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USS Theodore Roosevelt Now En Route to Waters Off Yemen; Baltimore Police to Hold News Conference on Freddie Gray's Death. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 20, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:33:24] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Let's go back to our breaking news overseas. We have word here that a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is right now en route to the waters off Yemen there in the Arabian Sea as the violence there continues to spiral out of control.

For more on this, let me spring in our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto, who Jim, you were just asking the secretary of defense about Yemen days ago. And now we learn about this presence in the waters, but why now specifically? Why send this ship?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I tell you. This brings it to nine, the number of U.S. Navy ships now off the coast of Yemen. You have the USS aircraft carry the Theodore Roosevelt. It came with a guided missile cruiser.

Just looking to this list, here, Brooke, you got two destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, two mind counter measure ships. Now, what the Navy says is this is because of the instability in Yemen. It's to keep those key shipping lanes open for vital international trade. Keep in mind, you go past there and that heads up to the red sea, the Suez Canal. I mean, this is very vital, leads on to Asia.

That's true, but we also know the U.S. has boarded at least one ship looking for the possibility that that ship was bringing arms, Iranian arms, to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. And keep in mind, bigger picture here, you have the U.S. and Iran on opposite sides of the war there. Iran sending arms to it the Houthi rebels, the U.S. giving support to the Saudi-led air campaign there, including rescuing pilots, sharing intelligence. They have a joint operation center.

So, you know, it's interesting. This is just how messy the region is right now. U.S. and Iran talking about their nuclear program in somewhat friendly, diplomatic terms, but U.S. and Iran on opposite sides of this war here. Now you have nine Navy ships off that coast of Yemen. And although, the Navy says, listen, it's about trade and sea routes and all that, which is true, we also know they boarded at least one ship looking for Iranian arms. So, you know, that's something they're watching for sure.

[15:35:22] BALDWIN: So just to make sure I'm hearing you crystal clear, because as we're looking at the map, right around the corner from Yemen is Iran. And you mentioned the Iranian arms. Is the presence of this warship about getting to Yemen, or is it about those arms specifically?

SCIUTTO: Well, it's about keeping those arms or trying to keep the flow of arms from Iran into Yemen. You know, further fuelling this conflict there. Of course, at the same time, the U.S. is sending weapons to Saudi Arabia, as it has a long defense relationship and Saudi Arabia in the midst of a very aggressive air campaign in Yemen. There have been allegations of civilian casualties there from that campaign, something that the U.S. might be somewhat uncomfortable with.

So listen, Yemen is a messy situation. I suppose you could say the U.S. doesn't want it to get any messier, so you have those Navy ships there. One of the functions is to keep it stable in those sea lanes. Another function is to look at for more Iranian weapons going in.

BALDWIN: Jim Sciutto, always has wonderful perspective here. Jim, thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Let's go from one part of the world to the next here.

Breaking news, Baltimore police just about to begin this news conference to address the death of a suspect in its custody. Freddie Gray was 25 years of age. His family's attorney says 80 percent of Gray's spinal cord was severed after he was arrested a week ago. His neck was broken in three places. He died yesterday, a week after his arrest, which -- some of which was caught on video.

Let's turn to our national correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, who is live outside police headquarters there in Baltimore.

And Suzanne, what are some of those key questions that family members, protesters are hoping will be addressed?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATION CORRESPONDENT: There are a couple things they have to square right away. So we have seen this video, the cell phone video that was taken 14 minutes after he was apprehended, Freddie Gray was apprehended. His attorney says, William Murphy, that he was in perfect health before he was apprehended by the police. So the police need to explain what are we watching here, what are we seeing if the legs are limp as we see and the screams are as we hear, that it does not appear he's in perfect health.

Secondly, there was a statement of charges that was filed in the district court, which we have obtained by the arresting officer, Garrett Miller. Now, he says that what happened was they approached him unprovoked, he fled, they went after him, and that they discovered a knife, a pocket knife, on him. And the way they describe it is that this was an arrest that was made without force or incident and that it was during the transport that he actually experienced a medical emergency.

That, again, is something that they're going to have to explain because if you take a look at the video, the cell phone video before the transport, it certainly looks like there is something definitely wrong with Freddie Gray before the transport happens. So I think those are the key questions that are going to come up immediately.

