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New Documents Released on MH370; Thousands March in Selma; Nemtsov Suspects in Custody; Unarmed Teen in Madison, Wisconsin Shot

Aired March 08, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now in the NEWSROOM. New evidence into what happened on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which vanished one year ago today.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Hundreds of pages of documents supporting background information have now been released.

WHITFIELD: Plus hiding their faces behind pieces of paper. Five suspects who are now behind bars for the murder of one of Putin's biggest critics.

And right now tens of thousands march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. They have come to honor the men and women who made history there 50 years ago this weekend.

Hello again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A new report is out today on the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370. That report from Malaysian authorities is raising new questions about the plane's maintenance. It says the battery for the plane's flight data recorders may have been allowed to run out more than a year before the plane disappeared.

Investigators are also looking more closely into the background of the plane's crew. They found no signs of stress or unusual behaviors leading up to the disappearance, and there still hasn't been any explanation for why the plane went so far off its original course.

I want to bring in CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest in Los Angeles, and CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie. He's also the author of "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370." So Richard, you first. Do we know if the pinger was allowed to expire? Or whether it was oversight? I know there's some discrepancy over what's on paper documents versus computer.

QUEST: Apparently what happened was when, according to the airline and indeed it seems to be accepted to some extent on page 60 in the record, when they changed the batteries on the flight data recorder, the computer registered it had been uninstalled, but didn't register the new one had been installed.

Therefore, my understanding from Malaysia is - from people there is that - the investigator in charge who wrote the report said the paperwork doesn't comport correctly, we can't say it was installed, therefore we have to say it was expired, but the airline is pretty certain that it was actually installed.

By the way, there's no question of doubt on the cockpit voice recorders or any of the other pingers that were involved.

WHITFIELD: So David, is this common that perhaps there may be documentation on paper that conflicts with what's on computer?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, you know, when I do safety audits for airlines, which I did for 17 years with the FAA, you look at the paperwork first. You look at the cards, the tags that come off the pieces, and that is the hard copy, is what you look for. Computer systems aren't necessarily the way to maintain your records, although it can be done if it's approved that way. But the fact that there's a discrepancy, I believe as well as Richard does, that the batteries were changed but that the paperwork wasn't done properly.

But that kind of indicates there may be something else down there. So as an investigator, when we find things like that, we continue to dig and dig and dig, because you typically when there's one thing, there's something else. It's just a kind of tip of the iceberg thing, I don't think it was a safety issue and most likely the battery was replaced. If theres a record the old one was removed, something had to go in its place. It probably was, but it does indicate to me that there's some lax paperwork, and that can indicate other things when you do an analysis.

WHITFIELD: And then, Richard, what is this about the documentation, talking about nothing that reveals something, you know, anything unusual in the cockpit? No explanation as to why that plane turned and went off-course.

QUEST: And that is something we are none the wiser today. I can tell you about the oxygen system. I mean, what they have done - I have to be honest, Fred. What they have done in this report, they have stuffed it full of every bit of regulation concerns air traffic control in Malaysia and in the surrounding districts. We know how many hours the cabin crew can work. I mean they've really had - I hate to use the word, but they have padded it out with a lot of stuff, frankly that's irrelevant and really just makes it a fatter report to read.

What is missing from this report is an honest discussion about air traffic control on the night, about how the alarm was raised, about who - when the military saw the plane going across the country. When did they raise the alarm and tell the civilians and prime minister and others. That is missing from this report. And I suspect it's missing from this report for a good reason. It's the Achilles' heel of the whole issue.

WHITFIELD: And David, does this help underscore that this plane may never be found, if not for by accident?

SOUCIE: Well, I do believe that the assumptions they are making and there's nothing in it that discounts the NMARSAT data, the base frequently offsets, all of that they used to determine the southern track as opposed to the northern track. I believe that they're looking in the right area, but remember this is a massive area, 28,000 square miles. That's incredibly huge. They've only done 9,000 so far. They got a long ways to go. I wouldn't give up on that area certainly yet, but I do think they're in the right area. The report tells us there were some problems, especially as Richard points out between the military and civilian radar discussions between the two of them, which we now have in the United States. We do a good job of that today. But Malaysia has a ways to go.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it all still seems very troubling. Richard, what if anything does this say about Malaysia Airlines as an entity and if this report in any way kind of threatens its existence.

