This Week with George Stephanopoulos – May 3, 2015

Guests:

Jim Avila

Pierre Thomas

TJ Holmes

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

Dan Abrams

Ray Kelly – Fmr. NYC Police Commissioner

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Stephen A. Smith

Jeremy Schaap

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Stephanopoulos: OMG it's calm in

Baltimore but there were riots before

Stephanopoulos: there was a baseball

game with no fans – usually you

have to go a Mets game for that

Avila: it's mostly peaceful here

in Baltimore but at night it's a different world

Stephanopoulos: it's a hot time 

summer in the city

Avila: then a young prosecutor said

she would charge cops with murder

Stephanopoulos: oooh

Avila: protesters saying for

once marching actually worked

Avila: the police union says

there was a rush to judgment 

which is what they always say 

when they arrest someone

Stephanopoulos: of course

Avila: they want another prosecutor

but Mosby is all like 'no way dudes'

Stephanopoulos: welcome

Representative Cummings

Cummings: hi George

Stephanopoulos: how is Baltimore doing?

Cummings: we had a tragic death

and riots but its been mostly peaceful

Stephanopoulos: will there be more

riots if the cops are not convicted?

Cummings: this prosecutor

knows what she is doing

Stephanopoulos: how do we prevent

more riots which terrify white people

Cummings: we need offer

jobs and hope to young people

Stephanopoulos: what else?

Cummings: we need address

police brutality and abuse of power

Stephanopoulos: Baltimore never

recovered from the riots of 1968

Cummings: we're all going to have

to work together to fix Baltimore

Stephanopoulos: how do you do that?

Cummings: young people feel

trapped and hopeless

Stephanopoulos: okay thanks for coming

[ break ]

Stephanopoulos: Pierre Thomas

what's the news with police abuse?

Thomas: Ferguson. Eric Garner.

Cleveland South Carolina. Freddie Gray

Stephanopoulos: I hear you Pierre

Thomas: a combination of unemployment

and poverty and abuse by cops can

spark a firestorm in any city in America

Cop: we don't shoot that many people!

Cop: right - what about all

the times we don't kill people?

Cop: it's not all our fault –

poverty and tough on crime

policies come from the top

Cop: they don't see cops

as humans – it's so sad

[ break ]

Stephanopoulos: Dan Abrams 

should we really be charing 

cops with breaking the law?

Abrams: the prosecutor 

overreached a little bit

Stephanopoulos: what is 'murder' –

I've never heard of that charge!

Abrams: it alleges he repeatedly

never took action to help a dying man

Stephanopoulos: charging someone

with 'manslaughter' is weird what is that?

Abrams: well someone broke his spine

Stephanopoulos: the cops will

never turn on each other will they

Kelly: maybe not but you never know

Stephanopoulos: what do you

think of charging cops with a crime?

Kelly: people think the case is very weak

Stephanopoulos: which people?

Kelly: the cops I've been talking to

Stephanopoulos: oh well never mind then

Kelly: cops are very good overall

Stephanopoulos: no doubt

Kelly: but we do need body cameras

Thomas: cops need to be

trained as to when to use excessive force

Stephanopoulos: is this Obama's responsibility?

Thomas: the issue is poverty and pain

Stephanopoulos: if you say so

Thomas: there were 900 murders

in Baltimore – no one can live like that!

Stephanopoulos: welcome Senator Scott

Scott: good morning George

Stephanopoulos: is it time for a

national response to police abuse?

Scott: body cameras can help

both cops and the general public

Stephanopoulos: what about poverty?

Scott: I was once that kid flunking

out of school and now I'm a U.S. Senator

Stephanopoulos: that's impressive

Scott: education is the key –

dropping out leads to unemployment

and hopelessness

Stephanopoulos: I can see that

Scott: also Cory Booker and I

are working apprenticeship programs

Stephanopoulos: what about criminal

justice reform and mass incarceration?

Scott: Cory Booker and Lindsey Graham

and Trey Gowdy and I are working on this

Stephanopoulos: there's an eclectic group

[ break ]

Stephanopoulos: omg Mayweather

won the biggest purse ever!

Audience: and he won a belt too!

Holmes: but there was controversy

because Pacquiao had a hurt shoulder

Audience: is that all

Holmes: Mayweather is the

highest paid serial abuser of women

Holmes: fans prefer mixed martial arts

clearly finding professional boxing

too tame and mild by comparison

Holmes: if Mayweather retires is boxing

finished or will people still enjoying men

inflict brain damage on each other?

