not something that's debatable. It's people being stoned to death. Hello?

ROWLANDS: Ellen DeGeneres and Richard Branson have also announced they won't patronize the hotel or other properties in the Dorchester group of luxury hotels. The talk show host tweeted, "I won't be visiting the Hotel Bel Air or the Beverly Hills Hotel until this is resolved."

CHRISTOPHER COWDRAY, CEO, THE DORCHESTER COLLECTION: The actions they're taking are unfounded.

ROWLANDS: But Christopher Cowdray, CEO of the Dorchester Collection, says celebrities and groups shunning the company's hotels put their focus in the wrong place.

COWDRAY: It's going to hurt our employees, and they have -- this has nothing to do with them, you know, whatsoever. It's not their fight.

ROWLANDS: He says celebrities wanting to influence politics in Brunei would be better off lobbying the U.S. State Department to take action. In fact, at a Monday briefing, State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf addressed developments in Brunei.

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Let me be clear that we have very serious concerns.

ROWLANDS: Harf was asked whether U.S. diplomats ever stay in Dorchester Collection hotels while on business.

HARF: I can check. I don't know the answer.

ROWLANDS: Government officials in Beverly Hills are taking a stand.

Mayor Lili Bosse is introducing a resolution before the city council that would urge the sultan to divest his interest in the hotel that bears the city's name.

LILI BOSSE, MAYOR OF BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: We have a history of standing strong against injustice.

ROWLANDS: The legendary property has been around for over 100 years, even longer than Beverly Hills itself. BOSSE: The resolution is not a call for a boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel. But this is really a focus on the government and their laws, and not a statement about the hotel.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: All right, let's go now to senior media correspondent and host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter.

Great to have you here with us, Brian.

I first want to ask you, so this boycott has gone beyond demonstrations, as we see. It's really having an impact on the hotel's bottom line. And, by the way, this is not just any hotel. This is a very well-known, prestigious hotel there in L.A.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: When I used to be out in Los Angeles doing reporting for "The New York Times" about TV, these are the hotels that the Hollywood bigwigs would always want to meet at.

BROWN: Yes, that's right.

STELTER: This is where they want to have coffee or drinks. These are important brands out in Hollywood.

And Bloomberg reported today that at least nine entertainment industry events have been withdrawn from these hotels, also three events over in Europe at hotels that are part of this chain. So, it is having an impact on the bottom line.

BROWN: Do you think celebrities taking up causes actually makes the media pay more attention, and then the public as a whole?

STELTER: Well, the headline "Celebrities boycott" is a catchy headline. It's the kind of headline that we're more likely to click than -- than not.

Having Jay Leno, for example, at that protest was a big deal. It was a pretty small protest. But cameras were guaranteed to show up when they knew that Jay Leno was going to be there. And he made for quite a spokesman when he was talking to that CNN crew and others.

So, it does bring a lot to the table. And it also helps that this particular protest started with -- with people that were already elite in their industry. You know, it started with designers and with others that were big names, big shots within the industry, not household names, not Jay Leno, but big players within the industry that they were in.

Then it took off from there, not totally. It wasn't that they were obscure to begin with. It's happened before as well. Remember Kony 2012 a couple of years ago, that campaign against that African guerrilla warlord? Well, that started in large part because celebrities were the ones tweeting and Facebooking, getting people to watch the YouTube video that then got it all going.

BROWN: Yes. It's amazing to see these -- so many celebrities, especially, take to social media like Twitter. We saw Ellen DeGeneres do this with this -- with this story, and really making their voices heard. And it seems like we're going to continue to see that.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BROWN: A growing outcry in Nigeria and around the world: Bring back our girls. And this disaster, it could not come at a worse time for Nigeria. It's welcoming the world to a huge economic forum this week.

And if you're waiting for the catastrophe of climate change to hit, the wait is over. That's according to a new report that says no corner of our world is immune to changes, and they're coming faster and harsher than anyone predicted.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: First on CNN, there is a personal plea from 20 female senators to President Obama. They want the U.S. to do more in Nigeria to help find the abducted girls there. CNN has obtained a letter that they wrote to the president.

And it says -- quote -- "While we applaud the initial U.S. condemnation of the kidnapping, we believe there is much more that the United States government should do to make clear that such an attack will not be tolerated. We urge you to press for the addition of Boko Haram and Ansaru to the United Nations Security Council's al Qaeda sanctions list, the mechanism by which international sanctions are imposed on al Qaeda and al Qaeda-linked organizations."

CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill and just spoke to two of the senators who signed that letter -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela.

Sure. It was the Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, and Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. They led this letter, but all 20 female senators signed it.

And what was really noteworthy and newsworthy in the interview I just did was that they went beyond what they called for in this letter.