Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Severe Weather in the Midwest; North Korea Missile; ISIS Breached Prison in Baghdad; Tornado Watches in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska; Freedom Summit Spotlights GOP Field. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 09, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it absolutely is. I'm glad you're going back to help and I'm glad that you survived through all of that. It's just remarkable to see through your lens what you filmed happening. (INAUDIBLE, thank you very much for joining me.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Yes, you're very welcome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: 4:00 here in the east coast. You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you from New York. We begin with the breaking news.

Severe weather across America's heartland. Imagine being caught on the road in this. That is a what people are dealing with - that is out of Oklahoma from our affiliate KFOR there in Central Oklahoma. The National Weather Service has just issued tornado watches for parts of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. That means conditions are ripe for tornadoes over the next few hours. None though have been spotted yet.

Nearly 20 million people are now in the path of this storm. It's expected to bring strong winds, heavy rain and punishing hail. A lot of that hail as you see has already fallen. The cause of this atmospheric turmoil is cold dry air from the north mixing with warm, humid air from the south, stirring up these violent storms.

Our Ryan Young is live for us today in Oklahoma City. Before we get to Ryan, let's go straight to CNN Severe Weather Center. That's where we find Podram Javaheri taking a look at the maps and what is expcted. How bad is it going to get?

PODRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Poppy, in the next couple of hours, the intensity really goes to pick up. Of course, today just thunderstorms scattered about. No rotation spotted yet. Look at the perspective here. (INAUDIBLE) over 990 lightning strikes in the past 60 minutes, approaching 20,000 lightning strikes in the past 24 hours. So the storms have certainly been there.

Right now, 640,000 people impacted. That includes OKC, Dallas, included (INAUDIBLE) with this latest watch that's extended into areas just outside of Little Rock. This goes on until 10:00 p.m. tonight. You shift your attention farther to the north across eastern areas of Colorado still seeing some active weather. This goes on until 9:00 p.m. and the conditions there for 200,000 people to be impaceted. Zoom it out for you, we have, of course, a wintery side to all of this as well. Some significant snow coming down here in the month of May across the high rockies. This is expected throughout the next 24 hours. You take a look at the accumulations, it could get as much as two feet of snow when you get up towards the black hills, outside of Rapid City, about a foot or so possible, in and around Rapid City.

We're going to watch this. We know 16 million people in line for the severe weather. Typically, Poppy, just if you're curious, about 5:00 p.m., statistically speaking, that's when the early evening hours you begin to see some of these storms really begin to pop up and intensify. So we'll follow this over the coming couple of hours.

HARLOW: Right. So in about two hours time there on the ground. Thank you, Podram. Appreciate it.

Ryan Young, to you now, in Oklahoma City. I mean, this is a place, as you can see behind you, that's already been battered by tornadoes. This is the last thing they need.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The last thing they need is absolutely right, Poppy. If you look across the way, that's what we were showing you just about an hour ago. We wanted to walk over and show you the devastation that people were dealing with. We've actually watched people today trying to put the pieces back together and get ready for this next storm.

This right here was a storage facility. All these things right here were owned by somebody and in fact, just down here we watched one woman who said her husband just died. She moved her things out of the house because she could not live there anymore and she put them in the storage facility just so she could move to another house.

Then the worst happened. Everything came toppling down and she was trying to salvage their entire life together before this next storm hits. If you look now, you can even see people who are trying to remove their things before all the heavy rain comes down again. But several different miles around this area, we have seen people trying to get their lives back together, the power back on before the rain moved in. It's coming down pretty heavily now.

In fact, we talked to one family who really believes the hand of god helped to save them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN ISOM, TORNADO SURVIVOR: It was like a freight train. All you could do is do what you could. We prayed. We prayed.

JIMMY O'QUINN, TORNADO SURVIVOR: And nobody - there's a handful of injuries here, but everybody survived. I don't know how they did, but I think god laid his hand across us. It's the only way we made it out. It had to have been an act of god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Really difficult to see them going through the pain they've been suffering in terms of they were happy to get to the bathroom and put a mattress on top of them and be able to survive the storm. But when you see people's belongings just sitting out here like this, and see them trying to pick things up before the storm goes again, you can understand why they are worried about this next storm coming through.

