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Susan Bro Speaks about Biden Invoking Charlottesville; U.S. Economy Grew in First Quarter; Measles Quarantine Issued at Universities; A Preview of Two CNN Original Series. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 26, 2019 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we heard the words of the president of the United States that stunned the world and shocked the conscious of this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining us now is Susan Bro. She's the mother of Heather Heyer, who was killed during the Charlottesville protests. She's also the president and chairman of the Heather Heyer Foundation.

Susan, nice to see you again.

SUSAN BRO, OTHER OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ATTACK VICTIM: Thank you. Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So tell us about your morning yesterday when you -- how did you discover that former VP Biden had made the story of Heather's death one of the focal points of his campaign launch?

BRO: I started getting phone calls at 20 after 7:00 in the morning from the press saying, how do you feel about this? I rolled over and looked at my phone and said, feel about what? I was sound asleep.

CAMEROTA: And how, once you figured out what they were talking about and gathered your thoughts, how did you feel about it?

BRO: I guess I'm not surprised. It seems like Charlottesville has been a defining moment for a lot of people. I don't think we've seen him in town. I don't think he's ever been here. Or maybe he has in the past, I don't know.

It was just sort of a feeling of, well, here we go again, because it's referred to so often in news articles, stories. It will show up at the most unexpected moment. I'll be watching something on TV and there it will be again.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BRO: So it happens a lot.

CAMEROTA: And, of course, it's never far from your mind and your heart. Did you -- did former VP Biden call you about this?

BRO: I got a call from him yesterday at 4:30 in the afternoon. That was the first time I had ever spoken to Joe Biden or anybody related to his office or anything.

CAMEROTA: What did he say?

BRO: He's -- I was trying to remember how the conversation started. I remember we talked a lot about bereavement because, you know, he's lost a son and a wife and daughter, and we talked about how forming the foundation helps you survive. But that's really all the kinds of things we talk about.

I think he said something about I would have reached out sooner but I wasn't sure how you would feel. And I commented, yes, I noticed you didn't mention her name because you hadn't contacted me. So we sort of acknowledged that -- that much.

CAMEROTA: Do you wish that he had mentioned her name?

BRO: Not particularly. It's not about her. The issue is about the hate. It's not about Heather.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And so was he calling for your approval, or to make sure that you were OK? I mean what was the upshot of his call?

BRO: Probably to make sure I was OK. Apparently there were rumors swirling that I was devastated and traumatized and none of those things are true. I think it was traumatizing for some other people in Charlottesville --

CAMEROTA: Like who?

BRO: To just suddenly have that thrown up at them on the screen. And I did mention that to him, that that probably had triggered some other people. But, no, I was OK.

CAMEROTA: But meaning who? Like Heather's friends or who are you referring to?

BRO: Survivors. People who were there on the ground both times for those actual living scenes and not just the video.

CAMEROTA: When -- when you and I last spoke, it was right after the conviction of Heather's killer. And you were talking about the foundation and you were talking about your life mission. And you felt that you didn't want Heather's voice and her message to be silenced.

BRO: Right.

CAMEROTA: And -- and you felt that -- that you wanted to fight against hate.

And so I wonder today, now that you've had a chance to process it a little bit, do you feel that the vice president has done you a favor in some ways by amplifying her message, or do you wish that this weren't part of the political dialogue?

BRO: I think it has to be part of the political dialogue because this is a very serious problem in our country. Not only do we deal with hate crime, we have to deal with the reporting of haste crime. I'm not sure that most people are aware that none of the 40 that were injured that day when Heather was killed, none of that was reported in the FBI statistics as a hate crime for 2017.

CAMEROTA: Why not?

BRO: There are loopholes in the reporting, and the way the system is set up, the vast majority of hate crimes are not reported. So I do think it is something that needs to be discussed. We're obviously not allocating enough resources to deal with the problem because we don't even know what the problem is.

[08:35:00] I recently spoke to a Virginia advisory board on hate crimes at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and I said, a doctor cannot diagnose or treat a patient unless they know all the symptoms.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BRO: Our country cannot properly deal with a hate crime until we know how many and how large the problem is.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

Well, Susan, we appreciate and applaud you for keeping this front of mind for people, that there are hate crimes out there and what constitutes a hate crime. Thank you very much for sharing your personal reflections on all of this with us.

