THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL
July 1, 2013
Guests: Cecile Richards; Ana Marie Cox, Faith Jenkins, Yamiche Alcindor,
P.J. Crowley
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, HOST: The battle over women`s reproductive freedom
continues today in Texas, and Wendy Davis is not backing down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Women will not be bullied!
STATE SEN. WENDY DAVIS (D), TEXAS: They`re bullying women and their
liberties.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It became a national rallying cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This movement, though, is kind of spreading across the
country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Davis`s filibuster as a rallying cry for Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Filibustered an anti-abortion bill for 11 hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their intent of the rules is to restrict access to
abortion, really plainly and, again, without disguise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see these mandatory ultrasound laws.
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Invasive vaginal forced procedure that a woman
cannot say no to.
JIM DEMINT, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Thousands of women who want an informed
choice get a free ultrasound which they can get not from Planned Parenthood
--
MADDOW: It`s not free. And it`s not a choice.
DAVIS: In the eyes of Texas, the eyes of the country are watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wendy Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wendy Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The heroic Wendy Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Perry`s attacks got personal.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: If her mom had said, you know, I just can`t do
this?
DAVIS: That was a terribly personal thing to say.
PERRY: She didn`t come from particularly good circumstances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went on to graduate from Harvard law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is certainly not the last we`ve heard from Wendy
Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess Todd Akin was right.
TODD AKIN (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: The female body has ways to try to
shut that whole thing down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Women can shut that whole thing down.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O`DONNELL: Wendy Davis versus Rick Perry and Texas Republicans take two.
Last week, State Senator Wendy Davis brought national attention to the
Senate chamber in Austin, Texas, by successfully killing a Republican anti-
abortion bill with an 11-hour filibuster that galvanized pro-choice
advocates to stand with Wendy.
Governor Rick Perry called the state legislature back for a 30-day special
session to try and ram through a new version of the bill. And today, an
estimated 5,000 people rallied at the state capitol to show they are ready
to stand with Wendy again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: They have messed with the way that Texas women can get cancer
screenings or birth control or even prenatal care. Now, I know a great
number of us have felt discouraged about the current state of affairs here.
Some of us have felt mad.
Today is different, though. Don`t you feel it? We feel hope!
(CHEERS)
We can stand up for each other. We can stand up for what`s right. And we
can stand up for Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: This morning, Rick Perry made the rounds of Texas conservative
radio to attack the people standing with Wendy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIPS)
PERRY: Never in the history of Texas have we had such a response from the
gallery, where they literally took over the process. They stopped the
democratic process of voting and debate.
The votes are still there. Nothing`s changed on this. The question is are
you going to let a small group of people take over the process, an unruly
mob, to keep democracy from occurring?
Not only are we on the right side of this issue, we`re on the vast majority
of the people of the state of Texas support this, and that`s the reason
that I called this special session, to address this issue. And a couple
others that were killed because of the turmoil and the mob rule antics that
we saw.
And you know, listen, filibuster is part of the rules. I get that. But
the absolute anarchy that we saw in the last 15 minutes out of the senate
chamber was not appropriate nor normal.
(END AUDIO CLIPS)
O`DONNELL: Today in Kansas, a law signed by Governor Sam Brownback which
declares that life begins at fertilization went into effect.
And last night in Ohio, Governor John Kasich signed into law the state`s
new budget that cuts funding to Planned Parenthood and would strip rape
crisis centers of their funding if they counsel women about abortion, any
abortion options. Also in the state budget, a provision that would force
women to have an ultrasound before an abortion and prohibits women from
being transferred to public hospitals if they need additional care after an
abortion procedure.
Joining me now, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation
of America, and Ana Marie Cox, columnist for "The Guardian."
Cecile, you`re back in Texas. This fight resumes. What strategies do you
think are possible for Wendy Davis now against the governor?
CECILE RICHARDS, PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESIDENT: Well, today was an
extraordinary day here, Lawrence. Literally, the legislature came back
because much Governor Perry`s trying to push through these bills that are
so extreme he couldn`t get them down in a regular session. Obviously, he
couldn`t even get them done in the last special session. So he`s brought
the legislature back one more time again to try to cram them through. And
5,000 people were here waiting.
