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New Day

Opioid Epidemic; Baton Rouge Shooting; Deadly Police Shootings. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 07, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R), OHIO: And many of those, Chris, as you know, started with getting a painkiller. I've had - you know, two families have come to me in Ohio. I've been working on this for, you know, over two decades now, and so I have people that come up to me and talk to me about this. Two families have come to say their teenager got a prescription drug for a extraction of a - of a wisdom tooth that led to an addiction that led to heroin, that led to that young man and young woman dying.

So, I mean, we do have to deal with this prescription issue. Part of the legislation has new national awareness program making this connection between the overprescribing you talk about and the addiction and ultimately the overdoses and the deaths. And that has to be out there, otherwise more and more people are going to make these bad choices.

Finally, I would say that law enforcement plays a big role here, as do our firefighters and others, the first responders, so we help in terms of the training on how to deal with overdoses, more funding for Narcan and so on.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

PORTMAN: And then more funding for treatment. It's absolutely necessarily. The president has now come on board and said that he'd like to see more funding too. I couldn't agree more. But let's be sure the money is going to what we know works. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a Democrat, and I have spent three years putting together this legislation which we think will pass the House and Senate over the next week.

CUOMO: Well, we will -

PORTMAN: And it says what works and let's get the money into those things that do work on treatment, recovery, prevention, and education.

CUOMO: We will follow this. Senator, please let us know what information matters and we will work our hardest to get it out.

PORTMAN: Thank you for following it.

CUOMO: Absolutely, senator.

PORTMAN: You're raising awareness by doing that and that will save lives, Chris. CUOMO: Well, that's part of the job.

Senator Portman, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

PORTMAN: Good to talk again. Take care.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, our top stories, the back-to- back police shootings killing two black men. The Department of Justice now investigating this one in Baton Rouge, as graphic cell phone video comes to light. Louisiana's governor joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:56] CAMEROTA: Protests in Louisiana after police in Baton Rouge shot a black man multiple times while he was pinned to the ground. The Justice Department launching an investigation into this shooting. This was the death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling. And there is new video shedding new light about this deadly encounter.

So let's bring in Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards.

Governor, thanks for being here.

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D), LOUISIANA: Good morning, Alisyn. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: So this new graphic video is actually a closer perspective of this deadly encounter than the one that we had had that was from across the street. It is terribly disturbing because you see a man pinned on the ground and police wrestling with him and then he's shot. I mean to the layperson, it seems as though that was excessive force. It seems as though that didn't have to happen. What do you think when you watch this video?

EDWARDS: Well, as I said yesterday, I find the video disturbing. It calls into the question whether the use of deadly force was reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances. And, clearly, that's the concern that we have here in the community in Baton Rouge and that's why we're undertaking a very thorough and - and impartial investigation by calling in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to lead that investigation.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

EDWARDS: So that the people here in Baton Rouge will have some confidence that this investigation is going to be done professionally, thoroughly and with transparency.

CAMEROTA: And, governor, if it turns out that the investigation does prove that excessive force was used here, what can you do to change the culture in your state or in Baton Rouge of policing?

EDWARDS: Well, first of all, we can always put new and renewed emphasis on training, making sure that the police officers have the best training possible when it comes to protecting and serving the public. We also have to do a better job of maintaining relations between law enforcement and the communities that they serve. There's a - there's an awful lot that we can do. In fact, I've been in conversation with the superintendent of the state police here, and other law enforcement agencies around the state of Louisiana, the sheriffs and so forth, to see what we can do to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the communities that they serve.

CAMEROTA: Governor, it should be said that you are getting kudos for your quick response. Just a few hours after that first cell phone video came to light, you came out publicly. You held the press conference. You called upon federal authorities to help you with the investigation. You are addressing this head on.

But, at the same time, let's look at the history of the Baton Rouge Police Department. We do know a few stats that can put some of this into context. So let me pull it up for people. These are some of the complaints against police officers there.

There were 114 complaints against officers. This was in 2014. Thirty- five examples of the use of force complaints. Zero charges, though, against officers after all of that.

