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New Day

Non-Violent Offenders; Emmy Nominations Just Announced

Aired July 10, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

This morning, a new effort to reform the criminal justice system. It is called the Redeem Act, which aims in part to seal certain non- violent crimes in background checks. It would also prevent people who are convicted of those crimes from losing eligibility from some government benefits. The pair of senators cosponsoring the bill have reached across the aisle to work together. We have a Republican and a Democrat, Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who had this to say about the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: We could be saving money, empowering people to succeed and ending something that really betrays American values, fiscal prudency and liberty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We're joined now by Republican Senator Rand Paul from Washington.

Senator, thank you so much for being with us. I have to say, this is interesting on many, many levels. There are the facts within the proposal and then there is the fact of the proposal and who is proposing it, you, a Republican, along with a Democrat.

First, let's talk about what's in the proposal here. You want to seal the records for non-violent crimes for some adults. You want to expunge the records in some cases for kids under 15. What kind of crimes are you talking about here, and what do you see the impact as?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Well, you know, one of the biggest impediments to employment in our country is having a criminal record. So what we said is, for people who had non-violent felonies, non- violent crimes, mostly drug possession and minor drug sale crimes, that if you've served your time, wouldn't we want you to you get a job rather than to go back into a life of crime. But you can't get a job a lot of times with a criminal record.

This has become very -- I've become very aware of this. I've met a lot of people. I go into some communities I meet people who are ministers who say, well, yes, I changed my life, but when I was 19, I did something wrong and I still have trouble getting employment because of it. So it is a big problem. I think it's the right thing to do. And Senator Booker has been great to work with and we're happy that we've got a bipartisan bill here.

BERMAN: So if you were convicted of pot, for instance, or certain drug crimes, you're saying just wipe it clean. There would be no record of all?

PAUL: Right. For kids it does it automatically. For adults, it has to be a year after you've gotten out of jail and you have to apply through a judge to get it. We tried to make it as easy as possible, but we still wanted there to be a process and a review process.

But, yes, I think once you've served your time, you should get your rights back. I think the same for voting. And I've actually worked with the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, is a co-sponsor of a bill with me to restore voting rights to people who have served their time.

BERMAN: You see -- you found a receptive audience in Senator Cory Booker. You've been speaking to the White House about this and the attorney general and you've found a receptive audience there as well.

PAUL: Yes, I spoke with the president this week about a few of these criminal justice issues. He's indicated a desire to help push some of these issues. Senator Mike Lee and Dick Durbin have one on mandatory minimums. I worked with Senator Leahy on one on mandatory minimums. There's a lot of criminal justice issues. We kind of went crazy in the '80s, but we went too far. And I think the public is ready to have a little more of an understanding position with the law that maybe people should get a second chance

BERMAN: In some of these convictions, some of the people being charged with these crimes, it false disproportionately along racial lines, doesn't it?

PAUL: Yes. Three out of four people in prison are black or brown for non-violent drug crimes. However, when you look at drug use across the board, white kids are using drugs just as much as black and brown kids, but they don't get incarcerated at the same rate. In fact, 80 percent of the public is white and so how do we get to three out of four people in prison are black or brown? There really is a racial outcome to the war on drugs and we need to re-evaluate it from top to bottom and make sure we're not incarcerating people, maybe inadvertently, but because of the color of their skin or their economic status.

BERMAN: So a lot of us in the media right now are making a lot out of the fact that you are doing this in a bipartisan way. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, they're working together. Oh my God! Stop the presses! Why does this seem like such a surprise?

PAUL: Well, you know, because I think we hear of a lot of acrimony in Washington. But I think what you'll find that's interesting, and I don't want to characterize Senator Booker, but I would say that he's somebody that has the ability to get beyond partisanship. That's what I perceive myself also as saying, you know what, I'm not locked into whatever the party says on every issue. In fact, I want to be part of what the party becomes. But it doesn't mean that Republicans and Democrats can't have areas in common. I think criminal justice is one that brings the right and the left together.

BERMAN: You know, you have - you've been in the Senate for a relatively short period of time but your father was in the House. You've certainly observed politics at the national level for a long, long time. Have you ever seen partisanship that's so dug in, that's so fierce?

