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Obama to Outline Foreign Policy; Classes Resume Today at UC Santa Barbara; Snowden: I Was Trained As A Spy; Donald Sterling Fights to Keep Clippers

Aired May 28, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You have just made every woman in America very angry, Chris Cuomo.

Kate, you look beautiful.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going to support you for a second there.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I love you, girl.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That's all right.

COSTELLO: I'll let you guys fight among yourselves. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

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COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me.

Next hour President Obama faces the next generation of military leaders and outlines his foreign policy for a nation weary from a decade of war. He will deliver the commencement speech just over an hour from now at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It will stress the value of international cooperation in dealing with crises and avoid the open-ended conflicts that left American troops bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And just a day after Obama revealed his plans for the final U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a reminder of the dangers that still fester there. A U.S. consulate vehicle is attacked and two Americans injured.

Critics are sure to say it's another example of a weakened president defied on the world stage and no longer packing the threat of swift and decisive military action.

Last hour on CNN Secretary of State John Kerry pushed back against those who say Obama backed down during Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is very clear that the opposite of what you just laid out has happened. Putin was threatening to come in with troops. In fact, those troops are now being withdrawn. They've had a successful election for a president of Ukraine. I think the president's policy has worked. I think the European alliance has been strengthened. The unity between Europe and the United States is what has empowered this election to take place and made it clear to Russia that the west is unified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's peel away some of those layers. Michelle Kosinski is at the White House. And in London, chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is standing by.

Michelle, I want to start with you. What do you expect the president to say today?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think what's most -- the most interesting coming up out of this is that we are going to hear some announcement on Syria. We know now that it's going to include some increase in assistance to the moderate Syrian opposition. But Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, just left a sort of cliff- hanger for us. He gave a briefing as the president is on the weight of this speech.

And he was asked, you know, is this going to mean military training for those opposition fighters as has been sort of talked about these last two days. But he said I'm going to leave it to the president on that. So we're just going to have to wait and see what President Obama is going to say. Whether this actually means military training.

However, I will say that Secretary of State Kerry, in doing these interviews today with broadcast networks, did say in no uncertain terms that this would be no American boots on the ground. And so we know that it's going to be some additional assistance.

Also, the president is going to announce what he would like to see happen to be approved by Congress, this anti-terrorism fund, that would be a partnership involving a number of nations that would train other countries to fight radical -- to fight terrorist elements within those countries. The problem is -- CNN's Barbara Starr brought up a good point on that. Even if this does go through and it would be about $5 billion ideally, would it really work?

Because in some of the countries where an effort like that would be most useful or most needed, those are the places where the governments are most changeable or undefined, most difficult to work with, in enacting something like that. So there are obviously some questions surrounding this. But Syria seems to be one area in this address where the president can be proactive and make a real announcement that could change things in the near future -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll see. OK, Michelle Kosinski, stand by.

Let's go to Jim Sciutto in London. Jim, you've traveled world. You just got back from Ukraine. The rub on President Obama is he's weak on the world stage. Does the world perceive the U.S. president as weak?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the harsh answer is yes, in some places. I think they can be an exaggerated point of view because, you know, the U.S. -- and I've spent a lot of time overseas going back to the George W. Bush days, you know, you're either too hot or too cold. Right? You know, in the Bush days U.S. is too aggressive. Many will say now the Obama presidency not aggressive enough.

Meanwhile, there is more respect out there than I think we acknowledge in these places because people know that there's a weight that the U.S. carries that other countries can't compete with. That said, there are questions about the Obama foreign policy. And this speech comes at a crucial time and a difficult time for his foreign policy. Crucial because halfway through his second term he's talking now about foreign policy decisions that are going to define his legacy.

Difficult because so many of the foreign policy challenges now are in extremely challenging phases. Michelle mentioned Syria, two years into that war, 100,000 dead. You cannot argue that U.S. policy has worked there. Libya, you successfully deposed Moammar Gadhafi but you can't argue that that is a stable country either.

