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CNN NEWSROOM

Baltimore Police: Stolen Drugs Fueling Unrest; Serial Shooter in Colorado; Jeb Bush to Announce on June 15; Rick Perry Announces Candidacy Today. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 4, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:29:50] ED NORRIS, FORMER BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: It should be unnecessary. This is a fairly big police department per capita. It's a well-trained police department. They should be able to handle this.

The problem is if people aren't stopping people in the street and taking guns away from people that are willing to carry them illegally and shoot other people, if they carry them freely, you're going to have a tremendous spike in crime. It's exactly what you're seeing now.

I mean part of it is fueled by the stolen drugs because now you've got guys just opening up their own markets on their own and there is competition. The fact is if police aren't stopping people and they are afraid to challenge people with pistols, they are going to use them and they've used them quite a bit in May.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You know, the police union -- the police union held a presser, too, I guess it was right before Commissioner Batts' press conference. But the union's press conference wasn't about the crime wave, it was about how commanders handled officer safety during the riots. Isn't that a little off topic in light of what's happening in Baltimore now with the crime?

NORRIS: No. I think it's completely on this -- spot on, because the morale of the police department is important, the position police officers take. You've got to remember, police officers are not supervised extremely closely in the field. They have a sergeant on patrol that supervises them but doesn't ride with them.

It's just as easy to be the fifth car to a call as it is the first. If people aren't racing to get there, not being aggressive out there because they feel unsupported and they're put in danger during the riots and were told not to engage and things like that -- it carries over to now. I think that's what you see going on.

COSTELLO: Is there any answer? Do you just sit back and let Baltimore burn?

NORRIS: No, absolutely not. They have got to regain the confidence and leadership of the police department. The police have to feel confident that when they step up to do their jobs, they're not going to be the subject of political prosecutions.

COSTELLO: How can that be done?

NORRIS: I don't have a quick answer for that. That's a reservoir of goodwill that needs to be built up over a period of time. It's very hard to retrieve once it's lost. If they don't feel that they are protected -- the police protect community, the police leadership protects police. That's the deal. That's the social contract you make. They go out and risk their lives. We need to protect them when things get dicey. If they feel that's not being done, they're going to behave exactly like this.

COSTELLO: Is it time for Commissioner Batts to step down or step aside?

Norris: That's a union question. I mean people -- I've heard that and people are very unhappy within the police department but that's certainly something that I'll leave to the union.

COSTELLO: You have no opinion on that whatsoever?

NORRIS: Well, I don't know, you know, exactly what's going on with the command staff. There's so much disinformation coming out. If in fact there was an order to stand and the other officers are hurt because of that then I'd say yes, maybe so.

But I'm not sure that's true yet. So it's just so hard to know given all the misinformation that's been given out there. I've heard people tell me they were told not to engage the rioters, absolutely positively in order to stand down. Commissioner Batts said that's actually untrue. That did not happen. So you know, I also like to give the police commissioner the benefit of the doubt in this situations if I don't know first-hand that it didn't happen.

COSTELLO: Ok. So if you had a crystal ball and you're looking into it right now, what's in store for the future of Baltimore? Will the crime wave continue to get worse? Will they figure it out? What's going to happen?

NORRIS: Well, I think they can continue to get worse. This is not tolerable. As I said, this is the deadliest month we've had since 1972, the city is two-thirds the size of what it was in '72. So this cannot continue. This is just unacceptable for any American city. Something has to be done immediately. They are going to have to do radical things. They are going to have to step up and get the confidence back of the rank and file.

COSTELLO: When you say radical things. What radical things? What radical things?

NORRIS: You have to do some radical things. I mean when I was here I'd do things, plant the flag. I go out the place where there were, you know, series of violence. I'd go out there with the command vehicle. I'd be out there in the face of all the drug dealers. We will be out there stopping people.

Legally, we'd stop a lot of people, take a lot of guns off the street, be extraordinarily proactive and you send a message. I just had a guy call the radio show the other day, identified himself as a drug dealer and made a joke, you know how glad we are that you're on the radio now because we felt the pressure. They need to feel the pressure because they can feel it. Criminals can feel pressure from the police. They can feel when it's a prize.

COSTELLO: Yes, but the police in Baltimore aren't willing to apply that pressure any longer. They're not willing to get into the face of anyone at the moment.

NORRIS: Well, leadership comes from the top. The command has got to step out there. They have to command and do it and actually supervise people and say we're taking this corner, we're taking this neighborhood back. That's what it may take but they have to do it. You can't stand back and you can't you know, be reticent with civil unrest. You can't be reticent in your day to day policing. They have to step out there. If it takes a major to step up and say, hey, challenge those guys, walk over there, that's what needs to be done, but they have to do something really radical and really quickly.

COSTELLO: Ed Norris, thanks for your insight, I appreciate it.

