amy: we'll speak with each woman act lead sponsor, california democratic congressmember barbara lee, later in the broadcast. baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake has fired the city's police commissioner in the wake of protests over the death of african-american resident freddie gray in police custody. rawlings-blake cited a recent rise in crime in baltimore and said criticism of police commissioner anthony batts had become a distraction. >> a key goal of my administration, our primary focus is making baltimore safer place. i think it is important we understand we cannot continue to debate the leadership of the department and think we're going to see the progress we want to see. i would say the commissioner understands that. amy: protesters have called for the ouster of police commissioner anthony batts over his handling of the death of freddie gray, whose family said his spine was 80% severed at the neck when he died after being arrested and transported without a seatbelt in a police van. six officers involved have been criminally charged. on wednesday, the baltimore police union