QUEST: No, it certainly won't threaten the existence, and there's nothing in the report that is derogatory in any way. I'm not sure there will be to some extent about the airline, there's, you know, we learn all about the training procedures. For instance, how many hours. You're going to be at the airline before you're allowed to be a captain at Malaysia Airlines, you could have at least 12 to 15 years experience of flying.

So there's nothing in here that leads you to assume that there was something systemically wrong with the airline. That's really the problem here, Fred. We can parse this any way we like, but there's no evidence, despite what some people think, there's no evidence one way or the other, and nothing further from this report.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Quest, David Soucie, thanks so much.

Russian state TV says a sixth suspect now in the February killing of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov killed himself today during a stand off with the police. The report says the incident happened in the capital city of the Chechen Republic as police were trying to arrest him. They say the man threw a grenade at police before blowing himself up.

Meanwhile, one of five men arrested earlier has reportedly pleaded guilty and that man had previously served as an officer in a Chechen police battalion. Two of the men have been formally charged, the other three are listed as suspects.

Nemtsov who was an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shot in the back as he walked with his girlfriend near the Kremlin. Christopher Dickey, foreign editor for "The Daily Beast" is with us now from New York.

So Christopher, we are now talking about six suspects that Russia says were involved in this killing. Does this have credence? Is this believable?

CHRISTOPHER DICKEY, FOREIGN EDITOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, I think you're going to get it get even more unbelievable, as they try and spin out the motivations for these people who are mostly from Chechnya or associated with Chechnya to have killed Boris Nemtsov. I mean, the problem here is he does not have a great record opposing islamists. His main opposition has been to Putin. He's also been very much opposed to Ramzan Keterov, who is Putin's man in Chechnya. So it all becomes very complicated and if you listen to some of the things that are coming out on Russian television, you would think this was some kind of wild conspiracy carried out by people who are opposed to Russian intervention in Ukraine, in order to blame President Putin and discredit him. It's going to get more and more and more confusing, but Nemtsov's own family doesn't believe for a minute that this Chechen conspiracy has much to do with the murder of Boris Nemtsov, and they do think that Putin or his people probably were behind it.

WHITFIELD: And if anyone were to be - were to believe this Chechen angle, what would the motivation be as to why Chechens would want to go after this opposition leader in Russia?

DICKEY: Well, on some twitter feeds, you'll see remarks like Nemtsov was Jewish, he was Zionist, he was opposed to Islam, et cetera, but none of those were major components of his politics. It's much more likely the people who wanted to get rid of him wanted to get rid of him because he was a thorn in the side of the Russian administration, of the Putin administration, and also of the Ramzan Katarov administration in Chechnya. He was a constant and bitter critic of Russian actions in Ukraine.

So I think it's very unlikely that we can find an credible Islamist reason for murdering this man basically in the shadow of the Kremlin.

WHITFIELD: The mystery just thickens, doesn't it? It just gets murkier and murkier, as opposed to getting more clarity.

DICKEY: It does.

WHITFIELD: All right. Christopher Dickey, thank you so much from New York. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead, thousands of people commemorating the Bloody Sunday march. CNN's Ryan Young is in the thick of it there in Selma, Alabama.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the crowds seem to continue to grow. You can see people pushing across the bridge. Another hour, another hour of people marching together. This hasn't stop. We'll have it coming up live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This is happening right now. Thousands of people walking in the footsteps of Selma freedom fighter who were all marching for equal voting rights back in 1965. And were met with billy clubs and tear gas by Alabama state troopers and police. Live pictures right now of the 50th anniversary remembrance march of what became known as Bloody Sunday.

Let's go to Ryan Young, who is covering today's historic event. Ryan, give us an idea of how this march is coming along. It looked like it was moving very slowly, a lot of people on that bring all at one time.

