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Gender Politics; Bin Laden Documents Released; Patriots Owner Will Not Appeal NFL Punishment; Google Map Apologizes for Racist Results; Takata Airbags Cause Recordbreaking Auto Recall. Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired May 20, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: With me to talk about that, executive director of the Indepdendent Women's Forum, Sabrina Schaeffer, and journalist Anushay Hossain. She's the editor in chief of anushayspoint.com.

Welcome to both of you.

[09:30:00] ANUSHAY HOSSAIN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, ANUSHAYSPOINT.COM: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, thanks for being here. Sabrina, I want to start with you. I do believe men and women are different. We lead in different ways. So why not play up your gender?

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, EXECUTIVE DIR., INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: You know, that's such a good point, Carol. And, look, I think Americans are really ready for some kind of substantive change in 2016, and everybody is excited that there is a woman running on both sides of the -- of the ticket. The question is, though, are we going to allow gender to fog our principles? And I think that's what we need to remember is that we still need to have a substantive conversation about health care, about the economy, about the workplace, about families and that is something that we have to reach beyond gender to talk about and really tackle those issues.

COSTELLO: Well, it's interesting, Anushay, because I can't imagine a man playing up his gender and saying, because I'm a man, I would lead better. That's taboo, isn't it?

HOSSAIN: It is taboo. And also I think it's OK to play up gender, sure, if we're talking about the right aspects of gender. If we're not falling into the trap that the media kind of sets us up in sometimes, which is reinforcing negative stereotypes of women in positions of power, women in leadership. If we want to talk about gender, let's talk about the fact that America is currently ranked 75th in the world when it comes to the number of women in government. So we need to definitely increase women's roles of power and leadership without being sidelined with negative stereotypes of women in power.

COSTELLO: And there are plenty of negative stereotypes are being repeated because, Sabrina, I have heard this more than once, Hillary Clinton has not accomplished anything. Everything she has is because of her husband. Is that sexist?

SCHAEFFER: Well, look, I mean, first of all, she has to be considered as an individual and what she has to offer, but I think that so much of this narrative about gender bias is actually coming from the Hillary Clinton camp. I mean they created the super volunteer to push back on gender-based criticisms. You have people like -- you know, commentators like Leslie Marshall who said there will be a war on women. We have lots of the women's groups on the left who are sort of promoting this idea that she is going to be swimming against this sexist current. And I think that that is very risky. Hillary Clinton needs to present herself the way Carly Fiorina is on the right, as somebody who is a leader, who somebody -- is -- has the right principles in mind and who will be a better leader. And I think talking about gender so much from her own camp is actually very damaging.

COSTELLO: Although, you know, on the Carly Fiorina side, Anushay, I mean, some say that she's playing up the gender card to neutralize Hillary Clinton. So I find that kind of strange. Shouldn't she be neutralizing her male counterparts on the Republican side?

HOSSAIN: I think Carly Fiorina is playing up the gender card to kind of create a distraction from her lack of qualifications. She has -- what -- what are her political qualifications? I mean if we really want to talk about gender, let's talk about Hillary Clinton's experience as a first lady, as a senator, as a U.S. secretary of state. She was actually dubbed the rock star secretary of state. Carly Fiorina has a lot of experience is managing a company. So I think she has to pull whatever card she has to create a distraction and that's exactly what she's doing.

SCHAEFFER: Carol, can I just jump in for a second and say that, look, I mean it's early in the morning. I want to leave viewers with something optimistic to hold on to. And I think the really positive message to take away from this is that I don't actually think that voters are so sexist that they're going to hold gender against a woman. Both research that IWF has done and research that's coming out of academic journals just recently is showing that gender bias is really not the issue that so many progressive women's groups have suggested it is. And I think that's something very positive, that -- that men especially, that's obviously who we're thinking of, are not holding gender against women and so we should -- we should let these women get out there, talk about the issues and see -- you know, let the best man or woman win.

COSTELLO: And, Sabrina, I hear what you're saying and I hear what you're saying that, you know, gender should not be a factor. But "The Washington Post" did an interesting poll last year. It was in 2014. It shows Clinton could, quote, "split the genders in a way we haven't seen in decades at the very least."

