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Suge Knight Collapses in Courtroom; Boston Bombing Trial Continues; The ISIS Threat. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 20, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me now from Beirut, Lebanon, our CNN senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh.

And, Nick, my first question, written, audio, video statements, this is all popping up, all on these jihadists Web sites, tying the deadly attacks specifically to ISIS. What are you hearing, though, about these -- the authenticity of these claims?

Nick Paton Walsh, this is Brooke Baldwin. I'm trying to talk to you here live on CNN and wondering what you're hearing, what the authenticity of the ISIS claims here on the Sanaa attacks at the mosques?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm not hearing...

BALDWIN: Not hearing. We will try back.

Continuing on, we mentioned there's a second attack in just three days that ISIS is also claiming as its own, the other, Tunisia, that massacre in a museum where at least 23 people died, most of them foreign tourists from Europe, Japan, Australia, Colombia. Many of those victims traveled there aboard two cruise ships which docked today in Spain.

Some spoke about narrowly evading the tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't realize what happened. So, yes, you don't. We come on the ship. You set the television on, boom, oh, Tunisia. Then you realize that you escaped from it, so -- but the other people are not lucky, yes?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me take you now back to Nick Paton Walsh, who is in Lebanon speaking about these mosque attacks in Sanaa, in the capital city of Yemen.

Let me try this again, Nick. What are you hearing? How authentic are these ISIS claims that they did this?

WALSH: Well, they come both in written form and as an audio statement from channels that have in the past carried similar ISIS messages. The problem with that claim is that ISIS have in the past not known to

have much of a capability in Yemen. Yes, there have been militants in Yemen who have asked for their leader of ISIS to accept their pledge of allegiance and they accepted it. But until today, it was unclear whether they were able to mount an attack like this.

Now something has happened in the last hour that has added significant weight to ISIS' claim of responsibility, and that's the other potential other main suspect for an attack like this, a multipronged suicide bombing against Shia mosques in which there was one blast within the crowd of worshipers and then another intended to kill potentially those who rushed in to help.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who you would normally think would be behind something like this, another Sunni extremist group, have said they didn't do it and have actually said they wouldn't target a crowd in gatherings like this. That's adding potential to the credibility of ISIS' claim, a deeply troubling moment, Brooke, because we know that ISIS has wanted a foothold potentially in Yemen.

We know they are in competition with al Qaeda across the world for recruits to the Sunni extremist movement. But we didn't think they were able to get their foothold into the massive maelstrom of collapse and instability that is Yemen right now.

And the real trouble potentially about this, this is ISIS trying to foment sectarian violence, Shia Muslims targeted by Sunni extremist bombers. That could add to a country which is already on the brink of collapse, that troubling extra issue that is across the Middle East right now, sectarian violence, Shia Muslims being attacked or fighting with Sunni extremists and Muslims too.

If that comes to Yemen, that could really take a country that's been a hotbed of al Qaeda to a whole new level of chaos, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We thought that ISIS only had a fledgling presence in Yemen. This is incredibly significant. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

Let me move on to this one particular voice, speaking of ISIS and what's happening in the Middle East and beyond, one voice that could really be crucial in deciding how the U.S. handles the rise of terror in this part of the world. I'm talking about one man, this man here, right side of your screen, former CIA Director General David Petraeus, the man who left the position in disgrace.

Next week, he faces sentencing for leaking classified information to his mistress. But here's something that might surprise you. He is still advising the White House. He still has President Obama's ear and it turns out has a lot to say about what's going on right now in the Middle East.

So I'm joined now by the woman who just interviewed him. She's Liz Sly, Beirut bureau chief for "The Washington Post." Also joining me, Gary Berntsen, former CIA officer and officer of "Jawbreaker," and senior national security adviser for Florida's Concerned Veterans for America. So, to both of you, welcome.

GARY BERNTSEN, AUTHOR, "JAWBREAKER: THE ATTACK ON BIN LADEN AND AL QAEDA": Pleasure.

LIZ SLY, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thank you.

BALDWIN: Liz, let me begin with you, because you got this great interview here, and having read it a couple times over, a few headlines that jumped out at me, but I want to begin with you as far as what General Petraeus told you when you asked him about Iraq. You asked him about his biggest worry and his answer wasn't ISIS.

Tell me what he told you.

SLY: Well, that's right.

General Petraeus says that the biggest long-term threat to the security of Iraq and the region, it could actually be the rise of the Shia militias who we are seeing make considerable progress on the battlefield in Iraq at the moment.