In fact, that's what they have been asking us all day long. Hey, do we know when the storm is going to hit? Do you know if the heavy winds are going to hit? But people are trying to get through it. In fact, this couple just arrived about an hour ago picking things up.

I will tell you though police have maintained a perimeter to make sure no one comes and tries to steal from the people who obviously have already been affected by this storm.

[16:05:17]

HARLOW: Ryan, stay safe, you and your team, on the ground there, as this severe weather starts to roll in there across the state of Oklahoma. I appreciate it.

Also I want to tell you about a new threat from North Korea. Take a look at these pictures. This comes from state media there in North Korea. What they show is what they are deeming a successful launch of an underwater ballistic missile fired from a submarine.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un was reportedly there and watched it himself. This missile launch came with threats to the west, particularly pointed at the United States.

CNN global affairs analyst Kathy Novak is in South Korea and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY NOVAK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (on camera): Well, North Korea fired three ship to ship missiles into the sea off North Korea. That's according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. It follows the release of photos apparently showing the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watching over the successful launch of ballistic missiles from the sea into the sky.

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of these photos but Kim Jong-un praised it as a miraculous achievement and warned it was a time bomb on the backs of North Korea's enemies.

CNN reached out to the South Korean government for a comment on these photos and so far they have not said anything about whether or not they think that these photos represent a true test and a successful one at that. But if these photos are authentic, they would represent a significant development in the capabilities of North Korea's military.

We know that Kim Jong-un had been wanting this kind of technology for some time and it's likely to cause concern right here in South Korea and further in the region.

Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Well, it this is a very historic day in the fight against Ebola. The World Health Organization has now declared the country of Liberia entirely Ebola free. Forty two days have passed since the last case was confirmed there and officials say this is a major milestone for the west African country which once reported 400 new cases each week and more than 4700 Ebola-related deaths.

Joining me to talk about from Monrova, Liberia is Dr. Alex Gasarisa. Thank you so much for being here, sir. You're with the World Health Organization. This is incredibly welcome news. How did W.H.O. determine that definitely Liberia is Ebola free?

DR. ALEX GASASIRA, WHO REPRESENTATIVE TO LIBERIA: Thank you very much. For the last few months in Liberia, health workers and communities have been reporting any patient, any sick person with symptoms suggestive of Ebola. And all these reported cases are investigated, samples tested from these cases and no confirmed case has been found in all these reports for two transmission periods between the time that somebody is infected and the time that he or she shows symptoms.

So once we have no confirmed case despite all the efforts to fight any suspicious cases in the communities or in the health facilities then W.H.O. feels that there is no transmission ongoing and declared the country Ebola free.

So in the case of Ebola, the transmission period is 21 days. So 42 days without any confirmed case being found despite all the surveillance efforts gives the W.H.O. the opportunity to declare a country Ebola free just as happened in Liberia today.

HARLOW: Doctor, when you look at how this has ravaged West Africa, you have more than 11,000 deaths across West Africa from Ebola. 4700 of them in Liberia. It's been going on for 14 months. What lesson do you think can be learned in terms of how to contain Ebola best next time?

GASASIRA: Thank you very much. There are three lessons that we have learned. One, to strengthen the disease surveillance system. Ebola or any other disease of epidemic potential should be recognized as quickly as it enters a country or a community. And efforts are already underway to strengthen surveillance in Liberia.

Surveillance has already been strengthened and that's why we feel comfortable if there was Ebola now it would have been detected. The second very important issue is to have capacity if a suspected case is reported or detected to isolate and treat this case in a manner that will not enable transmission to spread to other members in the community.

[16:10:15]

And the third very, very important lesson that we have learned is to ensure that the community is part and parcel of any disease detection and response process. The communities must be trained to identify suspicious cases, must be trained to report these cases and must be trained to isolate any suspicious cases using resources available at the community before the cases can be referred to health facilities.

