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AMERICAN MORNING
Discussion With Senator Diane Feinstein; Discussing the Problem of Racial Profiling by Police Departments in Massachusetts
Aired May 5, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
President Bush ready to make an appeal to Arab TV viewers, trying to reverse the damage done by those pictures of abused Iraqi prisoners.
Outside Abu Ghraib Prison, angry protesters telling the U.S. Army to go home.
And homes and buildings up in smoke in California -- a suspect has been charged with starting the biggest of blazes so far.
Ahead this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: On the 5th of May, Cinco de Mayo out there today. Enjoy your margaritas later tonight. Well, you know, when the proper time comes.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Of course.
HEMMER: Jack looking up at me with those eyes.
COLLINS: Bloody Marys for now.
HEMMER: Look at you. Ooh.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you advocating the consumption of alcoholic beverages here on the...
HEMMER: Not for a second. Virgin margaritas.
CAFFERTY: ... most trusted news network in all the land?
HEMMER: Salt, frozen, please.
Heidi Collins in today for Soledad O'Brien.
COLLINS: Great.
HEMMER: Welcome back.
COLLINS: Great intro.
HEMMER: Good morning.
COLLINS: Thanks.
Other stories we are following this morning. Several members of Congress are angry they were kept in the dark while the Pentagon was investigating nearly three dozen suspected cases of prisoner abuse. Senator Diane Feinstein will join us in just a few moments on that.
HEMMER: Also this hour, going to Boston, Massachusetts -- talking about the police and racial profiling there. The state has just launched this massive investigation under a study that showed three quarters of the state's police departments failed the test for racial profiling. We'll get to that also this hour, as well.
COLLINS: For now we get the Jack Cafferty.
HEMMER: Hello.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Heidi.
Coming up in the Cafferty File, Wednesday, the stupid things people say. There's always a lot to choose from, including the person who said John Kerry has too much hair. And Vice President Dick Cheney, whining about the news media, reveals his favorite news network. You can probably figure out which one that is.
HEMMER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Jack.
Thanks so much.
We want to begin this morning with the news in Iraq. Angry and grim was how one CNN reporter characterized the mood outside Baghdad's Abu Ghraib Prison today. A crowd of more than 300 people gathered outside the facility, some carrying a large Iraqi flag and banners criticizing the U.S. The Abu Ghraib Prison is the site of the alleged abuses against Iraqi prisoners.
President Bush expected to address the controversy over reports of Iraq prisoner mistreatment with two Arab language networks. The president will conduct 10 minute interviews with Al-Arabiya, a Saudi- owned station, and with U.S.-sponsored al-Harat network. White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the president will say the images of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated are shameful and unacceptable. The interviews are scheduled to take place at about 10:00 a.m. Eastern time this morning.
Thomas Hamill, the former American hostage held captive in Iraq, has been reunited with his wife. Hamill has been undergoing medical treatment at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. His wife Kellie was finally able to see him today. The meeting was described as very emotional. The couple is expected to leave the city by the end of the week.
It appears one Bush administration official may be changing direction on the issue of imported drugs. The Health and Human Services agency has been opposed to legalizing imported prescription drugs. But the head of the agency, Tommy Thompson, has reportedly said he will advise President Bush not to stand in the way of legislation to make it legal. Thompson says legalizing prescription drug imports is inevitable and the move will save consumers money.
And the moon temporarily disappeared from sight in parts of the world. The first total lunar eclipse of the year took place. That is when the Earth's shadow passes over the moon. North America missed out on the entire show, though. These are some of the pictures of the view from Sydney, Australia. Beautiful. But not to worry. The next total lunar eclipse will be in October. Usually we hear it won't be for like 500 more years. But, no, just in October.
HEMMER: Just in October.
COLLINS: We'll be around for that, right, hopefully?
HEMMER: Yes, that's right.
Well, hopefully.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The president now has a chance to directly address the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal for an extremely skeptical audience. Mr. Bush sits down in about two hours from now for interviews with television networks that are seen across the Arab world and in Iraq.
Last night on "Larry King Live," Secretary of State Colin Powell talked about the alleged abuses with Larry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What happened in this particular instance, as best I know from the pictures, was just totally despicable. There's no way to describe it. And it isn't just the fact that soldiers did it, but no, no American should do this to any other person. And so they not only violated all the laws of proper behavior in being a soldier, but it's not -- it's just not something Americans should do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Secretary Powell from last night here live on CNN.