And then also, you know, what happens with these officers? How far does this investigation go? And where do we go from here? Are there some real tangible things that this police department is going to do to address the concerns of the neighbors and the protesters as well as the family, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We know the commissioner there in Baltimore will be there, as will the mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Suzanne, we're going to stay close to this picture. And as soon as we see those folks step behind that podium, we'll take it live.

In the meantime, let's continue this discussion with my legal analyst. I've got Sunny Hostin and Danny Cevallos here. I know both of you have seen the video. What's tough is the video is only sort of piecemeal, right? We don't see the whole thing in its totality. You hear a woman. You see him being dragged, Mr. Gray being drag, by police and placed in this van. You hear a woman saying his legs are broken, that he's being dragged, approached unprovoked. Initially police saying he was taken without incident. But to Suzanne's point, both of you just weigh in, a lot of questions, a lot of holes here.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, I think it's pretty problematic when you look at the video. And of course, we need to know more, right? We need to know what happened during effectuating an arrest.

Now, police can use some force when they are arresting someone. The question is whether or not the force was reasonable. Was this accidental? Was he running? Did he fall? But the severity of his injuries, Brooke, have to be questioned. They have to cause some sort of question.

And I think that certainly officials are doing the right thing. In all candor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is a very good friend of mine, but the mayor of Baltimore certainly seems to be getting in front of this, right? She is a lawyer herself. She used to be a public defender. She knows the city well. She was born and raised there. Her father was a state senator so she knows how to get in front of this story. And I think they are asking all of the right questions.

How long -- why was he arrested? Did he resist arrest? How many people arrested him? What happened between the time that he was arrested and the time that we're seeing him dragged sort of almost limp like a rag doll, clearly injured, going into a police van. Why did it take so long for the police to get emergency assistance, to get him to a hospital? That's a really long time, a critical amount of time. And those are questions we all need answers to.

[15:35:30] BALDWIN: How about you?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This stop and arrest raises some really interesting constitutional issues. I've reviewed the charging instrument. And like you said, it describes that the defendant fled unprovoked. It's important to know that unprovoked flight plus presence in a high-crime area, those two factors alone can support reasonable suspicion.

Think about it. That means if you see police and you run and your neighborhood isn't the nicest neighborhood, that will be a constitutional stop with just those two facts alone.

BALDWIN: I think that's so important because people are hearing, wait, he ran away from police, and police could stop and try to arrest him, but that is perfectly legal.

CEVALLOS: Not only that; that will give them reasonable suspicion to initiate a stop. From there, that will allow them to do a Terry (ph) pat down for weapons to protect the officer. That's ostensibly where they find this switchblade, this weapon, any contraband that they then charged him with. That appears to be what he's charged with in the charging instrument, possession of that weapon. But getting there is a constitutional series of steppingstones, and that's what the police will almost certainly argue, that he fled unprovoked, plus they will probably articulate this is a high-crime, drug-dealing area, where he was stopped, although, I personally don't know that.

BALDWIN: I was talking to a reverend last hour. This is his neighborhood. And he was saying, his perspective, there's a lot of stop and frisks unnecessary, unwarranted in that area. He was saying, his guess was that this young man, who has a record, let's be clear, that he probably saw police and got nervous and ran the other way.

HOSTIN: Well, certainly that's possible. And I will say this in all candor. I lived in Baltimore. I'm a member of the Baltimore bar. I do know that area. And it can be a difficult area. And I think Danny is right. Certainly, if you run from the police, that is a reasonable, suspected reasonable suspicion to stop you. If they frisk you and they find a weapon, can they arrest you? Yes.

But the real question, the real issue is, was the amount of force used reasonable to arrest him? And there is a standard there. And I've got to tell you, there's just no question in my mind, even though you have someone that may have a knife and may be armed, I just don't understand how we make the leap from an arrest to what we see, which is a young man 25 years old ending up in a coma and dying.

CEVALLOS: But they have to deal with the fact that they've already said the man was arrested without force or incident. If there's any objective evidence that forced was used, then the police have an additional problem there. Because how can you articulate justified force if they said, we didn't use any.