You know, the signature foreign policy move by the Obama administration was the pivot to Asia. Of course that's been dragged back by events in the Middle East and even events now in Europe, right, with the crisis in Ukraine. And although it was a largely successful election there on the weekend, big portions of the eastern part of that country did not vote, 10 percent, 15 percent turnout because Russian-backed militants are still operating, as we saw there, with free reign.

So, you know, this is an extremely challenging time for foreign policy. And even if it is exaggerated that America is weak on the global stage, there are real questions out there, but also here at home about what exactly is the Obama foreign policy. How do you tie all these regions and these efforts together. What is the driving force? What is the mission? Is the mission just reducing expectations of what America can accomplish?

That's one of the chief criticisms. And that will -- that will be one of the key challenges for the president today, to define how you tie all these things together. What is the mission statement for Obama foreign policy? That's what's been lacking. And I think that's what they're going to attempt to put out there today.

COSTELLO: Right. Yes. But we'll be listening.

Michelle Kosinski, Jim Sciutto, many thanks to you.

And again, stay with CNN as we await President Obama's expected speech on foreign policy, it should come your way about 10:15 Eastern Time. We have a team of correspondents and analysts ready to discuss it all. Our special coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, as we look at West Point right now.

The difficult task of returning life to normal begins today on the campus of UC Santa Barbara as classes resumed for the first time since one man's killing spree ended with six students dead. It comes one day after 20,000 stand shoulder to shoulder calling for an end to gun violence.

Stephanie Elam is in Santa Barbara this morning.

Good morning, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It was a moving vigil that was just the beginning of the long road back to healing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD MARTINEZ, SON SHOT AND KILLED BY ELLIOT RODGER: Not one more. Not one more.

ELAM (voice-over): Chanting to end gun violence, around 20,000 people packed a UC Santa Barbara stadium.

JANET NAPOLITANO, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: We are here because we want to share memories of the young lives struck down far too soon.

ELAM: Honoring all six victims murdered in the killing spree at the hand of 22- year-old Elliot Rodger, speakers demanding change so that a deadly rampage like this does not happen again.

MARTINEZ: How many more people are going to have to die in this situation before the problem gets solved?

ELAM: Already, one proposed change. Two California assembly members announcing legislation Tuesday. Leaders on the national level speaking out as well.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: There are compromises that will save lives. Keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people, whether they're severely mentally ill or felons or drug addicts. Background checks will help stem and stop gun violence.

ELAM: More vigils were held across Santa Barbara, as video and stories of heroism emerged. This surveillance video capturing students inside a pizza parlor ducking and scrambling for cover as the gunman driving by fires inside.

RANJEET THIARA, 7-ELEVEN STORE OWNER: People are panicking. So, you know, I tell them, I said don't worry. Everything is fine. Let's just get back there.

ELAM: And a Good Samaritan, the clerk of a 7-Eleven ran outside to help a cyclist who was shot, pulling her to safety and telling her she would survive. THIARA: We got a stool and we put her down right here. You know, and we sat her down. And you could see she had, you know, two gunshots right here, so you could kind of see the bullets.

ELAM: Twelve others were injured as Rodger fired round after round.

This morning classes at the university are set to resume.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And those two California Democrats plan to introduce a bill that would basically keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and would allow loved ones if they know of someone who is mentally ill and who could potentially become violent to alert authorities and hopefully intervene before they could go out and buy guns -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Stephanie Elam reporting live this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, explosive new claims from Edward Snowden who says if you think he was just a whistleblower and a desk jockey, you're wrong. He was actually a spy.

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COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 13 minutes past. The House Veterans Affairs Committee meets tonight to review dozens of suspicious deaths at the VA hospital in Phoenix. In a story that CNN uncovered, the facility allegedly hid patients on waiting lists and some later died. Three top VA officials have been asked to appear at this hearing. Republicans are threatening to subpoena them if they do not show up.

The White House is asking its top lawyer to find out -- find out how the identity of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan was inadvertently revealed. It happened Sunday when the president made a surprise visit to U.S. troops. The names of everyone attending a briefing with the president including that CIA chief were e-mailed to thousands of people on the White House mailing list.

