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tv   CNN Tonight  CNN  June 9, 2014 7:00pm-8:01pm PDT

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the first week of july. >> good luck to you on the expansion and i wish you the best. >> thank you, anderson. >> we'll see you at 11:00 p.m. for another edition of "ac360." for another edition of "ac360." "cnn tonight" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com is there anybody out there who thinks that hillary clinton is not running for president? i don't think so. but if you need further convincing shthere is her interview with abc news's diane sawyer. she says that benghazi is more of a reason to run. she says her health is now very good. how did she do? some of the best political minds are here including a former member of the clinton white house. and the firestorm over the movement to free bowe bergdahl. the bush attorney general says that president obama broke the law but that law is unconstitutional. we want to know what you think
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about all this. tweet us using the #askdon. hillary clinton won't say it but let me say for you for the record right now that hillary clinton is running for president of the united states. hillary clinton is running for president of the united states. the only people who don't seem to realize it are the media. most anyone else will tell you they thought she was running again. in her book she lays out how to deal with things like benghazi, saying it is more of a reason to run. number two, her interviews. sitting down with women, a key voting block back in 2012, if not the key voting block. and number three, her speeches. the clintons may have left the white house broke. but they are far from it now. so those speeches keep her visible. someone else pays for them and she gets to test and hone her
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voice for the campaign stump. for the purposes of this hour we won't play smantic games with you. we will assume like just about everybody else out there that hillary clinton is in fact running. let's get to the interview that just might be the kickoff of the 2016 race for the white house. joining me is nick cristoff and gloerge yeah borger and brianna ki keilar. listen, any campaign, no doubt is going to have problems. is this the big interview that is a kickoff for 2016, gloerri ? >> this is somebody who is not sill assisting there and saying i have a lifetime of experience and trying to say, you know, her experience as a senator, first lady makes it right to be president. what she did was she talked
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about her life in this interview. she made it very clear that she's over a lot of the that she's been through in her life. she said i'm done with that. she emphasized her being a woman which we did not hear in 2007, 2008. when she was asked about putin she said it's not the first male leader -- >> you are giving away my sound bytes. >> we picked the same ones. this is sort of like i have been there and done that. it's clear she was saying i can lead because of who she has become. >> and the question, brianna keilar is will that strategy work? any campaign will hinge on what happened in benghazi. let's listen and then we'll talk. >> i was not making security decisions. i think it would be a mistake for a secretary of state to sit
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and say let's go through all 270 posts and let me decide what should be done. that, to me, is in inappropriate where the experience and expertise lies elsewhere. >> but the top ten? >> top ten but it's a constantly changing scenario. >> are you saying it's just the price of doing business to have people in dangerous outposts, even with less than the adequate security that the review boards have said they needed? >> i'm saying that we have to be very thoughtful as united states of america, where we send people, why we send them, what we expect from them and how we do the best to protect them. we cannot eliminate every threat, every danger. >> so when last we heard this much of her on this subject it was the hearings we had. what difference does it make? how will this play? >> i think when you look at
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polls her time in the state department is positive despite benghazi and president obama's unpopularity. so far she is doing okay on this but she is protecting that flank where she is being attacked by republicans on this. and really, even though there are very good questions about benghazi, this really does go to leadership and what her role was in all of this. i also think that the way she is playing it and those around her are playing it is they see it as all politics. when day think a of her accomplishments and the issues they need to talk about i don't think they consider benghazi to be a part of it at all. that's how she will continue to paint this in the months to come. >> nick, it's not how the opposition is going to seat. i want to ask, brianna said it appears to most people and to the polls that she was a good secretary of state. how did she do as secretary of
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state and continue on about what you think about what she said in the interview? >> i think she was a pretty good secretary of state in a couple ways. she didn't have the standard kind of triumph of a peace agreement. but she included issues of development, poverty, women's rights in a way that is really going to be everybody for a long time to come. she expanded them in a really important way. and she expanded the tools of diplomacy and emphasized social media, things like that. but you know, i got to say, i think you're right that we're looking at a glimpse of what is coming for the 2016 campaign. and if so i find that depressing. this is like groundhog day talking about benghazi again and monica lewinsky. >> i think it is 1993 again. we were a lot younger then and less in debt. let's listen to her talk about
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vladimir putin and being a group that enforced sanctions on him. >> i'm a strong supporter of tough sanctions that create an economic cost for russia and for him and his cronies. >> vladimir putin said it is better not to argue with women. >> he added weakness is not the worst kwaltd for a woman. >> i saw that and he's not the first male leader who has made a sexist comment like that. we frankly disagree and have done so publicly. >> not the first made leader to make sexist comments. she playing up the fact she is a woman this time around. >> and from barack obama when he said to hillary clinton, you're likable enough. and when -- and in those clips that abc showed when people were commenting on her clothes and appearance.
