Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Warships Move to Block Iranian Weapons; Boston Bombing Trial Death Penalty Phase Begins; What Led to Freddie Gray's Death after Police Custody?; Obama Approval Rating on the Rise; Massive Ice Cream Recall. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 21, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:01] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Ready to intercept weapons Iran may be sending to rebels there. What does that mean for the nuclear deal?

Then a life or death decision. The Tsarnaev jurors begin hearing arguments in the penalty phase today. One day after a dramatic marathon finish for one of his victims.

Plus, this is where the Blue Bell Ice Cream used to be. Why the company is yanking all of its products from shelves.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this morning with a potential showdown with Iran.

And a buildup of American warships in the region. At least nine U.S. Naval vessels are now off the coast of Yemen along with ships from U.S. allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Now this coalition of ships is prepared to board any Iranian vessel suspected of carrying weapons to rebels in Yemen. Those fighters are backed by Iran and they're trying to topple Yemen's government, which is backed by the U.S. and the Arab allies.

Just hours ago, Saudi Arabia carrying out this airstrike on rebels. But Iran is making it clear any allied interception of its ships could trigger an ugly response, especially as it nears the U.S.-brokered agreement on nuclear weapons.

We have a lot to cover this morning so let's begin with CNN's Fred Pleitgen and CNN's -- with CNN's extraordinary view from within -- from within Iran's capital.

Take it away, Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Carol. That's where we're coming from today and that certainly is also where you do have quite a strong response to the deployment of those U.S. warships there in the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. of course believes that there might be as many as nine Iranian ships in that area. However, the Iranians are saying that they have no intention of going towards the coast of Yemen.

They say the only thing they want to provide for Yemen is humanitarian aid. Of course the U.S. says and Saudi Arabia says as well that they have been supplying the Houthi rebels there with weapons. At least in the past, the Iranians also saying that is not true as well. However, one of the things that the Iranians do say is that they are not going to take any threats from the U.S. and from anyone else.

I was able to speak to the commander of Iran's Navy on this topic. Let's listen in to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. HABIBOLLAH SAYYARI, IRANIAN NAVY COMMANDER (Through Translator): We don't let anyone give us warnings and threats because we are working to international law and regulations, and we work for the security of our country and other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, of course, they also say that the reason why their ships are in that area, Carol, is to fight piracy. They say they have been doing that for quite a while now. Of course the U.S., they're sending its warships into the area because they want to be sure that no ships with weapons actually go there to the coast of Yemen.

But you're absolutely right, all of this, of course, comes, this new confrontation with Iran, as the U.S. and Iran are working on that nuclear deal. As they're trying to hammer that out. And the Iranians for their part, at least the ones I'm talking to here, seemed to be a lot more positive than they were in the past that a final nuclear deal could be reached in spite of all the tension that we're seeing right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Well, let's talk about that and more. Frederik Pleitgen reporting live from inside Iran. Thank you very much.

For millions of Americans of a certain age, the standoff may rekindle memories of the U.S. Naval blockade of Cuba more than a half century ago. That crisis ended peacefully when Russia blinked and turned its ships around. But what happens if Iran does not blink and defies the U.S. and its allies by entering Yemen's territorial waters.

CNN's military analyst, Lt. Col. Rick Francona, joins us from Windsor, California.

Welcome.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So do you believe Iran when it says the ships are there just because, you know, it wants to ward off piracy on the sea?

FRANCONA: Well, the Iranians have been involved actually in anti- piracy operations down that, so I mean, there is some truth to that. But what we're seeing now, we believe, is an effort to resupply the Houthis. And if they're sending these nine ships down there, they are in direct violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution. So the allied fleet would be the Americans, the Saudis, the Egyptians, have every right to board those ships and enforce that resolution, so the Navy commander's protest, notwithstanding, we do have the right to do this.

COSTELLO: So we know there are sanctions levied against Iran. Where is Iran getting the weapons to supply the Houthi rebels?