HARLOW: Dr. Alex Gasasira with the World Health Organization from Liberia. Thank you, sir, to all you have done and all your fellow doctors and health practitioners that have done for the people of West Africa. Very good news to hear Liberia is Ebola free. Thank you, sir.

Also want to show you these live pictures coming to us from our CNN affiliate out of Central Oklahoma. Take a look at those storm clouds rolling in as a tornado watch is in effect there until 9:00 local time. A live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We are tracking breaking news here. Severe weather across the middle of this country. We're talking about multiple states, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, in this tornado watch. New watches have been issued for Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. They are now effective until 10:00 p.m. local time tonight.

You're looking at affiliate pictures out of KOCO, the dark storm clouds rolling in. Damaging wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour are expected along with possibly isolated tornadoes and large hail. More than half a million residents are in this area. We'll keep a very close eye on it for you and bring you the latest as soon as we have it.

[16:15:20]

Also this on this mother's day, mothers are gathering in the nation's capitol. They are marching all together to the Justice Department today demanding what they call an end to racist police brutality in their communities. Many women in this Millions Moms March are mothers who have sons who have been killed in police shootings.

The mother of Michael Brown the 18-year-old who is fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri, she is part of all of this. And in Baltimore, young people are holding a rally of their own at town hall, at the city hall there, hoping to bring peace and healing to the city after so much unrest.

Sara Sidner joining me from Baltimore where she has been reporting on this all week. Sara, what's the sense that you're getting from the kids and what they want to achieve today?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, they are headed this way marching from the Baltimore City Community College, here to Harlem Square. You can already hear the music start going and some of the residents who live around here have come up.

We talked to a couple of residents and we started looking at #bmoreyouthride where they are asking a lot of questions to a panel of people earlier today from the community and it was a town hall that was reversed where the people would ask questions and then those questions would be answered by the panel.

Very interesting to note that some of the things that came up was some of the youth felt like they were afraid of police and always trying to avoid police even when they weren't doing anything, anything wrong. Had no reason to have a negative experience with police officers. That's one of the issues that has come up.

Also what you're hearing from some of the residents, we talked to someone who mentors youth and they are saying we have to go beyond protesting. The protesting is one thing. Yes, you shine a light, yes, you brought the attention to the poor, but there has to be something that goes beyond the smoke.

There has to be something that goes beyond just chanting. There has to be work done on the ground. Things for the youth so that they have something to do and some hope in neighborhoods that are blighted and frankly Baltimore on the west side where (INAUDIBLE) has some serious problems. They have a serious crime problem. They have also got some very derilect buildings all over the place. Lots and lots of buildings that are run down. And nowhere really for people, they feel, to work. A lot of unemployment.

So there's a lot of issues that there far deeper than anyone can just snap their fingers and change, but they are hoping that this and the protesting brings this to light and gets the city moving on more and more programs that can potentially pull people out of the situation. Poppy.

HARLOW: Sara Sidner, live for us in Baltimore. We're going to be joined by one of the young teens there in Baltimore who is talking a lot about the change that they want to see.

Sara, thanks very much for that.

Coming up next, we're going to talk about a prison break that ISIS is claiming responsibility for in Iraq, right outside of Baghdad. How were they able to kill guards and release 40 prisoners? Some of them suspected terrorists, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:21:26]

HARLOW: We are tracking the severe weather right across the middle of this country right now. New this hour, a tornado risk has been upgraded for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Portions of north central Texas have seen an upgraded risk and warning there to a moderate risk for an increased risk of tornadoes, some of them could be strong tornadoes. This extends into this evening. This is just a watch at this it point in time. No tornadoes have been spotted, but as you can see, it spans multiple states.

Overseas this weekend, a dozen potential terrorists are now free from prison in Iraq. We're talking about a few dozen, 40 of them to be exact. This is a after a prison north of Baghdad was attacked, breached and inmates released there. Prison guards were killed, five of them.

