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Lack Of Answers From Police Fueling Anger?; Jim Webb Reacts To Baltimore; NFL Draft Kicks Off. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 01, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: I understand the frustration. I understand the sense of urgency. And so has the organization and that is why we have finished it a day ahead of time. Also know that getting to the right answer is more important than the speed. Making sure we look and overturn every rock is more important than just coming forth and giving a document.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's all about the right conclusion says Baltimore's police commissioner. The frustration for the people is they don't know what those conclusions are. They do know that the commissioner says his people did the job the right way.

And he asked them not to jump to conclusions. But of course that's what's going on. So let's bring on the host of the "Joe Madison Show" on Sirius XM, Mr. Joe Madison himself.

Joe, I want to talk to you about how the reaction of this community squares to what they've learned so far. And are they doing the right thing by keeping it quiet but letting a little information come out? What do you make of it?

JOE MADISON, SIRIUS XM HOST, "THE JOE MADISON SHOW": Well, let's go work our way backwards. I do not think it's the smart thing to let a little information come out. First of all, it dribbles out and people then ask the question, Chris, if you know a little bit you must know a little bit more.

And why aren't you being more transparent? I heard and saw the interview you did with my good friend, Elijah Cummings, and he's got a very difficult role to haul because whatever comes out he and all of the political leaders in that city and quite honestly the state are going to have to convince people to accept that report.

And that's going to be the most difficult task because right now I think most people on the street where you are really have some trust questions going on, the issue of trust.

CUOMO: Well, look, you're putting it lightly in terms of the trust issues. The question is, are they legitimate concerns that they have. Let me ask you straight up.

MADISON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Do you believe if this prosecutor finds that she can't make the case beyond a reasonable doubt that Freddie Gray is a homicide victim and that the cops are responsible and they did the wrong thing, will people accept it?

MADISON: No, they're in trouble. They're in trouble. It's going to be Ferguson all over again. They're in absolute trouble if that is the case. That's as simple as I can put it. That's as direct as I can put it.

I guarantee you that will not be accepted. That's why I said it's going to be a hard road to haul for the political leadership because what choice do they have. And that's why people --

CUOMO: Justice is supposed to be fairness under law, Joe.

MADISON: I understand that, Chris. I think that's why you hear people calling for a special prosecutor. In North Charleston, they're having the same situation in North Charleston. There's no guarantee even with that video we saw of Walter Scott there's still a possibility that officer may not be convicted.

And that's why people are saying there needs to be a special prosecutor because career prosecutors work hand in glove with policemen, the community knows that.

And I think to avoid the special prosecutor issue is a big mistake on the part of states and this community across the country. What's wrong with a special prosecutor?

CUOMO: Your beef then should be with the governor, right? Because the governor controls the jurisdiction of going to his or her attorney general and saying you should take this case over, you should appoint somebody for it. And the governor doesn't feel the need to do that here.

MADISON: And that's exactly what my beef is with and it was with the same thing in Missouri in the Ferguson case. I've gone through this before with Democratic and Republican governors. We have a situation, Artie Elliot, young man strapped in a police car wearing nothing but a pair of short and tennis shoes. That was it.

Ended up somebody said after he was searched he ended up being shot 20 times in the front seat of a police car. And we couldn't get a special prosecutor and the two police officers involved got off.

CUOMO: Joe, let me ask you a question. Political perspective, a lot of people on the ground here are saying, you know, it's about political change and the politicians aren't doing the right thing for us, they're not taking care of us in these communities.

We're not getting what we need. Our desperation is fueling our negative outcomes and our criminal activity. Isn't that all on the Democrats here? I mean, with all due respect to the great Elijah Cummings, he's been in here a long time, he's a Democrat.

You got a black mayor, a black police commissioner, a black prosecutor. You know, you have tons of black councilmen and women here. They're all Democrat.

[07:35:02] There are so much diversity. Why aren't they being blamed for the negative outcomes in this area?

MADISON: Well, I think some people are blaming them. Look, the reality is when you start hearing a congressman say that someone's reading a textbook that was published in 1973 and then -- now get this, you have a governor who now has moved the capital from Annapolis to Baltimore. He did a tour yesterday.

I saw it on CNN. He did a tour yesterday of the community. What governor tours a neighborhood where you just had a riot and you don't take the Democratic mayor with you? Excuse me, you don't even take the city councilman who represents the district with you?

And that's why to be honest, and I think you're probably hearing this, Chris, they're ticked off at Republicans and Democrats to be quite honest because their argument is absolutely right. But here's the problem is that underserved communities are the most difficult to get politically engaged.

Politicians, Republican or Democrat, respond to voters. Underserved communities, I had this problem when I worked as the political director for the NAACP, trying to register and politically engage underserved poor communities the most difficult thing to do. You've got a policeman Bill of Rights.

CUOMO: It makes sense.

