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Two Gunmen Killed Outside Free Speech Event In Texas; Milwaukee Sheriff Slams Baltimore Police Charges; Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina Join 2016 Presidential Race; Bill Clinton Addresses Clinton Foundation Questions. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 04, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:08] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And we do have some breaking news to tell you about. Police in Texas learning more about the two gunmen who opened fire outside a free speech event in Texas last night. Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's tracking the latest from Garland, Texas.

What do we know at this hour, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Alisyn.

As we push in here, you can see FBI teams that are just now starting to really do a lot of the heavy lifting and of the evidence collection here at the scene of the shooting. That blue tarp you see, the bodies of the two suspects are just behind that blue tarp and we see that team kind of surrounding the bodies of the two gunmen here just now. Before they put up that blue tarp ,we could see that both men were wearing bulletproof vests. One of them must have been wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap because there's a Yankees cap next to one of the bodies.

But we do not know the identities of these two gunmen yet. But we do know that FBI officials in Phoenix, Arizona, Alisyn, are at an apartment complex where they say that they have identified that the two suspects were from. So a great deal of attention this morning focused on Phoenix, Arizona. We're told that FBI officials there are waiting for the paperwork, and the - to be able to get into that apartment so they can do more investigation. But clearly this branching out beyond Garland, Texas, this morning here, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. It will be fascinating to hear what they find in that apartment complex. Ed, please keep us up to date on that.

We also want to welcome our viewers now around the world joining us on CNN International.

Earlier on the program, I spoke with the organizer of that Mohammed cartoon contest. Pamela Geller defended her right to hold a free speech event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAMELA GELLER, ORGANIZED "DRAW MOHAMMED" EVENT: Incendiary and provocative by drawing a cartoon? This is the low state of freedom of speech in this country. I disagree. And I disagree most vehemently. The jihad is raging and all we can talk about is backlash-a-phobia. It's nonsense. We have to be able to discuss. And when you say it's - I'm anti-Muslim. Excuse me, I'm anti-jihad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:10] CAMEROTA: We will have so much more on this breaking news about what happened in Texas and the debate surrounding it throughout the day on CNN.

But back to our other big story, of course, in Baltimore, those six officers facing criminal charges in Freddie Gray's death. One county sheriff calls these charges a miscarriage of justice. He compares the situation to the Duke lacrosse case. We will speak with him and hear why.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: There were riots and protests. Now there's just controversy. And at the center of it is the prosecutor after charging six police officers with a range of felonies from murder to assault. But Baltimore Police are pushing back, demanding Mosby recuse herself from the case. One sheriff says this case is, quote, "Duke lacrosse case all over again." That sheriff joins us now. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.

Sheriff, thank you for joining us. Make the case. How is this Duke lacrosse all over again?

[08:40:04] DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF: Well, before I start, one of New York's finest, a white New York police officer, was shot in the face by a black suspect over the weekend. He continues to cling to life. Keep him in your prayers.

As it relates to Baltimore, greater legal minds than mine, including Alan Dershowitz, said this case has been politicized by this state's attorney. He says that it was overcharged. And he said it was done for mob control. And I concur.

Look, when she stood up there and had her news conference, totally reasonable and totally legit to just name the charges, and the facts surrounding the case and why she brought the charges about. When she starts uttering statements like, "no justice, no peace," "young people, your time is now," and she "hears the voices," she politicized this thing. She went down that political rabbit hole that she should not have.

She's emotionally attached. She's received campaign contributions from the attorney representing Mr. Gray's family. There's a conflict of interest here. She should have known better. She should have taken her time, called in some experienced people. I hear she's never handled a murder case in her time as an assistant prosecutor. This thing just went from bad to worse. CUOMO: Well, sheriff, you know, you're lined up against this

prosecutor with what you're saying, which is ironic seeing how you're a cop and the prosecutor, if anything, is usually accused of being too close to cops. Yes, they say that the defense counsel donated to her campaign, but so did the union. She's got generations of cops in her family. And while she is young, as you well know, two things, one, prosecutors' offices often overcharge, with the help of departments like yours and they rarely use their - only their own faculties to try a case, right? It's always the whole office. So what is the real root of your concern, especially to analogize this to Duke lacrosse, which was a horrendous miscarriage of justice by a prosecutor?