ISIS is claiming responsibility, claiming online that their militants coordinated this prison break with their fellow inmates inside. Let's talk about it with Bob Baer, our CNN senior security intelligence analyst and also Kimberly Dozer, our global affairs analyst. Guys, thanks very much for being here.

Bob, let me go to you first. When it comes to this prison break, we had Peter Bergen on earlier who was saying you know, this is just key to their strategy. They've done this eight or nine times before. Why are they able to do it so effectively? What's going on on the ground with Iraqi security forces seemingly unable to contain this?

ROBERT BAER, CNN SENIOR SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Poppy, that's a good question. Deala (ph) province where this prison is is highly contested between the Islamic State and the Shia government in Baghdad. It's about 40 percent Sunni that province. A lot of Sunni being kicked out of this province. The Islamic state would like to retake it back. So it depends.

The front lines are always moving. Nobody is secure there. Whether ISIS in fact did take this prison and release these prisoners, I'm not sure yet, but they are certainly capable of it. I think we're going to see a lot more fighting for this province.

HARLOW: Kimberly, do you think that this is clearly an indication that - clearly an attempt by ISIS to not only release if this is them release some of their comrades but also to make the situation on the ground in I Iraq even more chaotic?

KIMBERLY DOZER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it does fit into their pattern of harassing attacks whenever they lose in one area, they have been struggling to take back the (INAUDIBLE) oil refinery. That's contested territory. So they hit the Iraqi security forces somewhere elsewhere they are not expecting it. It's the same kind of pattern we saw militants use against U.S. forces when they were there.

Whenever one area would get quiet, they would just make trouble somewhere else. You also have to look at who is taking care of a facility like this. Iraqi prisons are taken care of by the police forces. The police are paid maybe $100 a month. Soldiers are paid almost $1,000 a month. So this isn't exactly the top of the line troops maintaining this facility.

HARLOW: Let's also talk, guys, about the news that we just got in the last 24 hours. That is about the increased threat to military bases across the United States from ISIS. They are raising it to force protection bravo, that's third on a list of 1 to 5 and it also is the highest threat level for an army base that we have had had in this country since the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.

Kimberly, you said you think it is smart to put military members and families on guard. Others have said that it's not a good idea to make a warning like this public.

[16:25:08]

DOZER: Well, the thing is they have warned their own military families to keep their guard up, and yet not everybody has been careful on their Facebook sites or their Twitter handles. They still put information out there that could lead a potential attacker to a baseball practice with military families, something like that. This is a way not just to warn the militants or would-be terrorists attacking that they are on guard, but it's also a signal to military personnel and families and the communities where they live that they really have to have their guard up and start being more aware.

HARLOW: Bob, this week we heard that James Comey, the head of the FBI say "I know there are other Elton Simpsons out there," talking about one of the men that tried to carry that terror attack in Texas last week and talked about social media in particular saying it's like a devil sitting on their shoulder saying kill, kill, kill. Why is it, as Kimberly just brought up the social media aspect of it, why is it that the U.S. government cannot seem to get a handle on fighting ISIS's propaganda online?

BAER: Well, Poppy, the problem is for the FBI, they are monitoring all this and clearly what we saw in Garland, Texas, they were on these two people but how do you put them behind bars? They haven't committed a crime. They simply talked about going to Somalia or whatever. They have expressed ideas, you know, ideas of joining the jihad but it's not enough to put them away.

What's so hard for the FBI is decide when that switch is going to go off in somebody's head, is going to go grab an automatic weapon and attack an American base or an exhibition of cartoons. They just don't know. You can't get inside these people's head. That's what's worrying them. When he talked about thousands out there, maybe there's only a couple dozen that could turn to violence, but it's identifying those couple dozen that's so difficult.

HARLOW: Bob, but it's interesting. We heard this in the testimony on Capitol Hill. Corey Booker, the lawmaker, senator, Corey Booker, saying "look, we use social media so effectively in political campaigns. Why can't we use it more effectively to fight this propaganda, to fight right alongside with them, to send different messaging than ISIS is sending?