MADISON: A policemen bill of rights, why? That's because their families and the police officers and their unions and organizations know how to lobby and know how to get out and vote these folks in or out for what's in their best interests.

CUOMO: Right. Joe, but that's the challenge of leadership when people don't feel government's doing anything for them, they don't want to come out and support the process. This we can know this heading into it. This situation, this investigation, is a test for the system, the justice system and the political system.

Joe, thank you very much for weighing in. Please, let's stay in touch because you're going to know what's going on here in the community and we're going to be leaning on you for perspective. So thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY.

MADISON: Any time, Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you, sir. We're going to give you more on what's going on in the Freddie Gray investigation. But first we want to tell you that Hillary Clinton has an official challenger in the Democratic primary, his name, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. And there may be another one. Maybe former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who's going to tell us what's going to happen? John King on "Inside Politics" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:33]

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching NEW DAY. Our coverage of the unrest in Baltimore will continue in moments. But first want to bring you up-to-date on all that's happening inside the world of politics. Mr. John King, happy Friday, my friend.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Happy Friday to you, Michaela. A little bit different this morning as we go "Inside Politics, normally we quiz reporters, but this morning we have the former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat, who is exploring a run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Senator, it's good to see you. Two night owls up in the morning, we were joking before we came on the set. Let me ask you straight up you've been listening to the coverage this morning.

You've obviously been following this in recent days. What would a President Webb have said or done differently than President Obama as Baltimore burned?

JIM WEBB (D), FORMER VIRGINIA SENATOR: I don't think I could put words into President Obama's mouth. I do know that the local leaders seem to be responding in a way that is affirmative in dealing toward the issues that are there.

And also I'd have to say there are two issues that I've spoken about over a long time that are intertwining here quite obviously. One of them is the breakdown in economic fairness in this society.

I actually mentioned Baltimore in a speech the national press club in September when I was talking about the breakdown and how we tend to think in this country that we have solved the racial and ethnic differences. And we really haven't.

We've created a veneer on the top of all racial and gender issues in the country. And the other one is criminal justice reform itself. I know Secretary Clinton yesterday gave a speech on criminal justice reform.

I've been talking about this for nine years. We put together hearings on this when I was in the Senate. And from point of apprehension all the way to point of re-entry into society we really need to examine our criminal justice system.

KING: One of the debates now is you have some people saying this is proof that you need more spending in the inner cities. You have to get more economic opportunity. Better schools obviously and you have some conservatives saying look at all the public money that goes into these cities.

It's how it's spent that you need maybe another layer of welfare reform to encourage people more to go to work as we saw in the mid- 1990s. Which is it?

WEBB: Well, I think clearly we need infrastructure spending in our country across the country our infrastructure systems are falling apart. Those are programs that can bring jobs, jobs bring dignity. They also encourage more education.

We see this not just in Baltimore but across the country. And where the money's spent is important. I think if we look now we keep talking about our educational systems at the high end, but we're still we're in the reality that only 75 percent of the kids in this country finish high school.

We have to have programs to encourage them to stay in. And if they've left, we had legislation when I was in the Senate I call it second chance education act, to help these people when they get to be like 30 and realize that they made a big mistake when they were younger and get them into productive education and employment.

KING: One of the Republicans running for president, Ted Cruz, says that under President Obama our first African-American president in his view racial relations have gotten even worse. He says the president has a way of style of politics that pits people against each other that divides us even further. Do you think that's fair?

WEBB: Well, I think we clearly have a political system now where political leadership and the base of both parties have been at odds in a way that I haven't seen in my adult lifetime having done four cycles through government.

I don't think that's just President Obama being radically different. It's the people in the process on both sides having drawn clear lines. We need leadership that can cut across these lines. And bring people together.

[07:45:07] One of the great experiences I had in my life I spent eight years as a boxer. And when you spend eight years in the ring with people, you don't particularly look at, you know, what racial background they have. By the end of a fight generally you're a friend with the person you've been with.

KING: Let's talk about your decision. You're going to decide in the next couple of weeks or months whether to actively you're exploring whether to officially jump into the Democratic race for president.

If you look at the polling right now, Hillary Clinton she's at 60 percent. When Democrats are asked who you want as your nominee, Jim Webb is lucky to pop up at 2 or 3 percent. You're an old Navy guy, a war hero in Vietnam --

WEBB: Actually a Marine.

KING: Put this in -- within the Navy, Marine. Let me put this in military terms, she's got all the battleships, destroyers, most submarines at her port. Why not Hillary Clinton? Why Jim Webb instead? WEBB: Well, right now, I think when you look at polling numbers it's basically name id. And, you know, we started last November just even talking about this. We've had incredibly good responses from people who are independents, a lot of them.

The old style Truman-Roosevelt type Democrats who want to see the Democratic Party come back to the base of working people and people in the situation.

KING: Is she not part of the base of working people?