CLARKE: Well, look, that is a lie. I don't know what goes on in other counties, but in my county I've never been a part of a case where a case was overcharged, OK? I've investigated or been part of a team of investigators that in four years investigated over 400 homicides. I've worked with prosecutors who are deliberate in bringing about murder charges because those are very serious. I don't have any experience in Milwaukee County of cases being overcharged, OK? You don't throw everything up against the wall like spaghetti hoping -

CUOMO: You've never heard of a case -

CLARKE: Let me finish my statement, sir. You don't throw - you -

CUOMO: You've never heard of a case where prosecutors -

CLARKE: You don't throw everything at the wall -

CUOMO: Go ahead, sheriff.

CLARKE: Hoping that something sticks. You don't throw everything up at the wall hoping that something sticks, OK? This decision was made very quickly. My understanding - I do not know everything that happened in this case. However, my understanding is she received the Baltimore Police case on Friday. And she made this determination within 24 hours. I've never, in my - all my years of investigating homicides and working with prosecutors in a charging conference, seen a homicide charge brought within 24 hours. She needed to read through all of the reports, look through all the evidence, wait for forensics testing to come back - some of this forensics evidence hasn't been tested yet - before she made a decision. There was no rush to do this.

But I want to go back, once again, to some of the statements she made. "No justice, no peace" is not a legal term. That's a political statement. And that's why I said that she has offered these officers up as red meat to an angry mob. That's inconsistent with our system of justice and rule of law.

CUOMO: But, sheriff - sheriff, she's a politician first of all. Politicians say political things. She's in elected office. Not as an excuse, but as an explanation. And also you seem to be glossing over the fact that she was solely dependent on the police report. She wasn't. She'd been conducting her own investigation, and it had been going on for two weeks. So it wasn't like she just decided in 24 hours. She had her own investigation going. And do you believe that people are wrong to say that nobody ever gets

charged in cases like this so that they actually see this as a good thing that someone has charged them? Not indicted them. She hasn't gone to a grand jury yet. She hasn't gone to a preliminary hearing yet. These are only charges. We don't know what the rest of the process will hold.

CLARKE: Well, it's not going to go to a grand jury now. I would have recommended to her that she take it to a grand jury because this thing was highly political - politically charged.

CUOMO: It could. It could. She still has the option.

CLARKE: Well, I - I hope that she does that. But, anyway, that's why I said this case has gone from bad to worse. There's a lot of problems with it. She certainly has the authority to bring criminal charges. But now she's got to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt. And murder is a very high standard.

[08:44:55] CUOMO: Understood, sheriff, and I get your concerns. You've made some very eloquent and powerful statements about how the police are the only ones in these impoverished communities that are trying to defend black life because they're often the only ones there to support the communities. So thank you for coming on and making your case. We look forward to having you on again as the process moves forward.

CLARKE: Thanks for saying that. I appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Okay, Chris. Let's talk a little politics because more Republicans are entering the race for the White House. Our political experts give us their take on the growing GOP field.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I am running for president. I think I'm the best person for the job because I understand how the economy actually works, I understand the world, who's in it, how the world works. I understand bureaucracies and that's what our federal government has become: a giant, bloated, unaccountable, corrupt bureaucracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So the Republican presidential field getting more crowded this morning. Carly Fiorina, whom you just heard, and also Ben Carson announcing their candidacies today. And former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee planning to throw his hat in the ring tomorrow.

Here to weigh in on all of this are CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro and CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

Ladies, great to see you.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Ana let's talk about the two candidates announcing today, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. What do you make of their campaigns?

NAVARRO: You know, I think it's, well, you know, and then there's going to be six. But I think Carly and Ben Carson are great voices to add to this formula right now. And I think what the Republican Party is showing is great diversity. I mean, can you believe there is a woman, a businesswoman, with actually no political experience, jumping in today? And that African-American brain surgeon, an actual brain surgeon, jumping into the Republican primary. So I think we're going to see a diversity of candidates with diversity of thought, diversity of experience in these first few months of the Republican primary as it shapes up.

[08:50:34] At some point, Alisyn, there's going to be a lesser number if they don't get to a polling requirement, so all of these folks who are polling in the low numbers, people like Carly Fiorina, need to fight in the next few months to get to be a factor in the polls before they start getting eliminated from debates. But I think it's great. We're going to have plenty of voices to choose from.

CAMEROTA: Donna, let me put up that poll since Ana brought it up. The most recent CNN poll, this was taken two weeks ago, shows the front- runners at the moment, and you see the sort of usual suspects, Mike Huckabee there in the middle at 9 percent. And then the candidates with the lesser numbers there, Ben Carson, has 4 percent, and Carly Fiorina has 2 percent.