A Cleveland police officer who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of two unarmed African-Americans now faces assault charges. Authorities say Officer Michael Brelo got into a fight with his twin brother during a night of drinking. He'll be arraigned on June 10th. Police say the brawl happened may 27th, just four days after Brelo was found not guilty in the deaths of Timothy Russell and Melissa Williams. After a 22 mile car chase Brelo climbed onto the hood of their car and fired 15 times through the windshield. A judge ruled Brelo reasonably feared for his life.

[10:35:04] Still to come in the NEWSROOM cops in Colorado investigating whether the shooting of a biker is linked to a serial sniper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:39:37] COSTELLO: Is there a serial sniper on the loose in northern Colorado? Police investigated the death of a 65-year-old man last night and a possible link to two other recent shootings. CNN's Ana Cabrera is in Centennial, Colorado with more. Good morning.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol. This is such a mystery. That latest shooting you mentioned happened last night in Loveland, Colorado which is about an hour north of Denver. The 65-year-old man was found lying on the sidewalk. He was bleeding. Investigators determined he had been shot and he died from his injuries.

And now the investigation is on into whether his shooting death is linked to a couple of other shootings that happened in the last six weeks in the same region that are still unsolved. We know there was a cyclist who was killed in Windsor, Colorado just last month. And at the very end of April there was a woman who was driving on I-25, the main north-south interstate in Colorado, and she was shot in the neck. She survived. Now investigators linked those two shootings, the bicyclist and

woman shot in the neck through ballistic evidence. They formed a task force in order to investigate that shooting including the FBI and several local jurisdictions in Northern Colorado. At this point they don't have a suspect. They are offering a $12,000 reward for information that will help crack the case. Now another shooting in the same region all within about 15 miles of each other and had a lot of people wondering whether that could be linked to these other shootings that have happened recently -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ana Cabrera reporting live for us this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, another Republican throws his hat into the Presidential race. But could a new endorsement sway some voters. We'll talk about that, next.

But first, on an all-new episode of "Somebody's Got to Do It" Mike Rowe gets his head inside one of the biggest collector item in the world, the Bobblehead doll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the realtime comes into play, I think the details the eyes -- painting details and eyes.

MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST: That's the hardest thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sparkle in the eye and the color in the eye, it takes a lot of time to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: what I'm doing right now. It's just trying to make the hat look a little bit older.

ROWE: Distressed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't wear nice clean hats.

ROWE: I don't wear nice clean anything. They do appear to sparkle. They are a little red this morning. Just a little bit of white.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a little bit white. That's all it is. I use toothpicks, my secret weapon.

ROWE: You're going to put a toothpick in my eye.

Had you ever personally owned a bobblehead?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually have one of me and my husband. It was for our wedding as a gift.

ROWE: From here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. From here.

That's my father-in-law.

ROWE: Warren's your father-in-law?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry about that.

ROWE: Warren.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have a copy of that bobblehead. This is Rachel and my son Brandon this is the picture we worked from. There are perks to being in the bobblehead business.

ROWE: No kidding. It's all about who you know.

(voice-over): Watching Rachel, I realized just how much work is involved with creating a mini me. Surely there must be a short-cut. When it comes to reproducing them, does each one have to be individually hand --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each one is individually hand done.

ROWE: Is that just in my case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in every case. If we're doing 10,000 pieces, you got to --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're all hand painted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to hand paint 10,000 pieces.

ROWE: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I have a bobblehead of me and my husband, too. Watch Mike bobble tonight on "Somebody's has got to do it", 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:36] COSTELLO: This morning we learned the date when Jeb Bush will formally announce his candidacy. That will be June 15th. It is the next step in a campaign that's been ramping up all year long. It appears to make his formal candidacy virtually inevitable. The former Florida governor, will also focus on shoring up support. Once considered a likely front-runner, he has seen much of the excitement shift to Senator Marco Rubio -- a fellow politician Floridian and a politician that Bush has long mentored.

Another announcement is just a couple of hours away -- that would be former Texas Governor Rick Perry. He will become the tenth candidate to enter the crowded GOP field. It's his second time in the ring. Four years ago he was frontrunner at one point, ultimately he flamed out. No one is ruling him out this time.

A CBS news and "New York Times" all from last month. 39 percent of registered Republicans said they would consider supporting him. 25 percent said no. Significantly a full one third of registered Republicans say they don't know enough about Mr. Perry to make up their mind. My next guest knows Rick Perry very well and she wants to win him those it's undecideds.

Taya Kyle is the widow of Navy SEAL Chris of Kyle, widow of Chris Kyle of "American sniper" fame. Taya, welcome.

Taya Kyle, widow of Chris Kyle: Hi, thank you for having me. Thanks for being here. Rick Perry will officially announce at the airport, that's where you are now. He'll be surrounded by veterans. You'll be there obviously. Why?

KYLE: No, really I've always thought I didn't really want to get into politics and I still don't, but I do feel I have an obligation to stand up for people who I believe in and for their character. I think that with politics, one of the things I get frustrated is because it with and one of the reasons I don't want to be involved is because I think that people make a lot of decisions based on sound bites or two second or ten second increments and I feel it's more important to vote for somebody because of their character. That's what I know of the Perrys. I know their character.