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what she is doing in a way by talking about this so much and writing about it and by saying she was always under a microscope because of her hair or makeup. i mean, women know this. and i think what she's doing in a way is saying don't do it again, inoculating herself to a certain degree because she knows that's what it will be like if she runs. >> gloria, we were talking about she is inoculating herself against the media and benghazi because she is taking them head on in this book. she is already running for president and anticipating what she is going to have to deal with. >> i think you are right. there is an element of politics here. but it's important to note that for decades this is an issue that she has cared passionately about since before she went to beijing and made that speech in 1993 in beijing. this is an issue of -- that she
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really cares passionately about. >> and one evening not so long ago we all sat here on television and we dent know what was going to happen. i sat on television for four hours saying there was going to be a major announcement but we didn't know what it was. they were in the situation room in the administration. hillary clinton was a part of it and it was about bin laden. let's listen. >> you really didn't tell president clinton about osama bin laden? >> no. no. i take very seriously the obligations of secrecy. >> didn't he say, you could have told me? >> no. he understood. and when president obama called to tell him. and he started by saying i assume that hillary has told you -- >> she has been seen wiin the
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pictures with her hand over her mouth and she has said that is when the tail of the airplane -- there is a concern she might share too much with the former president of the united states. >> it was a settle way for her to show her independence from bill clinton. one of the things during his campaign is the joke of do you get two for the price of one, right? and i think this in a way, when you bring up the clintons, is it going to be the '90s all over again? this is her way of saying, i've got my own thing going and you talk to people close to hillary clinton and they will say there are really boundaries and she is trying to project that. >> i thought it was interesting and she was not defensive at all when monica lewinsky came up. she said, listen, it's in the news now. and you is every right as a journalist to bring it up and i have every right to answer it or
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not answer it. we'll talk about that more. thank you very much. stay with me. when we come back the questions that hillary clinton would rather not answer. and the closed door hearing on sergeant bowe bergdahl. too little, too late? we want to know what you think about all of it. tweet us using the #askdon. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things. let's close the gap between people and care.
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hillary clinton's campaign and book tour for her memoir is about as carefully planned as it could be. brianna keilar is back with me tonight. what questions doesn't she want to ask 1234. >> there are a number of them. some of them have to do with benghazi. she doesn't feel great about revisiting the '90s and monica lewinsky but she is prepared to do. that and as the democratic front runner she is in the republican cro crosshairs. so this book tour give her a chance to flex those political mussels and to try out a message for a presidential run.
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after decades in the political spotlight, hillary clinton comes with an entourage of issues and controversies and her critics have every intention of keeping them in the spotlight. she is a pin yeah that for the conservatives on the drudge report. carl rove raising issues of her health and a fall she took. >> she had a serious episode, a serious health episode. >> reporter: add to that her age. if elect shed would be the second oldest president in history, younger only than ronald reagan. >> i wish him well. >> reporter: and then there is monica lewinsky, writing in "vanity fair" that she found clinton's impulse to blame the woman troubling. hillary has said, i have sternly moved on.
