Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Hillary Says She Was Broke When She Left White House; 20th Anniversary of O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase; Obama Announces Student Debt Relief; Croc Kills Boater in Australia; Fenway Charity Softball for Vets
Aired June 09, 2014 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Bill and Hillary are thought to be worth more than $100 million, not too shabby when you consider that Bill Clinton owned a 1967 Mustang and not much else when first elected president.
They were even worse off, says Hillary Clinton now, when they left the White House with Bill's legal bills.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We came out of the White House not only dead broke but in debt.
We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to piece together resources for mortgages for houses, for Chelsea's education. It was not easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Speeches and books are what made the Clintons wealthy, and now Hillary Clinton, as she considers running for president, is on the even of yet another potential bonanza with the launch of her memoir.
Ben Goldberger's here with us. He is "Time" magazine's national editor.
Ben, nice to see you. So is it to Hillary Clinton's advantage, a lot of people are wondering, to remind voters that she and her husband were not always members of that top one percent?
BEN GOLDBERGER, NATIONAL EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Certainly it is, although I don't know if this was the right way in which to do it.
In some ways, this is the first element of what has otherwise been an incredibly well-scripted publicity tour that opponents could seize on in a future election.
KAYE: In that interview, Hillary Clinton told Diane Sawyer that she will know, she says, by the end of the year whether or not she will run in 2016.
Listen to just one part of what she had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I have to make the decision that's right for me and the country.
DIANA SAWYER, ABC NEWS: But is the party frozen in place waiting for you?
CLINTON: No. People can do whatever they choose to do on whatever timetable they decide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Look, we all read the polls. Clearly she is the frontrunner here, so everyone is just waiting for her.
Is she effectively -- I guess you might call -- icing her potential opponents?
GOLDBERGER: To a certain extent, although it's not as if that's a new phenomenon.
The assumption for a long time has been she's the presumptive frontrunner, heading into 2016. She has tremendous amount of support within the party.
A poll just released today found her at over 60 percent, and many of the potential challengers who may have taken some of that support away have largely stayed on the sidelines, and they're well aware.
It's not as if this very gradual media rollout has really been the decisive factor?
KAYE: So what do you think -- I mean, those Democrats who might want to challenge Hillary Clinton, what are they feeling right now?
GOLDBERGER: Many of them are biding their time. There's some who aren't, who are plunging right in.
Brian Schweitzer, the former governor of Montana, as my colleague Michael Scherer reported in this week's issue of "Time," is already trying to make an end-run around the left.
Elizabeth Warren, though she has said decisively that she's not going to run, continues to garner support, and she also has a memoir out, as does former senator Jim Webb.
But then there are others, like Governor Cuomo here in New York, Governor O'Malley in Maryland, who are the sorts of candidates who are kind of in the wait-and-see right now.
I think they know full well that she is likely to run, but they're there on the off chance that, if something were to happen which should change her mind, they're waiting in the wings.
KAYE: So let's just say January 1st rolls around and Hillary Clinton comes out and says, you know what? No. I don't want to run. What then?
How many Democrats do you think might actually jump in? Or is it going to be some sort of a sudden scramble or a slow process? What do you expect, if that were to happen?
GOLDBERGER: Well, it's that sort of -- it's the slow build, and then all at once. There are lots of people right now who are in the process of assembling networks quietly that they only want to use in case of an emergency, in a way.
There are lots of people who are meeting with donors. Governor O'Malley, who I mentioned earlier, is drumming up support, nationally, and trying to build his base outside of Maryland, but he is unlikely to capitalize on it unless Hillary were to pull out.
KAYE: All right, Ben Goldberger, thank you very much.
GOLDBERGER: It's my pleasure.
KAYE: And a programming reminder here, Hillary Clinton will join us next week for a very important town hall meeting. "HILLARY CLINTON, A CNN TOWN HALL" comes your way, live, on Tuesday. That's June 17th right here on CNN at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Some television moments, well, they are just unforgettable, like the moon landing or this incredible chase that was watched live by 95 million Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going be a lot better tomorrow, believe me. Please. We'll let you go up to the house, but we need you to throw that out the window.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: O.J. Simpson's wild ride led to a trial that changed America, and CNN's own Kyra Phillips had a front seat to history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Twenty years ago, millions of us stopped what we were doing and watched a police chase unfold live on television.