COSTELLO: But like you say, the world of politics can be nasty. Are you ready for that?

KYLE: I really don't think that I'm saying anything controversial. I don't think that I'm really even taking a stand. I think that what I'm doing is seeing that I know the Perrys. What that they are a good people who have a strong moral compass. I know that they've showed kindness, they have an expected perfection from people. I know that they have experience in love military and they do things without looking for credit, which I find so refreshing and so unique.

[10:50:03] And then the business speaks for itself. The state of Texas is doing so well economically that I just -- you know, I feel an obligation, truly, to let other people know the way I would want to know. I want to know people's character. I don't think we get enough of that when we're looking at politics and trying to decide who to vote for. So that's what I'm here to represent.

COSTELLO: I think we tend to focus on the negative so I'll ask you this question. Rick Perry's infamous oops moment during a primary debate. What should voters know about that?

KYLE: Honestly, that's kind of one of those things that I just look at and shake my head and am disappointed with the fact this country we tend to be the sound bite nation. We're making really big decisions based on a five second or ten second period of time instead of really looking at who is the man, who is the woman, who is the leader that we need and who do they answer to.

I love the fact that these -- I love the fact that Rick Perry is human. And I can relate. And I can say that I have not known a powerful business person who hasn't had a moment of saying something or tripping over their words. I think every news person has had it, I think every leader has had it. It's a matter of what our media in this country decides to share and make a big deal of. I feel that that's the least of our worries.

COSTELLO: There's been a lot of talk about Governor Perry's glasses. CNN's Sarah Murray asked Anita Perry -- Mr. Perry's wife about them. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Your husband has spent a lot of time brushing up on policy. I think the biggest outward sense we've gotten is his new look.

He's got these glasses that have gotten a lot of attention. What do you think. Did he need a new image?

ANITA PERRY, WIFE OF RICK PERRY: No, he needed the glasses to see. I mean this really just tickles me. It makes me laugh. He needed those glasses from a childhood injury from when he was 16 or 17 years old. The vision in one eye deteriorated to such that he had to have the glasses. So I picked them out.

MURRAY: You picked them out.

BERMAN: Really I like him without glasses but he had to have them to see. So he studied with some of the best we have some great people on our team. Some great strategist and consultants.

Like (INAUDIBLE) and Eppie McCloskey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You know Anita, I kind of liked her answers. She's really tough. What do you say.

KYLE: I mean that's what I love. A really truly season. she's a woman who I feel has grace and class and kindness, she's nobody's fool. She's also one of the most humble, wonderful people I've met in that I can call her and ask her for her advice and she will make the time. She's there. She gives me very sound advice and it's very realistic, practical responses. I think that's kind of what you had. There are a lot of different responses to that question. She's keeping it real. Her husband needed to see. She's a stylish woman, she went out and picked him out some glasses.

To me that's very comforting, a man and woman, married couple, that's what I think going back in the day, that's what we used to vote for. We used to vote for people who were just good people and family and character. That's what we used to vote for. I'm hoping as a country we get back to that instead of getting sidetracked by all kinds of, you know, silliness or political twistings or some of that negative stuff that I think we see a lot of.

Taya Kyle, thanks so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

Kyle: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, two must see rescues, one is real bull.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:50] COSTELLO: Two daring rescues both caught on camera. Those needing saving however just a little different. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a tale of two rescues -- man and beast.

First the man, a Frenchman wearing a helmet cam. He was skiing last behind his friends in the Swiss Alps when the snow swallowed him up.

Benjamin Spilthooren fell once and then once again, into a crevasse.

BENJAMIN SPILTHOOREN, SKIER TRAPPED IN CREVASSE: I was the hole, a big, dark hole. And I was very scared.

MOOS: He started yelling "help" in French.

But once he was able to secure himself from falling further using an ice screw, Benjamin calmed down. His fingers were too cold to use them to whistle properly.

Less than 20 minutes after he fell in, Benjamin heard what turned out to be another group of skiers near the crevasse.

"Can you hear me? I'm here."

They did. And down came a rope -- which brings us to another rope, another rescue.

While Benjamin used his rope to climb out, the bull on the end of this rope resisted. A half ton pit bull named Boy fell into an old well overnight in Fulton County, Georgia. They dug a ramp so Boy could walk out but he refused.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's taking a nap right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He thinks he's at the Hilton because he brought him water and food and now, he's laying there.

MOOS: Within half an hour of his fall, Benjamin was reaching for the hand of a Swiss guide to help him out.

(on camera): What is the first thing you said?

SPILTHOOREN: Thank you, thank you very much.

MOOS (voice-over): Benjamin was choppered out, uninjured, while a news chopper hovered above Boy the bull. After being in the well ten hours, a large animal rescue team finally hoisted him out with a crane and this tale of two rescues, the one with the tail seemed a lot less grateful.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: He's just saying I'm out of here. So am I, actually. Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.