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In the Aftermath of Looters; Will Marilyn Mosby Prosecute the Freddie Gray Case?; Bridgegate Staffers in Court Today; Dr. Sanjay Gupta Saving Lives in Nepal; Mosby to Hold Press Conference. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 01, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, live outside of Baltimore city hall. I'm Ashleigh Banfield reporting for Carol Costello this morning. I wanted to take you on a tour of something I saw yesterday and it's not a pleasant sight, and it's so unfortunate, but I think it's something I think everyone should see.

On Monday night, you probably saw the riots here in Baltimore, but what you might not have seen is those who are really caught up in it and injured, the people who actually lost their livelihoods, the stores that were looted. I met a Korean business owner who not only lost everything in his store, but he was beaten terribly badly the looters, in fact.

[09:30:03] Now, he doesn't speak English very well, so it was very kind of him to allow us to go into his store with a friend of his named Charlie Sung (ph), who's going to translate for you. But I wanted you to meet the Young-Min Park, who is the owner of the store, and I want to take you from the moment where he told me he got the call, he could hear that his alarms were going off, and he responded to his store only to find the worse scenario. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: What happened when he got the phone call that his store was being looted?

CHARLIE SUNG, ATTORNEY: So he drove down to the store and noted that there were a lot of people looting the store, and what he did at that point was stand across the street and watch helplessly. There was not much he could do at that point.

BANFIELD: But he ultimately was terribly injured?

SUNG: He was. What happened was he came back the next morning to try to salvage his business and try to lock up and assess the damage. When he came back in he found two people with mats inside the store, and as they were fleeing. When they saw him--

BANFIELD: Going through all of the mess.

SUNG: That's correct, yes. And when they saw him, they assaulted him and ran off.

BANFIELD: What did they do? What did they do to him?

SUNG: I believe they punched him.

BANFIELD: Mr. Park, are you OK? Is your eye OK?

YOUNG-KIM PARK, LIQUOR STORE OWNER: Yes.

BANFIELD: Yes? Will you go to a doctor?

PARK: No, not yet.

BANFIELD: Not yet? Maybe after?

PARK: Yes.

BANFIELD: Later. And all of this was done that night and the next morning, Charlie?

SUNG: That's right. That's correct.

BANFIELD: Did he salvage anything? I mean, there's just nothing left. It's either filthy garbage and completely bare shelves. Did he salvage anything?

SUNG: He did -- he salvaged nothing. From what I understand, there were people in here with shopping bags just loading up and taking everything.

BANFIELD: Any idea of the amount of loss?

SUNG: Not yet. We're still assessing the amount of loss.

BANFIELD: Has anyone helped -- anybody helping you to clean, to fix? Friends? Family?

PARK: No. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

BANFIELD: What did he say?

SUNG: That's really not on his mind right now because he's just trying to assess the damage at this point, and that's sort of the long term goal, is for him to try to clean up and see how he can rebuild.

BANFIELD: So he's worried that even more damage could happen in the days to come, maybe fire?

SUNG: That's correct.

BANFIELD: I am so sorry.

PARK: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

SUNG: Once the dust settles and he's feeling better physically, he's going to come back with his family and try to clean up and try to rebuild the business.

BANFIELD: Thank you for showing us, and I am very sorry. Good luck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Our thanks to Young-Min Park and to his friend Charlie Sung who did our translating for us. One of the real tragedies of that as well is that the looters stole the surveillance system, too.

So how do you prosecute people like that? How do you go after them? And what about the issue of prosecuting the police who may have been responsible for the death of Freddie Gray that sparked all of this? There is one woman, Marilyn Mosby, 35 years old and brand new to the job, she is the state's attorney and the file is officially on her desk. How big is that file? And I don't mean figuratively.

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[09:36:55] BANFIELD: Ever since Freddie Gray died from injuries that he sustained while in police custody, bits and pieces of what happened have been leaking out but not coming out officially. And certainly no report has been made public. But what is inside the preliminary reports to date? We know this, it was delivered one day early, it was supposed to be delivered today but it went one day early to the state's attorney, and that went yesterday.

Bits and pieces leaking out. WJLA reporting that the ME has found that one of the injuries that Freddie Gray sustained actually matches a bolt in the back of the police van. Of course the issue is there are six officers now in question, some were in the arrest, some may be in the transport, some may be something else that we don't know.

Joining me now is Mel Robbins, our legal analyst. There is so much to ask about this, Mel. Here's the issue. I went to break saying the file on Marilyn Mosby's desk, the state attorney for Baltimore, is -- I am not saying it's figuratively not big enough, I mean literally. I can't imagine how big this file needs to be, how many investigative reports need to be inside it, how many witnesses need to be asked what they saw, what they know, how many alternative witnesses need to talk about the first witnesses and how credible they are.