Senators on both sides of the aisle demanding action and answers from the Pentagon. Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee holds a closed door hearing on alleged military abuses.
California Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, a member on that committee, she's live in D.C. on Capitol Hill.
Good morning, Senator.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning. HEMMER: Thanks for coming back here on AMERICAN MORNING.
FEINSTEIN: You're welcome, Bill.
HEMMER: In these hearings today, what do you want to hear?
FEINSTEIN: Well, first of all, not only is this unacceptable, but it's deplorable and it casts a pall of shame worldwide over what the United States says versus what it does. I think we want to know how deep is this? How many incidents? What was the chain of command?
Clearly, the behavior had to be acceptable enough for people participating to take pictures of it and then to show their pictures around. This indicates to me that there was not an appropriate command presence. It should have been stopped.
I was surprised when General Myers went on television this Sunday and said he hadn't read the two star general's report. I was surprised when Mr. Rumsfeld came before the entire Senate last Thursday, the day this was on CBS, with the Pentagon delaying the CBS broadcast and didn't tell the Senate anything about it.
I believe that this never would have come out had it not been reported publicly. So I think there are a lot of questions to ask. Why has no majority disciplinary action been taken? How broad is this? It's a terrible thing because it completely belies everything this nation stands for and it belies everything our armed forces, as a trained, professional unit that serves with credibility and valor, it belies every tenet of Americanism. And particularly, the particular conduct that was entered into was aimed to humiliate a Muslim culture. I find it unacceptable. I hope the president, when he goes on Al- Arabiya and Al Jazeera, apologizes for the United States.
I certainly apologize. This is not what we stand for and it's about time the president of the United States stands up and says that. And it's about time that the military and the intelligence units take the kind of disciplinary action that this calls for. It's unacceptable.
HEMMER: There was a long line of senators yesterday speaking in similar terms like you or John McCain.
A small part of what he had to say yesterday on the Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Not an hour goes by that there isn't an additional allegation and unfortunately the Congress in general, and the Senate Armed Services Committee in particular, has been, up until this morning, been kept completely in the dark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator, that takes us to the next question here. What is the line of obligation where the Pentagon or the Department of Defense has to come to Congress with an ongoing war? Is it a weekly obligation? Is it a daily obligation? Or if that is the case, how does anyone get anything done if you're just talking about meetings all day long?
And the second part of my question, in the House, Republican Tom DeLay says let the military handle it first, let's see if they can do their own investigation and then we can follow up, we being the members of Congress, after that.
Your thoughts on that?
FEINSTEIN: Well, first of all, there is not a daily obligation. But secondly, when they do come, they should be open and above board and tell the Congress, in classified sessions, exactly what's going on. And particularly because they knew that all of this was going to come out the very night Secretary Rumsfeld was addressing the Senate in classified session.
We were told by our intelligence staff yesterday that we couldn't download the report that's on the Internet. That is ridiculous. And it's unacceptable. And I am, as you can probably tell, very angry about the way this has been handled because it's shameful and this is not America. And I say this to the world. We don't do these kinds of things to people. And to see those young people doing this to others with smiles on their faces was absolutely sickening.
HEMMER: Senator, thank you...
FEINSTEIN: So this is not -- this is not the time to sweep something under the rug. This is the time to hold people responsible and take the appropriate action.
HEMMER: Dianne Feinstein from D.C., appreciate your time today.
FEINSTEIN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Next here, Republican Senator Trent Lott, also a member of the Intelligence Committee in the Senate, next hour here, 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on AMERICAN MORNING -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Hundreds of people have now been evacuated ahead of fast moving wildfires in southern California. Six fires have scorched more than 15,000 acres in the state, bringing an early start to the fire season there. Some live pictures coming into us from the area, KABC. But firefighters do hope cooler weather will bring them some relief.
Ted Rowlands is live from Corona, California this morning -- Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi, this is shaping up to be a very crucial day here. Firefighters are hoping to exploit Mother Nature's gift of lower temperatures. There's an opening here to really get a grasp of a number of these fires. Of the six burning in the region, there are two of primary concern, and both of them are in Riverside County.
One is near the city of Corona. It is the Cerritos Fire. More than 10,000 acres have burned in this fire and it is only 15 percent contained this morning. Last night, firefighters were able to save a cluster of about 250 homes. They are concerned, however, this morning, depending on what the winds and weather do.
The Eagle Fire near Temecula has consumed 14 homes and more than 5,000 acres. That one is 30 percent contained.
