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CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton's Approach for 2016; Combative Comments from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Mother; Major Retailers Questioned Over On-Call Schedules. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 13, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Is a Clinton reinvention necessary to win votes or is it too late? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, a bit more new information out of North Carolina where officials are searching for a male suspect in a morning shooting inside the library at Wayne Community College. According to Daniel Wiggins, who was assistant operations manager for Wayne County, the suspect is white, he's bald, 5'11", he has a tattoo over his left eye, he has a goatee, he's wearing a blue jacket with light colored pants. Now, it's important that if you spot this suspect, to call authorities and not take matters into your own hand. The victim, who was shot in the library, apparently by this man, has now died. Again, police still searching for a suspect in a shooting in the library at the Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and the campus -- as far as we know actually, the campus remains on lockdown. So stay where you are, students.

In other news this morning, a kinder, gentler Hillary Clinton is in it to win it in 2016. She officially -- she's officially launched her campaign for president online, with an ad that played up middle-class families of all types.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON: Every day Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion so you can do more than just get by, you can get ahead and stay ahead, because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote because it's your time and I hope you'll join me on this journey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:35:10] COSTELLO: Right now, Clinton's video is among the most popular on YouTube. The interesting thing about it, you actually don't see Secretary Clinton until about two minutes in. And there are reasons for that. It's called a soft rollout and Clinton is clearly striving for a softer, if not all about me image.

With me now to talk about all of this, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro and CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen.

Welcome to both of you.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, Carol.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Nice to have you here.

So, Ana, if you look at Clinton's new FaceBook page, it's like a Clinton family photo album. Take a look. There's Hillary and Bill Clinton at the altar. And you'll see a picture of Clinton with baby Chelsea, Bill and Hillary in the Arkansas governor's mansion with the tiny Chelsea. Does America want a wife, mother and grandma in the White House, Ana?

NAVARRO: Oh, Carol, I think it's not a qualifier, and I don't think it's a disqualifier. I don't think anybody should be disqualified because they're a mother, a wife or a grandmother. But I think there need to be much more than that.

Right now she seems to be leading with that, which is very interesting because it's very different from what she did in 2008 where, frankly, she was, you know, the strong woman. We saw her in the black pantsuits. And she wasn't emoting and having this, you know, new, improved softer version of Hillary Clinton that's the rebranding that's going on today. Today it's very obvious that she is leading with that softer aspect of her -- of her personality.

But, you know, in the White House, I want more than that. I want the person who is going to be the leader of the free world. I want the person making policy decisions. I want to know where she stands on decisions on policy issues, on the issues with Israel, on all sorts of things going on in this world. And she's going to have to answer that soon enough.

COSTELLO: OK. But going back just to the warm and fuzzy thing, because I think that the -- that Clinton does have a problem with that as "SNL" so aptly pointed out in its skit on Saturday. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This election is about you. I don't want to hog your limelight. I am leaving. Look at me go. Bye. I'm gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aren't we such a fun, approachable dynasty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And as you well know, Hilary, Monica Lewinsky is in the public eye again, so does it matter?

ROSEN: Well, you know, unlike Ana's friend Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton actually wasn't born into a dynasty. She was born in a sort of solidly middle-class Midwestern family, and worked her way up. She has lots of policy chops.

But I want to go back to the woman thing for a minute because let's -- the statistics show, of course, that a majority of voters in elections are women. Now, do -- you know, does that mean that Hillary Clinton is going to get every woman's vote? No. But it does mean that independent women in particular and Democratic women for sure are going to be excited about the fact that there is a relatable woman who understands what they go through balancing family, career, parents who are ill, all of the sorts of things that women go -- that women are dealing with on a day to day basis. And, you know, you can look back to the 2008 campaign and some of those places where Hillary Clinton really connected with the, you know, the waitress in the diners, or the women laid off in the factory mines, or those sorts of kind of solid middle- class women who are really just looking for somebody to understand what they are going through in their life. That's what we're going to see from Hillary Clinton. And I think that's what --

COSTELLO: But -- but -- but I do think -- but I do think --

ROSEN: And people are excited about that, I think.

