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High-Stakes Talks Between U.S. & Russia; Jeb Bush Vs. Karl Rove; Deadly 7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired May 12, 2015 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:33:46] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: This should be very interesting. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today more than a year after the Ukraine crisis developed and Russia annexed Crimea.
CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance tracking it all for us from Moscow.
So, this is going to be one of those situations where might be more about what you don't say than what you do say, right?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think probably is. I mean, certainly, the relationship between Russia and the United States is at a post-Cold War low. Over the crisis in Ukraine, over the sanctions that Washington has imposed on Russia over alleged involvement in Ukraine. And over, as far as the Kremlin is concerned, the expansion of NATO's just really stuck in the craw of decision makers and politicians here in Russia.
And so, this is an important meeting to try and get that relationship, a crucial relationship back on some kind of normal footing. There are whole areas where they have to try and cooperate over. They've cooperated recently over Iran, bringing Iran to the negotiating table to forge an agreement over its controversial nuclear program. They need to talk about Syria and what can be done there between Russia and the United States to get a resolution at the U.N. Security Council. Other issues like Yemen as well.
[06:35:00] So, there are a whole range of international security issues that are very dependent on this relationship between Russia and the United States. It's at such a bad place at the moment this is being seen as a first step, a U.S. initiative, according to Russians as well to try and bring that relationship back into some kind of normal framework.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Matthew, thanks so much for that.
We do have some breaking news for you this morning. The death toll is rising, at least 16 people dead now, more than 800 injured after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocks Nepal near the border with China and Mt. Everest. This is the moment you're about to watch where the quake hit. Intense
tremors then forcing people to run for their lives. This is the second quake to rock that region in less than three weeks. More than 8,000 people have died.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The New England Patriots are standing by their star quarterback Tom Bady -- my goodness, Tom Brady, called him John Brady last time --
(CROSSTALK)
PEREIRA: -- who was just suspended for the NFL, he might have to, for the first four games of the upcoming season over deflategate.
Owner Robert Kraft says Brady has the team's unconditional support. The Patriots meanwhile were hit with $1 million fine. They will have to forfeit two draft picks. Brady's agent blasting the league punishment and promising an appeal.
CUOMO: It is official. The Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum will be built on the south side of Chicago. The move revealed this morning by the Obama Foundation. No specific location yet. Two parks are in the running as prime options. The president's former senior adviser David Axelrod is going to join us on NEW DAY in an hour to talk about that. But we'll get deep in the political weeds with this wised man.
PEREIRA: All right. I look forward to that.
A white police officer in Wisconsin is waiting to hear if he's going to face charges for crime -- for shooting unarmed teenage Tony Robinson. A decision is expected within hours. We're going to take a closer look at this case and what may happen.
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[06:40:53] PEREIRA: An update to a story we've been following here at CNN -- the family of Tony Robinson is going to find out this afternoon whether the Madison, Wisconsin police officer who shot their son is going to face criminal charges. The D.A. is set to announce a decision following an independent two-month investigation.
We want to bring in retired NYPD detective Harry Houck, and CNN political commentator and host of "HuffPost Live", Marc Lamont Hill.
Gentlemen, good morning to you.
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
HARRY HOUCK, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Good morning. How are you?
PEREIRA: So, Harry, this is an unusual situation and we kind of haven't been watching the story, but we know that this is after the two-month investigation, independent investigation. Do you believe that Officer Kenny's going to face charges?
HOUCK: I don't think so. Listen, the officer responded by himself to an incident.
PEREIRA: No partner. No backup.
HOUCK: No partner, exactly. No backup. Responded by himself, all right, to a man who was assaulting people and jumping on cars.
The first thing you think is, you know, I'm facing a lunatic here, all right? So when he responded and he confronted this guy, apparently he came towards the officer, all right? Fired -- I think the officer fired three shots. One apparently killed him. Which indicates to me this isn't some kind of assassination type thing, OK?
The forensics that the police look at as a result of what the police officer's comments were and what happened, they're going to probably match based on that, all right? If they're matched based on that, the officer had a concussion actually also, I think is going to be exonerated.
PEREIRA: Marc, what do you think about this? Do you agree with Harry? We do know that he was said to have been on -- the family says he was on hallucinogenic mushrooms. We know he was also known to police. Where do you stand on this? Do you think the officer face charges?
HILL: Do I think he's going to face charges? No. We've seen cases where the evidence was far more compelling --
PEREIRA: Do you think he should have?
HILL: I don't know enough. They haven't released enough information.
PEREIRA: He's been very mum.
HOUCK: Right.