Stephanopoulos: Stephen A Smith

you just talked to Floyd Mayweather

Smith: yes my good friend

Floyd Mayweather who is my best friend

Stephanopoulos: Mike Tyson

said it wasn't a good fight

Schaap: well he can bite me

Stephanopoulos: he just might

Stephanopoulos: Manny had

a bum shoulder

Schaap: Floyd is a masterful boxer

but not a crowd pleaser

Stephanopoulos: what happens to

the sport of boxing when Floyd retires?

Smith: Americans love to see

someone punched in the head

so hard they lose consciousness

Stephanopoulos: does boxing have a future?

Schaap: no – nobody cares

Stephanopoulos: no?

Schaap: no one wants to pay $100

to see guys dance away from each

other for an hour – they can see

that for free during the GOP primaries

[ break ]

Stephanopoulos: oh wow Bernie Sanders

is running for President and he's a socialist!

Stephanopoulos: welcome Bernie

Sanders: nice to be here George

Stephanopoulos: why should

people vote for you for President?

Sanders: I'm the only one willing to

start a revolution against the billionaires

Stephanopoulos: so you're claiming

Hillary isn't revolting enough

Sanders: Hillary Clinton is part of the establishment

Stephanopoulos: so what's the problem?

Sanders: 99% of all new income

goes to the richest 1%

Stephanopoulos: so not all of it

Sanders: the top tenth of 1% have

much of the wealth as the bottom 90%

Stephanopoulos: can America actually

elect a socialist President?

Sanders: yes because socialism is

guaranteed health care, free higher

education and child care and

government working for the people

Stephanopoulos: it's so scary -
it's almost as if you want America 
to look more like Scandinavia

Sanders: that right I do

Stephanopoulos: whoa really?

Sanders: sure – they have more equality

and a strong middle class and they

are better on the environment

Stephanopoulos: maybe but it's

freezing and they eat fermented fish

Sanders: well we don't have to import everything

Stephanopoulos: you're going to

replace the all White House furniture with IKEA

Sanders: why not?

Stephanopoulos: you hate America

Sanders: why does America

have so much childhood poverty

with so many billionaires?

Stephanopoulos: not enough tax cuts?

Stephanopoulos: are you a Democrat now?

Sanders: no but I have to file

as one to run as a Democrat

Stephanopoulos: will you support

the Democratic nominee?

Sanders: yes absolutely

Stephanopoulos: what's the difference

between you and Hillary Clinton?

Sanders: the rich have to pay their

fair share instead hiding from taxes

in the Cayman islands

Stephanopoulos: what else?

Sanders: we need bold leadership

against climate change!

Stephanopoulos: go on Bernie

Sanders: I've been fighting

against big free trade agreements

Stephanopoulos: you're critical

of the Clinton foundation

Sanders: the real question is  

can any person who is not a 

billionaire win an election – it's about 

the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson

Stephanopoulos: aha – you're

comparing Hillary Clinton to

Sheldon Adelson!

Sanders: no I'm not – I'm worried

about the power of billionaires in our democracy

Stephanopoulos: billionaires are people too

Sanders: we raised $1 million in one day

Stephanopoulos: who would be

your Secretary of Treasury?

Sanders: Robert Reich

– he's a good lefty

Stephanopoulos: what about

Secretary of Defense?

Sanders: Bjorn Borg

Stephanopoulos: Attorney General?

Sanders: the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stephanopoulos: who would 

run the Federal Reserve?

Sanders: ABBA

Stephanopoulos: they had

that song 'Money Money Money'

Sanders: exactly – they can't

be worse than Greenspan

Stephanopoulos: these are all good choices

Sanders: I opposed deregulation

of Wall Street and I was right!

Stephanopoulos: who is

the real Bernie Sanders?

Sanders: he's your cranky old

Jewish socialist grandfather

who grew up poor in Brooklyn

Stephanopoulos: are you worried

about weakening Hillary Clinton

Sanders: no ha ha

Stephanopoulos: can you really win?

Sanders: hey no one thought

a socialist could be re-elected

to the Senate a dozen times

Stephanopoulos: thanks for coming Bernie

Sanders: thank you George