COSTELLO: But I do think Hillary Clinton does have some family issues and his name is Bill Clinton.

So, Ana, Bill Clinton may stay in the background, but he's -- but he's going to appear on the cover of "Town and Country" magazine soon. Chelsea Clinton is on the cover of "Elle." She also tweeted, by the way, "very proud of you, mom." That mom thing again. Is it possible to look at the Clintons in a fresh way? And I heard what Hilary said, that maybe Clinton's not part of a dynasty but, Ana, that's what people feel today.

NAVARRO: Well, you know, of course they do. Look, they've -- they've turned politics into a business and, frankly, the entire family has done very well off the business of politics. And can you look at them in fresh way? What's what her handlers are going -- are going to try to do, to rebrand her as a relatable woman because she wasn't relatable the last time around and they realize that that was one of the very big problems.

[09:39:51] But I ask you, should a relatable woman who's saying that -- who wants her granddaughter -- who wants every child in America to have basically the same opportunities as Charlotte, her granddaughter, yes, but Charlotte's mom is like in a Gucci dress on the cover of "Elle," you know, worth $10,000 and Charlotte lives in a $10 million apartment in Manhattan. Is that relatable? And that's why you're seeing her do things like go in a van on a road trip, head to Iowa. All these things are very calculated to make her look relatable.

The ad yesterday, it was 90 seconds, as you said, before we caught a snippet of Hillary Clinton. A friend of mine said to me, gee, I thought I was watching a Target ad for a while. The question is going to be, at what point does it become overkill? Because if I want to, you know, emote and relate, I can certainly turn on "The View" or I could turn on "Oprah" and I could get all the, you know, relatability that I want.

ROSEN: Yes, but, you know --

NAVARRO: Is that what we are looking for in a president is going to be the question as this goes on.

COSTELLO: Hilary?

ROSEN: You know, what we're looking for in a president is somebody who cares about policies for the middle class and whether people really understand what the middle class cares about. And in that regard, Hillary Clinton's entire life has been about fighting for the middle class. I don't -- I don't think the Republican, you know, attacks around wealth are going to last very long once they have, you know, their established candidate or, indeed, any of their candidates. So I don't think that's the issue.

We don't need to reinvent Hillary, we just need to make sure that people actually get to hear Hillary and listen to Hillary over the din of the Republican attacks. Because, you know, Hillary Clinton, I think, is going to focus on what middle-class voters are interested in. The Republicans are going to focus on attacking Hillary Clinton. You know, let's look at which priorities people are really going to appreciate more.

COSTELLO: All right, I'm going to have to leave it there. Thanks to you both, Hilary Rosen, Ana Navarro. Thanks, as always.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have just been convicted in the Boston bombing attacks, but his mother says Americans are the real terrorists. Think what she says doesn't matter? Think again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:20] COSTELLO: A strong reaction from the mother of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to his conviction on all 30 counts in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. She is in Russia and reportedly sent a note to a friend calling her son the best of the best, and said Americans are, quote, the terrorists.

CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Moscow with more. Hi, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. That's right. Well it's perhaps understandable that a parent would support their child no matter what they've done, to a certain extent, anyway. But the words of the mother of the Boston bomber, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, go far beyond that and there are concerns that it could influence the way the jury decides on the sentencing of that convicted killer, convicted of course on 30 counts.

There's a statement been attributed to her, it's been posted on Russian social media sites, basically saying how much she loves her sons, both of them, and blaming the United States for what happened, saying the United States is the real terrorist. Saying in other parts of the statement that she feels like her son is in the claws of a predator being torn to pieces like a piece of meat. She also blames the United States for killing Muslims and says that they will be avenged. And so these are very kind of combative words coming at a time which

is crucial for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who of course the jury will soon decide whether to pass a death sentence on him for the 30 counts he was found guilty of, or whether just to get him to serve a life sentence. So it's literally a matter of life or death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

COSTELLO: Didn't -- didn't the mother, isn't she the one who talked with Tamerlan about religion and sort of helped radicalize him?

