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Missouri National Guard Called Protesters "Enemy Forces, Adversaries"; Chris Christie To Crack Down on Marijuana if President; Muslims Kill Christians on Boat; Sofia Vergara in Battle over Frozen Embryos; Saddam Hussein's Former Top Lieutenant Killed. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 17, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


DERAY MCKESSON, FERGUSON PROTESTER: This language is being intentionally used here to describe black people coming together to tell the truth about the terror of policing in America for black people.

[14:30:16] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: People were coming together and telling the truth, but you were there. There was a criminal element. There was looting. They were burning down a number of businesses. I talked to owners. It was infuriating for this community.

But if you will, DeRay, can you take me back during those months? You were there through so much of it. And the presence of the National Guard, you know, initially was a bit of a turning point. It created tension. You felt it.

MCKESSON: Remember, we've had over 250 day of protests. Of those, there have been maybe four days where there's been any semblance of property damage. The only violence that we've experienced since August has been at the hands of the police. Remember, the police in St. Louis have killed seven people in St. Louis since August. That is violent. What people saw with the protesters that they didn't condone is property damage. But again, like the violence that we've seen has been at the hands of the police. Seven people have been killed since August 9th.

BALDWIN: Understand. And that's seven too many, but those business owners would say four days too many as well.

DeRay McKesson, thank you, sir.

Coming up next, Chris Christie, vowing to crack down on legal marijuana if he were elected president of the United States. There's a couple making quite a living off of pot, and they have some blunt words for him. The stars of our CNN series "High Profits" will join me.

Plus, murder on a boat. Muslims throwing Christians overboard to their deaths. Hear what happened moments before.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:36:12] BALDWIN: Even as more and more states legalize marijuana, one potential 2016 White House hopeful says don't count him as a supporter here. Right now, it is legal to sell marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington State. Oregon and Alaska will join them next year. In 27 other states and the District of Columbia, medical marijuana is legal.

Still, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says things would be different if he becomes president. Here's what he told radio host, Hugh Hewitt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGH HEWITT, RADIO SHOW HOST: If you're the president of the United States, are you going to enforce the federal drug laws in those states?

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: Absolutely. I will crack down and not permit it.

HEWITT: All right. Next --

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE: Marijuana is a gateway drug. We have an enormous addiction problem in this country. And we need to send very clear leadership from the White House on down through the federal law enforcement. Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law, and the states should not be permitted to sell it and profit from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. That's one man's opinion. But check out this poll. This is from Pew Research showing a majority, 53 percent of Americans say marijuana should be legal.

My next guests, Brian Rogers and Kaitlin McGuire, not only support marijuana legalization, they're also profiting from this as owner of the Breckenridge Cannabis Club. They're also the stars of the new CNN series "High Profits," which premiers this Sunday night.

Welcome to both of you.

KAITLIN MCGUIRE, OWNER, BRECKENRIDGE CANNABIS CLUB: Thanks for having us.

BRIAN ROGERS, OWNER, BRECKENRIDGE CANNABIS CLUB: Yeah, thanks, for having us.

BALDWIN: You've got it.

We're going to play a clip of your show in a minute, but we had to have you on to respond to this Chris Christie perspective saying, you know, if he's elected president, he would crack down and not permit legal marijuana because it would violate federal law. Again, that may never, ever happen. Still, I want to hear your response. ROGERS: Well, Chris Christie, he's running for the Republican

nomination. And a vast majority of --

BALDWIN: Maybe.

ROGERS: Well, sure. He has a political action committee, I think, looking into this. So if he runs for the political nomination for the presidential nomination, he's going to find that the majority of Republicans even disagree with his stance, that the federal government should crack down on states' rights to experiment with marijuana legalization the way they see fit. I believe a full 50-something percent of Republicans, self-identified Republicans in that recent Pew poll, found that Republicans disagree with Governor Christie's statements.

BALDWIN: OK. Let me move off Chris Christie and talk about the two of you and play a clip of your show and then we'll shop. Breckenridge Cannabis Club, you're the owners since 2010. Let's roll the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCGUIRE: We're starting off with some of the most beautiful places in Colorado. We'd like to open a store in crested butte. We'd like to open one in Steamboat Springs, in Vale, different states, different countries. I want the Breckenridge Cannabis Club to be a household name.

ROGERS: A lot of people made money selling picks and shovels during the Gold Rush. This is the green rush.

MCGUIRE: All right. There you are.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say there will be three to five billionaires minted in this industry in the next three years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow.

Kaitlin, I know what you're selling. What exactly are you selling, and how much money are you two making?

