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Dallas Cowboys Sign Greg Hardy; Obama Talks Mandating Americans Vote; Democrats Irked Republicans Delaying Loretta Lynch Vote. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 19, 2015 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Remember Greg Hardy used to be a defensive end for the Carolina Panthers. Now he's a Dallas Cowboy. Hardy just signed a one-ear deal worth $11 million. On the field, he was known as one of the best defensive linemen in 2013. Off the field, it's a different story. Convicted of domestic violence charges after his girlfriend said he threatened to kill her. She testified that Hardy threw her into the bathtub and then later tossed her onto a futon that had guns all over it. She said he put both hands around her neck and he tried to strangle her. A judge found Hardy guilty. He appealed the conviction and requested a jury trial. And then Hardy and his former girlfriend reached a settlement, and because his then-girlfriend didn't show up for an appeal hearing, the charges were dismissed. Still, Hardy's status remains an open question.
Mike Freeman is the NFL National Lead writer for Bleacher Report and wrote a powerful piece, Mike, in which you use a lot of language but you say the Dallas Cowboys are total losers for taking this guy. Tell me why.
MIKE FREEMAN, NFL NATIONAL LEAD WRITER, BLEACHER REPORTER: Brooke, here's the thing -- first of all, thanks for having me back on.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
FREEMAN: We just went through with this whole situation basically with Ray Rice, right. And what did we hear from the NFL, from everyone including the Cowboys and Jerry Jones? What did we hear from them? We've learned from this. We're not going to make these mistakes again. We have no tolerance for domestic violence. We heard that over and over from top to bottom and what happens when a player of his talent, Hardy's talent who is really good comes on the open market and available. What's the first thing the NFL team does? They sign him.
BALDWIN: As you point out a lot of teams passed on him but the Cowboys said we'll take him for a year.
FREEMAN: There were teams that passed on him. And some passed on him not maybe because they wanted to do the right thing. Roger Goodell, I think they didn't know what the punishment is going to be. So that uncertainty led to him being passed over. Some teams did pass him over because they did learn. But the Cowboys didn't. Even though it's on a one-year deal and there's not a lot of guaranteed teed money in it, it's a message you send. What message are you sending just after Ray Rice and not a short time after he was convicted, Hardy was, of this, what message are you sending to your fans, especially to your women fans? It's just -- to me, the whole thing just stinks. Was terrible to me.
BALDWIN: I was saying I would love to hear from female fans, die-hard Dallas Cowboy female fans and how this will sit with them and if they plan on wearing the Jersey or not. This was a guy who was convicted of domestic violence charges. What got me is, when you throw the name Hardy out into the ether that is Twitter, the responses you get, "She didn't have any marks on her body. He was found innocent."
FREEMAN: It's unbelievable. And almost to the person, I would almost say 100 percent they were all men. All men shooting those really horrible responses back. It's really amazing to me. I mean, you have covered this issue a lot. I don't want to go too far down that road, about how there are just men and you see this in the sports world who just don't believe in domestic violence and don't believe it exists and they make excuses and they blame the victim and with that team, high profile team, very famous team. You see that over and over again. It's really kind of pathetic.
BALDWIN: He made $13 million last season and played one game. $11 million with the Cowboys. We'll see what Goodell does.
Mike Freeman, let's stay in touch. Thank you very much, from the Bleacher Report.
FREEMAN: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: You got it.
Coming up next, President Obama saying one solution for perhaps all the money involved that politics can be making Americans vote. Think about it, lots of places around the world, Australia, other countries, they do it. Would it work here? We'll discuss that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:38:35] BALDWIN: We are 600 -- count them with me -- 600 days for your next chance to vote in a presidential election in the United States. What if your vote wasn't just a civic duty? What if it was something you ought to do but it was something that you had to do? In fact, if you didn't do it, it would be against the law. Listen to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Australia and some other countries, there's mandatory voting. It would be transformative if everybody voted. That would counteract money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: So let's talk about that and a couple of different topics with my next guests, Angela Rye, former executive director and general counsel of the Congressional Black Caucus; along with CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Margaret Hoover.
Welcome, nice to see both of you.
ANGELA RYE, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GENERAL COUNCIL, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: Good afternoon, Brooke.
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good afternoon, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Angela, you're up first.
You heard the president say it could be transformative and combat all this money that is such an issue come election time but he made the point that a lot of minorities, low income, they don't always get out in and vote and this way they would have to.
[14:39:54] RYE: Yeah. I think, Brooke, we are in a era where -- my friends and I talk about this all the time -- voting is one of the most important rights we have, and I think too often people think their vote doesn't matter. There's no better way to tell someone their vote matters than to make it mandatory. We have that with health care. I think the reality is we're very far away from this happening. But it's very, very to begin this type of conversation with a stage like the president's.
