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Blue Bell Recalls Products Over Listeria Concerns; Cincinnati Reds' Coach's Rant Drops 77 F-Bombs; America's Marijuana Movement; '90s Sitcoms Are Back. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 21, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: It is really scary. This company thought it had the situation under control. They thought it was just one machine and it only impacted snacks that, as I was saying, the frozen ice cream sandwiches. Instead, it turns out where the -- the story gets serious is the institutional sales to hospitals and nursing homes because that -- those are the exact people who are at most risk for death when they're infected with this bacteria. And that's where it got serious. Those three deaths you mentioned were all in the same Kansas hospital.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:30:32] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: People in the hospital are eating this stuff, and that's how they're getting it.

ALESCI: Exactly. The way the government knows it could potentially be Blue Bell is because all of those patients ate Blue Bell products in the hospital. And then they matched the strand of listeria in that ice cream with -- it was close to the strand of bacteria that the patients had. So it looks like there's a very strong connection here. We don't know definitively, but the CDC and FDA are saying stay away from all Blue Bell products, which is also very unusual for a government agency to say that.

BALDWIN: What's the CEO saying?

ALESCI: CEO has apologized. But you know, it doesn't seem like really enough. This is a small family-owned company. It's never happened to them. It's a 100-year-old company. You know, and one of the things that has come up in reporting this is how rare is it for listeria or companies to recall products because of listeria --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What is it?

ALESCI: That's a good question because anecdotally there have been a number of companies just in the past few weeks that have recalled their products for listeria. Sabra hummus, for example. I'm sure you --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I have eaten that. ALESCI: I have, too. And not only that but Amy's Kitchen, who makes

prepackaged vegetarian food, also recalling products for listeria. One of the reasons this might be happening is because the CDC and the FDA teamed up about a year ago to sequence the genome of listeria to make it easier to identify different strands of the bacteria. The government is actually paying more attention to it, which actually could increase the identification of this bacteria in food. So maybe this has been around for a long time. We just haven't identified it for -- until now.

BALDWIN: Issues to figure out how it slipped in. That's the big problem. Meantime, no one eats Blue Bell --

(CROSSTALK)

ALESCI: Absolutely not. Throw it out if it's in your freezer.

BALDWIN: Cristina Alesci, thank you very much.

ALESCI: Of course.

BALDWIN: Next here on CNN, a closer look at America's marijuana movement. How some are able to make millions off the stuff, while doing the same has put many others behind bars.

Next, where is the curse jar when you need it? The manager for the Cincinnati Reds apologizing for this epic rant. Directed toward the media, where he somehow managed to drop -- count them with me -- 77 F- bombs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN PRICE, COACH, CINCINNATI REDS: Got to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) got to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) tweet from our own people in here that we don't have a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) player. How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) does that benefit the Reds? Making a fist something we do to show resolve, to defend ourselves, to declare victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:15] BALDWIN: I guess he wasn't in a great mood. Before Monday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds' manager, Brian Price, lost his cool, lashing out at the media for reporting details he didn't think other teams needed to know. That rant included 77 F-bombs, 77.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRICE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) talk to you guys like men. I tell you what the peep beep's going on with the -- the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)'s going on with the team. I tell you as candidly as I can. Then this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Got to watch this (EXPLETIVE DELETED), read (EXPLETIVE DELETED) on a tweet from our own people in here that we don't have a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) player. How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) does that benefit the Reds? It doesn't benefit us one (EXPLETIVE DELETED) bit. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) try to go out and win (EXPLETIVE DELETED) games. I got to come in here and you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) blow to all over the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bleep, bleep, bleep. That was a tiny part of it. It went on for five and a half minutes. Price told reporters to "get out."

Let me bring in "CNN Sports'" Rachel Nichols.

Where I don't think we'll need any bleeping for this conversation.

(LAUGHTER)

Let me just say, what was that really about? And has he addressed this since?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, he was frustrated that information he didn't want getting out had gotten out via "The Cincinnati Enquirer" that covers the Reds. He has issued an apology but only for the language. He says he is sorry about those 77 curse words, Brooke. He made note in that statement that he wasn't sorry for the content. And that's where the problem is. Look, there is a cycle that goes on here. The media reports what the fans want to know. And the fans are the ones who pay the money and provide the eyeballs for those ticket sales, for all those televisions contracts. You see the statement in front of you, he's not addressing the fact that television broadcasters put in 12.4 billion dollars into major league baseball. That's billion with a "B." That money goes to clubs, helps pay the salary. If you don't have the cycle of media, broadcasting games, reporting on games, fans getting that information, being interested in the information, wanting to know what their favorite players are doing and following along, you might as well be playing in your company softball game.

(LAUGHTER)

It's an important part of the process. That's what he's going to need to realize. This will continue. This is the information age. You can't control information just because you don't say, hey, don't tell anyone.