MCGUIRE: I mean, we'll have to wait for those tax returns to come back, I guess. We're not entirely sure what exactly we're making, but we sell all sorts of different products, marijuana being the main one.

ROGERS: We sell T-shirts and hats and lighters and other memorabilia. This is the end of an era of prohibition. People are very excited. We're very excited. We get people from all over the world buying not just marijuana but the keepsakes, the memorabilia of the era.

BALDWIN: But what's the farthest away you've had someone come to the cannabis club?

ROGERS: I guess I would have to get out a globe. We've had people from over three or four different, dozens of nations.

[14:40:16] BALDWIN: Wow. Wow.

Back to the poll. America has sort of spoken thus far, this, according to Pew. 53 percent of Americans favor legalizing pot. Ultimately, your goal, Brian, spread your business, I imagine, way beyond Breckenridge, way beyond Colorado. What would you like?

ROGERS: Sure. Nationwide would be great. You mentioned 27 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. We'd like to see that trend continue with the privilege for all Americans 21 and over to be able to buy marijuana from a legal and taxed and regulated source as opposed to the black market, which is where most Americans are forced to get their cannabis today.

BALDWIN: Final thought from you, Kaitlin, quickly?

MCGUIRE: Yeah, I mean, we're just hoping that, like Brian said, nationwide marijuana will be legal for all adults over the age of 21. I don't think it's any secret that adults enjoy the use of cannabis. It really needs to come from a safe and regulated place, and that's something we're happy to be able to provide for people.

BALDWIN: Kaitlin McGuire and Brian Rogers, we'll be watching for you in the premiere of "High Profit," airing Sunday night on CNN, 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. Thank you.

By the way, just since that interview, Georgia has passed a law to legalize medical marijuana.

Now to what police are describing as a heinous crime at sea. 15 Muslim men are suspected of murder after they allegedly threw 12 of their fellow migrants over the side of this rubber boat because they were Christians. Police say others were spared when they formed a human chain. The boat was headed from war-torn Libya across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. It's a route that appears to be growing increasingly violent.

CNN contributor, Barbie Nadeau, joins us with more -- Barbie?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Brooke, the situation in the waters between Libya and Italy is quickly deteriorating into chaos. We've heard report after report of violent situations out at sea. One including a situation where 12 Christians were thrown overboard by people on their boat because they were praying to God. 15 Muslim men were arrested when they made landfall there. We've also heard reports from the shores of Libya, where these boats are taking off. A gas canister exploded in an area where the migrants were waiting to get on a boat. Several of them, including a 6-month-old child were burned badly. They were forced to get on the boat and make the voyage anyway. They spent two days at sea before they were rescued. There are also shots being fired by the human traffickers against European Union border control and against the Italian coast forward.

We expect the situation to get worse. There have been 11,000 people who have arrived in the last week. And the Italian Coast Guard and the Italian navy say there are many more boats on the horizon -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Barbie Nadeau, thank you so much.

Coming up next here on CNN, have you heard about this? "Modern Family" actress, Sofia Vergara, in this bizarre battle over frozen embryos. Her ex wants to save them. She wants them destroyed. What happens? What's legal precedent for a case like this?

Also ahead, Saddam Hussein's top lieutenant, known as the King of Clubs in the infamous most-wanted deck of cards, has been killed in Iraq. But what does this mean in the fight against ISIS? We'll discuss. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:39] BALDWIN: I want you to try to put yourself in these people's shoes here. There's this massive fight now over who owns these two embryos that actress, Sofia Vergara, and her ex-fiance created and then had frozen. The "Modern Family" star's ex, seen here, he wants the embryos. Nick Loeb filed a lawsuit under the pseudonym John Doe to prevent them from being destroyed.

I want you to listen to this lawyer explain what really is the crux of the lawsuit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE OWEN, ATTORNEY: It delves into areas of when does life begin, what is conception? Is an embryo a living creature, or is it property?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Those are some of the legal questions, but then there are all kinds of medical questions as well.

I want to talk about this with Dr. Meaghan Bowling, a physician with the Emory University Reproductive Center.

Doctor Bowling, nice to have you on.

DR. MEAGHAN BOWLING, EMORY UNIVERSITY REPRODUCTIVE CENTER: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: My goodness. At first glance, this is sticky here. Walk me through. If you're a couple, let's say married, not married, and you walk into a clinic and want to have these embryos for at some point in the future when you want to have a child -- and listen, couples don't always stay together -- what are the kinds of questions you, as a physician, would ask the couple, anticipating, perhaps, a split?