BAER: Well, the problem is these people are more dedicated and committed.

HARLOW: Right.

BAER: (INAUDIBLE) if you want. It's a death cult. Those two guys that died in Texas, they consider that a victory, dying for the prophet. Normal people don't look at the world that way. So these are marginal people joining the Islamic State yet they are ready to die and they're ready to pick up weapons and that's what makes them so dangerous. We can't win this war on twitter.

HARLOW: Bob Baer, Kimberly Doyer, thanks guys, so much. Appreciate it. We are continuing to track the very severe weather across the midwest. We're talking about millions of people under the threat of possible tornadoes right now including Dallas and Fort Worth.

An update for you on the forecast on the severe weather, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:30:24] HARLOW: All right. Well, a group of youth in Baltimore are holding a town hall today. They are also marching. They are hoping to bring peace and healing to their city after so much unrest and violence.

Joining me now, Zion Shaw, a Baltimore high school student, a member of the College-Bound Program.

I was lucky enough to meet Zion last week when I was in Baltimore. I sat down with him and a group of high school students to talk about their hopes, their dreams, what they want from Baltimore.

So, Zion, thanks for being with me again.

ZION SHAW, BALTIMORE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: No problem. Nice to e see you.

HARLOW: Nice to see you too.

Hey, let's talk about what the last week has been like. When we sat down together, you know, you were very hurt, very upset. You said we shouldn't be called thugs. You said people aren't listening to us and what we need for our city.

What has this week been like in terms of discussions that you have had with your peers, with your community leaders, with your teachers about what you guys want to see change?

SHAW: This week has showed us that there is a better -- we have a better look at Baltimore now. It's been peaceful. We have seen peaceful protests. We have had calm days in school. We feel like there's been justice, but it's not a time to celebrate yet because things are still happening.

But we're calm in Baltimore. I was afraid that when the cameras left that things would go wrong or people would start rioting again and we won't get as much attention. But it's going pretty well.

HARLOW: One of the other things you told me is this conversation is long overdue. You have been waiting for this moment, but that you were also worried that maybe change wouldn't really happen when all the news trucks and the cameras were gone.

Do you feel encouraged?

SHAW: I feel that even when the cameras are leaving and when they do leave that Baltimore will be in a better state. I think it's sad that it took for someone to die and for police brutality to be happening in our city for us to realize what's going on. I feel like we will have peace and things will get better in our city as time goes on.

HARLOW: So, there's a coalition of youth and juvenile justice advocates and they are asking the school there is not to suspend or expel or punish some of those teens arrested in the rioting, some of which in the violent aspects of it, looting, et cetera.

Do you think that that's the right call or do you think they should be held accountable for that?

SHAW: I think if anybody does something that is breaking the law, I think they should be held accountable for what they have done. But the fact that somebody was murdered and killed that their bail is lower than that teen's, that's something that my fellow peers have talked about this week. We feel like it's not fair that a teen who was rioting and trying to make sure he was heard but didn't do it in a positive way was given a higher bail than those who murdered Mr. Gray.

HARLOW: Before I let you go, Zion, I know you're 17, you're a junior, you're going to graduate from high school in not that long.

Are you going to stay in Baltimore? Are you going to work for change in the city?

SHAW: Yes, ma'am. I plan on after I graduate from high school, I plan ongoing to the Naval Academy. And after that, I want to go into the Navy, but I plan to come back, and run for mayor of Baltimore City.

HARLOW: Run for mayor of Baltimore City, we'll be watching, Zion. I know great things are ahead for you. Thanks for being with me.

SHAW: Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I appreciate it.

HARLOW: See you later.

All right. We are tracking some very severe weather across the Midwest. Let's get the latest on the tornado watches from Pedram Javaheri. He joins me from the CNN severe weather.

