Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

Justice Department to Investigate Baltimore P.D.; Plane Crashes on Major Atlanta Highway; Jeb Bush Follows Advice of Brother; Good Jobs Numbers at 7-Year Low Could Help Hillary Clinton; North Korean School System Influences Public's Thinking. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 08, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[13:32:42] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

I want to get to the breaking news, the Dow Jones up nearly 2 percent right now. Take a look at the big board. Right now, up 263 points. This after the jobs market here in the United States showed positive growth today. The Labor Department reporting the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April. Unemployment ticked down to 5.4 percent. That's the lowest I think in almost seven years. We'll stay on top of this story for our viewers.

Other news we're following, the federal investigation into the Baltimore city police operation grew larger today. Besides looking into whether his civil rights were violated when suspect, Freddie Gray, was arrested April 12th and died in police custody, now a separate investigation will take a closer look, being described as patterns and practices of the entire city police force. The U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the wider probe a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This investigation will begin immediately and will focus on allegations that Baltimore Police Department officers used excessive force, including deadly force, conduct unlawful searches, seizures and arrest, and engage in discriminatory policing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in our justice reporter, Evan Perez.

There's two federal investigations, the civil rights investigation into the arrest of Freddie Gray and now a bigger investigation into the whole conduct, the operation of the Baltimore Police Department.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: There are three if you count what they call a collaborative reform, which is something the Justice Department started doing last year with the Baltimore police at the invitation of the city, Wolf, because they had for years just done this settlements with the police department whenever there were these excessive use of force complaints and so what this new investigation is, by the civil rights division, it is going to look at whether or not the police department routinely violates the Constitution of the people it's supposed to serve and protect there in Baltimore and as the attorney general said, we're looking at everything from the pattern and practices of arrests, of police stops, whether they're discriminating against people, everything, it's going to be an invasive look at the police department and take a couple of years, probably, to do this.

[13:35:00] BLITZER: We know the mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the day or two before this announcement, the attorney general was there in Baltimore, she asked for this kind of federal investigation. Here's the question, did she publicly ask for this investigation by the federal government because she knew it was already in the works, it was coming, or did she spark Loretta Lynch to go ahead and declare they needed to do this kind of investigation?

PEREZ: I think it's a combination. I think the mayor knew that the -- there's a lot of anger in the police department, I'm sorry, in Baltimore against the police department, and frankly, I think it's needed. I think just from the reaction on the streets, Wolf, you were watching all of this go down on the streets of Baltimore, especially west Baltimore, and repeatedly we heard that the relationship was frayed, that it was a broken relationship, so I think they knew the Justice Department was likely to go here. Why not ask for it and invite it.

BLITZER: To make it look like they weren't being forced by the federal government because the question is, would there have been this investigation, there probably would have been even if the mayor had not asked.

PEREZ: I think this is the direction the Justice Department was going to go.

BLITZER: Politically, smarter for the mayor to go, rather than being forced.

PEREZ: Exactly.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Evan, doing good reporting for us.

We're waiting for a live news conference from the National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, on the plane that crashed into a major interstate highway in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. As soon as that begins, we will bring it to you live.

Also, what's in a name? Quite a bit if the name is Bush. Potential Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, insists he's his own man. Yet you may be surprised who he says is giving him major advice when it comes to the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:39:50] BLITZER: We're standing by for a news conference from the NTSB, National Transportation Safety Board. Take a look at this. These are the remnants of a small single engine Piper P32 that crashed on a major interstate outside of Atlanta, Georgia. It was a brutal crash. All four people inside were killed. Three males, we're told, one female. They haven't released the names yet. You see the plane on fire on that interstate causing huge traffic disruption in the Atlanta/DeKalb County area. Once that news conference starts we'll have live coverage of that. Once again this is from just outside Atlanta, Georgia. Plane crash. Plane landed on a freeway, killing all four people.

Other news we're following, the former Florida Governor Jeb Bush says his brother, George W. Bush, advises him on issues concerning the Middle East. Jeb Bush made the remark at a private off-the-record meeting in New York City on Tuesday. Some in the audience were surprised to hear him invoke his brother's name since he's gone to some pains lengths in recent months to escape the shadow cast by his father and brother. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love my brother. I love my dad. I actually love my mother as well. I hope that's OK.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm my own man and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's bring in our political team. Jeff Zeleny is joining us, Nia-Malika Henderson and Sara Murray.