CHANCE: I'm not clear about that. I mean, certainly it seems that the parental influence on these two men that carried out the Boston Marathon bombing must have been a factor in their radicalization. Because, you know, the kind of words that we're hearing Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother, say today, she said similar things in the past, saying that the United States is the true terrorist, saying that the U.S. is engaged in a war against Muslims. These are exactly the kind of things that, for instance, were found inscribed inside that small boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was eventually captured, this kind of idea that the United States has engaged in a war on Muslims.

And so, clearly, the mother and the child share some degree of ideology. The big issue at the moment, though, is of course she's saying these things, apparently, at a time when the jury must decide whether to hand down a death sentence or whether it's just going to be a life sentence. So it's a crucial moment.

COSTELLO: And she won't be coming back to the United States to testify because she can't come back to the United States or she'd be arrested, right?

CHANCE: Yes, I mean, my understanding is she skipped a shoplifting charge some years ago, shortly before the Marathon bombings, or some time before the marathon bombings were carried out. She said in the past as well she really doesn't want to come back to the United States. In fact, she said in the past that she blames the United States for what happened, that she's expressed wishes that she'd never left Dagestan, which is this republic in the south of Russia and the village from in Dagestan where she currently is. If she stayed there, she says, none of this may have happened. She may well be correct about that.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live from Moscow this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, workers on call and on edge. Why big changes could be coming to how some major retailers staff their stores.

[09:49:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you at 52 minutes past. The Jodi Arias murder trial finally wraps up today in Phoenix. The judge expected to hand down a life sentence since Arizona no longer offers parole. Two juries deadlocked on the death sentence.

In Fall River, Massachusetts, this could be the big day in the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez. Jurors returned this morning to resume their deliberations. If convicted, Hernandez faces life without parole for first-degree murder in the shooting death of his friend Odin Lloyd.

Thirteen big retailers including Target and The Gap are in the hot seat. The reason? On-call schedules and their fairness to employees. Warning letters have been sent to each company. I want to read to you how each letter begins. Quote:

"Without the security of a definite work schedule, workers who must be on call have difficulty making reliable child care and elder care arrangements, encounter obstacles in pursuing their education, and in general experience adverse financial and health effects, as well as overall stress and strain on family life. The requirement of being on call also interferes with such employees' ability to obtain supplemental employment in order to ensure financial security for their families."

Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is following this story for us. I don't know if I made that clear, but you're talking about companies who the workers will come to work, and the employers will say, well, gosh, we don't need you all day, so you can go home.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Or the night before they have to call in, or they get a text message saying we don't need you tomorrow. So you thought you were going to work on Tuesday. On Monday evening, you find out you don't have to work so now you're not paid for it.

Now the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, his office is asking these retailers explain to us exactly how you use this on-call scheduling because it might be illegal in New York. And what it is, Carol, is they have this technology now that allows them to look at realtime data on the traffic in their stores and the sales that are happening at the point of sale and they know they might not need so many people so they can use that technology and downsize how many people they have in the store.

And that's a problem. If you are counting on those wages -- and so many people are -- if you're counting on those wages or you're trying to manage two part-time jobs, what's really good and easy for the company, for the retailer, is not good and easy for the worker.

[09:55:00] COSTELLO: Because for retailer, I can understand it; it's good for your bottom line. I don't need to keep these per hour employees on any longer. I can send them home. But or the employee, it's not so great.

ROMANS: In New York, the law is if you show up to work and they tell you they don't need you, you have to be paid four hours at at least minimum page. So in New York, there's a law that if they're going to cut your hours, you have to be compensated somehow. So what the New York Attorney General's office is saying, look, we want to know exactly what you retail companies are doing, how you're using this software, so we can make sure you're not skimping out on the workers.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, many thanks. I appreciate it.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Hillary 2.0. A new campaign, a new strategy, and a new look. But is it enough to erase years of the old Hillary?

Also, ISIS destroys history using dynamite, drills, and bulldozers, blowing a nearly 3,000-year-old city to dust.

Plus, a master at the Masters. 21-year-old Jordan Spieth gets the green jacket in Augusta. What you need to know about this phenom on the fairway. Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[10:00:06] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.