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i think that everybody needs to look to the future. and that people cover photo, she is giving critics fresh ammunition today finding herself in the position of defending her wealth saying that they were broke and in debt when they left the white house. >> struggled to piece together the resources for mortgages for houses for chelsea's education. >> houses, plural, and not reality for most americans, she recently revealed she hasn't driven a car in 20 years. >> last time i actually drove a car myself was 1996. >> reporter: politically, hillary clinton is in the driver's seat. she has so much of the media attention. she is very much the darling of the polls and republicans admit she is a formidable opponent for sure. and they harken back a lot
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talking about the '90s. we have heard monica lewinsky come up. it was interesting to hear hillary clinton asked about this in an interview with abc news. >> but she is running all alone right now. joining me now is a man who knows his way around white house scandals and that is carl bernstein. and lani davis. she is the author of "crisis tales." and he is a former white house special counsel for the clinton administration. i feel like it is the 1990s again but i will take it. how did she do? >> i think she did great. >> as easy as that. maggie? >> she had one already have clear gaffe and has questions she will continue to get asked
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that she did not answer sufficiently for a lot of people but it's for given how long this interview was, she did very well. >> what was the gaffe? >> the houses answer was not an answer she should give again. >> and the questions on benghazi she will be faced again? >> she will be asked about security and whether she did enough. she has taken responsibility but said she did not make security decisions. whether it's going to be decisive is a different question. >> ross, how did she do? >> i completely agree with mag y. i think the only real news-making gaffe is the houses line and that is the thing that people are talking about today more generally, the issues of the clinton's extraordinary wealth and you were talking before about the '90s and lewinsky and benghazi. in terms of stuff that could hurt her if 2016.
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i think she a formidable candidate but the sleaziness of her husband's wealth gathering. >> i spent eight years of writing a biography of her in 2008. i thought she we saw glimpses of who she is when she talked about family and faith and religion but there was also a lot of defensiveness. it's a question of tone. but we are in the midst of a huge hillary clinton/bill clinton produced production. the likes of which we have never seen anything like this in our history. and we're watching what they want us to watch and they are perfecting this stage craft adds we go through the next year or
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two, thinking that she is going to run. we got a good preview tonight. she handled a lot of it very well but it's there is this kind of aggressive defensiveness on some questions and yet we see as i learned doing this biography there are genuine aspects of her that came through. and that's what we want to see more of. what we don't see is real introspection and that is the point we want to see and never do. >> what we are seeing is what they want to produce. they are running the show. until there is serious competition out there and she is asked serious questions on the real campaign trail she has started that. but carl mentioned that there is some defensiveness especially about monica lewinsky. i wonder if that is part of her defensiveness. let's listen to what she said, maggie, the first question will be to you. >> monica lewinsky is back in
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the news. >> she is perfectly free to do that. she is an american who gets to express herself however she chooses but that is not something i spend time thinking about. >> did you call her a narcissistic looney tune? >> i'm not going to comment on what i said or didn't say -- >> lani, from a crisis management perspective and a personal friend how does she handle the more salacious stories whether the walker controversy or monica lewinsky resurfacing? >> i think she said a respectful opening sentence and she did exactly the correct thing to say i'm moving on. and most americans are going to get that. and i would like to comment about the sleazy wealth, i have to get my equal time here, can you imagine a reason running
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against hillary clinton on the idea that she favors wealthy people as opposed to raising the minimum wage. this is a campaign about the future of the country especially about the economic disparities of the country. and john kennedy's wealth is not a handicap. >> but that is not going to turn democrats off. >> i doubt it. her views on the issues, what she wants to do for the middle class are more important than her ability to now earn and be able to afford two houses. i'm wondering how a republican is going to criticize the clintons for having too much wealth. >> who is harder on hillary clinton? conservative media or main stream media? >> i think there is just a difference between the way the two medias cover her. i think both of them right now are probably looking at issues that voters aren't going to be focused on. i agree that i think that she
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handled the monica lewinsky question perfectly well. her popularity increased during the lewinsky scandal. the problems for her are things that are just starting to get coverage now which reality not to the fact of her wealth itself but the way in which that wealth was accumulated. there i think it makes a difference that it has been accumulated through essentially her husband making tens and hundreds of millions of dollars basically on the promise of future access to another american administration. there is nothing illegal about it but there is a little sleazy. >> so does she need to change her relationship to the press at all? she seems to think and her camp says that she has a contentious relationship with the press. >> she does not like the press. this is not news.
