Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Sgt. Bergdahl Breaks His Silence; Calls Grow for Chicago Mayor to Step Down; What's Trump's Appeal to Voters; Lock Down at Arkansas State University. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 10, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:30:00] SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY (voice-over): It's everything that you're missing. Everyone is out there. You know that breath that you're trying to breathe. That release that you're trying to get. Everything is beyond that door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: He said he hates doors now because doors remind him of how he was confined during that time. Whatever the military decides, he went through a brutal five years, and I just personally I find I want amazing how someone survives that.

BALDWIN: Yeah. I think you hit on it, almost that he was a guy from Idaho, this humanizing of all this.

Because, Anita, we heard -- we were able to get inside his head a bit with the journals. Now you have this audio and I'm wondering, what's the strategy in allowing him to do this, for podcast after podcast? He does admit he left his post.

ANITA GORECKI-ROBBINS, FORMER ARMY JAG & SENIOR DEFENSE COUNSEL: That is the most fascinating piece and has nothing to do with the military or uniform code of military justice. This is a defense counsel making a strategic decision to release 25 hours of basically potential testimony that he could be cross-examined on and the only person they are trying to convince potentially right now is one person and that's General Abrams who is acting like the district attorney and he's the one who has to make the decision whether this will go forward. So there's two potential jury pools, General Abrams and if it goes forward whoever the military jury members are.

BALDWIN: How will all of this audio, Anita, affect that decision?

GORECKI-ROBBINS: I think potentially it goes really to the prosecutors here, what we call in the military, the trial counsel. They are the ones who will be poring over because if he potentially takes the stand just like any other criminal matter, it's fodder for cross-examination. And it's clear that he's trying to establish at least what his state of mind was at the time because like any type of case that goes to his intent at the time that he left. BALDWIN: Jim, I go back to the question and you hit on it a second

ago. He admits what 20 minutes after walking away from his post he felt unsafe. It was a bad idea. The question is, why not turn around?

SCIUTTO: It's a good question and no one knows really what was in his mind. Even the details there where he said he walked out in sort of vaguely civilian clothes, imagining that he, this tall light haired kid from the military, can somehow blend in to the population out there, it just doesn't stand really to reason.

So here's a question. And I think Anita makes a great point. This is almost trying the case in public to some degree, which the case is enshrined to this point it's an issue on the campaign trail. The Republican House Armed Services Committee passing a bill saying in effect --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: -- the administration violated law by negotiating this. So, you have this prosecution going on outside the courtroom and in effect you have his defense now going on outside the courtroom as well.

BALDWIN: Jim Sciutto, Anita Gorecki-Robbins, thank you both very much.

GORECKI-ROBBINS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, to Chicago we go. Is the mayor's job in jeopardy? Rahm Emanuel. Protesters sending a powerful message to the mayor of Chicago, marching yesterday, right around this time, through the streets of that city in the aftermath of police related shootings. We'll talk to an Illinois lawmaker who just introduced a bill that could set the stage to remove Rahm Emanuel as mayor. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:51] BALDWIN: The city of Chicago says it has had enough. The community says it has no confidence in their mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and many want him out now. We saw the frustration play out live right here on this show around this time yesterday. Thousands of protesters, angry protesters marching through the streets of Chicago demanding that mayor step down.

Hours before this, we had Mayor Rahm Emanuel call for change during an emotional speech, a rare apology before the city council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, (D), CHICAGO MAYOR: No citizen is a second class citizen in the city of Chicago.

(APPLAUSE)

EMANUEL: If my children are treated one way, every child is treated the same way. There is one standard for our young men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That may not have been enough.

Two state lawmakers in Illinois have now joined the public outcry by introducing this bill to recall the mayor.

So joining me now, the co-sponsor of this recall bill, Illinois State Representative Mary Flowers.

Representative Flowers, thanks for being with me.

STATE REP. MARY FLOWERS, (D), ILLINOIS: Hi, Brooke. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Before we get into exactly what you want, I do have to ask you about that moment. And we just played a piece of it. But watching Mayor Rahm Emanuel in that apology yesterday, impassioned, you know, emotional, rare for him. Does that make a difference to you?

FLOWERS: Quite frankly, I was appalled because if he had not realized that we live in two Illinois and that not only are children treated differently than his kids, but one side of the city is treated different than the other side, the south and west side of the city of Chicago has been neglected for a very long time. So, no, I did not feel any empathy or sympathy.

[14:39:50] BALDWIN: OK. Let me just for sake of getting the other side, this is the city putting out this new statement, quote, "We understand there is a desire by some to insert politics in to this discussion but the mayor's focus is not on his own personal politics. His focus is on the residents of this city, and finally and fully addressing the issue of police accountability which has challenged Chicago's kids. He is energized by the challenge in front of us and committed to driving real solutions for our city."

