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Mother Says She Warned About Another Columbine at STEM School; Pennsylvania Democrats to Weigh in on Elizabeth Warren; Ex-Fugees Rapper Pleads Not Guilty to Campaign Finance Violations. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 10, 2019 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like a Columbine or you know some kind of imminent threat to our children's safety in the world, whether it be a bomb or an active shooter, or a suicide --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: The school's executive director through a public relations firm told CNN the school found no evidence to support the allegations made by the parent.

Saying in a statement, quote, like any school with more than 1,800 students we receive complaints all of which we take seriously and investigative promptly.

Jesse Weber is an attorney and host with Law and Crime Network. So Jesse, nice to have you here.

JESSE WEBER, ATTORNEY, AND HOST WITH LAW AND CRIME NETWORK: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: You heard this mother. What is the school's liability for this one?

WEBER: It is an interesting question, isn't it? Because you would imagine any time there is a shooting, especially given Parkland and Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech and Columbine, that is school should automatically be held liable, but that is not always the case. School districts they get a certain amount of immunity. What somebody would have to show is that the school failed to take reasonable measures. And the classic example is that they would have known or they should have known that a threat or attack was imminent.

We saw a classic example in, I think, in Indiana where schoolteachers knew about a threat. They didn't tell the administrators. They didn't tell the monitors about this potential shooter and there was a shooting. That is a classic example right there.

Here what she's alleging is problems in schools that it's pretty serious. But the question is, how is it tied to those individual shooters? How would they know to protect against those individual shooters? And the more they could show that and we've heard reports that at least one of the shooters was bullying and making threats. So the more they could show that, the more they could show perhaps the school should have done more.

BALDWIN: And then as far as the suspects are concerned, the hearing was supposed to be this afternoon. It's pushed to next week. We know one of the suspects is a minor. In what situation would that suspect be charged as an adult?

WEBER: In Colorado it is all up to the prosecutor. Wouldn't even need a judge's approval to get it done. But charging a juvenile as an adult is not an easy question. There are factors to be considered on top of the fact timing-wise

BALDWIN: Like what?

WEBER: Well, obviously, age is a consideration. How culpable was that shooter in relation to the other shooters and does the shooter have a past? Also here is a really big thing to consider. If they charge that shooter as -- that suspect as an adult, they could immediately appeal that. That could take time. Do we really want to see this drawn out?

Now the thing is if they are charged as an adult, that goes into the district court level. That is a totally different animal than in would have been in the juvenile system. There's a lot of considerations. But at the end of the day you have two suspects who may at the end of the day may point the finger at one another.

BALDWIN: And you have mother this week on Mother's Day who has lost her child who was trying and did save others. Jesse, thank you so much, I appreciate. We'll watch for that hearing next week.

Meantime, right now Senator Elizabeth Warren is speaking to a crowd at Ohio about the latest plan she's rolled out today. This is involving opioids. Her -- clearly her policy-driven campaign just landed her on the cover of "Time" magazine. And next I'll talk to the reporter who interviewed her about how all of these policies and, I have a plan for that, right, is how it's playing with the voters. You're watching CNN.

[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In West Virginia, deaths from prescription drugs are the highest in the nation. So today Senator Elizabeth Warren traveled to the state to roll out her proposal to fight the opioid crisis in front of the people who have been affected the most.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a country, we won't spend the money right now for the medical treatment that people need when their caught in the grips of addiction. Addiction is a medical problem. It needs a medical solution. And I've got a plan for that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I've got a plan for that. The plan which would spend $100 billion over ten years and impact everything from treatment to research is the 12th policy the Senator has rolled out since getting into the race. And Haley Edwards is a senior correspondent for "Time" magazine. She wrote this week's cover story on Senator Elizabeth Warren. So, Haley, a pleasure to meet you. Nice to have you on.

HALEY EDWARDS, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, TIME MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Let's dive into policy-wise, number 12 here. She said that Americans don't become addicted on their own, that they -- her words -- it's corporate help from drug makers who made money off the crisis. Does this policy fit into her image of helping the little guy and not big business?

EDWARDS: Absolutely. Her -- all 12 of the policies really if you break them down, it is a battle between what she calls the Goldman Sachs guys, big corporate America, big pharma is one of her nemeses and then how to help the little guy, how to help the middle class against that.