And, Sara, you reported on this story, generated a lot of buzz out there. Tell us what you've learned.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I talked to a couple people in the room and this just stunned them to hear the words come out of Jeb Bush's mouth that he said, when I turn -- the person I turn to advice for foreign policy on the Middle East is George W. Bush. I think the reason he said this, because he was trying to reassure this crowd of people about the people he's turning to for advice. In this room it was a lot of hawkish Republicans and the name George W. Bush to them sits differently than it does with the broader American public. Obviously this is a problem more broadly because people still have a lot of negative feelings about Bush's policies, particularly in the Middle East.

BLITZER: There was -- I take it no cameras or individual as far as we know, audio, nothing along the lines from the private meeting?

MURRAY: An off-the-record event, hosted by Paul Singer, a hedge funder in New York, having these events to let donors kick the tires with different candidates they might want to support. To the best of our knowledge there is no video, no recording. People are not supposed to be taking recordings or notes but a couple people jotted down this remark because it struck them as jarring.

BLITZER: Is this going to have a political impact, do you think, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: He already owns his family's legacy and he comes with all the good and the bad of that. But he has been trying to distance himself as Sara said he's been saying I'm my own man, so by him saying this, this is certainly not something he's going to go out and campaign on. Even in Republican circles the name George W. Bush, is not as golden of a name as it used to be. I think it's got great for him but long term it's a long, long way to go.

BLITZER: If you remember, Nia, you remember, because you cover this, he did put out a list of his foreign policy advisers a few weeks ago and that generated buzz as well.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. He put out a lot of his foreign policy advisors. We remember they were in George W.'s administration. Some of them worked for his dad too. Another dust up where he tried to distance himself from James Baker, because James Baker to some people isn't as hawkish on Israel as people want to hear. So he's going to have to walk this fine line for a while, I think, as Jeff said, he's got this baggage, it's not going anywhere. He has to know what he says in the private meetings will likely become public. Let's remember 47 percent, the remark that Mitt Romney famously made. So, you know, you talk to some donors about this and activists and they say he's rusty, he has to get better and he will.

BLITZER: Sara, have you gotten any feedback or reaction from the Bush campaign?

MURRAY: Yeah, the Bush campaign is saying he was not talk about foreign policy broadly, but only Israel. The problem with this, a lot of those campaign aides weren't in the room so they don't exactly know what he said and the people who are talking to me in the room said, it wasn't just Israel. It was foreign policy broadly. When we think about this logically, Jeb Bush is the brother of a former president. He's going to talk to him at certain points. I can't imagine he calls him and says, I just want to talk about Israel but don't mention any other part of the world while on the phone.

BLITZER: Because the former president was seen as very pro-Israel, whereas some of his policies, as far as Iraq, for example, are concerned, not necessarily all that popular out there.

The jobs numbers today, very good numbers. Job creation, unemployment, now, a seven-year low in the country. Presumably, if this continues, that's good news for Hillary Clinton, assuming she gets the Democratic nomination.

ZELENY: Sure. Much better news than if the unemployment rate was going up. 5.4 percent, the lowest of President Obama's time in office. It is good news for her. I'm not sure how much that gets her. History is sort of against her in the sense of voters electing three Democratic presidents at a time or three Democratic terms at a time. Certainly campaigning in the stronger economic sense is good, but it's important to remember here that not everyone is feeling this economic success. So many are still being left out. The unemployment number is not necessarily all that revealing, I don't think.

[13:45:21] HENDERSON: That's what you'll hear Republicans say, do average Americans sitting around their kitchen tables feel it. They will talk about wage stagnation, whether or not that means they want to see a higher minimum wage is another question. You saw Mitt Romney have this problem with the economy when it went from 8 percent to 7.8 percent. The 8 percent a talking point for him. You saw hitch switch to foreign policy and you will see that also for Republicans do that too. The problem is that elections often don't turn on foreign policy so I think you're going to see Republicans try to figure out a way to make this a less of an impact.

BLITZER: Those that covered the '92 campaign, we remember James Carville's words, "It's the economy, stupid."

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: So if the economy is good or seems to be, the perception it's good, that's presumably going to be good for any Democrat who's seeking to replace the current president.

MURRAY: I think that's right. I think you will see Republicans turn this into a broader argument of how secure you feel right now. If you had a young kid, how secure do you feel they will get a job as soon as they graduate from college, how confident do you feel you will be able to go further than your parents did, and how do you feel about America's place in the world? When we're seeing things like people in the U.S., we're going and getting training abroad and coming back to launch attacks on U.S. soil. There is an argument Republicans can make where they can tie that together and say, how secure do you feel in your life right now, and that moves it beyond what the jobs numbers are.

ZELENY: And the income inequality has changed so much since 1992. The divide between the rich and poor is growing and growing, so that is a central issue. Bernie Sanders one of the Democrats running against her is going to make that an issue for Hillary Clinton. This is going to be happening inside their primary.