HILL: Yes, I don't have -- what I try not to do is have a sort of reactionary position and say there should be or shouldn't be charges. We don't have enough information. In other cases, we had information. In Baltimore I knew enough to say, look, some charges should be brought. Ferguson had a very strong opinion on because we had the information.
PEREIRA: Does that make you feel in the dark or does it make you feel this is the process being handled as it should be handled.
HILL: I'm OK with a thorough and transparent process and a long process, which is what we're seeing here. What I'm not OK with is the public not getting enough information. I'd like to see more information brought to the public, but I'm happy that the process is long. I don't want anybody to go to jail for something they didn't do. So, that's my concern.
To your point, you go to a house where someone is jumping on cars and assaulting people, why do you go alone?
(CROSSTALK) HOUCK: I agree 100 percent. Let me tell you what happens is, you know, a lot of police departments figure instead of having two guys in a car.
PEREIRA: They put one in the car.
HOUCK: Now, they've got two cars in the road.
(CROSSTALK)
HOUCK: I know, still.
HILL: No, I'll tell you, there aren't that many assaults going on in Madison that maybe you could send two cars, if somebody's jumping on cars and assaulting people.
HOUCK: I'm for that 100 percent. The fact that he had to go on, this officer had to face this person alone because he thought somebody's life was in danger, all right?
PEREIRA: He couldn't wait for backup.
HOUCK: Right.
PEREIRA: He did call for it, correct?
HOUCK: Yes. Backup eventually did arrive, but it was too late.
HILL: Yes.
HOUCK: That's why we need more money for law enforcement, because this guy might be alive if there were two officers --
PEREIRA: Do you think that's the case?
HOUCK: That's a possibility. I don't think it's 100 percent. But there's a possibility.
HILL: But that's part of the problem too. Sometimes when people are frustrated, and I'm one of those people, with the death of people on black people in particular, it's not just because I think the police officer goes into a situation saying, I'm going to kill a black person. It's because there's a set of circumstances that could be avoided that oftentimes don't get avoided under certain circumstances.
I'm not saying this case because he's black. I'm saying it's just the circumstances --
HOUCK: Two police officers might have changed this whole thing, but we'll never know. We're just assuming that's what might have happened. A police officer also, you're like -- you know, you got to give this cop a pat on the back. Listen, he's running in there, OK?
PEREIRA: He went towards trouble, right.
HOUCK: Towards trouble. You know, he don't know what he's going to find, all right? Thinking somebody's in danger. I've done that plenty of times myself. That happens.
HILL: The other piece is the family is saying, yes, we understand he was out of control. But he wasn't a threat to the officer at the time of the shooting.
All families say that. I get that.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: Let me finish my point. So I get that. That's absolutely true. But this is part of the pattern other people are wondering about as well, are police officers more likely to pull a trigger when there's a young black man than someone else?
[06:45:02] And that -- because of everything happening around the country for the last year --
PEREIRA: That does bring that question. But we don't know that.
(CROSSTALK)
HOUCK: On average -- this is an FBI statistic I pulled out yesterday -- on average 400 police officers shoot 400 people, all right? Only 25 percent of them are black.
HILL: Yes, the problem is we only make up 13 percent of the population.
HOUCK: But still, I'm just saying it's 25 percent.
HILL: That means we're overrepresented.
HOUCK: Also, because they commit the most crimes, statistically.
HILL: Well, that doesn't mean you should be shot.
HOUCK: No, nobody's saying that. The police confront more people --
PEREIRA: Let me ask one last question about today in Madison. We know there's a press conference at 2:30 today --
HILL: They don't commit those crimes, by the way. I don't want to allow it to be said on national TV. That's not true.
PEREIRA: Fair enough. Fair enough.
HOUCK: In Northeast, they don't. At least in New York City, I can tell you that.
HILL: But it's a nationwide statistic. I'm sorry.
HOUCK: OK.
PEREIRA: I almost don't want to jump in, but I want to know what to expect in Madison. We know Madison police have come out with this statement saying there could be civil dissent, but they're prepared to facilitate the move of people and allow them to protest.
HILL: I've been to Madison and I've talked to people, been on the ground, I've seen the protests, they've been very peaceful. They've been very organized.
People aren't running around raging.
PEREIRA: Of course.
HILL: People don't want injustice. And people don't read the situation the same way they read Baltimore, or the same way they read Ferguson. It doesn't mean nothing happened bad there, we don't know yet.
PEREIRA: We don't know.
HILL: But again, people aren't just outrage and say they're outrage. They are tired of people dying. But they also want information.
HOUCK: You know, you can't assume every time a white police officer kills a black man it's murder, you know? You can't assume that. What we got to do is we have to listen to the criminal justice system. And when it says something, we have to agree with it.