PAUL: You know, I think it really has gotten kind of out of control in the Senate where no legislation is moving. And I think it had been a while since we had divided government. You now have a Republican House, Democrat Senate and so it's inevitable that a lot of things won't move very quickly.

But I try to encourage people, and I've talked to the Democrat leadership and I've said, why don't we send some things to conference committee and maybe split the difference. There are some of my principles, like on the right to trial by jury, I'm not willing to split the difference. However, on, you know, what the tax rate is to let companies bring money home from overseas, I've told Senator Reid, I'll split the difference. If you want 9.5 and I want five, we could go for seven, 7.5 and we could split the difference and a lot of that money -- there's $2 trillion overseas. But Senator Reid and I have been talking for about three months about ways to bring that money home and put that tax revenue into the road fund because the road fund's short.

BERMAN: You know, it sounds like in some cases you're agreeing with something the president just said on the issue of partisanship. You're noticing that partisanship is often getting in the way of progress. The president yesterday was talking about partisanship getting in the way of dealing with the border crisis right now. We have a lot of immigrants in this country. The president said, "if I sponsored a bill declaring apple pie American, it might fall victim to the partisan issues right now." Do you think he has a point?

PAUL: I would say there are some that will oppose the president no matter what he says. But I would say that myself and many others are willing to work with him if he wants to actually work with us. But here's the deal, immigration reform has to be a compromise. So, for example -- or even this situation on the border -- it can't be, hey, here's what I want, give me everything I want. It's going to have to be in between what Democrats and Republicans want. And there is a way to do it. But the only way you do it is, you can't be insistent that it has to be comprehensive. It may have to be somewhat sectioned off into smaller bills to get passed

BERMAN: And I'm asking you this in the spirit of the bipartisan effort that you're involved in right now with Cory Booker. You talk about the bipartisan effort there. We're asking for a bipartisan effort on the issue of immigration. When you hear a Republican, like Sarah Palin, the vice presidential nominee a few years ago, say that President Obama should be impeached because of what he's done on immigration, does that help the possibility for compromise?

PAUL: Well, you know, that's not my position. And what I would say is on -- particularly on immigration though, we have to figure out -- if we want to figure out the solution, part of the problem with all those kids coming up from central America is they believe and they've been told that they've got a free place to stay and the president won't send them home. So we can't send the wrong signals. And that's why conservatives like myself, who are for immigration reform, we say the border has to be secure first before you do anything to accommodate those who are here.

BERMAN: I - you know, and I agree there's the discussion about the signals and the policy here, but on the issue of signals, do you think calling on the president to be impeached sends the wrong signal toward compromise?

PAUL: It's not my position and I'm not calling for that.

BERMAN: What's the next thing you can talk about? You're talking about sentencing right now. And you've been talking about that for a long time. You've talked about marijuana laws. You've talked about that for a long time as well. Where's another issue where you think you might be able to find bipartisan compromise?

PAUL: Well, criminal justice is a big one. The other one that I've been spending the last two or three months on is trying to figure out a way to pay for our roads and bridges. And this is this repatriation, bringing money home from overseas. There's $2 trillion overseas and it's never coming home if we don't change the tax code.

The problem in Washington is really not acrimony so much as it's status quo. Everybody in Washington says, oh, no, we're keeping that for tax reform. Well, guess what, tax reform may never come in divided government. This is one item of tax reform and the longer we wait the more likely companies are to move their headquarters overseas, the more likely they're to merge with European and Asian companies and never bring that money home. So I'd like to see all that money come flooding home. When we did this in 2005, $300 billion came home. There's twice as much money now. I think $600 billion is a lot of money that would come home to help create jobs in our country.

BERMAN: Senator, I want to ask you one foreign policy question because CNN is reporting the Pentagon is discussing the possibility of maybe targeting the ISIS leader, al Baghdadi, with a drone strike in Iraq. Is that something that you would support?

PAUL: Well, bombs are war and war is supposed to come from the legislature. The Constitution is very specific. They didn't want the president to have unilateral war power. The president has power to repel attack, eminent threats, things like that. But if we're going to make the decision to go back into Iraq, I've been saying for a long time that we need to vote again. One generation can't bind another generation. The use of force they passed in 2003 is surely not binding on next generation. We should vote again in Congress whether or not we want to go back and get involved in the war in Iraq. BERMAN: Senator Rand Paul, I thank you very much for being with us and

I thank you for the picture of you sitting on stage with Senator Cory Booker. I think that's the type of thing we all need to see a lot more of on a wide range of issues. So thank you, sir.