It`s been the most extraordinary mobilization that I can remember ever in
the state of Texas. These bills are so extreme and so unpopular, and folks
will be back at the legislature tomorrow to testify at the hearing in the
House against these bills.
O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what the lieutenant governor had to say about
the people who are out there protesting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. DAVID DEWHURST (R), TEXAS: Thousands of abortion advocates were
whipped into a frenzy by the international socialist organization, the
Occupy movement, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU, to disrupt our
legislative session.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Ana Marie Cox, lumping Planned Parenthood in there with the
international socialist organization, just in case you might think there
could be friends of Texas in there somewhere.
This is -- this fight obviously continues, and the issue is spreading to
other states.
ANA MARIE COX, THE GUARDIAN: Right. Well, I`m going to have to calm down
for a second, Lawrence. I`ve been whipped into a frenzy, you know?
O`DONNELL: Yes.
COX: I`ll take a couple breaths.
I do actually hope people are excited about this and that the excitement in
Texas can sort of force people to look at some of the other states that are
enacting abortion legislation that`s even more restrictive. In Ohio you
just mentioned Governor Kasich signing a bill that would close three
abortion clinics and, again, shut down rape crisis centers if they even
mention abortion.
You know, all of these bills just make abortions harder and harder to get,
which ironically forces women to get them later and later in their term,
which is actually something that I think we can all agree is something that
we`d like to avoid. The earlier abortions are performed, the more safe
they are.
And so, by doing these restrictions they`re actually endangering women`s
lives. And to this restriction in Ohio that keeps these clinics from
transferring a woman to a public hospital, I`m kind of flabbergasted that
these were able to get through. I think they`re able to get through
because legislatures don`t realize that the world is watching.
And so, I do -- I`m from Texas myself. I like to pay attention to politics
there. But I hope people can kind of transfer their vision to some of
these other state legislatures. And if we bring attention to them, I do
think women will get whipped into a frenzy. And I think when you`re in a
frenzy, sometimes you get stuff done.
O`DONNELL: Well, on that point of the Ohio law, the "Cincinnati Enquirer,"
which endorsed John McCain for president in 2008, Romney in 2012, actually
wrote an editorial saying that this new Ohio law will -- Republicans are
putting women at risk. I want to read some of this in detail.
They said, "For some reason, the Republicans in the GOP-controlled general
assembly think the state budget is the appropriate vehicle to inflame the
culture wars anew with a series of restrictions on abortion. The most
egregious is a last-minute amendment to require doctors to perform
ultrasounds to detect a fetal heartbeat, a back-door effort to avoid public
debate on a highly controversial issue.
Republicans also kept in the budget bill a provision that would ban
abortion clinics from entering into transfer agreements with public
hospitals. By potentially banning a transfer to a public hospital
precisely at the time when women may need advanced medical care,
Republicans are putting women at risk."
Cecile Richards, there have been plenty of times when Republicans have
said, oh, no, no, you`re overstating this, we are not putting women at
risk.
This provision in Ohio very clearly puts women at risk, even in the view of
a newspaper that has endorsed the last two Republican candidates for
president.
RICHARDS: Absolutely, Lawrence. I mean, look, here`s the thing. These
are bills that are strictly -- that are shutting down health centers for
women all across the country. There is bipartisan opposition. It`s
exactly right that the reason they stuck this at the last minute into the
budget was that they couldn`t get it passed in a regular session because of
the overwhelming opposition to that.
And that`s actually I think what you see in Ohio is exactly what we`re
seeing in Texas. Look, the reason you`re seeing the outpouring of
opposition by men and women, Republicans and Democrats, is that Governor
Perry already shut down more than 60 health centers that provided birth
control and cancer screenings in the state of Texas the last couple of
years.
Now, this new set of bills will shut down dozens more. And folks are
simply saying enough is enough. These are bills that are absolutely
devastating to women`s health, both here in Texas and in the state of Ohio.
O`DONNELL: Wendy Davis told "The Huffington Post" today that she thinks
some Republicans in Texas are having second thoughts. Let`s listen to what
she said.
I guess we have to read what she said. I`m sorry. It`s not on video.