FRANCONA: The Iranians have a very, very capable indigenous weapons production. A lot of the weapons we see being used by the Shia militias in Iraq, a lot of what we see used by Hezbollah, by Hamas, these are all Iranian produced. Most of them are copies of Russian and Chinese designs, plus they're very capable, they have a very vibrant arms industry.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's say Iran continues to supply arms to the Houthi rebels, and the United States and its allies decide they need to board these Iranian ships, A, would U.S. Naval officers really do that or Navy troops do that?

FRANCONA: Absolutely. This is one of the missions that the Navy trains for. They are very good at it. They use helicopters, they use rigid hole inflatables. This is something they practice for all the time. They're very good at. They do it -- they've done it worldwide, we've done it before. The ideal way is of course is to put a helicopter on the ship you want to search. Of course that's assuming that there will be no opposition. I don't think a commercial vessel is really going to --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: So wait a minute. Just take us through that more slowly.

FRANCONA: OK.

COSTELLO: So a U.S. helicopter would land on an Iranian warship and then armed Navy troops would pop out of the helicopter and search?

FRANCONA: Well, we're not talking about warships. We're talking about Iranian cargo ships.

COSTELLO: OK.

FRANCONA: These ships are, you know, suspected arms carriers. And you wouldn't necessarily land. What you would do is hover the deck and fast-rope Navy SEALs down, and they would go to the bridge, and basically asked the captain to cooperate. If he doesn't they are capable of taking over the vessel.

This is in extreme case. You don't want to do that. It is rare that a commercial captain is going to refuse orders from a boarding party.

COSTELLO: So what do you suppose will happen, Colonel?

FRANCONA: Well, you know, the Iranians, for their bluster, I don't think want to get into a shooting fight in the Gulf of Aden with a Navy war ship, so they make -- they will probably comply but there will be a diplomatic firestorm. I don't know if it will have any effect on the nuclear talks but it certainly will cause a diplomatic incident.

COSTELLO: All right. Lt. Col. Rick Francona, thanks so much for your insight as always.

An exceptional display of Boston strong, defying all odds, a Venezuelan man with muscular dystrophy took his final steps across the finish line moments ago. Around 5:00 this morning to be exact. According to the reports, the 39-year-old man was treated at a Boston hospital as a child and he decided to run the marathon. Remember, the marathon started yesterday morning, it took him this long.

We're just minutes away from the opening statements in the Boston bombing trial second phase. The same jury that convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev two weeks ago will now decide if he lives or dies.

Survivor Rebekah Gregory crossing the finish line yesterday overcome with emotions, telling ABC News after the race, she'd let Tsarnaev spend the rest of his life in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBEKAH GREGORY, SURVIVOR: It's a tough call to make and I'm glad that I'm not the jury, but for the people involved, especially the Richards family, and I mean, it's just bringing up all of this stuff and having to relive it every single day. And -- there is no good that can come out of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But there's a near split decision nationwide. According to a new CNN-ORC poll, 53 percent are in favor of the death penalty. Under federal law, only three people have been executed, though, one of them Timothy McVeigh.

Deborah Feyerick is following the latest developments outside the courtroom in Boston.

Good morning, Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Carol. And that's right. According to that poll, apparently 53 percent of those questioned feel that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be put to death. That's actually a smaller percentage than Timothy McVeigh. In that case 64 percent felt that he should be put to death. He's the one who was found guilty of blowing up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City which killed many, many children in that attack.

Now this is a trial. It is separate but very similar to the one that we saw though during the guilt phase. And as you remember, Rebekah Gregory say there, she said, you know, a lot of the families really want him simply to go away for the rest of his life without any possibility of appeal. What that means is that they would not have to hear his name. They would not have to see his face, technically, certainly not as the process rolls its way slowly through the court.