[15:05:11] I think he's saying that because he sees that their considerable ascent, with support from Iran and (INAUDIBLE) guidance from Iran is going to, if you like, perpetuate the sectarian rivalries that we see going on there and that is really behind the rise of ISIS. And so he identified that as a bigger long-term concern.

BALDWIN: He also -- Gary, this is for you. In this interview with Liz, he talks a lot about Iran. It seems to me there's definitely worry. He said that the power in the Middle East, Iran's power in the Middle East is a double problem and he seems to be pretty worried that Iran is actually more poised to take over Iraq. What's your read on that?

BERNTSEN: Well, clearly, he is concerned about Iran, as are many people. But his statements run contrary to what the administration is doing.

If he's advising the administration, they're not listening to him, because what we see right now is maybe not a formal alliance, but an informal alliance with Iran, and Iran's interests are being amplified across Iraq right now. And this does not portend well for the future of Iraq.

BALDWIN: On Syria, Liz, he said he's profoundly worried about threat, his words, meltdown in Syria which he referred to as a geopolitical Chernobyl. Did he offer solutions?

SLY: He didn't offer precise solutions, but he did make it clear that he does not agree also with the administration's policy on Syria.

The administration's Syria policy is that deal with ISIS in Iraq first and put Syria to be dealt with later. He's saying you cannot deal with them separately. You need to deal with them at the same time, because allowing the instability to continue in Syria is, as he says, just going to spew chaos and extremism across the region for a long time to come.

BALDWIN: Gary, again, just sort of with this 20,000-foot view, knowing, as we mentioned at the top, that this is a man obviously who is integral in Iraq with the surge in '07 and '08, but this is also a man who is pleading -- pleaded guilty to leaking classified information to his mistress and the sentencing is next week and now here he is advising the Obama administration still. Does that give you any pause?

BERNTSEN: It gives me no pause at all. David Petraeus is a national hero.

What happened with his mistress is a separate issue. His knowledge of the region is really unmatched. And I will say this, that, you know, we need to focus on what he said on ISIS and what he said about the Sunni areas. We should not have Shia militias going in and attacking in areas where there are Sunni populations unless you have a hold plan, you have other Sunnis that can come in and hold this area, because you are just going to make the situation worse.

I read the article very, very carefully. His ideas have been put forward very clearly, very carefully. It's insightful. And the administration would be smart to listen to him and what he's saying right now.

BALDWIN: Gary Berntsen, thanks to you.

Liz Sly with the interview in "The Washington Post," Liz, thank you as well.

Just ahead here on CNN, as the uproar boils over at the University of Virginia over the bloody arrest of a black student, one mother who just lost her son weeks ago to a shooting by police says it's becoming, her word, an epidemic in America. Tony Robinson's mother will join me live. Please don't miss this conversation.

Also ahead, mystery in Mississippi. A black man found hanging from a tree. We're now hearing about his past. We will take you there.

And dramatic video just in of rap mogul Suge Knight, who is accused of that deadly hit and run. He has just collapsed there in this L.A. courtroom. Hear what the judge had just told him moments before this happened. Stay with me.

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[15:13:20] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN.

In case you haven't seen this, we have got some video I wanted to play for you. This is rap mogul Suge Knight in the orange jumpsuit here in this L.A. courtroom. He has collapsed. This is raw video inside this courtroom that appears to shows him seated. He's bent over, obviously, law enforcement attending to him. In fact, "L.A. Times" is reporting that at one point he was unconscious.

Let me go to Los Angeles to my colleague Stephanie Elam. And the big question, Stephanie, is what happened in the courtroom?

What was the judge saying that predicated this collapse?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is big news for him to find out, Brooke, that his bail was set at $25 million.

And this all stems from a case that started on January 29, when they allege that Suge Knight hit -- actually, he somebody and then hit another man and that one man died. They are also charging him with hit and run. He's pled not guilty to this, but when he found out these charges -- this was when he found out that he was getting bail set this high -- this is when he reportedly collapsed.

Our affiliate ABC 7 says that the attorney says that Suge Knight collapsed because of stress, a lack of treatment for his diabetes. They're saying that he hit his head and was unconscious for a bit of time there. But if he does get convicted in this case, he faces life in prison. It's worth noting too, Brooke, this is not the first time he's collapsed in a courtroom since this event started on January 29, when this hit and run started.