She said, "I think that there are certainly some members across the aisle
that are giving this a second thought. The reaction that they`re seeing,
the very organic reaction that they`re seeing from across the state of
Texas I think, it`s giving some people pause, as it should."
And, Ana Marie Cox, it is probably giving Republicans pause outside of
Texas as they see the way this plays for the party nationally.
COX: Yes. This doesn`t really help their rebranding efforts because this
is the kind of issue that -- I should say I`m glad Cecile brought it up.
This isn`t just a women`s issue. Men care about this issue too.
Republicans care about this issue. Democrats care about this issue.
And I think there are a lot of Republican women out there who see this
happening and are upset that their party, who they support for reasons
that, you know, aren`t related to this, is really taking a step backwards
when it comes to women`s rights.
And I`ve said this on the show before, Lawrence, but this is an economic
issue, not a social issue. And it`s something you that I think, again, if
we can just get these legislatures not to pass these bills sort of in the
dark of night and sneak them into things like budgets, I think if you have
a national conversation about this, you`ll find that people support the
right to choose. Yes, it`s an ugly issue. It`s something that upsets
people. But we`ve made great strides, you know, for women in this country.
And one of them is that we can control our reproductive systems. And I
don`t think anyone wants to go backwards on that.
O`DONNELL: Cecile Richards, we`re going to close with you in Texas
tonight. And I don`t want to turn you into a political pundit. But there
is talk of Wendy Davis running for governor. She said today in a phone
interview with NBC News that she cannot rule out running for governor.
And that would be one solution to this kind of problem, would be to have
another woman as the governor of Texas.
RICHARDS: Well, Wendy is an extraordinary senator. She would make an
incredible governor. She has an incredible political future, no matter
what she decides. And I think there`s no way to have looked at the crowd
out there today in front of the capitol without imagining more progressive
Texas.
And I think Wendy Davis is a big part of that.
O`DONNELL: Cecile Richards and Ana Marie Cox, thank you both for joining
me tonight.
RICHARDS: Thanks, Lawrence.
COX: Thank you.
O`DONNELL: Coming up, for the first time the jury hears George Zimmerman
in his own words in the trial today. That`s next.
And tonight`s "Rewrite" is about Rachel Jeantel`s testimony in the case
last week.
And later, new revelations from Ed Snowden. He broke his silence today.
New statements released by him as he remains stuck in the Moscow airport.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: Starting today people in Vermont are not criminals for
possessing less than an ounce of marijuana. Vermont`s Democratic governor,
Peter Shumlin, signed the law last month, replacing criminal penalties with
fines just like parking tickets, $200 for first-time offenders and $300 for
a second offense of possession. More than an ounce and growing cannabis
are still criminal offenses. An ACLU report released last month found that
African-Americans in Vermont were four times more likely to be arrested on
marijuana charges than white people despite using marijuana at near-equal
rates.
Up next, George Zimmerman takes jurors on a tour of the scene where Trayvon
Martin was killed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: The jury finally heard directly from George Zimmerman today in
his second degree murder trial. George Zimmerman has pled not guilty,
claiming self-defense. And while it`s still unknown whether he will take
the witness stand in his own defense, the prosecution allowed jurors to
hear George Zimmerman telling his side of the story by playing a videotaped
re-enactment of the incident.
The Sanford police department recorded this video the day after George
Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, MURDER DEFENDANT: I was walking back to my truck, and
when I got to right about here, he`s yelled from behind me, side of me. He
said, "Yo, you got a problem?" I turned around and I said, "No, I don`t
have a problem, man."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was he at?
ZIMMERMAN: He was about there. But he was walking towards me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This direction here?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. Like I said, I was already past that. So I didn`t
see exactly where he came from. But he was about where you are. And I
said, "I don`t have a problem." And I went to get my cell phone.
I had left it in a different pocket. I looked down at my pants pocket.
And he said, "You got a problem now." and he was here. And he punched me
in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here?
ZIMMERMAN: Right up around here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
ZIMMERMAN: To be honest with you, I don`t remember exactly. I think I
stumbled and I fell down. He pushed me down. Somehow he got on top of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the grass or on the cement?