Now at the time this poll showed women would support Clinton 61 to 33 percent if she were a candidate. Compare that to men, "The Post" said it would -- voters would support Hillary Clinton by a smaller percentage, 49 to 46 percent. So how do you explain this discrepancy? SCHAEFFER: Well, look, I think one way -- one area that sort of the

progressive feminist groups have been very successful is getting more women to think that it's valuable to vote for a woman over a man. In fact, some research that we did showed that it's really more detrimental to men than to women. But I think the bottom line is that women voters continue to be an extremely important demographic. And Democrats understand this. Republicans are slowly beginning to understand it. And so Hillary is going to do everything she can to secure those women voters, especially those unmarried women voters. There is still a gender gap that persists and Republicans have a long way to go if they really want to overcome that.

COSTELLO: So, Anushay --

HOSSAIN: We also have -- sorry.

[09:35:02] COSTELLO: Go ahead. No, go ahead.

HOSSAIN: We also have to be really careful that we don't -- I mean let's not be condescending and insulting to our female voters. They don't care about gender. They care about policy. Ultimately, that's what they're going to vote on. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about the fact that when there's more women in government, more bipartisan legislation actually gets passed. Legislation on civil rights, on macroeconomics, on the economy. So I think actually everybody is being insulting to women voters at the end of the day if they think, what do we want to talk about is gender and our hormones? No, we want to talk about your policy. Tell us about what you believe in.

COSTELLO: OK, and that's a good place to end it. Thank you so much being here. I really enjoyed this conversation.

SCHAEFFER: Thank you, Carol.

HOSSAIN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Sabrina Schaeffer, Anushay Hossain.

Vice President Joe Biden's son remains in the hospital this morning. The VP's office says Beau Biden is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center. Officials wouldn't say why, but a source close to the family says the situation is serious. Beau is the former attorney general for the state of Delaware. He's also served in Iraq as a captain with the National Guard. The 46-year-old has had a string of health issues. In 2013, he underwent surgery for a brain lesion. Three years before that, he suffered what doctors called a mild stroke. We'll keep you posted.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a devoted father and husband and obsessed with killing Americans. Just released documents give a chilling new glimpse into how Osama bin Laden was plotting attacks up until the day he died.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: First on CNN this morning, new information on Osama bin Laden. Right up until the day Navy SEALs shot him dead, bin Laden was obsessed with plotting mass casualty attacks on American targets. That intel coming from documents just released by the U.S. office of the director of national intelligence. These documents were seized by the Navy SEALs when they raided bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan in May of 2011.

[09:40:13] They're also revealing another side of bin Laden. A devoted father and husband who asked one of his wives when she was coming back to him.

I want to bring in CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen. He's the expert on Osama bin Laden.

It's fascinating information contained in these documents. Tell us more.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Carol, this is the largest release of documents that has ever happened from the compound in Abbottabad. We did have a release about a year after bin Laden died of 17 documents. This is 103 documents. It's many, many hundreds of pages, as you -- that I've been able to review. And as you said, I mean, it paints a kind of complex and nuance picture that bin Laden that the -- well, you know, the same time that he's, you know, urging his group and other -- and al Qaeda affiliates to attack the United States and not focus on, you know, attacks in, you know, Yemen and in local -- against local governments, he's also sending, you know, multiple letters to his wives, to his sons, to his daughters, you know, getting very involved in the minutia (ph) of planning of his son's wedding, for instance, writing long letters to his wife who was living in Iran at one point, saying how he was sort of yearning to see her again. And so, you know, this is the human side of bin Laden. He was, after all, human, but also the kind of terrorists mastermind side of bin Laden.

COSTELLO: So it's interesting that you say that he -- Osama bin Laden wasn't for creating an Islamic state and he suggested that terrorists shouldn't attack local governments but should concentrate their efforts on American targets within the United States. Of course, ISIS isn't listening to him now, if they even heard those words of advice from Osama bin Laden.

BERGEN: Yes, I mean, that's right. I mean, well, of course, ISIS -- when bin Laden was writing these documents, ISIS was actually al Qaeda in Iraq and bin Laden was critical of al Qaeda in Iraq for all the Muslim casualties that the group had incurred. But, yes, this is a very different vision than what we see with ISIS. Bin Laden said, you know, we're not ready to create an Islamic state, whether it's in Yemen or in Algeria or any other Muslim country. We really need to keep focusing on the United States. And he was -- you know, he was writing a lot of this, Carol, in the run-up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and he was, you know, you know, urging his team to really be creative and think about ways to attack the west and recruit the right people, to finance the operation, to attack particularly American targets, and, of course, none of that happened. He was killed three months before the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

COSTELLO: The other kind of strange thing, and I was just perusing these documents quickly, he talked about climate change and the need for conserving water.