Listen, O.J. killed two people, I know that guy was guilty, everybody does, but, you know, that's the way it is --
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HILL: Wow.
PEREIRA: I feel like that could launch us into a whole other --
HILL: Aaron Burr!
(CROSSTALK)
PEREIRA: You two had extra Wheaties today. Let me say.
We'll end there, gentlemen. Always great to have you. Passionate arguments we could go on and on, but we won't.
Chris, over to you.
CUOMO: When Aaron Burr comes up, you know you're really getting somewhere.
All right. Different type of fighting, Jeb Bush versus Karl Rove. Can only one survive in the race to 2016? Our political panel will discuss the rumor bad blood and what happens next for the man in the gown.
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[06:51:07] CUOMO: Here's the working theory: Republican Jeb Bush has two big obstacles to deal with in getting the brass ring. He's got his brother's record and he just made a bold stand on that front we're going to tell you about. And he's got his brother's henchman Karl Rove to deal with.
Will bad blood keep him from the GOP brass ring?
CAMEROTA: Joining us CNN political commentator and host of "The Ben Ferguson Show", Ben Ferguson, and former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, Democratic strategist Richard Socarides.
Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: What do Karl Rove and Jeb Bush have against each other?
FERGUSON: They have two different teams, two different mindsets, two different groups of people and Karl Rove has been to the big dance. Jeb Bush wants to get there. They're not that tight, not surprising.
I mean, most people have their own team that get them there. If you look at even when George Bush ran. He had a very small team, a tight team from Texas. People thought he should bring in the big dogs and he didn't it and it worked for him.
I think this idea where, you should need more or if you don't listen to everything I'll tell you, we already got there once before, we're not friends or there's some sort of disrespect, I think that's just politics.
CUOMO: So, a little bit grows out of the relationship that Rove had with the brother and Jeb and George and how did he get in the middle, and that's going to be political intrigue, and he'll have to deal with that on one level.
He also has the record. So, now, Jeb Bush comes out and says I see where my brother was on the Iraq war. I support it.
What does that mean to your side of the fence?
RICHARD SOCARIDES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's remarkable that Jeb Bush today knowing everything we know about the false intelligence we had and that the false premise that that whole war was based on would come out today and say if he had it to do all over again even today, even knowing what we know today, that he would make the same decision. I mean, like nobody thinks that.
So, this is another big problem for Jeb Bush. I mean, he's off to a very rocky start. You know, in the first place he's running as a moderate in an increasingly conservative party, a factionalized increasing conservative party. And now, he's making these missteps --
FERGUSON: Many conservatives I talk to did not take what he said that way at all.
CAMEROTA: How do they take it?
FERGUSON: I think they thought, if you were in the position, you were president at the time.
CAMEROTA: Though that wasn't the question. The question --
FERGUSON: But I think the way that he responded, a lot of people thought saying, look, I would have done the exact same thing as my brother.
CAMEROTA: Sure, but knowing what he would do today, he would do the same thing. I mean, that's what he'd gotten to trouble because --
FERGUSON: Sure, I think you'll see a clarification from him probably.
CAMEROTA: Oh, you do?
FERGUSON: I think his point was, if I was there at the time and saw -- when he said Hillary Clinton would vote for it. I think he was talking about, in the moment when they had what they had -- I think a lot of people are making it a bigger deal than it really is. He said if you think I'm going to run away from my brother on this one, people keep waiting for there this big divide, saying, it's not going to be on that issue at that time based on the --
CAMEROTA: Not only is he not running away --
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SOCARIDES: I mean, that's exactly the point. Ben is making the point.
CUOMO: What's he supposed to say? I don't --
(CROSSTALK)
SOCARIDES: But the point is, is that here's a guy who's running for president. His whole reason for being electable, right, is that he's experienced, he's steady, he's supposed to be the mature, you know, smart guy in the field. But he's making all these missteps.
CUOMO: How is that a misstep?
SOCARIDES: It was a misstep because if you believe what Ben says, he got asked a very clear question by Megyn Kelly and he gave a very clear answer. Now, he's having to go back and clarify. I mean, there are all kinds of things. That speech he gave at Liberty last weekend, he looked very tentative. I mean, he just does not look like someone who's --
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FERGUSON: Obviously, he's not going for you as a voter. I didn't think he looked tentative at all.
And I think what he was talking about when he was talking about foreign policy his brother -- the more that we've seen the rise of ISIS and Islamic extremism and the fall of Iraq and many important areas that are important in the Middle East, and instability, George Bush's foreign policy to many conservatives is starting to look like he knew a lot more than what people gave him credit for. He said, if you pull out early, if we don't stability there, if we get out too quick, if we just try to end these wars, then all of a sudden it's going to be over.