YOUNG: A lot of people on the bridge, there's really no control. They're kind of just self-walking across. You can see people kind of pushing across here. We've actually got moved to the side, because so many people were pushing through. In fact, it seems like the crowds have swelled to be even larger in the last half hour or so. There's really no way in and out of here at this point. People coming from both sides. If you remember where you were standing yesterday at the stage, there were food trucks in that area and people are eating and then walking over together, both young and old.

We've talked really about the resurgence of young people who decided to make the march across together. A lot of people trying to have those teachable moment with young people. Walking back in this direction, because we met so many people along the way, people who say they have enjoyed the event so far because of what's going on. We talked earlier, you felt like you really needed to be here for this commemoration.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Most definitely. This is this is a memorable celebration, to see so many people come together just, in remembrance of this day 40 years ago, it's just awesome. I mean, in love and I'm happy to have my daughter here. Take your thumb out of your mouth, to experience this. We are really excited.

YOUNG: Barack Obama talked about moving forward, the idea that your daughter would have a different lifestyle in this country. How do you field about those words yesterday?

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Most definitely. It was very powerful. I do believe in moving forward. I'm hoping that the new generation will forget the old ways of people in the past, and just love one another. You know, do not, like Dr. King said, do not judge them by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Please, I mean, just love. Just love. That's all we need is love around here. This is awesome. If you're not here, you should be here. This is awesome.

YOUNG: And the crowds have swelled on their own. In fact it was around 2:00 when they decided to go across the bridge on their own. That's something they wanted to do. So far you can see that push, that continual push to go up, and in there are so many people here who are experiencing this. You love the fact that everyone seems to be getting along here.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Yes, most definitely. I mean normally somebody steps on their foot, they get agitated or aggravated. People say excuse me, everybody is speaking, they're saying hello, there's a lot of love and energy today in this whole area.

YOUNG: What was it like when people started singing and started going across the bridge.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, it brought tears to my eyes. It's so emotional. I grew up in Montgomery. My grandmother worked with Rosa Parks. She boycotted with Rosa Parks and my grandmother helped give out water (INAUDIBLE) when they came the 54 miles, three day walk from Selma to Montgomery, make history happen, help President Obama come in office. And all these other elected black officials, so it's just an amazing experience and just so many memories and I just want to thank everybody. 100,000 right here.

YOUNG: And that's what everybody is talking about, everyone coming together, all ages. Everyone walking together, something they say they will always remember. You should see all the selfie sticks here. Everyone is taking pictures and having a good time. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Wow, fantastic. Thank you so much for bringing those sentiments and bringing those images. Extraordinary. It would be a process getting all those people across the bridge, and guess what? They got to come back on the other side as well.

YOUNG: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much. Ryan Young.

YOUNG: (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: Yes, I appreciate that.

We continue our coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An Iraqi man escaped ISIS only to be shot dead in Texas barely a month after moving to the U.S., police say he was watching his first snowfall in his new American hometown when he was killed by an unknown assailant. He died right in front of his wife and brother.

Our Nick Valencia has been following this story for us. Any new information about, leads?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, police have gotten back to us just recently within the last hour and said that they don't have any new information. We also just spoke to the council on American- Islamic relations. We asked them if Ahmed had received any threats before the shooting, they said no.

The Crimestoppers now offering $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Police say this surveillance video from a camera posted in a nearby school shows the four men who may be linked to the murder of Ahmed al Jamali. Bullet holes in the car outside his suburban Dallas apartment show where the 36-year-old Iraqi immigrant was shot and killed.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Trying to find a decent job to start his life.

VALENCIA: Through tears his father-in-law says Al Jamali recently left Iraq to escape the growing threat of ISIS. In North Texas he would also be reunited with his wife after more than a year apart. Her excitement for their new life together was no secret. On Thursday night, Jamali had gone outside with his wife to watch his first-ever snowfall.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: We're looking for a safe place, well educated environment, good environment, what he got was one bullet in his heart.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: There is no shortage of sadness for the loss of this beautiful young man, who has only just come to this country 20 days ago, and we don't, as Texans want that to be his welcome.

VALENCIA: Members of the Muslim community say they want to know the motive and whether al Jamali was targeted because of his race. Police are pleading for the public to help.

