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Hundreds of Migrants Rescued Off Italian Coast; Victims Testify in Tsarnaev Penalty Phase; U.S. Deputy Marshal Smashes Cell Phone; Radioactive Drone Found on Japan PM's Roof. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 22, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:26] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is official. Kim Jong-Un will visit Russia later next month; the Kremlin now confirming the visit by the North Korean leader who will be in Moscow to take part in Russia's victory day celebrations. The Kremlin said Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet with his North Korean counterpart during his trip but did not provide any further details. We'll keep you posted.

In Sicily today, hundreds of migrants were rescued by the Italian navy. They came from Syria and Egypt, another sign that growing unrest in the Middle East has reached the shores of Europe. Those migrants are being processed by officials in Augusta, Italy. Karl Penhaul is there.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 446 migrants, Carol, in addition to Syria and Egypt as you rightly mentioned also from Somalia, from Eretria as well. Obviously they are trying to break out of poverty and really just looking at those people coming down the gangplank of that Italian navy vessel, you get an impression of just how bad things must be at home.

Women carrying babes in arms, children so small they could hardly walk but just totter as they take their first steps toward a new life. And crucially as well, Italian authorities on hand looking out to see if any members of these human trafficking rings are within that group so they can arrest them to try and bust up these gangs that are really preying and making a fast buck off human tragedy.

This particular boat, well it set sail from Egypt. The migrants were loaded bit by bit on one fishing vessel and then after a few days they were transferred to another fishing vessel -- none of these boats really sea worthy. They are pretty much rust buckets and then finally they were rescued by the Italian navy.

They are back on dry land now. Now being given medical checks and in the process of identification -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Karl, I know you have been talking to some of these migrants. What are they telling you?

PENHAUL: Harrowing tales of why they left home and how they managed to get here. The price of their passage really has been getting beaten on the way, getting robbed on the way and being exposed to all kinds of violence especially from those human trafficking gangs.

I talked to a Syrian man. This is what he had to say about why he left home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In Syria I would have to be part of one party or of ISIS. I'd have to take up arms and kill people. But I don't want that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENHAUL: These migrants are escaping from conflict zones, they're escaping from failed governments and they're also trying to escape from rampant poverty -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Karl Penhaul, reporting live for us this morning -- thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, jurors weeping in court as a woman describes the moment she thought she would die. I'll take you live to Boston as the jury decides whether the Boston bomber should live or die.

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[10:37:07] COSTELLO: It's day two in the sentencing phase of convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Prosecutors are demanding the death penalty for a man they're calling quote, "unconcerned, unrepentant and unchanged. Jurors seeing an image of Tsarnaev flipping off a security camera while in his cell three months after the attack.

In the meantime, victims and their family members making gut- wrenching statements to the court. One woman, Celeste Corcoran telling jurors about the day she lost her legs saying quote, "our whole world just exploded. I unfortunately remember every single detail. I remember thinking I wanted to die. The pain was too much."

Alexandra Field, live in Boston with more. Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

The pain has been so much for everyone in that courtroom to hear about. Prosecutors really have two goals in this phase of the trial. They're trying to communicate the pain and suffering that's been experienced by so many because of the actions of the Tsarnaev brothers. And they're also trying to show that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the convicted bomber, has shown no remorse, no sorrow for the pain and the suffering he has caused.

Emotional days here at the court -- we've seen pictures of Krystle Campbell, old family photos. Her brother and her father both testifying about the loss, the pain that they have experienced. Her father, talking to jurors about what it was like to be told that his daughter had been injured during the marathon. He went to the hospital, waited for hours of surgery. Went into see his daughter and found out that it was a case of mistaken identity. He talked about collapsing on the floor, passing out, the grief too much for him to deal with.

We've also heard from the family of Officer Sean Collier who was shot and killed. His brother and his stepfather, both taking the stand to talk about the young boy who grew up in a big family with a dream of becoming a police officer. A young man who was living that dream when he was shot down. His stepfather talks about going to the hospital to identify his stepson's body, describes seeing the hole in his head and talks about his wife trying to touch her son's body. Her hands left stained by the blood. Heavy emotional testimony for the jurors to hear.

The prosecution taking their time during this part of the trial to communicate that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is someone who deserves the death sentence. They say this is someone who is destined and determined to become America's worst nightmare.