[14:39:37] BALDWIN: How do Reds -- how does their coach play with the Reds? I understand there are certain coaches that don't exactly love members of the media, can't possibly understand that. Being facetious. Is this his reputation, dropping the F-bombs, being fiery, and loveable in that way? Was this rogue?

NICHOLS: This was out of character for him. He's not one of those guys. He's known as pretty even tempered and calm. Obviously he was at a little bit of a breaking point. Look, the Reds haven't been doing well lately.

BALDWIN: About that, that's got to be hard -- (CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: Yeah. And everybody's entitled to a bad day. But I'm not sure that the Reds haven't been doing well because a reporter reported that a certain player may or may not be there. The Reds haven't been doing well because they have not been playing as well as the players that they have been playing against. That's how sports works.

So I think he was frustrated. This was out of character. I think a lot of the people around the team would just like him to maybe understand the larger message, that this is all part of the process. This is not state secrets. A lot of things that you discuss on your show, it is important for information to be withheld. There is a larger purpose here. The larger purpose of sports is for people to enjoy it. For fans to know what's going on and be interested and be able to follow with what's happening with their favorite players? You start treating it like state secrets, withholding the nation lets fans do that, you're taking a lot of fun out of sports. Eventually, people will walk away from the game. You don't want that if you your salary depends on people watching the game.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Can I ask one final question? Just because you've been doing this for a bunch of years, have you, Rachel Nichols, ever heard a coach drop the F-bomb at you?

NICHOLS: I have never had anyone yell at me in that way certainly. And certainly not drop any curse words 77 times. You do go head to head with coaches or managers or team presidents from time to time. Frankly, if you are not, you are not doing your job well enough. Generally, I have had very cordial relations with the people I cover. I think that most managers and coaches and people presidents and players can tell when you have a legitimate quest for information. And if you treat a room with respect --

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: -- you generally get that back. Sometimes people have a bad day. You hope, again, he apologized for the language. I don't think the language is going to offend everyone. But you do hope their respectful because, hey, fans want to know stuff. That's not a bad thing.

NICHOLS: That the intent does come through. Hey, fans want to know stuff. That's not a bad thing.

BALDWIN: 77 times. That's a lot of quarters in a curse jar.

Rachel Nichols, thank you very much.

(LAUGHTER)

Next, hundreds of thousands of blast men are currently serving time behind bars for offenses involving marijuana. But now that spot legal in states, people are cashing in and making millions legally on a drug that until recently would require jail time. We'll have a broader discussion on that next.

Plus, nostalgia sells. It just does. Lately it's '90s nostalgia. Man, this brings back memories. Uncle Jesse, "Full House" returning. It's not the only show making a comeback.

Stay here. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:52] BALDWIN: Today, we'll have a conversation about marijuana and how some are profiting from it while others are going to prison for a long, long time. Case in point, I want you to watch this clip from CNN's original series "High Profits." It tackles how cannabis means capitalism for some and jail time for others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to end badly.

We've got exactly $100,000 in cash in the back of his car.

I bet those guys right there are doing just what we're about to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me throw numbers at you. In 2013, an ACLU report found African-Americans and whites used pot roughly at the same rate. African-Americans are nearly more than four times likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. Adding to that, an analysis by Human Rights Watch showing African-Americans are 10 time more likely than whites to be sent to prison for drug offenses. On the other hand, those in the legal weed business are cashing in big time in states, like we showed you, Colorado. Oftentimes, pot dealers are white. A "Washington Post" analysis found sales topped $700 million in Colorado last year. And it is projected to jump to $1 billion by next.

Joining me to talk about all of this, CNN political commentator, Van Jones; and Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

Welcome to both of you.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Glad to be here.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Good day.

BALDWIN: Justin, let me begin with you because, before we get into a deeper dive, let's talk about the piece you wrote in "The New York Times." I read this today, about the missing black men in American society. Tell me what you found.

WOLFERS: You look at the number of 25 to 54-year-olds in the United States, and there are 1.5 million more African-American women than there are African-American men. That's a disparity that you simply don't see in the rest of the community. So for every 100 African- American women, there are only 83 African-American men. Whereas, for whites, that ratio is 99. That's what we call the missing 1.5 million. A big shrunk incarceration. 600,000 African-American men behind bars now.

Another chunk is also probably due to mortality. Guys dying early. This is, in large part, homicide. Many, many more African-American men are murdered than other groups. And the aids crisis also had an enormous affect on the African-American community. Again, mainly men. And so you just see this enormous demographic gender imbalance with far fewer men than you would otherwise expect to see.

[14:49:34] BALDWIN: And you ranked the geography of some of this. We'll circle back to you.

But, Van, let me quote someone quickly here, Michelle Alexander. She wrote "New Jim Crow." She's been vocal about mass incarceration of black men. In an interview last year with the Drug Policy Alliance, she said, "After 40 years of impoverished black kids getting prison time for selling weed and their families and futures destroyed, now white men are planning to get rich doing precisely the same thing," she asks.

Couple thoughts out of this. But first to you, you know, if marijuana really becomes legal beyond just your Colorado and Washingtons, what would happen to the men serving for this?

