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Reserve Deputy May Have Gotten Training Credentials Improperly; Arizona "Robo Cop" Had Previous Lawsuits Filed Against Him; Gyrocopter Landing Raises Concerns about Security at U.S. Capitol. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired April 16, 2015 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:33:46] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Past bottom of the hour, you're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
That volunteer deputy, that reserve deputy who killed an unarmed man in Oklahoma may have gotten his training credentials improperly. Robert Bates is now charged with voluntary manslaughter after killing Eric Harris. Tulsa County sheriff's officials insisted the 73-year- old had the training to be part of this operation. But now the "Tulsa World" newspaper reports that Bates' records were doctored and that those who refused to go along with the deception paid a price.
One of the "Tulsa World" reporters who broke the story talked to me just last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DYLAN GOFORTH, STAFF REPORTER, TULSA WORLD: What we were told from pretty much day one was that he had not gotten this training. I mean, that takes a long time to accumulate that many hours, and he had not got than training and that the people who are over that reserve deputy program were told either, you know, you need to sign these documents saying that he received this training and when they didn't do it, they were given lesser jobs or reassigned other areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Let's go to my colleague, Ryan Young.
I know that the attorney for this reserve deputy, Robert Bates, has responded to allegations from the newspaper. What is he saying?
[15:35:03] RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, he says he had the training. But, look, Robert Bates has been a part of this sheriffs department for quite some time. Some people were wondering whether or not he paid to play in terms of the sheriff's office because he's donated five cars to the sheriff's office, some video equipment. He even ran the sheriff's re-election campaign. There's always been talk about how close he was to the sheriffs department. You have to watch this video and really see the moments leading up to that shooting. In fact, you can hear him scream taser, taser, but instead, he pulls his gun. There's been a lot of conversation about the training involved and did he receive it. In fact, three people are supposedly reassigned because of the fact they would not falsify those records.
And his lawyers talked to us about an hour and a half ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK BREWSTER, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BATES: His training records would be available for review, usually in a civil case after discovery is provided. Perhaps the request that was made -- I'm not sure how it was made, but their level of frustration, I think, is allowing them to draw conclusions that aren't accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Brooke, you know the training is critical because a lot of times, especially when you're doing details like this one, you'd have your gun on one side, a taser on another side. This is something you dry run over and over again. That's something that would happen in training. If he hadn't received that training t begs the question why he was involved in this operation. There's been a lot of conversation about that. It's all detailed in that "Tulsa World" report. It's something everyone's going to be digging into, to find out why this 73-year-old man was involved in this operation.
BALDWIN: You know they're digging now. Apparently, there's even a review of this entire deputy reserve program with the sheriffs department.
Ryan Young, thank you.
Now to this. We're getting new information today about a previous lawsuit against an Arizona police officer who calls himself Robo Cop. This is the officer. Reminder here, this is the officer who ran down a suspect with his cruiser.
It's tough to watch the video. The first part is from the perspective of the dash cam of that first responding officer, who sees the suspect walking along with this recently stolen rifle. He's got it up, waving it in the air. Second part of the video from the dash cam of another officer who makes the move to take down the suspect. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: One Unit 157.
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: OK, never mind.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: One round just went out into the sky. It's definitely unlocked now.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Stand off. Stand off. The gun is loaded. (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: All right, man down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Police in Arizona, they're defending the actions of that police officer.
Miguel Marquez has been working this one.
Because, specifically, the officer who is now in Arizona was once here in New York and there was a lawsuit involving him here. Tell me about that.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was in October of 2006, he pulled over a family in Manhattan, downtown Manhattan, about 8:30 at night on October 6th. This man eventually went on to claim that the officer choked him, handcuffed him, pointed a gun at him. They settled some years later. He was in the New York Police Department from '03 to '06. NYPD says he left on his own accord. There was nothing untoward in his record. In this particular case, the city eventually settled for $20,000 to the person who brought the suit, plus lawyer fees, which is a fairly small amount for New York City. And it's not very clear what exactly all of this related to. It appears as though the person eventually dropped all of his claims against the city when all of the charges against him were dropped.