BRO: Thank you so much for having me.

CAMEROTA: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, students and staff at two California university campuses are under quarantine because of measles. The latest on the record outbreak, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, we have breaking news.

The Commerce Department released its report card on the U.S. economy for the first quarter of the year. Really big newspapers.

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik has the details.

Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, solid growth for the first quarter of this year, 3.2 percent, if I can get this working, here we go, 3.2 percent for the first three months of this year. This is unexpectedly higher. [08:40:04] What powered it? First of all, state and local government

spending, business investment, U.S. exports and consumer spending. Consumer spending was really a big concern because we did see consumer spending drop off in the fourth quarter and then at the beginning of the first quarter, but then we saw retail numbers bounce back in March. That really helped power that number to 3.2 percent.

Interestingly enough, this happened during a quarter where most of the quarter the government was shut down from the first of the year through -- first of January to the 25th. It was the longest government shutdown in history. But apparently it didn't have any effect on growth.

One thing we are going to be keeping an eye on, though, is Boeing. Boeing is not a trivial company when it comes to the economy. You think about what happened in March. Boeing went ahead and grounded all of its Max 737 jets. Not only grounded them, it stopped deliveries. It makes a big difference to the U.S. economy because in value it's -- it amounts to $300 billion in value per year. That's 1.8 percent of GDP. If Boeing goes ahead and actually halts production of its Max 737 jet, it could chop off about 0.6 percent of GDP, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much for that update. Really interesting numbers.

BERMAN: All right, "Here's to Your Health" now.

More than 100 students and staff are under quarantine at two public universities in California after being exposed to measles at UCLA and California State University Los Angeles. And the CDC says 2019 is already the worst for the disease since measles was thought to have been eliminated nearly two decades ago.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more.

Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, yes, and it's worth adding, we're only four months into the year, right, and we're already at the worst numbers in two decades.

This is sort of how things are evolving. You know, measles, as we've been talking about several times now on your program, it's very contagious. Very, very contagious. So if I wasn't vaccinated, I sat next to someone who had measles, I would have about a 90 percent chance much getting measles. That's how contagious it is.

You get somebody with measles on campus at UCLA, there's potentially a lot of people exposed. These are college students. And they were asked, can you -- can you be certain that you've, in fact, been immunized? Most students said they -- they were certain. They even had some documentation of it. But there's enough students now, as you said, over 100, who said, we're not sure that we were immunized or fully immunized and that's what's leading to this quarantine. You put people who may now develop measles as a result of exposure

into quarantine so they don't continue to spread it. I mean that's the purpose of a quarantine. But you can't believe that we're talking about this with respect to measles, because, John, as you said, you know, two decades ago in the year 2000 this was effectively eliminated.

So they're coming up with these policies sort of as things go along in California, in New York, in Washington, all across the country.

CAMEROTA: So, Sanjay, is that the answer? I mean what is the solution here, quarantine people? Is there any other solution to stopping this outbreak?

GUPTA: Well, I mean, look, I don't want to sound glib here, but getting vaccinated is really the solution here. You know, I mean, even for these students now, at this point, I think one of the questions that will come up is, OK, you're not certain that you've been vaccinated. Should they go ahead and just give booster shots now to these students regardless, for two reasons. One is that, they will then be certain that they've been vaccinated. But two is, there's some evidence that even post-exposure to measles, if you get the vaccine, it can be helpful, both in reducing the likelihood of developing measles and reducing the severity of the measles if you do get it. So that -- you know, in the short term, those are sort of going to be the answers.

But the longer term thing, Alisyn, here is that, you know, you need about 95 percent of the country to be immunized in order to basically not have this continue to spread. We're below that number in certain counties in the United States. Not the whole country, but in certain places around the United States. What they need to prevent from happening now, and you've looked at the map, 22 states affected, they've got to prevent this from becoming what is called endemic, meaning, something that is starting to spread within the United States again because then they're going to ask you, they're going to ask John, they're going to ask me, they're going to ask everybody, are you certain that you've been immunized. Are you -- do you know for sure? And if you're not certain, you might want to go ahead and just get another shot to become certain.

CAMEROTA: Oh, all right, Sanjay, thank you very much for the update on this troubling story.