Once they proceed and wrap up with calling their witnesses, Carol, the defense will then call witnesses. They will argue that Tsarnaev should be sentenced instead to life in prison.

COSTELLO: All right. Alexandra Field, reporting live -- thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM a woman stops to film police activity on a public sidewalk. And look what happens. Yes. That's a U.S. marshal taking her phone away. She's suing. Does she have a chance? We'll talk about that next.

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[10:43:28] COSTELLO: A constitutional right to take digital pictures. That's the claim of one California woman who says a U.S. deputy marshal took her cell phone and smashed it onto the ground while she recorded police activity near her home. The incident caught on video by a neighbor and now an investigation has been launched. I wish I would have paused so you could see the whole thing. There you see it. Let's just show it. You see that he kicks the cell phone away.

CNN's Kyung Lah spoke to the woman involved. She joins me now from Los Angeles to explain how this went down. Good morning.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

He didn't just kick the cell phone he also stomped on it according to this woman. She's an elementary school teacher, Beatriz Paez. She was out on a stroll on Sunday, just out exercising and she saw some police activity in her neighborhood.

She said the first thing she thought of were the confrontations that were caught by citizens in South Carolina and New York. So she whipped out her cell phone and started recording. She was four to five houses away. One of the officers broke away from the police incident, approached her and told her to stop recording. She said, "Hey, look, I'm on a public sidewalk."

Here's how she says all of this unraveled.

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BEATRIZ PAEZ: Then I kind of moved this way because I wanted to protect the phone, the footage. That's when you see me struggling to keep this. And of course he grabbed it away from me. We were struggling and he yanked it from me. He dropped it on the ground. He stomped on it many times, kicked it and kicked my bottle, broke it. And then he says there's your phone.

[10:45:05] LAH: Did you do anything wrong?

PAEZ: I don't think so. This is my right. It's my right. It's my constitutional right to film. And I was on a public sidewalk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: That officer is learning that everybody has a cell phone, everyone is going to record everything because a neighbor across the street was also recording. The U.S. Marshal Service confirms that their officer was indeed involved. They released a statement to us saying that "The U.S. Marshal Service is aware of video footage of an incident that took place Sunday in Los Angeles County involving a deputy U.S. Marshal. The agency is currently reviewing the incident."

Carol -- we did follow-up to see if they could offer us any guidance. What was happening? What was going through that marshal's mind? They didn't have any further comment -- Carol.

COSTELLO: What were the U.S. marshals doing, do you know?

LAH: We understand that they were involved in some sort of biker incident but that's really the only guidance we're getting from other law enforcement agencies. The marshals themselves are not saying anything beyond that statement.

COSTELLO: So strange.

Kyung Lah -- many thanks. I appreciate it.

Joining me now to talk about this -- Joey Jackson HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney; and former FBI assistance director and CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. Welcome to both of you.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning -- Carol.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So Tom -- your thoughts? FUENTES: I don't know. It looks bad to me. I think that as far

as I'm aware and I'm going to defer to Joey for better legal analysis on this but it's my understanding that if you're in a public place, a public sidewalk, on the street, and you're using your camera and your smartphone to record police action, as long as you're not interfering with that action directly or obstructing it or endangering somebody by doing that, you're allowed to do that. And I think that from the appearances of this, I think the marshals need to do a little better job of explaining the situation and what they're doing.

COSTELLO: Joey, this woman, she's hired a civil rights attorney because she says her constitutional right to film was violated. Is that true?

JACKSON: Well listen, police have a very difficult job. We know that, Carol. The stresses run high. Apparently in this particular incident they were involved, that is the police department, U.S. marshals were involved and some interagency task force to get these bikers who they were looking for. So we get that.

However, Tom Fuentes states the standard perfectly. The reality is that it's your first amendment right. You want to sit there. You want to film. You want to do anything. As long as you're in a public place and you're not impeding or interfering or otherwise engaging in any activity that would prevent the law enforcement officers from doing their job, it's problematic.

So you do have a constitutional right also to be free from unreasonable searches, unreasonable searches and of course excessive force. And so she does have a claim.

The bigger issue, Carol, is what the damages are going to be. Why? Because the reality is that, you know, they snatched the phone, they hurt the phone. How was she damaged? That's going to really be the issue.

COSTELLO: Ok. So going back to the U.S. marshal's actions, Tom, I mean, you might understand why police, deputies and U.S. marshals might be a little sensitive when people are taking pictures. Is that an excuse?

