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ISIS: Our Soldiers Carried Out Attack; Rabbi: Event Was Not About Free Speech; Images of Baltimore Unrest Go Viral; Nepal Earthquake; What's in a Royal Baby Name? Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 05, 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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[10:31:45] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: This morning federal investigators are paying a lot of attention to a bold and disturbing claim by ISIS. It's claiming responsibility for Sunday night's attack in Texas. ISIS says its soldiers tried to storm the contest for cartoon the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. The gunmen never got close despite having assault weapons and body armor. They were shot and killed by a traffic cop working the event.

But on its official radio channel, ISIS vows to strike again saying quote, "We say to the defenders of the cross, the U.S., that future attacks are going to be harsher and worse. The Islamic state soldiers will inflict harm on you with the grace of God. The future is just around the corner." End quote.

Now, the keynote speaker at that controversial cartoon contest was a man named Geert Wilders. Wilders was on the al Qaeda hit list and is a known supporter of anti-Sharia beliefs. He's held several speaking engagements in America, events that many have found offensive.

One congressman from Iowa staunchly disagrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: I don't think that what they did down there was offensive. I think it was a robust demonstration of freedom of speech and we have to do that. If the speech is not offensive, it doesn't need to be protected by our First Amendment constitution.

In fact, Geert Wilders who was there to give the keynote speech spoke in Washington, D.C. at actually four events that I planned for him just a week before and in each one of those events as I recall, he spoke about how glad he is we have the First Amendment and how much he wishes they did in Western Europe.

I think we need to understand (AUDIO GAP) at us. And that's what Geert Wilders is doing is helping the world understand what's coming at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, no one, not even Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security denies the organizers of the Mohammed art exhibit and cartoon contest have the right to exercise their right to free speech but critics also say it's important to understand this event was about more than free speech.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs says in the "New York Daily News" quote, the event was really about hate-mongering and about condemning all Muslims. He writes, "During the Holocaust the Nazis went beyond making a social outcast. They systematically slaughtered our people with unspeakable cruelty. Because we know so well what it's like to be the outcast, we must never through our deeds or words make others into modern day lepers."

The rabbi represents 1.5 million Reform Jews in nearly 900 synagogues across the United States and Canada. And the rabbi joins me now. Welcome.

RABBI RICK JACOBS, UNION FOR REFORM JUDAISM: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being here.

So the organizer, Pam Geller, she says she's not condemning all Muslims. She's just condemning the extremists and that's why she held this event to prove that there were extremists in this country who were out to like destroy our freedom of speech in America.

JACOBS: Let me say first of all the event that she organized was protected by thankfully free speech, by the first amendment. It was not an event however in favor and in support of free speech. She is free to speak her mind. It is offensive. It is hate-mongering. It pollutes our world and it is exactly what we do not need more of.

COSTELLO: But you still think they have the right to hold the event?

JACOBS: They had a 100 percent right to hold the event. And we have the right as a civilized faith community to say it is just harmful, it is hurtful, it is hateful and it is wrong but it is protected and it is legal.

[10:35:08] COSTELLO: What do you suppose her real goal was?

JACOBS: I can't suppose what her real goal was. But I can see the impact what she has done in cities, in New York City by putting hate ads in trains and subways. She's basically painting all Muslims as extremists and there are 1.6 Muslims in the world. And there are a fraction that are religious extremists.

And when she paints an entire religious community, a quarter of the world's population, she does harm not just to Islam but to religion and to everything we believe in.

COSTELLO: Now in fairness to her, she says she's not doing that. She's not meaning to do that at all. She just wants to paint the extremists as they are.

JACOBS: She can say whatever she wants. We know the impact of what she does. It is anti-Muslim and it is fear-mongering and it is hateful. And we as a religious community we actually know how to build bridges of understanding. There are actually constructive ways to engage in the world and particularly with the Muslim community.

We just gave an award last week to a congregation just across the river in New Jersey as their teen program bringing teens from the Jewish community and the Muslim community in the reform synagogue to go to learn from one another. We have a synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska that's building a tri-faith campus with a mosque, a reform synagogue and a church. We know how to build bridges of understanding in this world. And we also know that frankly we're not naive.

I'm a rabbi. I was a rabbi in New York right during the World Trade Center attacks. I spent time in Israel this past summer during the war with Hamas. I'm not naive about religious extremism. But we must be smart as we fight religious extremism and not lose our values.

COSTELLO: Ok. I want to go back to what you said about the posters because, of course, Pamela Geller wants to plaster New York City buses with these posters. And if we could put that up again that would be awesome. On a poster like this one it says "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man, support Israel, defeat jihad". Now the MTA, which is in charge of buses, doesn't want to put up some of these posters on the buses because it says they could provoke violence.