And another man, another victim -- there were 31, Carol, who actually took part in that race, he is Patrick Downs. He was in a wheelchair. He crossed the finish line in a wheelchair. He and his wife, his new wife at the time, also issued a statement.

And here's what they said, Carol. They said, "We wish that he could feel the searing pain and terror that four beautiful souls felt before their death as well as the harsh reality of discovering mutilated or missing legs. However, we must overcome the impulse for vengeance." So some see the death penalty as seeking vengeance.

The interesting thing about this, Carol, is that the jury is really going to be in that courtroom trying to figure out what is the harsher punishment? Is it to put him to death? Do his crimes reach that level? Now, of course, prosecutors say absolutely. The defense, however, says no, and they're going to take two weeks putting on various experts, various civilians to try to paint Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as somewhat sympathetic, somebody who does deserve not to be put to death because he was 19 when he committed this crime.

And, Carol, we're really expecting that a lot of the attention during this phase is going to be on the older brother, on Tamerlan, because the defense has said he is the one, he was the leader. He is the one who had brainwashed his brother to commit this crime. So this set -- this phase expected to take about a month -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Deborah Feyerick, reporting live from Boston this morning. Thank you.

New videos are fueling outrage over a Baltimore police altercation that left 25-year-old, Freddie Gray, dead. Here is one of those videos giving us a closer look at how police handled Gray, carrying his limp body into a police van. An autopsy reveals Gray suffered a severe spinal cord injury, but the circumstances surrounding his death are still a mystery, begging the question, what happened inside that van.

Suzanne Malveaux is in Baltimore with more for you this morning.

Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. As much as the family and those the protesters, the community would like to know what happened to Freddie Gray, they're going to have to wait until next Friday, that is the deadline for the Baltimore Police to finish their investigation. Then they're going to hand it over to the D.A.'s office and then to the state attorney's office.

But, Carol, we have been able to get bits and pieces to try to figure out what was behind this tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): This latest video of Freddie Gray on the ground being dragged by Baltimore Police, raising new questions about conflicting accounts from police and what bystanders say they saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They tased him like that. You wonder why he can't use his legs.

MALVEAUX: The man recording says Gray was tased but authorities say he was arrested without the use of force, and that a taser was never deployed. And exactly how Gray sustained the deadly injury to his spinal cord nearly severing it has yet to be determined.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no physical bodily injury that we saw, nor was it evident in the autopsy of Mr. Gray. None of his limbs were broken.

MALVEAUX: Baltimore's mayor suggesting Gray was injured during transport.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE: It's clear that what happened, happened inside the van.

MALVEAUX: At 8:39, police say they spotted Gray and gave chase. By 8:42, police call for a transport van and Gray requests an inhaler. New details from police reveal that at 8:46, the van stops to complete paperwork. Gray is described as irate and placed in leg irons. About 30 minutes later, paramedics are called to transport Gray to a hospital.

The day of Gray's autopsy police reveal this surveillance video. The camera constantly scanning the area is the only one believed to have captured a few seconds of Gray's encounter with police. Authorities say it shows no wrongdoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell the truth and stop the lie. Freddie Gray didn't have to die.

MALVEAUX: Each day the demand for answers and accountability grows louder as all six officers involved are suspended with pay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And, Carol, the Gray family attorney, William Murphy, Jr., says he expects they are going to get the autopsy report today perhaps within an hour or so. The Gray family is also going to be receiving the body of Freddie Gray and they're going to begin the painstaking process of beginning to plan the funeral -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Suzanne Malveaux reporting live from Baltimore this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama's approval rating on the rise, while Republican leaders in Congress gets a thumbs down.

What could it mean for 2016? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:04] COSTELLO: Scott Walker has yet to officially jump into the 2016 race, but the Wisconsin may have already attracted the banking of a very influential billionaire, that would be David Koch. Koch telling attendees at a public event held in New York on Monday that while he plans to stay neutral in the primary, he personally likes and supports Walker.