A big night for the Tea Party in Texas. Winning two primary runoffs. CNN projects former U.S. attorney John Ratcliffe beating 91-year-old Representative Ralph Hall, and forcing the House's oldest member to surrender his seat. Conservative talk radio host Dan Patrick won the nomination for lieutenant governor over David Dewhurst who was running for a fourth term.

Police in Canada used Facebook to find a baby who was snatched from a hospital hours after she was born. They posted a picture of the suspect who was disguised as a nurse. The suspect's friends recognized her and called police.

And that was the mother's reaction after police brought her baby back. The hospital says it's going to bring in experts to get answers on how such a kidnapping could have gone down.

Edward Snowden was a spy. That's what he told NBC. The man who leaked 1,000 NSA documents says he was not a low level systems administrator but a CIA spy.

As you know, for nearly a year, Edward Snowden has been exiled in Russia, unable to leave after blowing the lid on the spying program and earning charges of espionage. Now, the man known as a whistle- blower is breaking the silence about the other key role he claims to have served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA WHISTLEBLOWER: I was trained as a spy in the traditional sense of the world. I worked for the Central Intelligence Agency under cover, overseas. I worked for the National Security Agency under cover, overseas. And I worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency as a lecturer at the Joint Counter Intelligence Training Academy where I developed sources and methods for keeping our information and people secure in the most hostile and dangerous environments around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Wow, joining me now for some perspective, Bob Baer, CNN national security analyst and a former CIA operative.

Welcome.

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Was Snowden really a spy?

BAER: No. I wonder about his credibility now. When he was in Geneva, he was a systems administrator. The CIA doesn't take contractors and turn them into spies.

Yes, he had some sort of cover. Yes, he had a name he used in correspondents when he communicated with Langley. But he wasn't a spy. And the National Security Agency doesn't have spies overseas.

So, I have no idea what he's talking about. I do wonder about him now.

COSTELLO: How so?

BAER: Well, I mean what can you believe? He wasn't a spy. He didn't get training. He wasn't a spy in the traditional sense.

So, what else can we believe and not believe?

I mean, clearly, the documents he hacked from the national security agency are legitimate. But his personal credibility, I wonder about.

COSTELLO: Well, you know what Snowden says. He says the government is trying to discredit him by down playing his true position. Americans are split on Snowden.

Why would he lie about such a thing? If he were somewhat of a spy wouldn't that more easily explain how he had access to all those records, all those papers?

BAER: No. It's just -- the National Security Agency is sloppy in compartmenting its files. He was able to get through those fire walls, get into them and read them. I'm sure he's very good at hacking.

Trust me, Carol, he was not a spy. I spent too long in this profession. It's not possible in any sense. Everything I've heard, he was a systems administrator.

And again, the National Security Agency does not have spies overseas. It's got people that monitor computers and the rest that sit in a vault. I would hardly call that being a spy.

COSTELLO: So another facet of Snowden's interview with NBC, he told Brian Williams the only reason he's in Russia is because the United States canceled his visa into other countries. Secretary of State Kerry says Snowden is a fugitive and that's why other countries won't allow him to cross their borders.

I think we have sound from John Kerry. Do we?

I'm asking my producers.

No sound. Anyway, John Kerry said that Snowden, in essence, is not a patriot and he should come back to the United States to face the music.

But by granting all these interviews, and I'm talking about Edward Snowden now, is he sort of paving the way back to the United States you think?

BAER: I can't believe that we would just overlook this. He's done more damage to U.S. intelligence than anybody I can remember. I don't like the National Security Agency snooping into my phone and keeping databases on Americans. It's unnecessary. It's subject to abuse. I fully agree with that.

But, on the other hand, fleeing to Russia, in my terms, I mean, it's an enemy of the United States, whether we like it or not. Let's don't forget Crimea. Let's don't forget the Ukraine. They are not our friends.

He went to the other side and that's a real problem for especially people like me that worked in the Cold War.

COSTELLO: Bob Baer, thanks so much for your insight. I appreciate it this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Sterling responds to the NBA's charges against him. We'll look into his key arguments for keeping the Clippers.