ZIMMERMAN: It was more over toward here. I think I was trying to push him
away from me and then he got on top of me somewhere around here. And
that`s when I started screaming for help. I started screaming "help" as
loud as I could.
And then is when he grabbed -- oh, I tried to sit up, and that`s when he
grabbed me by the head and tried to slam my head down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you on the cement or were you --
ZIMMERMAN: No, my body was on the grass. My head was on the cement.
(INAUDIBLE)
ZIMMERMAN: That`s the best as I could feel on my jacket. I felt like my
body was on the grass and my head was on the cement. And he just kept
slamming and slamming. And I kept yelling, "Help. Help. Help." He put
his hand on my nose and his other hand on my mouth. He said, "Shut the
(EXPLETIVE DELETED) up."
And I tried squirming again because all I could think about was when he was
hitting my head against it, I felt like my head was going to explode. And
I thought I was going to lose consciousness. So I tried to squirm off the
concrete.
And when I did that, somebody here opened the door. And I said, "Help me.
Help me." And they said, "I`ll call 911." I said, "No, help me. I need
help." And I don`t know what they did. But that`s when my jacket moved
up. And I had my -- my firearm on my right side hip.
My jacket moved up. And he saw it. I feel like he saw it. He looked at
it. He said, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."
And he reached for it but I reached -- like I felt his arm going down to my
side. And I grabbed it and I just grabbed my firearm and shot him. One
time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: The prosecution`s key witness today was Chris Serino, the lead
investigator in the Zimmerman case. Serino originally recommended that
George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter two days after that walk-
through. Serino and detective Doris Singleton questioned Zimmerman again.
The prosecution played that video for the jury.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANFORD POLICE DETECTIVE DORIS SINGLETON: Did you, at that time, ever say
to him "I`m neighborhood watch"?
ZIMMERMAN: No.
SINGLETON: Did it not occur to you?
ZIMMERMAN: No, I said, I don`t have a problem. And I started backing away
from him
SINGLETON: But you kind of did have a problem, that`s why you were
following him, you had a concern with him.
ZIMMERMAN: I was scared --
SINGLETON: Too scared to tell him (INAUDIBLE) that you were neighborhood
watch? You were afraid to tell him that?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, ma`am.
SINGLETON: Look, I`m not trying to put you on the spot, but these are the
questions people are going to ask and will seek out an answer. It seemed
like a perfect opportunity to say "Look I`m neighborhood watch, I don`t
recognize you, are you staying here?"
ZIMMERMAN: Like I said, he came up out of nowhere, I didn`t see him,
(INAUDIBLE) so when he popped up, he just caught me off guard, and --
SINGLETON: But can you see how that would frighten him? That you had been
following him now through the whole park?
ZIMMERMAN: What do you mean? On --
SINGLETON: Yes. You were watching him. OK?
ZIMMERMAN: I didn`t --
SINGLETON: He sees you, he walks up to your car, correct?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, ma`am.
SINGLETON: He was making it clear to you, I recognize you`re following me.
ZIMMERMAN: I didn`t know if he was doing that or he was doubling back or
he was doing --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Later, Serino reviewed George Zimmerman`s claim that Trayvon
Martin tried to smother him.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OFFICER CHRIS SERINO, SANFORD PD: Prior to shooting him, he was on you,
correct?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
SERINO: And you were able to reach for your holster.
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
SERINO: You shot him at point blank range. He was right on top of you,
right?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
SERINO: And through all that yelling, nobody came out to help you. I
can`t pinpoint where you were smothered. That`s the problem I`m having.
And nobody`s saying they saw him smothering you. People are saying they
saw someone on top of you but they didn`t s that smothering part. So --
SINGLETON: When you`re listening to the screaming, it doesn`t sound like
there`s a hesitation in screaming. It sounds like it`s continuous. If
someone`s screaming help, ahh, it`s going to stop. But we don`t hear it
stop.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: We`ll have analysis of all today`s testimony, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O`MARA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You had an issue with whether or not his
rendition of getting hit dozens of times were supported by the forensic
evidence of his injuries, correct?
SERINO: In my view, yes.
O`MARA: Yes.
SERINO: They were lacking.
