Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20120511 : vimarsan

CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 May 11, 2012



analyst sonny austin, and adam mayes' sister-in-law bobbi booth. >> this drama played out in the same area where it took place. in other words, where the bodies were first discovered of joann bain and adrienne bain, in a shawl low grave on property that belongs to mayes' family. what we know is there were members of the mississippi highway patrol special operations, s.w.a.t. team in other words, as well as members of the mississippi game and fish. for reasons unclear, there was sections of a wooded area in the county where they were closing in on today and as they began to move in they say that they heard a single gunshot and when they came upon the scene they found that adam mayes was laying on the ground with the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. but they found the two girls, ages 8 and 12, alive and well. that's the most important information and we have this quote from a federal source on the scene. he says of the girls, quote, they are suffering from the experience of being out in the woods and from being kidnapped. they are suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. but they appear to be okay and they are right now undergoing medical treatment for their conditions. so you can imagine what they have been through. >> do we know, we probably didn't, whether -- are they aware of what happened to their mother and to their sister? >> well, we don't know as a result of them being rescued whether they're aware. we do know according to statements that were made by theresa mayes, the wife of adam mayes, the man who is suspected of carrying out the attack, she witnessed adam mayes murdering joann bain and adrienne bain in the garage of their home back on the night of april 27th when this kidnapping/murder ordeal began. so it would appear they were very aware. again, according to teresa mayes in statements she made to authorities, after their mother and older sister were murdered, they were all -- the two bodies and the two young girls -- placed into a vehicle and driven from tennessee down into mississippi. so you can only imagine how horrific that would have been. >> now, theresa who's in custody has been charged with first-degree murder. did she drive the vehicle or did she -- is it known what role she played in this, allegedly played? >> again, in the statements -- these are coming from the affidavits that authorities have filed. originally she was charged with aggravated kidnapping and then the next day, she was charged with first degree murder as well. it was in the court documents filed at that time that her statements of witnessing the murder and driving the vehicle that carried the girls' bodies down into mississippi, she admitted to doing that. she has subsequently told other people that she was in fear of her life and would never, ever have participated in such a horrible event. >> joining us now on the phone is bobbi booth, the sister of theresa mayes, who had been the wife of adam mayes. it's now confirmed that adam mayes is dead and that the two girls are safe. although dehydrated and shaken by this experience. what are your thoughts on hearing that? >> as i said earlier, i'm just glad they're alive. i would like to have seen adam face his charges and stand more accountable. he took the sissy way out, but praise god the girls are safe. that's all that matters. >> do you have any sense of -- i mean, what spurred all this? why he would have done this? >> i have no idea at all. >> and have you talked to your sister since she's been in custody, since she's been charged? >> no, they have not allowed her to have any phone calls. >> what are your thoughts on what your sister's been charged with? >> it's unreal. unreal, because my sister does not have a mental state. i mean, she has the mind like a 10-year-old. i'm not defending her. she needs to stand accountable for her actions. but they need to do -- the whole investigation needs to be done. >> what kind of guy -- i mean, your sister is reported to have said that she feared for her life. what kind of guy was adam mayes? >> aggressive. abusive. crazy, obviously. >> did you ever suspect he was capable of something like this? >> no. and i have known him for 25-plus years. never dreamed he would do this. >> what was his relationship to these girls? >> again, that's not something that i can even answer. my sister has stated that she felt the two youngest girls may have been his. and she felt adam was having an affair with joann. >> so your sister believed -- >> because they all seemed to be family friends. all of them, you know, seemed to get along. whenever she would call our close friends, family friend, she would say, "the kids are over at the house." so she'd have all the kids over her with her and adam or over with gary and joann. >> so your sister teresa told you that she believed that adam mayes was having an affair with joann bain, who he's now accused of killing. >> right. >> and was the father to the two girls who he kidnapped, the 8 and 12-year-old girls who are now in safe custody. did your sister believe he was the father of adrienne bain who is also accused of killing? >> no. >> so she believed he was just the father to the two young girls he kidnapped? >> that's my understanding, yes. >> sunny hostin, legal analyst, is joining us as well. from a legal standpoint, what's the next step? >> i think the next step is interrogating teresa, who is in prison right now or is at least being held. i mean, just because she may not have been the person that pulled the trigger doesn't mean that she won't be held accountable for their murders. so i think that's where this investigation certainly is going. >> bobbi, when did teresa tell you -- she told you she actually witnessed the killings? >> no. she has not told me any of that. >> but she told you she suspected that they had been killed? >> yes. she told -- see, she has not even told me that. the only thing she told me was about the affair, that she felt adam was cheating on her with joann. and then when the crime scene -- when they were sent to the motel and the house was listed as the crime scene, she did tell me that they had found bodies and the location of the bodies. >> bobbi, do you know who the girls will be returned to now since their mother is dead? >> i have no idea. >> martin savidge, is there any reporting on that? >> no. it would be anticipated that they would go back to their father which is gary bain and of course he's waiting in whiteville, tennessee, which is about 80 miles away from where this drama played out today