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Candidates Vie for Title; Baltimore Officers Challenge Charges; Tom Brady's Agent Responds to Deflategate Report; Dzhokhar Defense Opposes Death Penalty; The First Four Star Female General Speaks Out. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 07, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:32:06] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The battle over who the most populist populist is has begun. Yes, Hillary Clinton is worth $15 million, but her husband says she understands your pain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You won't see her acting entitled. What did she do? Did she have a big hoopla announcement like almost every other candidate? No, she got -- she got in her van --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) as if she had never run before.

CLINTON: I agree with that. And that's exactly what she did, she drove to Iowa, she drove to New Hampshire. She went around and talked to people. I also think it's the best way to start a campaign because that's the way you hear how the American people see themselves and what they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clinton isn't the only wealthy candidate who's playing up their humble beginnings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My mother was out working extraordinary hard, two, sometimes three jobs at a time as a domestic, trying to stay off of welfare. She was very thrifty. I mean she would drive a car until it wouldn't make a sound, and then she would go -- collect all of her dimes and nickels and quarters and buy a new car and people would say, how does that woman afford a new car? But she knew how to manage money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't have a global foundation or a taxpayer funded paycheck to live off of. I (INAUDIBLE) my family (INAUDIBLE) working family. I grew up blue collar, not blue blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So get ready for an all-out attack on the 1 percent from both sides of the aisle. CNN's political director David Chalian is here to chat about this.

Good morning.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So does this sort of stuff work?

CHALIAN: Um, you know, listen, I don't think the American people begrudge politician's success. The politicians you just sort of put forth there, Carol, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, the Hillary Clinton story, these are people that came from more humble beginnings and sort of brought themselves up throughout their career. That's an American success story that I think is very appealing to a lot of the electorate.

But even if you look back in history, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, we've had very wealthy politicians achieve great political success in the country. It's not necessarily a hindrance to be wealthy.

COSTELLO: No, and that's absolutely true. But, you know, I always wonder why candidates just say, you know, I made loads and loads of cash and it's really fun and I like it and I want -- I want to enable you to do that, too. And I kind of remember what it's like to be humble, but I really don't. Is that too honest?

CHALIAN: That might be a little too honest for these politicians, Carol. But I do -- I do think that they can tell their story. I mean someone like Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, these are up from the bootstraps kind of stories. And I do think that that is part of their messaging.

Hillary Clinton has a unique problem because of all these years with Secret Service protection and what have you, she's really been in a bubble. So she's got to break through a little bit more to try to have that sort of relatable moment with the voters.

[09:35:04] But, again, it's not like these folks have been born with silver spoons in their mouth. As you said, they may have to dig back in their memory to be what it's like to sort of go food shopping with everybody else and the like. But I don't think -- I really don't' think, as long as you're able to connect on the issues that voters care about, I don't think they begrudge your financial circumstances.

COSTELLO: OK. So how long will it take before one of the candidates shows up in like a hunting outfit with a gun?

CHALIAN: Not that long at all. We'll see that before too long and that probably will be really authentic because there are a lot of candidates who actually do enjoy getting out there and shooting.

COSTELLO: That's true and that's good. I like it when they actually do it in real life. I think it's fine. Or like candidates drinking a beer or that sort of stuff. You know they -- I guess, you know, I think at this particular time -- I guess it's early, and you want to show your personality and you want to show your humble roots. You don't want to talk much about the issues. But i kind of wish the candidates would.

CHALIAN: Would talk about the issues?

COSTELLO: Yes.

CHALIAN: They are. They're out there -- they're out there talking about the issues. I don't think we have gotten to the meaty part of the campaign yet where they're rolling out their big policy speeches and what have you. This is the introductory phase and they're just trying to get out before people -- especially those not named Hillary Clinton, who is so famous and so well known, but everybody else really does need to introduce themselves, tell their story, where they come from. We're going to get into the summer where they're going to be rolling out specific policy proposals a week at a time. We've seen some of them, but you're right, I don't think this has been sort of the issue meaty part of the campaign yet.

COSTELLO: David Chalian, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

CHALIAN: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the decision to charge six Baltimore police officers over the death of Freddie Gray now being called into question. Why sources tell CNN the investigation by Baltimore Police doesn't add up with some of the charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:10] COSTELLO: The Baltimore state's attorney facing more criticism this morning. Sources telling CNN that the investigation by Baltimore Police into the death of Freddie Gray does not support some of the charges against those six officers, including second degree murder. In the meantime, Baltimore's mayor is calling on the Justice Department to review the police force.

Let's bring in CNN national correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux. She's on the ground in Baltimore.

Tell us more, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, there are a number of developments this morning. And first you mentioned one of them, the mayor saying she wants the help of the federal government to investigate the entire police department for possible civil rights violations, if they used a pattern and practice of excessive force of stopping people, false arrest and imprisonment, these types of things. We've seen it before in cities like Albuquerque, Cleveland, most recently in Ferguson. But we know that this is going to take more than a year to complete.

What we may see before the year is up, however, Carol, is the possibility of the police department getting those body cameras that everybody's talking about. She wants to have every officer armed with one of those by the end of the year.