GUPTA: You bet. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, so what happens when victims and their offenders of violent crimes meet face-to-face? Vann Jones explores that with his new CNN original series, "The Redemption Project."

BERMAN: And W. Kamau Bell is back with his highly-anticipated fourth season of "United Shades of America."

[08:44:48] Van and Kamau joins us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: So this Sunday night, we premiere our new primetime lineup of CNN original series "The Redemption Project" with Van Jones. He takes you on a powerful journey for the restorative justice process where crime victims and offenders come together in an effort of healing and forgiveness. And W. Kamau Bell is back with an all-new season of "United Shades of America," introducing us to unique communities around the world and their issues. Both Van Jones and W. Kamau Bell join us now.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you guys here.

This -- these look fantastic.

BERMAN: I'm so excited. And, first of all, I love "United Shades of America." And, Van, I love the entire idea of this show.

VAN JONES, CNN HOST, "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT": Yes.

BERMAN: And I just want to play a little clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My actions started the cycle of violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He took the love and what my life could have been like. I want him to look me in the face and tell me why he killed my mother.

[08:50:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no way that you could actually prepare for something like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last piece of that puzzle from a lifetime of what if.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. What happens next?

JONES: You've got to -- you've got to tune in. But, listen, I wanted to do this because I wanted to go 180 digress from where we are in the culture. Right now it is -- there's no forgiveness. There's no empathy. There's no compassion. It is cancel culture. It is call-out culture. I'm going to block you culture. And it's just poison. We can't live like that. So I wanted to put some medicine back in the culture.

I talked to eight people who have done really bad things. And I'm not talking about a bad tweet. These are people, you know, many of them in prison still. And I find that people that they hurt or the surviving family members and I just film them talking to each other face-to-face for the first time.

And it is a miraculous kind of show. It's a heartbreak to healing, heartbreak to hope show. It doesn't always wind up warm and fuzzy. The -- you know, there are some people who listen. They can't get to forgiveness, and that's fine because they do get answers to questions that they have been plagued by for decades.

But in three of the cases, you had a situation where the victims actually went before the parole board and said, let this person out of prison.

CAMEROTA: That's incredible.

JONES: You've got -- you have the whole range.

CAMEROTA: Incredible.

BERMAN: But it did want to ask that. It doesn't always end well.

JONES: No. No, it does not. No, it does not always -- but -- but it always -- there is some healing that happens. Just because -- you don't understand, when this -- the verdict comes down, everybody assumes in true crime, well, see, now we know who done it. This is not true crime. This is about the truth long after the crime. People are still hurting. They don't have answers. They don't know the truth of what happened. And the only person who really knows is that person in that prison cell.

CAMEROTA: You're so right. You know, when I've interview victims, I find that their burning question, the one thing that hasn't come out is why.

JONES: Why.

CAMEROTA: They want to know why. And what I've sometimes found is --

JONES: That's this show. That's this show.

CAMEROTA: And I know, and it's so satisfying when they get it, except that I find sometimes convicts can't exactly answer why they did it.

JONES: That also happens. That also happens.

But, anyway, my only point is simply this. People say, well, you know, a criminal justice show, yes. This is a human show. Everybody has done something that they profoundly regret, and everybody has had something done to them that they have a hard time getting past. And so the stakes are much higher. But at the end of the day, our hope is that everybody comes away with some insight about what it would be like if we decided to at least try to talk to each other across these gaps of pain.

BERMAN: Kamau, you've been waiting very patiently.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA": I've got Van Jones here. I mean --

JONES: He's -- he's got four -- you've got four seasons and two Emmys. I got to work harder.

BELL: (INAUDIBLE). Also, I'm back. Bye, everybody.

JONES: Exactly.

BELL: Season four, two Emmys. Drop the mic.

BERMAN: Let's play -- this clip we're showing is from a megachurch, yes?

BELL: Yes.

BERMAN: You want to talk about this episode?

BELL: Yes. So this is the premiere episode. And it's sort of, for me, it was an investigation of megachurches because my only idea of what a megachurch was, was the ones we see on TV with Joel Osteen and the basketball arenas, but not all megachurches are created equally.