Pedram, it seems like every few minutes we're getting these updates and this watch zone just keeps expanding.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, just in the past couple minutes, we talked about 30 minutes ago about give it a couple hours and the intensity will pick up. And, certainly, it looks like the Storm Prediction Center agreeing with that because you take a look over Dallas now, highlighted in red, that is a moderate risk for severe weather, initially it was enhanced. That is a number 3 on the scale of 1 to 5. Moderate is a number 4 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Of course, you take a look at this, a major metro area being impacted by this. They're saying with the conditions there favorable because of how the unstable the atmosphere is becoming, some of those tornadoes, if they respond in the coming couple of the hours, a few points in the 70 degrees, there could be long-live tornadoes, long track tornadoes. So a large threat exists. [16:35:00] At this hour, Dallas Metro, some isolated thunderstorms. West of Graham, some isolated thunderstorms and smaller storms developing. Again, specifically speaking, it's the early evening hours when you see storms begin to blossom and it's kind of fast forward to 6:30, 7:00 in the evening tonight and notice the storm intensity and as far as the coverage picks up. That's the concern with this because we know and have talked about for several days Saturday had the potential for dangerous weather and it looks like the next couple hours we could see some of that.

HARLOW: Can we be just really clear here? Because I'm getting a lot of tweets and people are saying be careful if you say warning versus watch.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

HARLOW: We're talking about a watch right now, which means the conditions are ripe, but nothing has been spotted, correct?

JAVAHERI: That's very correct. That's something that the National Weather Service has talked about trying to clarify, because watch means exactly that, favorable for formation. Warning means it's eminent or it's occurring. So, that's the concern that the next couple hours, these are going to transition into warnings.

HARLOW: All right. Pedram, keep us posted, thanks so much. I appreciate it. We're going to keep a close eye on these storms for you, and, of course, bring you the latest as we have it.

But also this, in today's human factor, we want you to meet the motocross racer defying the odds despite a tragedy that could have ended his career. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nothing can stop Max Gomez from motocross racing, even when the sport cost him part of his right leg.

Max was a high school senior in 2012, competing in a national race.

MAX GOMEZ, AMPUTEE MOTOCROSS RACER: I was coming up to one of these jumps and I came up a little short and it kicked me forward and off the bike. It was a 30-foot drop and then the impact just exploded my ankle.

GUPTA (voice-over): Five operations later, doctors gave Max a choice.

GOMEZ: They said you can either keep this foot and you're not be able to do anything with it, or you can amputate it and live the rest of your life.

GUPTA (voice-over): After losing his leg, Max thought he would never ride again and his dad even sold his bikes. But he was inspired by another amputee who was still racing.

GOMEZ: He said, you know, if he can do it, I should be able to do it, too.

GUPTA (voice-over): With some adjustments to his bike, like moving the brake to the handlebars and a specifically-designed prosthetic foot, Max was back on the track, just six months after his accident.

He took home gold at the Extremity Games, a competition for athletes with physical disabilities, and he just missed the bronze in an adaptive moto at the 2013 X Games. The 21-year-old nursing student also recently qualified for a regional race with able-bodied racers.

GOMEZ: I lost my leg but I did not lose my drive. If there is a will, there is a way.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:20] HARLOW: Well, it was final salute, thousands of police officers, their family, their friends all gathering at a Long Island church to remember a fallen hero. New York City Police Officer Brian Moore, he died Monday after being shot in the head while on duty last weekend in Queens.

It was a sea of blue on Friday by the thousands. The commissioner -- Bill Bratton, the commissioner of the NYPD, calling him a cop's cop who was devoted to his job.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BAG PIPES PLAYING)

WILLIAM BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Once more we find ourselves together in mourning. It is too soon since the last time, much too soon.

The Moore family is an NYPD family. I know they felt a double blow in December as all of us did. This today is too soon.

We need more like him. To all of you in blue for him here today, we all need to be more like him. Because Brian's death comes at a time of great challenge in this country, where police officers across the country, we are increasingly bearing the brunt of loud criticism. We cannot be defined by that criticism.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: We all are heartbroken, as are the people of our city. Brian Moore dedicated his life to protecting all of us. He gave what President Abraham Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion to that cause.