BALDWIN: You're saying begin the conversation. I don't know if I'm hearing a definite yes from you.
Margaret, a good idea?
HOOVER: No. I don't think it's a good idea.
(LAUGHTER)
I'll tell you why. I'm for 100 percent civic participation and voluntary voting. I'm not for a top-down approach where the man says you got to get to the polls and vote. What we want ideally and what the president wants is a country that is filled to the brim with individuals who take the time to educate themselves on the issues, to understand how the country works, how our government works.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Hang on. We listen to the man. He signs his autograph and then we have laws, like paying taxes, et cetera, et cetera. Why shouldn't we listen to the man when it comes to voting?
HOOVER: What I'm saying is the assumption is if everybody votes you're going to have better outcomes. I think that's not true. I think you have better outcomes when you have educated and informed voters. Yeah, I want 100 percent of our voters that educated and informed, but you can't mandate that.
BALDWIN: I got you.
RYE: We only had 37 percent people vote in the last election.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: Which is actually up for an off-year cycle.
RYE: If it's not mandatory voting, we certainly need to have a conversation about how to engage the rising American electorate.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Hang on, Ladies. Let me move along to what ESPN host, Stephen A. Smith, is floating now, saying, how about all black voters vote Republican come 2016, just to prove, to say the Democratic Party can't take minorities for granted. Is he making a valid point?
RYE: Who is that question to, Brooke?
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: You spoke first, so you get it first, Angela. Go for it.
RYE: OK. Here's the thing. Hell no.
(LAUGHTER)
I think that years and years of African-Americans saying that's not even where our interests are demonstrate that, far before there was a President Obama. African-Americans were voting for the Democratic Party. It's called the big tent party for a reason. Besides the report they put out saying they have no idea how to reach people of color and young people, they haven't decided how to put that $11 million report together.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: Angela, here's the thing though, don't you think that the fact that African-Americans have almost uniformly voted for Democrats in the last several elections, if Republicans were competing for those votes so Democrats felt like they had more choices, certainly the American population would be better and I think, like Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, people going out of their way to go to NAACP, talk about --
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
RYE: The fact that you say going out of their way is the problem.
HOOVER: And you're right about that. I agree with you.
(LAUGHTER)
We should have been doing it since 1964, but we haven't. And people are starting to. So they deserve a little bit of credit. Frankly, everybody would be better off if the Republican Party were competing for everybody's vote.
BALDWIN: Let me stay on the Republicans, Margaret. Democrats are irked because they're saying they're delaying the vote on Lynch. The number-two Democrat in the Senate. This is Dick Durbin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK DURBIN, (D), ILLINOIS: Loretta Lynch, the first African-American woman nominated to be attorney general, is asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Back of the bus, Margaret Hoover. Strong words there.
HOOVER: That is really, I mean, strong. I mean, incredibly pointed. You know, John McCain and Chuck Grassley came out and said this is totally partisan. Really unnecessary rhetoric coming from the Democratic side that is only intended to divide. If you know what's actually happening in the Senate and we're getting in the weeds here, but Loretta Lynch's vote is held up because of a trafficking bill that is being held up because Democrats didn't realize in committee it had abortion provisions they couldn't agree with and now they're trying to fix it. There's inside politics going on here and one of the result is the vote has been pushed back and the objects while I grant aren't good, what's going on is this has absolutely nothing to do with her race. She's going to get passed.
(CROSSTALK)
[14:45:00] BALDWIN: Even Democrats.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let me just throw this in here. Angela, I want your final word. Even Democrats are pretty angry at Dick Durbin for using that language.
RYE: I understand why they might be angry but I think the reality of this is the Senate Republicans are so eager for a win here, Brooke, that they would be willing to tie this very, very historic nomination to the expansion of a high amendment in an anti-human trafficking bill. It is ridiculous and need to be called to the carpet for it. Again, why are they having trouble reaching minority voters or women voters? Because they do things like this. It's unfortunate. It so happens to be the day of the Planned Parenthood gala here in D.C. You can't find a worst time to fight against women in the Senate and abortion provisions. It's crazy.
BALDWIN: Angela Rye, Margaret Hoover --
HOOVER: Again, I think that represents a kind of polarizing rhetoric we're trying to get around.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Wait a minute.
Angela and Margaret, thank you. We'll continue this another day.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Much appreciated. Two smart female voices on the show. I appreciate that.