PAUL: Thank you.

BERMAN: Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Couldn't agree more, John.

All right, it's time now for the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY. Where's our music? There it is.

All right, at number one, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will push the president's $3.7 billion border crisis fix during a Senate hearing. House Republicans made it clear there won't be a speedy vote.

In the Mideast, the Israeli prime minister has vowed to increase the assault on Hamas and terrorist organizations in Gaza. At least 78 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict.

Pentagon officials say the U.S. is considering a drone strike to kill the leader of ISIS. The mission would have to get approval, though, from the president.

Police are now saying that the man accused of killing four children inside a Texas home is not believed to be their father. Ron Lee Haskell is also accused of killing two adults before he surrendered to police following a long standoff. It is believed that he was married to a family member in the home.

And at number five, the World Cup final is set, Germany facing Argentina Sunday. Despite a goal-less 120 minutes, Argentina advanced to the final by edging past the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out. The World Cup anxiety is almost over.

We're always updating the five things to know. So be sure to go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I don't think we're going to see a loss, no matter what it is, like we did with Brazil though.

PEREIRA: I hope (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: But I also hope we don't see a game like we saw yesterday, because that game was boring!

BOLDUAN: You want to split the difference.

PEREIRA: Somewhere in the middle.

BOLDUAN: Come on, guys, help us out, please.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, the 2012 prime time Emmy nominations -

BERMAN: And the 2014.

BOLDUAN: I did just say 2012.

PEREIRA: It was a good year.

BOLDUAN: Hello, Thursday. It's 8:42 and it's 2014. The Emmy nominations are coming in.

Thanks, John.

Our team will look at the nominees and make our picks for winners. We're going to look back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: I miss that sound actually.

BERMAN: Please stop that.

PEREIRA: Welcome back. There's little dancing going on in the set because the primetime Emmy nominations have just been announced. In fact they're being announced as we speak.

Let's bring in our CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter as well as entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner.

The announcement apparently over --

BOLDUAN: Can you pan the wide shot real quickly?

PEREIRA: Nischelle --

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: This is for real.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Those are insane.

PEREIRA: This is like the Super Bowl of her work.

All right. Where do we want to start with the announcements today. Let's go with drama series.

TURNER: OK.

PEREIRA: Who are the nominees, darling?

TURNER: Well, the nominees in the drama series is actually one big omission in this that we did not see. We didn't see "Homeland" nominated.

BOLDUAN: Really?

TURNER: Yes, you thought maybe it would get nominated. Damian Lewis also not nominated. Claire Danes was but also he was not nominated. But let's go through the nominations real quick. "Breaking Bad" nominated, "Downton Abby", "Game of Thrones," "Madmen," "House of Cards," and also "True Detective," which kind of snuck in and knocked "Homeland" out of the box, absolutely.

PEREIRA: I was going to say.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

BERMAN: You know what's crazy there? There's not a single broadcast network drama --

PEREIRA: I was thinking.

BOLDUAN: Well, I was going to say --

TURNER: You know, and --

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Every year we get a little bit further down this path where cable is dominant.

BOLDUAN: Netflix is really changing this as well.

TURNER: Yes. This has been the trend since about 2010 that we've seen cable kind of take over the drama categories and you're right, Kate, we're seeing Netflix definitely make an impact here.

PEREIRA: They've got a footprint.

TURNER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: The definition of TV is changing.

STELTER: You know, last year "House of Cards" got a lot of nominations, only one win. They didn't win the big drama prize. So now they have another chance this year.

TURNER: Yes. I'm not sure about that. But --

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Let's look at lead actor and lead actress in a drama. Let's start with lead actor.

TURNER: OK. Lead actor in a drama category, this was also a good one. I think this is one of the more competitive categories if you ask me. Bryan Cranston, the perennial favorite.

PEREIRA: Hello.

TURNER: Nominated for "Breaking Bad" of course, Kevin Spacey nominated for "House of Cards," like we've been talking about. Both Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson nominated for "True Detective."