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this is well-covered terrain. she is not a fan. she will have to have a media friendly strategy going forward. her folks have all said you will see a different type of campaign. we'll see. what she needs to do is she needs a why for her candidacy. that is not something we have heard the beginnings of in these interviews or in her book yet. we will have to wait and see what that looks like. the houses issue will not be an issue for her. but she will have to come up with a rationale for why she should be president. she did not have that last time. >> stay with me. coming up, there is one clinton not running in 2016. but could bill clinton end up back in the white house anyway? we'll talk about that next. first you get hit by psoriasis. and now you get hit again. this time by joint pain.
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you've heard that old saying history repeats itself but is america ready for another clinton versus bush battle for the white house? i'm back with carl bern stooen and lanny davis. carl, i'm going to ask you this question. i want to play this sound byte she is talk about women, double standards and politics and then you can say your peace. >> when you are in the spotlight as a woman, you know you're being judged constantly. i mean, it is just never ending. and you get a little -- you know, worried about, okay, well, you know, people over on this side are loving what i'm wearing, looking like, saying,
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people on this side aren't. your natural tendency is how do you bring people together to better communicate. i'm done with it. i'm just done. >> would she ultimately be running against herself or running against the man? what do you think, carl? >> i think she is going to be running for herself and for her values. the question is, can she inspire people in this country? after 40 years in public life almost we still really don't know in many ways who she is internally. you can read my biography and get an idea of it, what is important to her. but the question is can she convey that beyond a kind of rote -- she's great on the issues. most americans agree with her on the issues. but the question is can she inspire and lead? >> you think that americans don't know who the real hillary clinton is?
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>> i believe that utterly. that's why i wrote "a woman in charge". >> don, can i -- >> i think that carl has a standard of introspection and that is valid. but hillary clinton is a popular political leader. in 1958, maggie, we didn't know what john kennedy's program was for the future. we got plenty of time, you're absolutely right. this campaign will be about the future and the economic issues again. i'm going to look forward to republicans attacking hillary clinton for being in favor -- >> it's not 1958. people want to know personal things about their candidates. that was the issue in 2008. >> i'm not disagreeing with that. i'm saying it's early, two years away, one year before a campaign to start to raise those examinations. but i think that the hillary clinton you saw tonight and that i've known for over 40 years you saw the laughter.
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i think the authenticity. there is a great sense of humor you saw about the carl rove comment. he was known as george bush's brain. she laughed and gave the personality that i have known through the years and i certainly agree that that hillary clinton did emerge too late in the 2008 campaign. i think she is now going to show us more of herself. >> she admitted as much herself. she said in 2008 i didn't have a very good tragedy. she admitted that tonight. i'm wondering if people are tired of clinton versus bush again. >> barbara bush has said enough with the clintons and the bushes. the clintons and the bushes. it's just getting silly, she said. do you feel some of that? >> i don't because this is -- this is a democracy. people get to choose their leaders. >> is the white house yours to lose? >> well, i don't think so. if i were to decide to pursue it
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i would be working as hard as any underdog or any newcomer. i don't want to take anything for granted if i decide to do it. >> it's going to be clinton versus bush but are we going to get bill clinton all over again. you get one for free. remember, he said that, maggie? >> it was you get a co presidency, essentially. not his exact words. i don't think that bill clinton will play the same type of roll. he was very careful to be disciplined. the foundation was more careful about engagements that it had. he has been very unmessage and deferential. that doesn't mean he has given up his message. but i don't think it will be offered as co presidency. but she is talking about his economic record and that is not
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insignificant. >> ross, the question is, i think that this has maybe yet to be found out. it has to be closer to 2016. but i think there might be a clinton-bush fatigue among the american public. >> i'm sure there is. but at the same time if you look at the democratic field there is a reason we are talk about hillary clinton and is it not just her status. there is the fact that no one comes close to her in the polls and it's hard to imagine anyone coming close to her in the polls. she was the favorite in 2008. but she was upset by barack obama. if you look at the elizabeth warrens, there is not an obama in the group. it is hard to imagine how if she runs and we can assume she is
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running, she isn't the nominee. >> there isn't a barack obama in the group. he hadn't emerged at this point. >> in 2004, he emerged in the democratic national convention. people were writing columns urging him to run. i was writing columns as a kid urging him to run. there is a little bit of that with elizabeth warren. but no one sees her as someone who can slay the dragon. >> this nomination is hers if she runs. >> but here's the danger. she's the only person out there now. so is she in danger of too much exposure? >> she's running against herself. >> right. >> and how she handles these next two years, it's very much about tone. it's very much about whether she can win over enough independent voters to be comfortable with
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her as a person, as leader. i don't think it's just about issues. she's got the country on the issues. the demographics show it. but she has got to get people comfortable with her. they're comfortable and have been for a long time with her husband but not so much with her and that's what this theater is all about. and she has got a production going on with a cast of thousands. everybody taking notes and giving them to her at the end of each day's performance. we have never seen anything like this. and we have to look at her and this campaign and our political process right now as a clinton phenomenon to some extent. >> can i -- >> i can't. >> i was going to agree with carl for the first time. >> you can blame my producers for. that we will have all of you back. hillary clinton takes audience questions at washington's museum on june 17th.
