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NEW DAY

Santorum Makes It Official; Bernie Sanders Holds First Major Rally; Appeals Court Blocks Immigration Action; DOJ and Cleveland Agree To Police Reforms; Pizza Hut And Taco Bell To Remove Artificial Ingredients. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 27, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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


CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, no. If you talk to my wife, my nickname at home is Pigpen. You know how that guy kind of has a cloud around him? That's me. This is the only cloud in the state, and it's right over me right now, so you can't see out the background.

This is the observatory that will be the centerpiece of Lower Manhattan. And for that matter Manhattan in general.

[07:30:04] This is so far way and above what we've seen from other high-sky observatories in the city.

Now, I know that what you can see here on shots that we took earlier before the cloud came in because pigpen showed up, it is a beautiful view from 360 degrees, three different floors, restaurants, the observatory will open to the public on Friday.

Now, there's a reverence to the place as well though. When you walk in here, your skin and your hair kind of stands up on end, you kind of get goose bumps to realize where you were -- where you are right now, what was standing just to the south of here just years ago.

And so as you walk in here it's all of the sudden you feel kind of a connection to the city even if you're not from the city. I stood on top of the World Trade Center in 1986 looking at the new revealed Statue of Liberty.

And I stand here today although I'm not outside, this is an inside observatory with still the awe that this place was built from.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: What a tremendous view. What a tremendous feeling that you shared with us there. We can't leave you without mentioning the pigpen aspect. So you're going to stay there for a little bit. Does it look as though it will clear? We'd love to see a shot from there if the cloud lifts.

MYERS: Yes, I'll go upstate, I'll go as far as I can and this will clear out and you'll be able to see.

PEREIRA: Chad, thank you for this. This is very, very special, extraordinary day and I know so many people anxious to see this.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It was so important for the tower not just to be rebuilt, but to be bigger and better than ever because of what it represents.

PEREIRA: Big statement.

CUOMO: Because of why it needed to be rebuilt in the first place, it is -- I've been up there.

PEREIRA: Majestic.

CUOMO: It is gorgeous. It's worth going. The museum underneath it is amazing, a reminder of what we've lived through and what we hope for the days ahead.

PEREIRA: Standing strong.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, chad captured that sentiment so well.

PEREIRA: He really did.

CUOMO: Jinxed it.

CAMEROTA: Even though he's causing the clouds apparently.

CUOMO: Jinxed it.

All right, let's get to "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY with Mr. John King. How are you, my brother?

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": I'm doing great. I'm going to take you Mr. Cuomo or one of you beautiful ladies with me to play Powerball, not Mr. Chad Myers.

I want to echo your point I've been there and down at the museum, and it's a great place. All Americans should try to get there if they can.

Let's go "Inside Politics" this morning, a very busy day, a lot to talk about. With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast" and Olivier Knox of Yahoo! News.

Let's start with Rick Santorum. He's going to make it official today and a lot of people say, well, he's at 1 percent or 2 percent in the national polls so forget about him.

But remember he was at 1 percent or 2 percent last time when he ran in 2012 in Iowa and he turned out to win Iowa, went on to win 11 states in the 2012 cycle. Mitt Romney was the nominee, but he did a 99-county tour. He came from nowhere in Iowa.

Should we take him seriously this time or because Huckabee's running again maybe Ted Cruz, is Rick Santorum finding a hard time finding his lane this time?

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": That's the thing. There are a lot more people occupying Rick Santorum's space in the race, who are actually great candidates for that side of the Republican Party. What Rick Santorum is going to need another billionaire benefactor like he had last time? We don't know if he's going to have that.

OLIVIER KNOX, "YAHOO! NEWS": We also don't know whether this cycle will turn into the dynamic of the last cycle where we had Romney and a plausible not Romney every couple of weeks. I don't know whether Rick Santorum in this kind of crowded field is going to get the same kind of bump.

KING: He works hard, though. I would say don't discount him. Everyone discounted him last time and he did the shoe leather work. You talk about the money. He does need the new fashioned money, but he does work hard the old fashioned way so watch that one.

Bernie Sanders was already in, but he did the big kickoff rally yesterday. Let's begin a conversation, but here's a little flavor of what Bernie Sanders wants to bring to the Democratic race for president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today with your support and the support of millions of people throughout our country, we begin a political revolution to transform our country economically, politically, socially and environment tally.

