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Today's Orioles Game Closed to the Public; Hundreds Missing in Landslides; Teens Seek to Bridge Gap in Baltimore. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:29:50] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in former TV Judge, Attorney Glenda Hatchett. Hi -- Judge Hatchett.

GLENDA HATCHETT, FORMER TV JUDGE: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it. Do you think that --

HATCHETT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: I'm so glad you're here. Do you think that police should release some of the information that's in that report to the public on Friday?

HATCHETT: You know, I agree with Evan. It's a whole matter of managing expectations, Carol. Actually, if I were in that situation, I would really advise them not to release preliminary reports.

Let me tell you why. Because the investigation is continuing and what we want at the end of the day is we want a fair and thorough investigation in this matter. We want to know exactly what happened. We don't want police to be charged that they weren't responsible. What we don't want them to not be charged if they should be charged.

And so I realize that there is a lot of tension in Baltimore and throughout the nation but at the end of the day, my concern is that this be preserved in a way that is just for everyone involved. And so I think what has to happen is that there has to be an explanation before Friday that it's not likely 00 there won't be charges on Friday for certain and that it's not likely that we will know very much more because the investigation is at this point.

COSTELLO: There's also the possibility that the prosecutor's office might decide to turn it over to a grand jury. Tell us more about that.

HATCHETT: Yes. And we've seen that in other situations. We saw that in Ferguson, we saw that in New York, in the Eric Garner case and often in jurisdictions where police are involved, the state prosecutor will send it to a grand jury and if that's the case, Carol, we should expect that that process will take weeks if not months. And so again it's a matter of managing people's expectations of what the time line should be. I applaud the police for saying that they would have a

preliminary report done by Friday. That's great. I think that's wonderful. But that's not the end-all, be-all in this process and it will take a while for this process to play out.

COSTELLO: Now, the six officers have been suspended without pay and there's an internal police investigation going on. Will we ever find out what they determined happened?

HATCHETT: We will eventually. And the thing is that we have multiple investigations. We have this internal investigation. We have the state investigation. We have the justice -- U.S. Department of justice investigation going on. Eventually we will find out what the internal police investigation says in this matter. And it would be in everybody's best interest for that to happen because what we want is we want citizens to have confidence in this process.

And the more that they understand and the more transparent this process is, the better. I know we're balancing act because I say it needs to be transparent but at the same time, it needs to be thorough and we don't want information released prematurely. Does that make sense?

COSTELLO: It makes perfect sense. Judge Hatchett -- thanks for clarifying everything for us. We appreciate it.

HATCHETT: Carol -- can I also say thank you for your op-ed piece. Thank you for that. I want to thank you for that piece.

COSTELLO: Thank you. That means a lot. I really appreciate that. Thanks for being with me -- Judge Hatchett.

HATCHETT: Thank you very much. Good to see you.

COSTELLO: All right. Coming up next in the NEWSROOM -- good to see you too -- coming up in the NEWSROOM, we're going to take you to Camden Yards where they're going to play a baseball game where there are no fans present. A live report just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:37:18] COSTELLO: The Orioles and the White Sox play ball in just about three and a half hours at Camden Yards but there won't be any fans there to see it. For the first time in Major League Baseball history, a game has been closed to the public out of abundance of caution.

Here's what the commissioner said. Quote, "We made a series of decisions based on safety concerns in Baltimore. I think the two clubs, both Baltimore and Chicago, were great, very cooperative in moving through a very difficult situation.

CNN's sports anchor Rachel Nichols is at the ballpark; also joining us is chief business correspondent Christine Romans on the financial hit the city is taking because of all this. But I want to start with you, Rachel because this is just so

bizarre.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. You can see behind me the gates are locked. Normally at this point before a day game, you would see fans start to mill around, vendors starting to set up. None of that is happening today.

Major League Baseball has been around for nearly a century and a half and the baseball league offices tell us they have no record of any game with zero fans but already on the board in the Orioles clubhouse today, they normally wait to scrawl the attendance in until they know how many people are here. There's a big zero up there already. No paying fans today.

COSTELLO: Oh no. You know, I still love to listen to ball games on the radio so what would that sound like? Will they still have the music and there will be no fans cheering? Nothing.

NICHOLS: Yes. Well, they are going to have a national anthem. They haven't said whether it will be live or recorded. They are still working out details. Do they have a seventh inning stretch? Who stretches if you have a seventh inning stretch? What kind of traditions around the ballpark are they going to do or not do?