O`MARA: Would you agree that there were numerous different bruisings and
injuries on both sides of his scalp first?
SERINO: There were injuries. However, based on the way I`d view them as a
major crimes investigator who`s seen injuries a lot worse than that, I
didn`t consider them life-threatening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: That was defense attorney Mark O`Mara cross-examining Chris
Serino on day six of testimony in the trial of George Zimmerman. Today, we
heard George Zimmerman`s story as he told it to police on the night of the
shooting and as he retold it during a second interview with the lead
detective, Chris Serino, days later.
Joining me now, Yamiche Alcindor, a reporter for "USA Today" who was in the
courtroom today, and Faith Jenkins, a former criminal prosecutor.
Faith, that last point that we just heard Chris Serino make, where he said
he didn`t consider George Zimmerman`s injuries life-threatening, that could
be a crucial element here for the jury because you don`t get to shoot
somebody in this country because you get punched in the nose.
FAITH JENKINS, FORMER CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR: That`s right. And that`s
exactly what the prosecutors are going to argue. One of the questions the
jurors will have to answer is are George Zimmerman`s injuries significant
enough to justify shooting Trayvon Martin?
We know he has some injuries. So we know there was some contact. But did
he turn a fistfight into a gun fight just because he could?
The state is going to argue that`s exactly what he did, a reasonable person
in his situation could not have believed that they were about to suffer
death or serious physical injury bed on the injuries that he suffered. The
state`s going to argue they`re just not significant enough and they`re
going to ask the jurors to decide that George Zimmerman did not act
reasonably when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
O`DONNELL: Yamiche, every jury wants to hear from the defendant, but this
is a case where it`s -- speculation is running higher every day that this
defendant may not testify. This may be the jury`s only chance to actually
listen to him tell his story, is via this video.
What was your impression in the courtroom today about the way the jury
followed the video testimony -- the video presentation?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR, USA TODAY: So like you said, the jury may not hear from
George Zimmerman. So this was their real chance to hear George Zimmerman.
He`s been in court, but this is their first chance to really think about
what he said about that night.
And usually, they`re leaning and they`re taking notes. This time, I didn`t
see any pens moving. I saw everyone`s head staring at the projector. I
saw everyone staring at George Zimmerman telling people, telling, as you
say, police officers what happened that night.
And juror -- the whole jury was just looking at this projector for a really
long time. And there were at least an hour probably of recordings of
George Zimmerman, and the whole time the jury was focused on him they were
really, really paying attention, close attention in a way haven`t really
seen them do before.
O`DONNELL: A lot was made today about George Zimmerman using the word
"suspect" when he was talking about Trayvon Martin. Let`s listen to Doris
Singleton talking to him about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SINGLETON: When I headed back to my vehicle -- I`m sorry. It`s as I
headed back to my vehicle, the suspect emerged from the darkness and said,
"you got a problem?" I said no. The suspect said, "you do now."
BERNIE DE LA RIONDA, STATE PROSECUTOR: We`re going to move on to page
three. But let me just study you before you read that, and we`re going to
highlight -- go ahead. The first part. Again, he uses the word "suspect"
to refer to Trayvon Martin. Have you uttered those words or have you
informed him in any way that`s the word he`s supposed to use to refer to
Trayvon Martin?
SINGLETON: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Faith, I`ve got to say, I didn`t see what the big deal was
about George Zimmerman using the word "suspect" at that point he didn`t
know his name. Trayvon Martin was in Zimmerman`s mind according to his
story a suspect. Do you think there`s much significance in that?
JENKINS: I actually do. I mean, there are a number of words he could have
used to describe Trayvon besides suspect. Young man, individual, person.
But he chose to use suspect and that`s a window into his mind.
In that same statement, he also said they usually get away. He assumed
that Trayvon Martin was about to commit a crime or committed a crime. And
he wrongly -- he made that assumption wrongly. Trayvon Martin was not
doing anything wrong. But he attached to him an attitude that he had
towards other individuals who he previously had seen in this neighborhood
who he thought they were suspicious and up to no good and he made the same
assumption about Trayvon. He said they usually get away. This time,
however, he didn`t because he followed Trayvon.