For two hours a white Ford Bronco drove down one of the busiest interstates in California with a fleet of police cars giving chase, in that car, one of the most famous athletes in America, O.J. Simpson, and he had a gun to his head.
The Bronco chase led up to one of the most riveting and controversial trials of all time, and it is the subject of CNN's upcoming documentary, "O.J.'s WILD RIDE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
He assured us and agreed to provide for the surrender and that's not occurred.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On June 17th, 1994, O.J. Simpson became the most famous fugitive on the planet.
DAVID GASCON, FORMER LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Everybody was on the alert, looking for a wanted double homicide suspect, who happened to be a Heisman Trophy winner.
PHILLIPS: David Gascon, the LAPD's chief spokesperson at the time, believed O.J.'s whereabouts wouldn't remain a mystery very long.
GASCON: I remember having a conversation, and I told him directly. I said, you know how this is going to end up. Somebody is going to see O.J. Simpson, somebody's going to see him out on the freeway. We're going to get the call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Highway patrol?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I think I just saw O.J. Simpson on the 5 Freeway. He's heading north.
PHILLIPS: Near Nicole Brown Simpson's grave south of Los Angeles, the white Bronco is spotted, at the wheel, O.J.'s best friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you see him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, we believe so. We like looked at him, you know? And he like stared us down like he was death.
Hold on. I got cops coming in, right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we'll put it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Bye.
PHILLIPS: With police now in his rearview, Cowlings calls 911, making sure they know that O.J. is armed and desperate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911, what are you reporting?
A.C. COWLINGS: This is A.C. I have O.J. in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Where are you?
COWLINGS: Please, I'm coming up the 5 freeway. Right now, we are OK. But you've got to tell the police to just back off. He's still alive, but he's got a gun to his head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is everything else OK?
COWLINGS: Everything right now is OK, Officer. Everything is OK. All -- he wants me to get him to see his mom. He wants me to get him to his mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. COWLINGS: So that's all I -- that's all we ask. He's got a gun to his head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What's your name?
COWLINGS: My name is A.C. -- you know who I am, god damn it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Wow. That brings me back. I got to tell you.
Kyra Phillips with the CNN documentary team, here with me now --
PHILLIPS: Brings you back? I was there 20 years ago, interviewing all of these people. Let me tell you. That was most interesting part of this, see these -- exactly, 20 years later, talking to the same people, telling me things they couldn't tell me 20 years ago.
And here's what's so interesting. So many of these people became celebrities, as you know. We all know their names. A.C. Cowlings is that one guy so many people wanted to talk to, sit down, really have an in-depth interview about -- yes, he was driving that Bronco.
He was the one trying to keep O.J. calm, and one of my sources for 20 years, I said, would you by chance still have a cell phone number for A.C. Cowlings? He said, matter of fact, yes, and if you're going to talk to him, I would want you to tell his story.
Dialed him up. He was not happy with me for about the first 10 minutes.
KAYE: I bet.
PHILLIPS: He said I just want to be left alone. I'm not going to talk. I'm an old man, and that's all I have to say.
And I kept trying to get more from him. And what do you have to say about O.J.? Do you think he's guilty, not guilty? What about your friendship?
He was remaining adamant, but I will tell you one thing I did find out, and I didn't realize this for a number of years. That SWAT team that was in place, if O.J. Simpson would have pulled that gun out and started pointing it at anybody, that SWAT team was ready to take him out.
I'm going to take you back to that moment now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point we can only pray that they will be able to pull this off in a safe measure.
PHILLIPS: Distraught, with a gun to his head, O.J. Simpson is on the run and threatening to end his emotional pain with a bullet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just throw it out the window. And nobody's going get hurt.
O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER FOOTBALL STAR: I'm the only one that deserves it.
TOM LANGE, FORMER LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE: No, you do not deserve to get hurt.