FUENTES: No, Carol, it's not an excuse. And you know, I'm a little bit surprised about the marshals in this case a particular deputy marshal not getting the memo that, you know, people are out there with cameras and just about anything you do in a public place is going to be recorded. That's just the way it is as in this case.

Not even the woman that's recording that marshal. It's a neighbor across the street recording her having her difficulty with the marshal. And if the marshal had gone across the street and dealt with that person, there's probably somebody else down the block that would have recorded that. So this is just the reality as Joey said. It's the reality of what's going on now. And it's not a rare occurrence anymore.

In 1991 when Rodney King was beaten, it was a very rare occurrence to have somebody out there and it took a full-fledged video camera to do it. But now just about all of us walk around with a video camera attached to our hip.

COSTELLO: And Joey, I know that some jurisdictions have tried to ban picture taking by citizens. Have any of them been successful as far as you know?

JACKSON: Not at all. And what happens is that the courts have ruled that as long as you're in a public place, if you're in that place and you're leaving the officers alone, they have no expectation of privacy in that public place and so therefore you are legally and constitutionally protected to do what you want.

It's interesting that Tom mentions a memo, you know, in terms of them not getting the memo. New York City indeed recently issued a memo to all of its officers saying hey listen, you know, we know you guys are working hard. But if someone is filming you, you can't take the cameras away. You can't get hostile. It's their right to do so.

And I would -- you know, it's a certainty that law enforcement throughout the country is going to be more attendant and attuned to this and start letting their officers know what their rights are and what their rights are not.

[10:50:02] COSTELLO: All right. Joey Jackson, Tom Fuentes -- many thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you -- Carol.

FUENTES: You're welcome -- Carol.

JACKSON: Take care.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

As early as today, investigators could begin questioning the six Baltimore police officers who were involved in the takedown of 25- year-old Freddie Gray. Gray died from a fatal spinal cord injury after he was taken into police custody. Those officers now suspended with pay.

In the meantime more protests are planned today. On Tuesday Gray's family walked side by side with angry demonstrators. All of this happening as the Department of Justice launches a criminal investigation to determine whether Gray's civil rights were violated.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, in Japan a drone lands in the center of a mystery. Why did that drone land on the prime minister's rooftop and why was it carrying radioactive material?

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COSTELLO: In Tokyo, police are baffled by a startling discovery. A member of the prime minister's staff spots a curious object on the rooftop of his residence. It turns out it was a drone outfitted with a small camera. It was also carrying radioactive cargo. Let's head to Tokyo and CNN's Will Ripley -- strange and kind of

scary.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very startling for people here in Tokyo -- Carol. This is unprecedented for Japan.

[10:55:01] Essentially, this is the equivalent of a drone carrying radioactive material landing on the rooftop of the White House. This is where the prime minister, he works out of this building. He sometimes stays there as well.

The prime minister out of the country right now in Indonesia but there were still a lot of staff members in here when this drone was discovered this morning and within minutes there was a swarm of police on the rooftop trying to figure out exactly what this was.

What they know about this drone it's about 20 inches across. As you said, it was carrying a bottle that contained traces of radioactive material. This material has been identified as cesium which is what is contaminating the environment around the Fukushima Daichi plant. It's a known by-product of nuclear disasters and whatnot. This is not enough cesium to be harmful to the human body, at least not initial but it's still much higher than what would appear naturally in the environment. Also as you mentioned, there was that small camera and two smoke flares on the drone as well.

Now, nobody has claimed responsibility for this yet -- Carol. But the timing of this is interesting because it came on the same day that a court here in Japan approved the restart of two nuclear reactors. This is very controversial given the Fukushima disaster. And so the fact that you have a drone landing on the prime minister's residence containing cesium that was intentionally placed there, police believe.

They are certainly trying very hard to figure out right now who did this and why -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Will Ripley, reporting live from Japan this morning. Thank you.

And thank all of you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" after a break.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: "We won't stop". Protests in Baltimore gaining momentum, emotions raw over the still unexplained death of Freddie Gray -- the community there, demanding to know what happened while he was in police custody. How he ended up in a coma and later died.

[11:00:06] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: And then a new terror plot foiled. Authorities arrest a 24-year-old student in France. Wait until you hear what he had in his -