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Senator Kerry Talks About Possibility of a Filibuster; Why Hamas Matters

Aired January 27, 2006 - 13:32   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to take you now live to the Senate floor in Washington, where, as you see right there, Senator Kerry is just back from Davos, Switzerland, talking on the Senate floor about Samuel Alito and the possibility of a filibuster.
Let's take a listen.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Our advice and consent ought to be weighed just as carefully and as importantly as the impact that this choice is going to have on the court, for years to come. This is not the vote of Monday afternoon; this is a vote of history.

Mr. President, deciding on whether to confirm Judge Samuel Alito to be associate justice is one of the most important votes that I think I will cast in the time that I've been here in the Senate, because of what it mean to the court and to these critical choice.

Confirming Judge Alito to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court would have irreversible consequences that are already defined, if senators will take the time to really measure them. And in my judgment, it will take the country backwards in critical issues. I'm not going to talk about all of them now; we don't have time, and I know the Senate is under some effort to -- there's a pre-agreement, and I understand that, and I'll respect that.

But I'm proud to join my friend, the senior senator from Massachusetts, in taking the stand against this nomination. I know it's an uphill battle. I've heard my colleagues, many of them. I hear the arguments, you know, reserve your gunpowder for the future. Well, what is the future, if it changes so dramatically at this moment in time? What happens to those people who count on us to stand up and protect them now, not later, not at some future time. This is the choice for the court now, and I reject those notions that there ought to somehow be some political calculus about the future. This impact is going to be now, this choice is now, and this ideological direction is defined now.

NGUYEN: We want to take a listen now to some tape that we got a little bit earlier today to give you sort of a balance here. This is Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, talking about Kerry's push for a possible filibuster. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: Now we're looking at a filibuster. I kid you not. I thought we'd settled that issue. But now we're having a filibuster. They have put it in their news releases, Democratic senators have. Apparently the former presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in last election, who obviously did not win, called back from Davos to say that we ought to filibuster here, count him in, and he urged a filibuster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: There you have it. A lot of talk about filibuster in regards to the Alito nomination and confirmation. Of course we're going to stay on top of this and bring you latest all afternoon on this and throughout next week, of course.

In other news, can a militant group exist as a political machine? How will Hamas' amazing victory affect hope for peace with Israel? And why should Americans care?

CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here is why the surprise victory of Hamas matters to America, even if many Americans don't know it. It matters because, through repeated pledges and suicide bombings, Hamas has shown that it is dead serious about annihilating Israel, a long-time U.S. ally in a region that supplies much of America's oil.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your -- of your platform.

FOREMAN: It matters because this is a Middle Eastern flash point and the latest country in the region where radical anti-American elements are on the rise. And it matters because the United States has pledged to support democracy everywhere. But now a democratic vote has produced a government that some fear will be a tailor-made base for worldwide terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're a terrorist organizations, so it's clear that the -- unless they change, they will more than harbor terrorists. They will give them safe haven.

FOREMAN (on camera): Do you think there is any kind of road map for peace left in the Middle East now?

No. Regrettably, I think that -- that everybody's off the map.

FOREMAN (voice over): Hamas was started in the 1960s, largely to do religious and charitable work for Palestinians. For years the group labored in the political shadow of Yasser Arafat's better known Palestine Liberation Organization. But Hamas grew more visible as it became more militant.

In the 1990s, launching a long string of bombings targeting Israeli soldiers and citizens, the violence earned condemnation from some at home and many abroad, but also admirers. Middle East analysts say as Arafat's old PLO descended into disorder and scandal, Hamas appeared increasingly reliable and effective, even to Palestinians who want peace with Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is also a social welfare organization that runs schools, health clinics, provides subsidies to widows and orphans throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

FOREMAN (on camera): And it's been very good at this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been extremely good at that, and it's parlayed that into a lot of public support.

FOREMAN (voice over): So why does all this matter to Americans? Analysts say it's simple. Hamas is in a position to affect more than ever before how much influence the United States has in the Middle East, which still provides much of the energy that makes America run.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, the Mexican government has folded plans to give maps to would-be immigrants to the U.S. Those maps pinpoint water tanks, rescue beacons and other landmarks in the Arizona desert. Organizers insist U.S. pressure did not influence their decision. They say they were afraid civilian border patrol groups would use the maps to locate and attack illegal immigrants. Now the U.S. homeland security chief was among the map's critics. The supporters say the maps could save lives.

It is a sorry state for Oprah. But true to form, in her confrontational confessional, Oprah set a new standard for public apologies. Our Jeanne Moos relives some other unforgettable mea culpas when CNN LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Talk about sorry. The author is sorry, the editor is sad and the publisher is issuing disclaimers. Look at it this way, if Oprah's not happy, nobody's happy.