Why do you object though because you guys put up your own posters and now what may happen?

JACOBS: First of all, these posters are incendiary. They are protected. They are legally allowed but they are simply wrong. And we see the impact. I stood in front of one of these posters with a very close friend of mine who is a Muslim who lives in my community. And he said, "Rick, these posters are so denigrating to me, to my kids, to everything I believe."

How is it, first of all, to put these posters up which somehow equate anti-Muslims with pro-Israel. That's not what it means to be pro-Israel. We're not hateful to Muslims. We're trying to build a world of reason and compassion. So when we put something on a bus, why don't we put a message like not even in your heart do we hate? That's a message from our tradition. That would be a message to put out there but not these hateful, really, really denigrating messages.

COSTELLO: Ok. And by the way, just so you all know. We did invite Pamela Geller to the set for her side of the story. She canceled on us late last night. So, Rabbi, thank you for joining me. I appreciate it.

JACOBS: Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, this picture seen by millions but the photographer is getting a much different response than she expected. You see this picture as touching or tragic? We'll talk about that next.

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[10:42:03] COSTELLO: President Obama speaking on late night with David Letterman discussing the situation in Baltimore at length and emphasizing the importance of building trust.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Families of officers all across the country every day, they're wondering is my loved one going to come home. And so they've a really tough job. What we also know though is that for far too long, for decades, you have a situation in which too many communities don't have a relationship of trust with the police. And if you just have a handful of police who are not doing the right thing that makes the job tougher for all of the other police officers out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Earlier in the day the President also acknowledged the danger police face, paying tribute to officer Brian Moore who died after being shot by a suspect in Queens on Saturday.

The outrage, the unrest and the aftermath in Baltimore playing out in images that have gone viral from Freddie Gray being dragged by police and a CVS on fire in the riots to Baltimore mom, Toya Graham, disciplining her son. Another photo of a little boy handing out water to police in riot gear. "Time Magazine" covering its recent issue with a stark black and white photograph of a young man with a row of cops behind him.

And there's another image that's evoked a very strong reaction. This one of a little girl playing near a National Guardsman who has his assault rifle draped across his body. The woman who took that photo is a writer and a blogger and she joins me from Baltimore. Her name is Amanda Moore. Thank you, Amanda for being with me.

AMANDA MOORE, BLOGGER: Thank you for having me -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That photograph was seen by millions of people and it sparked a reaction you didn't expect. Tell us about that.

MOORE: Yes, you know, when I took the picture and posted it on my blog -- Amanda writes things -- I kind of expected a small reaction from people that I know. I didn't expect it to be so viral. When I took it, there was a lot of celebration going on. They had just announced that the officers who killed Freddie Gray would be charged.

I mean it is all a celebration. There was this little girl playing with a glow stick with the officer. It struck me as so sad. I took the picture to try to capture that but I guess everybody saw it as a very positive image of change in Baltimore, which I just didn't agree with.

COSTELLO: Why don't you agree with it?

MOORE: I think that if we really wanted to have an image of hope in Baltimore we would take an image of maybe a child playing with members of the 300-man march and learning from them and not an image that shows that we need to treat our own American cities like we treat Afghanistan.

COSTELLO: But I guess in the end because I looked at that picture. My first reaction was that's just lovely that little girl and the National Guardsman had such a great smile on his face. Then you think about it in a deeper way, it's tragic that there's a need, A, for the National Guard to be in the city of Baltimore, and B, that you now have to explain to this little girl about why this man is guarding her city.

[10:45:10] MOORE: Right. Right and I think it's time that we start connecting the dots and not just looking at the National Guard is here or there was a riot with some people on Monday night but why is the National Guard here and why do people feel the need to riot and what's actually going on in cities and places like west Baltimore.

COSTELLO: Amanda Moore, thanks for sharing. I appreciate it.

MOORE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta spent nearly a week in quake-ravaged Nepal. Next, the challenges he saw aid workers are facing and an inspiring moment of hope.

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[10:49:25] COSTELLO: The death toll in Nepal's massive earthquake now topping topped 7,500. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spent more than a week in that quake-ravaged country. Sanjay joins me now from Atlanta. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to be home.

COSTELLO: We're glad to have you back. First of all, tell me about that five-month-old survivor. That's an amazing story.

GUPTA: It really is a remarkable story. I got all of these details. This mom has two children. One is a five-month-old boy and another 10-year-old girl. She was out shopping the morning of the earthquake. When she's coming home, Carol, literally it's 11:56 in the morning there in Kathmandu and she watches the building in which her two children are basically come tumbling to the ground. You're seeing some of the rubble right there.