BERGEN: Yes. It's -- some of these documents read like he's a World Bank official concerned about food security and climate change and conserving ground water. You know, a guy -- he obviously had other interests other than terrorism and his family. And the other interesting thing, Carol, is that -- along with all these documents and memos and letters is, we have a full account of what was in bin Laden's digital library. And, you know, he had a -- he was an avid reader. He read English. He was reading everything from Bob Woodward's book, "Obama's War," to Nome Trumpski (ph).

He took great interest into what western think tanks and academic institutions were saying about al Qaeda. He had, you know, many reports from outfits like West Point's countering -- combatting terrorism center or the Rand Corporation. And also, you know, he had reports by leading counterterrorism experts in the United States like Bruce Hoffman (ph), (INAUDIBLE). So he -- he really was trying to see what the enemy in, you know, the United States was -- how they were analyzing al Qaeda and how they saw him.

And the other takeaway from the documents is, this is a group that saw itself very much under siege. It was very concerned about the CIA drone strikes. It was very concerned about operational security. It was urging -- you know, one of bin Laden's aides said, you know, you really need to learn how to encrypt your documents. And, you know, they were very conscious that they were running out of money. So this is a -- this is probably the, you know, the most rich and complex portrait we're going to have of what was really going on in al Qaeda around the time bin Laden died, and the way that he saw the world, the way that he was dealing with his family, the way that he was dealing with his immediate organization and also dealing with al Qaeda's affiliates around the Muslim world.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I know you're going to have more for us in the next hour. Peter Bergen, thanks so much.

BERGEN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

[09:44:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking top stories for you at 48 past the hour. He's even getting into trouble behind bars. According to law enforcement sources, convicted killer and former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was involved in a prison fight. Three men, including the former New England Patriot, are being disciplined over the incident. Tomorrow, a judge may set a trial date for two other murder charges Hernandez faces, those related to a drive-by shooting in 2012. A Norwegian cruise line ship is floating once again after running

aground near Bermuda. The cruise line says the ship was on its way back to Boston when it temporarily lost power, hitting the channel bed. No one was hurt and the ship never took on water. All onboard services are available for the nearly 2,700 guests as they wait for an inspection to be complete.

A tornado strikes Texas. You can see it here in the city of Mineral Wells; that's just west of Dallas. Several people in the area report large debris being tossed into the air. So far no injuries reported.

All right, let's talk sports and more Deflategate. In a rather shocking about-face by the New England Patriots, the owner Robert Kraft now saying he reluctantly accepts the NFL's unprecedented punishment, $1 million fine and the loss of two draft picks.

Let's bring in Andy Scholes from Atlanta to tell us more. Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Carol. Robert Kraft, all along, he had been saying the Wells report, it was unfair, incorrect, very critical of the Wells Report. He even had that website, wellsreportcontext.com, to go into detail about why the report was unfair.

[09:50:04] All signs pointing to him appealing the Patriots' punishment. But yesterday, at the league owners' meeting, Kraft said that he was standing down because he believes it's in the best interest of the league. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT KRAFT, PATRIOTS OWNER: I don't want to continue the rhetoric that's gone on for the last four months. I'm going to accept reluctantly what he has given to us and not continue this dialogue and rhetoric. And we won't appeal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Even though the Patriots are not appealing their punishment, Tom Brady is still appealing his four-game suspension. The Players Association has asked for Roger Goodell to recuse himself from the appeal. He's not responded to that request, but he may later today as he's expected to speak with the media at the owners' meeting.