But after those comments were first made public by "The New York Times", Koch sought to clarify them. In a statement he said, quote, "While I think Governor Walker is terrific. Let me be clear. I am not endorsing or supporting any candidate for president at this point in time."

And for one of Walkers' potential rivals, Chris Christie, the race for the White House will have to be without a key supporter. His name is Joe Kyrillos. He ran Christie's 2009 gubernatorial campaign. And "The Washington Post" is reporting that he is now backing Jeb Bush.

A Bush spokesperson confirmed Kyrillos' support to "The Post", and the news comes as a new CNN/ORC poll shows Christie is tied for sixth place with Ben Carson among Republican 2016 voter. He has just 4 percent support. And Jeb Bush, he leads the pack at 17 percent.

When it comes to President Obama, American's view of his job performance seems to be improving and that's according to a new CNN/ORC poll, which shows 48 percent now approve of the way the president is handling his job. And while that is only slightly above the 47 percent who disapprove, it is the first time in nearly two years that more people have a positive impression of President Obama than a negative one.

Here to talk about that, Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist, and CNN political commentator. And Tara Setmayer, former Republican National Committee official and CNN political commentator.

Welcome to both of you.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

BRAZILE: Hi, Tara.

TARA SETMAYER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi, Donna.

COSTELLO: Good. We're off to a positive start.

SETMAYER: We go way back.

COSTELLO: That's awesome.

Tara, pollsters say this is a notable. It's a notable positive shift for President Obama. Do you agree?

SETMAYER: Well, I think this is part of an interesting trend. It started toward the end of the year and then building up to the State of the Union, and then with the gas prices being lower, unemployment coming down, people naturally see those as indicators of things going well.

But we also need to keep it in perspective. It's still within the margin of error, still under 50 percent, and, you know, when -- and Donna knows this well -- that depending on who you poll will give you the result that you want.

Before the elections, you poll likely voters. Well, now, most pollsters use voters or adults, and those folks tend to swing more Democrats. So, these poll numbers here, we need to keep them in perspective. I'm not surprised by them.

The president has not been dominating the headlines, either. He has been absent on a domestic front. It's been mostly foreign policy, where he is polling terribly around 38 percent.

COSTELLO: So, I probably think the CNN pollsters would disagree with you, but --

[09:20:00] SETMAYER: Well, I'm sure this poll was not likely voters. It was registered voters or adults.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: You know, first of all, my mother used to say numbers don't lie. But, you know, the truth is, nobody really cares about that president's poll numbers. We will care about them later, of course, but they care about the fact that more and more Americans are finding work, that's what's important. We had 61 months of consecutive job growth, 12.1 millions, and, yes, the president deserves a lot of credit, and if he was the reverse, he'd be getting a lot of blame.

So, yes, the president was in North Carolina last week talking about jobs and economy, and he has middle class economics. He's not hiding from his record. He is out there trying to work hard each and every day to insure that every American want to find work will be able to find a job.

COSTELLO: OK. I do want -- before we go on, I do want to put the numbers in historical perspective, but I think it's pretty interesting, right? To put these numbers in historical perspective, at the same point in their presidencies, Bill Clinton was at 60 percent, wow, George W. Bush at 36 percent, and Ronald Reagan was at 48 percent, which matches exactly where President Obama is now.

So, comparatively, Obama's numbers are good, you could argue, right? The question I have, though, Tara, will these numbers embolden the president to continue with his executive numbers?

SETMAYER: Well, a couple of things, one, to Donna's point really quickly. The jobs that have been created have been primarily part time jobs, Americans hours worked is the lowest since the Johnson administration. It's only at 33.8 hour. Household income is down $2,200 under this president.

And for someone who is talking about the middle class and redistributing wealth, the top 1 percent actually made out great under the Obama administration, and the lower quintiles have done terribly. It's the middle class that's getting hammered.

COSTELLO: Absolutely true, Donna. You can't deny that.