MAJOR JEFF COTNER, DALLAS POLICE: Tests are ongoing now to determine if one or more rifles were fired and whether the physical evidence that we have been able to get from the crime scene is related to any other offense. As you can see, we have little information to go on.

VALENCIA: For now, this video may be the best lead that police have to find the men responsible for the death of a man who left the threat of violence only to become a victim of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: A funeral was held for al Jamali yesterday, family and friends will hold a vigil at the scene of the crime later today, about 6:30 local time. Fred.

WHITFIELD: There's been a lot of outreach now in the community. Hasn't there?

VALENCIA: They've raised a lot of money. They won't tell us specifically what that figure is. But if you go to a go fund me site, more than $20,000 has been raised for the family. And from what we understand, there's no indication that they may go back to Iraq even after this happened to them. They're just shocked and surprised. Obviously, very sad and it's heartbreaking. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Traumatic.

They already were living a risky life in Iraq, and narrowly escaped so much violence there.

VALENCIA: When you see the father-in-law, you can see that emotion on his face, like what Ahmed al Jamali had been through to get here, only for this to happen.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Next, protests in Madison, Wisconsin, after police shot and killed an unarmed 19-year-old. CNN's Rosa Flores is covering the story for us live in Madison. She'll by joining us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

In Madison, Wisconsin, a family is grieving and a community is demanding answers. This, after an officer responding to a disturbance call, shot and killed a 19-year-old by the name of Tony Robinson. Robinson was unarmed at the time, but police say he assaulted the officer, who then responded with deadly force.

Under Wisconsin law, police shootings are investigated by an outside agency. CNN's Rosa Flores is in Madison. So Rosa, you just spoke with the Madison police chief, and what did he say?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you mentioned, here in this state, whenever there's an officer involved shooting, the police department doesn't investigate itself, but an independent agency. The state DOJ is the one that's leading the investigation. I asked the police chief, "I've been on the ground, I've talked to a lot of people who are very frustrated and angry, you're still the police chief, how are you going to deal with that?"

He mentioned, Fred, that first of all he said "we have to own up to what happened." He said "We have to," which this police chief has, he's been very forward about it. He's done several press conferences, saying what had happened. The allegations are, of course, that this police officer shot and killed an unarmed teenager, but he says he knows that it's an uphill battle, because a lot of the people in this community are frustrated and angry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): Hundreds of demonstrators hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin.

(CROWD CHANTING)

FLORES: Following the shooting death of an unarmed 19-year-old at the hands of police.

ANDREA IRWIN, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I want to let him know that I'm there.

FLORES: Tony Terrell Robinson's mother devastated and overcome by emotion.

IRWIN: My son has never been a violent person, never. And to die in such a violent, violent way.

FLORES: Police paint a different picture of her son. Scanner traffic capturing the dramatic chain of events.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for a male black, light skin.

FLORES: Police say they received several calls about Robinson Friday evening, first about the teen jumping in and out of traffic and dodging cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got another call for the same suspect.

FLORES: Then about an alleged battery incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tried to strangle another patron.

FLORES: The situation escalating when Robinson entered what family says is his best friend's house. Office Matt Kenney arrived, heard a commotion inside and forced his way in, according to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired, shorts fired.

FLORES: Officials say Robinson attacked Officer Kenney, who then fired the deadly shots. Kenney suffered a blow to the head. Robinson was administered CPR at the scene, but later died at the hospital.

CHIEF MIKE KOVAL, MADISON POLICE: He was unarmed. That's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, for the public to accept, to understand that deadly force had to be used.

FLORES: This is not the first time the 45-year-old officer used lethal force. Kenney was exonerated for an incident that took place almost eight years ago, a fact that doesn't sit well with Robinson's family and friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a beautiful, beautiful young man. He 6'4", 200 pounds.

FLORES: Robinson's aunt and grandmother speaking out, not buying the account from police.

SHARON IRWIN, TONY ROBINSON'S GRANDMOTHER: I think the cops shot him because he was afraid of him.

(CROWD CHANTING)

FLORES: Protesters calling Robinson's killing their Ferguson.

IRWIN: I'm hurt, I'm frustrated, I'm angry.