At the annual owner meeting is where they vote on new rules that have been proposed and the biggest one to get accepted this year deals with extra points. Now Goodell has said in the past that extra points, they're too automatic. That's why the league experimented with the play during the preseason last year. Well, next season, instead of kicking from the 2 yard line after a touchdown, it will be from the 15 yard line. That makes it equivalent to a 32 or 33-yard field goal, which is not really a gimme. Now it's going to be considered a live play as well, meaning if it's blocked, it can be returned for two points. All right, Rockets and Warriors opening up the Western Conference

finals last night. Now, this was a good game. James Harden, he got hot in the fourth quarter. Right here he's going to hit a step-back crossover jumper. That ties the game at 97. But from there Steph Curry and the Warriors, they went on a 11-0 run to put the game away. Warriors win, 110-106. Curry, the star of the game, scoring 34 points. But it was his daughter, Riley, who stole the show during postgame interviews.

(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)

STEPH CURRY, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: We're both supposed to --

RILEY CURRY, DAUGHTER: (INAUDIBLE), Daddy.

STEPH CURRY: I know. Hold on one second, OK?

RILEY CURRY: Be quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: That's too awesome. Too cute, Carol. She was crawling all around, going under the table, lifting up the curtain. Curry says he has no control over her; she's just a 2 year old. He was MVP of the season, Carol. But if there is MVP for the most adorable postgame kid, got to go to Riley.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: That was so cute. She's certainly not shy.

SCHOLES: She is not. She was trending all night on Twitter, Carol, and this morning. So cute.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Andy. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, David Letterman will air his last episode tonight. So who will be his guest? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:56:33] COSTELLO: As if you didn't know, David Letterman's swan song is tonight and it seems everyone is sad, sad, sad. A cake- covered Bill Murray protested Letterman's retirement along With regis Philbin. And the city of Minneapolis, well, it's feeling blue too. Big lights spelling out, "Thanks, Dave" scrolled across one of the downtown buildings this morning. And the mayor has already declared it David Letterman Day in Indianapolis.

Google is apologizing for something happening to some of its maps. Samuel Burke is here to tell us what exactly I'm talking about. Hi.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this is about as deplorable as it comes. If you type in the n-word followed by the word "house" in Google Maps, what pops up is the White House. This is something that a reader flagged up to "The Washington Post". Also, if you type in the n-word followed by the word "king", "n-word king", the greater D.C. area shows up on Google Maps.

To be clear, Google Maps is open source, much like Wikipedia. Anybody can go in and edit it, which is the beauty of it. If you own a small business and you need to update the information about your business, you can do it. But also if you want to say something racist about the first family, you can also do it.

I want to read you what a Google spokesperson told us just a short time ago. Quote, "Some inappropriate results are surfacing in Google Maps that should not be there and we apologize for any offense this may have caused. Our teams are working to fix this issue quickly."

COSTELLO: Should I even mention the president's Twitter account?

BURKE: Well, he just opened up his own account, @POTUS, and he's got about a little more than 2 million followers. But in that time he's received hundreds of racist and violent tweets. But somebody pointed out something rather interesting. You can tweet the president something racist, violent, and then delete it, but the White House is actually saving it.

I want to read you what the White House says about their social media policy on Twitter. So watch out to all of those trolls. Quote, "On Twitter the White House automatically archives tweets from official White House accounts. Direct messages sent to or from official White House accounts, and mentions tweets from other users to official White House accounts, saved forever." No anonymity online if you're tweeting the president, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I don't know if that's good or bad.

BURKE: I think it's a good thing.

COSTELLO: Yeah, exactly. Samuel Burke, thanks as usual. I appreciate it.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

A record-breaking auto recall and a good chance that your car is affected. Takata air bags could explode shrapnel in your face, hurling shards of metal and glass at drivers. Police say victims look like they've been shot or stabbed. At least five people in the United States have died. 34 million vehicles are being recalled. That's nearly one out of every seven cars on the roads today. If you think your car might be affected, you can start a preliminary check by going to safercar.gov/rs/takata

Joining me to talk about more about this on the phone is Kim Kopf. Her sister Charlene Weaver was killed in a car accident as a result of the Takata air bag.

Kim, thank you for taking the time to talk with me this morning.

KIM KOPF, SISTER KILLED IN ACCIDENT DUE TO TAKATA AIRBAG (via phone): Thank you.

COSTELLO: Did you think that the Takata recall would get this big?

KOPF: It should have been recalled a long time ago. It shouldn't have taken this long to happen.

[10:00:002] And I'm not surprised by the numbers.

COSTELLO: One out of seven cars on the road; that's mind boggling to me.

KOPF: Yes, it's a lot.