tv Piers Morgan Live CNN August 28, 2013 9:00pm-10:01pm PDT
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$2,000. bank of america also said that it's working with them to find a fair way to compensate them for their loss. but the family says they have no agreement with the bank as of yet, considering the loss to their home and to their credit thank you for watching. we'll see you again tomorrow night. piers morgan is next. this is piers morgan live. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. can anything stop a strike on syria. president obama laying out the case tonight. listen to what he told the pbs "news hour." >> if i have no interest in any kind of open-ended conflict in syria, but we have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us that they are held accountable.
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>> so it is a matter of time, and can the country afford to intervene in syria? plus the jury calls the ft. hood shooter to get the death penalty. why tavis smiley said if martin luther king were alive today he may have words of criticism for president obama. and this about hannah anderson. >> i remember vividly telling my brother she's trouble. she's going to -- i said you need to watch for that one. she's trouble. it wanz encounter and we ask star jones what she thought of that and mom versus miley. the mom who warns let miley cyrus be a lesson for you. we begin with the deepening
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crisis in syria and what the white house intends to do about it. one of the only western reporters in syria is with us tonight. fred, mounting tension in syria and around the world as everyone braces itself for what is now seen as an inevitable military strike. how would you describe the atmosphere in damascus. >> it is an eerie atmosphere at this hour. one thing we have been hearing from reports, we haven't been able to confirm yet but the syrian military has started to draw down staff in key buildings. the head of the air force and army, as well. the other thing is they have apparently moved some artillery in the mountains around damascus away from there to try to get away from those american air strikes. the u.n. ambassador of syria to the united nations was asked about that today. he wouldn't confirm or deny that. but the interesting thing for us tonight, piers, is it very quiet in damascus tonight.
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you are hearing a lot less artillery than you would normally. it doesn't confirm or deny but shows there is movement and that certainly the regime is taking the way and pace things are going right now very seriously. >> the logic of the movement is that the strike when it comes is expected to be precise and targeting military installations, air base and so on, not chemical weapons munitions dumps because they could, if they were hit, be huge environmental catastrophes. >>. >> certainly would. that's one thing we have been hearing. if these chemical weapons depots were to be hit obviously that chemical gas would be released and cause an environmental disaster. and hurt and kill a lot of people as well. however, the syrian government, of course, for its part is saying whatever the u.s. does. whatever air strike happens it will only kill civilians. it's a dangerous thing and they
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of course warn of a destabilization of this entire region, especially of this country right here. one of the things the information minister told me when i did an interview with him. he said that effectively the u.s. would become the air force of allocate tachlt because we know there are a lot of al qaeda affiliated groups in north of syria and damascus suburbs. that is their line. the u.s. says this is about chemical weapons and chemical weapons only, piers. >> fred, terrific reporting there in a dangerous situation. stay safe and i'm sure we will talk again tomorrow. thank you very much. i want to bring in reza asland, the author of zealot, the life and times of jesus cyst, fran townsend, security analyst, member of dhs and external advisory board and major spider marks, former commander of the u.s. army intelligence center. christian, you are a long-standing expert on this
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region. it is a complete mess, isn't it? whichever way you look at it, there is no easy solution to this. >> look it has been left for so long and the united states, britain, france, no one wants to get involved, if they ever did, trying to topple bashar al-assad. s saddam hussein is the last one to use chemical weapons. no one wants to get on top of it. even though the strategy has been all along he must go. it is bound to be in the president's words a limited strike to punish assad and prevent him from using chemical weapons gechbl he hasdown done to the u.k. about ten times. there was an incident where several hundred people were killed and nothing was done to hold accountable.
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we were told by the free syrian army commander please do something enact your red line or it will happen again and sure enough it did with more catastrophic consequences. now the west, the united states is forced to respond because it has drawn this red line, as we all know chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction, are banned by international law and are a war crime. this is where we are but there is no strategy beyond limited punitive strikes some this war will continue even if there are strikes against this this particular action. >> i want to play you a clip from president obama's interview today which he outlines his logic about what is going on here. >> we want the assad regime to understand that by using chemical weapons against women, infants, children that you are
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not only breaking international norms and standards of decency, but you're also creating a situation where u.s. national interests are affected, and that needs to stop. >> what was fascinating to me is he used the word norms, not law and john kerry did the same. they are avoiding saying what assad is doing is a breach of law. actually, technically it may not be. >> that's right. the president has come under criticism. as christiane points out there have been prior chemical attacks, dexter was on cnn last night talking about 35 prior to this large-scale incident. the key here is we wondered why the president -- what was the red line, what was the definition?