CAMEROTA: Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: As a comedian, I look at this as -- part of this as performance. And you had two shows today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Oh, no doubt it's performance.

BELL: Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm not scared of saying we're entertaining, because if you look at the Gospels, I could argue that Jesus entertained.

What's the word entertainment? It means to capture and hold someone's attention for an extended period of time.

I hope we don't come off, you know, I'm sure to some people, slick, polished, whatever. I hope not. I don't -- I don't want it to be.

BELL: Yes, because I think that, you know, people who are -- who do not feel invited into the church, I think one of the things they see when they see a church like that is that, why is that where they're spending all that money?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

BELL: Why is --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's always -- I've heard that my whole life.

BELL: I mean --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: What did you learn there?

BELL: He's very rich. According to Google, he's worth $11 million. CAMEROTA: Whoa.

BELL: And, you know, my question is, like, you know, why would you want your preacher to be that rich? And there's -- I guess there's different ways to megachurches. And there's some megachurches, like the Cathedral of Hope, which is what we're looking at right there, where there's am LGBTQ plus friendly megachurch where the preacher doesn't have a Googleable net worth. I think we can sometimes think all megachurches are these rich prosperity Gospel people, but that's not the case.

BERMAN: There is a wide difference. I will say that when I have been in some of these churches, I'm overwhelmed with the energy that can be there, but also the production.

BELL: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean it's bigger than any Broadway show you go to.

BELL: Well, we had a minister who's talked about it. Like it feels like a rock concert mixed with a motivational speech. And it's fun and you have a good time, but is -- are you getting the message of Jesus, which is what you're supposed to be there for? And so I -- you know, I went to his church and it was like, yes, it was a good time, but that's not how I receive this message of Jesus.

CAMEROTA: We can't help but see Tony on your shirt there --

BELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So tell us why you feel it's important to wear that.

BELL: You know, without Tony, I wouldn't be here on this couch right now without Tony changing what CNN can do, there's no "United Shades of America." And without Tony, I wouldn't have even thought to have a show like this, because I used to sit on my wife and girlfriend's couch watching his shows going, like, how do you do that? And so this is my first season -- I'm happy to be here with Van. It's my first season where I'm not following him. I felt like we were part of a team. So I just want to remember him in that way.

[08:55:07] BERMAN: I've got to say, you were in an episode of Tony's last season.

BELL: Yes.

BERMAN: And I think your plan was to have him on your show.

BELL: Yes. Well, he asked me, when am I going to be on your show --

BERMAN: Yes.

BELL: As if I had said no 100 times. Like, whenever you want to. We'll film -- we'll stop -- (INAUDIBLE), we'll film that. So I had all these ideas about -- that was, you know, on that episode you're really seeing two people, I think, form a friendship. He gave me his number. I gave him my number. I then I sort of had all this idea of like what was going to happen, and it didn't. So I just want to -- it's really important to me to remember where all this comes from and to be open to the fact that it's not easy, this life, you know.

BERMAN: It's really nice to see that.

JONES: Beautiful.

CAMEROTA: Kamau Bell, Van Jones, thank you. Can't wait to see them. They look really fantastic. Be sure to watch our new Sunday night lineup, the all new CNN original series "The Redemption Project" with Van Jones premiers 9:00 p.m., followed by the new season of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell at 10:00 p.m.

BERMAN: All right, a doctor or hospital visit can be a difficult experience for patients on the autism spectrum. So this Autism Awareness Month we want to re-introduce you to Dr. Wendy Ross. She's a CNN top ten hero from the 2014 year who's working with fellow doctors to give autistic patients the best care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WENDY ROSS, CNN HERO 2014: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There she is. Hi. Good to see you, Dr. Ross.

ROSS: Hey, Jane, how are you?

Hi, Alex.

Patients coming in on the spectrum may have a more difficult time communicating, and without doctors that can understand how to interact with them, they're not going to get appropriate health care.

Some of the accommodates that our program provides are noise canceling headphones, things like fidgets to help reduce their anxiety. We are really providing autism friendly health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: For more on Wendy's groundbreaking work, or to nominate a CNN Hero, go to cnnheroes.com.

CAMEROTA: OK, so new numbers show the U.S. economy is strong. "NEWSROOM" picks it up after this quick break. Have a great weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END