WEBB: And also from Republicans. A lot of Republicans and the message we see across the board that we are receiving is that people want to see fresh leadership and different ideas. And they want to see a track record, for instance, criminal justice.

I was by myself when I first started talking about criminal justice reform I was warned by Democratic political advisers that I was committing political suicide. Now it's out of the shadows into the debate where we can fix it.

The tilt toward Asia, we did that starting out of my office. The GI Bill we worked with Republicans, got them together and in 16 months passed the most important veterans legislation since World War II.

Can you lead? Can you show that you've got a consistent record? And can you get things done? That's what people are looking for.

KING: All right, you didn't want to answer my direct question about her, but you put out a fundraising e-mail question saying you want leadership you can trust. Is that a shot at Hillary Clinton or just something about Jim Webb?

WEBB: I think that's what I bring to the table.

KING: Does she not bring that though?

WEBB: In all the e-mails I receive, I would say 90 percent of them say we don't always agree with you, but we know that what you're saying is what you really mean. And when I campaign for the Senate I said this is what I'm going to do and we did it.

And we're talking about issues like Baltimore, criminal justice reform. We put ourselves on the line. We took the hits and we did it. We didn't wait until all of a sudden now it's easy to talk about the issue before we talked about it. And that's what I always done in any leadership position that I've had.

KING: Senator, appreciate your time this morning. Hope to see you on the debates in Iowa. Final decision pretty soon.

WEBB: Who are you betting on in the fight?

KING: Michaela, as we get back to you. Who am I betting into the fight? Look at that. That's a great question.

PEREIRA: I want to know too.

KING: I'm going with Manny. That's just a guess. I'm not, you know --

WEBB: It's going to be a great fight.

PEREIRA: I'm going to be watching you on Twitter to see what happens. All right --

KING: I don't have a favorite but I want a good one.

PEREIRA: We all do. Thanks so much. Make sure to watch John King and his "INSIDE POLITICS" panel break down the best political news of the week every Sunday 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Jameis Winston's off the field problems did not come to haunt him in the NFL. He is the first pick heading to Tampa. We are going to tell you who else got snapped up in the first round.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: On this Friday, so much to talk to Andy Scholes about, you've got round one of the NFL draft. You've got the big fight this weekend in Las Vegas where Andy Scholes conveniently is for this morning's "Bleacher Report." What a happy guy you are.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Not bad, right, Michaela. And you know what is great about the NFL draft, everybody's team is still in it, and that's why everybody likes to stay in it. As expected last night, Tampa Bay Bucks, they made Jameis Winston, the first overall pick.

The former Florida State and Heisman Trophy winner, you know, and despite all the off-field issues that he had while he was in college, the sexual assault incidents, and they found that he was the best player in the draft and decided to take him overall number one, after winning a national title and losing just one game in college.

Now Winston, he did not attend the draft in Chicago last night instead he watched it from home in Alabama, and as you can imagine, he was thrilled to be the number one overall pick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMEIS WINTSON, 2015 NFL NUMBER ONE DRAFT PICK: Man, I am blessed with this whole opportunity. The chance to make something of myself and to be able to provide for my family and it's just the beginning, you know. That's the great part of this, only the beginning, and I thank God for everything that has happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The big question in the draft was what was going to happen with the number two overall pick, and they did not end up surprising anybody with the pick or trading it away, but Roger Goodell did surprise everybody when he announced it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Tennessee Titans select Marcus Mariota.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So otherwise known as Marcus Mariota. He is going to be with Tennessee Titans quarterback next season. Now there were no real surprises in the first round, only three minor trades. Roger Goodell however was booed every time he came out to announce a pick.

We are here in Las Vegas for the fight of the century, Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquio. They are finally going to get in the ring tomorrow night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Now later today they are going to have the weigh in.

Usually these things are free to the public, but do to all of the demand they sold tickets by $80 to get in, and I cannot tell you how epic of a sports day tomorrow will be.

You have got the Stanley Cup playoffs. You got Spurs-Clippers game seven. You've got Yankees-Red Sox playing a day game. You've got the Kentucky Derby.

[07:55:07] And then, of course, you have the fight here in Las Vegas between Mayweather and Pacquiao. You could literally sit on your couch all day.

PEREIRA: No, don't do it. Andy Scholes, you will be able to do it all, and have fun.

All right, back to the top stories, new questions about a previously unreported stop by the police man that was carrying Freddie Gray, and we will have the latest for you from Baltimore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Anger spikes after documents are leaked in the investigation into Freddie Gray's death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why was he a suspect? Why was he chased? Why was he detained?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freddie Gray did not sever his own spinal cord.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New claims in the death of Freddie Gray.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody in the police department knew about this stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must allow the process to go forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America's failing America.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: We will get justice for Freddie Gray. Believe me, we will get justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are misfits in the city of Baltimore that we call home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, May 1st, 8:00 in the east. Michaela is in New York for you. Alisyn is off. We are live in Baltimore where new information sparks new outrage late into the night.