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he defined that tonight for the first time by saying it was the large scale use against civilian populations. that's his red line and that's what has been crossed. he also went on to make the case this is sort of -- this -- there is the problem of an attack on u.s. national interests. what does he mean by that? well, we have key allies, jordan, lebanon, israel that could be affected and what is not mentioned but applies to u.s. interest being at risk are u.s. diplomatic posts and the military forces in the region. let's remember just last week, chairman of the joint chiefs marty dempsey opened up a commands post in jordan, a joint coordination center in jordan. so we have forces at risk, if there is a chemical attack or a chemical release in the region. >> let me turn to you, general spider marks. one thing i do know, my brother is a british army colonel, they
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want a clear mission, they want to understand the beginning, middle and end game is supposed to be and will fight according to that requirement. yet again, here, as with iraq and afghanistan, it seems messy, unfocussed and as said, now they are raining back from this. it may be targeted but maybe a military target who may already be moving. what is the end game from a military point of view, how do you assess this? >> well, piers, first of all, thank your brother for his service. we appreciate what he's doing. it's not well-defined and the president has not cleared this up by his interview today. what's not said is very significant. the president has not established a strategy in terms -- he hasn't given his intent. he hasn't been able to draw a picture of what he's looking to achieve at the end of this very tactical engagement.
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in other words, he's got a clear picture of what he wants to try to achieve tactically. he wants to punish assad for the use of chemical weapons. he decoupled that and in other words, he hasn't said a thing about what the regime is going to do going forward. in fact, i would argue the president wants to knock assad down but not out. he would abhor the fact that assad might disappear, and this large vacuum and we have no ability to control and have chemical weapons get into the hands of hezbollah and others. it's what the president has not said that is most troubling. >> reza asland, let's turn to the civil war in syria, which is an almost separate issue now in terms of what the president said today about intentions. a deal with chemical weapons attack and humanitarian issues,
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not the civil war itself. should america, should the u.n., should the community generally get involved at all in the civil war in syria and can you divorce, do you think, the two things. >> president obama wants to do that which is why he's talking about a limited aerial strike which will do nothing to tip the balance of power in this conflict that's raging more for than two years that led to more than 100,000 deaths so far. but there is a way to do this. i mean, actually a more sustained arial bombardment against the air force and command and control but most importantly, against the air field. syria is getting a daily supply of weapons and ammunitions from iran and from russia. there are only a few air spaces left that these ships -- that these planes can land in and there is a way to degrade that possibility by bombing those air spaces, by bombing these capabilities but it seems that thus far, that's something the president is not seriously considering. so if this is just a punitive
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then it -- i don't think it will make much of a difference one way or another. >> in terms of timing of a strike, an interesting development today in britain. there is always a key ally of course to the americans on issues like this and military actions like this where david cameron, the prime minister was staring defeat in the face on this and has gone for a second vote next tuesday. does that mean we're unlikely to see any action even from the united states before that vote is taken place? >> that's awfully hard to say, whether the united states will wait for britain or not. britain also said that it will not take any direct military action unless and until the u.n. investigating team comes out with it's report. so that was sort of a left turn today because as you rightly said, there was a lot of hard charging from the prime minister's office, from the secretary of state, the foreign secretary hague's office today
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and it sort of melted away by the evening when the resolution, draft they presented was batted away. it really depends. the united states doesn't want to do it alone. we were told the united states wouldn't do it alone. so all of this remains to be seen. there is obviously always these wrinkles. i'm in france where the french president said his country stands ready to punish those who used these chemical weapons. we're not sure exactly right now what a coalition would look like. we're sure it's almost 99.99% sure there will be no u.n. approval of this of u.n. resolution so it would be an end run to get a consensus amongst nato countries. the arab league has agreed chemical weapons have been used and it's the assad regime but wary of strikes. this is a difficult moment. of course, israel next door to
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syria, they do want to see assad's capability degraded and they believe that that actually should happen, although they also think that the strike option is going to be a limited one, according to what president obama has said publicly. >> thank you very much. rez rez, major james, spider marks, thank you very much indeed. coming up next, a man's testimony that helped convict the fort hood shooter a. dramatic confrontation when he came face-to-face be man who tried to kill him. that exclusive after this break. nascar is about excitement. but tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media
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this has been a long, exhausting process. we are tired. we are hurt. but we are resolved. justice has been served. >> today a military jury recommended major nidal hasan be put to death. one wounded was shot seven times at point blank range and came face-to-face with the attacker again when he testified against his son a few weeks ago. he is joining me now for an exclusive interview.