BALDWIN: Let me hit pause. Quick commercial break. We'll be back with the two of you, and we're back watching and waiting for this news conference In Baltimore, Maryland, to begin. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:00] BALDWIN: Coming up on live pictures there. Baltimore, Maryland. We're waiting to hear at this police news commission from the police commissioner, from Anthony Bat (ph). We are waiting to hear from the mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and also the deputy commissioner there in the city, Jerry Rodriguez.

Let me just broaden this out as we wait to hear from these speakers. I've got Danny Cevallos and Sunny Hostin. And this entire conversation surrounds this young man by the name of Freddie Gray, 25 years of age, a week ago, according to police, he's walking around his neighborhood. You know this area of Baltimore. Not the best neighborhood. Perhaps he was known to police. We don't know. We know he has a criminal record. And he sees police, according to our reporting, and runs. So he's stopped unprovoked.

But Danny, to your point, the fact it's a bad neighborhood and he runs away, that means it's perfectly legal for police to stop him. But then the questions are, he ends up with a severed spinal cord and in a coma and died yesterday. So there are a lot of holes as far as what happened. Could there have been excessive force, et cetera.

Back open to the both of you. You know Baltimore incredibly well.

HOSTIN: Yes, I lived there. I'm a member of the Maryland bar. My friends are still there. My friend is the mayor of Baltimore. I know the town very well. It can be a difficult town. I mean, we've seen the wire, right, many of us.

BALDWIN: I mean, the department of justice is investigating the Baltimore police department because of a "Baltimore Sun" investigation.

HOSTIN: Sure. And there has been a history of corruption. It's a troubled -- it can be a troubled place. But that does not, I think, justify the use of excessive force. And when you look at this particular case, yes, I think Danny is right. If someone is seen running unexplained through a neighborhood that isn't the best of neighborhoods, a police officer can stop you. And you can also, you know, frisk someone.

But I still don't understand in a case like this how you get from an arrest to what we see as a man being dragged likely with a spinal cord injury at that time looking like a rag doll. It just doesn't make sense. And I think there are a lot of answers that we need.

I think what's also interesting and something that Danny and I have talked about in terms of when can you interview those officers? When you look at the law enforcement bill of rights, the officers that are involved in this cannot necessarily be interviewed. There's almost this cooling off period. The mayor was discussing this earlier today. That is really problematic because, you know, why can't they be interviewed now? Why can't they tell us what happened now?

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: So I think that is troubling.

BALDWIN: Because it sounds like from our correspondent there, she was saying part of what we discussed today is policy changes and lessons learned. CEVALLOS: Yes, depending on -- I mean, we still come back to the

fundamental problem with this police report, which is there's not going to be a point where they're going to say, well, we used the reasonable amount of force in effecting arrest. There's a charging instrument whereby their own handwriting they say the suspect was arrested without force.

So to later on say, well, we used our knees and held him down, but it was reasonable, would be so inconsistent as to be laughable. So here is -- they have a very large problem. The only possible explanation I can think of is going to be the old, he turned and run and run into a telephone pole and then we came over and picked them up, hand them him down and lo and behold, here is the switch plate. It is sort of the only option they have left.

BALDWIN: We have to take another quick break. Again, we are waiting for this news conference from Baltimore. It has been a week. We haven't heard from police. They are going to be answering all of these questions or at least some of the questions. We will see it play through all of them here in Baltimore. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:25] BALDWIN: We are following two breaking stories. The first word that a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt is right now steaming toward the waters up in Yemen there in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy has been beeping up its presence off the coast of Yemen as the country has been spiraling into chaos.

The Yemeni capital of Sana'a was just wraps again by violence. A sectarian battle ends all this power struggles continue to threaten the stability of the U.S. allied nations.

Also, news at the Baltimore, we are waiting. It is running (INAUDIBLE), clearly. But we are waiting to hear from the police commissioner and from the deputy commissioner and also from the mayor of the city of Baltimore as far as what exactly happened, why police, you know, pursued the 25-year-old, Freddie Gray who ultimately yesterday, whose spine with suffered, was in a coma, and what exactly happened n police custody.

CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin and Danny Cevallos are with me.

And Danny, again, just reminding everyone the fact that, you know, police report saying he was taken into custody without incident. As we know in some other cases, though, police report may say one thing, but reality is another. What are you waiting to hear?