She watched this. The mom did. She obviously started screaming and digging and they could hear this baby, this five-month-old baby crying underneath the rubble. They searched all night but still despite crying could not find the baby that first night. As you mentioned, 22 hours, a little bit more than that later, they finally find this baby and they pulled Sonis (ph), this five-month-old baby out.

And he is -- look at him. I mean it's -- really, he hardly had a scratch on him, Carol. He must have landed in this perfect void and had access to oxygen and water obviously. But it just -- it was remarkable.

COSTELLO: He's such a cutie. Look at him smiling.

GUPTA: I know.

COSTELLO: That's amazing.

GUPTA: They all think he's destined for some special things -- that boy.

COSTELLO: I think so. Most definitely.

All right. Well, we have to get a little serious now because there's still so much needed in Nepal. Tell us about that.

GUPTA: When you see the aftermath of these natural disasters, the problems -- sometimes surprising ones start to emerge. You can define those problems. Initially it's very hard to prepare for something of this magnitude so the basics of just basic resources, water and food, just getting more personnel in there were a big issue. But because this is so remote, having enough helicopters and enough air transport to get to places that have been the most affected. Nepal is a country of 30 million people almost. Only a million live in Kathmandu.

The vast majority are spread out around the country. You have to get to them. One of the interesting challenges I heard was that you can't bring everyone back to Kathmandu so you have to start setting up these shelters and medical clinics and all that in these remote areas. So that's one of the big challenges. And it's ongoing right now.

I mean they want to take shelters, buildable structures and put them in these remote areas and staff them so people can be cared for where they live. It's a different way of thinking about the aftermath of a big, big natural disaster like this.

COSTELLO: That's amazing. Well, we're glad you're home safe and sound and hopefully enough aid is going into Nepal. Actually I should ask you that. Is enough aid going into Nepal?

GUPTA: Here's how I would answer that. I think right now there is. There's been sort of this venting of compassion I think from many countries around the world to give aid. The concern is that a month from now, two months from now, Carol, there will still be a lot of issues. It won't feel as acute as right after the earthquake. I guess the message is that there's enough aid going in now. But don't forget Nepal. A month or two longer they're still going to need aid.

COSTELLO: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, we waited and we agonized and then finally there was a name for the royal baby. Wait until you see how some people predicted and reacted to the news. That's coming up next.

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COSTELLO: So, what's in a baby name? For the newly-born baby princess: everything. Jeanne Moos has more.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What says "hurrah, it's a girl" better than artillery? Guns and landmarks lit up in pink, celebrated the baby formerly known as "princess what's-her-name."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone together now, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's perfect. That makes me cry. Wow.

MOOS: It made Whoopi adopt an English accent.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, TV HOST: Her name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Windsor Johnson. OK, I just threw the Johnson in there.

MOOS: Will and Kate honored three royals with one baby's name. Charlotte is the feminine of Charles, as in Prince Charles. Elizabeth is Queen Elizabeth. And Diana is Princess Diana.

As for Charlotte, that's what Chelsea Clinton and her husband named their first baby, though this is probably the most famous Charlotte these days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlotte.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you are the sexiest woman I ever met.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harry.

MOOS: Not to be confused with this Harry.

Charlotte's older brother even managed to wave to the press as he came to meet his little sister. His mom looked so good, that a Russian paper quoted women questioning Kate's pregnancy, theorizing she must have had a surrogate.

Here's one of Charlotte's first portraits made by an artist out of 1,000 onesies. But you know who really blew it? The corgis. About a month and a half ago, a British betting company staged a corgi race to predict the royal baby's name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they're off.

MOOS: Oh, they were off, all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alexandra the winner.

MOOS: Charlotte wasn't even in the running.

We just found out her name and already people are trying to guess what her nickname will be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wonder if they'll call her Charlie.

MOOS: If it's good enough for Revlon, it's good enough for the House of Windsor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the world belongs to Charlie.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 58 minutes past.

Panera says it's cleaning up its menu. The company is promising to remove a bevy of artificial ingredients from its food. The change is supposed to take place by next year. A complete list of ingredients can be found on the restaurant's website.

John Kerry making an historic stop in Somalia this morning becoming the first U.S. secretary of state to ever visit that country. During the four-hour stopover Kerry met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed to discussed the country's ongoing battle with al Shabaab militants.

President Obama says he's heartbroken over the sudden death of Dave Goldberg, the husband of Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. In a personal message to the family on Facebook, the President recalled Goldberg as a kind and generous person and offered his condolences. Goldberg died last week of an apparent head injury after falling off a treadmill.

All right. Let's send you back to Hope, Arkansas where minutes from now, Republican Mike Huckabee will join the 2016 race for the White House. We'll have that when it happens right here on CNN.

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

[11:00:01] "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.