(CROWD CHANTING)

FLORES: As another family faces an all too familiar anguish, the community deals with an all too familiar question. Was the use of deadly force necessary?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, one of the other obvious questions that I asked the police chief were about the other tools this police officer had with him and that perhaps could have avoided deadly force. Fred, he did say that this officer had a stun gun with him, but he said he can't comment about the use of deadly force or the use of that stun gun, because, of course, the investigation is in the hands of the state DOJ. Fred. WHITFIELD: And then Rosa, what about the events leading up to the confrontation? This confrontation ended up happening inside the house, as opposed to in public view. That only sounds like that it further complicates things.

FLORES: It definitely does. A lot of times when these shootings happening in an open parking lot or in an area that's open, there are eyewitnesses, people who witness, people who take video of the shooting, and that gives the police and also the public an assurance as to what happened and what they're hearing from authorities, what authorities are telling them. In this particular case, we don't know that there is video. That information has not been released, if that's the case. But you're absolutely right. It happened inside, so the situation escalates inside four walls, in essence. It's up to the word of the officer and of course in this particular case, Mr. Robinson is dead.

WHITFIELD: Do we know definitively whether other people were inside that house at that time?

FLORES: You know, we really don't know those details. What I can tell you is that I talked to the neighbor who was -- who lives literally -- the walls are paper thin, Fred -- that lives right next to where this happened. So it's a house and it's two different rental units. This woman lives right next door. She said she heard the entire commotion. She said she heard the altercation, it's escalating. She heard the gunshots, went to the floor, and you know for a moment thought these gunshots could go through her wall. Thanks God that didn't happen, she says, but of course, perhaps we have a hearing witness, but not an eyewitness that we know about.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Rosa, Flores, thank you so much, in Madison, Wisconsin.

All right, still ahead, GOP presidential candidates go back to Iowa again. This time they're talking about corn and the economy. And they're also taking shots at Hillary Clinton using a private e-mail account while she was U.S. secretary of state. Our political panel weighs in next. Next

But first, here's this week's Ones to Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the tap to the Charleston, the jitterbug to the twist, most popular dances began life as underground sensations in America's Afro-American neighborhoods. Every decade, it seems these communities create something fresh and vibrant.

Pop stars have been long tapping into this hidden treasure chest of moves, often transforming them into worldwide crazes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael did not create the moonwalk. The moonwalk was something done on every street corner in America. Twerking and booty dancing, they have done that in New Orleans for the last 20 years. You know, this is one guy named Big Freda, I remember he was upset,

because he was like wow, I've been doing that forever and look, Miley Cyrus comes on TV and she doesn't even do it the right way, because I'm always trying to keep up with the latest dance. The Nene is doing the latest. You know, everybody says the Nene. I don't know if you know -- I don't even know why they call it that.

(SONG PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LA's South Central (inaudible) has long been a laboratory of the street dance. One of its residents, Tommy The Clown, is credited with creating the clowning style which evolved into crumping. The dance started (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here you struggle, it's a struggle dance. These kids go through so much, and broken homes, single parents, gang violence, drugs and stuff.

It's a lot of anger to be built up that they are able to release through the form of dance. They battle one by one, some might spitfire or somebody flipped through the air, literally tear your head off without touching you on the dance floor and the crowd is going to be the judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Hillary Clinton thought the uproar over her use of private e-mail while secretary of state would go away. Well, leave it to Saturday Night Live to keep the story alive with this portrayal of Clinton in last night's skit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those e-mails are clean as a whistle. This is not how Hillary Clinton goes down. I mean, what did you think my e-mails said? Hi, it's Hillary. I really screwed up on Benghazi today. Please. Ha ha. Ha ha. I wasn't born yesterday. I was born 67 years ago, and I have been planning on being president ever since. There will be no mistakes in my rise to the top. If I decide to run, who knows? Who knows?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Let's bring in our political panel, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, who is also the editorial director at the National Journal and Doug Heye, former communications director at the republican national committee. So gentlemen, you were all laughing, I was laughing. I wonder if Hillary Clinton will laugh to that. It is very funny.