BALDWIN: You write that Warren's policy proposals have become her brand. But I want you to listen. I always love hearing voters. Right. So these are a bunch of voters that my colleague Alisyn Camerota spoke to, these are Democratic voters in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND HOST: If the election were held today, who would you vote for?

ALEX LUDY, DEMOCRATIC VOTER IN PENNSYLVANIA: Elizabeth Warren. Without question. She has policy plans. She knows what she's doing. She knows where she wants to go. She has a bold vision for the future and she wants to bring all of us with.

SHEILA THOMAS, DEMOCRATIC VOTER IN PENNSYLVANIA: I like Elizabeth Warren. I think Elizabeth Warren is probably the smartest. But I'm going with who I think in the long run is going to present a vision.

BEN MEDINA, DEMOCRATIC VOTER IN PENNSYLVANIA: I will vote for her as well. Although I love her -- Elizabeth Warren's ideas.

[15:40:00] CAMEROTA: And why do you like Kamala Harris more than Elizabeth Warren?

MEDINA: Just the fact I think she represents something else. She's not the typical white woman like Elizabeth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So I think this is really fascinating. Because you hear all of the voters and they praise her smarts and her policies, but they're saying they don't want to vote for her. And I'm wondering in this age of Trump, is personality and electability more important.

EDWARDS: Absolutely. That's the major question we were trying to answer in this piece. Electability is what a lot of Democrats just put at the top of their list. And I spoke to so many voters who said that. They said, you know, I really like Elizabeth. I really, I like Kamala --

BALDWIN: But --

EDWARDS: But -- yes, if it takes -- I think the quote in the piece is, if it takes white dudes to get this guy out of the White House then we'll take him. And that's just the sentiment that you hear across the board from Democrats right now.

BALDWIN: Another sentiment though is, you know, that she has this reputation from afar -- if you haven't met of her of more of like school marmy, professorial. But yet as you talk to voters who met her, and she stops. I mean, she is the person who stops and takes the selfie with every person along the rope line and they have a different perception of her.

EDWARDS: It was so impressive actually. She stayed for an hour after every speech that I saw her give. She had her arm around people. She's warm. She's funny. She doesn't get a reputation for that but in real life I found her to be sort of almost goofy. Like she was making references just like comfortable and had her feet up on the chair. Was a different kind of person than the wonky Harvard professor that a lot of people imagine.

BALDWIN: Haley Edwards, thank you for the cover piece and good luck.

EDWARDS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Good luck. Good Luck.

Right now China is threatening to retaliate after a critical trade meeting with the Trump administration and how it ended with no agreement. Details on the massive increase in tariffs that is about to kick in and how you could end up footing the bill.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just into CNN, a former member of the Fugees rap group, Pras Michel, has just pleaded not guilty to campaign finance violations tied to the 2012 Obama re-election campaign. CNN Kara Scannell is with me now with these details. So Kara, what do you know?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Brooke. So just a little while ago, Pras Michel, the former founder of the Fugees was in court here in Washington DC and pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges. One count of conspiracy, one count of making false statements and two counts of falsifying records. Now Michel is charged in connection with donations that he had made to pro-Obama campaign PACs in 2012 without disclosing that the original source of a funds came from a non-U.S. citizen, this guy Joe Lowe, a Malaysian businessman. Now Michel is caught up in a larger scheme with Joe Lowe. He is

someone that the U.S. Department of Justice has charged last year in a $5 billion embezzlement scheme from stealing money from a Malaysian fund. Michel Pled not guilty today to these charges. He was released on bond and can travel to his homes in California and Florida.

Now his lawyer, Barry Pollock, issued a statement that I'm going to read.

He said that Mr. Michelle is extremely disappointed that so many years after the fact that the government would bring charges related to 2012 campaign contributions. Mr. Michel is innocent of these charges and looks forward to having the case heard by a jury.

Now there's no further details of when the next steps in this case will be. But certainly a big mark here against the former founder of the Fugees and just really reveals that there is a lot more potential criminal issues that he might be facing in the coming months -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We know you'll be looking into it. Kara, thank you very much. From D.C. and now to one of my favorite people. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He is on a new mission. His CNN original series is called "CHASING LIFE."

He journeys across the world to find the secrets to living better for the mind, body and soul. And tomorrow night's episode takes Sanjay to Italy to find out how a country known for vices like smoking and drinking is actually one of the healthiest in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On the menu, the prized family recipe. minestrone soup. So let me ask all of you, what do you think the secret is to a long life?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (speaking foreign language): We live long because we eat minestrone soup. Even if it doesn't look like much, it gives us energy.