JONES: Well, first of all, I think Michelle Alexander's book, "The New Jim Crow," should be required reading for everyone in the country. It's a heartbreaking but enlightening book about what's going on. I went to Yale for law school. I saw and heard of kids doing every drug in the book on that campus. None of those kids went to jail. Not one.

And yet, four blocks away in the housing projects, poorer kids, same age, doing fewer drugs, got 15, 20-year sentence the for nonviolent drug offenses. You live in a country where -- I've told that a million times. Nobody is surprised. Country clubs, yacht clubs, Wall Street, drugs are used everywhere, but only some people wind up going to prison. That's heartbreak.

My view is for every dispensary that opens in America, they should close a jail. For every legal dispensary that they open in America, close a jail and let people come out.

The crazy part it this is you now have African-American men who went to jail for selling marijuana who are now felons and probably will not be licensed to sell legally. This is a complete -- you ask why is the racial divide so tough in America. We live in two different countries, honestly. How many people do you know who did nonviolent drug offenses in your college who wound up in prison? Yet, I can show you neighborhood after neighborhood where that is a common occurrence.

BALDWIN: You know, it just -- we decided it was important enough to talk about. It we talked -- what, was it yesterday, 420. Talking so much about the legalization of marijuana. And you stop and think of people serving time, 10, 20 years for possession of marijuana and other drugs.

Let me say --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: Brooke --

BALDWIN: Go ahead.

JONES: You can get 30 years -- there's an organization called Families Against Mandatory Minimums. I hope everybody checks them out. You can now get 30 years for a nonviolent drug offense, and 25 years for shooting a cop. We have gotten completely off the rails on this. But only one set of people --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Staying with you, your former boss, Barack Obama, didn't he commute sentences over all of this? How do you think the administration should tackle this?

JONES: I think they need to step on the accelerator. Families against mandatory minimums and organizations have pointed out cases that will just literally -- you will break down crying hearing about people who did such minor things, often women, and they're rotting in prison. I call on President Obama and every governor, you can correct this, this is wrong in America. Now to have this going on while other people are going to go and become millionaires and billionaires in the same industry? It's outrageous.

BALDWIN: Van Jones, thank you.

Justin Wolfers, we've got to go.

But if you want to read and see, he does rank Ferguson, Missouri, being the number-one area of missing men. Go to "The New York Times" for that piece.

Justin, thank you very much.

Coming up next on CNN, the '90s are back. Top TV sitcoms cropping up on the TV lately -- have you noticed this? -- from "Full House" to the "X-Files." Nostalgia is king. See what else is coming back.

Plus, as the U.S. is sending warships to the coast of Yemen, so is Iran. What will happen once the ships meet? We're live in the capital of Iran, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:39] BALDWIN: On television these days, it seems like nostalgia is king. The '90s are back. Yes! In a major way. In the last weeks, NBC has announced they are remaking the sitcom "Coach." FOX is planning to bring back Mulder and Scully with a new take on the "X-Files." "Twin Peaks" fans are rejoicing as it will make a comeback on Showtime. And last but not least, ladies and gentlemen, Netflix creating a sequel to the hit sitcom "Full House." Whatever happened to predictability?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

MARY-KATE & ASHLEY OLSEN, ACTRESSES: You've got it, dude.

You've got it, dude.

You've got it, dude.

JODIE SWEETIN, ACTRESS: How rude!

(LAUGHTER)

DAVE COULIER, ACTOR: This one's going to a little lady who's about to go sleep.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHN STAMOS, ACTOR: Two, three, four --

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I mean, seriously. Did you need to watch anything more than this? This is phenomenal. The show will be called "Fuller House." It features D.J. and Steph Tanner, Uncle Jesse, and your favorite next-door neighbor, Kimmy Gibbler.

With me, "CNN Money" tech correspondent, an equal lover of "Full House," TGIF, Laurie Segall.

We were laughing at the break. Both of us went -- you were there for work, maybe little older. I went with my family in San Francisco as a kid. I remember saying, mom and dad, the first place we have to go is to find that house on "Full House."

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The first thing I did when I was in San Francisco the first time -- I was a baby of the '80s, child of the '90s -- I went to the square because I thought that's where the row houses were. I was obsessed with "Full House." I'm so excited. Uncle Jesse is coming back.

BALDWIN: Uncle Jesse.

SEGALL: It's going to be great.

You know, what's interesting is a theme. So it's -- now they're going from "Full House" to "Fuller House."

BALDWIN: "Fuller House."

SEGALL: And they're going off the same plot. Back in the day, it was Danny Tanner's wife had died. Everyone came together and helped support him. Now --

BALDWIN: D.J.

SEGALL: -- D.J's husband has died. Stephanie is moving in. We'll see about other guest cameos. I think it's the idea that like nostalgia sells. We are seeing so much of this. I can't wait to watch it.

[15:00:07] BALDWIN: I think we're the perfect -- I'm 35, born in '79.