It is hoped that, again, the weather will help efforts here this morning in all of these fires. It is a very early start to the fire season here in this region. There are a couple of things that are a problem in southern California. One, there was not a lot of rain over the winter. Two, there is an ongoing beetle infestation which has killed thousands of trees in this area. That has left a lot of natural fuel and it has left a lot of concern here that this could be a very, very long year for firefighters.
COLLINS: Ted, let me ask you, quickly, we know that one suspect has been arrested in at least one of the six of those fires.
What was he arrested for?
ROWLANDS: It's a 44-year-old man. He was arrested for negligence. It is a felony. Apparently he was dragging a huge steel grate or platform down the freeway. Those sparks are what is believed to have caused the Cerritos Fire. He has been arrested and charged with two felony counts. All of the other fires are still under investigation.
COLLINS: All right, Ted Rowlands live from Corona, California this morning.
Ted, thanks so much.
HEMMER: About 13 minutes past the hour.
In a moment, could Colin Powell be thinking of leaving his job as secretary of state? We'll talk with the author of a brand new article who says that possibility is, indeed, real.
COLLINS: Shocking charges of widespread racial profiling by police across Massachusetts. We'll go to Boston to hear from a bishop who says he was targeted.
It's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A new study says that three quarters of Massachusetts police departments engage in racial profiling of minority drivers. The findings have prompted the state to investigate how nearly 250 law enforcement agencies handle traffic stops.
In just a moment, we'll talk with a state public safety official about the study.
But for now, joining us from Boston, Bishop Filipe Teixeira, a community activist and alleged victim of racial profiling.
Bishop, thanks for being with us this morning.
You say that you were a victim of racial profiling.
Tell us what happened.
BISHOP FILIPE TEIXEIRA, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST, ALLEGED VICTIM OF RACIAL PROFILING: Yes, I, for the past several years, I've been a victim of the racial profiling in Massachusetts, and also in Rhode Island. Well, actually, my last issue I had with the Boston Police Department was about two months ago and the police officer alleged me that I was speeding and I did not stop on the red light. And that was me and another priest, both of us black men. And he stopped us. He asked for my documents, registration and driver's license. I produced that to him. In about two or three minutes he came back. He told me I will send you the ticket by mail.
After two or three weeks, I received that ticket and I appealed to the court. I went to the court. The court threw out the ticket.
And then I went to the Boston Police Department to make a complaint. So when I gave that, they said well, after a week or so they called and they said we're not going to take your complaint because you have a history -- a driving history.
COLLINS: Well, is that true?
TEIXEIRA: That's not -- well, it's true because I've been profiled for about now over five years. So whenever they profile me, they have the possibility to enter their computers and so forth. So they a record of me. But that's been created through a racial profile we have in the State of Massachusetts for years.
COLLINS: Well, let's talk about that, quickly, for a moment. I know that you've become an activist, really trying to help to bridge the gap between police and minorities.
Do you think it's working? Are you making any progress, in your eyes?
TEIXEIRA: Yes, we are making progress. Right now I have the privilege to work in five towns -- Brockton, Randolph, Avon, Milton and Boston police beat three and C11 -- trying to resolve some issues, work with these departments, see where are the problems and so forth and resolve them. Yes, there are. There are some towns they're still kind of hard to understand the issue, but we are. I mean I'm seeing people, I've seen the chiefs trying to do their best to have the dialogue to begin with within the community.
COLLINS: You have to know, though, that there are some police officers who vehemently disagree. They say, "The problem is not widespread and that anyone who thinks police have a practice of profiling is sadly misinformed."
You disagree? TEIXEIRA: I totally disagree because I have called -- I mean I have been there, I mean, personally. I mean the document speaks for itself. I have met with the chiefs and I know there's some people who disagree because I mean let's face this, it's a culture within a culture that nobody wants to see the reality of it.
I had a strong conversation with the Brockton Police Department in a meeting, a department meeting, where actually I was verbally, I mean, abusive to the department because I could no longer stand the injustice. I mean this is America. I mean we're not in Iraq, where we talk about human rights violations, civil liberties violations. We're trying to be a model to other countries and we cannot save people's lives. And this is destroying the lives of our young people.
COLLINS: All right, Bishop, I want to get to the other side of the story, as well, so that we are balanced on this.
We want to turn to Edward Flynn, the secretary of Massachusetts' Department of Public Safety.
He is joining us from Boston this morning.
What is your response to what the bishop is telling us this morning?