[15:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (speaking foreign language): When eating one must not eat too much.

GUPTA: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (speaking foreign language): Lots of love.

GUPTA: Love.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (speaking foreign language): It prolongs life, understand? It's like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (speaking foreign language): Never make fake love. It reduces your longevity by 10 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Dr. Gupta with me now. Tough gig.

GUPTA: Never make fake love. I love it.

[15:50:00] BALDWIN: He gets sent to Italy. OK. You think of what Italians -- the food, the love, but is that really part of the special sauce that makes for a longer life?

GUPTA: You know, it's interesting because as you said they are known for eating a lot. They're known for smoking. They're not known for exercise. An yet they're one of the healthiest countries in the world. Food is not the same everywhere you go around the world. I think that's the important thing.

You can eat the exact same food, Brooke, here in the United States, pasta, salad, meat, whatever it might be, that food in Italy and it's different food.

BALDWIN: What do you mean?

GUPTA: There's less processing, there's less, these ingredients that are added to the food. There's less corn syrup. There's all these things we do to food to make more, you know, have a longer shelf life, to be more easily mass distributed. They have pushed back against that pretty hard in Italy. And I that is part of it. Yes, they eat a lot but the nature of the food is so different.

BALDWIN: But why is it not the same when I go out and eat my pasta? To your point about the stuff that's in it here versus Italy, it's just totally different?

GUPTA: Yes. There was a fascinating study looking at the corn content in your hair. People eat the same exact food living in the United States, move to Italy for a year and the amount of corn that they actually found in their hair decreased dramatically because of corn syrup. Everything has corn syrup in it. That's just one ingredient. There's lots of ingredients we're adding to food that makes it easier to distribute, but obviously not as healthy.

BALDWIN: OK, give me another tease so we all tune in for this episode. What else did you find?

GUPTA: One of the things among kids, because every country worries about the impending obesity epidemic. I found it interesting how much of a focus they have for example on school lunches. School lunches are a point of much discussion in the United States. But not really something that's thought of as an opportunity to not only provide fresh produce and things like that but also teach kids about how to cook, about the quality of food and how they're fueling their bodies. It's something that is necessary but not really a big part of the curriculum here.

In Italy it's huge because they're worrying like every other developed country about where the obesity epidemic is going. The biggest thing is the social stuff in Italy. Intergenerational families -- I don't know how you feel about intergenerational families. But you go to Sardinia, grandparents, parents, kids all living together. I think that's part of what makes them some of the healthiest people in the world.

BALDWIN: I think that's part of it too. I mean I love you, mom, but --

GUPTA: Maybe not right away after you're married.

BALDWIN: Dr. Gupta, thank you very much. And of course we will be tuning in and his series is called "CHASING LIFE " with Dr. Sanjay Gupta." You've got to watch this episode. It airs tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific here on CNN.

Back to our breaking news this afternoon. Democrats taking a more aggressive approach to their subpoena fight with the Trump administration. Now threatening to hold several contempt votes at the same time.

[15:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Before we go, I want to take a moment to honor this week's "CNN HERO." She is 75-year-old Ruth Henricks. She owns a small diner. But she also has delivered more than a million free home- cooked meals for sick people who simply cannot feed themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH HENRICKS, CNN HERO (voice-over): There's a special connection when you're feeding people. Let's do the veggie burgers. In the beginning, our mission was feeding people living with aids, and now we have had people living with other chronic illnesses. A lot of them are bed-bound. Many times they don't have the money to shop. It's kind of a desperate thing when they don't have any food in the house.

(on camera): Nice to see you.

(voice-over): It's bringing that love. It's bringing that dignity to them. This is the assignment that I feel that I've been given.

[16:00:00] (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Thank you, Ruth. And you can nominate your own hero. Just go to CNNheroes.com.

And the world's richest man is getting behind the Trump administration's plan to return to the moon by 2024.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF BEZOS, FOUNDER, AMAZON AND BLUE ORIGIN: Vice President Pence just recently said it's the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return American astronauts to the moon within the next five years.

I love this. It's the right thing to do. And we can help meet that timeline, but only because we started three years ago. It's time to go back to the moon, this time to stay

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was showing off his new moon lander there. He says the Blue Moon craft will ferry Americans back and forth from space to begin colonizing the solar system.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me. "THE LEAD" with Brianna Keilar today starts right now.

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