Brian Moore represented the best of New York City. He was brave, for sure, but his bravery was matched by his compassion and came by it through his family, it's in his DNA from a family so devoted to the NYPD. His father and uncle both retired sergeants. May God bless Officer Moore and all who loved him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: A real loss for the city, New York City, a fallen police officer at just 25 years old.

It's moments like those that some say we have not seen enough of on television or on the front page of newspapers. One voice in that group, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark, he joins me now.

Thank you for being with me.

DAVID CLARK, MILWAUKEE SHERIFF: My pleasure, Poppy.

HARLOW: You have been very critical of the media coverage of deaths of unarmed black men like Freddie Gray, like Michael Brown, versus how much time has been spent on covering fallen police officers like Brian Moore. What are you seeing and what do you think should change?

CLARK: I'll tell you what's important in how you opened that story. Thank you for the tribute, by the way. My prayers continue to be with the family of Officer Brian Moore and Commissioner Bratton and my colleagues at NYPD during this very difficult time period.

But you pointed out that Officer Moore was shot in the head by a suspect, but you didn't say that the perpetrator was a black suspect. Yet every time a white officer kills a black man in the United States of America, the media is so quick to point out the race, but we don't do it here.

We know for a fact, statistically anyway, 40 percent of officers killed in the line of duty are shot by black suspects. We want some balance here, I think, if we're going to use race, we have to use it all the time otherwise we shouldn't use it.

HARLOW: So that begs the question, should we use it when we talk about stories like this? Should we say an unarmed black man or a white officer or a black officer and an unarmed white man? Should we use race?

CLARK: Well, that's up to you, I don't want to get into telling the media what they should do.

HARLOW: Sir, I mean the American public. Should that be part of the conversation?

CLARK: Well, it's going to be unfortunately because race is an explosive issue in our society, OK? There are certain people who -- and entities that want to keep that animosity going. That's what we're going to have to deal with. That's the reality of it. I just want consistency on both sides.

Either way, if we're going to point it out and certain people are going to point out it's a white officer and a black suspect, then when it's the reverse, I want it to be pointed out as well. HARLOW: So, one of the questions that we have had a lot through this

that I've had is, why are there not more central databases with all of this information? There is a central law enforcement database that tells us how many police officers have been killed in the line of duty, right? It was 117 in 2014.

What we don't know is how many police officers across the country have been involved in excessive force used on civilians or officer-involved shootings of civilians. There's no central database for that. Do you think there should be?

CLARK: Not necessarily, each state keeps that stuff. It might be a little more tedious to collect it, but it's collectible. If somebody wants to come up with a database, I'm not going to fight that. It's going to involve a lot of money. That all of a sudden nobody is going to want to put up.

So, you know, I'm all for it, but that's not what the problem is at this point in time that we don't have a database in terms of officer behavior and officer activity.

HARLOW: So, earlier this week the brand new U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch went to Baltimore, as you know, and met with the family of Freddie Gray. They launched the DOJ investigation into the Baltimore police department. You said, look, she should be meeting with the family of Brian Moore, this fallen NYPD officer as well.

CLARK: Yes, I did say that, and she should. She has a tough job. I like the fact that she reached out to Baltimore's finest as well when she visited Baltimore, Maryland, along with the family. That's the right way to do it.

I know she needs time. These things happened simultaneously in Baltimore and the tragic incident with Officer Moore. But still, there's still time, it's never too late to go and visit with the family. I saw the pain and grief and suffering of Officer Moore's father and other family members yesterday at the funeral. It just broke my heart.

But I'll tell you what right now, I'll tell you this investigation with the Baltimore PD is a fraud. Just two months ago Baltimore Police Department was held up by President Obama as a model police agency in terms of best practices and community-based approach to policing. Now two months later, they are thrown under the bus by Mayor Rawlings- Blake for political expediency.

You can't go in 60 days from being a model agency to being an agency with a lot of red flags in terms of questionable pattern and practices. They go from being a model agency to now being a rabid racist bunch of ogres. The two things are mutually explosive.