If Matthew McConaughey wins this category he will be the first actor ever to take home an Oscar and Emmy in the same year.

PEREIRA: And an Emmy.

BOLDUAN: How about that.

TURNER: Also Jeff Daniels for the "Newsroom" and John Hamm. There was a little bit of a question if John Hamm would be nominated again because people are asking, did we forget about "Madmen".

PEREIRA: Yes.

TURNER: But apparently not.

BOLDUAN: Did we also forget about "Game of Thrones"?

TURNER: Well, you know, I don't think we forgot about them in the big picture.

PEREIRA: But individually maybe.

TURNER: But in actor categories, yes, they got snubbed. Amelia Clarke did get an nomination. And a lot of people thought that she would.

PEREIRA: Yes.

TURNER: We also saw Damian Lewis, like I mentioned before, passed over in the actor category.

PEREIRA: How about actresses? Let's talk about the best actress in a drama series.

TURNER: Let's talk. This I think is the most competitive race if you ask me.

BOLDUAN: Tell us that.

TURNER: I wrote down a list of 13 people who could have been nominated easily last night. So this was one was a really tough one. Claire Danes, we did see get a nomination for "Homeland," Michelle Dockery for "Downtown Abby."

PEREIRA: Yes.

TURNER: One of my favorites. Juliana Margulies for the "Good Wife" and was left off.

PEREIRA: Solid years, though.

TURNER: Last year. She's back this year, which is a good one.

PEREIRA: And then (INAUDIBLE).

STELTER: Yes.

TURNER: Robin Wright for "House of Cards" and Kerry Washington for "Scandal" also got a nomination.

BOLDUAN: What do you think, Brian?

STELTER: I'm glad to see Kerry Washington in "Scandal." It's going to be one of the few, you know, broadcast network representations.

BERMAN: Right.

PEREIRA: And "The Good Wife," too.

STELTER: In the contest.

TURNER: And we can't forget about Lizzy Caplan and "Masters of Sex" who actually is one of my favorites. I'm really glad --

BERMAN: From "Mean Girls." Right?

TURNER: Yes. Yes, she got her start in "Mean Girls."

(LAUGHTER)

TURNER: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Probably not what she necessarily wants to be known for, Berman.

PEREIRA: So the networks still have a foothold, but again --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: In the comedy categories they usually have a little bit more.

PEREIRA: Right.

STELTER: I mean, "The Big Bang Theory" is nominated for comedy, "Modern Family" which has won four years in a row.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: OK. Stop on that one. Can they win five years in a row?

STELTER: Yes. I kind of hope they don't. I mean, I'd be rooting for "Veep", I'd be rooting for "Louie".

BOLDUAN: Yes.

STELTER: And two new entrants, right? "Silicon Valley."

PEREIRA: Pop up the list actually of comedy series then.

BOLDUAN: "Silicon Valley," I'll tell you. So hilarious.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: I just watched that on the plane the other day. Really hilarious.

TURNER: It is really funny and yes.

PEREIRA: Can we pop up the category, best comedy series here?

TURNER: Let's do that. Best comedy series, Brian which is kind of running them down and let you know. Number one, "Orange is the New Black" is -- was nominated for outstanding comedy.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: That say comedy?

TURNER: Exactly. There's a lot of controversy there --

PEREIRA: It's funny.

TURNER: -- on whether it should be in the comedy or drama series.

BOLDUAN: Is this where they can say I'm sorry but you're actually not -- you don't fit the bill on this category? Is there any other (INAUDIBLE).

TURNER: You know, it happens during award seasons. I remember during the Golden Globes I think a couple years ago, "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp was nominated in the best musical or comedy, and everyone goes, hmm. So sometimes it happens. You know, they put it in there, they got it in there and they got a nomination.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

STELTER: It's like "True Detective." It could have been a miniseries, it could have been a drama.

TURNER: Exactly.

STELTER: HBO submitted it as a drama making that category more competitive.

PEREIRA: So, Brian, do you think they need to refine the categories more or are they OK? Or is this new world order speaking to --

STELTER: We're in the golden age of TV. So in some ways we're taking more than ever and trying to fit it into relatively small number of categories.