One more statistic I want to show. Baton Rouge - Baton Rouge police shootings. In 2011, officers shot and killed a man after a traffic violation. 2013, officers shot and killed a man following a car chase. 2014, officers wounded a man who allegedly fired at them. 2015, a man died after officers used a stun gun to subdue him.

Obviously, police officers should be able to use their firearm in the course of their job if they're confronting danger, but do you think something is going wrong in Baton Rouge?

EDWARDS: Well, first of all, we always have to examine that and make sure that we're doing the best we can to serve the communities through law enforcement. And - and I will tell you, I come from a family of law enforcement officers, four consecutive generations of sheriffs in my family. I have tremendous respect for law enforcement across Louisiana and across the country. And we have to understand that the overwhelming majority are doing a great job every day at great risk to themselves. And that should always be part of the equation.

Where we find that there's excessive force being used without justification, we obviously have to address that. This is going to be an ongoing process, not just here in Louisiana or in Baton Rouge, but across the country. And we're committed to doing that.

[08:40:06] Right now we're trying to focus on the situation at hand. Going that far back in time, I'm not sure is - is helpful. It's certainly not my most immediate concern. But going forward, we are committed to doing better.

CAMEROTA: Governor John Bel Edwards, thank you very much for making time for NEW DAY.

EDWARDS: Thank you, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, and these incidents never stay isolated. It always reverberates through the community and reflects what many believe is the reality. And that's what we're seeing in Baton Rouge right now.

Outrage is also growing in the deadly police shooting of Philando Castile near St. Paul, Minnesota. We're going to speak with a Minnesota congressman, Keith Ellison, about what we see in this video and what it means about the reality on the streets, and what can Congress do?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We've been reporting all morning about the back-to-back police shootings that have been caught on tape and that are now gripping the country. There have been two black men killed in deadly encounters with police in just a couple of days. One in Minnesota, and there was this shocking video that was posted by that man's girlfriend that has many questioning the police officer's actions leading up to that shooting, and what happened afterwards.

Congressman Keith Ellison is a Democratic from Minnesota and the co- chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He joins us now.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here.

We so want to talk about what happened in your home state outside of St. Paul there. Have you seen this video that the girlfriend posted of this incident?

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), CO-CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: Yes, I have. I've seen it several times. It's deeply disturbing. But I must praise her for her presence of mind to get that live stream going because if it were not for that live stream, of course you have this, you know, this sort of mishmash of he had a gun, no, I didn't. Yes, he did. He pulled it. No, he didn't. But because we have documentary evidence, it's very clear that she - that he was complying, that he was - she was calm. He apparently was calm. And we hear panic in the voice of the officer -

[08:45:11] CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: Who tries to justify what he just did and - and right there on the tape.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: And clearly - clearly, there needs to be accountability. I support Congresswoman Betty McCullum and her call for an investigation from the Justice Department. The city of St. Anthony is shared by - by both of us. And, you know, what happened in St. Paul, but our districts are contiguous. So this is something that I - I grieve with her and the family and the whole community about because clearly this is not the first time this has happened. I mean last winter, Jamar Clark, an unarmed African-American man, shot down, community outrage. So much outrage that people occupied the street where he was shot down and killed in front of the - the police department.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: When there's no justice - when there's no - when there's no justice, people are driven to extremes. And so the justice system must produce justice or people - because people are not just going to live in a state of injustice because a state of injustice is a state of oppression.

CAMEROTA: We don't know what happened in the minutes leading up to the moment that the girlfriend started recorded it, but she is testifying in real time, and what she is testifying live -

ELLISON: That's right.

CAMEROTA: Is that he had a concealed carry permit, a license to carry a gun.

ELLISON: Right.

CAMEROTA: He offered that up to the officer. He declared that -- Philando said that to the officer. And the officer asked him then for his license. Philando was reaching for the license, according to the girlfriend, and that's when he was shots.

We just had on Philando Castile's mother and his uncle.

ELLISON: I saw that.