BLITZER: We have to leave it on that note. You'll all be back down the road.

Jeff, Nia, Sara -- good reporting, Sara -- thanks for joining us.

Still ahead, a fiery fatal plane crash shuts down one of Atlanta's major highways. The NTSB is about to hold a news conference. We'll have live coverage when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [11:50:54] BLITZER: One of the busiest highways in America shut down for several hours today when a small plane crashed into Atlanta's north end perimeter. Four people are confirmed dead in that crash, all of them passengers on the plane.

Let's go to CNN's Martin Savidge. He's on the scene for us.

Martin, tell our viewers what happened.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're looking now as the wreckage is being gathered. The NTSB has been on scene for a couple hours. The wreckage is going to be crucial to their investigation to figure out what went so terribly wrong.

This is I-285 eastbound. It is perhaps one of the most heavily traveled highways in the Atlanta area. It is shut down right now. The good news is the westbound lane has been open.

Here's what we know. Roughly about four hours ago, around 10:00 this morning, this small airplane, a Piper single-engine aircraft, took off. It was apparently headed for Mississippi. It suffered some kind of problem and came down a short distance away from the Peach Tree/DeKalb Airport, which is right next door here. Then it impacted the highway. It appears to have hit the center median, exploded into a ball of fire. Witnesses say it just looked horrific.

Right now what they're trying to determine is why. Why did this happen? What's the tragedy? The investigation is -- we're about to get some sort of briefing from the NTSB. All we know is four people lost their lives tragically. Beyond that, though, the good news is, fortunately, incredibly, nobody on the ground was hurt, which is remarkable given the amount of traffic this area sees. A couple vehicles were damaged, but nobody was hurt. Authorities consider that miraculous -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Certainly is. We'll stay on top of this and await that NTSB news conference.

Martin Savidge, thanks very much.

Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:20] BLITZER: Once again, we're awaiting a news conference from the NTSB. A small Piper plane crashed on a highway outside of Atlanta. Four people inside, all dead. No one, fortunately, injured on the ground. We'll have live coverage of the news conference once it starts.

Meantime, CNN has another exclusive look inside one of the most secretive societies on earth. We're talking about North Korea. The education system plays an integral role in getting students to think one way, and only one way.

Here's CNN Will Ripley. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the North Korean education system is designed to turn out discipline, devoted citizens with a heavy focus on the group over the individual and, above all else, devotion to their supreme leader.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY (voice-over): If they didn't look so young --

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: -- you might not believe they're first graders. By the time they reach elementary school, Pyongyang students have typically learned their country's most sacred lesson, shedding the individualism of youth for the collectivism of North Korean society and, most importantly, loyalty to the leader.

(on camera): What do you want to be when you grow up?

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): "I'd like to be a journalist," she says, "so I can spread the greatness of the Marshall Kim Jong-Un throughout the world."

You'll find the same photos of the late leaders in every classroom, in every home.

(MUSIC)

RIPLEY: And the same level of discipline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RIPLEY: Even outdoor exercise is critiqued.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: Classes are praised for moving in unison.

These Pyongyang orphans will practice for hours until their routine is perfect.

Demands are even more rigorous at the International Football School. North Korean athletes are expected to be the best in the world.

All students get free uniforms provided by the state, even at the prestigious Kim Il-Sun University.

(on camera): How much is the tuition to come to university?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no tuition fee. RIPLEY: It's free?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is free.

RIPLEY: There's a lot of students who would really like that, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, all of them actually study for free. And we don't even know the meaning of tuition fee. We just know it by books.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The main focus at the university level is science and technology. North Korea strives to be strong and modern but only a rare few can access the Internet.

(on camera): Have you ever been on Facebook?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Facebook? What's --

RIPLEY: Never heard of Facebook?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY (voice-over): For all the discipline, there are brief moments when kids can act like kids, at least until it's time to go back to class.

(on camera): North Korean students are now required to finish the 12th grade, and all are eligible to apply for university, though entrance exams are highly competitive.

North Korea teaches its own version of history and current affairs. It's one of the reasons why access to the outside world is so tightly controlled -- Wolf?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Will Ripley, thank you very much.

Will did an excellent job all week inside North Korea, reporting on what's going on there. He was reporting from Pyongyang.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room.

In the meantime, CNN continues its special coverage of the increased threat level on U.S. military bases all over the country and that tragic crash of a plane into an Atlanta highway, four people confirmed dead. In the meantime, thanks for watching.

"Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[14:00:06] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Wolf, thank you so much.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.