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you can see the whole thing live right here on cnn beginning at 5:00 p.m. eastern and again at 9:00 p.m. thanks to all of my guests. great guests. we'll have them back. when we return, new details on bowe bergdahl's time in captivity and why a lot of people have changed their minds about o.j. simpson 20 years later.
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sergeant bowe bergdahl is recovering in hospital in germany. but the bash lash about the deal that freed him is far from over. joining me is a former attorney general under president george w. bush. good to see you. you wrote an op ed in "the
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washington post." do you believe that we should have left bowe bergdahl over there in the hands of the taliban? >> i don't think that was the choice. the question is whether we had to do it now and on these terms. >> a lot of the controversy over the swap deal, you say that the president broke the law in not notifying congress 30 days in advance of the transfer of the five prisoners. >> that's the least of it, don. >> what should happen now? >> is that bowe bergdahl should be charged and tried for desertion. whether he deserted voluntarily or not is something that we'll find out. all the evidence suggests that he did but it's that should be the next order of business. >> the least of it. what do you mean? >> the least of it was not notifying congress. he apologized for that. it's the terms for the deal in which five senior taliban
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commanders, five senior taliban officials with close ties to al qaeda are released and sent back to the fight. one has said he is going back to the fight. and i think it is expected that the other four as well. >> you said he broke the law and said that the law is unconstitutional. >> that wasn't the basis on which he relied, interestingly. >> here is what he is saying if it leaked that beau borg call would have lost his life. they would have killed him. >> that is speculation. they said his life was in danger because his health was deteriorating. but he is in good health. there has been a succession of excuses, each of which has evaporated. the notion of leaks i also think is rebutted but the fact that they told quite a number of people in the government but not people in congress. >> what do you think should
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happen to the administration and to the white house for breaking the law, so to speak or for trading five very dangerous, you believe, terrorists. >> that is a political decision to be made in the political arena. they will take the consequences in terms of the way the politics shakes out. legally, should anything with done to them? i don't see that legally anything could be done to them. they were within the law but it was a bad policy decision. >> let's talk about the flak that happened over the ceremony around this, the president in the rose garden, the press conference with bowe bergdahl's parents. do you think the administration misjudged the public's reaction. i think they did. what do you think? >> i think it's pretty clear they did. and it's kind of surprising that you would get that level of misjudgment at the white house level. those folks are supposed to be in touch with what's going on the outside. and then the question becomes
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are they operating in a bubble and i hope the answer to that is no but one wonders. >> part of the reason we have you here and a big reason is your experience and you have been there. how would you have advised the president in this particular situation? >> well, as i would have -- i would have had only a piece of the advice. the advice he should have looked to is advice from the intelligence community and advice from the military. and i don't know that he got that advice from either one. my understanding is that the military early on when these negotiations started was against the deal and the intelligence folks were interest -- against it and i would have told him to talk to those folks before coming to a decision. >> the national security team was in support? >> they are hand picked in the white house. i'm talking about people within the nsa and people within the
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cia and people within the military. that's not the small national security team that the president works with and whom he picked on a day-to-day basis. >> former attorney general michael move casey, thank you very much, sir. when we come back, what happens when bowe bergdahl finally comes home.