Next, my friend, Bill Weir, travels to India for his show, "The Wonder List," where we went in search of endangered tigers. And he will join me, telling me what he found, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL WEIR, CNN HOST, THE WONDER LIST (voice-over): And then come the monkeys. The same species we used to shoot into space and they are everywhere.
(MUSIC)
[14:49:35] WEIR (on camera): Stop, stop. OK. Oh, there he is, look. It's a jackal. That's sort of like a starter kit for a tiger sighting. We saw a jackal for about 30 seconds and just when you get him into frame, he's gone.
So I flew all the way over here hoping to see a tiger in the wild in a few days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.
WEIR: Was I drunk? Is that a fantasy? What are the odds?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is really down to chance to a large extent and is only 1,700, 1,800 of these animals. There's been 350 tigers in this region. So it's definitely the stronghold for India, and India is a stronghold for the world. We're in the right spot all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Beautiful pictures on this show.
Bill Weir with me.
We were just talking through the piece. So you went out there and the whole notion is places and things and animals and all these places you visit, they're disappearing, and you went out to find this beautiful animal and you didn't see one.
WEIR: I saw a statistic that the folks from Born Free use, which is there are more tigers in cages in Texas than there are in the forests of India, the Bengal tiger. That shook me. I thought how hard is it to go see a tiger. Are they alive today? I went, and it blew my mind in a dozen different ways. I thought it would be a lot about poaching. But a lot is just human man-eater tension, conflicts. Folks out in the rural villages go into the forest to answer nature's call. The tiger mistakes them as prey and the village gets angry and there's retribution, lynch mobs.
BALDWIN: Going out to kill the tigers. The tiger killed my uncle.
WEIR: Exactly. And so there are mitigation experts trying to convince folks that, trust me, this animal is more valuable to us in this long run if it is alive than if you kill it even though you're reasonably afraid of it. So it's real interesting.
BALDWIN: How successful are they, though.
WEIR: It's working.
BALDWIN: It's working.
(CROSSTALK)
WEIR: No, I didn't -- I don't want to give that away.
BALDWIN: Don't' give it away.
(LAUGHTER)
Don't give it away.
WEIR: But, yeah, it is extremely hard because there's so few of them but the numbers that exist are going up now that they're trying to spread this message that this is our national symbol. We can't let them brink out on our watch. We all want to live in a world with wild tigers but as we reach nine billion people on this planet, it's harder to figure this out.
BALDWIN: Of course, you think of beautiful Taj Mahal, and what did you discover there?
WEIR: Yeah, that was another sort of exploration. I heard worrying reports that pollution and stress, too many people are wearing this monument of love away. This is an hour to look at an increasingly crowded planet and whether we could protect the things precious, manmade or natural, as we move into the future. And the best, smartest ideas on how to make that happen.
BALDWIN: We are going to India with Bill Weir. "The Wonder List" airs Sunday night, 10:00 p.m., right here on CNN.
Bill Weir, thank you so much.
WEIR: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Next here on CNN, we have new developments today in the violent arrest of this black student at the University of Virginia. The aftermath all caught on tape. We'll speak live with that student's roommate about what happened in the moments after he was taken away. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:58:12] BALDWIN: Here now is Dr. Sanjay Gupta with this week's "Human Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Doctors told this Dan Cummings he would never walk again. With each step he proves them wrong.
DAN CUMMINGS, FOUNDER, JOURNEY FORWARD: You want to motivate me, tell me I can't do something and I'm going to do it.
GUPTA: Dan was left paralyzed at 19 after he dove into shallow water.
CUMMINGS: I believed as long as I took one day at a time, that there was going to come a day that I was going to walk again.
GUPTA: He got frustrated after doing three years of physical therapy.
CUMMINGS: I thought I was being taught how to live in my wheelchair and I wanted to get out of it.
GUPTA: Dan moved from Boston to San Diego and wanted to take part in an exercise program for people who suffered spinal cord injuries. Four years later, he walked out the door.
CUMMINGS: That left me with a new mission. I wanted to bring that program here to Boston.
GUPTA: He did just that, with the opening of Journey Forward. It's a nonprofit dedicated to helping paralyzed people become more mobile.
CUMMINGS: We're retraining the nervous system and then hundreds of thousands if not millions of repetitions. Something clicks and you build off of that. And give our clients the proper tools necessary to get them dependence, giving people their life back, quality of life.
GUPTA: Dan's next challenge is to get insurance companies to cover the $100-an-hour cost of therapy. That would allow more patients access to the treatment. He would also like to open more facilities around the country.
CUMMINGS: It took me seven years before I took my first steps. It's a game of inches. Give it everything you have.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:59:59] BALDWIN: Here we go. Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.