PHILLIPS: Detective Tom Lange is on the phone, hoping to prevent O.J. from committing suicide.
Was that gun loaded?
LANGE: Oh, yeah. It was a real gun. Real bullets. This is now a public safety issue.
SIMPSON: I love everybody. I'm trying to show everybody my whole life that I love everybody.
LANGE: We know that, and everybody loves you, especially your family, your mother, your kids, all your friends, A.C. Everybody does. Don't do this.
PHILLIPS: Lange is doing all that he can to try to try and keep things from escalating.
LANGE: What if he shoots himself? Cowlings? Or one of these dummies running up to the car? What he says really doesn't matter. What I say doesn't matter. As long as he doesn't shoot somebody.
PHILLIPS: How did you know what to say?
LANGE: I didn't.
PHILLIPS: It was just you and your gun?
LANGE: Yeah, basically. Some people kept putting little notes in front of me, but I didn't have time to read all of that crap, so just whatever kind of came up, and I figured family.
He can be the biggest sociopath in the world, doesn't mean he hates his family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: It is amazing to hear from all these people. You had a chance to actually talk to pretty much all the major players in this case.
How did they feel about O.J.?
PHILLIPS: It's such a great question. It's like the hatred hasn't changed, probably has intensified even more within 20 years, and now they can be more blunt and more direct. I mean, Tom Lange called O.J. a sociopath six times within that interview.
KAYE: What about those, though, who were defending him?
PHILLIPS: That's a great question. Nicole Brown Simpson's sister, Denise Brown, said, you know what, Kyra? You probably would like to talk to all those individuals, but have you noticed karma, and how something horrible has happened to each one of them?
And I thought wow, I never really thought about that. And we were able to talk to Alan Dershowitz, and I looked him in the eye, and I said, 20 years later, tell me. Do you think -- do you know he was guilty?
He wouldn't look me in the eye and tell me that he was --
KAYE: He wouldn't answer the question.
PHILLIPS: No, he wouldn't. It's really fascinating.
KAYE: It is fascinating. And the documentary looks fantastic. Obviously you guys did a great job with it.
Kyra, we look forward to it. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
KAYE: And that documentary, once again, Kyra's special, "O.J.'S WILD RIDE," tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Going to college is a big part of the American dream for some families, but the debt that comes with it is making it hard for many to get ahead after graduation.
President Obama hopes to help out with a move that could lead to lower monthly bills for many grads. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone.
New video in to CNN, this is President Obama there in Washington, stopping by to get a little Starbucks, earlier this afternoon, drinking his tea, saying hello to some of the customers there, some people on the street, shouting out at some construction workers on the way as he makes his way back -- we guess -- to the White House.
All of this is after he announced that he is taking steps to ease the crushing student loan debt, so let's take listen to what the president said before that tea run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's the problem. At a time when higher education has never been more important, it's also never been more expensive.
Over the last three decades, the average tuition at a public university has more than tripled. At the same time, the typical family's income has gone up just 16 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: I want to bring in CNN's Alison Kosik. She joins me from the New York Stock Exchange.
Alison, nice to see you. So tell me, who's this going to help, and how much is it actually going to be?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDET: Ah, yes, Randi, so if you're a former student with a not-so-high-paying job and plenty of student debt on your shoulders, this could help you out eventually. I say eventually because it would go into effect next year in December.
So what President Obama did earlier today was he put a couple things on the table to make it a little easier to pay back those student loans.
So for one, he signed an executive order which allows another 5 million students who borrowed federal direct loans to pay no more than 10 percent of their monthly discretionary incomes on loan payments. There's actually a mathematical figure that figures all that out.
The law that's already on the books lets many students do this, so the new twist with this is that it opens up to more people who would qualify, specifically, people who took out loans before October of 2007, and after payments for 20 years, if you qualify, any debt that is left behind is actually forgiven at a cost to taxpayers.
Now, the second thing that President Obama is doing is he's calling on lawmakers to pass a measure that would allow college graduates who've got a lot of student debt to refinance their loans at a lower rate.
Randi?
KAYE: And I'm glad you brought up the refinance, because why would Congress be against letting students refinance?