(CROSSTALK)

RON BROWNSTEIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL JOURNAL: It's hard for follow Saturday Night Live. That's not very fair, a very charitable on a Sunday afternoon. Look, this is going to be a sustained headache for her.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: In the end, I don't think it is going to be a decisive factor in whether or not she ultimately gets elected president, but it is a problem. The use personal e-mails -- she's certainly not the only public figure. We talked about it over the last week with Jeb Bush, but still the idea that you're a public figure conducting public business, controlling it through your private e-mail account and you are deciding what you classify as something that is in fact the public business and should be shared with the state department, much less the public. That's an unfortunate I think series of decisions, ones that I think she would probably reconsider if she had to make them again today.

WHITFIELD: All right. So you know, Doug, Ron hinted to it. There are others who also used their personal e-mail, Jeb Bush, Governor Walker, Chris Christie, even Texas Governor Perry. So everyone admits to doing it, but I guess the difference is when an argument being made is that she is dealing with national security, foreign policy issues and should those things potentially have been conveyed or talked about on private e-mail. Although, remember there's no evidence, nothing has been brought to bear to understand what may have been conveyed in her private e-mail. So why is it so much being talked about as it pertains to Hillary Clinton's email anyway? Doug.

DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I think a few reasons. Hillary Clinton is determining what we're able to see and not see. What we have seen is this is what makes people uneasy about Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: But we don't know the content of it.

HEYE: Without knowing the content of it.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Why is it an issue?

HEYE: It is an issue because she's determining what we're able to see and not see. She's determining what the select committee on Benghazi is getting or not getting. That's not the openness and transparency that the President Obama promised us. It was not the guidelines that were issued to Secretary of State Clinton. It's also not what she promised to do herself. And that's why people are uneasy with Hillary Clinton. It reminds people of that immediately. I would say, you know, when we talk about transparency, the only reason we know that there were cops in Ferguson that sent racist e-mails is because they had done that from official accounts. If they had done it from private e- mail, those bad cops would still be on the streets. That's not something we want to have.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, let's move on now and we'll talk about some GOP leadership, those who are running for president, and how many found themselves at the Iowa at the agricultural summit, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, among others. Who best, Ron, connected with conservatives?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, it's interesting. I think the significance of this meeting in Iowa -- the biggest significance was something that probably won't effect the result of the Iowa caucus, which is if Jeb Bush kind of doubled down on this argument that he is going to hold to positions that might benefit him in the general election, even if it caused him during the primary of the caucus. He's unlikely to win Iowa, Fredricka. Iowa caucus, 60 percent of the voters, evangelical Christians. He is not going to be their candidate. But if he, you know -- we've seen other candidates pulled to the right by Iowa in a way that ultimately hurts. He reaffirmed his support, took positions that in a way that ultimately hurts them in the general election. He reaffirmed his support for the common core education centers, reaffirmed his support for immigration, took positions on agriculture issues that kind of clashed with Iowa, and I think really kind of sent another signal that he does intend to run this primary process differently that we have seen from other like Mitt Romney who had a similar profile in the past.

WHITFIELD: And so, Doug, why is Iowa still so important?

HEYE: Well, Iowa is important because it's first in the country, but it's also in a state that determines who the nominee is going to be. It is what winnows the process down. I think that's why Jeb Bush was very smart in his remarks. GOP voters or caucus goers don't want to pander to, and not just with the agricultural event, but also Jeb Bush did very well at the chicken -- at the pizza ranch in Iowa, taking questions on every topic possible. That really can be a tense time for a candidate. Jeb Bush handled it well. And because we focus on his last name so much, not his first name, we forget he's Jeb, not just Bush. He has an opportunity. If they run a smart campaign and with the staff it looks like they will, to run as an experienced hand, but also a fresh face, someone who is married to a Hispanic, someone who speaks Spanish himself. That's we don't typically see from republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Go ahead, Ron, real quick.

BROWNSTEIN: Real quick point. Iowa is more likely to anoint the chief alternative to Jeb Bush than it is to Jeb Bush. The last two times it picked conservatives Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee in 2008, who were limited in their appeals, who really could only appeal to either evangelicals, couldn't broaden beyond that. The big question, if Iowa does that again in 2016, it would be a huge benefit for Bush, but if someone like Scott Walker who has shown broader appeal in Iowa, you could have a horse race.