in mississippi. he has been somewhat in seclusion and he's been in great distress. we have been informed by authorities. and it's understandable why. but there has to be at least some sense of a bittersweet moment here that at least his two youngest daughters will eventually be returned to him. but before that, they have to be checked out thoroughly. >> well, just a violent end. thankfully, the two girls are safe. martin savidge reporting. bobbi booth, i'm sorry for you and your family going through. and sunny hostin. what did he mean by equality for all americans? "keeping them honest." "ñfñ keeping them honest. with what appeared to be strong and decisive words from a politician in support of full quality for gays and lesbians. we're not talking about president obama who yesterday announced he believed gays and lesbians should be able to marry. tonight we're talking about mitt romney, who 18 years ago said he supported "full equality" for gays and lesbians. what's not clear tonight is, what did that mean to mitt romney then? full equality? and what does he believe now? we're going to get into the specifics of what romney wrote 18 years ago. first, news about the timing of president obama's comments yesterday. this comes from jessica yellin. two senior administration officials say vice president joe biden met with president obama in the oval office and apologized to the president for putting him in a tough position. he spoke out about same-sex marriage saying it's a simple proposition of who you love and he's comfortable with same-sex couples having the same rights as heterosexual couple. after he apologized the president said he knows biden was speaking from the heart. the president has been the lead over this issue from day one and the vice president never intended to distract from that. unintended distraction or not, once president obama voiced his support for same-sex marriage it's all anyone was talking about. here's what romney said yesterday when asked about his own position. >> i have the same view on marriage that i had when i was governor and that i have expressed many times. i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. >> well, he also says he does not support civil unions if they have the same rights if a marriage. keeping them honest though, back when romney was running for senate against ted kennedy in massachusetts, romney positioned himself as the gay rights candidate. romney met with the log cabin club in massachusetts, a gay republican group. and in a letter dated october 6, 1994, wrote "i am more convinced than ever before that as we seek to establish full equality for america's gay and lesbian citizens i will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." full equality, those were his words. "if we are to achieve the goals we share we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern. my opponent cannot do this, i can and will." a promise from mitt romney for full equality for gays and lesbians. one might ask how that can be reconciled with romney's position same-sex marriage should not be legal. what does full equality mean if not fully enjoying the rights of other citizens, including the right to marry? moderator chris wallace brought up the letter and asked romney the following question, take a look. >> so you are still more of a champion of gay rights than ted kennedy was? >> i do not believe in discriminating against people based upon their sexual orientation. i believe as a republican, i have the potential to fight for anti-discrimination in a way that would be even better than senator kennedy as a democrat and was expected to do so. at the same time, in 1994, and throughout my career, i've said i oppose same-sex marriage. marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. >> it's true that romney has opposed same-sex marriage throughout his career. at the same time, he was pledging support for the gay community. in a 1994 interview with "bay windows" romney said, "i think the guy community needs more support from the republican party and i would be a voice to foster anti-discrimination efforts." romney was asked about that in january's nbc debate and what he's done to stand up for gay rights. here's what he said. >> from the very beginning, in 1994, i said to the gay community, i do not favor same-sex marriage. i oppose same-sex marriage and that has been my view. but if people are looking for someone who will discriminate against gays or will in any way try and suggest people that have different sexual orientation don't have full rights in this country, they won't find that in me. >> full rights, full equality, fight for anti-discrimination, romney's words back then. we'll leave it for you to decide if it makes sense to fight for full rights and oppose marriage equality. the right to adopt children seems to be open to interpretation as well. here's what he said today. >> if two people of the same gender want to live together, want to have a loving relationship, want to adopt a child in my state, individuals of the same sex are able to adopt children. in my view that's something people have the right to do. to call that marriage is in my view a departure from the real meaning of that word. >> keeping them honest, in 2005 romney seemed to oppose the idea of same-sex couples raising kids. he said, "today's same-sex couples are marrying under the law in massachusetts. some are actually having children born to them. we've been asked to change their birth certificates to remove the phrase mother and father and replace it with parent "a" and b." it's not right on paper, it's not right in fact. every child deserves to have a mother and a father." joining me is kevin madden and cnn political contributor paul begala. kevin, full rights, full equality, the words he used in 1994, promised not to discriminate against the gay community. how does that square with romney's position today? what did full equality mean to romney back then? >> i don't know the full context of what the debate was taking place in 1994 but i expect in answering that question and talking about the issue, he was talking about discrimination. and that he didn't believe that then as he does now, that we should discriminate against people based on their sexual identity or their sexual orientation, and he still holds true to that belief. on the issue of marriage, it comes down to the definition. whether it's how the government defines it and what the contract between two people is and what -- his belief is that a marriage should be defined simply as a union between one man and one woman. >> but in south carolina, when he was talking to conservative groups in 2005, he made it sound as if he