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COSTELLO: Surprise, surprise. Donald Sterling will now fight to keep the L.A. Clippers to the bloody end, never mind that agreement with his wife Shelly to sell the team to a worthy bidder, Sterling has disavowed it.

All of this comes after Donald Sterling sent a 26-page response to the NBA on the charges levied against them. So, it's a given. The league will go ahead with a June 3rd hearing and vote on Sterling's ownership.

Sports attorney David Cornwell joins me to parse this out.

Thanks for being here.

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Carol. Thank you.

COSTELLO: You've read the entire 26-page letter I understand.

CORNWELL: Yes, I have.

COSTELLO: As did I. And he has a couple of good points I think. So, let's go through them.

So, he says he was -- Donald Sterling says he was illegally recorded during a private conversation, what he calls an inflamed lovers quarrel in his home. Do NBA guidelines cover what is said privately in your home?

CORNWELL: Certainly, the argument looks good on its face. The problem is this is a private organization. It's not a government act. Private organizations have self-governing. One of the crowning features of self governing is uniformity.

There are 15 states that are one-party consent states. Meaning, only one party has to consent, 15 states with NBA teams in there, so if this has happened in one of those states, for example, Utah, then that owner under Sterling's argument could, in fact, be disciplined. So the answer is, if one can, all can, because uniformity is important.

COSTELLO: That is such a lawyer argument, David.

CORNWELL: It's a private organization. He waived this right when he became a member of the NBA and signed joint venture agreements, all sorts of agreements, he waived this right.

COSTELLO: See, that's why you're the brilliant lawyer and I'm not. He says the punishment is proportionally disproportion, talking about Kobe Bryant getting fined $100,000 for unleashing a gay slur at a referee. He also refers to the NBA taking no action about a comment against people with HIV/AIDS.

Is there a double standard here?

CORNWELL: No, not all breaches are equal. I've been saying for a while there are kryptonite issues in sports. Gambling is one. Over last 20 years, steroids has become another. And now, with Donald Sterling, the third kryptonite issue, racism. It's just treated differently.

COSTELLO: It's caused such a backlash in the country, too. So, that has to enter into the owner's decision as well, right?

CORNWELL: Absolutely. Material adverse impact. He argues -- well, I don't know if I've lost sponsors, I don't know if I've lost ticket sales.

He puts on blinders and ignores how America has uniformly condemned this man for the vile opinions he expressed. That's a material adverse impact on the league.

COSTELLO: OK. Here's the last point. He says, the owners have prejudged him before next week's hearing. Already making public comments showing support for the NBA's move. How does he get a fair hearing if the owners have already come out against him?

CORNWELL: Well, if he raised points that warrant reconsideration of the charge in his answer, then the owners would reconsider. What he is doing is essentially arguing that the owners can't do what he says in his answer he can do. He says he can express opinions with impunity. Why can't the other owners express their opinions with impunity?

COSTELLO: That's a good one.

You know, the sad thing about all this is to think that this action by Donald Sterling is going to accomplish, it's going to drag this out for a long period of time. I can't see how that can be avoided.

CORNWELL: It can't be avoided. It's really unfortunate, because this is the flagship period for NBA during the play-offs, going into the finals and Donald Sterling is diverting focus from OKC coming back two games with Ibaka rejoining the team, to Donald Sterling and his defense to the charges.

This is unfortunate for the NBA, and his defense is having a material adverse impact on the league.

COSTELLO: So, if you were a betting man, how will this turn out?

CORNWELL: He's gone, absolutely.

COSTELLO: And he can't drag it out to next season and the players won't boycott?

CORNWELL: Well, I don't think there's any chance that Donald Sterling will be involved in the clippers next year and I don't think the players will boycott as long as the league is acting in good faith and moving towards removing him as an owner.

COSTELLO: I hope you're right. David Cornwell, thanks so much.

CORNWELL: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a president accused of being weak mounts a show of force. We'll look ahead to President Obama's speech at West Point and the military's role in his reshaped foreign policy.

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