SETMAYER: I wanted to make sure that that is clear.

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Wages are currently rising. Not rising fast enough.

SETMAYER: Less than 2 percent --

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Well, you know what, if the Republicans got out of the way, especially those on Capitol Hill, and began to roll up their sleeves the way the president has over the last six years, you know, we would find more and more jobs.

But, you know, Carol, from where the president started --

(CROSSTALK)

BRAZILE: Please, come on.

SETMAYER: They have.

BRAZILE: Since 2009, I know, excuses, excuses, but since 2009, look how far we have come. We got a long way to go. But you know what? We are heading in the right direction. We need more help and support from those who constantly oppose everything this president says and does.

It's just -- it's like it's a tired, old record. Go out and get new CD. I mean, we need some new music, Carol.

SETMAYER: Well, I think the 92 Americans who don't have jobs and are out of the workforce will disagree and the people that lost their health care and the small businesses that are closing at record numbers, and more are closing than starting in small business under this administration --

COSTELLO: Come on, Tara. The economy is not like that.

SETMAYER: Yes, it is. I mean, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm not making these things up. If you talked about it, more people would understand that, what's actually happening.

BRAZILE: No, we've got policies that didn't favor the top 1 percent like the Republicans did last week on the estate tax. They believe the trickle down is going to give somebody something to brag about.

SETMAYER: Obama's had six years and they didn't happen --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: There was a time when both sides of Congress were controlled by Democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I got to leave it there. I really do.

BRAZILE: Millions of Americans now have health insurance, Tara. Millions have health insurance.

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Yes. Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a massive recall for ice cream lovers. A popular frozen dessert manufacturer is pulling off its products off the shelves.

CNN's Martin Savidge following that story for us.

Hi, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, if you have Blue Bell in your freezer, and a lot of people do, you will want to hear, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:31] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 27 minutes past the hour.

The reserve deputy who shot and killed a man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has an initial court arraignment this morning. But Robert Bates is not expected to be here. He is free on $25,000 bond. "The Tulsa World" newspaper has raised questions some of Bates' training records, sending allegations that some of those records had been forced, or that he was unqualified to be serving on force. The sheriff has denied those allegations.

The captain of the boat that sank over the weekend has been arrested in Italy, along with another surviving crew member from manslaughter. The prosecutors office say they arrested the two for their role in the, quote, "reckless shipwreck", and for assisting human trafficking with as many as 850 people on board that doomed ship. The sinking is likely the deadliest disaster involving migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy is sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of inciting violence and facilitating the killing and torturing of protesters in 2012. Morsy, the first democratically elected president of the Egypt, was deposed by a military coup in 2013. The case is subject to appeal but he is also standing trial in other three cases.

A massive recall of a popular frozen dessert manufacturer which distributes to about half the United States is pulling every single one of its products off store shelves because it could be contaminated with potentially deadly bacterial listeria.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in Atlanta with more on this.

Good morning.

SAVIDGE: Good morning, Carol.

And we are just getting into what is ice cream season in much of the nation, and now, Blue Bell taking a dramatic step, recalling all of its products.

Now, let me show a map that gives you an idea of just how Blue Bell reaches and sells in the United States, roughly 23 states that are impacted as a result of this news, already in the store. Well, you should not be able to find Blue Bell at all. The concern, of course, is if you have it in your home.

And the real concern is listeria. Listeria is a bacteria that can be deadly. There have been a number of deaths, but not necessarily connected to the ice cream. Listeria can come in other cases and in other foods.

But the CEO of Blue Bell is taking it very seriously. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL W. KRUSE, CEO, BLUE BELL CREAMERIES: Ice cream is a joy and a pleasure to eat, and it certainly is for me and I do it everyday, and it should never be a cause for concern. And for that we do apologize, and we are going to get it right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: He basically says, look, he is not going to put it back on the shelves until they have tested and made sure that every piece of ice cream, every frozen trick is safe to eat.