So, this is second time we have seen this with him collapsing in court. But today, it was right after he found out that his bail was set at $25 million.

BALDWIN: Twenty-five million. Whew.

Stephanie Elam, thank you, my friend.

Let's take you to Mississippi now, mystery in Mississippi. This black man was found hanging from a tree and investigators are now trying to figure out how he died. This is a rural town of Port Gibson in Claiborne County. A law enforcement official told CNN the body is believed to be that of 54-year-old Otis Byrd. Searchers found this body yesterday deep in the woods near his home. He had been missing for about two weeks.

[15:15:24] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN LUCAS, CLAIBORNE COUNTY SHERIFF: He was in a wooded area about a quarter-mile down in the woods. He was near an area where someone had planted some grasses to do some hunting. We got down there and we seen a man that had -- found some bed sheets tied around his neck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We got Ed Lavandera. He is there live in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

I know, Ed, you have got some news as far as a news conference now announced that is coming up shortly. What could we learn there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is expected to happen around 4:00 Eastern time, Brooke. And the local sheriff here in the town of Port Gibson, Mississippi, where we are, as well as federal and state investigators who were immediately called into the scene after the discovery of Otis Byrd's body was made Thursday here just outside of Port Gibson, we were told by the sheriff earlier today that the autopsy was being done on Mr. Byrd's body and that perhaps they would be able to get some clues and some clearer indication as to whether or not the folks here are dealing with a murder investigation or if Otis Byrd took his own life.

He was last seen on March 2. On March 8, his family officially reported him missing and it was a search team that was going through the wooded area behind the home where he lived here just outside of Port Gibson when they made the discovery of his body hanging from a tree. We were able to get to that location earlier today, Brooke, and you really have to work to get there.

It's an incredibly dense wooded area that you have to get through to get to the location where Mr. Byrd's body was found. But the sheriff told me -- and this is interesting -- is that as soon as he discovered and saw the scene for himself, a black man in Mississippi hanging from a tree, that he immediately called federal and state investigators to help him with the scene and to help process the scene and he knew that this would be a very tense situation.

We spoke with the sheriff just a little while ago earlier today here in the town of Port Gibson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Is that your biggest fear, that this was racially motivated?

LUCAS: Yes. I don't want to excite -- I don't want the community to go excited saying it was a white-on-black thing. That's the worst thing that could happen is people making it into a race issue. And that's my biggest fear.

And I don't want that to happen. And that's really -- I want the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department to come out here and help me get to the bottom of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Brooke, let's be abundantly clear here. Nobody knows exactly for sure just yet what exactly the authorities here are dealing with, whether this is a murder or whether this is a suicide. No one knows for sure.

But given the way Mr. Byrd's body was found, that's why the sheriff here says out of an abundance of caution, they called in federal investigators and state investigators to help them -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: You can understand given the history and the geography. Hopefully, some of those questions will be answered, as you mentioned, in that news conference in just about 40 minutes from now there in Mississippi. Ed Lavandera, my thanks to you.

Coming up, dramatic evidence of the Boston bomber's land stand after an intense manhunt, including the remnants of that pressure cooker allegedly thrown at police during the shoot-out. We will go live to Boston next.

And are the real problems just beginning for Congressman Aaron Schock? The "Downton Abbey"-inspired Republican stepping down amid accusations of misusing taxpayer money, now word of federal prosecutors, subpoenas, a grand jury. We will that conversation looking ahead. Stay right here.

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[15:23:08] BALDWIN: Prosecutors in the Boston bombing trial have just showed off a slew of new evidence, photos from the violent shoot-out between police and the Tsarnaev brothers in Watertown.

The pictures show actually parts of the pressure cooker bomb later found on the streets and inside people's homes. One of the photos highlighted a pressure cooker embedded in a car door. Jurors also heard about radical jihadi materials these investigators say they found on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's computer.

Prosecutors said there were files on how to make explosives, audio clips of slain Islamic militant Anwar al-Awlaki. Jurors do have Fridays off here. The state could rest next Wednesday.

Joining me from Boston once again, Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge. They are the authors of this really phenomenal book, "Boston Strong." It's a book about the bombing as told through the eyes of all these survivors.

Gentlemen, as always, wonderful to have you. Welcome back.

DAVE WEDGE, CO-AUTHOR, "BOSTON STRONG: A CITY'S TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY": Thanks for having us, Brooke.