But to Ana's point, Donna, is this just all good for the GOP, that particularly with these two candidates, it shows a diverse field?

BRAZILE: Well, there's no question that we're going to see a very large field within the Republican Party, but not a very deep field in terms of knowledge and experience and the ability to really lead a multicultural country like the United States of America.

Miss Fiorina has a lot to explain. She says she has a lot of experience in the business world, she needs to explain outsourcing and the number of jobs that -- when she was head of HP, Hewlett-Packard. And Mr. Carson has repeatedly talked about moral decay, and yet he wants to eliminate Medicare and Medicaid, and you all know these are two enormously popular programs.

So, yes, we can expect a large field. The Republicans are on a shopping spree, a dating game, whatever you want to call it. I anticipate that we're going to see even more candidates over the next couple of weeks. This is going to bring about an exciting time in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, some of the early states, as these candidates begin to attract the kind of support they need in order to win the conservative nomination.

CAMEROTA: Dating game and shopping spree makes it more fun than just saying presidential election. I like that. NAVARRO: Alright, listen, Alisyn, it's terrific. I don't know about

you, but I'd rather have a lot of options to date from than to have to be stuck in an arranged marriage with one person.

CAMEROTA: Well, I believe you may be referring to Hillary Clinton and we do have some news on that front as well. This morning Bill Clinton went on NBC. This is the first time that he has spoken out since she declared her candidacy, and the first time that he has addressed the controversy surrounding the Clinton Foundation and its funding. So listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I don't think there's anything sinister in trying to get wealthy people in countries that are seriously involved in development to spend their money wisely in a way that helps poor people and lifts them up. I don't think there's anything bad with that. I think it's good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Ana, as he depicted it, there's nothing sinister in getting wealthy countries to spend their money. The problem, of course, is that she was secretary of state and there are some who suggest that they connect the dots between policy and the fundraising that the Clinton Foundation did.

NAVARRO: You know, I've always called it blurred lines. I think there's just so many blurred lines between the philanthropy work between the political work and between the business work that the Clintons do. And now anybody that knows Bill Clinton knows that he's got to have been chomping at the bit for months now, you know, wanting to talk and wanting to defend Hillary Clinton and the foundation. He gets very defensive on some of these issues.

But it also tells you that the drip, drip, drip of revelations when it comes to inconsistencies, when it comes to not following the rules, to taking money from foreign countries where women's rights are inexistent, that all of those things are taking a toll on Hillary Clinton and you can also see it on the polls.

BRAZILE: I don't think so. Look, Bill Clinton, the foundation, they do enormously good work in Haiti, in parts of Africa where they provide much-needed medicine to fight and prevent diseases that we have already conquered here. They have done an enormously good work --

CAMEROTA: But Donna, I do want to ask you about --

BRAZILE: - across the globe and including - Look, if you look at what President Bush, former President Bush, you look at former President Carter --

CAMEROTA: But Donna, very quickly --

BRAZILE: They're all engaged in these kind of international campaigns. CAMEROTA: I do want to ask you one thing that he said because it is

newsworthy. He also said that he will continue to take money from speeches during the time she's running for president. Is that appropriate?

BRAZILE: Absolutely. I mean, why -- you know, why are we denying, you know, them the ability to have income like everyone else? I don't get that. But you know what? It's all fine in the political game that we like to play, and President Clinton is one of my heroes and God bless him for all of the work that he's doing across the globe - and here at home.

[08:55:17] CAMEROTA: Donna Brazile, Ana Navarro, thanks so much for being on, ladies. Great to see you on NEW DAY.

Good Stuff coming up next. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Alright, time now for The Good Stuff. A Texas mom, Sharon Banks, watched in horror when the devastating earthquake struck Nepal. Her 22-year-old daughter, Danielle, was climbing Mt. Everest when it hit. What followed were two days of agonizing terror. Danielle's whereabouts completely unknown by her mother.

But this weekend, terror turned to tears of joy, as you can see, mother and daughter were reunited in Texas. Danielle had been airlifted from Mt. Everest to the U.S. Embassy and returned home, thank goodness.

[08:59:47] As we say goodbye, Chris, I understand that you and I are going to be reunited back here in the studio tomorrow. So I will look forward to seeing you then.

CUOMO: Is that true? You've got better information than I do, Alisyn. As long as we stay on the stories that matter, it doesn't matter where we are. But it's nice to have a little Good Stuff to end the show.

CAMEROTA: Right. So true. Alright, well I think -

CUOMO: A lot of news this morning.

CAMEROTA: -- I will see you.