CAMEROTA: And they felt that his only offense, they said, was being black at the wrong time, in the wrong place. Let me play for you what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE CASTILE, MOTHER OF PHILANDO CASTILE: (INAUDIBLE) there is no profiling, but it is. It is. We're being hunted every day. It's a silent war against African-American people as a whole. I want my leaders to step up and - and - and hold these people accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Look, she's calling for accountability from her leaders. What can you do about that feeling that she has that black people in her community are being hunted?

ELLISON: Well, first thing is that I am one of those black people who lives in her community who has felt like I'm on the other side of justice myself. My own son had a gun aimed at him during the - the protests I mentioned with Jamar Clark. I mean, look, this is - she is channeling the feelings of so many people, that there's a degree of - there's - there's a two tiered justice system, that there's impunity, lack of accountability. I could tell you, in Jamar Clark's case, we did win getting rid of the grand jury and really urged and set a precedent where the prosecutor would have to evaluate the evidence independently and not use the grand jury to escape accountability. I expect that will be similar pattern here.

But can tell you this. We may not know exactly what happened before the tape rolls. But given the calm and the narration that Diamond gives us -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: I think we have a pretty good idea of what happened.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: And I think - I believe her. And - and - and so I just think that, you know, look, this is - this is not isolated. I could - you know, this situation down in - down in - in Baton Rouge, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, there is a systematic targeting of African-Americans and a systematic lack of accountability when police use excessive force. And this is a - this is a national problem. It's deeply disturbing. And it has real life effects.

One is that riots, people have - people riot when they feel that there is no - that there is justice. I don't condone it, but I understand it. And, you know, the other effect is the disrespect - people - people tend to not trust law enforcement -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ELLISON: So they don't even report crimes anymore because they think law enforcement is not a friend. And so, I mean, there are real life tangible effects to a failure of accountability and impunity. And so I'm hoping that there will be a robust prosecution in this case, and other in the future.

CAMEROTA: Congressman, we're going to let you go. But before we do, we just want to quickly read the first response from a presidential candidate to this. This is the one you support, Bernie Sanders. He has just tweeted, "the violence that killed Alton Sterling and Philando Castile has become all too common an occurrence for people of color and it must stop." We expect to hear more responses from the candidates today.

[08:50:05] Congressman Ellison, thank you very much for your response to all of this.

ELLISON: Thank - thank you, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: You know, some good news on the front, Alisyn, is that Secretary Clinton came out with a statement about the shooting yesterday. Donald Trump talked about unemployed black youth last night. And now there are so many issues that go into the problems in those communities. Maybe we'll start talking about them more.

There's no question that we have incentive right now with these back- to-back shootings. The mother of one victim told us her son was black in the wrong place. That was his crime. Is there a bigger issue here that we ignore except during these flash points? We have actor and activist D.L.Hughley. H e's going to join us live with his reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Again, again is the word that too often accompanies these shootings with police and black men across the country. It's happened again. And this time, they're back-to-back shootings, literally one day after the other, one in Baton Rouge, one outside of St. Paul just overnight.

Now, one of the people who have really taken this on as a cause is actor and comedian and commentator of things political and cultural, D.L. Hughley. I'm going to tell the audience, you're also the author of the bestseller, "Black Man, White House." It is a very engaging read. But I know that the window into who Hughley really is, is seen in your reaction to these recent events. Tell us why you felt it mattered to get up, get online and start talking about this.

[08:55:20] D.L. HUGHLEY, COMEDIAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't - I don't think that these events are recent. I've - I've watched them in Los Angeles, whether it be Ron Settles, or Ula Love, or Rodney King being brutalized on video. I think the only difference between now and then is the apparatus we use to view these from. Now, before it was video cameras and newspapers. And now it's camera phones. And, ultimately, I think that this is something America is comfortable with. It can't keep up - you can't keep seeing a thing over and over again without being complicit in it in some way. This - this is allowed to happen because some people see that this is the way that things have to happen in order for people to maintain safety. There are people who see these things and go, it's a rough job, but they have to do it or - or none of us will be safe. It is - it is hard to take knowing you have sons and nephews and daughters and wives and - and to watch them be brutalized.

We take the young man, Castile, who, by all accounts, had a legal right to carry that weapon.

CUOMO: Uh-huh.

