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CNN NEWSROOM
Rep. Trey Radel to Rehab, Not Stepping Down; Florida Sheriff May Be Sued by Parents of Alleged Cyber-Bullies; FAA Looking at Allowing Cell Phones on Flights; Teen "Knockout Game" Hurts Random Victims; NFL Announcement of Gay Players Stalled
Aired November 21, 2013 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Florida Congressman Trey Radel.
Busted for trying to buy cocaine, he's headed to rehab instead of jail. Vowing to be a better man, he admitted to an addiction. He apologized to his family and to his constituents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPRESENTATIVE TREY RADEL (R), FLORIDA: I have let down our country. I've let down our constituents, I've let down my family, including my wife, and even though he doesn't know it, I've let down my 2-year-old son.
I have been getting the help I need, and I will continue to get the help I need, and the support system I need for years to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A court has placed him on one year probation, as part of the whole plea deal. His salary, he's donating it to charity.
As for his office, it will stay open, Radel giving no indication he has any plan to resign.
So, joining me now, Josh Barro, politics editor for "Business Insider," and John Avlon, CNN political analyst, with the Newsweek/Daily Beast.
So, Josh, I have to begin with you, because we were all talking about the piece you wrote, and here's the thing, you say.
The crux of your message is that he doesn't need to apologize to his constituents, doesn't need to apologize to Americans.
But this is an elected member of the U.S. government. He committed a crime. He tried buying this illegal drug.
Why doesn't he need to apologize and then some?
JOSH BARRO, POLITICS EDITOR, "BUSINESS INSIDER": Who did he harm? I mean, he committed a crime, but the crime he committed shouldn't be a crime.
We haven't seen any evidence that his cocaine use or any other of his outside hobbies have negatively impacted his job performance.
I think you can look at someone like Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, who clearly has a substance abuse problem that's interfering with his official duties --
BALDWIN: But it's an illegal --
BARRO: As far as I can tell --
BALDWIN: Wouldn't you have issues with your job if you were caught doing this? I'm say saying.
BARRO: Well, that would be between me and my employer, but I think, you know, looking at the government as a public employer, I don't care about my public officials, what they do in the off time, so long as it's not something that affects their job performance.
BALDWIN: John, here's the bigger-picture question I have, though, to you is that, are we a forgiving constituency when it comes to, let's say, somebody's behavior when it comes to sex, think of Bill Clinton. Perhaps when it comes to drugs? I mean --
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah.
BALDWIN: What do you think of this?
AVLON: Well, you know, there's no question we have become more permissive and forgiving as a society about politicians' peccadilloes, probably thanks largely to Bill Clinton, who really made the case in the wake of Monica Lewinsky that this was a personal failing that didn't affect his job performance.
And we bought that at the presidential level.
But drugs, getting busted for cocaine, is a totally different arena. It's somewhat uncharted territory for a member of Congress.
And we've had a hell of a week of it with Mayor McCrack up in Toronto, who almost makes this Florida congressman look good.
But look, Josh is making a point based on his belief that drugs should be legalized. I appreciate that point.
But given that drugs aren't legalized and given that this guy swore to uphold the law, and more importantly, committed -- voted, for example, to have food stamp recipients be drug tested, that smacks of hypocrisy.
And in some ways the worst sin here, and that's the --
BALDWIN: Josh, respond to that.
BARRO: Absolutely, it is hypocritical, and he shouldn't have voted to submit food stamp recipients to drug testing, but he shouldn't have voted for that because it's a bad policy.
It's actually quite expensive. Very few of the tests come back positive. He didn't have a special obligation as somebody who uses cocaine to vote no on that. Every member of Congress should have voted against that.
I think we obsess a little bit too much about hypocrisy. We should look, instead, at people's job performance, look at what they're doing to serve the country, and, you know, I think we need to evaluate whether this is actually negatively impacting on the job he's doing for his constituents, rather than just criticizing him because we have some sort of objection to this personal behavior.
BALDWIN: John Avlon, looking at the recent past, the distant past, when it turns to -- I don't know -- member of Congress getting in trouble, let's say drugs specifically, help explain to people why he wasn't suspended immediately.
We're talking one-year probation. This is what he got from the judge, but was this not a crime?
AVLON: Well, because the -
BALDWIN: Oh, darn, I hate it when that happens on live TV.
So, Josh, let's go to you.
BARRO: Yeah, well, I mean, it was a misdemeanor in the District of Columbia. There's some states, like Florida, where I'm sitting -
BALDWIN: Could've been much worse, right.
BARRO: -- right now, where it would have been a felony.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
BARRO: But because it's a misdemeanor, because he's not going to jail, my understanding is that he does not have to leave office, and he can come back when he's done with his rehab, and then the residents of his district will decide whether to send him back for another term.
BALDWIN: OK, sorry. I had somebody in my ear telling me John Avlon was back, just like that, magic.
OK, let's just leave it there. Let's call it a day.
Josh Barro and John Avlon, thank you so much for joining me, both.
BARRO: Thank you.
AVLON: Take care, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Guess it's up to the constituents whether or not they want to accept that mea culpa.
Coming up, have you seen this? People are calling it "The Knockout Game," teens punching random people in the face, and recording it.
What's going on? Is this truly a horrific trend? Is it a bunch of hype? We'll talk about that.
And charges were dropped against those two teenage girls accused of bullying a Florida teen who later committed suicide.
After being accused of a crime like that and having the charges dropped, now their faces plastered all over, what happens next for them? We're "On the Case."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Criminal charges against 13- and 14-year-old girls accused of bullying a classmate to her death are dropped.
So these girls were charged with aggravated stalking in the case of Rebecca Sedwick.
Rebecca was all of 12 when she jumped to her death at an abandoned concrete plant.
The sheriff who filed the charges says he has no regrets, but he may not be off the hook when it comes to being sued, because an attorney representing one of these young girls says he should lawyer up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE BAEZ, ATTORNEY: Sheriff Grady Judd wanted to give me legal advice on how to practice law. Well, I've got some advice for him. He should get a lawyer and a darn good one because he's going to need it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