didn't like the idea of gay people having kids. >> well, i don't know what -- i don't know what the exact specifics of that debate were. i know there's been a lot of different discussions in different states and different jurisdictions about what the laws would be as they relate to adoption or gay adoption. that question may have been phrased at one down in south carolina. i know in massachusetts, the law differs from and does giver in other states. >> paul, do you see an evolution in governor romney's position from the time he was running in massachusetts to now? >> well, a devolution. you know, from committing -- again and again in writing to the log cabin club for full equality and now even now saying well, i don't support discrimination. yes, he does. governor romney wants to kick people out of the military because they're gay. he wants to reinstate don't ask/don't tell, which was a discriminatory policy. it kicked people out because of their sexual orientation. he supports amending the u.s. constitution. this is a man who in writing said he was for full equality. he wants to change our most precious founding document to write scrim thags into it. >> i thought romney said he doesn't want to touch don't ask/don't tell at this point. >> i'll go look it up. he said he wants to reinstate don't ask/don't tell. maybe kevin can tell us in the last seven minutes what his new position is. i can check that. i've been wrong before. >> well, paul, under your definition then in 1996, president obama then was for discrimination. under your definition, president clinton who signed the defense of marriage act was for discrimination. >> that's right. that's right, kevin. i love president clinton and president obama, they were for discrimination. they have evolved. like most of the country. this is what's odd. when mitt romney said he was for equality only about 25% of americans held that view. so that was a pretty bold thing. that he was saying back then, that governor romney was saying, then mr. romney. today, over 50%. so the american people have been on the same journey that frankly former president clinton has been on and that president obama has been on. the majority of americans now have been on the same journey as president obama and i think that's why this change of position from president obama will not likely hurt him. but i think the position for governor romney likely will because he's going the wrong way, frankly, toward more and more discrimination. >> well, there are a lot of americans out there, paul, who believe that we should be discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation, but when it comes to defining marriage, it should be defined as a union between one man and one woman. i think if you see it, time and time again when that question has been put to voters, 32 states, 32 times, people have made their voice heard. that's what they believe should be the definition. >> kevin, doesn't he open himself up to another issue of flip-flopping, when he's running in liberal massachusetts against liberal ted kennedy, he's talking about full equality for gays and lesbians and you don't hear him using that phrase any more today. today he's talking about opposing same-sex marriage and even civil unions. >> well, look, anderson, i think there's going to be charges of flip-flopping all over this campaign. that's just what happens. i think it's up to the voters to decide. i don't believe the voters will be talking about what happened 19 years ago or 50 years ago. they'll be talking about the issues here before us. i think in this campaign we have an agreement that there's a very clear contrast on the two candidates and how they define what a marriage should be. governor romney believes it should be between a man and a woman. he makes that clear and will continue to make it clear during his campaign. and voters will have a clear choice. >> paul, i want to read you, i just looked this up, romney would preserve open gay service in the military, rom indicate head would preserve the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, this was on december 19th, 2011. >> okay. i'll stand corrected then. i thought i heard him say that he wanted to reinstate it. i guess i was wrong. i'm happy to be corrected about that. that is a form of discrimination. i'm glad he doesn't want to go back to it. >> kevin, thank you for joining us and paul begala. getting into the raw politics. there are some who are saying that president obama's position could hurt his base with african-american voters. civil rights activists and former naacp chairman julian vaughn says that is not necessarily the case in his opinion, that the tide he says is turning. i spoke to him right before the broadcast, and i spoke about what he believes mitt romney's definition of equality is. back in 1994, mitt romney talked about seeking what he said was full equality for gays and lesbians. to you, what does full equality mean? >> full equality means enjoying all of the rights that everybody else in the country enjoys. if everybody else in the country enjoys rights one, two, three and four you have to enjoy the rights too. >> because as recently as yesterday, romney said he didn't favor certainly not same-sex marriage, he didn't favor civil unions if they're identical to marriage in everything but name. does that sound like equality to you? >> no, not at all. of course not. it doesn't sound like it, and it isn't like it. >> you have been very outspoken, an outspoken advocate for marriage equality. what was your personal reaction to the president's public endorsement yesterday? >> well, i was thrilled and excited. this was a position i had always thought that he had. i always felt he felt this way. i was waiting and waiting for him to say so and i'm just so happy that he finally did. i wish it had been sooner. i'm willing to take what i got. >> were you surprised he said this before the election? >> well, not because of the series of events that preceded it. the statement from vice president biden, the secretary of education. and just the rising tide in the country of people who changed old ideas and adopted new ideas and said the time for change has come. so i think it was almost inevitable that he would say this sooner or later and i'm happy it was sooner rather than later. >> there's a lot of question of support among african-americans for same-sex marriage. some african-americans have expressed strong disapproval of the president's position and there's a lot of people wondering if that's going to affect their support for him come november. what do you think? >> i don't think so. i think this -- in

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