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welcome to you. again, we spoke movingly a few weeks ago. how do you feel it went in the end? do you feel that justice has been done? are you happy with what has happened? >> well, partially. i'm happy that he is receiving the death sentence. however, looking at the history of individuals that receive the death sentence in the military, the last time someone was put to death is in 1961, so i definitely do not want him to sit and wait and die of old age. i think now's the time we really need to go ahead and finish the process and actually put him to death. >> in an odd way, that may be what he wants. his behavioral pattern throughout this trial, defending himself and playing games and everything else seem to be geared to wanting to get the death penalty and getting killed. is it not a better punishment, perhaps, that he does sit there thinking what what he did the rest of his natural life. >> it depends how you look at it. even though he wants to be put
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to death, he wants to be put to death in a blaze and glory of battle. you can tell by his actions throughout the trial, that he is not going to receive that luxury. what we have to prove, as a nation and as a government, is that we will not allow terrorists to flourish within our uniformed services. that's why he deserves to be put to death. however, if he does not get put to death and he is serving life or on death row, instead of isolating him, they need to put him in general population and let things sort out as they may. >> you knew him well and you were in charge of soldier readiness on the day of the attack. combat medic. he shot you seven times. it is miraculous you survived this. wa was the moment like for you when you turned and realized this man you thought you knew so well had turned rogue enemy? >> it was shocking. actually, one of the safest places where you can be in our
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country is on a military base. so for him to perform the acts that he did that day, the first thing that came in to our minds was how are we going to eliminate the threat? he used the element of surprise and after i got hit the first time my whole life flashed in front of my face. it came to a point write had to make a decision. was i going to die, or was i going to get up and fight? so i chose to get up and fight. >> what are the long-standing injuries you have suffered from this? >> one of the most important ones is post traumatic stress disorder and i am no longer the same person i was prior to 2009. in the aftermath, i'm a different person to my family and to other individuals that were close to me. >> in what way? >> well, my kids cannot come up behind me and just say dad, i love you without announcing themselves. i won't go to a wal-mart on a
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saturday by myself. nor will i go late at night when it is not that crowded. the other thing is i have constant nightmares. there are times where i am having a nightmare and my wife tries to wake me and i will kick her out of the bed. so my loved ones have to be careful how they approach mechlt i patrol the primter the of my home. i was caught by surprise so that will never happen again. >> >> the fbi released extraordinary e-mails between hasan and the first was whether islamic law would permit the killing of american soldiers. when you read these and saw this obvious link between him and the islamic terrorist, did you think people dropped ball here, they
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should have identified the threat from hasan earlier? >> absolutely. there were other signs that were prevalent while station there had at walter reed. since he was the first middle easterner it was like a hands off approach. he played the race card. they said we go ahead and give him a pass. one of the biggest mistakes they transferred one problem and issue to another base in hopes that those issues would be resolved. in the end result, 14 dead and 32 wounded. >> what are your feelings toward him? i mean there was a threat last time we spoke that he may interrogate you on the stand, he might get a chance to cross-examine you, which you figured may cause more trauma. that didn't happen which must have been a relief to you. but what your feelings to him as a human being? >> he's a failure and he allowed himself to be coerced to believe
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teachings of the koran that were not true. everything that he is stating that he believes is not supported by anything that is written in the koran and by him wanting to be a martyr, obviously this is where this highly educated man has not been using common sense. he does not, or has not looked at the true definition of a martyr. if given an opportunity what i want to say to him face to face is you failed in your mission and he chose one of the weakest people to perform the mission. and for you to fire seven shots at an individual and that person is still living, that's sad. but at the end of the day i get a chance to get up out of this chair, walk out of this room. something he cannot do. i get a chance to lay beside my wife. and i don't have to live a life
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in dreams of receiving 40 virgins. >> it is inspiring to talk to you. you are a true american hero. thank you for your service and for your actions that day which certainly stopped him from killing more people and it's an awful, awful episode in the history of america and this military. i salute you for your actions. >> thank you. coming up next, tavis smiley tells me why he thinks the true message of martin luther king, jr. is being ignored and if king were live today why he might have tough questions for president obama. the boys used double miles from their capital one venture card
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education and opportunity swung open so their sons and daughters could imagine a life beyond doing someone's lawnry or shining somebody's shoes. >> the president said the same civil rights words belong to the ages. a half century later how much has changed and how much more needs to be done? the chair tonight ta vis smiley, pbs broadcaster. >> everybody is looking at what happened today, moved and saying there's the dream right there. barack obama, president of the united states, speaking on the 50th anniversary. what more do you need to see that equality and civil rights have marched to washington and america? >> it was a great day. no doubt about it. one couldn't be there watch it on television, certainly as an african-american, i would be
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proud and not inhale this historic moment. it was a great day. >> where's the but. >> but dr. king and his wife talked about the triple threat. the three evils of racism, poverty and militaryism. i said the other day if you are not going to talk about racism, poverty an militaryism why stand where martin stood if you are trying to do justice to his legacy. today, we had references, subtle references to racism and acknowledgment, finally, of poverty. but daefenning silence on militarism. with syria looming as the backdrop, i didn't expect this president or any president who was the head of the american empire to talk about militarism but you are not doing justice to the life and slig of dr. king if you dance around racism, poverty and militarism. >> why do you think that president obama is ware of going there? >> that's a question you would have to ask him.