KOSIK: Yeah, this actually could wind up facing an uphill battle in Congress, because it comes down to what else but money and how much the government could lose as this program really revs up, because as it grows, lawmakers could wind up cutting back on other benefits to pay for this student loan program.
But the president has been making student loans a real centerpiece of his administration for a couple of reasons.
For one, there is concern that, as students get out there with a lot of debt, they are not spending money on things to help the economy, like buying a house.
Randi?
KAYE: All right, Alison Kosik, thank you very much for the explainer there.
A tragic story in Australia's remote south. A man fishing in a river was snatched from his boat Sunday by a 15-foot long crocodile.
He was pulled from the boat as his family watched in horror. The man's wife had to drive two frantic hours for help, and the outcome was tragic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEANT ANDREW HOCKING, NORTHERN TERRITORY WATER POLICE: During daylight hours today, (inaudible) rangers using their expertise at crocodile behavior managed to locate two live, saltwater crocodiles in the billabong.
Two of those crocodiles were shot and killed. One of those crocodiles was later examined and a quantity of human remains were recovered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Such a terrible story. That river has come to be notorious for crocodile attacks on swimmers, though, not on boaters.
Boston's Fenway Park has seen its share of heroes on the baseball diamond, but on Friday it hosted some people who know what real courage really is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before we go, Brooke was off Friday because she was invited to play softball. But this wasn't just any softball game. This was a game at Boston's Fenway Park.
But the best part wasn't where she played but who she played for, our nation's heroes, our veterans, all thanks to Massachusetts' Fallen Heroes. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": Eighth-grade softball coming back, this is fun.
Why did you organize this whole thing, and more importantly, why did you invite me to play softball at Fenway?
KEVIN CHAPMAN, "FENWAY FOR THE FALLEN" ORGANIZER: Because you're bringing the heat! Brooke Baldwin's bringing the heat, baby
I was at Walter Reed back in February. I saw these brave men and women in the physical fitness area, just trying to get back, trying to get back into society, and I wanted to do something.
I didn't know what it was I wanted to do, but whatever it was, I wanted it to be festive, I wanted it to include the families, but also I wanted to say thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I made it on first base.
BALDWIN: That was the worst hit, ever, though, by the way.
Chris Herren, you play basketball. How does softball compare, my friend?
CHRIS HERREN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: It doesn't? It's a lot of pressure right now.
BALDWIN: A lot of pressure?
HERREN: A lot of pressure.
BALDWIN: Playing for the veterans, a big deal.
HERREN: Of course. Which takes the pressure away, because of the cause, and it's a beautiful day in Fenway.
CHAPMAN: The words "Boston Strong" have been thrown around since the tragic events of the Boston Marathon.
I grew up there. Boston's been strong as long as I've been here.
BALDWIN: How long were you in and where did you serve?
SERGEANT JEFF COMBS, U.S. MARINE CORPS, PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT: Five and a half years, Marine Corps, in Iraq, 2004, and Iraq again, 2006.
I've never been to Fenway.
BALDWIN: You've never been to Fenway?
COMBS: Never been to Fenway.
BALDWIN: Are you from Massachusetts?
COMBS: No, I'm actually from New York, born and raised, but I always wanted to come up here.
BALDWIN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. So this is enemy turf?
COMBS: Yeah, pretty much, but ...
BALDWIN: So are you a Yankee fan?
COMBS: I am. Yeah.
BALDWIN: The interview is over.
COMBS: I don't blame you. I don't blame you.
BALDWIN: How can we Americans better help serve you guys?
COMBS: You know what? I've always said that, especially the younger generation, they all thinks of a veteran as the 92-year-old guy in a wheelchair that fought in World War I or World War II.
It's the 20-year-old kid next door that just got home. You've got to put a face with it. It's no longer just this guy that's 8,000 miles from home. It's your neighbor.
BALDWIN: Normal guys playing a little ball --
COMBS: That's it. BALDWIN: -- on a Friday at Fenway.
COMBS: It don't get better than that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: That looked like great fun.
Thank you so much for watching, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
Jake Tapper picks it up from here with "THE LEAD."