O`DONNELL: Yamiche, I kept looking at George Zimmerman`s story today, as
we have in the past, who looking for some possible reason for Trayvon
Martin, an incentive for Trayvon Martin to do what George Zimmerman said he
did if -- and it`s hard to find it in Zimmerman`s own account. I mean,
this is the tragedy of not having Trayvon Martin here to tell his story.
But it seems like that`s a difficult moment for the jury to make sense of,
is why would Trayvon Martin turn around, according to George Zimmerman`s
story, and somehow find his way back to surprise the guy who`s been
following him, someone who he didn`t want following him?
ALCINDOR: I mean, I think that`s a huge question that the jury is going to
have to answer and have to deal with. Prosecutors today, when they were
playing the tapes of George Zimmerman`s statements to police, Doris
Singleton says to Zimmerman, you know, he was -- you were following him.
Do you think that Trayvon might have been scared of you? And you know, why
do you think he would do this? Zimmerman basically didn`t really have a
hard answer as to why he thought Trayvon would punch him in the nose,
right? So I think the jury`s really going to have to look at that and make
their own decision.
But both these officers said they believed George Zimmerman, that he didn`t
look like he had anger or ill will toward Trayvon Martin. So, I think
there`s that double-edged sword because the jury also heard from officers
who say that this is a believable guy. So I think it`s going to be a tough
decision for them.
O`DONNELL: And in addition to that, Faith, there`s just the very fact that
George Zimmerman is fully cooperative with the police officers at every
stage of their inquiry. He doesn`t lawyer up. He doesn`t seem to be at
that stage concerned about his own liability.
JENKINS: Right. And Mark O`Mara has done a great job getting the maximum
amount of usage out of these state witnesses. He cross-examined these
officers, and he used that as an opportunity to show that George Zimmerman
never asked for an attorney, he gave all of these statements voluntarily,
when they asked him to come back to the police station he showed up. There
was no animus. There was no anger. He completely cooperated. They`re
going to get up and argue in summations he did that because he had nothing
to hide, he only shot Trayvon because that`s what he had to do.
O`DONNELL: And Yamiche, as we go forward here, when you keep an eye on the
jury, are there moments where you can tell they are more intensely engaged
than others?
ALCINDOR: I think when they`re listening to George Zimmerman, especially
when they`re watching him, they`re really, really engaged. One juror
today, I talked to her -- I talked about her before. Her name`s e-6, we
refer to her as e-6. She`s a woman who sits in the jury box. And she acts
basically -- I couldn`t really hear all the interviews. I couldn`t hear
all the recordings. What are we going to do about that? And judge nelson
said you can take those into the deliberation room with you and listen to
them then. So you have jurors that are really asking already for
questions.
O`DONNELL: Yamiche Alcindor and Faith Jenkins, thanks for joining us
tonight.
JENKINS: Thank you.
ALCINDOR: Thanks.
O`DONNELL: Coming up, the O`Reilly factor is in the "rewrite" again
tonight because of the factor`s coverage of the testimony of Trayvon
Martin`s friend, Rachel Jeantel, last week.
And next, lady Gaga`s rewrite of the national anthem.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: At the end of the week that the Supreme Court overturned the
defense of marriage act lady Gaga headlined the New York City gay pride
rally Friday night, which begins pride weekend. She sang the national
anthem and tweaked the lyrics just a bit.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING SAYING)
O`DONNELL: Coming up, Ed Snowden breaks his silence today in Moscow.
And next in "the rewrite," the O`Reilly factor is wrong again which of
course is no surprise to the audience of "the O`Reilly Factor."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: In tonight`s "rewrite," the soft bigotry of low expectations.
Today, the smartest thing I read about the trial of George Zimmerman was a
tweet about last week`s testimony. Those who wanted to understand Rachel
Jeantel did. Those who wanted to demean her found their path.