Something is wrong here, and I wish that the mainstream media would do a better job of pointing out these inconsistencies. This was politically expedient for her to throw the Baltimore Police Department under the bus when two months ago she sat on the panel talking about how great her police agency is, and I believe that it is a great agency.

HARLOW: Let me point out a few things for our viewers. One of those is that this union representing the police officers yesterday came out and asked for the DOJ to also look into the mayor. Secondly, I will say that this is a police department that their own head of the police has said there have been problems. We're working to fix them and paid more than $5 million in settlements for excessive force claims.

That said, I want you to listen to what New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton had to say about his fallen officer, Brian Moore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRATTON: What's lost in the shouting and the context of what we do. A handful of recent incidents, fewer than a dozen, have wrongfully come to define the hundreds of millions of interactions cops have every year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, what needs to change, Sheriff Clark, to make sure that cops lives, as you say, are seen in the same light in the media coverage, by the public, what needs to change so that what Bill Bratton is addressing happens?

CLARK: I think that would be very helpful in this is for the mainstream to stop carrying this false narrative put out there by cop haters about, you know, the slamming the character, the integrity, the reputation of our community's finest. I think that would go a long way because without the media carrying that false narrative, not many people are going to hear it.

HARLOW: Sheriff Clark, I always appreciate you coming on this program giving us straight talk. It's good to have you on, sir. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:53:36] HARLOW: We are tracking severe weather across the central part of this country. We're talking about a number of states at risk for possible tornadoes. The tornado risk has been upgraded for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Portions of north central Texas are at an increased risk for tornadoes tonight. Some possibly strong also looking into the evening, the warning there until 10:00 p.m. local time. We'll have much more on the severe weather for you, ahead, next hour, right here on CNN.

Well, a crowded field of presidential hopefuls has descended on South Carolina this weekend for the state's first major candidate forum. It's called the Freedom Summit.

Among the headliners, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who seemed to take a thinly veiled shot at one of his potential rivals, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: We realize that from our family, we didn't inherit fame or fortune. What he inherit is the belief that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you can do and be anything you want. That's the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: CNN's Chris Moody is at the summit in South Carolina. He joins me now.

So, Jeb Bush isn't there. He's speaking at Liberty University in front of thousands of Christian conservative students. Did he make the right call not to be there?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, he certainly wasn't able to make the impression he might have wanted to make on South Carolina voters who are really an important part of the Republican primary process.

[16:55:04] But while he was in Virginia, he talked about religious liberty, upholding Christian values and also made a little joke about maybe running for president. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Today was my first time to be able to meet with Pastor Jonathan Falwell. Jonathan has a unique place here at Liberty because, among other reasons here at this university, his dad used to be president, then his brother became president, somehow I don't know what it was, we really hit it off. I'm not sure what's in store for you, Jonathan, but I'm pulling for you, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOODY: So, Jeb making a little joke about the Falwell family and being in a presidential family. He himself is looking at his own possible presidential bid in the next few months.

HARLOW: What is your takeaway about what some of those potential candidates are talking about there on stage in South Carolina in terms of what they need to do most to get the votes that they want this time around?

MOODY: You know, it's very interesting what you mentioned about, talking about humble beginnings. Not just walker, all of them have been highlighting, or most of them have been highlighting their humble beginnings.

And whether they mean to or not, that does contrast with Jeb Bush, who did not come from that kind of background. So, you can certainly see that in their remarks today.

HARLOW: Chris Christie is not there, right? MOODY: Chris Christie is not here. He's focusing his energies on New

Hampshire, where he was the past two days and where he will return next week and the week after that. That's a state as a bit of a moderate he's really pushing New Hampshire as a state he needs to be to be the nominee.

HARLOW: All right. So some of the big name there is in South Carolina for the GOP. Some of the big names opting not to go.

Appreciate it, Chris Moody. Thank you very much.

And coming up at the top of the hour, we'll have the latest on the breaking news. The severe weather we're watching across a number of states -- Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, millions of people in the path of possible tornadoes. An update for you on just how bad it could get, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)