And then not surprisingly also, Carol, behind the scenes, behind closed doors, is this battle that's already taking place between those who are in the state's attorney's office, Marilyn Mosby, and the case that is being presented, or the preparation for the case, and the police department, those who have seen the investigation, the report from the police department saying, look, they don't believe that what they've seen so far really supports the case that the prosecution is making against these six officers. They say that the autopsy will not show that this is a homicide. That the -- they also have charges that they say evidence that will support, perhaps, manslaughter, but not second-degree murder.

And finally, Carol, you've got this issue over the knife. Attorneys for at least two police officers say they physically want to see it. they've filed a motion to see this knife. This is a knife that was on Freddie Gray. It was concealed at the time that he was arrested. A state law says that a switchblade is illegal to carry. The Baltimore city code, which is more expansive, says that a -- what is called a spring-assisted knife is also illegal and that's what Freddie Gray had. So literally these attorneys say show us the evidence, show us the knife. That is also in play.

A lot of things going on behind the scenes, Carol, to really set in motion what is going to be happening by the 27th, which is the possibility of those indictments. Everybody waiting to see what's going to happen next, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Suzanne Malveaux reporting live from Baltimore.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, she first gained fame when profiled in the movie "Dead Man Walking." Now the defense team for the Boston Marathon bomber hopes Sister Helen Prejean can help Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stay off of death row.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:20] COSTELLO: All right. We have a statement now from Tom Brady's agent. As you know, the Wells report, the NFL report on Deflategate, kind of sort of said that Tom Brady knew about the deflation of the balls.

Well, here is what Tom Brady's agent had to say about it in part. Quote, "The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. Its omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom's testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks."

Now, the rest of the statement - it's a very long statement, but we're going to read more to you in the next hour of NEWSROOM. And we're also going to have a sports attorney parse this out for you. But Tom Brady, it appears, is going to eventually say he's completely innocent of this. So Deflategate gets even more interesting. In other news this morning, the defense team for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

could rest today but not before calling a high-profile witness in an attempt to spare the Boston bomber his life. The move coming after Tsarnaev's brother in law offered insight into his upbringing and the influence his older brother Tamerlan had over him.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in Boston to talk about this possible star witness. Good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Morning there, Carol. The star witness is Sister Helen Prejean, who many people know because wrote the book "Dead Man Walking". That boook turned into a very famous movie with Susan Sarandon as well as Sean Pean. She's sitting in the court in the front row on the defense side waiting to be told whether in fact she will be able to testify on behalf of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

She is a staunch proponent against the death penalty. She's working very hard to abolish the death penalty. Prosecutors do not want her to taking the stand. The defense, they do want her to taking a stand. Their whole goal is to try to save Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's life.

And one way that they tried to do that yesterday, Carol, is that they talked about the super max facility, the prison where he will likely be sent, and the special administrative measures to which he be subject. And that includes, Carol, being kept in solitary confinement effectively for 23 hours out of every day. Being able to receive two phones calls a month, 15 minutes each. Those would be calls to his family members. But also really being kept isolated from everybody else from virtually everybody for the rest of his life.

Now, prosecutors say, look, it's not clear whether he will be sent there. Perhaps there are lawsuits against those conditions at these prisons because they are seen as so harsh on inmates, So that's unclear, but they wanted to portray just what it would be like.

And Carol, one interesting thing is you look at the two cases, the first one was really all about the crimes, the heinous crimes that were committed at the Boston Marathon, but this part of the trial has really been about the personalities behind that -- Tamerlan, the older brother, aggressor, the combatant, wanting to go fight jihad. His younger brother who, by all accounts based on witnesses brought by the defense, was extremely well liked by his teachers, by his friends, even by his family, his sort of strict family back in Russia. And so it's creating a little bit of disconnect in the minds of jurors to see this young man who had so much going for him commit the crime.

And yesterday a brain expert testified yesterday that, in fact, it's really that people grow up modeling the behavior of their family, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suggestion being, could not escape the sort of insanity that was his family, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, and you talk about Sister Prejean and I interviewed her not too long ago about the death penalty. And she could be a very powerful witness. And this is what she does, Deborah. [09:50:00] She posed this to me. She said ask yourself if you could kill the killer. If the answer is no, you do not believe in the death penalty. So I would guess that if some jurors really pondered this question, and I'm sure that they are, and it's reinforced by a Catholic nun in very Catholic Boston, that might make a difference.

FEYERICK: yes, there's no question about that. The conversations that everyone is having, what's the worst punishment? Is it the next 60 or 70 years of life in prison, in solitary, without contact with even basic human beings? Is that the better punishment? Is death the better punishment?

All of these the jury is going to have to decide. The judge making it very clear this should not be an emotional decision, this should be a moral decision. So, as you say, Carol, and based on your conversation with this very famous nun who's really fought for these prison inmates, it's going to be a tough one.

COSTELLO: All right, Deborah Feyerick reporting live from Boston this morning, thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, America's first four star female general says, when she joined the Army, she wanted to jump out of airplanes. Well, she did that and a whole lot more. Ann Dunwoody sharing her strategies for success.