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what happens when bowe bergdahl finally gets home. can he get back to any semblance of a normal life with his family. joining me is a cnn military analyst and pam morris. good to see you this evening. it has been five years since bowe bergdahl has seen his family. but he hasn't spoken to his parents. and his family has received threats following his release. how is the community responding to this? >> the community is responding very defensively and the community really would like to see the rest of americans and
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the rest of the nation extend some patience to a family that has suffered enormously with their missing son over the last five and a half years. we cannot imagine personally going through the kind of ordeal that these parents have been through. and we very much want the patience extended to them and to their son as this story continues to unfold. it's been very upsetting. it's been very shocking at the level of vitriol that this story has enendered all around the world. >> who do you blame for that? >> who do we blame for that? people who are rushing to judgment, number one. and also, a world in which we want information now. and we want it quickly. and we think things can be wrapped up and tied up in a bow at the end of a two-hour movie
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or an hour-newscast or a 30-minute news show and real life isn't like that. real life is very gray. we want black, we want white. we want to know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are and bowe bergdahl has become a pawn in this situation nationally and internationally. and we think that is very unfortunate. >> and we are learning about the suffering and torture and isolation that bergdahl endured. he was kept in a box that was pitch black for years at a time. the psychological damage of being treated like an man mall by the taliban. >> we have to realize that sancht bergdahl is an american soldier and this five years of captivity has messed with him in
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many ways. the care he will get, they will get to the bottom of all this. but we need to keep in mind that sergeant bergdahl is an intelligent source. we have to debrief him and get to the bottom of what he knows. there has to be a path of steps we go through to debrief this young man to figure out what he knows and what he went through. it will thicken and broaden his intelligence. we have this emotional side and there is a medical side he must go through but there is an intelligence thing that we must go there and that is that debrief of this soldier so he can understand his five years. >> i want you to weigh in on this. i don't have a ton of time here. this is a new "usa today" poll that talks about the public skepticism over this release today. 43% say it was wrong for the barack obama administration to exchange five prisoners for bowe
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bergdahl. are you surprised they may feel that way? >> i'm not surprised at all. this presumption is that this kid has done wrong things and is judged accordingedly. we need to let the army play out the investigation. >> are you surprised? >> not at all. anyone who has seen the comment boards on the web is not surprised at. this we did a local poll which showed similar results. but we would ask for people's patience in waiting to rush to judgment until all the information is in and until bowe bergdahl has a chance to speak. >> thank you very much. i appreciate you general and pam morris. when we come back it has been 20 years since o.j. simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife and ronald goldman but it's a lot of people have changed their minds about the case. we're going to talk about that next.
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it's time for "cnn tonight" tomorrow. up first, reports that donald sterling's attorney says his client no longer wants to sell the clippers and will sue the nba for $1 billion. the deal is off, he says.
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on the fifth anniversary of michael jackson's death days away. conrad murray who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in jackson's death wants to tell his side of the story. >> it's the first time i made the statement publicly about the case that was brought against me. a lie unchallenged becomes the truth. >> you saw that first here on "cnn tonight" that is a video from dr. conrad murray's website. it is online now. i spoke with him tonight and he tells me, quote, the purpose for releasing this video to the world is to highlight the injustices, the deception, tampering of evidence that led to my unjust conviction and demonstrate my innocence.
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and a change in attitudes about o.j. simpson. a majority of african-americans now say that the murder charges against o.j. simpson were true. and 20 years after the chase premiers tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern and right here i'm going to talk to nicole brown-simpson's sister. brown-simpson's sister. "ac360" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. breaking news in the rampage in las vegas. two police officers and one civilian shot death by a couple who long talked about hating the government had written about it online and supported anti-government organizations. sunday they turned their words into violence before taking their own lives. now, ordinarily, particularly in school shootings we neither show the