WHITFIELD: Wow, All right. Fascinating stuff. We're all looking forward to it, you know.

(CROSSTALK)

HEYE: Anything can happen. WHITFIELD: I know. Anything can happen. And it's right around the

corner. Ron Brownstein and Doug Heye, thanks so much.

HEYE: Thanks so much.

WHITFIELD: We'll have much more Newsroom right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. CNN's original series Finding Jesus airs tonight. Tonight's episode focuses on John the Baptist, and how he helped kick-start Jesus' ministry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus by John is a crucial part of the story. It sells us, if nothing else, that Jesus absolutely endorsed what John was doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I myself came baptizing with water for this reason. That he might be revealed to Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it means that he endorsed John's message that God's people did need to repent. They did need to receive forgiveness for their sins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, joining us from Los Angeles is Rabbi Joshua Garroway. He is an early Christianity professor. Good to see you, rabbi.

RABBI JOSHUA GARROWAY, LOS ANGELES RABBI: Thank you very much for having me.

WHITFIELD: Some might be surprised to see a rabbi featured in a series about Jesus. What inspired you to study early Christianity?

GARROWAY: Well, 50 years ago it would have been peculiar to have a Jew, much less a rabbi studying this field, but actually in the last 20 to 30 years, it's become not unusual at all. There are at least a handful of rabbis interested in this field. I guess I would say a whole barrel full of Jews interested in this field, and I think part of it is that most people are beginning to understand that early Christianity is very much a part of Jewish history, seeing as Jesus and John the Baptist, and all the other early important figures were Jews.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about some of the content and some of the discoveries that have been made. Relics have been found reporting to be the bones of John the Baptist, have scientists been able to authenticate those bones?

GARROWAY: As far as I know, the closest they have come is to be able to say that a certain group of bones which come from Bulgaria can be securely dated to the 1st century to a man, and to a man of middle eastern descent. So that certainly doesn't rule it out the possibilities of those bones belonging to John the Baptism, but it's a far cry from establishing certain proof that they are bones from John the Baptist.

WHITFIELD: And then what's your understanding or how do you appreciate the fact that John the Baptist and Jesus would come together as they would and that it would be John the Baptist that kind of gets credit for, you know, inspiring his ministry?

GARROWAY: Sure. Well, actually from a historian's perspective, it may well be that the relationship between John and Jesus was as many forged by the early evangelists, the writers of the gospels, as it was something that actually existed in history. We can say for certain that Jesus began his ministry, by being baptized by John the Baptist, but the notion that John the Baptist understood Jesus as the one who would come after him, the Elijah to Jesus' messiah, so to speak, may well be the creation of the authors of the gospels.

WHITFIELD: Rabbi Joshua Garroway, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us, and of course, the all new Finding Jesus airs tonight at 9 o'clock Eastern Time right here on CNN.

And we will be right back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've always loved to read. It kind of takes you to a different place. My mom told me when I was 8 that some kids don't have books. That shocked me, because everybody should have the option to read. So I started by just doing a small book drive. And then told my parents that I wanted to collect and distribute 1 million books to kids in need by the time I turned 18. So welcome to the reading warehouse. I was 13 when I reached my goal. We have given books to about 16 countries and 40 states. All the pink squares -- my new goal is to distribute books to every state in the U.S., every country in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a pre-school teacher with English language learners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for second through fifth grade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meeting the teachers is amazing. Because I hear all about the kids they serve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, sweetie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep up the good work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon, fifth grade.

CROWD: Good afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have about 1280 students, a large homeless and highly mobile population. They're in great need.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she came to my school, I was so excited. She just gave us books for free. It was amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literacy is so important in education. I want kids to have a better life. I know that reading can do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, we have featured a lot of young kids who are doing some extraordinary things this year. Books, cups and food. Tell us about someone you know making a big difference in your community. Nominations are open at CNNheroes.com.

We've got so much more straight ahead in NEWSROOM. Thanks so much for being with me this afternoon and all weekend long. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Much more NEWSROOM with Poppy Harlow up next.