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as far as i'm concerned, racism is the most entractable issue in the country. the numbers of black folk in poverty are off the charts, under employment, unemployment for african-americans, numbers ridiculously high. poverty is threatening our democracy. it is a matter of national security. how to avoid talking about poverty and focus our attention on the the middle class misses the point them new poor are the former middle class and with regard to racism, as i said, we live in the most multiculture, multiethnic country but racism in this country is still real. i thought watching the president today that when he finishes this speech he is going to the white house and he has to make a decision about syria. i ask myself are we egoing to honor dr. king today in washington with our words and then dishonor him tomorrow or the days to come in syria with
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our deeds? >> let me ask you on that point, what would martin luther king, jr. have said if he had seen the video images we saw this week of 1,000, maybe 2,000 innocent women, children, in syria being slaughtered by chemical weapons? would he not have understood that it is incumbent on any american president, any world lead of a decent civilized country to care enough to try to want to do something to prevent more of that happening? >> no doubt about it. his heart would bleed but he would say the same thing in 2013, that he said in 1963. clearly the president spoke to our hopes but there are hostilities and there were hostilities in '63. when dr. king saw the girls in the baptist church 21 days after the march on washington he had to give the eulogy for those four girls the only time he is recorded as crying in public. he had to deal with terrorism, domestic terrorism, goodman and sh warner and swainny and
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lynched every day and i hate when people try to compare the assault on humanity. what king witnessed in his lifetime was as bad as anything we are witnessing today and he stood at river side church, a year to the day before he died and said the u.s. was the greater purveyor of violence in the world today. he lived five years after that march. the black elite turned against him. roy wilkins at the naacp, whitney young at the urban league, they turned on martin. lyndon johnson disinvites him to the white house. 72% of people that turned against him in the last harris poll, 57% of his own people, black people turned against this. >> i get this but i come back to the same question. what do you do about it? you have the first african-american president in the country. he is faced with a genocidal monster in syria.
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what do you do? is it nothing. i don't think the sensible answer is turn our backs. >> the answer is never nothing. you had a wonderful conversation at the top of the show and more questions raised. we can't go it alone. there is no u.n. mandate. we want to get in. we don't know how to get out. we want to punish somebody. what's the long-term objective. all the things you talked to your guest about these are questions that have to be asked if martin king were here he would say that nonviolence is the answer and love is the only weapon that can turn an enemy in to a friend and somehow we think love is a joke. love is a real thing and it means that everybody is worthy just because, not because of where you went to school, who your mama or daddy is but you are somebody's child and somebody's kid and like he said in vietnam, the napalm in
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vietnam made his heart bleed. he couldn't talk about the children in this country and ignore the children in vietnam but he still said nonviolence is the answer. >> i saw oprah in washington, tiger woods is back, number one golfer in a sport where black people weren't allowed to play, unless they were caddying. if you take it in totality, the dream has not been fulfilled completely but can we agree we are further to the dream, perhaps than even martin luther king would have hoped of in the '60s. >> in some ways yes and some ways no. i can't tell you what it would be like to interview dr. king. he couldn't have imagined that i sit on public television. i see that in my own life. you don't have to mention oprah and others. i'm not being snarky. i take your point. here's the thing. individual african-americans have done well. the problem is that too many of us that have done well have
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abandoned those not doing well. it's not just a race question. there is a class question. even in my own community. we cannot abandon those left behind. there are more black folk in poverty than in '63, more black folk unemployed than '63. so the issues are real. some of us are doing well, oprah, barack obama, and tiger woods are not the standard. >> tavis, i could talk to you all night. come back. >> appreciate it. a lot of shocking things to tell me about her brother and hannah anderson and star jones have a lot to say about what she said. that's coming up next. [ tires screech ] [ beeping ] ♪ [ male announcer ] we don't just certify our pre-owned vehicles.