BALDWIN: As far as bringing it to current day and this officer in Arizona, I was talking to the police chief the other day, and he was welcoming the criticisms and looking into it, obviously, but he's still an active-duty officer, correct?
MARQUEZ: Still an active-duty officer. The P.D. says they're going to have something soon on whether or not they knew about this incident in New York. They do say that he has no issues with them. Tucson P.D. says he has no criminal record with Tucson P.D. But they're also looking through his records to see if there were any civilian complaints there.
He was an avid fitness buff. He was known as Robo Cop because he would work out.
BALDWIN: Because of that?
MARQUEZ: That was his cross-fit profile. And he even won an award because he was able to get other police officers to work out with him and get all that going. So it's not clear that one can draw anything from the Robo Cop moniker that he gave himself.
(CROSSTALK)
MARQUEZ: But this is somebody who clearly loved fitness or loves fitness. At this point, they say there's no charges against him.
[15:40:05] BALDWIN: OK. Miguel Marquez, thank you very much.
Next here on CNN, a major security concern. Investigators are trying to figure out how the heck a man landed this gyrocopter near the White House. This is obviously not the same one. We have this one for you live in Stephenville, Maryland. We'll talk to an expert about this kind of aircraft. We'll ask him how it works and how that mailman could have made it as far as he did through restricted air space.
You're watching CNN.
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[15:44:44] BALDWIN: Just a short time ago, that Florida mailman, who landed his gyrocopter on the West Lawn of the capitol, he was charged with unlawfully operating an aircraft and violating national defense air space. This was the scene. This is the scene that has now looped over and over and over. Douglas Hughes is his name. He showed up in court in his postal service uniform, might I add. And he will be on home detention until his next court hearing now set for May 8th.
This case raises all kinds of questions about security in what is supposed to be America's most protected air space right there in front of the nation's capitol.
Joining me to learn more about this aircraft is a man by the name of Tim Adelman, a gyrocopter pilot and founder of AutoGyro USA.
Tim, nice to see you. And thanks for bringing your toy for us.
TIM ADELMAN, GYROCOPTER PILOT & FOUNDER, AUTOGYRO USA: Thank you very much. Appreciate the opportunity. Delighted to talk about gyro planes.
BALDWIN: Never thought in a million years I'd be talking about gyrocopters as much as I am. Hang tight and then we'll get to show and tell.
Here's my first question for you, Tim. From what I understand, this guy yesterday flew -- he took off in Maryland, flew for more than an hour in his aircraft into obviously very, very restricted air space. How was he not detected sooner? How did he pull this off?
ADELMAN: Certainly. As you describe, the Washington, D.C., air space is the most restricted air space in the country. He took off about 33 miles northwest of the city. But the way they detect aircraft is through the use of transponders, which gave a radar beacon to the FAA air traffic controllers, as well as the material on the aircraft reflecting off radar signals. In this particular aircraft, he doesn't have a lot of material. It was a tubular frame and just himself. That was it. So it didn't pick up on the radar. He was also flying really low and only going about 35 knots. That's not something that would ordinarily be picked up on a radar system by air traffic control. Whereas, this aircraft has a lot more body signature.
BALDWIN: Yeah, I have to say, yours looks a lot more fancy, for lack of a better word. Can you give me show and tell, Tim? Tell me how this thing works. ADELMAN: Absolutely. As you see, this has two seats. The one
that was flown yesterday was what we call an ultra light. It only weighed less than 254 pounds. It was not an FAA authorized -- didn't have an air certificate. This does have an air certificate.
It's two seats. The pilot sits in the front. I'll demonstrate for you. As you can see, pilot sits easily in the front of the airplane. You can have a passenger in the rear seat. We have a stick control here with all of our radio and avionics easily accessible.
BALDWIN: OK. Pretty comfortable.
(CROSSTALK)
ADELMAN: As you can tell, the aircraft has -- OK.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Sorry, there's a little bit of a delay.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How high can you go, and how fast can you go?