CASEY SHERMAN, CO-AUTHOR, "BOSTON STRONG: A CITY'S TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY": Great to have us.

BALDWIN: I want to talk about just the stories of these survivors and what it's been like testifying, but, first, Dave, to you, with the evidence that has been presented, you covered the manhunt for "The Herald." I remember you and I talking when I was in Boston as well at the time.

What do you make of the evidence presented thus far, the images of the scene, the fact that the jurors were taken to the look at the bloody boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hid out?

WEDGE: Well, it's compelling and it's emotional.

For these survivors to really see and feel and kind of almost even touch this stuff really brings it all home, and I think it brings it home not only for jurors, but for a lot of these survivors that you're talking about. As you saw when you were here in Boston, Brooke, this city was traumatized by what happened. This trial in some ways has opened up some of those old wounds, but in other ways it's helping to heal them as well because folks are being able to see justice being done.

[15:25:06] BALDWIN: Let me ask about that. Just specifically, who have you all -- Casey, who have you all spoken with who has testified in terms of opening raw wounds, but perhaps helping in the healing process? What have they shared with you?

SHERMAN: Well, I got to tell you, I mean, this has really been some of the most heart-wrenching testimony ever heard in an American courtroom, because not only are you hearing the emotional stories of loss and tragedy, but you are actually seeing it.

A lot of these witnesses and survivors are being wheeled into the courtroom without legs, without family members, et cetera. So we have talked to several family members, the family of Sean Collier, for example, the MIT police officer who was executed in his patrol car. They are there just about every day watching and listening to the testimony.

It's really been brutal for them, but, as Dave said, also cathartic, because they want to get past this as quickly as possible.

WEDGE: I would just add, Brooke, it's inspiring to see these folks come in and really go through this exercise in trauma that they are going through and to see them take the stand one after another has really brought a lot of power, I think, to them.

BALDWIN: Can you be specific, Dave? Has there been any one particular piece of testimony, any one person who has walked in or wheeled in who the testimony really still resonates for you? And clearly I know some of these jurors have just been emotional.

WEDGE: Yes. Yes. Well, I think those first couple of days, to see someone like Celeste Corcoran walk in, double amputee, she was wearing a dress, walks in with her two prosthetic legs and took that stand and was as brave as anyone I have ever seen and as brave as those officers that chased those terrorists that day in Watertown, and also Roseann Sdoia, the young woman from the North End who lost a leg over there at Forum, and the Richard family, to see Bill Richard take the stand.

And he really speaks from the heart when he takes the stand and you can't help but be moved and inspired by that strength.

BALDWIN: Talking about...

(CROSSTALK)

SHERMAN: Yes. I was going to say, we can actually see the physical cues or lack thereof of the bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as he's listening to this testimony.

It's amazing that we do see that his defense attorney occasionally rubs his back during the course of the trial, but there is a very -- an incredible lack of emotion from Dzhokhar when we're hearing this brutal testimony and it's almost like he's fighting emotion, but he's not fighting tears or heartache. He's actually fighting a smirk and a smile. We can look directly in his eyes and it's pretty frightening what we

see.

BALDWIN: Back to the survivors. Let me just ask you two this. I know you asked a lot of these people and you asked their families for items, for mementos from that day or that time when the bombs had gone off. How's the response been so far and what have they given you?

WEDGE: So there's an opening of a new exhibit at the National Crime Museum in Washington, D.C., this week and actually one of the items that was donated or loaned to the museum is Carlos Arredondo's cowboy hat.

Carlos was the famous marathon hero. We have all that seen iconic picture of him wheeling Jeff Bauman, saving his life and the hat that Carlos was actually wearing in that picture is now on display in the National Crime Museum in D.C., along with several other items. Again, it's a really inspiring thing to see these folks put those items on display.

BALDWIN: That's awesome. That's absolutely awesome. Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge, thank you both. And again your book is "Boston Strong." Appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Next, in the same week embattled Congressman Aaron Schock announced he's resigning, now we have word that the FBI, federal prosecutors, they are looking into the former rising star of the Republican Party, his past spending.

Also, in a couple minutes, we will talk with the Georgia State player, March Madness anyone, whose improbable last-second heroics sent his father, the coach, there he goes, onto the floor, out of the chair. That huge upset probably didn't help your bracket much. We will talk to that player in a minute.

And it's not exactly your classic L.A. high-speed chase, a suspect on the run -- he's crazy -- and taking a stand.

Stay here.

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