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the intervuf continues to make headline them sister of james dimaggio, allegedly kidnapped hannah anderson and murdered her brother and mother. she is defending her brother and taking a shot at hannah. we have come to that interview in a moment but i want your first reaction to what ta vis smiley was saying. i believe you were in washington last night as part of all of the martin luther king, jr. celebrations with some family members. do you agree with him? his premise that although there have been some great breakout moments for african-americans in america, whether it is oprah,
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president obama, tiger woods or yourself or him, that actually it masks a much wider problem, which has not been rectified. >> i it this would be naive of me to think that just because a few of us, of african-americans, have succeeded in ways that probably did not meet -- our ancestors didn't conceive or think of, yes, you are right. i went to washington yesterday to join with a group of people at a reception in honor of the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. i took my 95-year-old african-american grandmother with me. or she will be 95 at the end of the week. she would correct me and grandma pauline has lived through 17 presidents. jim crow, water hoses. she was born in the south, separate bathrooms, separate water fountains, separate movie theaters, raised nine daughters and 16 grandchildren and i can't
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even tell you how many great grandchildren. so she would say what she has seen in her lifetime has changed so drastically that it makes her head spin sometimes. but yes, just because there is a black nan the white house with a beautiful brown family, we can't get lulled in to come place zen sency in to thinking that we have overcome or the dream has been realized. a number of us have succeeded. i do agree with tavis with his one premise that not enough of us reach back. however, the great divide right now that in my opinion blocks the dream from being realized is this tremendous economic divide. the economic divide would be african-american community and the caucasian community or the majority of americans is one that until we get that under
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some control, unemployment rates have to not be at the levels they are in the african-american community. en this you are going to see the dream continue to be denied. i don't want to take away from the successes that we have achieved in the last, as my granny would say, 95 years. i looked at some photographs today that she showed me. i'm literally five generations from slavery as i sit on this television tonight. my grandmother's grandmother, we have a photograph of. she was the last woman that we can actually pinpoint that was born before the freedom. her great, great grand daughter has achieved to the point where i sit on cnn, the world's news network and have a conversation with one of their anchors. i've achieved law degree. my aunts are all college
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educated. we are at the point where, yes, we have -- yes, we have. we have actually realized the dream. the point is there are so many other african-american families who have not realized the dream. we have to take some responsibility for that ourselves, but the huge responsibility still lays in the fact that there is disparity amongst this country economically and until we fix it the dream will continue to be delayed. >> beautifully put, star jones, i'm not going to try to debait that with you. i couldn't have said it better myself and certainly not with the conviction. we will come back and do a quick hit on hannah anderson after the break and get to miley cyrus and twerking. hey love.
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had to say? >> denial isn't just a river in egypt, i gechlts to hear someone say the perpetrator of such a horrific crime had given his life in order to save the person that he kidnapped, i think this really shows when someone has made up in their mind that their family member is the victim in a situation, when they were so obviously the perpetrator, than they are going to state with emphaticness that they are being victimized. i have to tell you, having tried a number of cases where the defendant's family blamed everybody from the fbi to the cia, the police officers on the beat, to the prosecutor who was prosecuting the case, that's just not something that i'm surprised about. i want this young woman to go on with her life. to put this man completely out of her mind and let him remain in this ground, in which he
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remains cold. >> i want you come off the faens bit, star. i hate when you equivocate like that. >> let's turn to something lighter. miley cyrus. >> again. >> twerking. >> can you twerk or not, star? >> that is an impolite question because a grown adult woman should not be twerking unless she is dancing in the bush in africa or performing on a stage like she is beyonce. i have the blond hair but i'm not. no. >> should you ever come out of retirement in the twerking, i'm your man. let's bring in the blogger. who thinks miley cyprus is a terrible influence to her daughter. kimberly vows to fight or die trying to keep her child from becoming another miley and she is joining me now. why do you feel so enraged by what i thought was a bit of fun for miley cyrus?