CEVALLOS: Waiting to hear the explanation for why they said without an incident, without force, and how we got from healthy 25-year-old -- and I understand, if he was (INAUDIBLE) and someone who is 70 years old, they fell, they crack a vertebrate, and Sunny and I would agree, hey, maybe there is something there. But we do need a little more explanation as now 25-year-old during fly (ph) somehow breaks a vertebrate that we assumed wasn't broken when he was standing prior to his flight on the street. [15:55:06] BALDWIN: Yes. That's another that we don't know. So when

you see the video of him and you see him dragged perfectly like a rag door, being dragged in to back of the van, we don't even know. And here's the video and you will see it in a moment, we don't know if his final spinal cord injury happened ahead of time or when he was taken into the van, presumably ahead of time here as you see him dragged, but we just don't know.

HOSTIN: We don't know, and I will say this in terms of the investigation and have every confidence, of course, in the mayor of Baltimore that this will be done, this will be looked at. But I wonder why we aren't hearing from the police chief? I'm always uncomfortable when I see, let's say, the Baltimore city police department examining their own. When I see the state's attorney's office investigating one of their own, because to be sure these officers work day in and day out with prosecutors, these officers work in day in and day out with the police chief.

And so, I hope what we'll see ultimately is not only an investigation by the police department, but by an outside investigative unit because that's when you really get to the bottom of things. And I think, it is also, in a sense of transparency, I think that the public will have more confidence, quite frankly, in the answers that we all are looking for, if it comes from this independent sort of investigative team.

BALDWIN: As we are awaiting the news conference a few pieces, this is explaining of how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: That is Freddie Gray.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, that boy's leg looks broke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Being detained a week ago by Baltimore police.

The question now, how did the 25-year-old go from this -- to this, lapsing into a coma less than an hour later, and die yesterday.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE: The questions that many of you have are the same questions that we're asking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: The attorney for Gray's family alleges the police are covering up what really happened. Baltimore police say they spot Gray and begin to approach him at 8:39 in the morning on April 12th for reasons not yet disclosed. They say Gray immediately runs away. Just a minute later, police take Gray into custody. And then 14 minutes later, at 8:54 in the morning, this is the first video we see of the event.

Officers load Gray into the police van. Police say video evidence indicates Gray is conscious and speaking at the time. A half hour later, police request paramedics bring Gray to a hospital. Gray's family attorney says he lapsed into a coma and underwent extensive surgery. His spinal cord was severely injured and a week later died at 7:00 in the morning.

So two looming questions, why did police pursue Gray and what happened to him while he was in their custody that resulted in his death?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officers believed that Mr. Gray was either immediately involved or had been recently involved in criminal activity, and they decided to make contact with Mr. Gray. Now, that is still a bit vague.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: This most recent mi mystery sparking more outrage, in a nation already embroiled in debate over police tactics and use of force. Those in this most recent encounter Baltimore's mayor promises answers.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I want citizens to know exactly how it happened. And if necessary, we will -- I will ensure that we will hold the right people accountable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Holding the right people accountable. Again, it's running late, but we're waiting to hear and get answers from both the mayor, the police commissioner there in Baltimore. I've got Danny Cevallos and Sunny Hostin with me.

To your point, Sunny, I don't think we know this yet. Whether or not a lot of these cases, you see this independent panel, independent investigators investigating the police department and I don't think that's even really been announced yet, perhaps that will be part of the news?

HOSTIN: I hope so because that is going to be necessary. I mean, I feel like this is one of those powder cake situations that really need to be handled appropriately. Again, I have full faith, of course, in the mayor. This will be handled appropriately, but my sense that this nation needs that kind of investigation and that kind of transparent investigation at this point.

BALDWIN: Thirty seconds, you get the final word.

CEVALLOS: Internal investigations are often not made public and this raises an age-old debate who ultimately watches the watchmen?

BALDWIN: We watch to see if they even make it public or not and hearing as far what lessons learn as to what we are hearing from our correspondents who have been covering this, lessons learn and policy changes, but we also know that the family is demanding perhaps much more than that.

Stay with us here at CNN. I'm going to go and handing this off to my colleague, Jake Tapper. I'm sure he will be on this.

I'm Brooke Baldwin here in New York. "The LEAD" starts right now.