Can you somehow put into perspective for me the paperwork that this state attorney is going to have to go through?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Ashleigh, it is extraordinary, because one of the things that she is very well aware of is that the eyes of the United States are upon her, and the situation is not calming down as all. And it's going to be her job, Ashleigh, to decide whether or not she's bringing charges.

And so what she is going to do is going through are mounds, and I mean mounds and mounds and mounds of transcripts of interviews. She's going to be looking at probably not one autopsy report but there will probably be several autopsy reports. Because let's just say, let's just say for argument's sake, Ashleigh, that these reports that we're hearing, the fatal injury, actually happened inside the van and that there are injuries on the body that substantiate that. She's going to have to have absolute certainty if she's not bringing charges.

She's already said she is seeking justice. She's already talked about the fact that there is a trust issue. And so there is a ton of pressure on her shoulders right now, and it's her call. We've seen this happen in Ferguson. We saw this happen in New York with the Eric Garner case. She's got to decide is she got a case on her hands that she can actually prove? And if she does, is she going to seek an indictment, Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: If this will be like any other case I've covered where there are multiple people that the fingers are pointing out, there's a lot of this that goes on. They blame each other, or at least that's the defense, so that you can deflect or create some kind of reasonable doubt for your own case, so that just makes even more paperwork.

But let me ask you about the figurative size. That's the literal side of the paperwork and the size of the file. How big is to file figuratively speaking?

[09:40:01] The weight of the world seems to be on this woman's desk right now, three months into the job. Is she damned if she does and damned if she doesn't? Does she answer to what the protesters want, to save this city from further disruption? Or does she really just going to go straight for the facts only, no matter what the people think or want?

ROBBINS: You know, her job and she was elected to do it, is to make these judgment calls. And she is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

Here's the thing though, Ashleigh. What she needs to do is she needs to look at the facts of the case. She needs to follow the trail of evidence. And while she is, certainly, as a black woman, as a woman who's got a lot of law enforcement in her family, as a woman who was elected by a very, very strong majority and presumably has the public confidence, if the evidence leads to a case and a situation where there is no criminal charges, she's going to have to stand tall and have that evidence beside her and point it out to this public.

So I think it's easier if the evidence takes her towards charging; it's much more difficult if doing the right thing means saying, hey, look, we don't have a case here. There will be civil cases for sure in this instance, but a criminal one, it will be interesting to see what happens.

BANFIELD: Oh absolutely. There has already been an admission he wasn't buckled into the van, and we've got evidence he's injured. I can't imagine there wouldn't be civil cases. Mel, that's all the time I have but there's so many more questions still to be answered. Thank you for your time.

We'll be right back after this.

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[09:45:17] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I am Christine Romans in New York. Breaking news in the New Jersey bridge gate scandal. Want to get the details right away from CNN investigative correspondent Chris Frates at the federal courthouse in Newark. What do you know, Chris?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey Christine, so what we know today is that David Wildstein, who was a top ally of Governor Chris Christie at the Port Authority, will plead guilty to charges stemming from the Bridgegate incident in 2013. If you remember, he was alleged to have closed some of the traffic lanes going onto the George Washington Bridge in what was alleged to be political payback against the mayor of that city in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

So Wildstein has walked into the courthouse today. We're not sure exactly what charges he will plead guilty to, but he was a top ally of Christie at the Port Authority. Sources there told CNN that he was considered the governor's eyes and ears at the Authority, and that he was introduced as a good friend to the governor when he got a job there.

The other things that we're expecting today on the Bridgegate scandal is other top Christie staffers may be indicted today, Christine. There is a deputy chief of staff named Bridget Kelly. She was the one who wrote the e-mail to David Wildstein, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee". Another person who may be indicted today, Bill Stepien. He was Christie's campaign manager, very close to Christie, so we're watching for news of him, too.

Wildstein goes into the court here at about 11:00. We'll find out more then. And then the U.S. attorney, Paul Fischman, is going to have a press conference at 1:00 where he'll answer questions about his investigation, and we should get more answers about was Christie involved? What were the motivations of the staffers? And what happened here. And, Christie, it should be noted, has said that he did not know about these lane closures. He said he was not close to David Wildstein, did not consider him a friend, and so we will see how it plays out, Christie speaking today at a political event in Virginia, and so we're going to have a lot more news as this unwinds today. Christine.

ROMANS: And likely reaction from the governor. All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much for that.