BERMAN: Is it apples and oranges, though? I just wonder if it's even fair to the broadcast. So you'd think something like "True Detective," it's what, like 12 or 13 episodes? It's really just like three movies, phenomenal movies.

TURNER: It is. It is.

BERMAN: And you compare that to something with 23 episodes like "The Good Wife" it just doesn't feel like it's even comparable. STELTER: And the broadcasters have said that and I think they'll keep

saying that. But they're the ones that televise the Emmys every year and yet they oftentimes get shut out.

BOLDUAN: But, Brian, don't you also -- and I feel like I hear this from you, but the viewers are getting to decide if they really like the Netflixitization of the definition of television then so be it.

STELTER: Then that's up to me. I was just looking in --

TURNER: But we don't know how much that viewers like the Netflixitization --

BOLDUAN: Go try it.

(LAUGHTER)

TURNER: Because they don't release their numbers. So we don't actually know how popular these shows are.

BOLDUAN: OK.

STELTER: We know they have 35 million households subscribe in the U.S.

TURNER: Yes.

STELTER: We at least know they're paying for Netflix. One more stat for you, 14 nominations for Netflix last year, 31 this year.

BERMAN: Wow.

STELTER: So that says a lot about how they're growing.

BOLDUAN: Right. It sure does.

PEREIRA: Let's blow through the lead actor or lead actress in comedy. Real quick. Let's go see those.

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: OK. Real quick. Let's do the guys first. Jim Parsons nominated for "Big Bang Theory," Louis C.K. for "Louie," Matt LeBlanc for "Episodes," Don Cheadle for "House of Lies," Ricky Gervais, a new nominee this year.

PEREIRA: Great, though.

TURNER: Yes. I think he knocked Johnny Galecki out of the box there. William H. Macy for "Shameless." And I think he knocked (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: And on the actress side?

TURNER: And on the actress side Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "Veep," so funny.

PEREIRA: So funny.

TURNER: Amy always gets nominated but never win.

BOLDUAN: This is her year.

TURNER: Edie Falco nominated, Lena Dunham nominated, and Melissa McCarthy getting back in there. She won a couple of years ago. Remember they did that (INAUDIBLE) thing.

PEREIRA: Mike and Molly.

TURNER: And also Taylor Schilling for "Orange is the New Black."

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: You two are the dream team.

BOLDUAN: This really tells us there is a lot of good TV.

BERMAN: Very, very talented.

STELTER: "SNL" doesn't show up in there but "SNL" just hit a new record this year also, 185 nominations for "Saturday Night Live."

BERMAN: Wow.

BOLDUAN: That's great.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We'll talk about it in the break.

BERMAN: And coming up for us, serving those who serve their country, how one airline went above and beyond to help out a group of stranded veterans. This is "The Good Stuff" and it's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right, "Good Stuff" time, folks. In today's edition a company that went really above and beyond to honor the very men and women who have served our nation.

I want you to meet Ray. He's a Korean War vet. He traveled to D.C. with a group of veterans to visit the war memorial courtesy of the St. Louis organization Honor Flight. Well, when the servicemen were ready to head home, had a little bit of trouble with their flight. The plane they were supposed to take was diverted to a different airport by a storm, leaving those veterans stranded in D.C.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY BOHN, VETERAN: The bad part of it was we had elderly people there that use medication and to be on time.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PEREIRA: It's a real concern so what did Southwest Airlines do? Well, instead of saving money and flying the servicemen out the next day, the airline dispatched another plane and found a new crew to personally come to the airport, pick up those honorable veterans and take them on a direct flight home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOHN: It was fantastic to see all of these people appreciating what the veterans done so many years ago. It was a day of -- I'll never forget. I'll never forget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Treating them like the heroes that they truly are.

Way to go, Southwest. Nice job.

BERMAN: Way to go, you guys. We appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: That costs money and they did it.

PEREIRA: It sure does.

PETERSONS: Everybody said they're appreciated so many years later because that's the truth. They should know that.

PEREIRA: Right.

BOLDUAN: That's a good way to end the show. A lot happening today, a lot happening in our show and there's still lot to go. My goodness.

Have a good day, everybody. Let's go over to "NEWSROOM" with Brianna Keilar in for Carol Costello.

Hey, Brianna.