The talk show host sit-down with author James Frey yesterday has a lot of people talking about a book that most people thought was true. Oprah made it a best-seller by adding it to her book club. Frey, of course, now admits that he made up many of his story's most compelling scenes and details.

Whatever your view, "A Million Little Pieces" remains a best- seller. Last check, it was number four on amazon.com. Frey's newest book is also selling pretty well, but its publisher is said to be rethinking the deal for two more. Now, that apology from Oprah, a direct in the camera, "I'm sorry," put her in a small and exclusive club of public apologists.

Our Jeanne Moos has no regrets about remembering some of the others. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If sorry really is the hardest word, Oprah sure made it look easy.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I regret that phone call.

MOOS: A call she made to "LARRY KING,"...

WINFREY: ... still resonates with me and I...

MOOS: ... defending author James Frey.

WINFREY: I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter, and I am deeply sorry about that.

MOOS: Now that's an apology and not some sorry excuse for one.

MIKE TYSON, BOXER: And I am sorry.

MOOS: Sorry, for biting off a piece of your ear.

(SINGING)

RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: I'm extremely sorry for...

MOOS: For throwing a phone at a hotel worker.

(SINGING)

MOOS: Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry," is one of over 300 songs with sorry in it. There are those iffy sorries that begin with if. For instance, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was accused of groping and insulting women...

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, GOVERNOR, CALIFORNIA: If I've done anything wrong that -- where I thought that I am playful and just, you know, have fun, I feel bad about that.

MOOS: Apologies for sexual misbehavior often feature a supportive wife.

KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Furious at myself, disgusted at myself. I'm so sorry.

MOOS: When sex is involved, say between a movie star and an alleged prostitute, the highly anticipated apology is something to promote.

ANNOUNCER: And Jay asks Hugh Grant the one question everybody's been wondering...

JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW": What the hell were you thinking?

HUGH GRANT, ACTOR: I need to suffer for this. I've done an abominable thing. I did a bad thing and there you have it. MOOS: But when it was President Clinton's turn, his original lie was more passionate than his eventual admission.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

Indeed I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted more groveling.

MOOS: And eventually there was.

CLINTON: I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned.

MOOS: Oh, there's a fancy way, with tears.

JIMMY SWAGGART, TELEVANGELIST: I have sinned against you, my Lord.

MOOS: And then there were those who voted against George Bush and apologized to the world after his election on the "Sorry, everybody" Web site.

One of the most abject apologies came from the South Korean scientist recently exposed for faking cloning research.

DR. HWANG WOO-SUK, STEM CELL RESEARCHER (through translator): I feel so miserable that it's difficult even to say sorry.

MOOS (on camera): But the most impersonal sorry, the lamest sorry, the sorriest sorry of all, is the one we hear on hold.

RECORDING: Sorry we're having so much trouble.

RECORDING: I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly sure what you want.

MOOS (voice-over): All we want is to hear what Oprah said to her critics.

WINFREY: You are absolutely right.

(SINGING) MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And there you have it.

Well, illegal immigration close up. Coming up on LIVE FROM, the film that takes viewer into the heated battle along the U.S. border with Mexico. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Sundance has a lot of films. One in particular deals with the battle for the U.S border and the documentary that leads to ground zero, the desolate desert of southern Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gene, one of our new point men, he's going back about a half a mile or more, where he can see the groups before they ever enter this area. And then we have time then to move our other volunteers down here to the road to cut them off. And we just stand there and created a deterrence, you know? A line of people who say, no mas, you're not coming through here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Pretty as a matter of fact. Well, "Crossing Arizona" has a spot this year at Sundance, and joining us from the festival to talk about it is director Joseph Mathew and producer Dan Devivo.

Gentlemen, we thank you for being with us.

JOSEPH MATHEW, DIRECTOR, "CROSSING ARIZONA": Thank you. Thanks for having us.

NGUYEN: Sure. Dan, let me start with you. Why tackle the issue of border patrol? Why make a documentary of it?

DAN DEVIVO, PRODUCER, "CROSSING ARIZONA": Well, our documentary isn't focusing solely on border patrol. What it does do is it focuses on people inside the state of Arizona who are taking direct action, responding to a situation. A situation some people respond to is the fact that over 3,000 people have died since the mid-1990s.

Some people respond to it -- like you just saw a clip of Chris Simcox, who has been on CNN, your network, several times -- and he decided that it's important to stand out there on the line and deter Mexicans from crossing into the U.S.

NGUYEN: And your documentary deals with a lot of different characters. And it showcases, yes, the immigrant plight, but it also showcases a rancher who's losing money because of cut fences and having to patch water lines, also a minutemen who turns away people at border, Latino activists, and also a man who puts out water for these migrants to help them stay live during this journey.