Bill O`Reilly`s substitute host last week did not try very hard to
understand Rachel Jeantel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to excuse her poor manners, her disrespectful
language, and cocky ignorance because she`s black? Left-wing elites fall
over themselves to avoid criticizing behavior among black youth that they
would never tolerate from most upper crust white kids. Like the use of the
"n" word or the "f" word or the "c: word. When that happens, just chill
out. This is an example of what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called the soft
bigotry of low expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Where to begin? Now, I didn`t see Rachel Jeantel`s poor
manners. But then I`m no judge of manners. I didn`t grow up in a world of
manners. I was never really taught manners. And yes, I`ve been told many
times that my manners are poor. But I`ve never been told that in the
neighborhood where I grew up where the manners judgers just aren`t so
strict. But really, is the "O`Reilly Factor" an appropriate forum to be
giving lectures on manners?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hold it. Because I`m getting teed off at
you. Give me one damn program he said he cut.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: He has cut entitlements --
O`REILLY: What entitlements? What program?
KRAUTHAMMER: What do you want to yell --
O`REILLY: Because you`re lying.
KRAUTHAMMER: I`m not lying. Don`t sit there and call me a liar.
O`REILLY: You`re lying.
KRAUTHAMMER: Here`s the thing. If you don`t like the president, you don`t
like what he`s doing, but don`t sit there and call me a liar.
O`REILLY: I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Yes. The manners of "the O`Reilly Factor." Laura Ingraham says
left-wing elites have lower expectations for black kids than they do for
upper-crust white kids. That`s her phrase. "upper-crust white kids."
What the -- what is an upper-crust white kid? Who is she talking about?
And who is she talking to? She says upper-crust white kids don`t use the
"f" word? I have never known a white kid of any crust who doesn`t use the
"f" word. I`ve heard white Harvard professors use the "f" word. But I
guess they aren`t upper crust white Harvard professors. I`ve heard the
king of FOX News himself use the "f" word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll do it live! (bleep). Do it live! I`ll write it
and we`ll do it live! (bleep) thing sucks!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: But I guess, you know, he wasn`t an upper-crust white kid. And
by the way, how many upper-crust white kids can speak Haitian Creole, which
Is Rachel Jeantel`s original language, and Spanish and English, her second
and third languages? That`s two more languages than the host of "the
O`Reilly Factor" can speak.
Laura Ingraham really thinks upper-crust white kids don`t use the f word.
Really? Does that mean that lower-crust white kids do and middle-crust
white kids do use the "f" word? And do they use such horrible language
because we have low expectations for non-upper-crust white kids? Are
lower-crust white kids also the victims of the soft bigotry of low
expectations?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an example of what Daniel Patrick Moynihan
called the soft bigotry of low expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Except he didn`t. Daniel Patrick Moynihan never, ever said
those words. Laura Ingraham wishes he did because Senator Moynihan had a
very liberal voting record in the Senate and right-wingers love to bolster
their arguments by quoting liberals whenever possible, just like I like to
quote Ronald Reagan on progressive income taxation and banning assault
weapons.
The soft bigotry of low expectations is, as most of you know, a very famous
phrase from a very famous politician way, way more famous than Senator
Moynihan. And that politician repeatedly used the phrase in both of his
successful campaigns for president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will confront
another form of bias. The soft bigotry of low expectations.
This principle is challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: How could the O`Reilly factor get that so wrong? How could
Laura Ingraham attribute that very famous line to anyone but George W. Bush
or Michael Gerson, the speechwriter who has publicly claimed credit for
putting those words in President Bush`s mouth?
One way to get it so wrong is to use a couple of right-wing websites as
your source for that quote because they obliviously attribute it for some
weird reason to Senator Moynihan. Michael Gerson tells the story of how he
got Bush to use that phrase in Gerson`s book about putting words in Bush`s
teleprompter. This is not a hard fact to find or even hard to remember
Bush saying it, as I have always easily remembered. But no one expects FOX
News to get the facts right. Not even loyal FOX News viewers. "The
O`Reilly Factor" has been proven wrong to them on facts countless times,
with or without a guest host.
Being wildly wrong on facts is not a problem for the "Factor" because when
it comes to getting the facts write, the "Factor" audience has learned to
have very low expectations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: South African president Jacob Zuma released a new statement on
the condition of Nelson Mandela. President Nelson Mandela is still in
critical but stable condition in Pretoria. We remind all South Africans to
begin planning for Madiba`s birthday on the 18th of July. We must all be
able to something good for humanity on this day in tribute to our former
president.