It's going to be a very strange game. It will be on television. It will be on the radio. So from where you guys are down there, you can just tune in and you'll have as much of a good seat as anyone else does.

COSTELLO: I know. Will the little man be singing the John Denver song? I hope so.

NICHOLS: That is --

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: -- one of those questions. You know it's a tradition here in Baltimore. Every ballpark around the country has some great little traditions that happen within the game. And we've asked hey are you going to do that today? They are still working out those details. They basically just want to get this game in.

It's obviously been a very tumultuous week and they are moving the rest of the home stand. They were supposed to play here and host Tampa. Instead they're going to go down to St. Petersburg. They'll be the home team down in St. Petersburg because the city just said in cooperation with Major League Baseball it wouldn't be safe to have large public gatherings here for the next few days. So they are the away home team and today they're the locked out team.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

[10:39:56] So Christine Romans -- Christine Romans, this is going to have a financial impact on the city because normally as Rachel said at this time fans would be milling about. They would be going to the bars near Camden Yards and spending money.

There's all the vendors set up selling t-shirts and soft drinks and the like. The city is losing a lot of money because of this, too.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And basically if you are a paycheck to paycheck minimum wage worker working in one of those jobs that relies on either Camden Yards or for example some of these conferences. A medical conference has just been canceled. Three other conventions have been canceled. So if you work around those things, those workers will suffer -- those minimum wage paycheck to paycheck workers.

But I've been talking to economists all morning who say it look as though if this is contained, if these protests and certainly no more riots -- if this can end this week, then the overall impact on what is a vibrant economy in Baltimore, a big economy in Baltimore, it will be absorbed.

Carol -- I can tell you right now that three of those CVS stores have reopened. The two that sustained damages are still closed but three have reopened. And we're hearing from companies that they want to get opened quickly. They want to continue their investments in Baltimore.

But again, I will say when you talk about conventions being canceled through the weekend, you know, you have people who maybe work in hotel rooms, maybe the cleaning people in hotel rooms they could lose hours. These are a list of some of the things that have been disrupted over the next few days. That's where you're going to see the economic impact.

Maybe not overall economic figures for the city, Carol, but maybe for paychecks of people.

COSTELLO: I'm sad that the kinetic sculpture race isn't taking place because if you've never seen it Christine, you have to come on down maybe next year because it's insane. It features this big giant pink poodle. It's too hard to explain. Thank you Christine and thanks also to Rachel Nichols.

The Baltimore Symphony hopes some classical music will help calm the city. The orchestra will hold a free concert at noon today at Symphony Hall. As they posted on their Facebook page quote, "It seems we could all use a little music in our lives right now.: So as I head to break, let's listen to the musicians as they rehearse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:47] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York this morning. We're going to get back to Carol live in Baltimore in just a moment.

But first we want to update you on the latest on how Nepal is coping after that devastating earthquake. The number of confirmed deaths is now at 5,031, about 10,000 people are believed to be injured as well. A drone shot this footage right outside the capital of Kathmandu. You can see how much is just flattened there. 200 people are now missing after those heavy rains triggered landslides just north of the capital.

CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins me now. She is on her way to one of the hardest hit regions. It's a mountainside village that was almost entirely destroyed from the earthquake.

Arwa, as I understand it, you're about 15 miles from where the epicenter was. How hard is it to get there and to get aid to the people that need it most there?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, we left the capital about eight hours ago. We had to stop because night fell and so the last four hours we've been driving on this mud and dirt roads -- very, very slow going. We're right now camped out next to this grocery store.

About three miles from where we're being told a landslide happened by the initial earthquake that blocked off the road. The hardest hit area, the epicenter of the earthquake, is on the other side of that landslide.

Inside this grocery store, the owner himself, he says that his house which is off the right field in front of us was completely destroyed. He was there with his daughter when the first tremors happened. They both ran out and the house collapsed behind them.

Also inside this grocery store are four other adults from the village around half an hour away. They walked here to wait by the side of the road for aid. We have been seeing throughout the day some trucks that are packed with aid. They have markings from local Nepalese organizations on them or from some groups from the various different regions here. We haven't really seen that big massive aid coming in.

All we're hearing some people that have made the journey is that at a certain point it does need to just walk. That hardest hit area is apparently on the other of this landslide blocking the road somewhere between a three to six-hour hike away. But throughout this region between two mountains is village after village that bears horrific signs of destruction.