EDWARD FLYNN, MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC SAFETY SECRETARY: Well, first, I want to thank the bishop for participating in our racial profiling working group, which spent the last three months analyzing the data that was in the draft report, which ultimately became the final report, which was reached yesterday.
We spent a great deal of time with a broad spectrum of community activists, community representatives and police chiefs to try to make the best sense we could of this data and try to decide what the next steps were. So I certainly thank him for his help.
COLLINS: Also probably worth mentioning, this was a very large study. 1.6 million traffic tickets were investigated over the course of nearly two years. But we have heard a word "de-policing."
Do you think it's possible that because of these findings now police officers will back off a little bit as far as what they see out on the streets and not be as forceful?
FLYNN: Well, before I became secretary of public safety, I was a police chief executive for 15 years and a police officer for 30. I want to make the point that enormous progress has been made in the police profession in those 30 years and a great deal have been good. It's been done in all of our communities, particularly our minority communities, as we've embraced the tenets of community policing and helped drive down crime with community cooperation.
I've never gone into a community meeting yet in which people demanded less policing. They've always demanded more, particularly in our poor neighborhoods, that are afflicted by crime and disorder. So it's important for us to send the message to our officers that we want to be accountable for our use of discretion and that we need to secure community trust and confidence. And if they think we're being unfair with our use of discretion, then we've either got to prove that they're wrong or find out what's going wrong in our business and fix it.
COLLINS: All right, to the both of you gentlemen, thanks so much this morning, Bishop Filipe Teixiera of the Catholic Church of the Americans and Edward Flynn, the Massachusetts Public of Safety.
Thanks so much.
HEMMER: Almost 22 past now.
In a moment, the Bush administration mobilizing over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. We have the latest on that in a moment here.
And director Michael Moore's upcoming film about the president now at the center of a whole new controversy. Your reaction, in a moment, when we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Here's the Question of the Day. Mickey Mouse going at with Michael Moore.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
The...
HEMMER: William.
CAFFERTY: The -- Skippy.
Skippy.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax Films unit from disturbing Michael Moore's latest documentary. It's called "Fahrenheit 911." It links President Bush with powerful Saudi families, including Osama bin Laden. Moore's agent told the "New York Times" that Disney CEO Michael Eisner expressed concern that the film would endanger tax breaks that Disney gets for its properties in Florida, where the president's brother is the governor. Disney says the film could alienate families of different political backgrounds who visit their parks.
On Moore's Web site, he claims he's the victim of censorship.
Our question is, is Disney making a mistake blocking the distribution of a Michael Moore film?
Caroline (ph) in Webster Groves, Missouri: "This is a no brainer. The right decision is to distribute it and let the public decide. Coupled with Sinclair Broadcasting deciding for us that we shouldn't see "Nightline," this is an ominous sign that disagreement with this administration will be shut down."
"Nightline's" ratings, by the way, soared on the night they read the names of the war dead...
HEMMER: Twenty-two percent.
CAFFERTY: ... even without Sinclair's seven ABC affiliates around the country.
Bernie (ph) in Ontario says: "Jack, if Disney controls the rights of distribution of this and other Miramax products, then they can make the choice to do as they please. I would agree it looks bad for Disney to do so, but it's business."
Jeff (ph) in New York: "With our politicians now completely dependent upon the funds contributed by corporations and corporations and their CEOs now aggressively censoring news broadcasts, radio shows, books and films, what's the difference between government censorship and corporate censorship? Corporations are now government and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Welcome to the new America."
Michael in Huron, South Dakota: "Michael Moore is a particularly repulsive individual who, when we needed to pull together, chose to slam the president and the United States. He is Sean Penn, Janeane Garofalo and Jane Fonda combined. Let's have less Moore."
That's not bad.
HEMMER: Am@cnn.com.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: From one Michael to another, Michael Jackson getting a little few jabs last night from Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW," COURTESY NBC)
JAY LENO, HOST: Have you seen this story? This is kind of scary. Off the coast of California, a diver was left stranded. He was scuba diving with a group of people. They forgot about him and took off. They just left him out there. This is true. He thought he was going to drown. Finally he's saved by a group of Boy Scouts who just happened to be coming along in a training boat. The Boy Scouts rescue him.
And a related story, today Michael Jackson pretended to be a stranded diver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You knew he was going to get to it eventually, huh?
CAFFERTY: Yes, a long way to go.
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: Nice.
COLLINS: All right, still to come this morning, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the president's national security team address the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. President Bush taking his turn today.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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