The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage and must be raised. As I look to our future it is clear to me that the United States of America must lead the world in reversing climate change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Number one, it's great to have a Brooklyn accent in the race. I think that's important. Interesting he makes clear he's not going to do personal attacks. I think that's a signal don't look to him to be a hatchet guy against Hillary Clinton who's the prohibitive front runner.

But he wants to press her whether minimum wage or climate change, he's making clear that he wants a feisty debate about some pretty important issues.

KUCINICH: He is occupying the space Elizabeth Warren feasibly would have occupied if she had run. If you're looking for a hatchet guy I think that's going to be Martin O'Malley, who's going to get in over the weekend. Bernie Sanders really is taking this progressive position and he doesn't want it getting clouded by personal attacks.

KNOX: I think we're going to see definition of personal attack because he's really sharp on the stump about millionaires and billionaires and about trade. And he's already gone after the Clinton record on trade.

[07:35:04] He's described President Obama's Trans Pacific partnership as just another part of a NAFTA and Chinese trade, which of course, are Clinton era trade deals. He's going to come after her pretty hard, I think just might not be personal.

KING: I think the question is if he starts to move, if you see him moving in the Iowa polls does he get a bit more personal? Does he draw more daily and repeated contrast if he sees some momentum out there?

I think that's the interesting thing to watch about Bernie Sanders as he starts to get going. Today in South Carolina Hillary Clinton will be there so will Carly Fiorina. She's the Republican business executive running for the Republican nomination.

She is going to do an event outside of Hillary Clinton's hotel to take questions from reporters. It's a bit of a stunt, but she's trying to draw attention to the fact that I'm willing to take questions every day.

Hillary Clinton is running these small isolated events. Let's look at the cover of the "New Yorker." A lot of people are talking about this, a bunch of guys in a locker room.

You see Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, and as a woman looking in the door of the locker room, the "New Yorker" says that's meant to be Hillary Clinton.

Is it fair or just a little humor that Carly Fiorina is not viewed here as a serious contender? Rick Santorum's not in that locker room. John Kasich is not that locker room.

KUCINICH: You know, I don't think that locker room prohibits her from getting into the race, but I do think this is interesting. You've seen her do this. I'm comparing myself to Hillary Clinton's strategy over and over she started with foreign policy.

And she's continuing with the transparency question. So I think, you know, Hillary she's trying to put her name with Hillary Clinton as much as possible maybe to raise that name id.

KNOX: And why not get the media to give her a second look and third look and fourth look and fifth look, and why not do it this way where you know there's a traveling press corps with Hillary Clinton. Why not hijack that press corps?

KUCINICH: They're going to be bored.

KNOX: Right, exactly. We are going to be maybe in the same area code as Hillary Clinton. I think it's a pretty clever move.

KING: And also remember how important South Carolina is to Hillary Clinton. That is where after Barack Obama in 2008 won Iowa, Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire, South Carolina is where the African- American vote kicked in for then-Senator Obama.

There were some tensions with the Clintons. Nia Malika Henderson -- go to cnnpolitics.com, a great piece about Hillary Clinton's effort to rebuild that support among African-Americans there. Let's close with this, the president suffered another setback

yesterday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals saying, whoa, putting a freeze essentially on the executive actions he tried to impose on immigration. That's a huge issue for the president likely now to go to the Supreme Court.

We could talk about Obamacare before the Supreme Court. Some of the climate change decisions were making way through the courts. Same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court, how much of what we will say about this president in five or ten years will be determined by the Supreme Court? Not the Congress or in some ways not even the American people.

KUCINICH: It shows what the gridlock in Congress has done. It pretty much put the ball in the court of the Supreme Court. I don't know what happened there. Sorry guys. So I think that's where you're hearing a lot from these candidates about judicial activism. But it's not their fault.

KING: They actually do have a court at the Supreme Court, a basketball court. You're right on top of that one.

KNOX: Answer these questions a lot obviously. These are all legacy defining moments and if they all get to the Supreme Court and we get a final decision, a lot of his legacy's going to be bound up with those nine people in black robes.

KING: Speaker Boehner celebrating this decision yesterday saying the president said himself 22 times he did not have the authority to take the very action on immigration that he took. So the Republicans are celebrating this because they want to get into court, but do they win in the long run?