Tell me why do you want him recalled? What role do you believe he played in all of this?

FLOWERS: Well, I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. Back in 2013, I wrote the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and superintendent a letter in regards to sensitivity training for police officers and cameras. This is not political. This was an issue I saw coming and I wanted to get ahead of it. As a result I was not given an opportunity to have that conversation. The people have spoken. 51 percent of the people in the city of Chicago said they had enough. Chicago deserves better. Chicago is a first class city. We want something different. This bill is not necessarily about Rahm Emanuel, it's a process in which the people could have their voices heard again.

BALDWIN: It is about Rahm Emanuel, in a sense, because you would want him to be recalled, you want a new mayor. We already would have a new police summit and now a new mayor. My question then if you're starting from scratch in a sense with some very high leadership positions with that not worry you as well moving forward? FLOWERS: Well, let me just say this. The bill calls for a process.

The process would be over 90,000 signatures and two aldermen have to sign on to it, and there's other parts of the bill. If that doesn't happen, and if Rahm Emanuel wants to be re-elected, he can get re- elected. This is a province which the people will have to have a recall. Right now there's no process in place. If it happened to be that Rahm Emanuel is the one to be recalled, so be it. There will be a process, but right now there is no process.

BALDWIN: What about just bigger picture here when you look at the president of the United States, this is like an adopted home, Chicago. Why do you think he has been so silent on the racial unrest? You talk about the city divided. Do you wish he would speak up and say more?

FLOWERS: Well, let me just say this. This is not all on the president. This has been going on -- this is intergenerational. This is over 200 years of misuse and abuse. I won't put this burden on the president. It's about we the people. All of us are outraged. All kind of races of people are outraged. They are protesting about the democracy and how we are treated here in the city of Chicago.

BALDWIN: You don't think the president's voice could help?

FLOWERS: The president's voice, he brings power. He has the tools. But it's still up to the people. He can do all that he can but we must have our voices heard as well. He has the entire country as well as the world to consider. He could be of help. He has helped. He sent the feds in. That's a good beginning. I'm sure there will be other tools that he's going to bring to the table as well. But the fact of the matter is this is the city of Chicago, and we voted Mayor Rahm Emanuel in. And the people have spoken. 51 percent of the people are dissatisfied with his actions. We deserve better. And we want better.

BALDWIN: We will continue to listen to the people of Chicago,

State Representative Mary Flowers, thanks.

FLOWERS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, despite his controversial call for travel ban for Muslims into the United States, Donald Trump is surging in yet another national poll. So CNN sits down with his supporters to see why they remain so loyal to the Republican front-runner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: As far as the truth goes, we've got people in positions of power who I know for a fact are liars. Liars. I watch the TV -- my president comes on the TV and he lies to me. I know he's lying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:48:56] BALDWIN: All right. In case you needed another national poll to show you who is the clear Republican front-runner for the race for 2016 -- wait for it -- there you go. Again it's Donald Trump dominating his rivals the "New York Times"/CBS poll shows Trump with a solid 35 percent support. Ted Cruz, Senator from Texas trailing Trump with 16 percent followed by Ben Carson with 13 percent. This poll was taken mostly before Trump's recent call to ban all Muslims travel to United States.

So what is Trump's big appeal to voters? CNN's Alisyn Camerota spoke with several of his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: As far as the truth goes, we've got people in positions of power who I know for a fact are liars. Liars. I watch the TV -- my president comes on the TV and he lies to me. I know he's lying. He lies all the time. I don't believe any one of them, not one. I believe Donald.

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Exactly.

[14:50:03] UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm telling you, he says what I'm thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Never been involved in politics, never had an interest in any of it. Now suddenly, he's resonating. He's resonating with the people and he's speaking our minds. Our minds.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: When the pundits and the experts and all the people who are supposed to be in the know and know all this stuff, and they are so great, I know some of them, maybe not all, but some of them are lying to me straight to my face. And I am so sick of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Worth noting, that woman is a two-time New Hampshire state representative who fought in 2012 to keep President Obama off the ballot because she said he wasn't born in the United States.

Joining me now, W. Kamau Bell, a sociopolitical comedian, host of CNN's upcoming docu-series "United Shades of America."

Kamau Bell, it's a pleasure and honor.

Welcome to the CNN family. First time we've had a chance to chat. Welcome, welcome.

W. KAMAU BELL, SOCIOPOLITICAL COMEDIAN & CNN HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Thank you, thank you. My stomach hurts a little bit from that last segment.

BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. We got to hear from everyone. Got to hear from everyone. And I'm hearing from you.