ADELMAN: Sure. This aircraft can go over 10,000 feet. It cruises around 90 knots, so almost 100 miles an hour. And it can go for 450 miles on one tank of gas.
BALDWIN: Why would you use this as opposed to something larger? Why do people have these?
ADELMAN: Yeah, right now this is the fastest growing segment of aviation in Europe. We're just now seeing it in the U.S.
It's a different type of flying. The aircraft itself are less expensive than a traditional fixed-wing aircraft. They're also a lot of fun. It's like flying a helicopter but not a helicopter. So it's pretty exciting.
BALDWIN: OK. And what's the farthest -- where's the farthest place you've gone? How long have you been in one of those in the air?
ADELMAN: In this particular aircraft, we've gone down to Florida. We've flown up to New York.
BALDWIN: Oh my goodness.
ADELMAN: We've been out to Wisconsin. It's been traveling quite a bit.
BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. I guess my final question would be, you know, we know that the man yesterday who landed at the capitol apparently had a lot of letters for them and had a message about campaign finance reform. There was nothing really, you know, nefarious, per se, but I guess that obviously would be a fear for anyone that somebody would -- could be up to no good with something a little bit more dangerous than letters.
ADELMAN: Absolutely. I mean, the aircraft do have the capability to carry a lot of weight. That was definitely a concern. That's why that air space is really restricted. I'm certain that people today are trying to find answers as to how we can detect these types of aircraft, the gyrocopters, the ultra lights, for the future. Something like this we would hope would not happen. It's not the publicity you necessarily want for the gyro plane community.
BALDWIN: OK. I'm being told by my executive producer -- Eric, I'm going to throw you under the bus on this one.
I have several people in the control room who would like to see it turn on. Can we fire this bad boy up? Tim Adelman, can we see this go?
(LAUGHTER)
ADELMAN: Absolutely.
BALDWIN: Bye-bye!
It is pretty loud.
ADELMAN: See you later.
[15:50:03] BALDWIN: OK. I'm going to let him go.
Tim Adelman, thank you for the show and tell, I guess, and we're going to stay on it. And perhaps he'll take off.
Is he going to take off? No. OK.
Straight ahead, more on the breaking news we told you about an American who traveled to Syria, arrested on terror charges. We have an update on that.
And also ahead, Mike Rowe. Mike Rowe joining me live for a special sneak preview of the incredibly important but very dirty work he's getting into tonight. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. One of my favorite people. Mike Rowe made his name by taking on some of life's dirtiest jobs. On this week's episode of "Somebody's Gotta Do It," he meets his match, a man whose mission is to clean up America's rivers and lakes. So who is actually responsible for picking up all that gunk, the trash that washes ashore? Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST, SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT (voice-over): Well, 80,000 volunteers since 1988. That's who. Of course, they wouldn't be here, if Chad weren't so freaking inspirational.
(on camera): Does that make you feel good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?
ROWE: Just, you know, just looking at a bunch of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's great, man. It's, like, the best. Hones honestly, I think of cops and jumps and stuff. Kind of feel like they see some of America's worst, and I feel like I see, like, a lot of America's best. You know?
All right. We can get this now.
ROWE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice.
ROWE (voice-over): So far the jolliest garbage men gathered an astonishing amount that humans dumped into this river.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the fun part.
ROWE (on camera): I'm not sure how I assumed this particular position.
(voice-over): However, we're still being held hostage by an extreme bloody do-gooder on a quixotic mission.
(on camera): Are we got to meet our quota today?
[15:55:14] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
ROWE: No. What's the quota?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Love that answer, more.
Here he is, Mike Rowe.
Mike, I'm so disappointed you're not sitting next to me but I'm thrilled to have you on the show. How are you, my friend?
ROWE: I feel like I'm there, Brooke. I feel like I'm right there with you.
BALDWIN: The spirit is here. Somebody was just tweeting me, asking if you would sing an aria again. We'll leave that for the next time we meet in person.