If you look at the demographics of presidential elections, if this issue is still being debated and litigated in our politics when we get to October 2016, you can make a case that if you look at Florida even, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia.

A lot of states out there where the Latino vote could be the key decisive vote and in the last two cycles overwhelmingly to the Democrats.

KUCINICH: Depends on the tone. It really depends on how they talk about the issue. They are talking about legality. That's going to be a better message for them than some of the other things -- some more unfriendly language let's say.

KNOX: Sure. And a court agrees with us is not a terrible message to take into a campaign, but I think this might be the last cycle where the Republicans can thread that needle.

KING: All right, we'll see what happens. As we get back to you, Alisyn, in New York we talked about the Rand Paul campaign store a couple weeks ago, which have some great t-shirts there. If you're a Rand Paul supporter, you just like political memorabilia and also oddly sell flip-flops. I'm not sure why any politician is selling flip-flops.

The Hillary Clinton campaign store is in the news these days and you can get a one-sie with a Hillary logo. That's a cute baby. Pantsuit up, I don't know about that and a throw pillow where the woman's place is in the White House.

I don't know about your political buying tendencies, Alisyn. We were talking beforehand and Olivier wrote a great piece about this. He got it reposted for us on Twitter about campaigns don't this just to sell you a throw pillow.

They do this to get your name, your address, your credit card. It's smart by campaigns. If you want that stuff, great, guess what, buy a pillow, they'll be back at you for more money.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for alerting me to that, John. I was just going to get a presidential chatz key, but I'm now will think twice about that.

KING: Delete the follow-up e-mail.

[07:40:09] CAMEROTA: You got it. All right, thanks so much, John. Great to see you.

Well, six months after Cleveland police shot and killed 12-year- old Tamir Rice, the city takes a major step towards reform. Is it enough? We'll speak with the attorney for the Rice family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Fact, the Cleveland Police Department has problems and must change. That is the order by the Department of Justice this consent decree comes five months after the DOJ found a pattern of, quote, "unreasonable and unnecessary use of force within the Cleveland P.D."

Six months after the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. That case also looms large now in terms of how the community will receive these changes as progress. What happens in that case may mean just as much.

That's why we have Benjamin Crump, attorney for the family of Tamir Rice, joining us now this morning from Washington, D.C. Counsel, as always a pleasure to have you on.

The Tamir Rice case very big, but let's start with the headline this morning.

[07:45:04] Do you, does the family, does the community appreciate what has come down from the DOJ? Do they believe in this as positive change?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF TAMIR RICE: Well, Chris, that's a good first step, but we have to remember that the Violent Crime Act of 1994 gave the Justice Department the legal authority to review local police departments that they believe engaged in a pattern of practice of excessive force. So it's been a little over a decade now and we have to ask

ourselves is it getting better or is it getting worse as it relates to the killing of unarmed people of color by law enforcement officers.

CUOMO: Now, what do you think about the Brelo case? That obviously taking place there to remind people it was where the officer really over a dozen officers were involved with shooting two people, who wound up being unarmed in a car.

Brelo himself wound up jumping on the hood of their car unloading almost an entire clip into the car and he wound up being brought up on manslaughter charges. Now, other police officers were, but the judge in the case decided he was not guilty. Your take?

CRUMP: Well, Chris, as we talked before in Ferguson and many times before until we do something about the sanctioning of killings of unarmed people of color by the people, who are supposed to protect and serve them, the community is going to have no trust that the system is fair and that it works for everybody in America.

So we have to address that and you have to say that was just shocking that nobody was held accountable in that tragedy that by killed by so many police officers and not one officer held accountable for anything.

CUOMO: Right. Here's the thing. Ben, we've talked about this a lot. Just because something feels wrong doesn't mean that it will be wrong under the law. I have to tell you this Judge O'Donnell who wrote the journal entry decision in that case, it is worth a read.

Yes, it's like 35, 40 pages. But he goes through that he understands what the community's dealing with, that he has to drive past the stuffed animals that are out there for Tamir Rice and he knows people are angry.

But the law is the law and it's about whether the facts meet the definitions of punishment under the law. And he said the Brelo case did not because you couldn't prove that the officer was driven to kill these people out of anything other than fear of his own life. You don't accept that?