BOWLING: Right. So our goal is to help educate couples as they come into the IVF process, to help them understand what we're entering into here, if there's the potential for frozen embryos. We try to gain an idea of the comfort level that these couples have individually and as a couple together for what they would want done with their embryos in case of possible occurrences such as a divorce, such as the death of one or both of the couples. And help them come up with an answer to those questions before they go through the IVF process.

BALDWIN: So wouldn't they have signed on the dotted line? I mean, isn't there like a mandatory questionnaire? If this, what would you do? What would you want to have happen? No?

BOWLING: Exactly. There is. Where I work, at Emory Reproductive Center, we have a very specific consent form that must be signed prior to going through the IVF process. We ask patients what to do in the case of divorce. Would they want their embryos discarded or, in the event of divorce, would they want to transfer rights of the embryos to either the husband or the wife.

[14:50:23] BALDWIN: Have you ever seen anything like this? And can you challenge those, you know, what might have been signed by a couple years ago?

BOWLING: Certainly, this isn't something that comes up often. However, what we do in the case of divorce is to just go back to that original consent form. And if the couple -- coming back, they have to sign a subsequent consent. If they have changed their minds from what they've originally signed, at that point, then we have to get legal involved, and it's less in our hands at that point and more in the legal realm.

BALDWIN: So then what would happen? Because it sounds to me he's saying, I want these embryos. She's saying, no, I want them destroyed.

BOWLING: Right. So -- well, I can't comment on this exact case. I can say that it would all depend on what they signed ahead of time as so what would be the next steps. Again, it's all about confronting these issues ahead of time in order to get signed consent about what to do should these events happen.

BALDWIN: I guess, final question, what would be your advice? Obviously, if you're part of a couple, this is an incredibly serious decision you're making to, you know, have these embryos and freeze them for a later date, what advice would you have for a couple, heaven forbid it didn't all work out?

BOWLING: My advice to the couple would simply be to think about these things ahead of time. These aren't easy decisions, and these aren't things that people want to think about. But it's something that has to be thought of ahead of time. And, you know, at this point, if the decision changes between the two, then, again, it's up to the legal system at that point to decide the fate of the embryos.

BALDWIN: Think long and hard and talk it over for a long, long time.

Dr. Meaghan Bowling, Emory University, thank you so much.

BOWLING: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Saddam Hussein's top lieutenant, number-two guy, known as the King of Clubs to American soldiers, has been killed in Iraq. At one point, he had a $10 million bounty on his head. One of our questions, what has he been up to these last couple years? Has he been helping ISIS at all? Plus, a new image of that Tulsa reserve deputy who mistook his gun for

his taser, shot and killed a man. He shows his taser securely fastened to his chest, gives a demonstration on live TV, what he calls a mistake. Stay here. We have to play that for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[14:52:32] DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tax season just wrapped up and now is the perfect time to prepare for next year. One of the things you should think about is trying to deduct your medical expenses. You may be able to do it.

If you're under 65, you can deduct medical expenses if they exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. For example, if you make $50,000 a year, if that's your adjusted gross income, you can deduct expenses that exceed $5,000. And that rule is even more generous if you're over the age of 65.

So if you think you're eligible to deduct medical expenses, start tracking them now and keep your receipts.

And there are things you may not realize are considered medical expenses. Of course, whatever you pay out of pocket for doctors and dentists visits, that would count, as long as you're not using your medical FSA. Also, prescription drugs. But transportation to and from appointments would count.

Another thing you can start doing now is planning your surgeries and other expensive procedures. Let's say, for example, you need an MRI and two other kinds of expensive procedures. It's best to have those all in one year from a financial point of view. It will help you more on your taxes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:48:54] BALDWIN: All right. Hour two. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We are now getting news of a powerful suicide bomb attack by ISIS targeting the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq. These pictures showing the immediate aftermath of that attack.

Meantime, also out of Iraq, word that one of the world's most-wanted terrorists has just been killed. His name is Izzat Ibrahim al Douri. To the U.S. troops serving during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, they know him as the King of Clubs. His depiction -- remember this deck of playing cards, used to identify key figures in Saddam Hussein's regime. Al Douri was considered one of the worst. Saddam Hussein's right-hand man. After the regime toppled, al Douri went into hiding. Today, it seems, he was found and killed by Iraqi security forces. We've got our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, who

covered what happened there in Iraq for years and years; also joining me, Colonel Peter Mansoor, CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Army, and former aide to General David Petraeus.

Ben Wedeman, first to you.

Before I even get into the news about this Saddam Hussein's former aid, the death, let me ask you about that suicide bomb attack. What is ISIS saying? And are all U.S. staff safe and accounted for? Do you know?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, ISIS has claimed responsibility, Brooke, for --