In one of them three children were killed when a house collapsed. Another woman we met said that her home collapsed on top of her one- year-old baby daughter but she managed to pull her out. This is incredibly remote poor area. The homes here are made out of stone and dirt. A lot of the injuries caused when a wall or part of the building collapsed on top of people and to evacuate the wounded was a very painful journey either on the back of a motorcycle or whatever vehicle, which is a luxury for people out here, (inaudible) to be (inaudible) and then having to make that very slow, bumpy journey back to one of the closest cities, closest medical facility.

It's incredibly slow going out here. This is very tough terrain especially I'm assuming tomorrow when we get further down to those areas that are completely closed off -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And that has been the concern all along -- those very rural areas so hard to reach. How do you rescue the people when every single hour counts when they are trapped beneath the rubble. Arwa Damon reporting for us live outside of the capital right near the epicenter of where that quake was.

Arwa -- thank you very much.

Quick break -- we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:52:43] COSTELLO: Welcome back to Baltimore. I'm Carol Costello.

My next guests are doing their part to bridge the gap between Baltimore police and the community they serve by encouraging teenagers to find solutions to issues involving race, class and culture. The group is called the Inner Harbor Project and joining me now are its founders Celia Neustadt and youth empowerment leader Cheo Thomas. Welcome to both of you.

CELIA NEUSTADT, INNER HARBOR PROJECT: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Appreciate you being here. So tell us exactly how you bridge the gap.

NEUSTADT: Yes. So one of our programs is the police training program and we have young people who have actually designed a training for police officers to communicate with young people in a more positive way. That's one of the things we do.

COSTELLO: Let's pause right there.

NEUSTADT: Yes.

COSTELLO: So what kind of things -- how should police talk to youngsters to be effective?

CHEO THOMAS, INNER HARBOR PROJECT: I think that, you know, the police should be more approaching, you know less aggressive to teens because we do take that into offense. You know, police being more aggressive to us. That's not the right way to approach anyone, I think.

COSTELLO: Ok. The second thing you do is?

NEUSTADT: Really what we've learned is it's about respect. It's about giving assumption of respect both on teens and with police. So we are trying to get police to approach teens with respect and vice versa.

COSTELLO: So how do they do that? Because when a teen is misbehaving or committing some violent behavior, most people would say, you know, they deserve some tough tactics. NEUSTADT: It's definitely complicated. One of the thing we do

through our peace ambassador program, we have young people like Cheo and 24 other young people who are leaders among their peers. So Cheo may not look like it because he's in a suit right now but he's actually really popular and really good at talking to his peers.

The young people who are both student government leaders but also young people, who maybe are getting in trouble, may be the ones responsible for some of the violence in our city, about these issues. So maybe you can talk a little bit about the way you approach the mediation between police and teens in real-time in Inner Harbor.

THOMAS: I mean with mediation -- I'm in charge and that's my group. So we take the approach on social media and it's like social media is the root to everything with ease. That's our generation, you know. We can't live without Twitter or Instagram so anything that happens on social media, we try to intervene in different conflicts involving Inner Harbor. We just basically promote positive behavior.

[10:55:10] COSTELLO: So how do you take a young person who is really angry and intent on, you know, causing some trouble? How do you get them to maybe rethink that?

THOMAS: Well, it's different coming from an adult than a teen. Like if I'm talking to another 18-year-old or someone younger than me, then it's, like, ok well, I understand where he's coming from like he's another teenager. Maybe I should listen because we're peers.

And coming from like say a 30-year-old man trying to tell me like calm down, don't do it maybe he'll take the more aggressive approach and youth we respond negative to that. And you know, as a young man, I want to see my generation grow up in the right way.

COSTELLO: It's interesting that Cheo says that because my generation, where I came from, like I was afraid of adults. I did what they said. It didn't take an intervention from a person my age to make me stop doing that kind of behavior. So is it different today?

NEUSTADT: I don't know if it's different. Maybe you were an obedient child. But I don't think it's quite different. I mean, the young people that come down to Inner Harbor see Inner Harbor as this recreational fun space where they can meet up with their peers, hang out, get some food. That's not to say that when they're at home they're not very obedient. But when they're in Inner Harbor and with their peers, everyone is influenced by peer pressure, right?

So they're one way at home, one way with their friends and that's when we see negative elements.

COSTELLO: Well thank you both for your good work. And thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate it.

NEUSTADT: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I do. NEUSTADT: Thank you for having us.

COSTELLO: Nice to meet nice young people.

I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me today.

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

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[11:00:04] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: It's a very different day in Baltimore. Law enforcement still on guard but the streets there -- relatively quiet. You can even see school buses. Protesters for the --