ROWE: Sure.
BALDWIN: Talk about the show. I've seen river cleanups where people find, like, cars and refrigerators and all kinds of crazy stuff in there. Tell me about your experience.
ROWE: Well, in way, you know, we were on the Ohio River. Chad got his start on the Mississippi, and there's no river he won't tend to. He's sort of the self-appointed custodian of America's waterways and I called him good naturedly a bloody do-gooder. Exactly what he is. Totally on a mission. Has been for decades. Loves the Mississippi and hates people are pigs and dedicated his life to cleaning it up. Tried to get him on TV the last 10 years. A cool thing. Our paths finally came together tonight.
BALDWIN: 10 years? So where --
(CROSSTALK)
ROWE: Yeah.
BALDWIN: What do they do with all the stuff?
ROWE: Well, basically what Chad did, aside from get really annoyed at the state of the planet, was he procured a barge, a big, old barge. A garbage barge, and he got some of his friends on it, and they just started going up and down the river with cranes and winches, hauling this stuff out. From there, on another barge. That barge takes it to landfills all over the place, but it's a full-time, 24/7, never-ending job.
And the crazy thing is, too, like, he's got all of these volunteers on the barge. I didn't know this, but something like nine couples have actually hooked up and gotten married. It's part "Love Boat."
BALDWIN: I think about love, I think of, you know, muck and mud in rivers Micro, obviously.
ROWE: Well, look, if want to keep it dirty, there's no better place right knew than the Mississippi and Chad's garbage barge. A great bunch of people doing something they want to do because they dig it.
BALDWIN: Awesome. Ice farming? What is that?
ROWE: We were in Madison, outside of Madison, saw a sign that said, "Art below zero." Sort of Forrest Gumped our way in there and found a couple named Max and Jeannie. Happily married. It's good. Always holding ice picks and chainsaws. Carving amazing art for private and public installations. It's basic ice sculpture on steroid. Deep down they're artists and good at it. And they gave me a saw and let me make something, which is shocking.
BALDWIN: Why do I think I have seen one of those ice sculptures of you?
ROWE: CNN threw me a nice party in season one, and while there somebody with a chainsaw carved my face out of a block of ice, I said, you know something, that's weird enough to want to try do in person one day. So we did it. BALDWIN: Awesome.
Can I ask you about your parents? I remember when you were here last time, your parents are CNN fans and obviously Micro fans as well, but everyone is talking about these promos, and they're starring mom and dad. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER OF MIKE ROWE: Michael, you told me your new show wasn't at dangerous at your old show.
ROWE: It's not. It's total different.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER OF MIKE ROWE: I saw you fighting a bull.
(MUSIC)
ROWE: It was a nice bull.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I've got a minute with you. Does Momma Rowe have an agent? She's awesome?
ROWE: There's talk of representation. I won't lie to you. Mom and dad are competitive, talking to various representatives.
BALDWIN: Are they?
ROWE: We'll see what happens. People ask me who wrote those things. The truth is nobody wrote them. Real conversations I've had with my parents over the last decade. We just re-enacted them and now, they're insufferable.
BALDWIN: Are you kidding me? Let the cameras roll. And that was the magic, that was your mother and father?
ROWE: We basically sat down and I said, dad, remember a couple weeks ago you got all upset, because I told you -- you saw the promo, turned the show on but breaking news and it wasn't on. He said, yes, I remember that. I was very angry. I said, OK, channel that. Mom, do you remember how upset were you when you saw me sitting on the bull and you freaked out? Oh, yes, very ill-advised. Channel that. Then we started talking.
[15:59:54] BALDWIN: Well, tell your parents I say, hi.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: And I cannot wait to watch more Micro on CNN.
Thank you so much for joining me.
And everyone set the DVR, watch it live, watch it multiple times. "Somebody's Gotta Do It," tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific here on CNN.
Micro, thank you.
And thank you for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. See you back here at 10:00 eastern. I'm back in for "CNN Tonight."