HUGHLEY: He was pulled over by - by the police. He gave - he - he submitted to police authority. He gave - he was going to give them I.D. and he was shot. Now, the interesting thing is, if he in fact did have the right to carry that weapon, where is the NRA? Where are the Second Amendment proponents? Where are the people who say - who should be angry right now? Because it's interesting that if - if people were looking for his criminal record, they would have found that right away. But the fact that this man was carrying a - a legally licensed firearm and was pulled over by the police in a state where you can legally carry, why wasn't the first question - why wasn't - why wasn't, it's so aggressive from the beginning. It can't be unusual to find - just like in Louisiana, you can carry a gun there. In Minnesota you can carry a gun there. So finding people with guns, and police officers finding people with guns can't be that unusual. Why is it handled one way for a man of color and then another way for other people?

CUOMO: Well, that's the big question that always comes up no matter where this happens, no matter how it happens is, is it a different set of rules? Do police, whether they're black or white, do they police people of color differently?

HUGHLEY: Of course it is. Of course it is.

CUOMO: The family this morning -

HUGHLEY: There's - there's not - we're - we're -

CUOMO: The family this morning, D.L., just for context -

HUGHLEY: They - they -

CUOMO: Said, the only thing our son was guilty of was being black at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

HUGHLEY: You know, you know, the - the truth comes naked. A lie got to put on its pants. What is the dissenting - what is the biggest difference? Why is one treated one way? Even if we look at Alton Sterling. Even if that man was guilty of that, what - what was the aggressive tactics. If he had a gun, why wasn't the question, are you legally - are you - whether you have legal rights to carry this gun, as opposed to shouting he has a gun. We are comfortable watching black men and black people be brutalized - and brown people be brutalized and - and a lot of people feel like this is the way things are and have to be. It is no different than people who like steak don't want to see the cow get slaughtered. Some people - why is it that when we - we'll see a video recording of somebody doing - of a suspect doing something. And that - and then you'll hear - prosecutors say, all the evidence is right here. We have everything we need. But when you see a police officer doing something on video, we - we don't know what happened. We don't know what precipitated this. We don't know what frame of mind he was in. The bottom line is, there's a presumption of guilt on one - some people's part and a presumption of innocence on the other. It's a really simply thing.

CUOMO: Well, let's look at - let's look at - well, it's not that simple, because it gets complicated, right, because what will happen is, people -

HUGHLEY: It can't be complicated.

CUOMO: Well, people will say, well, hold on, let's - let's look at why this happens. The police have a lot more interaction with men of color. Men of color are responsible proportionately for a larger number of crime.

HUGHLEY: That is not true. That is not true.

CUOMO: That is what they say.

HUGHLEY: That is - that is not true. Ninety - seventy - according to the U.S. Department of Justice, 78 percent of the people arrested in this country are white. Virtually every crime committed in this country, two to one are black to white. So how is it virtually every one. So how is it - obviously there are more white men in this country than black men. So they, obviously, have more interaction with white people than they do black people.

CUOMO: And -

HUGHLEY: Eight percent of the - it's black-on-black crime and -

CUOMO: And police shoot -

HUGHLEY: The notion of black -

CUOMO: Police shoot and kill black people disproportionately to white people as well.

HUGHLEY: Obviously. You know, the notion, black-on-black crime would mean that there is no other kind of crime. You've never heard anything described, Colorado, a man goes in and shoots 19 white people there in Colorado. (INAUDIBLE) crime. People kill what they're around. People kill what they're around. Proximity. Husbands kill wives. It is - it is a fact of - of human existence. But to equate it with some kind of mental failing, and then to use that as an excuse to summarily execute people is - is immoral. And it is the type of thing that - that America seems to be used to. There is no opescating (ph).

CUOMO: Right.

HUGHLEY: Either this is abhorrent (ph) to you or this is the way things ought to be.

CUOMO: Well -

HUGHLEY: And - and, to me, it is an indictment on our society.

[09:00:02] CUOMO: And it's as obvious as it is immoral, because everybody should know that the controlling factor here when it comes to inner city crime, people say, why don't you talk about Chicago more. Well, we do talk about it, but that's also about poverty.