Now a look at your other top stories this morning. A judge has reduced sentences for three Atlanta educators convicted in the city's big cheating scandal. Last month the judge sentenced them to seven years in prison, 13 years probation, $25,000 in fines. That judge reduced that Thursday to three years in prison, seven years probation, and $10,000 in fines. Plus, 2,000 hours of community service.

Tulsa County sheriff's office has made changes to its reserve deputy program, this after Reserve Deputy Robert Bates shot and killed a suspect during a sting last month. He said he meant to use his taser. The office says reserve deputies can no longer patrol alone. It's also limiting the duties of those deputies while it audits the training records of 126 of them. The audit follows allegations that Bates did not require -- did not have required training. Spectators wept and an officer broke down on the stand Thursday at the

James Holmes murder trial in Colorado, prosecutors showing graphic images of the carnage that remained after Holmes stormed a crowded theater in 2013, killing 12 people and injuring more than 70. Holmes is pleading insanity; could get the death penalty if convicted.

Up next, harrowing video, our own Sanjay Gupta trying to revive a quake victim in Nepal's disaster zone.

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ROMANS: Ahead, how the life-saving effort played out.

[09:49:05]

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ROMANS: The death toll in the Nepal earthquake now tops 6,000. Some of the hardest hit areas are also the toughest to reach. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to one of those areas. Sanjay saw firsthand this anguish but he also helped save a life, offering a ray of hope amid all that despair.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes it takes a village to reach a village, and right now they are trying to save a village.

Just east of Kathmandu, Sindhupalchok is the hardest hit district in Nepal. More devastation and more deaths here than anywhere else. They need everything. Anything.

(on camera): So we're seeing how some of this relief works. First of all, Indian helicopter -- getting a lot of assistance from other countries. Noodles, instant noodles, one of the biggest relief items providing an instant source of calories. And finally these are the tarps. This is so badly needed because of the weather conditions where we're going.

(voice-over): One of the challenges, we are told, this team has no idea what they'll find when they arrive. We quickly see what that means. The propellers never even stop as we drop off aid supplies. And suddenly, an 18-year-old mother is thrust through the aircraft door atop a stretcher made out of straw.

We only know her name -- Sabina (ph). We see her husband and one and a half month old baby. As I examine her, I quickly realize she has no movement and no sensation in her legs. Sabina (ph) is paraplegic.

Then things get worse. Minutes into our flight now, Sabina (ph) stops breathing. We can no longer detect a pulse either in her wrist or her neck. I check her pupils and try desperately to rouse her as we blast over countryside. There are no IV fluids on this helicopter. No defibrillator. Not even a first aid kit. And this young woman is going into cardiac arrest. It is aggressive, but I just delivered a cardiac thump -- a quick,

strong hit to the chest, in a last-ditch effort to get her heart back into action. Whether it worked or not, I can't say for sure. But she came back, and for a moment everything calms down.

[09:55:04] I slowly try and rehydrate her the old fashioned way.

We touch down once more at a makeshift hospital high in the mountains and we realize, as dramatic as that was, it is a scene that is playing out every day, maybe every hour, in the skies above Nepal.

(on camera): You get an idea of just how challenging these missions are. Look at the very small space this helicopter had to land on top of this hill. Hardly any room to spare. They're taking off these badly needed supplies as quickly as they can, because there's a woman on that helicopter who nearly went into cardiac arrest. They got to get her back as quickly as possible.

(voice-over): Here come the patients, one by one. I'm handed a precious little baby to fly back whose mother is too weak to hold her. Sabina's (ph) IV bag now tied to the ceiling, using a disposal facemask. Anything to just make it work.

Just a single moment to celebrate the lives on this chopper. We touch down again and, this time, there are stretchers, medicines, fluids, and prayers.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thank you, Sanjay. for that report in more ways than one.

Let's get back now to Ashleigh Banfield in Baltimore. She's got some breaking news for us from Baltimore. Hi, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Hi Christine, thank you. We just got news -- there's going to be a press conference in about a half hour and it is a big one. It's the woman we've all been talking about, Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore. Literally across from where I am right now, I'm pointing to it, the building across the street from city hall. She's going to hold a press conference, presumably to at least give some clarity as to what her job is and the magnitude of it, how big it is. Don't expect to hear announcements of any kind of indictment, to be for sure. But I think this is the issue, is the communication to the community of what they realistically need to expect now that that report from the police on the death of Freddie Gray is in her hands.

So stay tuned. My colleague Brooke Baldwin's going to take over the helm in just a moment or two and I'll join you back here for "LEGAL VIEW" at noon today. Thanks for joining us, everyone.

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