Up next, Ed Snowden breaks his silence today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have gone through regular
law enforcement channels in enforcing the extradition requests that we`ve
made with respect to Mr. Snowden. And that`s been true with all the
countries that have been involved, including Russia. And so there have
been high-level discussions with the Russians about trying to find a
solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Today after a week of silence Edward Snowden released a
statement from the Moscow airport through Wikileaks reading in part,
"although I am convicted of nothing, the Obama administration has
unilaterally revoked my passport leaving me a stateless person. Without
any judicial order the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a
basic right, a right that belongs to everybody, the right to seek asylum."
Reuters reports tonight that Ed Snowden wrote this in an undated letter to
the president of Ecuador. "I remain free and able to publish information
that serves the public interest."
On Friday vice president Joe Biden called the Ecuador president and asked
him to deny Snowden`s asylum request.
Today Russian president Vladimir Putin said if he wants to go somewhere and
there are those who would take him, he is welcome to do so. If he wants to
stay here, there is one condition. He must stop his activities aimed at
inflicting damage on our American partners.
Based on documents Edward Snowden supplied, "Der Spiegel (PH)" revealed
over the weekend that the NSA spied on European union representatives in
Washington and Brussels.
President Obama addressed that report today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: What I said is to my team take a look at this article, figure out
what they may or may not be talking about and then what we`ll do is we`ll
communicate to our allies appropriately.
Every intelligence service, not just ours but every European intelligence
service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there`s an intelligence
service, here`s one thing that they`re going to be doing. They`re going to
be trying to understand the world better and what`s going on in world
capitals around the world. From sources that aren`t available through "The
New York Times" or NBC News.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Joining me now, former assistant secretary of state for public
affairs and now a professor of -- at George Washington university, P.J.
Crowley.
P.J. Crowley, Snowden`s statement from Moscow today seems absolutely
outraged that after he has publicly confessed to a crime that the United
states is trying to apprehend him.
P.J. CROWLEY, PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, the United
States would like to have him appear before a court and answer serious
charges regarding his disclosure of classified information. The United
States government issues travel documents. The United States government
upon an indictment, upon cause, is within its right to revoke those travel
documents.
O`DONNELL: He said in the statement today, he said "on Thursday president
Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic
wheeling and dealing over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after
promising not to do so the president ordered his vice president to pressure
the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my
asylum petitions. This kind of deception from a world leader is not
justice."
This kind of deception is something we know about because the vice
president told us that he, you know, was telling Ecuador don`t allow him in
there.
CROWLEY: Sure. I mean, Mr. Snowden has a right to pursue a case of
asylum. And if he convinces a government to let him travel there, that`s
within his right. By the same token, he has an open invitation to return
to the United States and answer these serious charges, and we`ll wait and
see what he does.
O`DONNELL: He wrote a letter to the president of Ecuador saying, among
other things, "I must express my deep respect for your principles."
Surely, he does not mean all of the principles of that regime in Ecuador.
But to get to the substance of what he`s now released in the latest
release, the notion that the United States is trying to pick up information
on very friendly countries, European countries, what do you make of that
revelation?
CROWLEY: Well, as the president said, we have intelligence services, and
they help us understand the world. You know, I`m sitting, you know, in
front of the U.S. capitol, and I strongly suspect that there are scores of
intelligence operatives here in Washington who are doing the very same
thing that we do elsewhere, which is find out what`s going on within this
government and report back to their own.
O`DONNELL: How much mop-up is going to be involved here? There have been
a lot of outrage expressed from European capitals over this.
CROWLEY: Sure. I think within government they understand that, you know,
countries conduct espionage operations. The public is upset about this
because the issues do touch on issues of privacy and Europe and the United
States have different views on privacy and different calculations in terms
of conceding some privacy in return, you know, for extra security. I
strongly suspect that over time, this will be effectively managed and just
as we did with Wikileaks two years ago.
O`DONNELL: P.J. Crowley, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
CROWLEY: Pleasure, Lawrence.
O`DONNELL: Chris Hayes is up next.
CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST, ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Good evening from New
York. I`m Chris Hayes.
END
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'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' for Monday, July 1st, 2013
Read the transcript to the Monday show