But first on this newest week's episode of "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT", Mike Rowe's passion for history leads to him to his hometown of Baltimore where they have an American flag so big it takes a village to raise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST: What do you think about the constant conversation about adapting another national anthem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Changing the national anthem and adopting another piece?

ROWE: Yes, it's just so hard for the average person to sing. I mean for the average person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war of 1812 was tough and we didn't give up on it. Building the Transcontinental Railroad was tough; we didn't give up on it.

ROWE: No, we didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to the moon was tough and we didn't shy from that. And the civil rights movement was tough, and we didn't shy away from that. So just because it's tough, when have we Americans ever shied away from a song because it's tough? What kind of argument is that?

ROWE: I retract the question.

(LAUGHTER)

ROWE: I think we should make it harder.

(voice-over): The original Star Spangled Banner is somewhere in the Smithsonian, but there is a replica here at the fort. And Vince's unbridled passion has inspired in me a burning desire to raise the same sized flag that inspired our national anthem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to raise the big flag?

ROWE (on camera): I want to raise the big flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wants to raise the big flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got tt raise the big flag.

ROWE: Sure.

(voice-over): And from what I hear, it's a big-ass flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're flying a 17 by 25 foot flag right here. Now the huge one's 30 by 42 feet.

ROWE (on camera): That's a pretty big flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think it's too windy for it?

OK, so here is the deal, raising the flag, but we'll need everybody here to help catch it when it comes down. So that's the deal.

ROWE: You guys here for that? We can raise the big one but it's a team effort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And afterward, we'll need some visitors, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I was just thinking to myself I love Fort McHenry. It's one of the most beautiful places in actually in America, and of course the fort's pretty damned impressive, too. Get wrapped up in history on "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT". That's tonight, 9:00 pm Eastern on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:56:33] COSTELLO: There are just over 200,000 women serving in the U.S. military right now. First Lady Michelle Obama says if any of them wonder how high they can rise in the ranks, they should look at this woman. In 2008, Ann Dunwoody became the first woman to achieve the rank of four star general. Her new memoir is called "A Higher Standard: Leadership Strategies from America's First Female Four-Star General".

I sat down with the general to talk about trail she's blazed and what it takes to succeed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GEN. ANN DUNWOODY (RET.), AUTHOR: "A HIGHER STANDARD": I'm not the only female four star general.

COSTELLO: How many are there?

DUNWOODY: I was the first one. And when I got promoted, I said I may be the first but I'm certainly not the last. And now there are three others, two in the Air Force and one in the Navy, and I'm sure more in the making.

COSTELLO: But, still, that's not nearly enough.

DUNWOODY: Well, they didn't integrate women into the regular army until right after I joined the army in 1975. So women didn't have the opportunity to have the same career path as their male counter-parts as I did.

COSTELLO: The army, I think, is about to open all roles to women, including combat roles, including the Army Ranger program. There are some who say that that's crazy. What do you say?

DUNWOODY: The guidance actually from the Secretary of Defense at the time was that all services would open all career fields and schools to women unless they could come back and justify why not. I believe that if a woman is capable, she should be given the opportunity.

What they're wrestling with now is what is that standard? Ad what can happen? This is a dangerous business, you know, is that they lower the standard to accommodate women coming into these fields.

COSTELLO: Do you think they would do that?

DUNWOODY: It's hard to say because, quite frankly, we've had a lot of standards and requirements that haven't really been officially documented, they were just known. So I think they are doing a lot of homework. And the army, do I know, they done the pre-Ranger training and we've had women go through there successfully with a, I believe, similar washout rate as their male counterparts. And we have I believe eight in ranger school right now, women.

I mean, I never wanted to be a Ranger. I didn't want to go in combat arms. I wanted to jump out of airplanes.

COSTELLO: Did any soldier say, you know, you don't belong here. What are you doing?

DUNWOODY: No, it was a more subtle way.

COSTELLO: What was that subtle way?

DUNWOODY: I had long blond hair when I showed up but I wore it up in a bun. And they said bobby pins and berets could be hazardous when you jump out of an airplane. Really? What they really were trying to do was make me cut my hair so I looked more like them. And I refused to do it, so I used masking tape and I taped my hair up. And I looked ludicrous but I kept my long hair because I wanted to be Ann Dunwoody when I came home.

COSTELLO: You write in your book, "We did not have to act like a macho man to be successful. We did not have to forsake our femininity." Why is that such a concern?

DUNWOODY: Because I think sometimes women think when they are in an all male environment that they have to act like the male. They got to start cussing or smoking or drinking six-packs or -- and be real rough. And I didn't find that the case at all.

The thing about the military, and I'm sure it's true of every profession, is people want the best athlete on their team.

[10:00:00] I mean, if you're going to war, you want the fastest runner, the best target, the best paratrooper. And so if you're the best paratrooper and Joe's not running as fast as you are, they're -- ultimately the good leaders are going to say I want Carol on my team.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That's four-star retired general Ann Dunwoody sharing insights about what it takes to get to the top in the military.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.