I think now by him saying, I would listen to my brother and talk to him, he knew a lot.
[06:55:04] And honestly, the longer it gets away from him leaving office, the more he looks like he knew he was talking about in foreign policy in the Middle East with the rise of ISIS.
CAMEROTA: I mean, though, of course, many Democrats believe he's the one that upset the apple cart.
FERGUSON: Sure.
CAMEROTA: I know he's not going for them.
FERGUSON: That's going to be a huge debate in the general.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about a group he is going for and that is Hispanics. He also tried to clarify his policy on immigration and said he would overturn President Obama's executive order on immigration, meaning I think send the dreamers back, send them home. I think he's saying he wants immigration reform as a whole but he hasn't spelled that out.
SOCARIDES: I think he's trying to have it both ways on immigration. He's trying to be -- trying to suggest that he would institute some very modest immigration reforms, but he is not for a pathway to citizenship. He made that clear last night. If you watch the whole interview, I think this is going to be a big issue.
(CROSSTALK)
SOCARIDES: The Democrats and Hillary Clinton are the only -- Hillary Clinton is the only, you know, viable candidate now running who supports a pathway to citizenship. That's going to be a big issue. You can't win without the Latino vote.
FERGUSON: You don't do it through executive action. I think that was part of what he was saying. Is if I'm president of America and you have to reform the immigration system, you don't do it because you don't get your way through executive action at the White House. I would do it differently and I would consult with Congress. I think that's a very big point with conservatives.
CUOMO: Do you think he has a word choice issue? Do you think he's having some struggles delineating his positions with the questions he's being asked? He seems to be falling in holes which you're able to explain pretty well I think, but he shouldn't need that explanation at this level of the game, should he?
FERGUSON: I mean, part of it is when you're running for office and you're in these situations people are going to try to get things that make you look like you're somehow different or unique or you're not on point. When I listen to him and I think --
CUOMO: The FOX question wasn't a sneaky question and it was coming from a safe harbor.
FERGUSON: If you look at conservatives, no one was shocked by that. When I look at the people he's actually going to have to get to vote for him in the primary, these were not big issues. They were big issues I think of people on the left understandably so because they feel like they can score points.
But from Jeb Bush's perspective I don't think he lost anybody over the last two or three days or these interviews.
CAMEROTA: All right. Ben Ferguson, Richard Socarides, thanks so much. Great to have you debating here on NEW DAY.
CUOMO: Big news in politics this morning, but there are a lot of headlines for you. So, let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was walking down the street when this earthquake struck.
CUOMO: Another major earthquake hitting Nepal near Mt. Everest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are in shock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $1 million fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the greatest and largest fine in the history of the NFL.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about the integrity of the league.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accusations of a cover-up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no question this was an assassination from the get-go despite what the White House says.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the end, this was a U.S. operation and we sought Osama bin Laden and we brought him to justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Zimmerman back in the headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said I do not have a phone, I have a gun, I shot George Zimmerman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could have killed him easily, could have killed him.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.
And we do have some breaking news to report to you out of Nepal. At least 29 people dead after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocks the region. This happened near Mt. Everest. Watch the intense shaking as the quake rattles Nepal, sending people running for their lives.
CUOMO: The region already in ruins and obviously structures are vulnerable. More than 8,000 lives have been lost, and now this.
Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong with more.
Ivan, what's the latest?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.
This is grim news. It's only been about four hours since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal and already, the Nepalese government saying the death toll has grown to 29 dead and more than 1,000 people wounded. That's in just four hours. So, it's a bad sign for what potentially is to come.
We've spoken to people on the ground. They said that the earth began shaking in the early afternoon, everybody running out into the streets. That's the advise that the Nepalese government, that geologists are giving, stay in open spaces away from overhanging structures.
Eyewitnesses on the ground describing to us how already rescue crews are at work going through the rubble of a five-story building in Katmandu, for example, that was just brought down less than three weeks after that devastating earthquake killed more than 8,000 people in Katmandu.
Some help is already on the way. The Indian air force says it has sent a helicopter to the eastern town of Namche that is described as the homeland for the Sherpas who climb Mt. Everest because that is the area that is being described as the epicenter. I think a lot of people will be sleeping out in the open tonight. And sadly, this is coming as monsoon season rapidly approaches this devastated impoverished country.
Back to you guys.
[07:00:11] CAMEROTA: Ivan, the news is just terrible out of there. Thank you for updating us. We'll check back.