Does this documentary focus in on any one specific? Does it sympathize with one specific group, out of the many groups that you really showcase in the documentary?

MATHEW: The initial focus of the documentary was to, you know -- was to highlight the humanitarian crisis that's happen along the Arizona/Mexico border. And as we were doing the project, we found, you know, the rising anti-illegal immigrant sentiment in Arizona.

And we followed that, you know, through Proposition 200, which passed last year, and then finally culminating in the Minutemen Project. So the documentary shows -- actually, is a snapshot of what's actually happening along the U.S./Mexico border. NGUYEN: Joseph, you're the director of this documentary, and you were convinced that this story had to be told when you landed there in Tucson and came across a migrant who was actually lost and trying to make it to the U.S. Tell me about that story and why that struck you.

MATHEW: Well, the whole thing -- I mean, it was the first day we were out shooting and we're driving through the desert in the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation. We come across this migrant who is lost, out of water, without any food, and he's been walking for two days.

And just the plight of the migrant and seeing him out there put the whole -- put a human face on the entire story. And we covered the story from a human perspective and not from the political aspect of it.

NGUYEN: Dan, I was looking at the numbers here. More than one million undocumented immigrants cross into the Arizona border every single year. What do you hope your documentary does about that?

DEVIVO: yes, well, I just want to reiterate if there's anything our documentary can do, it's really to put a human face on the situation. Right now, we have a lot of people wondering, you know, doesn't the country have a right to secure it's borders?

But what we want our film to just bring into the debate is, you know, don't we have some sort of responsibility to our neighbors who are in dire straits economically, who are oftentimes coming to this country to support our own economy? Don't we have a moral obligation to make sure they're arriving here alive?

MATHEW: And, also, just the fact that, you know, the way the country is moving to where it's increasing militarization of the border, I mean, we make it clear in the documentary -- even though we voiced every different side of the issue, we do make the editorial stance that increasing border militarization is not the answer. It's just going to worsen the humanitarian crisis there.

NGUYEN: So, Dan, it's no coincidence that you debuted this film one month before a border patrol bill is going to be heard by the Senate?

DEVIVO: No, it's not a coincidence. It's good luck, I must say, just because we have been able to get some good press. But our film does take it up to that point where it is right now. It's past the House. The bill is going to be heard on the Senate floor this coming month. And there is still something everybody can do about it.

NGUYEN: And let me ask you, though, now that it's been out there, folks have seen it, what kind of reaction? Because I was reading that it was a heated debate there at one of the premieres.

DEVIVO: Well it has been a heated debate. I mean, Chris Simcox himself, that you saw in that first clip, he joined us for the premiere. We also had Mike Wilson of the Tohono O'odham and Reggie Barra (ph) of the ACLU from El Paso, and really people really wanted to talk about the issues. That was exciting for us. That was very exciting for us. It was great to have the characters there to be able to, you know, put forth their perspectives, as we have throughout the entire film making process been able to do.

NGUYEN: And so, as you look to the future, obviously this is a big concern for you, the issue of border patrol and migrants. Are you hoping to tackle more political issues in your next films? Is this going to be something that we're going to see from you guys in the future?

MATHEW: Well, we just finished this film, like, two weeks before coming to Sundance. And so we still are knee-deep in this project and we really haven't decided what we're going to do next. But hopefully ...

NGUYEN: You're going to take it one day at a time. I understand.

MATHEW: Exactly.

NGUYEN: You look a little cold out there, Joseph.

MATHEW: It is. It's cold, but it's beautiful.

NGUYEN: What were you going to say, Dan? Yes.

DEVIVO: It is cold. And I just wanted to say I don't know if we're wrapping up, but thank you so much for having us on. You know, in our film, we do discuss the media's role in this issue. The way that the media's portraying the situation on the border is sometimes very one-sided.

In fact, a broadcaster on your network, Lou Dobbs -- you know, he knows very much about our film and we'd like very much to be on his program and join him and join the debate because we think this film can add to the national debate. So, you know, please let us know if that's possible.

NGUYEN: All right. Well, I'm sure he and his produces are watching. And they'll know how to get in touch with you. Stay warm in the meantime. Thank you, guys.

MATHEW: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Sure.

Next hour on LIVE FROM, Sundance's youngest director. We will take you back to Park City, Utah. LIVE FROM has the news you want all afternoon long, so you want to stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Jubilant Hamas supporters, outraged Fatah supporters all hit the streets of Gaza City. The biggest crowd massed in front a government building and demanded the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

They were most Fatah faithful who blame the president for allowing what they call "a Hamas revolution." Some of the more enthusiastic protesters burned cars and fired shots in the air. No one was hurt.

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