CRUMP: Well, whether it's Eric Garner or all these other cases across America, they come up with technical justifications not to hold police officers accountable. What we need is real consequences for real life fatalities.

That's people in our community, our children, our brothers being killed and whether it's judges or prosecutors say we're going to justify. So in essence they're sanctioning it, Chris. You can try to, you know, technically justify anything you want.

But at the end of the day is anybody ever going to be held accountable for killing an unarmed person of color in America?

CUOMO: Well, we see people held accountable. We just saw what happened in Baltimore where the prosecutor there -- CRUMP: They were charged. Nobody's been convicted.

CUOMO: Well, that's what I'm saying. That's the process, right? Often the criticism is the process doesn't even begin. Accountability begins with something being recognized as something that's worthy of investigation and then worthy of action. The prosecutor there made that move. But ultimately you don't want to see someone get convicted because it makes someone happy, right?

CRUMP: You want due process of the law. You want equal justice. You want the same thing that happened to anybody who breaks the law just as if they are from our community when we are charged, you know, they charge and convicted very quickly, but then when the son lying dead on the street the rules are just different.

So as we get ready to look at Tamir Rice, we're going to see if this decent decree is just words on paper or if they're really going to address the fact you're not going to blame a 12-year-old child for his death.

Remember the answer was Tamir Rice is responsible for his own death because he should have been more cautious. And the fact that they claimed they told him three times to put his hands up and drop the weapon, but when you see the surveillance video come out you say that's impossible.

So the real thing is, are they going to be truthful about it? Are they going to admit there were mistakes made and not try to cover it up? And the crux of the matter is this, Chris, why should the federal government have to have police departments sign a piece of paper sand that they won't pissed (inaudible) people and they would tell the truth.

CUOMO: I understand that point and to be sure the Tamir Rice case, a 12-year-old boy, has a lot of eyes on it for all the right reasons. And we'll monitor the situation. Final word, Counsel.

[07:50:06] CRUMP: Community leaders and everybody is vested, like Pastor Vernon and others have to be stakeholders in this, because we have to make, the powers that be in this city have to make everybody own up to the consent decree.

CUOMO: Understood. Ben Crump, thank you very much. We'll be following the case very closely -- Mich.

PEREIRA: All right, thanks so much, Chris. A big development in fast-food, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, trying to keep it real now, we are going to tell you what the fast-food chains are taking out of some of your favorite meals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right, money time, chief business correspondent, Christina Romans, here for today's "NEW DAY, New You." And we are talking about fast-food going natural, interesting. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Big trend, you guys, Yum Brands cutting out artificial ingredients. It starts with Pizza Hut, all fake flavors and colors will be gone by the end of July. Taco Bell will do the same by the end of the year.

Plus Taco Bell is getting rid of trans-fat. They are following a lead of Panera Bread, Chipotle, Subway and others, all trying to appeal to consumers hungry but a bump for more natural options.

Companies are taking ingredients out or they are buying their way into the healthy game. Hormel is buying Applegate Farms, that's right. The maker of Spam wants to own a natural and organic meat company.

[07:55:07] General Mills, Campbell Soup and others have bought organics and natural brands too. Millennials want simple, more natural ingredients even in their junk food and fast-food giants see dollar signs in that customer based.

But here is a little tip. Moving the artificial flavor doesn't make a deep dish pizza on its own more helpful if you're eating an awful lot of deep dish pizza, a balanced diet, of course, and moderation is still the name of the game.

CAMEROTA: I thought it was going to be a salad. That's too bad. All right, thanks so much.

All right, we want to tell you the breaking news because the death toll rises in Texas and Oklahoma, and more than a dozen people still missing. We will talk with a man whose daughter-in-law and grandchildren are lost in the floods.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some homes completely gone, nothing left but the concrete slab.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just breaking apart and flowing down the river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Must have been terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and tax evasion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The U.S. is making arrests in a corruption case involving FIFA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The battle to retake Ramadi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an issue of leadership not of will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS will not prevail here because they don't have a message over the course of years that will resonate with population.

SANDERS: I am proud to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.

CAMEROTA: The race for president about to get more crowded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Democratic field needs a little bit of competition. We've got plenty on the Republican side.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, May 27th, 8:00 in the east. Deadly floods are changing communities and taking lives.