BELL: No, I don't. No, I don't.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm not a journalist. You got to hear from everybody. I want to hear from people I want to hear from.

BALDWIN: So I was trolling your Twitter and Facebook and I read your Facebook post and it's funny. I'm here in Washington today and I walk out of the makeup room, my colleague, Donna Brazile, would absolutely -- she said to me exactly what you said, you're saying white people need to take responsibility for Donald Trump. Can you please explain why?

BELL: Here's the thing, white people -- and thank you for bringing it up. White people, you've created race and then off of race, off of the back of race you created racism, and everybody has a racial category except white people don't claim their racial category, which sucks because you're most of the racial category in this country.

(LAUGHTER)

I consider it manipulate job to handle Ben Carson, Raven Simone, random black people on the Internet. It's your job to handle Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You're saying handle. Handle. Define handle.

(LAUGHTER)

How did you handle as you use in your post "Rachel," for example?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And how should white people handle Donald Trump.

BELL: I did my part. I didn't do all of it. Black people came together. There's black Twitter. Black Twitter came together to handle Rachel Dolezal. I'm talking about it, blogging about. I'm recognizing the problem and talking about the problem, and claiming my race when I talk about the problem. I'm not talking about Rachel Dolezal as a fake black person. Donald Trump is the pinnacle of white privilege and supremacy meeting in one place.

BALDWIN: Why is it a --

BELL: I stunned CNN.

(LAUGHTER)

What?

BALDWIN: Why is Trump a -- why is that, a race thing? Why is that a white people thing? Then I'm done. I want to move on to Chicago.

BELL: Oh, yeh, that sounds fun too. Look, talk to your black friends, white people, Brooke, you talk to Don Lemon, black people have a tendency to have to deal with people of their race. When somebody goes on the news, like when Raven Simone went on "The View" and said I wouldn't hire a watermelon, Andrea, black people went out and said we need to pull her coat and explain that's not the way to do it. Blogs were writing. And not from people talking to people, but black people talking to black people. That's the way we do. We're a community. White people have no community. You all go, well, I really don't want -- I'm part Irish, part German, part British. Those are all white people.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'll marinate on this. I'll marinate on this.

BELL: Have some white pride.

BALDWIN: Let's move on to the show.

(LAUGHTER)

Now, talking to you --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- I'm 100 percent watching this. I was on two them.

Here's a clip. Let's get a little tease and then we'll chat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Boom.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that your game face?

BELL: Yes.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Winners.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Really?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Winners.

(SHOUTING)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The subject is famous Americans.

This is for real.

LEMON: Strategy.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let the other people think that they have a chance at winning but then, boom.

COOPER: What if nobody expects to be good or win?

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boom.

BOLDUAN: We either win.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boom.

BOLDUAN: Or we sabotage.

(SHOUTING)

BELL: I'm the dumb one.

COOPER: Sure Berman, like, won two times.

BOLDUAN: No one wants John Berman to win again.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: No one.

BELL: I think our best chance with Berman is some sort of Tonya Harding situation.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: I think Robin, she's all about distraction.

(SHOUTING)

BELL: She's got a wide berth of knowledge.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: If we lose, it's sabotage.

BERMAN: Yes. Absolutely. The only plausible explanation.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:55:07] BALDWIN: Seems to me the most physical quiz show tease you've ever seen. You and Margaret (ph) are my favorites going into it. How was the experience? How was the buzzer for you? Give me something.

BELL: It was one of the most tense experiences in my life. John Berman is a machine. He's a machine of knowledge. And I didn't realize how competitive you guys would be about this. We thought we would have fun. But you guys were -- the anchors play like they are actually getting the money.

BALDWIN: People don't know they hand you, like, pamphlets. OK, learn about all the famous people ever and hand you a three inch notebook. Did you read it? BELL: I found sleeping on that notebook on the plane out to New York

did not do me a lot of good. Next time, I have to do better.

BALDWIN: Kamau Bell, thank you very much. You're fantastic.

BELL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Remember, the CNN "Quiz Show" airs this Sunday night, 7:00 p.m. eastern.

Coming up next here, switching gears, breaking situation here, a situation unfolding at Arkansas State University. They are issuing an alert to students. School is on lockdown. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're following a breaking situation unfolding right now at Arkansas State University. They are issuing an alert to students, the school is on lockdown.

Nick Valencia, I want to bring you in.

What are you hearing?

[14:59:53] NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're just getting this information as it comes into us right now. We're seeing on the Twitter account of Arkansas State University that the campus is currently on lockdown. I just got off the phone with Department of Emergency Management there in the state of Arkansas. They are responding as well. What they can tell us is that earlier this afternoon, an individual was spotted on campus after crashing into a barrier --