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>> it was fun for adults. if it is an all-adult venue with all adults watching, bonus. but my 13-year-old daughter was waiting to see one direction and harry styles and taylor swift and selena gomez. and it happened in a venue where children were going to see it. that's the thing that got to me. as a parent, watching this, i know that kids mimic. i don't want to chaperon any junior high dances in the next month or so because there will be kids twerking. >> let me jump in. if this had been the junior high prom or whatever it is, i'd understand why you are so incensed but the vma's, every year, somebody takes their clothes off and causes some outrage. shouldn't you, as a responsible parent stop your children from
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watching this if your felt so delicate about it. >> absolutely. here's the deal, piers. my kids didn't watch the vma's, they recorded it on sunday night because they had to go to school on monday. the rule is mama controls the dvr and mama fast forwards. they had one direction. the vma's were promoting one direction. what's the fan base of one direction? it is girls aged 8 to 14 or 15. >> good point. >> and taylor swift. i want my daughter to be able to enjoy the music that she likes and to be able to see one direction without having to see that. >> okay. kimberly, i get your point. i'm going to have to leave it there. i will go to star jones and get her reaction to this. star, a lot of people share this view that it was a bit inappropriate for the event. i must admit i can't get too overexcited.
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miley is 20 years old. trying to express herself in a new way and honestly the whole thing about twerking being a new dance, as i said last night, i have been going to the caribbean for 25 years, this is what they do in the caribbean, night after night in every club up and down barbados, guyana, jamaica, it is not new. it is a form of dancing that's been going on for decades. >> miley was tacky. let's be clear on this. i'm sorry. she's a 20-year-old and the behavior was tacky behavior but it was not illegal, not immoral and not that big of a deal that we should be talking about it almost a week later. what worries me more than anything is that a young 20-year-old woman thinks she has to do all of that to quote be seen. i don't think she has to do all of that to be seen. she wants to convince america that hannah montana is dead and gone. we now know it. we get you. when you tell us who you are we learn to believe what you are saying.
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i think the mother is right in that she does control the television. but she's wrong in thinking this was the kid's choice awards. if it were the kids' choice awards and one direction, new edition, whoever the heck they are, if they are the ones that were going to be headlining -- you know i'm old. >> you know one direction. they are part of the british invasion. >> bless your heart. i'm happy for you. okay. i turned on the television in order to see kanye. i wanted to see what he was going to be talking about. the point is, a young woman thinks she has to be so sexual in order to get attention. >> here's my point to you. here's my point to you. if this was rihanna or madonna, i don't want to think of madonna doing it at 55, if it was madonna, rihanna, lady gaga, none of this would bat an eyelid. no one cares about her. it is because miley has to be hannah montana and i say why?
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why can't she grow up and be a bit naughty like lady gaga and rihanna and be creative? >> the point is parents have started to allow or have for several years now allow television, celebrities, realty stars to be the influencers in their childrens' lives. when you turn on the television and see one of your so-called influences doing something out of the norm from your personal moral and core values are in your family then you are upset about it. that's the point. if this young woman had decided that i'm 20 years old. i'm going to have fun and have a good time and do the heck what i want to, that's what she should be able to do but you as a parent turn to your kid and say we are not going to have that in my house which is what this parent did. >> miley, i'm sure you are. come twerk on my show anytime, miley.
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>> you know that was tacky. very tacky, piers. >> maybe a i'm a little tacky. we should all have a little tackiness. makes the world go around. i want to cut it off there. but before we ego, i want to wish grand maul ma pauline a happy 95th birthday on, when is it, what day. >> 95th birthday party on saturday for 200 people. >> happy birthday to grandma pauline. what a wonderful lady she sounds. my grandmother is 95 and she is wonderful, too. happy birthday to her, too. star, thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing.
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that's all for us tonight. "anderson cooper starts right now." breaking news, president obama says there is no doubt that chemical weapons were used in syria or the syrian regime used them. the question now, what will he do about it? we will look at the tough choices. they have run from our cameras. the charity we identified as america's worst, raising tens of millions, they say for dying children but spending next to nothing on them. finally they are talking. their claim and how it adds up. we are keeping them honest. later, president obama stands where dr. king stood a half century ago and speaks of courage. we will speak to maya angelou who is and was
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